Talk:1277: Ayn Random

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I think that should be /(\b[plurandy]+\b ?){2}/i.

173.66.108.213 05:12, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

I agree. I was confused for a while about what the b's were doing.

99.126.178.56 06:57, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Maybe it's time to have an Ayn Rand category? --141.89.226.146 07:34, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Can someone explain to the mathematically challenged *how* the list of names fits the regular expression? 141.2.75.23 09:14, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Agreed, I would like to understand what the hell is going on with that. --Zagorath (talk) 09:20, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
How specific do you want it? Basically it matches two words consisting of the letters plurandy. The list of names is just a random selection of two part names that only consists of these letters. More specifically it matches: Two groups ({2}), each consisting of a word boundary (\b), followed by a non-empty sequence of the letters plurandy ([plurandy]+), followed by a word boundary (\b), finally followed by an optional space ( ?). Pmakholm (talk) 09:33, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
Also, the /'s on the end delimit the regex proper, and the `i` on the end denotes case insensitivity. --75.66.178.177 09:39, 14 October

2013 (UTC)

In the explanation of how the regex works after the explanation "the {2} on the end means to repeat the pattern, so it must match exactly twice" I think you need an explanation of how the optional space in the middle interacts with the word boundaries. I.e.
(\b[plurandy]+\b ?){2}
Expanding:
\b[plurandy]+\b ?\b[plurandy]+\b ?
Now the optional space at the end is redundant, and the space in the center is not optional, since if there is no space the word boundaries do not exist. If the space is present the word boundaries are redundent because letter space letter sequence always matches them.
\b[plurandy]+ [plurandy]+\b ?
And this now closely matches the text description "Overall, it matches two words separated by a space, composed entirely of the letters in [plurandy], which is what all the names listed have in common." --108.17.2.71 17:26, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
Some examples
  • "Ru Paul" would match, because it is two sequences, each containing only capital or lowercase versions of the listed letters.
  • "Randall Flagg" would not match, because the letters F and G are not in the bracketed list.
  • "Aura Anaya Adlar" would not match; even though the letters are all in the list, there are more than two sequences.
Hope this helps!
Swartzer (talk) 20:24, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

209.132.186.34 09:26, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

I do not think Randal would make such mistake, he would probably use \< \> anyway... unless, he wants us to think he did mistake, or that backslash was eliminated in html/javascript... thus poining ut to source code of the page... is there something interesting?

I skimmed over the source and didn't see anything unusual. The '\'s are absent from the source too. I think it's just that Randall (or a tool he's using) was so affraid of Bobby Tables that he stripped all backslashes from the alt text. -- Jahvascriptmaniac (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
The title text at xkcd.com now has the missing backslashes. Do you normally update the comic here to reflect updates?--108.17.2.71 16:14, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
Already updated. You were saying?

Can someone explain to me where "In their view, if some humans are born more capable of satisfying their desires than other people, they deserve to reap greater rewards from life than others" comes from? I'm somewhat familiar with objectivist philosophy and I've never heard this put forward as an actual principle. 50.90.39.56 14:14, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Objectivism is the target for much scorn and ridicule in the intellectual world, for its being an inconsistent philosophy that has the sole objective of justifying selfishness and elevating it towards moral righteousness. It's used as the basis for libertarian thought and other radical capitalist economical theories and political stances which promote shameless exploitation (and this attracts further hatred). Randall is no exception to this trend of detractors, and I'd say rightfully so. Ayn Rand's writings are particularly awful, both aesthetically and content-wise, yet in the US a relatively large group of philosophers still adhere to her maxims and the debate continues. 37.221.160.203 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Most people would write the regexp as /(\b[adlnpruy]+\b ?){2}/i. Using "plurandy" makes it look like a word, which is more confusing than using the letters' natural order. --Ralfoide (talk) 15:58, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Would it be better to identify Alan Alda not for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in MASH, but for his role in The West Wing as Arnold Vinick, a fiscally-conservative Republican presidential candidate? 193.67.17.36 16:03, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Depends, are we trying to remind him to general audience (I think MASH is more known) or find out why he was included in list? -- Hkmaly (talk) 08:50, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

There is probably an additional joke or three in that the regex is the minimum needed to capture the first three names together (hinted at by "plurandy" eg plural rand) , but also captures the others. on top of which all of the listed people are considered "intrinsically better" (by virtue of fame if nothing else)74.213.201.51 03:14, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Alan Ladd may have been a founding member of the Secret Council of /(\b[plurandy]+\b ?){2}/i. 71.190.237.117 07:15, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

It's probably obvious to most programmers, but is it worth pointing out that part of the pun is that the random number generator function is called rand() in most C-family languages? 130.60.156.183 14:07, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Another member of this secret society is Randall P 79.182.178.53 16:45, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

From above: "Objectivism is the target for much scorn and ridicule in the intellectual world, for its being an inconsistent philosophy that has the sole objective of justifying selfishness and elevating it towards moral righteousness. It's used as the basis for libertarian thought and other radical capitalist economical theories and political stances which promote shameless exploitation (and this attracts further hatred). Randall is no exception to this trend of detractors, and I'd say rightfully so. Ayn Rand's writings are particularly awful, both aesthetically and content-wise, yet in the US a relatively large group of philosophers still adhere to her maxims and the debate continues." OK, but a few comments: All philosophies are inconsistent when looked at closely enough, refer Godel and others. Others do not see the inconsistency in Objectivism quite so plainly as in the quoted comment. Ayn Rand and Objectivism are not "the" basis of libertarian thought, there are far more highly thought of libertarian thinkers, a list of whom should come readily to mind to any of those occupying "the intellectual world" (sic), whether or not they have sympathy with libertarian ideas. It is also unfair to characterise Objectivism as having as its "sole" objective that as stated. Further, as a general principle, one ought not to take someone poking fun at a concept as *proof* that they are quite as opposed to it as you are. Now, whereas I would not categorise myself quite as a fellow traveller, a much fairer view of Objectivism is found at WP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand) 81.135.136.159 11:22, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Other philosophies are no more consistent, agreed. But other philosophies do not claim perfect "objective" consistency as their fundamental principle. Attacking Objectivism/Objectivists for lack of internal consistency--or for not recognizing that at some, very fundamental, level it is all stacked on top of some assumptions (just like every other philosophy, and even the scientific method)--is the equivalent of attacking Christianity/Christians for lacking compassion and forgiveness. 129.176.151.14 14:04, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
Poking fun can indeed fall into the categories of self-irony or goodwill, but in this case Randall quite explicitly accuses the recipient of bias, making his disapproval pretty unequivocal.

199.48.147.40 16:51, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

I have added a line about the rational numbers joke; it's definitely there, though I'm not sure if Randall intended it (probably did?).