explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:656: October 30th

2026-05-27T22:21:02Z

129.222.195.199:

I like this. I might do it next time I go Trick or Treating :) {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.249.218}}

The 30 year-interval is probably an allusion to the interval between years 1955, 1985 and 2015, the years in which BTTF 1 & 2 take place.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.222|141.101.96.222]] 11:54, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
:I updated the explanation to reflect this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.49|108.162.236.49]] 19:08, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

I overshot the other way... in Puerto Rico time, at least. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 05:12, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

hello! Me From The Future Here! Just Wanted To Tell You I Discovered Time Travel Anyway Its Me! Someone From Pluto{{actual citation needed}}{{citation needed}}! 12:23, 12 April 3054 (UTC)

Talk:656: October 30th

2026-05-27T22:19:25Z

129.222.195.199:

Talk:3251: Time Machine Conversation

2026-05-27T22:15:56Z

129.222.195.199:

[https://www.sea-and-yachting.com/spoiler.html Spoilers for boats]. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:25, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

The barman says "Sorry, we don't serve time-travellers". A time-traveller walks into a bar. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:31, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Before explanation/transcript --[[User:OceanLord|OceanLord]] ([[User talk:OceanLord|talk]]) 21:38, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Cool I’ve never been early enough to see an explanation-less comic also help me I’ve never commented before did I mess it up :( {{unsigned ip|73.148.10.13|21:47, 27 May 2026}}
:You messed up slightly -- you forgot to sign your comment with 4 tildes. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:48, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/88.217.185.170|88.217.185.170]] 21:50, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

i think it should be "this page was created in the past" not "this page was created in the future". im changing that (its more like present here cause its 22:15, 27 May 2026 (UTC))

Talk:3251: Time Machine Conversation

2026-05-27T22:14:17Z

129.222.195.199: explained edits

3251: Time Machine Conversation

2026-05-27T22:13:01Z

129.222.195.199:

{{comic
| number = 3251
| date = May 27, 2026
| title = Time Machine Conversation
| image = time_machine_conversation_2x.png
| imagesize = 691x344px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created in the past. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] uses a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with a prehistoric [[Hairbun]]. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|hoe}}.

It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: {{w|compass}} and {{w|Spoiler_(media)|spoiler}}.

The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, but it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. The title text points out that the Polynesian islands were populated long before this time, and they travelled on to Australia, so they must have had other methods of marine navigation.

The modern meaning of "spoiler" didn't arise until the 1970's. Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroups}} in the late 1980's.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.
:Cueball: Cool.
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.

[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]
:Cueball: I'm sorry.
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.

[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?
:Hairbun: The what?
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?

[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

Talk:3082: Chess Position

2026-05-27T21:15:57Z

129.222.195.199:

This is very nearly the core plot conceit of the movie ''Π'' (1998). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.190|172.70.130.190]] 22:36, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
:I believe you want lower-case Pi: π not Π. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_(film) --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 22:54, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
::Unless they're talking about an obscure spinoff where the protagonist becomes weirdly obsessed with the products of sequences of numbers. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.180|172.69.195.180]] 14:47, 29 April 2025 (UTC)
:::Which, for xkcd, is ... indeed plausible. {{unsigned|JimJJewett|15:33, 4 May 2025 (UTC)}}

Does anybody know whether Randall has taken up chess as a hobby? 5 of the 82 comics in the 3000s have been related to chess and only 2 in the 2000s were. If so, this should be included in the explanation. [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 23:11, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
:3000s? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.190.236|172.71.190.236]] 23:40, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
:Oh right comic number not decade/millennium. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.43.157|172.70.43.157]] 23:41, 28 April 2025 (UTC)
:Wouldn't surprise me, there's a three year gap in between chess comics 2465 (May 2021) and 2936 (May 2024), then the aforementioned 5 in 5 months. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.251|172.70.114.251]] 00:46, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

