The capacity to learn is the capacity to forget

When you think about it, it’s such an Al Sterling phrasing… Most of his life before Brendan and after he struck out on his own revolved around immersing himself into his work and “boxing away” his own insecurities as if they were just another set of parts to organize and shuffle around his workplace-slash-sanctum.

I can see how he’d feel like rehashing his own bad experiences would do nothing for his own mental health, but, at the same time, it does sound like he’s failed to reexamine some basic, deep-held beliefs about himself and his ability to bond with other people, and that’s super sad. :(

yeah, I would have moved Brendan to the right in the panel and put Al’s dialog behind him (on the left)

Though, it does pair well with the awkwardness Al felt…and Al is right, that listening to her is, by far, the most critical aspect of understanding. just hope he doesn’t stop listening, and goes in half-cocked because he thinks he knows what’s what.

One wonders…with humans, it’s possible to gain emotional distance from an event. Something that you can’t handle as a kid, is something you can get a grip on as an older kid, or a teenager, or an adult. It’s theorized that the ability to forget is an advantage in this respect.

I wonder if an artificial body will allow for that to happen. Or is Al going to always have his bad memories, with all their emotional baggage, to the same degree as he died with, from here on out. Plus whatever new things come up.

I’m going to ask the question everyone is thinking. What if she starts to remember their relationship, even the mundanely intimate things? That would be so messed up…

good eye, Minivet!

and thank you for that!!