explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:703: Honor Societies

2016-02-15T07:02:38Z

173.245.54.38:

A tautology is a statement that is always true and that doesn't convey any information. A classic example is 'A or not A', which is true if A is true, but also if A isn't true. 'Either it rains or it doesn't rain' is true, no matter what weather it is.

"If 1.000.000 people join this group, it will have 1.000.000 people in it" is, strictly speaking, not a tautology, since it wouldn't be true if - somehow - 1.000.000 people were able to join the group without it having 1.000.000 people in it (I don't know - maybe if people leave the group before the counter hit 1.000.000?). It would also be true if there were somehow 1.000.000 members of the group without 1.000.000 people joining it. It is of the form 'if A then A' which is pretty much a much longer version of just 'A'. It's true if it's true, and it isn't if it isn't - so it isn't a tautology.

The same goes for 'The first rule of the tautology club is the first rule of the tautology club' - It's just a long way of saying "This is the first rule of the tautology club' - which can be true or false.
:No, it's saying that, whatever the first rule of the club is at any given moment, that's the first rule of the club. Which cannot be false. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 16:39, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Granted; the statements hold enough implied information that we will agree that they are true in a trivial sense, and they are much more fun than 'either there are 1.000.000 people in this group or there aren't 1.000.000 people in this group' and 'either this is the first rule of the tautology club or it isn't' [[Special:Contributions/193.88.197.67|193.88.197.67]] 22:15, 2 September 2013 (UTC)
: While I do understand what you're getting at, you are surprisingly wrong on a few accounts. First, A or not A (i.e. A V ~A) is not always a tautology. I've spent enough painful time around intuitionists to say this whenever I can.
:: How is that not a tautology? For any proposition A, if the proposition is true, then A; if not, then ~A. Logic doesn't allow for a proposition to be both true AND false, nor does it allow for a proposition to be neither true NOR false, so the only remaining possibilities are A and ~A; ergo, A v ~A. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 16:44, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

:Unnecessary nitpick aside, then, there are more serious things. I presume the sentence, "It would also be true if there were somehow 1.000.000 members of the group without 1.000.000 people joining it," should be, "It would also '''not''' be true if there were somehow 1.000.000 members of the group without 1.000.000 people joining it." (Otherwise, the "also" is used incorrectly, and the sentence is useless.) Unfortunately, this would make it wrong; a statement of the form "if A then B" is not false if B is true and A isn't. (This is the difficulty of making formal logic: the traditional conditional leads to bizarre, vacuous truths.) Also, more seriously, you say that "if A then A" is a longer way of saying "A", or, more formally, that "A → A" is logically equivalent to "A." Unfortunately, this is not the case. The statement "if A then A" is always true, and hence a tautology. You also assert that "A = A" (or "A ↔ A") is logically equivalent to "A", where "A" is "The first rule of tautology club." This is even more obviously false. Even if "The first rule of tautology club" yields falsehood, it is still equivalent to itself.

:Serious issues aside, I do agree with your sentiment that "[i]f 1.000.000 people join this group, it will have 1.000.000 people in it" is not necessarily a tautology, but removing the ambiguities (did they all join at the same time? did anyone leave?), which would necessarily be done in any formalization of the statement, would yield the tautological "A → A." {{unsigned|Quicksilver}}

Why does this comic have the [[:Category:Philosophy|Philosophy]] category? Am I missing something? [[User:GameZone|GameZone]] ([[User talk:GameZone|talk]]) 08:27, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:Logic is technically philosophy, or at least they're closely connected. [[User:Sciepsilon|Sciepsilon]] ([[User talk:Sciepsilon|talk]]) 20:23, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

It is worth noting that this comic is Randall's commentary on certain honor societies, who don't do anything except for selecting new members. Feynman once made a remark to that effect, and may be Randall's influence on the matter. (Or not.) Regardless, this explanation is missing the viewpoint. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.74|108.162.215.74]] 20:53, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

I see that nobody's pointed out that the third figure from the left in the third panel appears to be Jason Fox (see [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]])- known to be one of those nerdy types who would join a tautology club. He is (to my knowledge) perpetually in the fifth grade, though, which does make me a little suspicious. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.24|173.245.56.24]] 00:03, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