I really suspect that the full explanation has something to do with this: https://www.kasparov.com/the-implacable-logic-of-the-vortex-of-history/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.7.206|172.68.7.206]] 23:34, 28 April 2025 (UTC) Dan
: Doubtful, that article was written in 2013, and it is unlikely that Randall came upon it just now to make this comic. Vortex is a general term for something that sucks you in. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.66|172.70.214.66]] 00:38, 29 April 2025 (UTC)
: Quite possible, since simple web search on Garry Kasparov reveals the aforementioned article about Kasparov's theories of the "vortex of history'. And there is a PlayStation game called "Virtual Kasparov" which is reviewed on the PlayStation review site [https://www.gamevortex.com/psillustrated/soft_rev.php/748 Virtual Kasparov on GameVortex.com]. So, there are at least two places where Kasparov and the word vortex are connected. The term "vortex" would be very tempting for Randall to exploit for comic effect. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 16:15, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

I sure hope that it stays as not a real thing [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 01:32, 29 April 2025 (UTC)
: It might not be, but it's easy enough to make: Train an adversarial network on human chess games. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.41|172.68.22.41]] 04:56, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

The part about losing the ability to play chess even after building a resistance feels familiar. Isn't that how the Elder Scrolls worked in Skyrim, at least. Even highly trained sages would lose the ability to see for a time after reading an Elder Scroll. And the Oblivion remaster just released the other day... --[[User:Ragashingo|Ragashingo]] ([[User talk:Ragashingo|talk]]) 01:54, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

This comic has serious classic SCP energy. I feel like I'd read about this in an old Series I - II article, back when it was still good. [[User:Pie Guy|Pie Guy]] ([[User talk:Pie Guy|talk]]) 18:01, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

----
Cf Von Goom's Gambit by [Victor Contoski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Contoski) published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1966:

And what of Von Goom's Gambit? Chess is a game of logic. Thirty-two pieces move on a board of sixty-four squares, colored alternately dark and light. As they move they form patterns. Some of these patterns are pleasing to the logical mind of man, and some are not. They show what man is capable of and what is beyond his Take any position of the pieces on the chessboard. Usually it tells of the logical or semi-logical plans of the players, their strategy in playing for a win or a draw, and their personalities. If you see a pattern from the King s Gambit Accepted, you know that both players are tacticians, that the fight will be brief but fierce...
Now suppose someone discovers by accident or design a pattern on the chessboard that is more than displeasing, an alien pattern that tells unspeakable things about the mind of the player, man in general and the order of the universe. Suppose no normal man can look at such a pattern and remain normal. Surely such a pattern must have been formed by Von Goom’s Gambit.

I wish the story could end here, but I fear it will not end for a long time. History has shown that discoveries cannot be unmade. Two months ago in Camden, New Jersey, a forty-tliree year old man was found turned to stone staring at a position on a chessboard... {{unsigned ip|162.158.217.38|05:22, 29 April 2025 (UTC)}}

: ''"Cf Von Goom's Gambit"'' https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v031n06_1966-12_PDF/page/n63/mode/2up?view=theater --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 17:46, 29 April 2025 (UTC)
----

<q>When you stare into the vortex, the vortex also stares into you</q>, a famous quote from Kasparov. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 17:49, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

If I may, can we find a position that would match Cueball's description? Where he states "every move attacked every piece, yet every piece was also protected,"? That would be cool. {{unsigned ip|172.69.33.220|20:26, 29 April 2025 (UTC)}}

Why is karpov mentioned in the explanation? I assume more chess comics as chess has grown in popularity to answer the above question. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.160|172.70.91.160]] 22:19, 29 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think the Karpov part was copied and pasted from the explanation for xkcd:2936. I will delete it unless someone objects [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.211|172.69.23.211]] 00:40, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I somehow expected this to be a political comic[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.252|162.158.166.252]] 03:11, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I don't play video games, but I'm pretty sure that this refers to the weird glitches in video games you can get into by choosing wrong moves at just the right point in the game. Players sometimes actively seek out, even if you can't play the game properly from inside the glitch. Of course the idea of entering a glitch while playing a real-life chess game is absurd, but in video games these errors are hard to prevent because it's so easy to overlook some rare but possible situations players could get into. See also [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodBadBugs] [[User:Franziska|Franziska]] ([[User talk:Franziska|talk]]) 10:51, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

This feels like it would open into the House of Leaves. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.177|172.70.130.177]]

