2012-04-29
Explanation
This sprawling comic presents a fictional scenario in which mathematicians discover that mathematics is not composed of eternal rules but is instead "made of machines" -- robust ones, but machines that wear out with use. The premise is that each discrete mathematical concept has a service life of roughly 10^18 uses, and as civilization has used math more and more, concepts are starting to break down. Several algorithms, such as "estimate cost of vacation," are described as "entirely broken," and only a few people can still get modus ponens to work.
This leads to rationing ("Hey! Stop using the axiom of choice! You'''ll wear it out!"), then an attempt to calculate the probability that logic would be repaired before the universe collapsed -- but this meta-calculation itself "broke probability." The results are absurd: a coin flip yields "Portugal" as its result, and D&D night may have to be canceled. Without predictable odds, the pattern of the universe itself unwove. After reality randomly returned to normal, the characters decide that "all logic will simply be done with common sense." But the final panel reveals that "common sense was a machine too," leading to people making nonsensical decisions like buying a car because it has "front AND rear spoilers."
The comic is a love letter to the philosophy of mathematics, playing with the question of whether mathematical truths are discovered (Platonism) or invented (formalism/constructivism). By treating math as physical infrastructure that degrades, Weinersmith humorously explores what would happen if the formalist view were literally true -- math is just a tool, and tools break. The votey panel has a woman saying "It'''s an 8 panel math joke" and a man responding "I'''m gonna go get a second job," a meta-joke about how such an elaborate, niche comic probably does not sell well.