Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

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verbatim
Votey panel for verbatim
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Explanation

This comic shows a father figure playing a trivia game with his family. When a question comes up about young people, the father launches into a rant: "The answer is 'They're gone.' Same answer as always. They're on their phones, packing all day, saying dark, scary things." His responses escalate to claims that any type of warning about the world is "probably not real because scientists are all compromised by" various conspiracies.

The family seems to barely tolerate these outbursts. The final panel reveals that there's a fork in the road: the father could either "join a debate team" to sharpen his views through rigorous argumentation, or "form strong opinions on TV." The family celebrates when he chooses the TV option, saying "You made the right choice." The comic satirizes how people who hold strong opinions often choose the path of least intellectual resistance -- consuming media that confirms their biases rather than subjecting their views to genuine scrutiny and debate. The family's relief suggests they'd rather have him yelling at a TV than at them.

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