Might've been romanticizing disregard for the meta. ''"It's funner to not keep score"'' thinking. Heavy ''"I don't want to play chess anymore"'' it's-better-than-chess romanticizing. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.116|172.68.35.116]] 14:24, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

"The fact that an apparent distortion in the fabric of space can be countered with a single pawn just adds to the absurdity of the situation." - I'm fairly certain the idea is not that this chess position alters reality somehow, but that it is cognitohazardous - i.e. perceiving this particular board configuration interacts with the brain's learned pattern recognition for chess in a deleterious way. An 'adversarial example' for a human brain instead of a neural network. [[User:Somdudewillson|Somdudewillson]] ([[User talk:Somdudewillson|talk]]) 19:11, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

This reminds me of a story I heard about Kasparov, please feel free to fact check.
Kasparov was playing Deep Blue, the top chess playing computer at the time. Apparently, Deep Blue had a glitch, and made a legal but unreasonable move. Kasparov did not know it was a computer mistake, and looked for meaning in the move. Unable to find a reason behind the move, Kasparov was "thrown off his game" suspecting that the computer was trying something he could not figure out. This lead to a stalemate in that game, and ended up being the turning point between the matches between Kasparov and Deep Blue. {{unsigned ip|104.23.190.20|18:43, 1 May 2025 (UTC)}}

Personally I don't think it absurd to move the f-pawn in the opening as mentioned in the explanation (Kings gambit, Vienna gambit, Dutch defence, etc. are all respected openings which move the f-pawn early)--[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 15:56, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

----

There are strong vibes here of the idea of a garden you stumble across but can never return to. I can't put my finger on which though its pretty common in literature and philosophy. Obviously the Garden of Eden and the Secret Garden. But in this case maybe something in Calvino's Invisible Cities or Borges' Garden of Forking Paths? [[User:Tim Gent|Tim Gent]] ([[User talk:Tim Gent|talk]]) 07:56, 6 May 2025 (UTC) Tim Gent

----

The fractal appearance is a common kind of "form constant" that may be seen/visualized/perceived/imagined in altered states of consciousness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_constant.

In some people, these experiences can be induced by specific, but relatively mundane, situations. A simple doubt can send someone spiraling "into the abyss" or "into the vortex", as happens here.

I doubt the comic is a direct reference to any of the works mentioned above, because this is a fairly general human experience, albeit quite uncommon. The wealth and breadth of references above should prove that point. I suppose it could be a parody of these other works, considering the title text's similarity in theme to a common quote from Nietzsche: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you". It could also be based on Randall's own experience, with some inspiration taken from other works.

An approximate description of what's happening psychologically is offered by Jung, albeit in his own jargon. See paragraph 493-496 (pp. 277-278) of Collected Works, Vol 9, Part 1. https://archive.org/details/collected-works-of-c.-g.-jung-v-9-1-archetypes-and-the-collective-unconscious-c.-g.-jung

To put what Jung says bluntly, this is what a brush with insanity is like. Lesser forms are common, and more severe forms are well-documented. Inevitably the experience is hard to grasp by anyone else unless they've experienced it to a similar degree themselves.

re: 162.158.217.38's comment, sitting motionless and staring blankly at the chessboard is a form of catatonia, which is a possible consequence of these altered states of consciousness. It can also feel like everything is new and unfamiliar, i.e. Jamais vu. Cueball seems to experience the latter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamais_vu [[Special:Contributions/174.67.238.58|174.67.238.58]] 22:23, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

OH GOD THIS HAPPENED TO ME LAST THURSDAY! we both had the same configuration of pieces so the board was simetrical exept for the colors and i moved my rook the opponent mirrored my move and then when i captured he captured and then he moved his queen to the center of the board and i was like what and i did the ssame and triggered it by swapping our kings(technically not a leagal move but i was so confused) and blacked out, when i woke up i had very vivid hallucinations about being in an [https://backrooms-freewriting.fandom.com/wiki/Level_! infinite hallway full of exit signs and emergency lights] and then i[https://backrooms-freewriting.fandom.com/wiki/No-clipping Fell Through the floor] and woke up on my carpet with my cat sitting next to me. then i opened my bedroom door to find a nuke in my bedroom and it detonated and i woke up with my cat sitting next to me on my bed. WTF! 21:15, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3082: Chess Position

