explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1289: Simple Answers

2022-05-21T18:05:29Z

108.162.245.181: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1289
| date = November 11, 2013
| title = Simple Answers
| image = simple answers.png
| titletext = 'Will [ ] allow us to better understand each other and thus make war undesirable?' is one that pops up whenever we invent a new communication medium.
}}

==Explanation==
Randall Munroe is a dick. This is [[Randall]]'s commentary on some of the baseless skepticism and equally baseless optimism directed at new technologies. Related: [[1215: Insight]] and [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]]. While it's always healthy to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of cutting-edge tech before blindly diving in and adopting it, it's not healthy to base that evaluation on unrealistically high standards and expectations.{{Citation needed}} New developments will have pros and cons, and it's hard to tell whether they make the world a better place or not.

Randall has set up a Q&A for this kind of questioning. Most of the them are straightforward, but we'll provide some commentary on selected questions.

''Will [ ] destroy whole industries? Yes.'' A widely adopted technology usually causes another to gradually phase out, and industries will rise and fall as technologies do. This is a bit of a loaded question because "destroy industries" sounds negative, and only covers half the effect — instead of merely destroying them, we're also {{w|Creative destruction|replacing}} them with something (hopefully) better.

''Will teens use [ ] for sex? Yes. Were they going to have sex anyway? Yes.'' Sex is pretty important to almost everyone, so it'll find its way into most generic technologies. Hormone-crazed tech-savvy teenagers are a particularly strong intersection of the two. Parents fearing teen sex might be worried about how their kids would use the technology, but the second question refutes these concerns quite concisely.

''Will [ ] destroy music/art? No.'' Every new technology for reproducing musical and artistic works (such as [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2004/03/wicked-player-piano player pianos] and [http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbarro/2012/01/18/thirty-years-before-sopa-mpaa-feared-the-vcr/ video cassette recorders]) has been accompanied by warnings that it will destroy the industry that supplies it content. The reality is a special case of the "destroy industries" question - old business models will fall but new ones will arise in their place, and art and music as a whole will survive.

''But can't we go back to a time when— No.'' Elderly people {{tvtropes|WhenIWasYourAge|express their disapproval}} of today's technological luxuries, nostalgically longing for a time before Foo or Bar came around. That's just how the stereotype goes, but there is a large helping of truth to it. Usually, their sentiments are not a fair judgement, but an emotional attachment to the olden days and a {{tvtropes|TheyChangedItNowItSucks|resistance to change}}.

''Will [ ] bring about world peace?- No.'' People have been trying to bring about world peace for centuries; sadly, other people are in no such hurry and insist on more conflict to solve their own problems.

The final answer is a depressing and strangely beautiful comment on human nature: ''Will [ ] cause widespread alienation by creating a world of empty experiences? We were already alienated.'' Skeptics may be concerned that a new technology will make people's pleasures and interactions more artificial and shallow; Randall comments that this is already something well known in our society.

From the Title Text, ''Will [ ] allow us to better understand each other and thus make war undesirable?'' describes the usual theory that a technology might use to bring about world peace. Unfortunately, not only does the answer seem to be "no" to World Peace either way, but there's no indication that increased global communication actually facilitates understanding and empathy between distant communities. In fact, many cynics say the Internet has in fact caused the opposite effect, causing people to fracture into like-minded cliques rather than intermingle.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the chart:]
:The '''simple answers''' to the questions that get asked about every new technology:
:{| class="wikitable"
|Will [ ] make us all geniuses?||align="center"|No
|-
|Will [ ] make us all morons?||align="center"|No
|-
|Will [ ] destroy whole industries?||align="center" |Yes
|-
|Will [ ] make us more empathetic?||align="center" |No
|-
|Will [ ] make us less caring?||align="center" |No
|-
|Will teens use [ ] for sex?||align="center" |Yes
|-
|Were they going to have sex anyway?||align="center" |Yes
|-
|Will [ ] destroy music?||align="center" |No
|-
|Will [ ] destroy art?||align="center" |No
|-
|But can't we go back to a time when-||align="center" |No
|-
|Will [ ] bring about world peace?||align="center" |No
|-
|Will [ ] cause widespread alienation by creating a world of empty experiences?||align="center" |We were already alienated
|}

==Trivia==
* Robinson Meyer of {{w|The Atlantic}} [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/xkcd-is-amazing-but-its-latest-comic-is-wrong/281422/ rather disagreed] with [[Randall Munroe]] on this one...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

2544: Heart-Stopping Texts

2022-03-10T20:17:44Z

108.162.245.181: Rephrased Joe Rogan explanation to be more unbiased

{{comic
| number = 2544
| date = November 19, 2021
| title = Heart-Stopping Texts
| image = heart_stopping_texts.png
| titletext = Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation]
}}

==Explanation==

Text messages have become a ubiquitous form of communication in most countries, and have become a basic part of many people's everyday lives. Conversations over text frequently jump straight to the purpose of the communication, without salutation or prelude. Some texts, particularly when delivered without context, can carry implications that cause immediate anxiety.

