explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3167: Car Size

2025-11-28T16:54:04Z

82.132.244.49: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3167
| date = November 12, 2025
| title = Car Size
| image = car_size_2x.png
| imagesize = 348x754px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A CAR WITH AN ICBM. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic demonstrates one reason why vehicles have gotten progressively larger and more powerful, due to a type of {{w|arms race}} between drivers. When vehicles of different sizes share the road, passengers in the smaller ones will usually be more at risk in collisions, since the body construction and lower inertia generally provide less protection. So, for safety reasons, people have an incentive to buy larger cars. According to the comic, this causes a cycle of cars for increasingly selfish owners, which reaches a point of absurdity due to the cost and mass of giant cars, implying a never-ending vicious cycle.

In the "Soon" panel, Randall has extrapolated this to adding spiked armor and weaponry to large cars, and other drivers will need to outdo this to compete on the road. This scenario is reminiscent of the vehicles from the {{w|Mad Max}} franchise, and of the [https://wackyraces.fandom.com/wiki/The_Slag_Brothers Slag Brothers] from Wacky Races. Unfortunately, the whirling spike club scenario is problematic (not just in terms of injury or death but even in the happy path): if all the cars on the road have whirling spike clubs, as soon as your car comes in contact, your club will be destroyed or at least damaged. This will make you prey for the cars who have not yet been in an accident.

The title text views this from the opposite perspective. The owner of a large car is worried that they'll kill people in small cars, so believes that small car drivers shouldn't drive on the road at all and should be restricted to the sidewalk for their own safety. Driving the smallest cars in pedestrian spaces is obviously absurd, but follows the prior trend of separating bikes from car traffic 'for cyclists' safety' and often having them share pedestrian spaces due to 'practical' constraints. While this reduces conflicts between cyclists and drivers of motor vehicles, it results in cyclists and pedestrians becoming an inconvenience and danger to each other instead. In the car-centric view, it is not worth creating separate infrastructure for bicycles and similar small vehicles, so the title text's extension of the trend is to classify small cars as bike-like vehicles, even though this endangers both smaller vehicles and pedestrians.

Biking on sidewalks is illegal in some jurisdictions, with a greater number banning small powered vehicles like e-bikes. Where either kind of bike is allowed, laws generally require that the rider take precautions like riding at reasonable speeds when near pedestrians, alerting pedestrians when passing, and yielding to pedestrians when needed. Small, low-speed carts do routinely share some larger pedestrian spaces, such as golf courses and large airports, but even these would have trouble safely passing on regular sidewalks. Smaller single-occupant electric vehicles (mobility scooters) frequently share pedestrian spaces, but their limited speeds reduce the frequency and potential severity of impacts.

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

:[The comic is made up of four panels, beginning with Cueball talking to Megan and then alternating with each panel, both of them surrounded by progressively larger vehicles.]
:[Panel one is labeled "100 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing with a bicycle to the left of them and an old-fashioned car to their right.]
:Cueball: It's too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too.

:[Panel two is labeled "50 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing between a small hatchback (right) and a slightly larger sedan (left).]
:Megan: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one.

:[Panel three is labeled "Today." Cueball and Megan are standing between a large SUV (left) and an even larger SUV (right).]
:Cueball: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don't get the biggest one, I'm putting my family at risk.

:[Panel four is labeled "Soon." Cueball and Megan are standing to the left of a massive SUV with metal plates bolted to its side, spiked panels attached to the front and back, spiked/off-road tires and two giant spiked clubs hanging from a rotor on top of the car. An even more massive spiked club is visible coming from the left of the panel, presumably attached to a similar (even larger) car. Megan has both arms on her side.]
:Megan: If I don't install more whirling spike clubs, I'll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:3172: Fifteen Years

2025-11-28T16:51:00Z

82.132.244.49: Undo revision 392642 by 104.160.57.13 (talk) Modified revert. Looks too genuine to be actual deliberate vandalism, likely just a VERY careless editing error.