2026-05-27T21:11:11Z

129.222.195.199:

Talk:3082: Chess Position

2026-05-27T21:08:33Z

129.222.195.199:

Talk:984: Space Launch System

2026-05-27T20:20:52Z

129.222.195.199:

But then we built a whole pile of rockets after that. Apollo, moon landing, mars rover, etc. Boo Black Hat.06:53, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
:"Apollo, moon landing" -- that is, in fact, the Saturn V, built by von Braun, captured Nazi scientist, and his team, largely captured Nazi scientists. Yes, other rockets were built after the Saturn V, but as pointed out in the strip, none have been bigger or more powerful. "Finally, rockets that improve on the ones we had 40 years ago."
:The first Mars lander (true, not a rover), Viking I, was launched on an Titan/Centaur. The Centaur was a co-creation of Krafft A. Ehricke, nazi scientist.
:Mars Sojourner, a rover, part of the Mars Pathfinder mission, was launched on a Delta II rocket. The Delta family of rockets are based on the Thor ballistic missile. The Thor was originally co-developed by Dr. Adolph K. Thiel, Nazi scientist.
:You see where this is going? {{unsigned|212.149.48.43}}

Technically, von Braun wasn't captured. He voluntarily defected. He was wandering Germany because he had chosen to no longer support Hitler, so to stay at the concentration camp where he worked, or anywhere where a Nazi soldier could find him was suicide, so he escaped and was wandering out alone. He surrendered and defected to the first allied troops he saw, which just happened to be American. This is why he worked on the space programme instead of being shot on sight. By the time he was building American rockets, he hadn't been a Nazi for years.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 14:40, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
:You're way off the mark. He was never opposed to the Nazis per se, but did understandably start grumbling a bit when he realized this Endsieg thing wasn't really working out. He and his team left the base because they, again understandably, did not want to be prisoners of the Red Army and Soviet Russia. Then, when the Americans finally caught up with them, he surrendered himself, avoiding execution by guards at the same time. --[[User:Qwach|Qwach]] ([[User talk:Qwach|talk]]) 02:19, 1 September 2013 (UTC)
:"He hadn't been a Nazi for years" -- really, this is begging the question of how you determine whether someone "is a Nazi" or not. Would you say that anyone who ever joined the Nazi party "is a Nazi," despite the fact that many of them probably did so for social expedience rather than because they actually agreed with Nazi philosophy? And would you then ignore the fact that many modern-day skinheads or neo-nazi's aren't formally registered with any national-socialist party? And, if you get around this problem by ignoring party registration altogether, and you simply say that someone "is a Nazi" if they hold views which concur with the views of the Nazi party, then how do you measure someone's views? How do you determine whether someone's views are sufficiently-similar to the Nazi party's to call them a Nazi? If someone were to say "sure, I hate Jews, but we probably shouldn't murder them all," would they be sufficiently Nazi-esque to "be a Nazi" or would their dissent make them "not a Nazi?" In conclusion, to say conclusively that von Braun "was a Nazi" or "wasn't a Nazi" at any particular point in time is probably nearly impossible, and not worth our time. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.249|108.162.221.249]] 19:12, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

So he was one of the good guys?
Not like the other guards and related personnel who didn't want anyone to know they were intimately involved in any of what they were so intimately involved with?
Someone tell me how the USA isn't a working example of Nazi Germany.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 08:01, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

:This may be quite late but I'd like to point out that von Braun was not just member of the NSDAP (the Nazi party) but of the SS as well which goes beyond simple opportunism or group pressure. And he actually visited concentration camps and even selected "workers" (for V2 production) personally, so there is no doubt that von Braun was a Nazi war criminal. He was just never convicted because he was too useful (which was unfortunately the rule rather than an exception at the time). --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.78|162.158.90.78]] 19:45, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

As of September, 2021 (10 years after the comic was published0, the first SLS launch still has not taken place. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 14:29, 19 September 2021 (UTC)
:Although it did take place on 16 Nov 2022, [barely] within 11 years of the comic being published! [[User:Mathmannix|Mathmannix]] ([[User talk:Mathmannix|talk]]) 16:11, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

