Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

a-meat-race

2016-11-24 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
a-meat-race
Votey panel for a-meat-race
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

The Joke

A human asks an alien, "What do you mean humans are a meat race?" The alien explains that humans were designed to be a food-based organism (like a "Zomblar" food source). The human protests: "Then why do we have consciousness? Or poetry? Or art? Or music? Mathematics?" The alien looks uncomfortable and responds, "Please don't ask. I'll ruin your day." The human pushes: "Why did we get taller in the 19th century and organic in the 21st century?" suggesting that human trends toward height and organic living are actually the result of alien agricultural improvements -- like breeding livestock to be bigger and healthier.

The Humor

The comic takes the common science fiction trope of "humans as alien livestock" and makes it uncomfortably plausible by connecting it to real historical trends. The joke hinges on the idea that developments humans are proud of -- increased height due to better nutrition, the organic food movement -- are actually the equivalent of farmers improving their livestock. The alien's reluctance to explain why humans have consciousness and art implies the answer is deeply unflattering -- perhaps these are just byproducts, or worse, they exist to make humans tastier or more docile. The punchline works because the alien genuinely does not want to ruin the human's day with the truth.

References

Humans did indeed get significantly taller during the 19th and 20th centuries due to improved nutrition, sanitation, and medical care. The organic food movement gained major mainstream traction in the early 21st century. The comic reframes these real trends through the lens of alien animal husbandry. The premise is reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" (1962), where aliens come to Earth ostensibly to help humanity but are actually using a book titled "To Serve Man" as a cookbook.

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