2013-01-25
Explanation
This comic explores the philosophy of consciousness through a conversation between two aliens ("Zorblaxians") who are debating whether humans are truly conscious. One alien asks if humans have consciousness, and the other laughs dismissively. When the first alien points out that humans have self-awareness, empathy, language, and ethics, the skeptical alien counters that humans lack "Znurg'''naq," a faculty unique to Zorblaxians, and that humans only have a very primitive form of "Zchoeq'''yarf." The skeptic concludes that humans have, at best, about 70% of consciousness.
The first alien then offers a more philosophical objection: maybe "consciousness" is just a grab bag of traits that happen to be special about the Zorblaxians, to which they are giving unwarranted primacy. The skeptical alien dismisses this with "Oh please" and doubles down, arguing that any conscious beings in the universe must have Znurg'''naq because "otherwise how would they Znurg?" -- circular reasoning that defines consciousness in terms of one'''s own species-specific traits.
The final panel, labeled "Elsewhere...," shows two humans lying on the grass, with one asking "Do you think chimps are truly conscious?" and the other replying "Come on. They can barely use syntax." This mirror image reveals that humans commit exactly the same error as the aliens -- defining consciousness in terms of whatever abilities happen to be most developed in our own species (in this case, language and syntax) and dismissing other beings who lack those specific traits. The votey panel adds that "Zchoeq'''yarf" translates to "comic books," a self-deprecating joke suggesting that one of the alien faculties humans barely possess is the ability to appreciate comics.