"Out of the blue" is an English expression meaning "to appear in a sudden and unexpected fashion". It's a shortened version of "sudden as a bolt out of the Blue", referring to a bolt of lightning out of the clear, blue sky. The implication is that something dramatic (and possibly dangerous) is has occurred without any warning signs, under circumstances where it wouldn't normally be expected.

This comic lists texts that would be worrying to receive with no context, for a variety of reasons. It seems to suggest that sending these is a good way to prank someone; particularly the title text, where deliberately sending an animated loading icon seems like it couldn't be intended for any other purpose. The different messages are explained below.

{| class="wikitable"
!Text
!Explanation
|-
| Did you forget what day it is?
| This implies that the recipient forgot some important event happening today. This could be an important day to a spouse or friend, and a relationship can be damaged by the recipient having forgotten. Or it could mean that the recipient failed to deliver on an important commitment scheduled for that day, which can create a variety of other problems.
|-
| I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh?
| This implies that something of major significance has happened, that would make many people want to communicate with the recipient. There are a lot of possibilities, many of which are negative. The non-specific nature of the text leaves the recipient wondering what has happened, and how bad it is.
|-
| Did you mean to post that to everyone?
| Implies that the recipient has made a public post (presumably on some social network, or via mass-text conversation) that was offensive or otherwise inappropriate to post publicly; so much so that the text sender is asking if they perhaps meant it to be forwarded to a more contained group or possibly not even revealed to anyone at all. This is a common occurrence as on many platforms it can be easy to accidentally post something with the wrong visibility or mis-click something private into a media post.
|-
| Is this your house?
| {{w|CNN}} is a popular news outlet in the United States. This text implies that the recipient's house has for some reason been mentioned (or probably photographed) in a CNN article. This would mean that a newsworthy event has occurred there, or at least nearby. Many newsworthy events are upsetting, possibly dangerous (eg. a fire, a natural disaster, a violent crime, etc). This might also imply a violation of privacy, as many people would not want to have a picture of their house on national news.

This particular link suggests that the recipient's house was featured in a CNN article from November 19, 2021, the day this comic was published. The next part of the link is the category of the story (e.g. "US", "world", "politics"), which in this case starts with the letter "S" -- either "sports" or "style", going by the top bar of CNN's website. On the plus side, it's probably not as consequential as one of the more prominent categories, but it would still be an unpleasant surprise to find one's house featured in the news.
|-
| You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you?
| {{w|Phishing}} is the practice of sending fraudulent messages to someone in order to steal information (credentials, etc.) from them, infect them with {{w|malware}}, or otherwise perform some undesirable action. One overwhelmingly common form of this is getting people to click on {{w|hyperlink|hyperlinks}} in emails, which generally purport to lead somewhere reputable but instead lead to somewhere controlled by the sender.

This text implies something makes the sender think that the recipient has fallen victim to such an attack. It's common for the victim of such an attack to not be the first to discover it. For example, some attacks hijack the victim's email, and use it to bombard everyone in their contact list with further phishing attempts. If the sender of this text had received such an email, they might suspect an attack. If this has already happened, it's likely to cause major problems.
|-
| Can I call?
| While this is a seemingly benign and simple request, texting someone to ask if you can call is usually a sign that the conversation will be long and serious, and the sender wants to ensure that the other party is available for such a discussion. Many such situations are negative (ranging from a breakup to the death of a loved one), and there's a great deal of tension in knowing that something is serious, but not knowing what it is.
|-
| Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name?
| {{w|Joe Rogan}} is a public personality, best known for his podcast {{w|The Joe Rogan Experience}}. This message implies that the recipient has been discussed by Rogan for some reason. Similarly to the CNN case, this is likely to cause worry about what possible circumstances would prompt this.

