explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2213: How Old

2019-10-09T19:45:59Z

162.158.122.30: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2213
| date = October 9, 2019
| title = How Old
| image = how_old.png
| titletext = We've met! I remember you when you were thiiiis tall! [*holds a hand an inch above their head*]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an someone with problems with social interactions. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Another comic of the [[:Category:Tips|tips type]], this time regarding one of [[Randall|Randall's]] problems, [[:Category:Social interactions|social interactions]], this time including an ''interaction tip''.

[[White Hat]] introduces his dad to [[Cueball]], who then expresses a reaction more typical of people being introduced to children, by saying ''Aww, how old is he?''

When introduced to a young kid, saying "aww" is accepted as normal, because the speaker thinks the little child is cute. The speaker also wishes both to know the age of the kid and to give the kid a chance to answer this question.

But when meeting someone older this would feel very awkward, and Randall, indicating he is very awkward around other (normal) people, continues to make this type of comic about problems with social interactions. Hence for others with his problems, this comic gives an interaction tip in the caption, letting you know that ''How Old?'' (the title of the comic) is a common question to ask only when introduced to kids, not to older people such as elderly parents. Another excellent example of how Randall also doesn't know how to speak with people with children can be seen in [[1650: Baby]].

White Hat's father is wearing a {{w|sailor cap}} like the old version of Cueball in [[572: Together]] and as other old people both in [[586: Mission to Culture]] and [[1910: Sky Spotters]].

In the title text, Cueball continues down the road to awkwardness by saying other things normally reserved for meeting kids. Here he notes that he has actually met White Hat's father before, but so long ago that he since has changed height. For kids this usually means they have grown taller, but old people, who have long stopped growing, will over time become more compressed and lose height. So apart from saying that he remembers when White Hat's father was ''thiiiis tall'', he also holds his hand an inch (2,54 cm) above the father's head to indicate this age-related height loss. For a growing child, he would instead have held his hand some distance below the top of their head.

This interaction would be really embarrassing for White Hat and his father, as being made aware of aging is usually not something people like to be confronted with by someone they hardly know, and being treated like a child is embarrassing.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat holds his hand out towards a man with a sailor-cap standing to the left in the image while addressing Cueball standing to the right.]
:White Hat: I'd like you to meet my dad.
:Cueball: Aww, how old is he?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Interaction tip: This is a common question to ask parents about their kids, but for some reason in the other direction it's weird.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Characters with Hats]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

Talk:2211: Hours Before Departure

2019-10-04T20:10:35Z

162.158.122.30: Added comment about title text

... The title text isn't even a pun. Whoever wrote that needs to leave their pun hatred at the door and stick to what's actually there. [[User:V|V]] ([[User talk:V|talk]]) 19:04, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

Do astronauts get their passports stamped when leaving/entering in a rocket? It makes sense that they should. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.34|162.158.255.34]] 19:39, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

The title text missed an opportunity for another twist - it should have said they astronauts have Global '''Re-'''entry!

Talk:2200: Unreachable State

2019-09-11T13:24:02Z

162.158.122.30:

When I tried to go here originally, it was unreachable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.61|162.158.107.61]] 03:54, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
:Yes that was really a funny coincidence, although it lasted a bit too long. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:37, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

Nothing about the comic suggests a website. it looks more like the error message of a program. also, i don't think CB is typing it, just reading. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.124|172.68.50.124]] 06:20, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
:Im positive you are right, Cueball's hands are hovering over the keyboard while he reads this message. The caption is a note to programers not to leave this kind of message to users by writing them when tired. I will correct the explanation and the transcript. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

;"Can't happen"
This comic is not about "a problem that the programmers did not anticipate", but rather a situation that the programmer rules out as impossible, which is technically called "Can't happen" or "Impossible Error" in the hacker/programmer's jargon. See http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/can-t-happen.html

For example:
<source lang=php>
for ($i=1;$i<=5;++$i) {echo $i." - ";}
if ($i<10) {echo "Bye!";} else {echo "Can't happen!";}
</source>
[[User:ElfQrin|ElfQrin]] ([[User talk:ElfQrin|talk]]) 07:14, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

Also it helps not to be too cute even with impossible error messages. A colleague left a message along the lines of <q>Application rubbish bin has broken.</q> once. Cue a somewhat perplexed user call several years later…
<blockquote>
“Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one.
But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.”

