The point of the comic is not remotely about how to be "human." It's a commentary on Western society and civilization. It's not "human" to ignore homeless beggars either - it's just a thing that I see people doing all the time. Just like being religious. Notice, the title isn't "how to be human" it's "how to be a human," as in, an example of these strange animals that wander around so much of the world.
In fact, if you look elsewhere in the world, away from the Western perspective, almost none of these comics is applicable. Ask an impoverished mother of 11 in Ghana how often she spends time worrying about whether she's the only one who worries (anxiety issues) or wondering if she's made the right choices in life, or dipping her foods into other foods. She'd probably slap you right across the face for being such an idiot. She has better things to do and not enough time or money to do any of them.
The idea behind this comic is that it's a guide put together by an alien anthropologist studying humans in America or Western Europe. A total outsider with no background or contextual information is dropped into this society, and these little snapshots represent what it sees.
I've considered putting some kind of disclaimer on the site explaining this, but then the easiest way to destroy humor is to explain it. Partly I feel like those who get it, will get it, and those who don't, will not likely enjoy the comic even with an explanation about why they shouldn't be offended. I feel like it loses something if it needs to be explained.
But how do others feel about this? Maybe I'm mistaken in my assumptions. Would it be valuable to make a note somewhere in the title that this is the observations of a non-human observer in Western society? I really kind of prefer the feel of the site without that blatant context, just as simple as I can possibly make it. Adding extra explanations like that put a frame around it that I would rather do without. But if there is a very high likelihood of people taking these comics the wrong way, I will consider adding something explanatory.
In any case, new one should be up in a few hours. Got a lot of other things to take care of at home before I can sit down and get it all together.
Author
Topic: How to be a Human (Read 4090 times)