The [http://www.xkcd.com/703/info.0.json official transcript] actually identifies him as "a shorter male with glasses that bears a striking resemblance to Jason Fox". I'd say the chances of it being him are a little more than "could be". [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.38|173.245.54.38]] 07:02, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

1637: Salt Mine

2016-02-01T19:06:17Z

173.245.54.38: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 1637
| date = February 1, 2016
| title = Salt Mine
| image = salt_mine.png
| titletext = This one is a little bland. Pass the saltshaker?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is a summary, not an explanation}}
Ponytail has built a particle detector (An expensive device used in experimental physics) in a salt mine. Hair Bun Girl assumes that this is to block out cosmic rays, as is the case with the real life {{w|Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven (detector)|Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detector}} (IMB), started in Lake Erie in 1979. Ponytail affirms Hair Bun Girl's assumption; however, based on the wording of her response, it is clear that Ponytail and her colleagues have an ulterior motive of using the mine to get access to an enormous supply of salt for eating. This is absurd, since salt is already plentifully available in grocery stores, the cost of the particle detector far exceeds the value of the salt and their intake appears to be ''far'' beyond any medically-advised healthy limit (and likely to be sickening in other regards).

The IMB detector was initially used to search for proton decay in very pure water kept in the mine. Although the IMB became famous for detecting neutrinos from a supernova 1987a, it never observed a single proton decay out of 10^31 protons. At the time, even a single observation would have contributed to the Grand Unified Theory, predicting that protons eventually decay. In the comic, when Ponytail says "Yes, That's definitely why" it could refer to the large expectations that such detectors had promised.

The title text is intended to be absurd, and thus humorous. Salt is normally used to add flavor to otherwise bland foods. However, the "bland" food that the speaker is eating is itself a chunk of salt, and they wish to season their salt with yet more salt. The substance they are eating could be bland salt rock (a mixture of rock and salt in raw form resulting in a lower salt content).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[Hair Bun Girl, Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan are in a salt mine. Cueball and Megan are eating salt, while Hair Bun Girl and Ponytail talk in front of what appears to be a control console for a particle detector.]

Hair Bun Girl: So you've built this particle detector in a salt mine to block out cosmic rays?

Ponytail: Yes. That is definitely why.

Cueball and Megan [eating salt]: Homf Nomf Nomf

==Trivia==
*In real life salt mines are also used for exotic restaurants, such as the 'Wieliczka' Salt Mine, in Poland - a use for mines which is more rare than particle detectors. The Wieliczka mine contains a complete bar, hardwood seating, and gourmet chefs located 125m below ground. Dishes are seasoned with Wieliczka salt mine salt, and is used liberally in the selections. In the comic, Cueball and Megan and show as possible employees of the particle detector, but are instead eating something with salt, which could be a humorous reference to the lack of proton decay results.
* In the video game {{w|Portal 2}}, the facility, which is used "for science" is in a salt mine.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]

1637: Salt Mine

2016-02-01T19:03:34Z

173.245.54.38:

{{comic
| number = 1637
| date = February 1, 2016
| title = Salt Mine
| image = salt_mine.png
| titletext = This one is a little bland. Pass the saltshaker?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is a summary, not an explanation}}
Ponytail has built a particle detector (An expensive device used in experimental physics) in a salt mine. Hair Bun Girl assumes that this is to block out cosmic rays, as is the case with the real life {{w|Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven (detector)|Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detector}} (IMB), started in Lake Erie in 1979. Ponytail affirms Hair Bun Girl's assumption; however, based on the wording of her response, it is clear that Ponytail and her colleagues have an ulterior motive of using the mine to get access to an enormous supply of salt for eating. This is absurd, since salt is already plentifully available in grocery stores, the cost of the particle detector far exceeds the value of the salt and their intake appears to be ''far'' beyond any medically-advised healthy limit (and likely to be sickening in other regards).

