Difference between revisions of "1018: Good Cop, Dadaist Cop"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
(Fixed Wikipedia links)
(Explanation)
(19 intermediate revisions by 15 users not shown)
Line 8: Line 8:
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Language, layout, and the title text is missing.}}
+
This comic is a play on the well known {{w|Good cop/bad cop|Good Cop/Bad Cop}} police interrogation strategy and the artistic movement {{w|Dadaism}}.  
This is a play on the police interrogation strategy of "{{w|Good cop/bad cop}}", in which two officers take on contrary roles to get the suspect to give the required information. One interrogator establishes a sympathetic relationship with the subject while the other interrogator is antagonistic and threatening. The goal of this is to make the subject trust the “good cop” and to reveal the desired information.  
 
  
In this comic, the interrogators ([[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]]) use the "good cop, Dadaist cop" strategy to get information from [[Hairy]]. The overview of the {{w|Dada#Overview|Dadaists}} given by Wikipedia says they used “artistic expression that appeared to reject logic and embrace chaos and irrationality”. As such, it is not an effective interrogation technique.  
+
Dadaism is an artistic movement which by its definition is irrational. The movement embraces the free flow of unreasoned thought and prizes nonsense and rejection of established norms. As such, the entire concept of "Good Cop, Dadaist Cop" could be considered a dadaist concept in itself.
  
The incongruities of two of Ponytail’s questions are clear: “WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?” and “What's wrong with ART?” are {{w|Non_sequitur_(logic)|non sequiturs}}. The first question has two levels to its absurdity. {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} (the co-founder of {{w|Facebook}}) was [//allfacebook.com/mark-zuckerberg-moves-into-another-rental-house_b29174 reported in 2011] to be living in a house he rented, so he would not have a {{w|mortgage}}. Nor would any mortgage be written in a {{w|Sacred_language|liturgical language}} like {{w|Church Latin}}.  
+
"Good Cop/Bad Cop" is a psychological tactic that may be employed during joint questioning or interrogation. The interrogators isolate the suspect, one of the interrogators acts unreasonable and untrustworthy (bad cop) and the other reasonable and trustworthy in comparison (good cop). If successful, it deceives the suspect into believing they must choose to trust one of the interrogators and the suspect chooses to co-operate with the good cop, or merely complies out of fear of the bad cop.  
  
The title text adds one more absurdity: the whereabouts of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly-invented language that cannot be translated.
+
The comic starts with the "Good Cop", [[Cueball]], and the "Dadaist Cop", [[Ponytail]], working out their plan to interrogate the suspect, [[Hairy]]. After Cueball makes a few statements, intended to build trust with Hairy, and leaves to get coffee, [[Ponytail]] enters the interrogation and starts asking Hairy absurd questions. Hairy quickly becomes agitated, and questions what is wrong with Ponytail.
 +
 
 +
Good Cop/Bad Cop hinges on the suspect's fear and distrust of the intentions of the bad cop; thankfully for the police, Ponytail's "Dadaist Cop" seems to be a successful Bad Cop too judging by the suspect's fear of her irrational, unpredictable, and potential crazy behavior (not to mention loud and aggressive mannerisms).
 +
 
 +
The title text builds on the joke as by asking a suspect to give the whereabouts of the money in a dadaist manner, which would be completely useless in finding it.  Such a statement could be used as a confession though.
 +
 
 +
===Irrationality===
 +
*See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in CHURCH LATIN?
 +
**{{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} (the co-founder of {{w|Facebook}}) was renting in 2011[//allfacebook.com/mark-zuckerberg-moves-into-another-rental-house_b29174] and therefore did not have a {{w|mortgage}}.
 +
***Even if Mark Zuckerberg had bought a property, it is unlikely (given his financial status) that he would have to take out a mortgage.
 +
**Modern mortgages are typically written in the local vernacular; it would be very strange for one to be written in a dead language like {{w|Church Latin}}.
 +
*"WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?", "What's wrong with ART?"
 +
**These are {{w|Non_sequitur_(logic)|non sequiturs}} and therefore have no place in an investigation.
 +
*The title text: NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
 +
**The location of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly invented language that cannot be translated, and therefore would be useless to an investigation.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
Line 35: Line 48:
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 +
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 +
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

Revision as of 02:13, 10 July 2016

Good Cop, Dadaist Cop
NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
Title text: NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.

Explanation

This comic is a play on the well known Good Cop/Bad Cop police interrogation strategy and the artistic movement Dadaism.

Dadaism is an artistic movement which by its definition is irrational. The movement embraces the free flow of unreasoned thought and prizes nonsense and rejection of established norms. As such, the entire concept of "Good Cop, Dadaist Cop" could be considered a dadaist concept in itself.