Joe Rogan has recently been in the news for his anti vaccine stance so people such as Randall, who are in favor of vaccines, may not want to be associated with him.

|-
| Why are you trending on Twitter?
| {{w|Twitter}} is a social network, which – among other features – tracks and shows topics that are currently being discussed by a large number of users on the platform, or "trending". An individual trending across the entire network (unless that person is a public figure) is usually either because they're connected with a news story, or because something they did or wrote has gone viral. There are sufficiently many negative things that can cause such unexpected fame that hearing about it would be worrying.

Twitter in particular is known for frequently involving very heated discussion, and often even the targeting of individuals by mobs who perceive them to have done something wrong.
|-
| Was this your car? [looping 'image loading' animation]
| (title text) The past tense ('was') implies that your car no longer exists or has changed enough to no longer be considered a car, with the animation additionally implying an image or a video of it being damaged or destroyed. In addition, it might take a long time for the receiver to realize that the media will never load, during which they will be worried about their car without knowing what happened to it.
|-
|}

==Transcript==

:[Comic heading:]
:Most heart-stopping texts to receive out of the blue

:[A collection of light gray text bubbles in two columns:]

:Did you forget what day it is?

:I bet you're probably getting bombarded with texts right now, huh?

:Did you mean to post that to everyone?

:Is this your house? cnn.com/2021/11/19/S...

:You didn't click on any weird emails recently, did you?

:Can I call?

:Wait, do you know Joe Rogan? How does he know your name?

:Why are you trending on Twitter?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:1644: Stargazing

2016-02-17T06:39:21Z

108.162.245.181:

?.. is this Brian Cox??? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.155|162.158.152.155]] 06:07, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

I believe the title text may be referring to the fact that several people think that the sun is the brightest star simply because it's the closest to us, completely disregarding absolute magnitude? I'd change the explanation if I knew how. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.181|108.162.245.181]] 06:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Talk:815: Mu

2016-02-10T06:21:09Z

108.162.245.181:

I don't understand the max. Do chair-sitters decrease in productivity as mu increases because they are trying in vain to spin difficult chairs? In the limiting case of a rigid chair, do chair-sitters vainly attempt to rotate their chairs anyways? {{unsigned ip|75.145.95.201}}

:I think a difficult-to-spin chair just feels uncomfortable, so it kind of subconsciously affects your productivity. In fact most people never sit completely still and often you have to turn to get something from next to your desk or move around... That can be pretty annoying to some people. The way I imagine it, this would not apply to an "infinitely" rigid chair (a simple one with four legs), because you don't expect it to move so it would still feel "right", if it's sufficiently comfortable in the other regards (softness, angle of the backrest, ...). Maybe productivity would not be as high as with an optimal spinning chair, since it would not be as much fun, but that's not in the picture anyway. [[User:Laden|Laden]] ([[User talk:Laden|talk]]) 03:07, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

:I would think that the function approaches a fixed chair production coefficient ( ;) A set number for that chair subject to other variables which are being kept constant [as Laden pointed out]) as Mu approaches infinity.
:It's most likely a peicewise function with a different value @ infinity--granted truly rigorous analysis would conclude that all chairs no matter how "rigid" would experience microscopic torques from people turning and shifting in them.

:But this doesn't affect the psychology of being frustrated in a sticky swivel chair. As such that productivity would likely be higher than the CPC, which I would expect as Laden does would be to be lower than the max CPC of a swivel chair (which if I could would by now be denoting as C sub-S and rigid chairs as C sub-R)

:A similar graph could likely be made for a chair which has a certain maximum "reclination"

:Apologies for lack of formatting I've never commented before, and clearly was completely backwards from what I intended when i originally commented. Whoops
:--Rick 20:18:~45 13-4-13 [[Special:Contributions/67.182.93.204|67.182.93.204]] 03:06, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

::Rick, I hope you don't mind, I've come through and indented your comment the way I think you intended. If this is incorrect, feel free to correct it. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:33, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

;Reference to electrons
I cannot shake the feeling that this comic makes a reference to the spin of electrons. However, not being a physicist, I cannot quite place the implications. Also, the graph looks quite familiar to me. --[[User:Alfons|Alfons]] ([[User talk:Alfons|talk]]) 09:50, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

:Now I know, where I know this graph from: It is an inversed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_potential Morse potential]. Does anybody know, whether it might have something to do with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franck%E2%80%93Condon_principle Franck-Condon principle]? --[[User:Alfons|Alfons]] ([[User talk:Alfons|talk]]) 14:56, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

