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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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There are three [[Cueball]]s discussing a {{w|particle accelerator}}. One Cueball asks the others about the "tertiary Free-electron laser ({{w|Free-electron_laser|F.E.L}}) guidance system". As this is a fairly technical topic, we would expect a response filled with scientific jargon. The joke is that the other Cueball instead responds in a much simpler manner. He uses simple phrases such as "smash the right tiny things together" and "that would be very bad".
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[[Cueball]] seems to be in a physics facility with a particle accelerator. The Physicist asks him his thoughts about a Tertiary F.E.L guidance system for the particle accelerator. The first joke here is that particle accelerators don't use guidance systems. They randomly smash together used charged particles or contain them in beams.
  
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As the caption below the comic notes, Cueball (probably [[Randall]]) has spent the previous night reading the {{w|Simple English Wikipedia}}, a [http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page simplified version] of {{w|Wikipedia}} intended to be easier to understand, and now he finds himself using similarly simple syntax. For example, the article for a [http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_accelerator particle accelerator] describes it as "a machine that makes really tiny things called particles travel at very high speeds." This is similar to the simple response given by the responding Cueball. In the actual comic, Cueball was able to effectively communicate the dangers of using a broken F.E.L. using simple syntax similar to the style of the Simple English Wikipedia.
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As the text below the comic says, Cueball has spent the previous night reading {{w|simple:|the Simple English Wikipedia}}, which is a simplified version of Wikipedia, so he can't stop talking in simplified language, making him sound unintelligent. He refers to the elementary particles and the ad hoc guidance system, which is presumably broken, and says that if the wrong particles collide it would be bad and damage the machine. The joke is also a take on Wikipedia and the fact that it has two versions of the same text.
  
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From the title text, Randall believes that if people teaching advanced mathematics followed this style, their subject would be more accessible. The implication is that more people would be drawn to studying mathematics and that (naturally) the world would be a better place because of this, ironically most likely true!
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The title text applies the same principle to teaching mathematics that simple language avoids unnecessary complications as math teachers often write in unnecessarily complicated English, often discouraging math students who are then unable to comprehend the substituted English symbols.
  
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This concept was later revisited in [[722: Computer Problems]], [[1133: Up Goer Five]], [[Thing Explainer]] (probably most notably), [[1322: Winter]] and [[1436: Orb Hammer]].
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This concept was later revisited in [[1133:_Up_Goer_Five| 1133 Up Goer Five]].
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[Three Cueball-like guys stand in front of a sketch. The middle Cueball is the protagonist of the comic and will be called Cueball.]
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:Friend: Do you have any thoughts regarding the particle accelerator's tertiary F.E.L. Guidance System?
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:Left Cueball-like guy: Do you have any thoughts regarding the particle accelerator's tertiary F.E.L. Guidance System?
 
 
:Cueball: We can't put the broken part in the machine. It wouldn't smash the right tiny things together. Then the machine might break.
 
:Cueball: We can't put the broken part in the machine. It wouldn't smash the right tiny things together. Then the machine might break.
 
:Cueball: That would be very bad.
 
:Cueball: That would be very bad.
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:[Caption below the frame:]
 
 
:I spent all night reading simple.wikipedia.org, and now I can't stop talking like this.
 
:I spent all night reading simple.wikipedia.org, and now I can't stop talking like this.
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 
 
[[Category:Physics]]
 
[[Category:Physics]]
 
[[Category:Language]]
 
[[Category:Language]]
 
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
 
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
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[[Category:Simplified language]]
 

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