;Incomplete

Oh, this comic is one of the "more complex" ones. The time line (not the comic sequence) is starting with the US failures to archive space flight in the 1950's, then referring to Nazis, and by the end we are on the current US space policy, which is also highly questionable.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:51, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Not sure what you mean by one of the "more complex" ones, it is actually pretty straightforward. Some nitpicking though: there was no US failure to achieve space flight in the 50s; both the US and the USSR did it within 4 months of each other at the end of 1957/beginning of 1958. A little history lesson:
The Space Race didn't begin until July of 1955, when the US announced its intention to launch Earth-orbiting satellites sometime between July 1st 1957 and December 31st 1958. The USSR followed suit shortly afterwards, and by the end of August 1955 the Soviet Academy of Sciences created a commission (i.e. offered support and possibly some sort of incentive) for the sole purpose of beating the US into space - which they ended up doing with Sputnik 1 (10/04/57) and 2 (11/03/57). The creation of that commission is considered the start of the space race. The US launched its first successful satellite a few months after the Sputniks, the Explorer 1, on February 1, 1958, well within what most people would call the 1950s. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.80|108.162.216.80]] 19:53, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Which is not to say that Maria Cary is a rocket scientist or not, as the case may be.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 08:21, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
Doh Shania Twain. (It's amazing what you can learn when you check your spelling.)[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 08:21, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Amazing how Randall can take heinous ideas of which any rational person would be ashamed to even think, put them in the mouth of Blackhat, and it's not only fine, but hilarious. Bravo. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.236|108.162.219.236]] 18:41, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

"Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department..."[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.174|173.245.50.174]] 04:40, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Personally, I don't get why using Nazi scientists is considered abhorrent. The fuckers who gassed Jews just for the hell of it? Yes, they're despicable. But the rocket scientists who built spacecraft? Fact is, they knew what they were doing, and were good to further our technology. They're ability to advance science is a positive quality, which does not in any way diminish their horrible qualities. Like all human beings, they had a good part, even if their bad vastly overshadows it. [[User:HumaneEngineer|HumaneEngineer]] ([[User talk:HumaneEngineer|talk]]) 02:01, 27 September 2018 (UTC)
:They knew of, or at least delibretly closed their eyes on the working condidents of the consturcuction sites of the V2 rockets, where between 16,000 and 20,000 slave workers died under horrible circumstances. Also they knew exaclty that their rockets where used as an offensive weapon against civilians.{{unsigned ip|172.68.110.171|15:05, 7 September 2022}}

To all the guys out there: If you find a girl who isn't impressed by rocket science, get rid of her. She doesn't have to be smart, but if she does not find rocket science impressive, there is something wrong with her. [[User:R3TRI8UTI0N|R3TRI8UTI0N]] ([[User talk:R3TRI8UTI0N|talk]]) 00:34, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
:this seems sexist. is this sexist?
Considering who's in charge of SpaceX, it proves true once again... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.103|172.71.146.103]] 00:07, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:1093: Forget

2026-05-27T20:07:03Z

129.222.195.199:

I remember Pluto but nothing before or after that.
Also this is a terrible comment system --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.16|172.68.54.16]] 16:04, 27 April 2017 (UTC)
: I know our IP friend is long gone, but for the record: this is not a comment system. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 16:00, 10 October 2021 (UTC)
:: There's literally an "Add Comment" button. So it pretty much is [[Special:Contributions/159.224.64.162|159.224.64.162]] 10:28, 17 December 2025 (UTC)

How far off the top of that list is the death of JFK? [[User:SteveBell|SteveB]] ([[User talk:SteveBell|talk]]) 10:55, 10 August 2012‎ (UTC)
: Looking at the time table, my guess would be around 2000. ~[[User:Jjhuddle|JJ]] ([[User talk:Jjhuddle|talk]]) 11:01, 10 August 2012‎ (UTC)
: Assuming that the median age growed monotonically in the past, that was around '98/'99. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 13:05, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Ah, the seventies. Bell Bottoms. The Bicentennial. The Munich Olympics. The original Star Wars movie. Except for Star Wars, I suppose much of that ''could'' be forgotten. Especially [[1072|Bell Bottoms]].-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:50, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Lorena Bobbitt is misspelled in the comic. It should have two "t's." Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500185_162-4207517.html [Goingtotryscience, 10 Aug 2012] --[[User:Goingtotryscience|Goingtotryscience]] ([[User talk:Goingtotryscience|talk]]) 14:59, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
Uploaded corrected version. Both still available if you click on the image and view upload history.--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 15:46, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

