Editing 883: Pain Rating
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| − | In medical examinations, a doctor will sometimes ask the patient to {{w|Pain scale|assess their pain}}, to give the doctor a rough idea of the patient's condition. [[Cueball]] is asked by doctor [[Ponytail]] to compare the pain in his arm with the worst pain that he can imagine; however, a one-to-ten scale is not useful for Cueball because in his imagination the worst possible pain reduces him to a huddled ball | + | In medical examinations, a doctor will sometimes ask the patient to {{w|Pain scale|assess their pain}}, to give the doctor a rough idea of the patient's condition. [[Cueball]] is asked by doctor [[Ponytail]] to compare the pain in his arm with the worst pain that he can imagine; however, a one-to-ten scale is not useful for Cueball because in his imagination the worst possible pain reduces him to a huddled ball and also rescales his current pain to a 1. Apparently, he has the capacity to imagine pain so intense that it dwarfs any possible real-world pain, thus skewing the scale, and this is what his friend [[Megan]] refers to when Ponytail asks what is wrong with his imagination. (According to the [http://xkcd.com/883/info.0.json official transcript] Megan is the patient's friend, and Ponytail is a doctor). |
| − | The title text further emphasizes that idea: If the pain was higher than ''one'' on his pain scale, it would already be so high that he would be reduced to uncontrollable | + | The title text further emphasizes that idea: If the pain was higher than ''one'' on his pain scale, it would already be so high that he would be reduced to uncontrollable screaming. |
A similar doctor Ponytail is shown in [[996: Making Things Difficult]] with Megan and again in [[1713: 50 ccs]] along with both Cueball and Megan. In [[647: Scary]] Cueball (as [[Rob]]) also ends up in such a huddled up position. | A similar doctor Ponytail is shown in [[996: Making Things Difficult]] with Megan and again in [[1713: 50 ccs]] along with both Cueball and Megan. In [[647: Scary]] Cueball (as [[Rob]]) also ends up in such a huddled up position. | ||
| Line 27: | Line 27: | ||
:[Zoom in on the top of Cueball who ponders this, raising a thoughtful hand to his jaw.] | :[Zoom in on the top of Cueball who ponders this, raising a thoughtful hand to his jaw.] | ||
| − | :[Same image but Cueball appears to be shocked having taken both hands in front of his mouth, four small lines coming out from the top of his head.] | + | :[Same image but Cueball appears to be shocked having taken both hands in front of his mouth, four small lines coming out from the top of the back of his head.] |
:[Zoom out again as Cueball huddles up on the table, legs all the way up to his chin, arms tightly folded around the knees. Ponytail leans back towards Megan, both whispering as indicated with smaller font.] | :[Zoom out again as Cueball huddles up on the table, legs all the way up to his chin, arms tightly folded around the knees. Ponytail leans back towards Megan, both whispering as indicated with smaller font.] | ||
| Line 39: | Line 39: | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
