[[Walking on a rocky desert.]] So I'm stuck in this desert for eternity. I don't know why. I just woke up here one day. [[Still walking on a rocky desert.]] I never feel hungry or thirsty. [[Still walking on a rocky desert.]] I just walk. [[Still walking on a rocky desert.]] Sand and rocks [[Zoomed out on a rocky desert.]] stretch to infinity. As best as I can tell. [[Sitting on a rocky desert.]] There's plenty of time for thinking out here. An eternity, really. [[Drawing math in a rocky desert.]] I've rederived modern math in the sand and then some. [[Sketches of various mathematical diagrams ... in a rocky desert.]] Physics, too I worked out the kinks in quantum mechanics and relativity. Took a lot of thinking, but this place has fewer distractions than a swiss patent office. [[Laying down rows of rocks.]] One day I started laying down rows of rocks. [[Pattern of rocks on a grid.]] Each new row followed from the last in a simple pattern. [[Zoomed out, pattern of rocks, shadow eclipsing it.]] With the right set of rules and enough space, [[Zoomed out showing pattern.]] I was able to build a computer. Each new row of stones is the next iteration of the computation. [[Zoomed way out.]] Sure, it's rocks instead of electricity, but it's the same* thing. Just slower. *Turing-complete [[Blank, with man.]] After a while, I programmed it to be a physics simulator. [[Black background, arrows pointing to stone representation of particle.]] Every piece of information about a particle was encoded as a string of bits written in the stones. 00101010 00101010 [[Diagram of two particles interacting. Boiiiinnng.]] With enough time and space, I could fully simulate two particles interacting. [[Scene illuminates vastness of his current rocky desert location.]] But I have infinite time and space. [[Universe. Black background.]] So I decided to simulate a universe. [[Placing rocks on a grid again.]] The eons blur past as I walk down a single row. [[More detailed drawing of the rock pattern from a distance.]] The rows blur past to compute a single step. [[Two particles.]] And in the simulation [[Two particles, nudged a bit toward each other.]] another instant ticks by. [[Poof, mote of dust vanishing before man.]] So if you see a mote of dust vanish from your vision in a little flash or something [[Man holding two rocks, looking at one, with two at his feet. Oops.]] I'm sorry. I must have misplaced a rock sometime in the last few billions and billions of millennia. [[Vastness of space.]] Oh, and... [[In a classroom, two people sit behind desks. One appears to be female, and paying attention like a good student. The other, the narrator, has his elbows on the desk and head in his hands, bored with the teacher at the front of the classroom, pointing a pointing stick at the chalkboard. The clock is at 9:55, just about to let class out into another full day of school. The teacher is balding, but he does not appear to be prematurely grey. ]] If you think the minutes in your morning lecture are taking a long time to pass for you... {{alt text: Every Roomba needs a dueling harness..}}

Comics I enjoy:
Dinosaur Comics, A Softer World, Perry Bible Fellowship, Copper, Questionable Content, Achewood, Wondermark, Indexed, Buttercup Festival

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