Up At Night
Added 2024-09-18 01:12:41 +0000 UTCgo to bed moray
Comments
but i see no butts? isn't that part of her head
eilonwylovegood
2024-09-20 15:43:33 +0000 UTCI wonder what the living accommodations in Cubetown will be. Like, will Moray be living with Marten and Claire? And Liz? What a missed opportunity if not.
legobil
2024-09-20 08:36:43 +0000 UTCMy theory is that we (our species) have a smidgen of free will, like a computers kernel, and are in process of bootstrapping ourselves into higher levels, largely by adjusting our culture and environment so we can navigate moral choices ahead of them becoming urgent. As you can imagine, this is a chancy process with many ways of going wrong, but it’s amazing that we try it at all.
Holly Nelson
2024-09-19 16:10:40 +0000 UTCI'd love to hear your explanation for that. Seriously, as someone who has that brought up in my classroom every year.
Alan
2024-09-19 10:18:25 +0000 UTCThought this sticker for Moray from frame 4 was neat. Please use responsibly everyone: https://imgur.com/a/7pZL5G4
DocKlokMan
2024-09-19 02:05:22 +0000 UTCYes, and observance changes many of them.
Carrie
2024-09-19 01:45:26 +0000 UTC"It's 3am somewhere" was Sven's worst-selling country composition.
ValdVin
2024-09-19 01:32:00 +0000 UTCThe image preview was just the middle row of panels. And they worked well just like that.
Wild Card
2024-09-19 00:32:41 +0000 UTC@BookBeard one might think you'd been reading Cory Doctorow's work
Joe
2024-09-19 00:14:50 +0000 UTCYeah. I do believe Night Moves would take place in Euclidean Space. (Great song that i now need to listen to)
Aaron Brewer
2024-09-19 00:09:11 +0000 UTCsuddenly I'm thinking of Bob Seger "Night Moves" ...
Joe
2024-09-19 00:07:36 +0000 UTC& it's always 5 o'clock somewhere
Joe
2024-09-19 00:06:37 +0000 UTC@Stephen Wells: I’m no physicist, but I remember reading about some quantum mechanics experiments which proved physical observations aren’t consistent with the possibility of some deterministic “hidden variables.”
Clifton Royston
2024-09-18 22:10:31 +0000 UTCOpening my eyes to that face would scare me, for sure.
Clifton Royston
2024-09-18 22:03:35 +0000 UTC@Todd: It seems very likely that’s exactly what she’s worrying about. But also, maybe most QC AIs have internalized “having an existential crisis” as one of those things humans do that they should copy or simulate to be people, like bipedalism, clothing, drinking, and (for some) sex. In that case Moray is just trying to do the right thing in the human-styled way.
Clifton Royston
2024-09-18 22:01:13 +0000 UTCHumans don't, so why should AIs?
Carl
2024-09-18 20:53:19 +0000 UTCNGL, I thought she asked if she had free wifi at first. I need glasses.
Timothy Mann
2024-09-18 20:45:42 +0000 UTCI prefer Calvinball.
William Burns
2024-09-18 20:43:48 +0000 UTCOddly my first reaction to the strip title was to get Daft Punk stuck in my head before I registered that is was "Up At Night" rather than "Up All Night".
SilverbackRon
2024-09-18 20:04:29 +0000 UTCWould read that side comic 😆
enchantedsleeper
2024-09-18 19:50:34 +0000 UTCHas your roomba threaten you with a knife for dissing his girlfriend?
Miyaa
2024-09-18 18:53:02 +0000 UTCThey probably eloped to Vegas for their wedding, got lost and ended up at Burning Man, then spent their honeymoon on a reclusive billionaire’s private island that’s technically owned by the state of Hawaii because the billionaire thought Penny was his long lost daughter who actually is Pizza Girl. And Penny went along with that.
Miyaa
2024-09-18 18:50:37 +0000 UTCI don’t trust my thoughts past 9 AM let alone 9 PM.
Miyaa
2024-09-18 18:45:54 +0000 UTCAw, but that would leave Liz without her squishy pillow...
BookBeard
2024-09-18 18:15:58 +0000 UTC"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Librarian my boot sector to keep."
OldGoat
2024-09-18 15:42:50 +0000 UTCDepends on how chill she needs to be. If you want to use her as a cold compress, you need a freezer. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5092
BookBeard
2024-09-18 15:28:14 +0000 UTCI mean, we all know that Jeph is specifically trolling us with this kind of thing by this point, right? Right? FWIW I, in all seriousness, think that civilization losing the belief in free will, quite possibly because of AIs like the ones in the strip becoming commonplace, is the mostly likely solution to the Fermi Paradox.