The IMB detector was initially used to search for proton decay in very pure water kept in the mine. Although the IMB became famous for detecting neutrinos from a supernova 1987a, it never observed a single proton decay out of 10^31 protons. At the time, even a single observation would have contributed to the Grand Unified Theory, predicting that protons eventually decay. In the comic, when Ponytail says "Yes, That's definitely why" it could refer to the large expectations that such detectors had promised.

The title text is intended to be absurd, and thus humorous. Salt is normally used to add flavor to otherwise bland foods. However, the "bland" food that the speaker is eating is itself a chunk of salt, and they wish to season their salt with yet more salt. The substance they are eating could be bland salt rock (a mixture of rock and salt in raw form resulting in a lower salt content).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[Hair Bun Girl, Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan are in a salt mine. Cueball and Megan are eating salt, while Hair Bun Girl and Ponytail talk in front of what appears to be a control console for a particle detector.]

Hair Bun Girl: So you've built this particle detector in a salt mine to block out cosmic rays?

Ponytail: Yes. That is definitely why.

Cueball and Megan [eating salt]: Homf Nomf Nomf

==Trivia==
*In real life salt mines are also used for exotic restaurants, such as the 'Wieliczka' Salt Mine, in Poland - a use for mines which is more rare than particle detectors. The Wieliczka mine contains a complete bar, hardwood seating, and gourmet chefs located 125m below ground. Dishes are seasoned with Wieliczka salt mine salt, and is used liberally in the selections. In the comic, Cueball and Megan and show as possible employees of the particle detector, but are instead eating something with salt, which could be a humorous reference to the lack of proton decay results.
* In the video game {{w|Portal 2}}, the facility, which is used "for science" is in a sale mine.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:1002: Game AIs

2016-01-27T23:13:30Z

173.245.54.38: Explaining the change of the computer Go skills

Mornington Crescent would be impossible for a computer to play, let alone win... {{unsigned|188.29.119.251}}
It is unclear which side of the line jeopard fall upon. Why so close to the line I wonder. [[User:DruidDriver|DruidDriver]] ([[User talk:DruidDriver|talk]]) 01:04, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

: Because of {{w|Watson (computer)}}. (Anon) 13 August 2013{{unsigned ip|24.142.134.100}}

Could the "CounterStrike" be referring instead to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike computer game] which can have computer-controlled players? --[[Special:Contributions/131.187.75.20|131.187.75.20]] 15:49, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

:I agree, this is far more likely. [[Special:Contributions/100.40.49.22|100.40.49.22]] 10:21, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

On the old blog version of this article, a comment mentioned Ken tweeting his method right after this comic was posted. He joked that they would asphyxiate themselves to actually see heaven for seven minutes. I don't know how to search for tweets, or if they even save them after so much time, but I thought it should be noted. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 07:11, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

I disagree about the poker part. Reading someone's physical tells is just a small part of the game. Theoretically there is a Nash equilibrium for the game, the reason why it hasn't been found is that the amount of ways a deck can be shuffled is astronomical (even if you just count the cards that you use) and you also have to take into account the various betsizes. A near perfect solution for 2 player limit poker has been found by the Cepheus Poker Project: http://poker.srv.ualberta.ca/.

~ Could the description of tic-tac-toe link to xkcd 832 which explains the strategy? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.173|162.158.152.173]] 13:13, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Saying that computers are very close to beating top humans as of January 2016 is misleading at best. There is not enough details in the BBC article, but it sounds like the Facebook program has about a 50% chance of beating 5-dan amateurs. In other words, it needs a 4-stone handicap (read: 4 free moves) to have a 50% chance to win against top-level amateurs, to say nothing about professionals. If a robotic team could have a 50% chance to beating Duke University at football (a skilled amateur team), would you say they were very close to being able to consistently beat the Patriots (a top-level professional)? If anything that underestimates the skill difference in Go, but the general point stands.

