this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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That's... not the joke. Holy shit have people over-thought the three shells. It's not supposed to make sense or have a physical utility that you can imagine. THAT IS THE JOKE.
User above was kind of right that it reflected an anxiety about change to personal habits for "environmentalism" and other things that were happening at the time like people pushing for saving water in the bathroom.
The joke is mystery, like duh, the conversations about how to use it were relevant. No human in the US had anxiety over bidets. When conversations about the sea shells were had, they involved the physical use of them specifically.
Bidets weren't in the zeitgeist. When people engage with the sea shells (the literal and exact intention of the sea shells was to wonder how you use them), they thought about how they would physically replace toilet paper. The scene literally shows you the main character generating paper to use.
Like it's crazy I even have to note this, when you hear hoofbeats in Wyoming, you don't wonder if zebra are making them.