From Enlightenment to Idiocracy

This cartoon humorously critiques the trajectory of human achievement, beginning with Gutenberg, the Egyptian architects of great pyramids, Stone Age inventors of the wheel, and monks who transcribed illuminated manuscripts full of profound thought. Humanity’s relentless pursuit of innovation has led to incredible technological advancements like the internet, capable of granting instant access to the sum of all human knowledge. Yet today, platforms like TikTok and Instagram have virtually devolved into endless streams of people in far too small micro bikinis, doing little infantile dances with their cleavage and butts bouncing out of the small patches of textile and into the camera. The cartoon highlights the absurdity of how we’ve chosen to use the combined knowledge of humanity and this powerful technology—turning it into a vessel for superficial entertainment, while deeper intellectual and cultural pursuits fall by the wayside. With consumers growing ever more distracted and governments descending into idiocracies, the cartoon asks: is this really what we’ve worked so hard to achieve?