― Terry Pratchett, Mort
</blockquote>

--[[User:Kventin|Kventin]] ([[User talk:Kventin|talk]]) 07:51, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
: Do you mean "garbage collector"? Because that's not being cute, that's the actual technical term. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.30|162.158.122.30]] 13:24, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

The "anything can happen" may be reference to undefined behavior in some programming languages (most famous are C and C++) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undefined_behavior. And the error message is rather about assertion failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assertion_(software_development) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.54|162.158.92.54]] 08:03, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

I rewrote the intro from a developer's perspective, since I'm pretty sure this is more about coding than about websites. Would be nice to add something about assertions there too. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 12:37, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

2193: Well-Ordering Principle

2019-08-24T05:59:40Z

162.158.122.30: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2193
| date = August 23, 2019
| title = Well-Ordering Principle
| image = well_ordering_principle.png
| titletext = We could organize a nationwide old-photo-album search, but the real Worst McFly is probably lost to time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BAD MARTY MCFLY COSTUME. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Marty McFly}}, played by actor Michael J. Fox, is the main character of the film series ''{{w|Back to the Future (franchise)|Back to the Future}}''. As it is a popular film and series, many people may dress up as Marty McFly or Doc Brown, the other main character of the series, on {{w|Halloween}}, a holiday on October 31 where it is traditional to dress up in {{w|Halloween costume|different costumes}}.

In the comic, Megan has found a genie lamp. A genie in a lamp is a supernatural being in many stories known to give one or more wishes to its finder. Instead of wishing for multiple wishes, flight, money, or other "traditional" wishes, Megan instead wishes to see the picture of the worst costume of Marty McFly on Halloween. Marty McFly's outfit in the films is relatively simple, consisting of little more than an orange vest, jean jacket, shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It would seem difficult to get this wrong.

In the final panel, the genie questions why she would wish for something so mundane, when he has the power to grant wishes beyond her wildest dreams. Megan, being savvy of tropes used in fiction since biblical times, points out that encounters with wish-granting entities often turn out to be traps; genies in fiction will often interpret wishes in ways the wisher did not intend, and particularly mean-spirited ones will {{tvtropes|JackassGenie|twist a mortal's desire into their own personal hell}}. So Megan tries to play it safe by wishing for something innocuous and with little room for harmful side-effects.

She then says they'll "call it even", which usually implies all debts are settled (in this case, that the genie can consider his obligation to grant her three wishes to be fulfilled), but since granting one wish leaves her with two wishes (an even number), it could be a setup to turn the trope on its head.

The title text explains why Megan is interested in this wish: any means available to her would be restricted to photographs or drawings from memory. It is likely the worst costume was either never photographed, or isn't remembered accurately by those who saw it (it is lost to time). By asking the genie to show her, she would be able to see the truly worst costume, without being restricted to those for which evidence remains.

The {{w|well-ordering principle}} is a mathematical principle stating that every non-empty set of positive integers contains a least element. This principle would apply to Megan's request if there was guaranteed to be an "absolute worst" costume of Marty McFly. However, subjective {{w|preference}}, while [[wikipedia:Reflexive relation|reflexive]] and [[wikipedia:Transitivity|transitive]], is not [[wikipedia:Well-founded relation|well-founded]] (or [[wikipedia:Symmetric relation|symmetric]], [[wikipedia:Antisymmetric relation|antisymmetric]], or [[wikipedia:Connex relation|connex]], for that matter) and is therefore considered a {{w|preorder}}, also called a quasiorder. This means that the genie may not be able to fulfill Megan's wish if the selection were based on the preferences of any one person. Luckily, people's preferences can be combined into a {{w|mean opinion score}} which, while not strictly well-ordered, will almost always be able to identify a single worst costume, or at least identify a set of costumes tied for worst according to aggregate subjective preferences.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan rubs a lamp held in her hands. A genie appears from the end of the lamp. The genie resembles the top half of Cueball's body, with a head, torso, and arms, but with a squiggle representing a puff of smoke in place of his legs.]
:Genie: Greetings, mortal. You have freed me. I will grant you one wish.
:Megan: Hmm.

:[Megan holding the lamp to her side. The genie is off-panel.]
:Megan: It's been over 30 years since ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' came out. Since then, probably hundreds of thousands of people have tried to dress as Marty McFly for Halloween.
:Genie: OK, and?

:[Megan, holding the lamp to her side, talking to the genie, who is floating in the air.]
:Megan: Of those people, one of them must have done the worst job.
:Megan: My wish is to see their costume.

