2010-01-15
Explanation
This comic imagines a future where neuroscience has become so mathematically precise that researchers open "Scientific Mind Reading" shops, putting traditional psychics out of business. The first panel shows a street scene with a "Psychic" shop that has an "Out of Business" sign, while next door a "Scientific Mind Reading" establishment has a long queue with a "Now Serving 64" ticket counter. The narration explains that the old-fashioned psychics could not compete because they lacked the same level of clarity.
The second panel illustrates this contrast by showing a traditional psychic giving a vague, flattering cold reading: "I see many hazy qualities in you, all of which are positive and interesting!" This parodies how real-world psychics use generalized, feel-good statements that could apply to anyone.
The third panel reveals the downside of actual mind reading. A scientist cheerfully tells a female customer, "Oh, neat! Here's where you fantasize about your ex-girlfriend!" while reading her brain scan on a monitor. The narration notes, "Quickly, we realize how much we miss them" -- meaning people quickly miss the vagueness and discretion of the old psychics once they experience the brutal honesty of real mind reading. The joke is that genuine mind reading would be mortifyingly invasive, and people would prefer comfortable lies to uncomfortable truths about their inner thoughts.
The votey panel continues this theme with the scientist adding, "And here's your jellyfish fetish!" -- further demonstrating that true mind reading would expose deeply private and embarrassing thoughts that no one wants revealed publicly.