Talk:866: Compass and Straightedge

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 04:33, 5 June 2013 by 76.106.251.87 (talk)
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No, the comic is funny because many geometrical theorems prove something along the lines of "With a compass and straightedge you cannot construct..." (e.g. a square and a circle with the same area) If you have knowledge of this type of proof, the humor is that you think he's about to talk about something that is impossible in geometry, but really he's talking about the inapplicability of geometry to real life. This is often a difficulty with nerds and brainy people, they try to apply their theoretical knowledge to human relationships and fail. 75.103.23.206 19:53, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

And then there's the converse: people who are able to apply theoretical knowledge and succeed. 76.106.251.87 04:33, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

The explanation mentions that there are "three such constructions", but doesn't go any further. What they are should at least be addressed (or linked to), even if we're not going to elaborate on the "why" of their impossibility. For the uninitiated, they are squaring the circle, trisecting any angle, and doubling the cube. 76.106.251.87 04:33, 5 June 2013 (UTC)