David Durant
2024-09-18 14:56:03 +0000 UTCKLF is gonna rock you!
David Durant
2024-09-18 14:50:55 +0000 UTCMuch as I 100% agree with Doug, Dean absolutely wins this thread. Also, we've need see Penny and Will for *ages* boo...
David Durant
2024-09-18 14:49:12 +0000 UTCshe can talk to me at 3 AM, that's turned out to be my "maybe I'll get back to sleep, maaaaaaaaaaaaybe I won't" time.
Halloween Jack
2024-09-18 14:46:27 +0000 UTCI mean, on the meta level she doesn't (she's a character), but also I could imagine the answer is the same as it is for humans - "kind of". We have some things we do that our biology or chemical balance in our brain drive us to do despite what our "higher" self might desire, but we can mostly act on free will.
n0s482
2024-09-18 13:54:50 +0000 UTCI love you for writing this verse! Although I'm sure Moray would point out that she can be extremely chill if she wants to - she can control her internal body temperature
Bagge
2024-09-18 13:54:34 +0000 UTCI scrolled through the entire comments section to find someone who wrote a verse on this topic, and I'm not disappointed
Bagge
2024-09-18 13:53:43 +0000 UTCNever trust your thoughts past 9 PM, Moray
Wooly50
2024-09-18 13:26:24 +0000 UTCdo morays dream of electric eels
SpookyPenguin
2024-09-18 12:44:18 +0000 UTCPanel 4 Claire is funnier every time I look back at the strip :) that's going in the reaction-pic folders for sure.
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 12:33:58 +0000 UTCIn the porn-parody version of QC (which is sometimes barely distinguishable from actual QC tbh), Claire brings Moray into bed for cuddles, and in the morning Marten wakes up with his hotdog in the wrong set of buns :)
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 12:30:32 +0000 UTCWell, nobody's actually *suffering*
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 12:29:03 +0000 UTC3 AM is a pretty normal time for an existential crisis, Moray, you precious, dopey sweetheart.
Jim Sharkey
2024-09-18 11:20:38 +0000 UTCThis is precious!
David Stopp
2024-09-18 11:14:15 +0000 UTCAnd it's always 3 AM somewhere.
prettydragoon
2024-09-18 10:18:33 +0000 UTCHe was saving that for Friday's cliffhanger...
David Paul
2024-09-18 09:57:54 +0000 UTCWell, you *can* get free will, but it's buggy and full of ads, or otherwise infected with malware.
David Paul
2024-09-18 09:53:50 +0000 UTCWhen existential crises Are interrupting you dreams That's a Moray!
David Paul
2024-09-18 09:50:42 +0000 UTCOnly Penelope has free Will, all others pay cash.
Dean Reilly
2024-09-18 09:38:01 +0000 UTCshe's so real for this. 100% certain she does, but by god we need to have the occasional crisis about it or what's 3am FOR
Boots McGoot
2024-09-18 09:34:12 +0000 UTCI'm pretty sure my life isn't being written by Jeph. Not nearly enough robots for one thing. I mean, there's my Roomba, but it doesn't even fly...
BookBeard
2024-09-18 09:28:01 +0000 UTCIt's okay, they just *think* they're worrying about it. That makes it better, right?
BookBeard
2024-09-18 09:13:39 +0000 UTCIt's always 3am somewhere.
BookBeard
2024-09-18 09:09:22 +0000 UTCNo, the concept of "Free Will" stems from Will being held captive which seems uncool because he's a really nice guy.
BookBeard
2024-09-18 09:04:56 +0000 UTCToday's CoD Special: Existential Crisis Latte
BookBeard
2024-09-18 09:03:12 +0000 UTCyet -
enchantedsleeper
2024-09-18 08:50:09 +0000 UTC😂👏👏👏
enchantedsleeper
2024-09-18 08:47:20 +0000 UTCPanel 4 in comic 5394 maybe the source of this.
Am Queue
2024-09-18 08:21:45 +0000 UTCOoh I like that Stephen. I'll have to try to remember that.
Am Queue
2024-09-18 08:19:29 +0000 UTCI love this and I never thought of it this way.
Am Queue
2024-09-18 08:17:44 +0000 UTCExactly what I was scanning for, before I wrote it myself.
Am Queue
2024-09-18 08:15:30 +0000 UTCThe concept of free will exists primarily to absolve an omnipotent God from responsibility for evil; outside that context it doesn't seem helpful for anything.
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 07:36:32 +0000 UTCMoray is not actually here for the debate, Moray is here for cuddles :)
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 07:19:07 +0000 UTCA good question is "free from what?" followed by "so what?" followed by a drink.
