Editing 1822: Existential Bug Reports

{{comic
| number    = 1822
| date      = April 10, 2017
| title     = Existential Bug Reports
| image     = existential_bug_reports.png
| titletext = ISSUE: If we wait long enough, eventually the Earth will be consumed by the Sun. WORKAROUND: None.
}}
==Explanation==
[[Megan]] is sitting at her desk, writing an error report. Her description of the issue is fairly standard, albeit somewhat vague: A recent software update has broken the support for hardware she needs for her job.  Most likely, she is saying that her OS is now reporting a piece of hardware is no longer supported.  This is self-evidently problematic for her, as described in her error report. 

The humor in this strip comes from her own suggested {{w|workaround}} (a short-term method of working despite the problem), which is absurd as she proposes simply waiting for the {{w|Sun}} to consume the {{w|Earth}} when it turns into a {{w|red giant}} towards the end of its lifetime approximately {{w|Sun#After_core_hydrogen_exhaustion|5 billion years}} from now.

While this would eliminate the issue, as both the hardware and software as well as Megan and her job would all cease to exist, this would not be helpful to Megan as it does not address the underlying problem of her being unable to work in the present. 5 billion years is also far in excess of the lifespan of humans{{Citation needed}} and operating systems alike. Lastly, as it does not allow Megan to actually continue her work, it's not strictly speaking a workaround. 

In the title text, [[Randall]] asks for a workaround from Megan's "workaround". He writes it down as another bug report, as though it were a software problem. The answer is that there is '''none'''. Randall in his crisis see no way to prevent Earth from being consumed by the Sun. However, one possible workaround could be evacuation of the Solar System, as if humanity still exists by the time the Earth's destruction occurs, we will likely have highly advanced technology. Maybe at that time it would even be [https://qntm.org/moving possible to move the Earth], first further out to prevent both the engulfment and also the earlier evaporation of the oceans and later it could then be moved back in when the sun turns into a {{w|white dwarf}}. Known physics also allow [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzuHxL5FD5U various methods of reducing the Sun's mass] to prevent it from becoming a red giant; these would require more energy than moving the Earth, but far less precision.

Megan has previously expressed such existential problems in [[220: Philosophy]], where Randall presented a solution for it. Similar she was depressed in [[1111: Premiere]], where it was the boiling away of the oceans, mentioned above, that was her concern.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Megan is seated at a desk, typing on a laptop.]

:ISSUE: Recent update broke support for hardware I need for my job.

:WORKAROUND: If we wait long enough, the Earth will eventually be consumed by the Sun.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]