1002: Game AIs

2016-01-27T23:09:01Z

173.245.54.38: Correcting computer skill at Go

{{comic
| number = 1002
| date = January 11, 2012
| title = Game AIs
| image = game_ais.png
| titletext = The top computer champion at Seven Minutes in Heaven is a Honda-built Realdoll, but to date it has been unable to outperform the human Seven Minutes in Heaven champion, Ken Jennings.
}}

==Explanation==
To understand the comic, you have to understand what the games are, so let's go (but first, the years in parenthesis in the comic are the year that the game was mastered by a computer):

===Solved===

: These games are considered "solved", meaning the ideal maneuver for each game state (Tic-Tac-Toe, Connect Four) or each of the limited starting positions (Checkers) has already been calculated. Computers aren't so much playing as they are recalculating the list of ideal maneuvers. The same could be said for the computer's human opponent, just at a slower pace.

*'''{{w|Tic-tac-toe}}''' or '''Noughts and Crosses''' in most of the rest of the British Commonwealth countries is a pencil-and-paper game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 grid. This game nearly always ends in a tie, regardless of whether humans or computers play it, because the amount of positions is minimal.

*'''{{w|Nim}}''' is a mathematical game of strategy in which two players take turns removing objects from distinct heaps. On each turn, a player must remove at least one object, and may remove any number of objects provided they all come from the same heap.

*'''{{w|Ghost (game)|Ghost}}''' is a spoken word game in which players take turns adding letters to a growing word fragment. The loser is the first person who completes a valid word or who creates a fragment that cannot be the start of a word.

*'''{{w|Connect Four}}''' (or '''Captain's Mistress''', '''Four Up''', '''Plot Four''', '''Find Four''', '''Fourplay''', '''Four in a Row''', '''Four in a Line''') is a two-player game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping their colored discs from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid.

*'''{{w|Gomoku}}''' (or '''Gobang''', '''Five in a Row''') is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with go pieces (black and white stones) on a go board (19x19 intersections); however, because once placed, pieces are not moved or removed from the board, gomoku may also be played as a paper and pencil game. This game is known in several countries under different names.
:Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get an unbroken row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

*'''{{w|Draughts|Checkers}}''' (in the United States, or '''draughts''' in the United Kingdom) is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces.

===Computers Beat Humans===

:The below games cannot be "solved" due to the factors of random numbers, a near-infinite{{Citation needed}} number of starting positions, or the existence of multiple "ideal" maneuvers for each position. That said, a computer's faster reaction time, higher degree of consistency in making the right decision, and reduced risk of user error make the computer objectively better than the human opponent in nearly all situations.

*'''{{w|Scrabble}}''' is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a gameboard marked with a 15-by-15 grid.

*'''{{w|Counter-Strike|CounterStrike}}''' most likely refers to the popular multiplayer shooter video game about terrorists and counter-terrorists. Counter-Strike is notorious for the large variety of cheating tools that have been made for it; a computer would have essentially perfect accuracy and reflexes, essentially making it the {{w|aimbot}} from hell. It is theoretically possible for a skilled player to beat an AI, but it would be ''extremely'' difficult to do so.

*'''{{w|Beer pong}}''' (or '''Beirut''') is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end.
:[http://hacknmod.com/hack/beer-pong-robot-precision-air-pressure/ Here's the video] of the University of Illinois robot mentioned in the comic.

*'''{{w|Reversi}}''' (marketed by Pressman under the trade name '''Othello''') is a board game involving abstract strategy and played by two players on a board with 8 rows and 8 columns and a set of distinct pieces for each side. Pieces typically are disks with a light and a dark face, each face belonging to one player. The player's goal is to have a majority of their colored pieces showing at the end of the game, turning over as many of their opponent's pieces as possible.

*'''{{w|Chess}}''' is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns, each of these types of pieces moving differently.

*'''{{w|Jeopardy!}}''' is an American quiz show featuring trivia in history, literature, the arts, pop culture, science, sports, geography, wordplay, and more. The show has a unique answer-and-question format in which contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.
:Ken Jennings, mentioned in the title text, is a famous Jeopardy champion who was beaten by {{w|Watson (computer)|Watson}}, an IBM computer.

