Comic #7165: intelligent
Description
Here’s an accurate transcription of the text in the comic:
Panel 1
- Person 1: "God, why haven't we found other intelligent life?"
- Person 2: "Only one sapient species per universe. That's the rule."
Panel 2
- Person 2: "Why?"
- Person 1: "All intelligent species bear the marks of evolution. Therefore they'll have all the bad behaviors that come with the struggle for survival and reproduction."
Panel 3
- Person 2: "Imagine it's the 1930s. The first radio telescopes are built. You make contact with 411,729,922 civilizations."
Panel 4
- Person 2: "Guess how many Hitlers have now entered your awareness."
- Person 1: "411,729,922"
- Person 2: "Minimum."
Panel 5
- Person 2: "So, one sapient species per universe. Eventually they grow less terrible, use technology to span the cosmos, and with a minimum of unforgivable atrocities."
Panel 6
- Person 1: "Wow. And how far are we from that period?"
- Person 2: "I'm actually waiting for you guys to clear the deck so I can try again with birds."