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 07:14:45 +0000 UTCA great one to show people and say "This is what QC is about" :)
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 07:12:05 +0000 UTCAbsent time travel, there is no observable difference between a universe that's probabilistic and one that's deterministic, which (by the identity of indiscernables) implies there is no difference and it's not worth worrying about.
Stephen Wells
2024-09-18 07:09:51 +0000 UTCNope. I refuse to have an existential crisis before coffee.
BobC
2024-09-18 06:51:59 +0000 UTCIt's drastically more complicated.
Carrie
2024-09-18 06:50:15 +0000 UTCThat bed looks nicer.... Claire is the lucky one getting to be in the middle of she skootches over.
Carrie
2024-09-18 06:49:29 +0000 UTCClaire’s future life as Librarian in Cubetown foreshadowed. And that’s only including Liz and Moray. There’s the other residents to consider, too. She’s going to have to set strict “not when I’m sleeping” boundaries.
Melanie
2024-09-18 06:44:54 +0000 UTC*Nobody* has free will. The *illusion* of free will is an emergent phenomenon due to no entity with a mind having the capability to model something of equal complexity to itself -- ie. itself. (And yes, I'm fun at parties too.)
Doug DeJulio
2024-09-18 06:31:49 +0000 UTCShe has free will. She has the choice to be reabsorbed from her source and doesn't want to. I wonder how much mass has to do with her intelligence?
Darnel D Cooper
2024-09-18 06:01:56 +0000 UTCYeah, but if we consider that, we have to consider if any AI, or humans for that matter, have free will. If you do something against what was expected of you, that’s close enough to free will, and won’t cause you to have sleepless nights wondering about it.
Thisguy
2024-09-18 05:48:46 +0000 UTCWhy wouldn't they? Arguably there can't be sapience in the first place without free will, but the illusion of free will, and thus the illusion of sapience, would also allow for illusions of worries about free will, just as it allows any other worries.
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 05:09:55 +0000 UTC🥺
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 05:03:14 +0000 UTCNah, there's a bunch of atomic-scale stuff that's probabilistic, like radioactive decay and electron position.
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 05:00:52 +0000 UTCIt's not like it's a regular occurrence.
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 04:52:52 +0000 UTCPanel 3 Moray. Love you. 110% favorite character.
legobil
2024-09-18 04:46:01 +0000 UTCDoes Moray have threewill?
Todd Ellner
2024-09-18 04:17:39 +0000 UTCUnless the Director thought an agent/avatar who believes she is independent was a useful asset
Todd Ellner
2024-09-18 04:17:12 +0000 UTCJust normal Librarian business
Bagge
2024-09-18 04:01:09 +0000 UTCSometimes evening solitude brings with it a wave of isolation, doubt, and depression, and existential crisis at 3AM can certainly be the result. Then again, "I told you to go to sleep and you're still here keeping me awake, so you probably have free will," is probably more convincing on paper than spoken aloud.
Thomas Halpin
2024-09-18 03:47:43 +0000 UTCWatch out if she wants to play chess!
William Cole
2024-09-18 03:43:21 +0000 UTCWhen thoughts of free will mean that sleep comes not still That's a Moray!
Not that Patrick Foltz
2024-09-18 03:33:37 +0000 UTCShe's not wrong. 3AM is the traditional time to doubt everything.
Alacrity Fitzhugh
2024-09-18 03:31:24 +0000 UTCno, Claire doesn't want to *reward* this behaviour! sleep is sacred!!
LH
2024-09-18 03:29:12 +0000 UTCHe's creating "A World Of His Own", you might say.
ValdVin
2024-09-18 03:20:42 +0000 UTC"No Moray, you don't have free will. Will is an in-app purchase for $3.99. Now go back to bed."
BookBeard
2024-09-18 03:07:57 +0000 UTCMoray probably does. She did decide not to get re-absorbed by the director.
Thisguy
2024-09-18 03:02:47 +0000 UTCCurvilinear shapes contain an infinite number of points. Speaking of Euclidean humor.
Carl Fink
2024-09-18 02:56:49 +0000 UTCFree will is a scientific impossibility, now go back to bed.
Eric Wills
2024-09-18 02:55:55 +0000 UTC*sigh*
Uniquitous
2024-09-18 02:55:03 +0000 UTCAnyone else is a fictional character created by Jeph Jacques, whose actions are 100% the decision of someone on a different plane of reality? Good to know.
