Difference between revisions of "95: The Sierpinski Penis Game"

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
The Penis Game is an infantile activity where elementary or high school students compete to shout "Penis!" the loudest while the teacher is out in the hallway without getting in trouble. Variants exist using other sexual or excretory words. The placement of this embarrassment to our species in a {{w|Sierpinski triangle|Sierpinski gasket}} may be a reference to the way the game tends to ripple through a crowd of young men after someone (usually the same person every time) starts it.
 
  
And as the title text states, it's pretty taboo to try and start a Penis Game at a {{w|baby shower}} or in front of the victims of a recent terrorist attack.
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{{w|Chaos game|The Chaos Game}} is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen transformation functions to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.
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One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the {{w|Sierpinski Gasket}}, which is the fractal pictured in this comic.
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The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.
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The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by {{w|negative feedback}} (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves {{w|positive feedback}} (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.
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The title text may be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
 
:[A large triangle is shown, with many smaller triangles inside.]
 
:[A large triangle is shown, with many smaller triangles inside.]
 
:[Words are in the triangles.]
 
:[Words are in the triangles.]
:Sierpinski game: PENIS! Haha, penis.
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:PENIS! Haha, penis.
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Math]]
 
[[Category:Math]]
 
[[Category:Penis]]
 
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Fractals]]
 

Revision as of 17:24, 20 March 2015

The Sierpinski Penis Game
Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.
Title text: Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.

Explanation

The Chaos Game is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen transformation functions to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.

One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the Sierpinski Gasket, which is the fractal pictured in this comic.

The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.

The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by negative feedback (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves positive feedback (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.

The title text may be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.

Transcript

[A large triangle is shown, with many smaller triangles inside.]
[Words are in the triangles.]
PENIS! Haha, penis.


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Discussion

Missing triangles

Any idea why there are some (at least 3) small triangles missing? --212.255.96.151 18:46, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

Where?--Dgbrt (talk) 21:46, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
Starting from the center going left, right or down these three are missing: LLLRD, LLRLD, RLRDR. But actually, infinitely many triangles are missing *g*. --Chtz (talk) 22:38, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
There's actually an extra triangle as well that doesn't fit the pattern. It's DDLRLL. -- 24.207.62.236 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
It's a secret message ILLUMINATI CONFERMED173.245.56.180 04:07, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
I have added a description of those four in the transcript (three missing one extra) and have also added a trivia about the number of triangles and the error. --Kynde (talk) 23:23, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

I don't think this article meets standards of neutrality. Calling the penis game "infantile" is insensitive to those exploring their sexuality and does not reflect the nuances of the penis community. 173.245.56.66 21:21, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

I agree. That said, if this were an IRL discussion, I'm fairly certain it would devolve into people just playing the penis game.

TheMightyGunns (talk) 20:44, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

Edited. 108.162.237.178 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Should the situations in the title text be explained as to why they are inappropriate? 162.158.58.123 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Yes they should--Kynde (talk) 23:23, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Baby showers

The question "Or does Randall compare a baby shower in violence to a terror attack..." got me thinking:

Is Randall using the phrase "baby showers" in its ordinary way, or is he using the word "shower" in the sense of "rain shower" and making a joke that if babies are falling from the sky, you should not be playing games.172.69.34.150 03:01, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

as a gen z kid, the explanation of the comic is even funnier than the comic itself, because every appearance of the word "Penis" (case sensitive) has been replaced with this image due to a google chrome extension. 172.70.117.76 21:52, 23 July 2021 (UTC)Bumpf