o-monks
Explanation
This comic shows a conversation between a visitor and a group of monks on a mountainside. The visitor asks what they think of the idea that "impermanence is good" as a permanent, foundational belief -- pointing out this is either self-contradictory or actually Stoic/Epicurean philosophy rather than Buddhism. The monks initially claim "impermanence is good" and that "everything is impermanent," but when the visitor points out the logical problem -- holding impermanence as a permanent foundational value is self-undermining -- one monk awkwardly deflects: "You didn't say any of that stuff when I paid for lunch." The visitor replies, "I have a chronic condition."
The bottom caption reads: "Fun Fact: Buddhism was invented to get out of a $24 debt."
The humor mechanism is a philosophical gotcha applied to a core tenet of Buddhism. The comic highlights a genuine philosophical tension: if everything is impermanent, then the belief in impermanence should itself be impermanent, creating a logical paradox. The visitor also suggests this philosophy overlaps with Stoicism and Epicureanism, deflating its claims to uniqueness. But the real comedic punch comes from the deflation at the end -- the monks, rather than engaging with the philosophical critique, resort to a petty social complaint about lunch money, and the absurd "fun fact" caption suggests the entire religion was a debt-avoidance scheme. This is classic SMBC: taking a legitimate philosophical observation and then undercutting it with bathetic mundanity.