JESSE: EVERYTHING THAT WE KNOW AND LOVE IS REDUCIBLE TO THE ABSURD ACTS OF CHEMICALS, AND THERE IS THEREFORE NO INTRINSIC VALUE IN THIS MATERIAL UNIVERSE.
JAMES: HYPOCRITE THAT YOU ARE, FOR YOU TRUST THE CHEMICALS IN YOUR BRAIN TO TELL YOU THEY ARE CHEMICALS. ALL KNOWLEDGE IS ULTIMATELY BASED ON THAT WHICH WE CANNOT PROVE. WILL YOU FIGHT? OR WILL YOU PERISH LIKE A HERDIER?
I like how this simple pokemon joke comic brings us from Chomsky’s example of how free will and order can arise from a materialist universe via the example of language(and thus, that materialism is not wholly and inherently deterministic) all the way back to Plato, 2000+ years ago, stupidly arguing that you’re born knowing everything, learning is impossible, and all knowledge is just memory from a pre-existence union with Perfect/Ideal Divinity.
panel 1: Ask Ketchum and Mouth. Ash is crouching down towards Mouth, and speaking to someone off-screen. he says “Hey gang! this mouth can speak Human Language!” Meowth responds “Actually I’m still just saying my name.”
panel 2: Ash has turned to look at meowth. Meowth’s dialogue continues “My name is just really long. I’m a mutant whose full name is the continuous string of all utterances I will ever make until I died.”
panel 3: the camera has zoomed in on ash, who has raised his hand to his chin to think. he says “Hmm, wait… that means that if all Pokémon names are innately known, and you too are a Pokémon, then your name must statistically account for all possible worlds that satisfy the truth conditions of the utterances that comprise your name… which means…”
panel 4: the camera has zoomed back out to show both characters again. Ash continues “all future interactions have been genetically encoded within you!” Meowth responds “Precisely! My genome is indicative of the predetermined nature of reality”
panel 5: only ash is shown, both hands up to his face in realization. there is a pink exclamation point and pink lines around him to reinforce this realization he is having. He says “Then Chomsky was wrong! The generative principles that allow us to produce an infinite set of utterances using a finite set of resources is undermined by the wholly predetermined nature of spacetime!”
panel 6: the camera switches to Meowth, who is winking and jumping up, also with pink lines around him. he says “Meowth that’s right! The description of language as a dynamical system whose surface form is generated by innate computational principles of environmentally-driven parameters are a false explanation afforded by the inability of human cognition to perceive time as it it really is!”
panel 7: the camera shows both characters again. ash says “and if reality is fully deterministic, then speaking a language is simply a body solving all subjective experiences, a priori!” mouth responds “Yes! and since my linguistic behavior is indistinguishable from yours, the mechanisms that underlie your faculty of language may operate much the same way!”
panel 8: same format as panel 7, but no dialogue.
panel 9: camera focuses on Ash, who is now pointing ahead. His pikachu is on his pointing hand, with blue electricity around it. The background is pink, and emphasis lines surround Ash. Ash is shouting “Alright Pikachu! Lat’s show Team Rocket what we’ve got!” Pickachu says “Weh!”. in the bottom right corner is a signature reading leftover salad.com
Brachycephalus are… special creatures. They exemplify the rule that ultra-miniaturised animals undergo major morphological remodelling. In their case, this has resulted in unprecedented changes to the otic capsule, which has apparently caused them to lose hearing, as well as attitude control after jumping.
But tbh they’re a pretty successful genus in terms of species diversity, and can apparently be locally abundant. So they’re clearly good at what they are adapted for. That strange jumping strategy might even be advantageous, if, for instance, it makes your would-be predator pee themselves laughing and forget that you were supposed to be their next meal.
"Kanata is not yet a god, so he does not know anything."
Season: Winter
Location: Funeral Venue
13 years ago from ES’ first year of establishment. At a funeral venue, somewhere in Tokyo…
Souma: I’m freeeee~!