"Good Cop/Bad Cop" is a psychological tactic that may be employed during joint questioning or interrogation. The interrogators isolate the suspect, one of the interrogators acts unreasonable and untrustworthy (bad cop) and the other reasonable and trustworthy in comparison (good cop). If successful, it deceives the suspect into believing they must choose to trust one of the interrogators and the suspect chooses to co-operate with the good cop, or merely complies out of fear of the bad cop.

The comic starts with the "Good Cop", Cueball, and the "Dadaist Cop", Ponytail, working out their plan to interrogate the suspect, Hairy. After Cueball makes a few statements, intended to build trust with Hairy, and leaves to get coffee, Ponytail enters the interrogation and starts asking Hairy absurd questions. Hairy quickly becomes agitated, and questions what is wrong with Ponytail.

Good Cop/Bad Cop hinges on the suspect's fear and distrust of the intentions of the bad cop; thankfully for the police, Ponytail's "Dadaist Cop" seems to be a successful Bad Cop too judging by the suspect's fear of her irrational, unpredictable, and potential crazy behavior (not to mention loud and aggressive mannerisms).

The title text builds on the joke as by asking a suspect to give the whereabouts of the money in a dadaist manner, which would be completely useless in finding it. Such a statement could be used as a confession though.

Irrationality

  • See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in CHURCH LATIN?
    • Mark Zuckerberg (the co-founder of Facebook) was renting in 2011[1] and therefore did not have a mortgage.
      • Even if Mark Zuckerberg had bought a property, it is unlikely (given his financial status) that he would have to take out a mortgage.
    • Modern mortgages are typically written in the local vernacular; it would be very strange for one to be written in a dead language like Church Latin.
  • "WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?", "What's wrong with ART?"
    • These are non sequiturs and therefore have no place in an investigation.
  • The title text: NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
    • The location of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly invented language that cannot be translated, and therefore would be useless to an investigation.

Transcript

[Two cops look through a window into an interrogation chamber holding a handcuffed suspect.]
Good Cop: All right, let's try good cop, dadaist cop
[Good Cop is seated in front of the suspect.]
Good Cop: Look, you're a good guy. We can work this out. Hey, lemme get us some coffee.
[CHANGE PLACES.]
[Dadaist Cop holds up a document of indeterminate contents and threatens the suspect with it.]
Dadaist Cop: See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in CHURCH LATIN?
[Dadaist cop physically rattles the suspect.]
Dadaist Cop: WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?
Suspect: What's WRONG with you!?
Dadaist Cop: What's wrong with ART?
comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

A comment from the blog that is quite on and off (you'll get the joke) the topic:

I took a class in college, in French, and we studied (insofar as one can) dadaism, surrealism, and existentialism.
One day, the girl next to me raised her hand and started out, “This is off the subject, but..”… Professor La Charité interrupted immediately, with, “It’s *never* off the subject. Continue.”
We all felt we learned something that day. Giraffe. - E

Hope that explains some things. lcarsos (talk) 17:40, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Explanation

I think the above explanation is lacking. What's bones got to do with it? How about the language stuff? AND A Mexican bandit robbed a bank. The sheriff and his bilingual deputy captured him, and the sheriff, who couldn't speak Spanish, asked him where he'd hidden the money. "No se nada," said the bandit. The sheriff put a gun to the bandit's head and said to his deputy: "Tell him, if he doesn't tell us where the money is, I'll blow his brains out." Upon receiving the translation, the bandit became very animated. "Ya me acuerdo! Tienen que caminar tres cuadradas hasta ese gran arbol. Debajo del arbol, alli esta el dinero." The sheriff leaned forward. "Yeah? Well..?" The deputy replied: "He says he wants to die like a man." 122.61.61.161 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

It's Dadaism. It means unrelated random stuff. AND nice story =) 108.162.212.206 19:26, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

What's incomplete about this? 0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101 (talk page) 05:37, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

If you twisted my arm, I'd have to guess that my phone is ringing off the salmon. That's all I can remember at this indication, though. -- Brettpeirce (talk) 11:48, 13 August 2014 (UTC)
This is why we can't have giraffes. 172.68.10.83 09:40, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Has Mark Zuckerberg ever HAD a mortgage?108.162.219.164, 27 Dec 1014


Well interesting fact about ponytail then, her bones are small! --Dalonacueball (talk) 12:48, 24 March 2015 (UTC) 13:35 3/24/2015

The implication, in the explanation text, that wealthy individuals, such as Zukerberg, wouldn't take a mortgage is flawed. Wealthy individuals usually do take out mortgages because they have the ability to generate a higher rate of return from the freed capital than the cost of the interest on the mortgage. Mountain Hikes (talk) 22:17, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Would the gibberish produced in response to the title text actually count as a valid confession? Even assuming the suspect was trying to do what was asked, which I don’t think is a legally valid assumption, they could be saying “I don’t know; I didn’t take it!”. --162.158.255.142 18:59, 30 December 2018 (UTC)