Comic #4874: bar-joke

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Description

Here’s a detailed description of the comic:

Panel 1

• Text: "A biological intelligence, machine intelligence, and God intelligence walk into a bar…"
• Visuals: A man with brown hair and a blue shirt is smiling. In the background, there's a figure with a yellow glowing halo and circular designs.

Panel 2

• Text: "The biological intelligence tells the other two that it has 'free will.'"
• Visuals: The same man from the previous panel appears slightly worried as he gestures.

Panel 3

• Text: "In secret, the biological intelligence writes down what cocktail it is about to order."
• Visuals: The man is now scribbling on a napkin.

Panel 4

• Text: "The machine intelligence simulates the biological intelligence in its own mind and writes down what it thinks the biological intelligence will do."
• Visuals: A mechanical figure with glowing eyes is deep in thought, with a napkin in front of it.

Panel 5

• Text: "The God intelligence does the same."
• Visuals: The figure with the glowing halo is writing on a napkin with complex designs.

Panel 6

• Text: "They hand their napkins to the bartender."
• Visuals: The three figures are handing napkins over to a bartender, who looks intrigued.

Panel 7

• Text: "The bartender reads the biological intelligence's napkin first."
• Visuals: The bartender reads, "Half Amaretto, half milk, in a tumbler over ice."

Panel 8

• Text: "The bartender reads the machine intelligence's napkin second."
• Visuals: The bartender looks puzzled as he reads, "Half Amaretto, half milk, in a tumbler over ice."

Panel 9

• Text: "Finally, the bartender reads the God intelligence's napkin."
• Visuals: The bartender looks confused and says, "Half… I don’t understand this notation…"

Panel 10

• Text: "That’s complex vector space."
• Visuals: The God intelligence figure looks wise and knowledgeable.

Panel 11

• Text: "Although the machine intelligence is right 90% of the time, the outcome is probabilistic. In some universes, the machine was wrong, and you get the mistaken impression that a short-lived ape can violate causality on a bar napkin."
• Visuals: Swirling symbols surround the text illustrating complex ideas.

Panel 12

• Text: "Free will is a null concept and determinism is a fantasy."
• Visuals: More glowing symbols emphasizing significance.

Panel 13

• Text: "You will neither know the joy of choice nor the contentedness of participating in a grand scheme."
• Visuals: A thoughtful expression on the man's face.

Panel 14

• Text: "The man orders a whiskey."
• Visuals: The man is pouring whiskey from a bottle.

Panel 15

• Text: "The machine failed to predict this, but only out of apathy."
• Visuals: The mechanical figure appears indifferent.

Panel 16

• Text: "But a dream within a dream…"
• Visuals: The bartender looks contemplative with a hint of confusion.

Conclusion

• Source: The comic is from SMBC Comics, shown at the bottom.

This description captures the humor and philosophical undertones of the comic while being accessibility-conscious.