explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1191: The Past

2024-02-27T03:16:19Z

141.101.98.136: /* Explanation */ More edit-friendly version of what is ultimately a wikilink.

{{comic
| number = 1191
| date = March 27, 2013
| title = The Past
| image = the past.png
| titletext = If history has taught us anything, we can use that information to destroy it.
}}

==Explanation==
"The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there" is the opening line of "{{w|The Go-Between}}", a novel by {{w|L. P. Hartley|Leslie Poles Hartley}} (1895–1972), published in London in 1953. The phrase was intended to highlight the impact of changing social norms and customs. As when dealing with a foreign society, one must be prepared to encounter different ways of life than one is accustomed to. And that's true, even over a single lifetime, so in recalling one's past, it's important to understand the context in which those memories take place.

[[Black Hat]], however, decides to take the first part of the quote literally, and consider "the past" as it it were an actual foreign country. In true Black Hat fashion, the first thing he considers is that this "nation" would have an outdated military (by definition, because current technology and military doctrine hadn't been invented) and huge oil reserves (because their reserves would not yet have been depleted). The implication of these two points is that such a country would be ripe for invasion by a more powerful nation, seeking to control their natural resources.

The pensive way in which he makes these points implies that he's genuinely considering trying to mount an invasion of "the past". Such an invasion would, of course, require inventing a time machine, and could introduce all sorts of potential issues with the space-time continuum (depending on {{w|Time_ travel#Philosophy|how the space-time continuum actually works}}). But [[:Category:Time travel|time travel is hardly unknown in the XKCD universe]], and Black Hat isn't the type to worry about consequences when there's an opportunity to gain some benefit.

This notion has shown up in fiction before. For example, "Mozart in Mirrorshades" is a short story by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner, which features the use of time travel to exploit earlier eras' natural resources. As another example (from the short story ''{{w|Young Zaphod Plays It Safe}}''), “When the hunt for new sources of energy had at one point got particularly frantic, one bright young chap suddenly spotted that one place which had never used up all its available energy was - the past. And with the sudden rush of blood to the head that such insights tend to induce, he invented a way of mining it that very same night, and within a year huge tracts of the past were being drained of all their energy and simply wasting away. Those who claimed that the past should be left unspoilt were accused of indulging in an extremely expensive form of sentimentality.”

The "If history has taught us anything" is usually used to introduce a lesson that the speaker takes to be clear and obvious from history. The title text of this strip subverts that by implying that lessons learned from history can count as military intelligence to use against it.

The concept of going back to the past to collect resources (or, at least, set up the collection of resources) shows up again in [[2321: Low-Background Metal]]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat talking.]
:Cueball: Well, you know what they say. The past is a foreign country-
:Black Hat: -With an outdated military and huge oil reserves!
:Black Hat: ''Hmmm...''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

Talk:2019: An Apple for a Dollar

2018-07-16T13:12:30Z

141.101.98.136: added note about title text inaccuracy

Is this a reference to how shops in America don't include VAT in price labels?
(It's my first time trying to contribute to this so sorry if I get some format stuff wrong){{unsigned ip|141.101.107.132}}

:Yeah, Randall would love it in Europe! (you should sign your posts with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> though) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.22|172.68.51.22]] 15:53, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

:It is a commentary on overly complex taxes and fees on things that really shouldn't have fees applied (I can think of hardly anything that really should have a fee applied, or be taxed really, but that's a political-philosophical discussion for another space-time coordinate) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.239|172.69.70.239]] 16:18, 13 July 2018 (UTC) Sam

:We call it sales tax, and it doesn't have the chaining-effect on every stage of production that VAT does, but yeah. It's rarely calculated into the sticker price. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.246|162.158.106.246]] 16:27, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Is food taxed where Randall lives? It's not where I live and I was under the impression that it's not in most of the US. It's not uncommon for me to go to a store after working out and buying a protein bar for exactly $1. {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.22}}

:Living smack-dab in the center of the US and I can tell you that pretty much everything has a sales tax. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.239|172.69.70.239]] 16:18, 13 July 2018 (UTC) Sam
::Groceries, such as apples, should not be taxed, but I believe that processed foods are taxed. Actually, nevermind, this is state dependent: [https://blog.taxjar.com/states-grocery-items-tax-exempt/] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.137|172.68.46.137]] 16:27, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

:In my experience food is indeed taxed like everything else, but businesses will sometimes set the actual price of the item slightly below $1, such that the tax makes it cost exactly $1. The example that comes to mind is the soft-serve ice cream at IKEA. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:31, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
::That has been my experience as well, although it varies by region. — AfroThundr <sup>([[User:AfroThundr3007730|u]] · [[User talk:AfroThundr3007730|t]] · [[Special:Contributions/AfroThundr3007730|c]])</sup> 16:37, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
: In Germany we have two types of VAT. General rule of thumb 7% for food and print media and 19% for more or less everything else. It's a rule of thumb, because there are exemptions to the 7% stuff which suddenly are taxed 19%. But in either case it's included on the price tag. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:45, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

