2014-02-28
Explanation
The Joke
The comic presents a 3x3 grid titled "Existence: A Guide" that maps out philosophical worldviews. The columns go from happy (smiley face) to sad (frowny face), and the rows go from "It's all meaningless" to "It's all meaningful." In the "meaningless" row, finding happiness gives you Existentialism, while finding sadness gives you Nihilism. In the "meaningful" row, finding happiness gives you Religion, while finding sadness gives you "oh shit, worshipped the wrong God."
The Humor
The comic distills thousands of years of philosophy and theology into an amusingly reductive alignment chart. The real punchline is in the bottom-right cell: the worst possible outcome is not that life is meaningless (that is merely Nihilism), but that life IS meaningful because God exists -- and you picked the wrong one. This plays on the theological concept known as Pascal's Wager and the problem of religious pluralism: if you devote your life to one deity and it turns out another religion was correct, you end up in the worst position of all. The joke also slyly suggests that Existentialism (finding meaning despite meaninglessness) is actually a pretty good deal compared to the religious gamble.
References
- Existentialism is the philosophical movement (associated with Sartre, Camus, and others) holding that existence precedes essence, and that individuals must create their own meaning in an inherently meaningless universe.
- Nihilism is the philosophical view that life lacks objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value, and unlike existentialism, does not attempt to construct personal meaning.
- Pascal's Wager is the argument by Blaise Pascal that it is a better "bet" to believe in God since the potential payoff (eternal salvation) outweighs the risk, though this comic highlights the wager's weakness when multiple gods are possible.