https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=83.110.137.253explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-07-07T07:17:50ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=128:_dPain_over_dt&diff=29814128: dPain over dt2013-03-05T10:27:03Z<p>83.110.137.253: /* Correction: dPain/dt is rate of pain, as opposed to 'change in rate of pain' which would be d2Pain/dt2 */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 128<br />
| date = July 14, 2006<br />
| title = dPain over dt<br />
| image = dPain_over_dt.png<br />
| titletext = You laugh to keep from crying, you do math to keep from crying...<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
Another one of the math-love relationship comics, a mathematical depiction of pain as a derivative of time is shown. It is hoped that dPain/dt, or the rate of pain (in this case, shrinking), decreases quickly so that the pain will vanish quickly.<br />
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If k1 was positive or if k2 was a large value, the value of dPain/dt would approach zero. Ideally, k1 would be "How much she's in my life"/Pain (which, if we assume both these values are positive, would mean the ideal k1 would be positive), while k2 would ideally be extremely large. Either of these scenarios approach what would be a situation where the value of dPain/dt is close to zero.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:dPain/dt = (-k<sub>1</sub> Pain + [Image of Megan]) (1/(1 + e ^ -(t-k<sub>2</sub>)/d))<br />
:k<sub>1</sub>=?<br />
:k<sub>2</sub>=?<br />
:[Image of Megan]=How much she's still in my life<br />
:Please let d only be a few days... or weeks<br />
:I guess there's some kind of a cutoff after years, where it stops mattering and we can be friends. Do I <u>want</u> that?<br />
:Is k<sub>1</sub> positive? Is k<sub>2</sub> large?<br />
:Will I ever stop feeling like this?<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>83.110.137.253https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=103:_Moral_Relativity&diff=29545103: Moral Relativity2013-03-03T13:05:04Z<p>83.110.137.253: /* Correction: c is light speed and cannot be equated to execution time */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 103<br />
| date = May 17, 2006<br />
| title = Moral Relativity<br />
| image = moral_relativity.jpg<br />
| titletext = It's science!<br />
}}<br />
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== Explanation ==<br />
Simple explanation: It's easier to commit a crime when you can get away with it.<br />
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Scientific explanation: The chance of someone catching you while doing something illegal is equal to the time it takes to do that and put you in a position to deny doing that. Deduction: while it makes moral sense to not steal an expensive watch from a jeweller, chances are you are likely less prohibited when that stealing takes only 0.001 second, rendering you invisible from security cameras and the jeweller itself. Therefore, any crime that reaches an execution speed equal to '''c''' (which is light speed, or zero execution time over small distances) is likely to put your moral compass at risk.<br />
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Alternate explanation: The main joke in this comic is its interpretation of moral relativity along the same lines as the {{w|Theory of Relativity}}. In the field of {{w|Ethics}} moral relativity holds that moral judgements are not absolute, but rather relative to the group of people involved. The Theory of Relativity predicts (among other things) that physical properties of an object change the closer to the speed of light it travels—length contracts, observed time slows down, etc. Thus it's humorous that the ethics of a situation would be relative the same way physical properties change as the speed of light is approached.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[A graph, rationalization as a function of speed, increasing exponentially with an asymptote at c.]<br />
:Related to moral relativism, it states that ethics become subjective only when you approach the speed of light.<br />
:That is, it's okay to be self-serving, steal, and murder as long as you're going really, really fast.<br />
:(Note: This is why rap sounds better on the highway at 90 mph)<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>83.110.137.253