;Title of the comic
The title of the comic, mu (μ), is a symbol that is commonly used to denote the coefficient of friction. Posted by [[User:Irino.]].
:Mu is not μ, which just means micro (one per Million). I can't see the link.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:58, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
::[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(letter) Mu, or μ], is a Greek letter. It is often used as an abbreviation for the prefix [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro- micro-], but can also be used as a variable for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction#Coefficient_of_friction coefficient of friction]. [[Special:Contributions/24.41.66.114|24.41.66.114]] 23:04, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

;Quantum mechanics
As Alfons did mention above, the graph is related to quantum mechanics. But the spin of an electron is not correct, but maybe a hint. It belongs more to this: {{w|Probability amplitude}} or {{w|Quantum tunnelling}} (the latter because of the negative values on the left.) Further investigations are needed.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:41, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

;{{w|Classical mechanics}}
Ohh, this is a very ''classical mechanics'' comic. I must have been blind. Shame on me. Look at this angular momentum wheel: {{w|Reaction wheel}}. One wheel moves its momentum to an other wheel (the spacecraft in this case). This is just simple classical physics, which also not easy to understand without knowing the basics of classical mechanics. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:49, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

What is the full form of "CoKF" (in the title text)?
"Coefficient of ___ Force"?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.181|108.162.245.181]]

813: One-Liners

2016-02-10T05:53:12Z

108.162.245.181: Fixed typo

{{comic
| number = 813
| date = November 1, 2010
| title = One-Liners
| image = one liners.png
| titletext = "Upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Flash player to view THIS content, bitch." ::triggers detonator::
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Randall presents a series of phrases, ordered by how likely they are to be used as a {{w|One-line joke|one-liner}} by a character in an {{w|action movie}}. One-liners are short, punchy phrases, typically witty or funny, and are routinely used in films by the antagonist to taunt the protagonist (or vice versa). The perfect one-liner leaves the recipient at a loss for a comeback, and should make sense immediately. If the phrase doesn't make sense or has to be explained, the effect is lost.

While the phrases shown start off adhering to the witty and punchy stereotype of the one-liner, they quickly become absurb and non-sensical.

{| class="wikitable"
! Panel No.
! Phrase
! Explanation
|-
| 1
| You're going down the memory hole now, asshole.
|The {{w|Memory hole}} is a mechanism for redacting documents, photographs, etc., and a reference to {{w|George Orwell}}'s novel {{w|Nineteen Eighty-Four}}. In this instance it implies that the character on the floor is about to be 'erased' from existence.
|-
| 2
| Hey! You forgot to carry the two.
|[[Cueball]], who appears to be at an advantage since he has a gun and his opponent only has a knife, is pointing out an arithmetic error in his opponent's calculations. This may simply be Cueball adding insult to injury "I'm about to shoot you, but first I'm going to point out that you suck at maths". Alternatively, it could be a ruse to distract the knife wielding opponent, or a case of well-timed [[356|nerd-sniping]].
|-
| 3
| Looks like the Fed just lowered the interest rate.
| The {{w|Federal Reserve System}}, usually referred to as The Fed, is the central banking system in the United States. While interest rates are usually lowered during a recession or a crisis, this phrase appears to be completely out of context, and lacks any humor.
|-
| 4
| Guess you should've scrolled all the way to the bottom before clicking "Agree."
| A common feature encountered when registering for user accounts or installing software is a very lengthy {{w|Terms of service}} document, describing the things you agree to abide by. The vast majority of people simply click Agree without reading the document, essentially agreeing to anything and everything that the author decided to include. In the context of this panel, perhaps the user agreed to be executed at random.
|-
| 5
| Bangarang, motherfucker.
| This phrase is very similar to the line "Yippee-Ki-Yay motherfucker" used by {{w|John McClane}} in the {{w|Die Hard (film series)|Die Hard}} series. {{w|Bangarang}} is, among other things, the Jamaican word for "uproar." It was popularized (without the addition of 'motherfucker') as the cheer of the {{w|Lost Boys (Peter Pan)|lost boys}} in the film ''{{w|Hook (film)|Hook}}.
|}

The title text is another suggested one-liner phrase, referring to an update reminder that frequently pops up when one attempts to view {{w|Adobe Flash}} content on a webpage. After delivering the line, the character triggers a detonator (Double colons are sometimes used in text to denote an action), presumably setting off an explosive of some kind.