Part of a series:
* https://xkcd.com/1141/
* https://xkcd.com/1928/
* https://xkcd.com/2386/
--[[User:Pgn674|Pgn674]] ([[User talk:Pgn674|talk]]) 21:28, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
:[[:Category:X Years]]. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 22:03, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
"Growing old is a fabulous alternative to death." [[Special:Contributions/85.255.235.101|85.255.235.101]] 21:30, 24 November 2025 (UTC)

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO SWEET EEEEEEEEEE. So happy for you Randall! <3 '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:36, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
: this made me, too, tear up - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 00:22, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
:: Me too - love it. I do feel old but I'm old now, so it's better cause the alternative... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:49, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
:Honestly! Hands-down one of the best series of comics Randall's made. I can't believe I got to see this! [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 19:02, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Growing old ... '''together'''. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:59, 24 November 2025 (UTC)

The paragraph about the title text could use a reference to the series of comics of the form "Students graduating this year have never...". I'm not sure how to find them. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:11, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
: I added a link to what I think is the right category. It might be a little too broad though. [[Special:Contributions/2601:281:C802:9170:0:0:0:4150|2601:281:C802:9170:0:0:0:4150]] 01:53, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Just. The. Cutest. This is an ideal relationship.--[[User:Maxcodes|Maxcodes]] ([[User talk:Maxcodes|talk]]) 22:32, 24 November 2025 (UTC)

I love being reminded I’m (pretty dang sure I’m) going to die alone, yaaaaaay [[Special:Contributions/2600:4040:12A0:E200:D1D1:1F63:C1A:31F2|2600:4040:12A0:E200:D1D1:1F63:C1A:31F2]] 23:05, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
: Please don't sell yourself short! Being without a romantic relationship doesn't have to mean being alone <3. You have time to develop deep friendships if you find out how! [[Special:Contributions/45.42.74.249|45.42.74.249]] 15:45, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

yay they have survived [[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])

As John Lennon once said, “Grow old along with me.” [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 00:19, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
: Actually, that was Robert Browning in his poem Rabbi Ben Ezra. --[[Special:Contributions/2A00:23CC:D248:8901:9DA0:24CB:6AE7:BB09|2A00:23CC:D248:8901:9DA0:24CB:6AE7:BB09]] 09:01, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

This weekend, as well as today, I've been quite sick. This was a much-needed boost. <3 love ya, Randall. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 02:28, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

This might be my favorite xkcd comic of all time. [[Special:Contributions/68.2.204.250|68.2.204.250]] 03:02, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
: Yessss! [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 19:02, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Based on the pattern, the next in the series will be "Eighteen Years" [[Special:Contributions/209.52.88.184|209.52.88.184]] 03:23, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
:Nah, a +5,+3,+5,+3 seems too basic. Maybe 22 would work, since this is maximum k for which the grid graph P_2 X P_k is a subgraph of the n X n knight graph. Definitely didn't just copy from the oeis. ANYWAYS, by the time they get to 46 we'll have solved it by then... --[[Special:Contributions/2.50.0.22|2.50.0.22]] 03:39, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
::I feel like there's an implicit 0 at the start of the sequence (representing the initial diagnosis), which makes [https://oeis.org/A246128 A246128] the only match and therefore the next one will be 23 years. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 10:59, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Very happy for Randall here, this is very sweet. [[User:Clayel|Clayel]] ([[User talk:Clayel|talk]]) 03:42, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Why is my vision getting so blurry? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:29, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

This is such a BEAUTIFUL comic! So happy for the two of them [[User:VascoTabasco|VascoTabasco]] ([[User talk:VascoTabasco|talk]]) 11:44, 25 November 2025 (UTC)Vasco

I come here for a wry smile, not to be made to weep. {{unsigned ip|31.94.28.99|14:49, 25 November 2025 (UTC)}}
: Then smile wryly (wryly? really?!?!) about the symptoms we all are getting ;-) [[Special:Contributions/195.49.224.20|195.49.224.20]] 18:06, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
:: Don't you mean 'wreally?'? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:35, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

After rereading the series, I wonder what happend with the date they made for the 2024 eclipse. [[Special:Contributions/195.49.224.20|195.49.224.20]] 18:06, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

