FUTURE

The 3-panel layout appears at the end of this post:

Last week I heard an interview with futurist Jane McGonigal (whose work is super sharp and interesting), and the skeptical side of my brain recalled the “Turkey Problem” described by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book The Black Swan:

Consider a turkey that is fed every day. Every single feeding will firm up the bird’s belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race “looking out for its best interests,” as a politician would say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of belief.

That’s a bit more than just a “glass half empty” worldview, and I thought its sudden, truthful contrast would make a good story.

This story also shows the influence of the graphic novel Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli, one of my favorite comics creators. His masterwork’s use of bold color shapes and expressive graphic design actually influences all of my 3DOM stories.

I continue to share daily Batober posts on Instagram and TikTok during this last week of October. 🦇 Check out those channels if you’d like to follow my progress.

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