Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Joke

The comic is a philosophical conversation between two people about the nature of perception and reality. One person explains that:

• Dreams are essentially hallucinations your brain creates.
• We "see" things even though our brain is sitting in darkness inside a skull.
• Our perception is like looking at a vast, complex field: it is too big and you cannot process everything at once. Even if you could, it would not necessarily be useful.

The conversation ends with a meta-joke: a message appears on stage saying "Dear reader of this comic: PLEASE ZOOM OUT," encouraging the reader to step back and see the bigger picture -- both literally (the comic is very tall and narrow) and metaphorically (reflecting the philosophical content about perception).

The Humor

The humor comes from the layered self-referential quality. The comic discusses how humans have limited perception and cannot see the whole picture, then literally asks the reader to "zoom out" on the comic itself. This breaks the fourth wall in a way that ties the form of the comic to its content. The philosophical musings are presented earnestly but lead to a punchline that connects the abstract ideas about perception to the practical experience of reading a webcomic on a screen.

Votey

The votey adds: "Except Mom. Mom, do not zoom out." This implies that if you zoom out, you might see something inappropriate or embarrassing in the larger image -- a classic SMBC gag where a wholesome message is immediately undercut with an implied dirty joke.