Editing 1821: Incinerator
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| − | [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have just finished installing an {{w|Incineration|incinerator}} for some unspecified purpose at some establishment. Ponytail brings up the problem of having to get rid of the old incinerator, and Cueball | + | [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have just finished installing an {{w|Incineration|incinerator}} for some unspecified purpose at some establishment. Ponytail brings up the problem of having to get rid of the old incinerator, and Cueball begins to suggest using the new incinerator to incinerate the old one, but he is shut down by Ponytail off-panel. This makes him noticeably disappointed, probably because the idea of using an incinerator to destroy an incinerator is novel to him. |
Throwing an incinerator inside another incinerator would probably break some kind of regulations or safety concerns, and since incinerators are meant to withstand their own high heat capacities it would be ineffective anyway. | Throwing an incinerator inside another incinerator would probably break some kind of regulations or safety concerns, and since incinerators are meant to withstand their own high heat capacities it would be ineffective anyway. | ||
| − | The title text implies that this comic was inspired by recent events at [[Randall]]'s house: his trash can broke and he struggled with how to dispose of it. At least for Randall, there is something wrong with forcing anything to destroy something of its own kind -- in this case, throwing the old trash can in the new trash can. Since machines have no human emotion | + | The title text implies that this comic was inspired by recent events at [[Randall]]'s house: his trash can broke and he struggled with how to dispose of it. At least for Randall, there is something wrong with forcing anything to destroy something of its own kind -- in this case, throwing the old trash can in the new trash can. Since machines that have no human emotion this would not cause any trauma for the machine{{Citation needed}}, but the humans in charge might feel as if something is wrong, and Randall mentions having an {{w|existential crisis}}. This is because humans tend to project human qualities onto the machines they are working with ({{w|anthropomorphism|anthropomorphization}}), thus possibly framing the situation in the context of something like cannibalism or homicide. The next comic after this one, [[1822: Existential Bug Reports]], references existential problems in the title, suggesting perhaps that Randall is feeling particularly existential at the moment, see more regarding this [[I'm_With_Her#Sad_comics|here]]. Randall has himself given the solution for that kind of problem earlier in [[220: Philosophy]]. |
Another way of taking it would be in the sense of "being replaceable". Many people live without wanting to think of what might happen to everything around them after they die, but in this title text one can start comparing the trash can to themselves — the same way the trash can turns into something to be disposed and replaced with a new one after it becomes useless, what about people then? What will happen to you when you grow older? Should you suddenly go sick and become useless? How about in your job, what would happen if someone more superior than you comes around and starts threatening your hard-earned position? | Another way of taking it would be in the sense of "being replaceable". Many people live without wanting to think of what might happen to everything around them after they die, but in this title text one can start comparing the trash can to themselves — the same way the trash can turns into something to be disposed and replaced with a new one after it becomes useless, what about people then? What will happen to you when you grow older? Should you suddenly go sick and become useless? How about in your job, what would happen if someone more superior than you comes around and starts threatening your hard-earned position? | ||
| − | Yet another interpretation is that while disposing of the | + | Yet another interpretation is that while disposing of the thrash can, Randall realized that he was now in the same situation as the thrash can itself. The thrash can was a tool used by others, in order to dispose of thrash. And yet, in time, the thrash can itself became thrash and had to be disposed of by Randall. Which makes one wonder if Randall is himself a tool created/used by others, who will one day dispose of Randall when he has outlived his usefulness, the same way that he disposed of the thrash can when it outlived its usefulness. From this perspective, Randall is simply a more intelligent and autonomous thrash-junking-tool, different in degrees but similar in nature to his own thrash can. |
Many people define themselves by the things they do and are capable of. The idea of losing those, and then being replaced for it, is a bitter pill that we will all have to swallow at some point. All things must come to end after all, including ourselves. | Many people define themselves by the things they do and are capable of. The idea of losing those, and then being replaced for it, is a bitter pill that we will all have to swallow at some point. All things must come to end after all, including ourselves. | ||
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Plus, [https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/08/map-territory-distinctions/ actually throwing out a garbage can can be surprisingly difficult]. | Plus, [https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/08/map-territory-distinctions/ actually throwing out a garbage can can be surprisingly difficult]. | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