===Humans Beat Computers===

:The below games are incredibly difficult to "solve" due to the near-infinite number of possible positions. Computers built in the early 21st century would take years to calculate a single "ideal" move. Worse, the human opponent has the ability to "bluff"; that is, to make a bad move, thus baiting the computer into a trap. Complex algorithms have been devised to make moves in a reasonable timeframe, but so far they are all highly vulnerable to bluffing. As mentioned in the comic, focused research and development is working on refining these algorithms to play the games better.

*'''{{w|StarCraft}}''' is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game. The game revolves around three species fighting for dominance in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector: the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth skilled at adapting to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoid aliens in pursuit of genetic perfection, obsessed with assimilating other races; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities, attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophical way of living from the Zerg. While even average Starcraft players can defeat the AIs that originally shipped with the games, Starcraft has since been adopted as a standard benchmark for AI research, largely because of its excellent balance. Thanks to that attention, computers can now challenge some expert players, and the trend does not look promising for human players.

*'''{{w|Poker}}''' is a family of card games involving betting and individualistic play whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and combinations of their cards, some of which remain hidden until the end of the game. It is also, however, a game of deception and intimidation, the ubiquitous "poker face" being considered the most important part of the game.

*'''{{w|Arimaa}}''' is a two-player abstract strategy board game that can be played using the same equipment as chess. Arimaa was designed to be more difficult for artificial intelligences to play than chess. Arimaa was invented by Omar Syed, an Indian American computer engineer trained in artificial intelligence. Syed was inspired by Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of the chess computer Deep Blue to design a new game which could be played with a standard chess set, would be difficult for computers to play well, but would have rules simple enough for his then four-year-old son Aamir to understand. On April 18, 2015, a computer won [http://arimaa.com/arimaa/challenge/|the "Arimaa Challenge"], so this comic is now out of date with respect to Arimaa; it should move above ''Starcraft'' or ''Jeopardy!''.

*'''{{w|Go (game)|Go}}''' is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. The game is noted for being rich in strategy despite its relatively simple rules. The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white stones on the vacant intersections (called "points") of a grid of 19×19 lines (beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards). The object of the game is to use one's stones to surround a larger portion of the board than the opponent. As of January 2016, computers are [http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35419141 very close] to beating advanced amateur humans at Go.

*'''{{w|Snakes and Ladders}}''' (or '''Chutes and Ladders''') is an ancient Indian {{w|race game}}, where the moves are decided entirely by die rolls. A number of tiles are connected by pictures of ladders and snakes (or chutes) which makes the game piece jump forward or backward, respectively. Since the game is decided by pure chance, it occupies the limbo where a computer will always be ''exactly'' as likely to win as a human (which might mean it should be located right between 'humans beat computers' and 'computers beat humans').

===Computers cannot compete===

*'''{{w|Mao (card game)|Mao}}''' (or '''Mau''') is a card game of the Shedding family, in which the aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules. The game is from a subset of the Stops family, and is similar in structure to the card game Uno.
:The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often told only "the only rule you may be told is this one." The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand. Computers would have a difficult time integrating into Mao either because they would know all the rules -- and thus be disqualified or simply ignored by the players -- or would need a complicated learning engine that quite simply doesn't exist.

*'''{{w|Seven minutes in heaven|Seven Minutes in Heaven}}''' is a teenagers' party game first recorded as being played in Cincinnati in the early 1950s. Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space and do whatever they like for seven minutes. Sexual activities are allowed; however kissing and making out are more common.
:As the game is focused on human interaction, there's not a whole lot a modern computer can ''do'' in the closet. It would need some kind of robotic body in order to interact with its human partner, and emotion engines that could feel pleasure and displeasure in order to make decisions. The title text claims that {{w|Honda|Honda Motor Company}} has invented a "{{w|RealDoll}}" (sex toy shaped like a mannequin) with rudimentary Seven Minutes in Heaven capabilities, but they pale in comparison to a human's.

