2012-05-20
Explanation
This comic tackles two of the biggest questions in philosophy and theology: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" (the problem of evil) and "Why is there something rather than nothing?" (the fundamental question of existence). A man prays to God asking both questions, and God responds that the second question actually answers the first: God and the other creators made the universe specifically so it would evolve intelligent beings who might eventually figure out the answer to the problem of suffering and report back.
The humor escalates as God grows increasingly desperate for an answer. The man stares in stunned silence, and God's messages become more urgent: "So how's that coming?" then "Good? Bad?" and finally "Come on, man! It's hell up here!" The comic inverts the usual dynamic of theodicy -- instead of humans desperately seeking answers from an all-knowing God, it turns out God is just as confused and is desperately waiting for humans to solve the problem. This portrayal of a confused, needy deity is a recurring theme in SMBC, and here it also slyly suggests that the existence of suffering might be an unsolvable problem if even the creator of the universe can't figure it out.