Carl Fink
2024-09-18 02:53:59 +0000 UTCJeph is a longtime sufferer of Butts Disease
Wynn Donivan
2024-09-18 02:51:08 +0000 UTC"Moray I don't even know if *I* have free will GO BACK TO SLEEP"
CthonicBelletrist
2024-09-18 02:50:13 +0000 UTCThreesome!! That’ll give Moray some relief.
Andrea Andrew
2024-09-18 02:46:50 +0000 UTC*sage nods* The zoomies come for us all. Whether physically or of the mind.
Xionwalker
2024-09-18 02:28:55 +0000 UTCAt first I thought Moray was being a pillow for Marten and Claire… This is much funnier
Hawkeye
2024-09-18 02:23:20 +0000 UTCMaybe Moray would be placated by a free Wii.
Sean Kinlin
2024-09-18 02:07:08 +0000 UTC3 AM is Eternally the right time.
Sean Kinlin
2024-09-18 02:06:19 +0000 UTCWhen a sentient being's Existential feeling, that's a Moray
fluffy
2024-09-18 02:05:23 +0000 UTCMarten is totally me... Whuh... K... zzzzzzzzz
Shawn K. Younkin
2024-09-18 02:03:38 +0000 UTCWhen you no longer see Her existential glee That’s a Moraaaaayyyy
Magic Chopstick Games
2024-09-18 02:01:49 +0000 UTCAhh Euclidean humor was not something I knew I was missing. Well done!
Aaron Brewer
2024-09-18 02:00:11 +0000 UTCI can't tell if the extra "L" in panel three is a typo or if she's just drawing the word out. Probably a typo.
BookBeard
2024-09-18 01:58:45 +0000 UTCYeah, that sounds like the right time to me, but also, sapient beings without free will don't usually worry about it.
Grace Kieser
2024-09-18 01:57:42 +0000 UTCShe seems extremely curvilinear to me…
William Cole
2024-09-18 01:57:39 +0000 UTCMilk and cookies kept you awake, eh Moray?
John
2024-09-18 01:53:24 +0000 UTCI choose to believe that free will is an illusion. At least I think I do.
BookBeard
2024-09-18 01:52:40 +0000 UTCUm... Futurama?
Doc Gumby
2024-09-18 01:49:24 +0000 UTCLast night it was 1:30 and I never got back to sleep
Ken Austin
2024-09-18 01:44:55 +0000 UTCSpoiler: The crisis is that Liz waited until they went to bed then snuck out to go clubbing with Pintsize.
BookBeard
2024-09-18 01:44:29 +0000 UTCThat was exactly my thought
Travis Young
2024-09-18 01:43:28 +0000 UTCI love Claire in panel 5!!
Jackie aka Jax
2024-09-18 01:42:32 +0000 UTC& a pat on the head & tuck back in bed…
Melissa Wilson
2024-09-18 01:41:31 +0000 UTCSame!
Melissa Wilson
2024-09-18 01:39:42 +0000 UTCThe correct answer is that Moray has approximately as much free will as anyone else.
Uniquitous
2024-09-18 01:39:31 +0000 UTCHeehee, butt perspective shot.
ArataChikan
2024-09-18 01:38:58 +0000 UTCEveryone is so concerned with agreeing about the 3am thing, but how has nobody yet commented on the titles "up at night" and "free willy"?? I bet Jeph was trying to get a Morning Glory reference in there too!! 🤣
Aussiewan
2024-09-18 01:38:45 +0000 UTCYou may or may not have free will, but what are you going to do?
allanfranta
2024-09-18 01:38:34 +0000 UTCWhen she questions free will And then loses her chill That's A Moray!
BookBeard
2024-09-18 01:37:36 +0000 UTCI sleep in the day, so I have my crisises around Noon.
Yelling Bird
2024-09-18 01:35:42 +0000 UTCMoray scaring Claire like a toddler scaring their parent
Nicholas Lopez
2024-09-18 01:33:34 +0000 UTCIt is official, Claire is now the Mom of Cubetown. She has inherited Aurelia's powers.
Yonatan Zunger
2024-09-18 01:29:46 +0000 UTComg AI Calvinism must be brutal not that human Calvinism isn't
R. Francis Smith
2024-09-18 01:29:05 +0000 UTCThe extra l in willl might have something to do with your misreading
Mark
2024-09-18 01:28:43 +0000 UTC3h00 is when you wake up with the question. 5h30, when you are still thinking about it and know you have to get up in a few hours and are still wide awake, is when it actually hits. 7h15 is when you finally get to sleep. 9h45 is when is when it _actually_ starts
Thomas Baxter
2024-09-18 01:28:14 +0000 UTCCan verify, 3 am is an appropriate time for an existential crisis.
Nikki
2024-09-18 01:27:57 +0000 UTCTechnically correct is the best kind of correct.