The cold war was after World War II, not World War I. --[[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:18, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

: He didn't say the cold war was after World War I, he said the Soviet Union began after World War I and was the advesary of the United States during the cold war. --[[User:Enginesoul|Enginesoul]] ([[User talk:Enginesoul|talk]]) 18:10, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Let's not forget 2035 when the majority of people will not remember a world berift of XKCD! [[User:Loeb|Loeb]] ([[User talk:Loeb|talk]]) 17:17, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

When Coca-Cola change the formula to New Coke, they kept the name "Coca-Cola" for the reformulated beverage, and discontinued the old formula. Because of the backlash, they reintroduced the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic" and kept the new formula as "Coca-Cola". After a while, with "Coca-Cola Classic" being by far the biggest seller, the new formula was rebranded "Coke II", and eventually discontinued (I believe). The can I have in front of me is marked simply "Coca-Cola", so I guess "Coca-Cola Classic" was eventually rebranded back to the original name. --[[User:Blaisepascal|Blaise Pascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 17:55, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
:Coke II was produced and distributed in some Midwestern markets as late as 2002. Supposedly it's still available in the Marshall Islands, or somewhere like that. [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 21:22, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thinks that there are some other things needing explaining here? I have no idea what "Forgot About Dre" or "Baby Got Back" are about. (Well, not without a little googling.) And Pluto still exists, even if it's not currently classified as a planet (last I heard, they were considering classifying it and Charon as a twin planet system) so people are unlikely to forget about the name.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 07:26, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:Actually, Pluto is still a planet. To say Pluto is not a planet is the same thing as saying little people aren't people, which is incredibly bigoted against little people. Only a true sociopath would say that Pluto isn't a planet. "Dwarf planet" has planet right in the name. Of COURSE a dwarf planet is a planet.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 15:07, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
::By that logic, "candy corn" is still corn because it has the word corn right in the name. Call me a sociopath if you want to, but I say Pluto is not (and never was) a planet. There was a brief time in history when we mistakenly THOUGHT it was a planet, until we corrected our mistake. The same thing happened with Ceres. It was initially announced to be a planet, until further measurements showed it to be much smaller than we thought, so we reclassified it as an "asteroid". Nowadays, we correctly recognize that Ceres and Pluto belong in the same category as each other. Both of them are rocks floating in a band of other rocks, albeit unusually large examples of such rocks. This comic refers to the fact that we look back with nostalgia on the time when lists of "the planets" included Pluto. Now, the list does not include Pluto.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 15:42, 21 February 2015 (UTC)

::Highly recommend this book for the fascinating inside account of how Pluto became a not-planet. ("Planetoid" would be a much better descriptor, but Pluto's "demotion" was so upsetting, they used "dwarf planet" to soften the blow!): {{w|How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming}} [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 13:49, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

Oh and if Chernobyl is considered worthy of explanation, surely so is Challenger? Columbine too. Jeff's initial selection seems a little arbitrary, and while he justifiably never claims to provide a comprehensive explanation, we usually fill in the gaps.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 07:34, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

:Gaps: Filled. By the way, none of the explanation was actually Jeff's. It's the collaboration of multiple users (feel free to pitch in). For example, I made the {{diff|6133|first revision}} of the article, with a basic explanation, [[Special:Contributions/Jjhuddle|Jjhuddle]] {{diff|6157|added}} information about the title text (which I skipped over, as I wasn't sure about it), [[Special:Contributions/Jilkscom56|Jilkscom56]] {{diff|6190|added}} the bit about Eyjafjallajökull, [[Special:Contributions/IronyChef|IronyChef]] {{diff|6199|added}} eight more years, [[Special:Contributions/MrFlibble|MrFlibble]] {{diff|6218|fixed}} an error in one of the dates, [[Special:Contributions/AHT|AHT]] {{diff|6253|expanded}} the Berlin Wall section, and I {{diff|6256|filled in the rest of the blanks}}. {{User:Omega/sig}} 08:18, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

The Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany, not the USSR and it preceded the reunification of Germany. I've sort of fixed it, but it could do with more work. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:35, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
: Good. I was just writing a comment about exactly these two points. Although the role of the soviets is not entirely clear, it was the Eastern German (aka German Democratic Republic) Government that decided and (mostly) Eastern German soldiers who built the Wall. And while the "Fall of the Wall" usually refers to the day where suddenly after a very confusing press conference, people could cross the border from east to west, the November 9, 1989, the reunification was a political and formal act in 1990, almost a year later. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 10:51, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
: Also, the wall was technically not torn down by anyone and especially not from both sides. After a series of weekly demonstrations in Eastern Germany (by a lot of courageous people in different cities), the Government made a decision to lift the travel restrictions, effectively allowing travelling to the West. On November 9, 1989, they made this official in a press conference which did not even receive a lot of attention at first. In this conference, someone raised the question when these new regulation would take effect, and seemingly unprepared, the speaker said "as far as I can see, it's effective immediately". Although there were so many people up that night in both East and West, and although maybe the mass of people prevented a shooting by the unprepared soldiers at the checkpoint, the revolution was not a spontaneous tearing of the wall, it was the demonstrations in the preceeding weeks by the Eastern German People. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 11:30, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

It seems whoever wrote the explanation for 9/11 has already forgotten the other two planes that crashed that day: one into the Pentagon, and one in a field outside of Shanksville, PA (Presumably on its way to crashing into the Capitol Building)
:Well go change it then!

Actually I found the most crucial part, the math, was done poorly: Why do we have a 32 years gap today and a 35 years gap in the future, when the current median age is "around 35"?. I fixed it, but I'm not a native speaker, so I'd be happy if someone could go over the first paragraph (again). [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 13:40, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

"''He lost all popularity after he controversially boycotted the 1980 Olympics, in Moscow''" Well, this just proves the point of the comic. Anyone old enough to remember the Carter administration would not have written this. The Olympic boycott was actually supported by most of the American people at the time, albeit a little grudgingly. It was, in fact, one of the few things Carter did at that point that ''was'' popular.<p>The explanation would be more accurate if it read "''He lost popularity due to continual high inflation during his administration, failure to resolve the {{w|Iran hostage crisis}}, a {{w|Malaise speech|speech that was interpreted as blaming the American people for his administration's failings}}, and a growing perception that he was in over his head.''" [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 21:19, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

:I've rewritten that section to include more information. Wikipedia does say that the Olympic boycott was controversial, and my memory concurs. The real error about the boycott was that it wasn't generally a cold-war issue, but rather a direct response to the Afghanistan invasion. Which is why it was so controversial, as such a boycott was purely political when the spirit of the games was intended to overcome such political differences. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 21:51, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

This comic makes me feel young. The first event I actually remember is 9/11, and I only remember it because it was my first day of kindergarten. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 04:21, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

I have extremely vague memories of 9/11 which happened when I was 4, mainly through a dream I had where I built two Lego towers and had them fall on me. I have a few memories of a time before facebook, but I do remember Katrina. I feel so young. Also like. Pokemon's TV show came out when I was born, and I unashamedly still watch it now and then. Literally can't get a show I've watched for a longer period of time than Pokemon haha xD so xkcd makes me feel old and young simultaneously. [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 15:41, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

Seems like that Chernobyl thing isn't quite right after all. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.165|173.245.52.165]] 15:12, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

I don't remember anything on this list, except the last one, of course. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.51|172.71.150.51]] 23:04, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

The chart means "forget" like the person witnessed it, right? [[User:Psychoticpotato|Psychoticpotato]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 13:46, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
:If by "the person" you describe the population as a whole, the communal memory becoming a minority one. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.49|172.70.163.49]] 14:06, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1093: Forget

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Talk:673: The Sun

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Interesting (or deliberate?) that there's no reference at all in the explanation to [[wikipedia:Sunshine_(2007_film)|Sunshine]], released two years previously. [[Special:Contributions/178.99.247.73|178.99.247.73]] 21:07, 20 May 2013 (UTC)
* I just want to know if Randall knew the film Sunshine existed when he made the comic.

