cortex
Explanation
This comic is a conversation between two people in bed, touching on the neuroscience of anxiety and overthinking.
One person asks why humans are "so anxious all the time." The other explains that humans are supposed to use the cerebral cortex to think about a new situation, form a plan, then switch to rote mode via the basal ganglia and brainstem -- essentially automating responses once they've been figured out. The first person is accused of "using your brain wrong, dummy" because they never stop consciously deliberating.
The anxious person protests: "You guys all just sort dark-waters your most important decisions?" They point out that they use their cortex to "deeply interrogate" every choice, "and as a result I don't think I've said a single sentence without stuttering in 20 years."
Their partner responds that they "don't care" and to please go to sleep. The anxious person then admits that "this is a four-quadrant SWOT analysis to assess the risk" -- revealing they are literally performing strategic business analysis on whether to go to sleep.
The humor comes from the relatable depiction of anxiety as an inability to turn off analytical thinking. The comic cleverly frames overthinking as a neurological misuse -- using the cortex for tasks that should be delegated to lower brain functions. The final panel escalates the absurdity by showing the anxious person applying formal analytical frameworks (SWOT analysis) to the most trivial decision possible, perfectly illustrating how anxiety turns every moment into an exhausting deliberation.