:[Megan still holding the lamp and talking to the genie.]
:Genie: Not a billion dollars? Flight? Infinite wishes?
:Megan: These wish things are always traps.
:Megan: Just show me the worst McFly and we'll call it even.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Fiction]]

2191: Conference Question

2019-08-20T00:55:49Z

162.158.122.30: I'm curious to whoever got exactly 2/3 HP unforgivable curses right. (Changed killing to Avada Kedavra)

{{comic
| number = 2191
| date = August 19, 2019
| title = Conference Question
| image = conference_question.png
| titletext = I also have an utterance. Less of an utterance and more of an incantation. Less of an incantation and more of a malediction. Less of a malediction and more of a Word of Power. Less of a Word of Power and more of an Unforgivable Curse.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT that's more of a FRIENDLY BUG. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Usually at a conference or other event involving a speaker addressing a crowd, members of the crowd are given the chance to ask questions. This is intended so that people can perhaps ask the speaker to elaborate on a point they've made, or to ask the speaker's opinion on a topic related to their talk.

Occasionally, people at such an event will use (or, rather, abuse) the opportunity to ask a question to instead provide their own (unsolicited) opinion or statement. Such statements are often preceded with something along the lines of "I have a question. Well, less of a question and more of a comment." This formulation in particular has attracted a lot of criticism, eg. [https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/4/30/less-of-a-question-more-of-a-comment].

In the comic, this idea is taken to an extreme, with [[Beret Guy]] not only transforming the opportunity to ask a question into an opportunity to make a statement, but through successive transformations, turning this into an opportunity to show off a bug he has found.

:'''Question''' This is what the crowd member is expected to provide, such that the speaker or a panel member could provide a related answer.

:'''Comment''' This is where the crowd member would just say something they believe, without expecting an answer, giving the speaker or panel members nothing to do.

:'''Utterance''' This is making a noise, which may or may not be actual words, or if actual words it may not be a complete sentence.

:'''Air Pressure Wave''' Sounds are literally pressure waves in the air. So this could be a simple sound, or not a sound at all depending on the severity of the wave. It might be the person simply blowing.

:'''Friendly Hand Wave''' Now instead of using his mouth to generate an air pressure wave, he's producing it with his hand, in a manner intended to be interpreted as "friendly". Many times hand waves are done in a friendly manner, designed more for the visual appeal than the amount of air pressure waves they generate.

:'''Friendly Bug''' Now he is no longer doing anything himself, except to point out the fact that he has found a bug or {{w|insect}}, which he {{w|anthropomorphizes}} as being friendly.

:'''Want to meet it?''' After all this talking, he apparently now considers the speaker (who hasn't actually had a chance to speak during this exchange) his friend, and wants to share this wonderful finding with his new friend, by finally asking a question. After doggedly refusing to ask a question, it's ironic to end with one, though presumably not one related to the topic of the speaker's talk.

The title text refers to successively worse forms of magic spells which would, presumably, have a negative effect upon the listener. A malediction is another word for curse (the prefix "mal" being a Latin root meaning "evil"). "Word of Power" could refer to the dragonish form of magic in ''{{w|The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim}},'' or the [https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Power_word early 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons high level spells] which have since fallen out of favor among roleplayers. The term "{{w|Magic_in_Harry_Potter#Unforgivable_Curses|Unforgivable Curse}}" refers to a set of three spells from the Harry Potter series, said to be so evil that their use on another person is unforgivable and illegal. The three spells are able to mind control (''Imperius''), torture (''Cruciatus''), and kill (''Avada Kedavra'') their target.

The title text can be interpreted as a reply by [[Hairy]] (the speaker) to Beret Guy, indicating his annoyance at the topic being derailed. It could also be representative of Randall's feelings towards those who abuse the opportunity to ask a question in order to make a statement. Randall has recently done some book tours and was at {{w|San Diego Comic-Con}} [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/07/15/san-diego-comic-con/ last month] where he served on various panels, so he probably had personal first-hand experience with these kinds of circuitous non-questions.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy stands on a podium having just addressed a crowd of seated people. Beret Guy stands in the middle of the crowd, addressing Hairy. One of Beret Guy's hands is raised at chest height. The front row consists of Cueball, Ponytail, another Hairy, Megan, Hairbun, Danish and another Cueball.]

:Beret Guy: I have a question.
:Beret Guy: Well, less of a question and more of a comment.
:Beret Guy: I guess it's less of a comment and more of an utterance
:Beret Guy: Really it's less an utterance more an air pressure wave.
:Beret Guy: It's less an air pressure wave and more a friendly hand wave.
:Beret Guy: I guess it's less a friendly wave than it is a friendly bug.
:Beret Guy: I found this bug and now we're friends. Do you want to meet it?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Animals]]