And finally
*'''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes#Calvinball|Calvinball}}''' is a reference to the comic strip {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} by {{w|Bill Watterson}}.
:Calvinball is a game played by Calvin and Hobbes as a rebellion against organized team sports; according to Hobbes, "No sport is less organized than Calvinball!" Calvinball was first introduced to the readers at the end of a 1990 storyline involving Calvin reluctantly joining recess baseball. It quickly became a staple of the comic afterwards.
:The only hint at the true creation of the game ironically comes from the last Calvinball strip, in which a game of football quickly devolves into a game of Calvinball. Calvin remarks that "sooner or later, all our games turn into Calvinball," suggesting a similar scenario that directly led to the creation of the sport. Calvin and Hobbes usually play by themselves, although in one storyline Rosalyn (Calvin's baby-sitter) plays in return for Calvin doing his homework, and plays very well once she realizes that the rules are made up on the spot.
:The only consistent rule states that Calvinball may never be played with the same rules twice. Scoring is also arbitrary, with Hobbes at times reporting scores of "Q to 12" and "oogy to boogy." The only recognizable sports Calvinball resembles are the ones it emulates (i.e., a cross between croquet, polo, badminton, capture the flag, and volleyball.)
::Long story short, the game is a manifestation of pure chaos and the human imagination, far beyond the meager capabilities of silicon and circuitry.

==Transcript==
:Difficulty of Various Games for Computers

:[A diagram. The left column describes various levels of skill for the most capable computers in decreasing performance against humans. The right side lists games in each particular section, in increasing game difficulty. There are labels denoting the hard and easy ends of the diagram.]

:'''Easy'''
:{|border="small"
| rowspan="6" | Solved - Computers can play perfectly
| rowspan="4" | Solved for all possible positions
| Tic-tac-toe
|-
| Nim
|-
| Ghost (1989)
|-
| Connect Four (1995)
|-
| rowspan="2" | Solved for starting positions
| Gomoku
|-
| Checkers (2007)
|-
| rowspan="6" colspan="2" | Computers can beat top humans
| Scrabble
|-
| CounterStrike
|-
| Beer Pong (UIUC robot)
|-
| Reversi
|-
| Chess
* February 10, 1996 - First win by computer against top human
* November 21, 2005 - Last win by human against top computer
|-
| Jeopardy (but just barely)
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | Computers still lose to top humans
(but focused R&D could change this)
| StarCraft (but just barely)
|-
| Poker
|-
| Arimaa
|-
| Go
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" |
| Snakes and Ladders
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | Computers may ''never'' outplay humans
|-
| Mao
|-
| Seven Minutes in Heaven
|-
| Calvinball
|-
|}
:'''Hard'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]

231: Cat Proximity

2015-11-26T18:37:00Z

173.245.54.38: Undo revision 104735 by 141.101.104.30 (talk)

{{comic
| number =231
| date =March 5, 2007
| title =Cat Proximity
| image =cat_proximity.png
| titletext =Yes you are! And you're sitting there! Hi, kitty!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the use of "{{w|baby talk}}" when speaking to pets, especially {{w|cats}}. A person's voice becomes {{w|falsetto}} and [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cooing cooing], vocabulary becomes simplified, and phrases are repeated, such as "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty".

The chart shows that a person's apparent intelligence decreases, and that the [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inanity inanity] (i.e. uselessness or emptiness) of their statements increases, the closer they get to a cat.
Most people act like this when they're playing with cats or trying to call it over to them. (...unless they're allergic, of course.)
Thankfully being close to a cat doesn't actually cause any decrease of intelligence in normal circumstances; the graph technically refers to ''demonstrated'' intelligence rather than actual IQ levels.

The title text continues [[Cueball|Cueball's]] obvious statement (and thus inane/useless point made) from below the graph.

In [[1535: Words for Pets]] [[Randall]] again mentions how people often talk strangely to their pets.

==Transcript==
:[A graph with the x-axis labeled, and the scale indicated from left to right:]
:Far
:Human proximity to cat
:Near
:[Two curves are drawn and labeled, first the one starting on top, which then veers downwards and crosses the other as that curve veers upwards.]
:Intelligence
:Inanity of statements

:[Below the graph Cueball is seen standing at three distances from a cat that is drawn to the far right. The two first Cueballs are just standing, one below far, the other in the middle and the last is standing close to the cat (below near) with his hands up and he is speaking.]
:Cueball: You're a kitty!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:1603: Flashlights

2015-11-13T17:54:19Z

173.245.54.38:

could it be referencing http://www.wickedlasers.com/torch ?

