Encyclopedia of Inscrutables Studies
Post-Canonical Afterlife Principle
| Abbreviation | PCAP |
|---|---|
| First proposed | WP44 |
| Status | Established Institute principle |
The Post-Canonical Afterlife Principle holds that an Inscrutables panel may derive its comic premise by extending a culturally familiar joke, rhyme, phrase, or narrative beyond the terminal moment at which popular memory conventionally abandons it.
Nursery rhymes stop at the point of maximum image; jokes stop at the punchline; thought experiments stop at the paradox. Trope's panels resume precisely there. The dish and spoon are observed years after the elopement, dividing dish duty (WP43). The chicken who crossed the road is observed afterward, under interrogation (WP44). The cat thought experiment is observed from behind, mid-preparation (WP50, partial application).
The principle's diagnostic question: what does the canon refuse to tell us about what happened next — and what would the paperwork look like?