The sentence doesn't make much sense, and is too convoluted and wordy for an effective one-liner, which suggests that this is a continuation of the scale towards 'Less Likely'. This phrase also proves that simply adding Bitch, Asshole, Motherfucker or similar to the end of a phrase does not necessarily turn it into a great one-liner.

==Transcript==
:Probability of phrases becoming action movie one liners:
:[Panels are arranged from More Likely on the left to Less likely on the right.]

:[A woman points a gun down at Cueball who is on the floor, his gun just out of reach.]
:Woman: ''You're'' going down the memory hole now, asshole.

:[Man on ground points gun up at blade-armed man standing next to a board with science on it.]
:Man with gun: ''Hey!'' You forgot to carry the two.

:[Ponytail on desk points sword at man standing on floor.]
:Ponytail: Looks like the Fed just lowered the interest rate.

:[Cueball with gun looks down at Megan slumped on floor.]
:Cueball: Guess you should've scrolled ''all'' the way to the bottom before clicking "Agree."

:[Megan holds pistol to the back of the head of Ponytail holding a rifle.]
:Megan with pistol: Bangarang, motherfucker.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

793: Physicists

2016-02-07T04:46:32Z

108.162.245.181:

{{comic
| number = 793
| date = September 15, 2010
| title = Physicists
| image = physicists.png
| titletext = If you need some help with the math, let me know, but that should be enough to get you started! Huh? No, I don't need to read your thesis, I can imagine roughly what it says.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|No title text explanation, and generally way too little explanation all around. What about giving an example of what the gray text could have been?}}

This comic shows a view that many physics students, upon first encountering a well-known problem, think that it is not a difficult problem, since they think they can fix it using an extremely simplified model. The obvious problem with this is that if it was that simple to solve the problem to a useful degree, there wouldn't be an entire department studying the problem. This attitude leads to great annoyance from those who have probably spent years and years working on the problem. This argument is similar to the {{w|Spherical cow}}, an idea that basic models taught in early physics classes only work in friction-less vacuums, as shown in [[669: Experiment]]. The title text takes the dismissive attitude to its logical extreme.

The comment "liberal-arts majors can be annoying sometimes" seems to be referencing the stereotype that they're all elitist know-it-alls.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands at a blackboard covered in equations and diagrams, an open laptop and scattered paper at his feet. His fists are balled in anger and there is a little angry squiggle over his head. A Cueball-like physicist stands behind him, arms out in a shrug.]
:Physicist: You're trying to predict the behavior of <complicated system>? Just model it as a <simple object>, and then add some secondary terms to account for <complications I just thought of>.
:Physicist: Easy, right?
:Physicist: So, why does <your field> need a whole journal, anyway?
:Liberal-arts majors may be annoying sometimes, but there's ''nothing'' more obnoxious than a physicist first encountering a new subject.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:696: Strip Games

2016-01-30T05:45:11Z

108.162.245.181:

Um, Chess by mail: 
My next move is Kf8 and this is my picture without pants. 
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.161|108.162.254.161]] 08:37, 21 November 2013 (UTC)

Strip Conway's Game of Life: 
If three spaceships come out of that structure, you get my shirt. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.71|199.27.128.71]] 03:52, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Rule 34 means progress!

{|class="wikitable"
!game!!base!!strip!!category
|-
|poohsticks||40,500||167||rare
|-
|podracing||101,000||87||rare
|-
|iterated prisoner's dilemma||67,000||605||rare
|-
|chess by mail||11,000||180||frequent
|-
|Conway's Game of Life||226,000||113||rare
|}
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.37|108.162.254.37]] 18:01, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

The 1-dimensional celular automata rule 34 {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.117}}

All the "nonexistents" now are frequent except for chess by mail, which is rare. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.140}}

Did he do this because the comic number started with 69? [[User:Reedman72|Reedman72]] ([[User talk:Reedman72|talk]]) 08:01, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Or perhaps even "69" from ''both'' sides? --- 29 January 2016

Talk:1627: Woosh

2016-01-08T05:48:17Z

108.162.245.181:

Looking for a joke that isn't there sounds a lot like [http://xkcd.com/559 xkcd.com/559]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.140|162.158.2.140]] 05:43, 8 January 2016 (UTC)
Woooosh! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.181|108.162.245.181]] 05:48, 8 January 2016 (UTC)