[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.38|173.245.54.38]] 17:54, 13 November 2015 (UTC)an internet flashlight enthusiast

Is that it? I swear there must be more to the joke than this explanation implies. It just describes what's going on in the comic. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:29, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

-- Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. [[User:Pete|Pete]] ([[User talk:Pete|talk]]) 11:19, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

"A typo", uh? Sure, sure, of course it was only a typo, Randall ;) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.57|108.162.221.57]] 10:38, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
:I also think the type was that he searched on flashlight instead and found the flashlight enthusiast page from that ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:58, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

I think it's unfair to assume lack of detail in the explanation, the fact that research was obviously done on the meaning of fleshlight an it's association to the comic, is more than I would have original got from the comic by itself. However if you perceive additional meaning please share, the thing I love about 'This' website is for the ability for others to add their interpretations. --[[User:Igwarrender|Igwarrender]] ([[User talk:Igwarrender|talk]]) 10:52, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Quote:
<blockquote>When Cueball refers to classic Flashlights(torches) as dim and finnicky, this gives reason to assume that the flashlight he is holding is going to be ridiculously overengineered.</blockquote>
I disagree. In the generation of Randall (and me), the flashlights most of us had as kids really did suck and were dim and finnicky. That's not an exaggeration which, as is implied in the explanation, is used to prepare the joke. It's more of an explanation on why he is interested in modern flashlights in the first place. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.225|162.158.91.225]] 10:58, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
: AND they almost always had at least half flat batteries. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.239.32|198.41.239.32]] 11:41, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

It's funny how "the explanation" has a need to point out that there were no prior knowledge about fleshlights. (according to Wikipedia) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.197|162.158.180.197]] 12:44, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

I never leave for work without my trusty '''Lumapower EDC-LM31''' with its '''Cree XML(U2) LED''' and its '''3.7 volt size 14500 Lithium Ion cell.''' But I'm not a flashlight geek! Besides, 420 lumens is no where near enough power to set trees on fire. (Personally, I think this comic is an example of Rule 34. Randall was originally thinking about Fleshlights, typo'd into flashlights, and discovered a sort of geeky torch porn sort of thing out there. Also, the flashlight I describe is real, but has nothing on the stuff you'll see in Candlepower Forums.) [[User:Co149|Co149]] ([[User talk:Co149|talk]]) 12:52, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
:The 100,000 lumen lamps (X-LED MRK72 or is that MKR72?) have to be water-cooled! That's plenty hot enough for me.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.147|162.158.34.147]] 14:07, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
::There are videos of flashlights that set things on fire, without lensens etc. One of them is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhdKnMlJ4H4 this] video of an ''Magic Scorpion'' flashlight, a halogen variant. But I've also seen video's of (custom-built) LED flashlight that set things to smolder. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.111|141.101.104.111]] 14:56, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
: It's not lumen that sets things on fire, it's lux. All you need is a good focus. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.101|198.41.235.101]] 17:11, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

It feels to me that "their highest-end models are ALSO capable of setting trees on fire." is some advertisement where the tree is a metaphore for one's organ. as such it is clear that "They're impossible to use without severe burns". which makes it really twisted that "some [people] swear it's worth it" {{unsigned ip|108.162.228.167}}

I think the burning trees joke comes from this [[http://www.wickedlasers.com/torch "...even fry and egg"]] thing. --[[User:Arturojain|Arturo Jain]] ([[User talk:Arturojain|talk]]) 14:26, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Should the explanation contain something about the prevalence of internet forums dedicated to enthusiasts of various activities or hobbies? [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 17:33, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Currently no (albeit indirect) link to https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/ or others like 119? Ok, so only going to be an incidental link, but... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 17:37, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

it is missimg reference to another comic where randall makes a joke about flashlight and fleshlight. The comic had a star wars setting with death vader and luke skywalker. https://xkcd.com/1397/ --anonymous [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.41|162.158.153.41]] 15:08, 13 November 2015 (UTC)