Can't "to spring" be thought of as a physical movement? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 00:49, 7 January 2014 (UTC)
: Yes; that's why the mnemonic works. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 16:08, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
:: Also, the mnemonic works because physically it is relatively easier to spring (i.e., jump) forward and to fall (through the simple action of gravity, without being able to catch yourself with your arms) back(ward) than it is to do the reverse. --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 01:09, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

the fusion reactions are well understood
By whom? [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 22:12, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Okay, I'm too lazy to figure out a rewrite, but honestly...it seems pretty durned obvious that it's making fun of "The Core" which is actually mentioned in the comic, not making fun of some random British film not mentioned. Also look at the movie poster for "The Core" on Wikipedia; the similarities to the last panel with the group of people and the silhouettes is pretty obvious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.150|108.162.215.150]] 23:11, 12 April 2015 (UTC)MW

I think "not on my watch" is being used as another pun, as daylight savings would not happen on your watch if you couldn't adjust it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.127|173.245.52.127]] 12:19, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

It's not incorrect to say that this comic makes fun of science fiction disaster movies, but that's not right place to start. The comic is really about the fact that there are two ways to interpret the term "daylight saving time", and one of those ways sounds like the over-adrenalized style that one sees in action movie posters. That's the central joke, and the mockery of science fiction disaster movies is there in order to make that joke funny

The statement that "Even in the nearly impossible event of the sun's fusion is failing in the traditional sense, the sun would collapse causing a supernova." is incorrect as the Sun does not have enough mass to fuel a supernova. IIRC it's mass would have to be about 40% higher for that to happen
: Removed it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.236|162.158.238.236]] 02:29, 30 October 2020 (UTC)
Is the second Cueball in panel one dismissing Ponytail's warning, or dismissing the other Cueball's question of whether it makes sense? I took it as a joke on people dismissing such criticism of such disaster movies by pointing out they are just an excuse for two hours of pretty people and special effects, and aren't supposed to be thought about. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.16|162.158.79.16]] 15:38, 17 March 2022 (UTC)

How are we sure there are two ponytails in this comic? It could be the same character. After all they will need someone competent on their team. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.172|162.158.103.172]] 18:04, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
:There's no sign that the common illustrative (and filmic) convention has been broken, of NASA-calling Cueball being in direct communication with helmet-carrying Cueball across the 'jump-cut' between the two frames/scenes. For original Ponytail to have had time to be in both scenes presupposes a whole omitted period of time (ok, so not rare in film trailers, which reassemble the storyline how they see fit) but, more than that, it makes nonsense of the helmet-Cueball seeming to learn of the group's instructions by phone when Ponytail (of the initial scene) seems to be already both knowledgable ''and'' authoritative enough to have briefed the team upon her arrival (at whatever point in the intervening time that was).
:...you'd need to assume some big "but is the threat ''really'' real?" plotpoint where Ponytail (initial version) and her staff have primed NASA but some beaurocratic process then had to have been seen (in the full movie) in which Ponytail (and perhaps even one of 'her' Cueballs, because... expendible sidekick?) rock up to NASA, get them to at least prepare for the mission, all the while awaiting the go/no-go direct from the person in charge (NASA boss/POTUS/whatever), at which point the explicit confirmation comes through and is rhetorically relayed to a team who know ''exactly'' what it is they'll be doing (if it turns out they're doing anything) and just need an "It's a Go, guys!"
:Not that some dialogue/screenplay isn't as bad as the backformed trailer-cut version forces us to assume (nor that some trailers don't horribly Lie with misplaced or even unused film-footage that sort of makes its own sense, if you don't notice the same character present in both scenes). But I prefer to think that Astronomer-Ponytail is perhaps NASA-Ponytail's twin sister. Making it even more dramatic that, in order to save the world from <whatever>, the former has to put her super-sibling as directly into harm's way as any practical and observational person can, even given the latter's obvious tendency to a more risk-taking profession (but probably still topped the intelligence tests).
:...yet that's just my own [[1401: New|headcanon]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 00:05, 26 January 2023 (UTC)

could "a night without a dawn" be a reference to magic tree house book 2? this premise is also similar to project hail mary but this comic was before it...

Talk:673: The Sun

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Talk:673: The Sun

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