My sister found out she had breast cancer in August so this hit me harder than previous 'installments' have. This is also a type that is resistant to pretty much anything but chemo which she is undergoing now. These give me hope, though, knowing someone else made it through their treatments. {{unsigned ip|108.85.230.207|18:31, 25 November 2025 (UTC)}}

This is just the sweetest. Also, the longest. Several seconds to scroll all the way down at this point. [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 19:03, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

I always hoped there’d be a follow-up of them watching the 2024 eclipse like they hoped to in “Seven Years”— this doesn’t indicate if they saw it or not, but I hope they did. <3 {{unsigned ip|69.116.215.42|20:33, 25 November 2025 (UTC)}}

What a beautiful love story! Here's to the next 15 years for you and your wife. {{unsigned ip|12.129.176.226|10:45, 26 November 2025 (UTC)}}

I hope for them to have a wonderful time together, Randall, I really love xkcd. Got cancer myself in 2010 and know what it feels like to still become old in love. {{unsigned ip|127.0.0.1|10:49, 26 November 2025 (UTC)}}

This is so very very sweet, I wish them all the best! {{unsigned ip|141.53.67.241|13:15, 26 November 2025 (UTC)}}

Wow. Sweet, scary and real. I'm in the middle of my Year Two and so much of the comic is familiar. I wish Megan and Cue the best of luck. {{unsigned ip|2600:1702:7a0:8230:1144:7f10:8b8d:3f6f|15:13, 26 November 2025 (UTC)}}

Wow. Just wow! Such a deep and sweet post. [[User:Phoe6|Phoe6]] ([[User talk:Phoe6|talk]]) 18:02, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Awww.... [[Special:Contributions/66.189.7.60|66.189.7.60]] 16:35, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

You bastard Monroe. If I'm crying on the train home from work, I should at least be crying about my own stuff, surely? [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 18:14, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Well, I did not expect to cry over the latest XKCD comic. Congratulations to you both on finding each other and helping to keep each other alive. {{unsigned ip|104.160.57.13|13:17, 28 November 2025}}

Talk:3173: Satellite Imagery

2025-11-28T16:45:42Z

82.132.244.49:

This is another comic in the ''My Hobby'' series, and is also about pranking conspiracy theorists. [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C08:2800:DC6F:548F:9B29:AAE1|2001:4C4E:1C08:2800:DC6F:548F:9B29:AAE1]] 21:43, 26 November 2025 (UTC)
:Not pranking conspiracy theorists... Pranking the kind of people that conspiracy theorists theorise about. There's clear indication that they are working for one or other "three letter agency" (or else they'd be directly blaming No Such Agency/whoever, over and above the other explanations they're considering) and are trained and salaried analysts, rather than armchair hobbyists of the more nebulously self-organised and self-motivating kind. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.70|82.132.245.70]] 00:12, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

I know there are places (like parts of Oregon) that ''look'' pixelated due to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land) checkerboarded land ownership]. But something like ''this'' would be next-level! --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 03:32, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

imagine how much more terrifying it'd be if you did that with the sky :P [[Special:Contributions/176.126.228.189|176.126.228.189]] 08:41, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