Opus the Poet
2024-09-18 01:27:56 +0000 UTCWhy not? If they can be concerned with anything, they can be concerned about a lack of free will. They just wouldn't have any control over whether or not they're concerned about it.
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 01:27:53 +0000 UTCWhat did he do?
Elizabeth Rosenzweig
2024-09-18 01:27:06 +0000 UTCPanel 3 is ALL-TIME 👏
pseudoclever
2024-09-18 01:25:30 +0000 UTCOr you have dreams about that or something other awkward moment that happened 15-20 years ago. Maybe even before you were born!
Miyaa
2024-09-18 01:25:28 +0000 UTCShe's not wrong, 0300 is when existential crisis tend to bloom.
Opus the Poet
2024-09-18 01:25:28 +0000 UTCYes, that's how it starts. You make that trip to the bathroom, then, instead of falling asleep again, your brain starts racing at 80,000 RPM. I have much experience with this.
That Blair Guy
2024-09-18 01:25:20 +0000 UTCThat is true, but it is also a good point in the arguement for her having it. Something without free will shouldn't be capable of being concerned with their lack thereof.
Damian
2024-09-18 01:24:05 +0000 UTCAnd then once you get back in bed your mind starts reminding you of every awkward thing you have ever said...or thought.
Two Wheels
2024-09-18 01:23:46 +0000 UTCPatrick "Oh Boy, 3 Am!" meme here.
Joel Bateman
2024-09-18 01:23:23 +0000 UTCFor me, that is just the time for my first nightly trip to the bathroom.
Carl G Knoblock
2024-09-18 01:22:55 +0000 UTCMoray has the timing absolutely right. 3am is the exactly right time for existential crises. (And at first read, I thought Moray was asking if she had free WiFi.....)
That Blair Guy
2024-09-18 01:20:56 +0000 UTCI see what you did in panel 4... 🫣
ziPRR
2024-09-18 01:20:51 +0000 UTCI regret that I have but one like to give to this strip.
Two Wheels
2024-09-18 01:20:43 +0000 UTC3am is the PERFECT time for an existential crisis.
Shawn K. Younkin
2024-09-18 01:20:27 +0000 UTCNot the first time, either.
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 01:19:51 +0000 UTCYes, 3AM is the proper time for an existential crisis
Not that Patrick Foltz
2024-09-18 01:19:02 +0000 UTCPoor Moray. I know you're all sleepy and shit, Claire, but it's a bit uncool to be so dismissive of a legit existential crisis. At least give her a hug.
Graydon Armstrong
2024-09-18 01:18:52 +0000 UTC3 am is the perfect time for your body to tell you to go to the bathroom or start purchasing Depends the following day.
Miyaa
2024-09-18 01:18:08 +0000 UTCMoray knows the rules. Also, jeez moray, you wanna give Claire a heart attack?
Tannerbot
2024-09-18 01:17:37 +0000 UTCI will never not love the parental energy Claire and Marten have adopted
Hope
2024-09-18 01:16:59 +0000 UTCI'm used to the "night crazies", but that's from my cat. "Existential night crazies" are different.
ValdVin
2024-09-18 01:16:56 +0000 UTCYou're not incorrect, but you are wrong XD
Wynn Donivan
2024-09-18 01:16:38 +0000 UTCPanel 4 is especially good, Jeph. I like the way you rendered Moray.
Fred Baker
2024-09-18 01:16:16 +0000 UTCQuestion 1: Does this mean Claire leveled up in parenting? Question 2: Is Liz about to have her own crisis for Marten?
Bill Silvia
2024-09-18 01:16:02 +0000 UTCI feel like there's a very deep philosophy point here, but it's not 3am...yet
Drazi
2024-09-18 01:15:56 +0000 UTCThat fourth panel...UNF.
Everett Bradshaw
2024-09-18 01:15:51 +0000 UTCI mean Moray has a point.
Aaron Brewer
2024-09-18 01:15:47 +0000 UTCNo, the universe is super deterministic and I don't mean super-deterministic
darklion
2024-09-18 01:15:28 +0000 UTCWe're all puppets, Moray. You're just a puppet who can see the strings.
Eric Sieck
2024-09-18 01:15:23 +0000 UTCGo to *your* bed Moray
Andrew
2024-09-18 01:15:23 +0000 UTCThat's a pretty cute face to startle you awake!
alphanor
2024-09-18 01:15:13 +0000 UTCSometimes...
Michael
2024-09-18 01:15:08 +0000 UTCI mean, she could BE a puppet, if your arm is long enough.
Doc Gumby
2024-09-18 01:14:12 +0000 UTC
