Philosoraptor

What if the hokey pokey really IS what it's all about?

Philosoraptor emerged in 2008 from the mind of Sam Smith, who designed the image for his Lonely Dinosaur merchandise line. A velociraptor in thoughtful repose, claw raised to chin in contemplation, became the unlikely vessel for humanity's most pressing pseudo-philosophical questions.

The format was irresistible: a prehistoric predator pondering paradoxes. "If guns don't kill people, people kill people... does that mean toasters don't toast toast, toast toasts toast?" "If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?" "If Cinderella's shoe fit perfectly, why did it fall off?"

Philosoraptor peaked in late 2008 and maintained "God Tier" status on meme generators through 2011, accumulating over 38,000 iterations. It was part of the first wave of Advice Animals—those image macro formats that dominated meme culture before the rise of Twitter and the irony wars.

But as meme culture evolved, Philosoraptor's earnest wordplay began to feel quaint. Shower thoughts took over the philosophical musings market. Surreal and absurdist humor made setup-punchline formats feel dated. By 2014, posting a Philosoraptor unironically was a sign you hadn't updated your meme vocabulary since the Bush administration.

Yet Philosoraptor asked the questions we were too afraid to ask. It made us laugh while making us think. And sometimes, late at night, we still wonder: if you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?

Clever girl.