2011-07-27
Explanation
This comic explores the ethical and philosophical implications of creating a temporary holographic duplicate of a person. A woman has created a holographic copy of her husband to keep her company (and more) while he is away for the weekend. The hologram protests "I love you" and "I feel like I'm really your husband," but the woman dismisses him, noting that his self-preserving impulses are just copied personality traits, not signs of genuine consciousness.
The hologram tries to argue that if he can feel and think like the real husband, he has moral standing, but the woman shuts this down. She pragmatically points out he only has 47.9 hours left to exist and suggests they make use of his "enhanced sexual prowess" rather than debate metaphysics. When the real husband comes home early and sees the duplicate, he cheerfully suggests they all go to the bedroom -- but then pauses to wonder whether creating and then discapacitating a virtual mind constitutes murder. The comic's final panel shows the couple's phone screen with choices like "Wife, Self, Critical Thought, Emotional!, Lust" -- and both choose "Sex," abandoning the weighty ethical question in favor of immediate gratification. The comic satirizes how easily humans set aside deep moral questions when personal pleasure is at stake.