2012-11-19
Explanation
This comic takes the theological concept of ensoulment -- the belief that a soul enters the body at the moment of conception -- and pushes it to absurd, logical extremes. Scientists discover how to repeatedly split and recombine sperm and egg, causing heaven to send a soul each time, effectively creating a "spiritual generator." By rapidly cycling zygotes, they harvest spiritual energy and create a new engineering field of affordable spare souls.
The scenario escalates: a ready consumer market emerges, and they trade 14 trillion soul units with the Devil in exchange for perfection and immortality for all mankind. While there are "negative externalities" (the Devil now has infinite armies), the comic concludes that "on balance, it was a win" -- humanity gets heaven on earth, "plus weed and boner pills." The joke satirizes both the rigid logic of religious doctrines about when life begins and the economic mindset that would immediately seek to exploit any supernatural resource for commercial gain.