The closest thing this can relate to a for a European is buying dinners or hotel rooms if you come from a corrupt East or Southern European country where "tourists tax" is a real thing and added out of nowhere on top of the regular price, because the regular price only have to include regular taxes.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.58|162.158.202.58]] 16:39, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I'm thinking on the analysis I tentatively added to the explanation above. I assumed Megan was an engineer, but re-reading the comic ("Should I solve for something ??") I think it's more possible she no longer has to do math in her career, and is being portrayed as having a flashback to school again when she encounters a similar situation to her education. The examples are common in math and physics in grade school. It's hard for me to figure out in my head how to combine all the different interpretations, or which ones are likely wrong; it would be great if somebody could clean it up. If not, it's just a tiny wiki on the internet. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.160|172.68.54.160]] 18:25, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Is this really a grocery store? I thought of it more as a coffee shop. Minimalist decor and whatnot. It's also one of those places where you would explain introductorily that you want just the apple. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.130|108.162.237.130]] 18:15, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

The exact fraction of an apple needed to spend exactly $1.00 is 0.46082949308. [[User:meunstercheese|MuensterCheese]] misspelled their username. [[User_talk:Meunstercheese|Chat \o]] 19:23, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

"it seems the cashier is unable to figure out how to handle it" for me it feels like the cashier gets the customers "needs" very fast and responds in a very clever and symbiotic way that benefits both parties.

One could also interpret this as an analogy of Randall's first experiences with cryptocurrencies (to avoid naming any specific one), which makes transactions as simple as possible without any tricks. The title text then suggests that it's possible in this scenario to send fractions of a unit in cryptocurrencies. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.142|108.162.241.142]] 20:09, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

"I'd like 0.4608 apples, please" - "Thank you, that will be $0.999936" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.165|162.158.74.165]] 08:54, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
:This would be 0.460829495 to be exactly $1, but thats going to be onerous to chop accurately... and say. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.136|141.101.98.136]] 13:12, 16 July 2018 (UTC)Sedontane

== The real joke I think is over paying for an apple ==

I'm pretty sure $1 is over priced for an apple... $2.17 criminally so

:Maybe it's big and heavy apple? ... but the issue might be more that apples are almost always sold by weight, and the weight multiplied by unit price is very unlikely to produce round number for price unless you are VERY lucky. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:00, 15 July 2018 (UTC)

:Depends on where she's buying them. If it's a grocery store, where apples are usually sold in bulk, then $1 per apple is high. If it's a mini mart (like 7/11) or a coffee shop/fast food place, where apples are sold individually as a side, then $1 per apple is pretty reasonable.

1907: Immune System

2017-10-26T11:45:11Z

141.101.98.136: host -> target. No twice the same word with different meaning in same sentence.

{{comic
| number = 1907
| date = October 25, 2017
| title = Immune System
| image = immune_system.png
| titletext = It also helps with negotiation. "Look, if it were up to me, *I'd* accept your offer, but my swarm of autonomous killer cells literally can't be reasoned with. It's out of my hands!"
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Ponytail is delivering an informative report to a group of listeners, likely important managers of some large company. She begins her lecture by stating she is the host of a microscopic autonomous swarm that will do anything to protect her. She is referring to the immune system, which could technically be defined as a "microscopic autonomous swarm" that will do anything to protect her -- i.e destroy pathogens such as viruses and bacteria, both of which cause multitudinous diseases in humans. Like many of the systems of the body, the immune system cannot be controlled by conscious thought, and should not be taken as unordinary.

The caption below reveals the method behind her madness. Randall claims that beginning any business presentation with a surreal description of one's own immune system is guaranteed to strengthen your case. Whether or not this is actually the case is irrelevant, the point of the comic is about "how cool the immune system is", and explains its coolness through an unconventional description of how the process works. Additionally, Ponytail's description implies more potential power than an immune system typically has, perhaps to to gain more respect/fear from the speaker's audience.

The title text elaborates further on this, stating that similar arguments can be used in negotiation. The description of the immune system is deliberately misleading, implying that the immune system may attack the other negotiator if the terms of the deal aren't satisfactory. While it is correct that your immune cells cannot be reasoned with and theoretically it could cause an anaphylactic shock in the targeted organism, the veiled threat omits the fact that the immune system 1) is unaffected by external negotiations conducted by its host, 2) is incapable of attacking things outside of the body, and 3) would have to overcome the target's own immune system.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is standing in front of a boardroom, holding a stick up to the board. Cueball, Megan and Hairbun are in the audience, sitting at a long table; an extra, unoccupied chair is in the front.]
:Ponytail: My body hosts an autonomous microscopic defensive swarm that will do anything to protect me.
:Ponytail: I have no ability to restrain it and I don't know my own power.
:Ponytail: So listen up.
:Ponytail: Sales grew by 4% this quarter...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Business protip: You can strengthen any presentation by opening with a reminder about how cool immune systems are.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]