# I don't quite get today's "Questionable Content" strip **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967 "2010-04-13T17:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 123
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2442 "2020-07-22T18:05:51Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Anything involving money has to explain why the billionaire and godlike entity hanging around your ‘regular Joe’ characters don’t just fix it with pocket change. And the whole nature of AIs in the world and how they work isn’t really well-thought out or consistent. No argument there. I think someone once said that Jeph has all sorts of background and world-building information regarding AIs that we don’t see but I mostly see it as something that doesn’t hold up at all if I think about it for longer than 30 seconds. Fortunately, it only takes me 15 seconds to read a strip and then I stop thinking about it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2443 "2020-07-28T04:52:21Z")
[I shoulda known better](https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4317): apparently the total 30 people May knows can contribute 10k total to the effort. I hold out hope Yay or John Ellicott-C can also throw down and May gets to be a warplane at last. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2444 "2020-07-28T05:15:41Z")
I wonder if the people having to scale back their own plans to help May get a new body realize she could have just gotten one from Yay without them having to give up anything, but chose not to? It seems to me that they’re pretty much just making sacrifices to stroke her ego, not to actually solve the problem. The moral/ethical side of this storyline is pretty muddled, and I’m pretty sure it’s not saying whatever Jeph wanted it to say. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2445 "2020-07-28T06:35:57Z")
Where are you getting 10k from? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2446 "2020-07-28T12:55:48Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > It seems to me that they’re pretty much just making sacrifices to stroke her ego, not to actually solve the problem. Philanthopy IS solving the problem - both the immediate need that May has, as well the systemic problem that led to her situation. Society cannot rely upon the few ultra wealthy to solve their problems - it is always a better solution to engage the masses. The financial capital needed to be raised might be difficult to source that way, but that’s only part of the issue. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Where are you getting 10k from? I’m going to guess that the number is closer to 100k than 10k. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2447 "2020-07-28T13:05:07Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Philanthopy IS solving the problem - both the immediate need that May has, as well the systemic problem that led to her situation. Society cannot rely upon the few ultra wealthy to solve their problems - it is always a better solution to engage the masses. The financial capital needed to be raised might be difficult to source that way, but that’s only part of the issue. I fail to see how it is a better solution. If Yay paid for May’s body, all of May’s friends would be financially better off. By turning down Yay’s offer, all she’s doing is making her friends suffer for the sake of her ego. “Society cannot rely on the few ultra wealthy to solve their problems” is the opposite message of the strip, since what the strip shows is society relying on the ultra-wealthy (Hanner’s dad) to solve the problem of disembodied AIs wanting bodies. If someone I know had an offer from a billionaire for a new car, but turned it down because they didn’t want to take charity, then asked me to contribute to a GoFundMe for them to get a new car instead, I wouldn’t put any money in, and certainly would not downgrade a once-in-a-lifetime event like a wedding to fund the car. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2448 "2020-07-28T13:18:37Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > since what the strip shows is society relying on the ultra-wealthy (Hanner’s dad) to solve the problem of disembodied AIs wanting bodies. Hanners’ dad won’t be solving the problem because of his wealth, but because of his influence as a mad genius. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2449 "2020-07-28T13:21:15Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I’m going to guess that the number is closer to 100k than 10k. Also more than just people that May knows personally. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2450 "2020-07-28T13:26:22Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > what the strip shows is society relying on the ultra-wealthy (Hanner’s dad) to solve the problem of disembodied AIs wanting bodies That’s not what the strip is showing at all. Hanners herself said that her dad is going to fail at the task, as he gets distracted by the next shiny thing. The smartest (and wealthiest) AI in existence - Yay - has also passed. I believe Yay has done so not out of disdain or disinterest, but because they also see value in rallying the community to a cause, rather than just snapping a finger and making the problem temporarily go away. > [@Pantastic](#): > > If someone I know had an offer from a billionaire for a new car… [May didn’t want to take charity from her friends, either](https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4190), it took a complete failure of her body to sway her opinion. At the end of this story arc is likely a movement towards the systemic change needed for AIs to have the right to embodiment, a movement that never would have taken place if Yay had just purchased a body for May. That’s the point Jeph is likely trying to make. > [@Pantastic](#): > > certainly would not downgrade a once-in-a-lifetime event like a wedding It was just their bachelorette party. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2451 "2020-07-28T13:43:51Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > That’s not what the strip is showing at all. Hanners herself said that her dad is going to fail at the task, as he gets distracted by the next shiny thing. The smartest (and wealthiest) AI in existence - Yay - has also passed. I believe Yay has done so not out of disdain or disinterest, but because they also see value in rallying the community to a cause, rather than just snapping a finger and making the problem temporarily go away. No she didn’t. She worried that he would, and said she was going to contact his assistant to avoid that happening. Whether Yay is the smartest AI is not confirmed by the strip at all, and Yay is definitely not the richest AI as the strip explicitly showed Yay getting rid of all of their money earlier in this arc and has not shown them acquiring billions of dollars again. I don’t see the value in rallying friends to make sacrifices when the whole problem could have easily been solved without the sacrifice if the person > [@](#): > > [May didn’t want to take charity from her friends, either] But now she does. She turned down charity from the person for whom the money wouldn’t be noticeable, and now wants her friends to make sacrifices for the sake of her ego. This arc to me is cementing that May is not a good person at all, which seems at odds with the ‘society shouldn’t prejudge convicted felons’ message. > [@](#): > > It was just their bachelorette party. Holy nitpickery Batman, rephrase to “a once-in-a-lifetime event like AN ANCILLERY PART OF a wedding THAT WAS DEFINITELY TIED IN WITH WEDDING PREPARATIONS” if you think that makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2452 "2020-07-28T13:56:15Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I don’t see the value in rallying friends to make sacrifices when the whole problem could have easily been solved without the sacrifice if the person The “whole problem” cannot be easily solved by one person. That’s the point. > [@Pantastic](#): > > now wants her friends to make sacrifices for the sake of her ego That’s an absurd conclusion to come to. > [@Pantastic](#): > > This arc to me is cementing that May is not a good person at all Ok? It’d be a pretty boring strip if everyone was perfect. But if you want to maintain that someone who had an opinion you didn’t like (“I don’t accept charity”), and changed it to one you do (“Fine, I give up. Let’s do a goddamn charity drive”) cements them as a bad person, then you just have a different view of people than I do. > [@Pantastic](#): > > Holy nitpickery Batman, rephrase to… Wow, calm down there. I think Tai and Dora’s trip to Montreal may have meant more to you than it did to them. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2453 "2020-07-29T15:05:33Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The “whole problem” cannot be easily solved by one person. That’s the point. If that’s the point, then the strip is doing a truly awful job of making that point. Yay could have trivially solved the specific problem of May’s body way back in the beginning with the cash they had on hand. That is one person solving the specific problem I was referring to. If you’re referring to the general issue of disembodied AI felons not being able to afford decent bodies, the strip has established that there are very few of them and that the cost is not actually that large on the scale of government programs. It’s certainly not clear that it’s out of reach for a billionaire to simply set up a trust with a few million dollars to buy bodies for any disembodied felon AIs that want one. > [@](#): > > Wow, calm down there. I think Tai and Dora’s trip to Montreal may have meant more to you than it did to them. In other words, your nitpickery was completely vacuous, but since I called it out with caps you’re going to hide behind ‘oh gosh, you used capital letters to highlight how foolish the nitpickery was, therefore you must be too emotionally invested’. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2454 "2020-07-29T15:29:39Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > If that’s the point, then the strip is doing a truly awful job of making that point. That’s certainly possible. I mean, Roku has attempted to contact several layers of bureaucracy, petitioned a couple of large AI corporations, and discussed the issue with a super-intellect, and discovered that the issue is currently unchangeable. But maybe they could provide you with a colorful chart or something? Would that help? But that aside, you’re ignoring that there’s an entire AI rights organization in their small town. It’s clearly an issue big enough (and I’m speaking more generally here, not just regard to disembodied felon AIs) to need the formation of non-profit organizations that hire executive staff and draw enough attention to get volunteers. > [@Pantastic](#): > > In other words, your nitpickery was completely vacuous, but since I called it out with caps you’re going to hide behind… You should take mild corrections less seriously. I wasn’t attacking your honor, I was pointing out a small misunderstanding of the text. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2455 "2020-07-29T21:17:45Z")
Snow! ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2456 "2020-07-30T05:28:31Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > That’s certainly possible. I mean, Roku has attempted to contact several layers of bureaucracy, Yeah, you’re apparently not reading the same strip I am. Have fun with that. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2457 "2020-07-30T12:49:00Z")
She’s talked to the probation department as well as the body reassignment department. What exactly is your problem in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2458 "2020-07-30T13:09:50Z")
[Moderating] OK, I’ll make Munch’s perfectly reasonable request official: Wow, calm down there, Pantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2459 "2020-07-30T17:04:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > OK, I’ll make Munch’s perfectly reasonable request official: Wow, calm down there, Pantastic. Just to clarify, my previous post was me stating my intention to avoid future discussion with Munch, so I won’t be engaged in any discussion with them at all from here on. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2460 "2020-07-31T17:38:23Z")
I agree that this arc has felt like kind of a narrative mess and, if it’s trying to make a real world point, it’s not doing a good job of it. Plus it feels like another “smooth out the interesting edges on a character” arc where May learns about the love and goodness in her fellow man, yadda yadda. That said, the worst May arc is probably still better than the best Claire or Brun arc so I can’t get too worked up about it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2461 "2020-07-31T18:04:30Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I agree that this arc has felt like kind of a narrative mess and, if it’s trying to make a real world point, it’s not doing a good job of it. Plus it feels like another “smooth out the interesting edges on a character” arc where May learns about the love and goodness in her fellow man, yadda yadda. Followed by Jacques introducing a new secondary character and doing it all over again. Let’s have a poll: will his new character be a quirky female or a woman with unresolved anger issues or a socially awkward character (maybe even a man!) with a secret crush? Stay tuned as we watch this new character become a beloved part of the gang! Or maybe disappear and never be seen again! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967.md?page=122) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967.md?page=124)