If that (original, pre 'censorship tiles') image is not cleverly composited from multiple sources (including perhaps decorated by perlin-noise and/or hue-shifted), it might ''just'' be possible to chase down the actual shot used, with a little dedication. The particular colour of the landscape (being wary of seasonal variation) might tie it down to a subset of semi-arid regions through which rivers are flowing, with a bit of cultural guessing on top. I'm guessing, from the limited cues (the 'track' footprints, and the natural evolution of the junction curves through continued use of a turnoff) that the 'pixel' tiles are 100-200 yds on-the-ground. There's limited topological information (except for in analysing the fluvial and alluvial vicinities of the riverine cutbanks) but no immediate sign of extreme gradients — only hints that some adjacent dirt-tracks don't connect due to it being less flat/level in places. A practiced jigsaw-doer should be able to scroll across a Google Maps (or other vendor's) photo-overheads and twig when the right sort of features pass by. We're even good at handling orientation differences (the trickiest thing Randall might have done is to rotate his 'piece' arbitrarily, but we've all had to deal with bits of fuzzy cloud/undergrowth/stonework that could be ''any'' way round, when trying to match against the box image — which is additionally faded or otherwise not really properly colour-matched). The difference being that there's no 'giving up on this piece' (maybe no more than a couple of miles square, 'on the ground'), after five or ten minutes, to pass onto the next awkward 'middle of the difficult patch' one to see if you might have slightly better luck in whittling down the unmatched spaces. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.70|82.132.245.70]] 16:55, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
:Well, if we are assuming that this image is of a real location, I would suggest analyzing datasets containing all the water features of a region (lakes, rivers, etc.) to help narrow down general regions to look at. However, looking closely at the image, I am fairly certain that it's a digital painting and not a photo. [[Special:Contributions/199.247.247.123|199.247.247.123]] 22:36, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
::If totally drawn, there's a ''lot'' of unnecessary and fiddly pixel-level detail (sandbars in the river, bankside tracks, the nature of the track-ends around whatever nature of outpost they lead to) that really needn't have been contrived from all the necessary digital-pen strokes needed to implement.
::And you'd be referencing real overhead images, at the very least, to even think you'd need those. And to not try to represent the water as much bluer (there are several reasons it wouldn't be, which also persuades me that it's a satellite ground-survey rather than a mere aerial one), because "reality is unrealistic". [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.49|82.132.244.49]] 00:54, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

The title text reminds me of the Map Men episode in which the existence of the watermark was presented as proof that Google was trying to claim Bir Tawil. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 17:11, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

'''WHERE IS THIS?''' Can anyone figure out from the map where this is? [[Special:Contributions/154.47.27.37|154.47.27.37]] 22:47, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
: According to ChatGPT it's most likely somewhere in Namibia (assuming it's showing a real place at all). The explanation is quite long (and plausible, imo), this is its concusion: "Based purely on visual features — terrain color, river shape, road type, isolation, and the dark depression — the image most plausibly resembles: An area in Namibia shaped by an ephemeral river system (especially in the Kuiseb–Ugab–Huab region, or nearby gravel plains)" Other, less likely options it mentioned were: Nevada/Arizona, Australia and (Saudi) Arabia [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:14, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