(Now, what to do! Think, Souma! There’s only half an hour of free time left! Which is, umm, about thirty minutes!)
(I need to make the most of my time with… With something! I mustn’t make waste!)
…But, I’m hungry.
I have a feeling Father forgot about my food.
(What do I do? One can’t fight on an empty stomach…)
(Usually its Mother who prepares my food, but… Mother will be giving birth to my cute younger brother soon.)
(She can’t move because she’s so heavy. So there’s nothing that can be done. We can’t have her walk such a long way away.)
(Even if this funeral… is of someone of utmost priority to our clan.
(Mhm, seems like someone has passed away.)
(Someone who seems to be of great importance to us.)
(Or, perhaps it's offensive to address them as “someone”?)
(Because, that person seems to be a “god”.)
(…A funeral for a god? Do gods die? Hmm…?)
(Well, if they die, they die! Father and Mother would never be wrong about something!)
Uggh, I’m getting hungry thinking so hard. I’m starving. Not even the Great Taikou-sama[1] would have thought we’d suffer and starve to death in the affluent, modern Japan…!)
(Maybe I should ask Father to cook me something to eat~… But he looked busy, and he’s always talking about how boys don’t belong in the kitchen.)
(Hm. In that case, it appears I have no choice but to find food myself.)
(I’m sure if I look hard enough, I can find some insect or beast that can be used as nourishment.)
(No, now that I’m looking closer, food is lined up everywhere!)
(Or is this a mirage that I am seeing?)
(I’m not sure, but this must be a gift from god! In other words, umm, God has helped me!)
(I am filled with gratitude!)
(…Do I need permission to eat this? Will I get scolded? But, there’s nobody around for me to get permission from…)
(And, ugh~… and I’m hungry!)
Thanks for the food!
*chomp chomp*… Ugh, the flavor is so strong. Mother’s food is much more mild…
(Ah! Someone’s coming! Oh no, it’d be embarrassing to be caught stealing food! It’s a shameful act as the child of a samurai family!)
(I-I gotta hide… I’ll go under the table and use it’s curtain to hide myself.)
(Hurry, Souma! Go!!)
Kanata: …Wha, oh?
Souma: ….!?
Kanata: Hm~? Hm~? Hm~?
Souma: …? …?
(What? Who? There’s someone suspicious~!)
(Who is this guy? He’s got a strange air surrounding him…)
Kanata: Is someone there? Mikejima, is it you?
Souma: (Huh? Eh? What’d he say?)
(What a strange-sounding voice… I couldn’t understand him.)
Kanata: …Mikejima.
…Or, not. You smell different.
*lick*…. Hm, and taste different.
Souma: Hyaah!? What did you just do!? Are you a youkai!?
Kanata: Who are you?
Souma: W-Who are you? What are you doing here?
Kanata: Kanata is not doing anything.
Doing nothing, in a sense.
Souma: ? ? ?
Kanata: Do you not understand, Child?
Is it difficult to understand what Kanata is saying?
Souma: K,-katana?[2] No, did you say “Kanata”? Is that your…?
Madara: —Mikejima has arrived when you least expect it!
Souma: Gyahh!?
Madara: Whoaa there, I hit him pretty hard, but who's this guy? Know him, God?
Kanata: Kanata is not yet a god, so he does not know anything.[3]
Also, you took a long time coming back, Mikejima.
Madara: Sorryyy, I had a bit of trouble securing an infiltration route, you see—
Souma: (W-Who is this person? These people? They look to be about the same age as me…)
(Ahh, no good. I was already feeling dizzy from hunger, so the shock of getting hit is making me feel faint…)
(I’ve been, defeated… Losing, consciousness…)
… …
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1. Referring to Toyomi Hideyoshi, a samurai who later rose to feudal lord. He used to be a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and succeeded him to unite Japan during the Sengoku period.
2. Souma uses the kanji for katana (刀) here out of confusion, since it's similar to Kanata.
3. This line here is partially voice-acted in-game if you'd like to hear baby Kanata speak!
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