The explanation jumps to conclusions that are not stated in the comic. Satellite images are used by various professions, intelligence officers are only one of them. Other professions are stock analysts, environmental investigators, or data journalists. The comic itself only speaks of remote sensing. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:638:807:507:D4BF:ABF3:E094:D532|2001:638:807:507:D4BF:ABF3:E094:D532]] 09:27, 28 November 2025 (UTC)
:Feel free to add/expand the other possibilities. My take, though, is:
:*Contractors mentioned. Excludes tertiary information-gathering (opensource analysis), and ''probably'' primary intel (IMINT, possibly real-time, direct from NRO-sponsored 'asset' or equivalent national effort, at the top level of strategic importance; private corporate entities operating their own ground-imaging satellites for commercial reasons)... Rules in lower-level IntAls doing basic regional groundwork, rules out "citizen science" and probably the original explanation of a conspiracy-theory collective working with whatever crumbs of available info they can seize upon.
:*The possible "one of [their own] people" doesn't narrow who 'us' is, but implies a more sprawling hierarchy (passing along the images) in their organisation(/collective set of ''mostly'' collaborative organisations) than most corporate setups, or NGOs (e.g. 'tree counters'/'desert measurers' for UN climate change-assessors), and certainly not a close-knit group of enthusiasts (a 'conspracy clique' or academic department where the blame options are limited ("Damnit Steve!").
:*"Foreign actors" (assuming they don't mean the likes of Ryan Gosling/Ryan Reynolds, or Gerard Butler/Gérard Depardieu) sets up a direct 'us/them' contrast with the prior choice. Heavily implies these guys we see qualify as "domestic actors" working at a multinational level. If they were corporate, you'd expect business rivals mentioned (foreign and/or domestic). If mere 'interested citizens', they might blame "the[ir] government"/its TLAs for thwarting their investigations. You might even expect a ''particular'' foreign government/agency in most circumstances, especially that of the territory being observed or the obvious main external competitor in regional dominance. But here it's a general 'one or other foreign' parties with a shared stake in that part of the world. Also rules out 'us' being an internationalised collective, with the talents of multiple nations contributing (academically, in business, UN NGO, something like Bellingcat or some world-wide web of conspiracy-theorism). Or even a "Five Eyes" intelligence collaboration.
:*Then there's the expectation that they ''should and ought to'' have some idea who has posession of this site. Investigative journalism might be open to discovering something new (to their particular dossier of knowledge), but it suggests that there's an expectation of access to comprehensive (shared-)intelligence covering everywhere and everything, no matter how vague the rumour or papertrail. That's more a major Intelligence Agency mindset, than any of the other options.
:The confluence of these clues (assuming Randall wasn't being deliberately careless/contrary to his internal imagination, which seems unlikely given the not-too-confusing conclusion, and unlike him in general) leads to something along the lines of some Pentagon/Langley/Fort Meade-type team with a responsibility for grinding out general background info in some theatre such as Syria or parts of Africa, where multiple (competing-but-'not-competing') non-local nations and unsanctioned militias may well have set up bases of operations, as well as local civilians residing there. Which agrees with my guess that this (if the grabbed image is chosen specifically to match the written-in scenario) is supposed to be an area with currently flowing (as of the image) ephemerally-wet wadi, rather than featuring a Utah creek or an Australian-outback (that kind of thing being looked at by locally-interested business interests, rather than by military-type folks/etc, unless there's some more prominent concern about foreign-sponsored off-grid militias than is publically acknowledgable).
:So it's admitedly a bit of a Sherlock Scan, holistically putting the clues together, rather than as obvious as a bold name-plate attached to the wall above the projection-screen that ''explicitly'' namechecks the agency/department they're working in. But multiple small and explainable steps that lead to (a high probability of) one particular scenario, rather than a leapt-to presumption without justification. Takes more words than I'd like, to pad out into a full explanation of the more symbolic thought processes, but seems to have survived a self-skeptical analysis and reconsideration of the various alternatives mentioned (and others not yet mentioned).
:Except, perhaps, for sloppy (but coincidentally self-consistent) writing on Randall's part. Except that that doesn't sound like him at all! But I'm of course happy to see alternative interpretations mentioned here/above if you can mesh suitable reinterpretaions together via credible replacement insights. I've no monopoly on knowing the mind of the author, by any means. And apologies to anyone who found this to be too long a reply! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.49|82.132.244.49]] 16:43, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3173: Satellite Imagery

2025-11-28T16:43:07Z

82.132.244.49:

This is another comic in the ''My Hobby'' series, and is also about pranking conspiracy theorists. [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C08:2800:DC6F:548F:9B29:AAE1|2001:4C4E:1C08:2800:DC6F:548F:9B29:AAE1]] 21:43, 26 November 2025 (UTC)
:Not pranking conspiracy theorists... Pranking the kind of people that conspiracy theorists theorise about. There's clear indication that they are working for one or other "three letter agency" (or else they'd be directly blaming No Such Agency/whoever, over and above the other explanations they're considering) and are trained and salaried analysts, rather than armchair hobbyists of the more nebulously self-organised and self-motivating kind. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.70|82.132.245.70]] 00:12, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

I know there are places (like parts of Oregon) that ''look'' pixelated due to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land) checkerboarded land ownership]. But something like ''this'' would be next-level! --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 03:32, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

imagine how much more terrifying it'd be if you did that with the sky :P [[Special:Contributions/176.126.228.189|176.126.228.189]] 08:41, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

If that (original, pre 'censorship tiles') image is not cleverly composited from multiple sources (including perhaps decorated by perlin-noise and/or hue-shifted), it might ''just'' be possible to chase down the actual shot used, with a little dedication. The particular colour of the landscape (being wary of seasonal variation) might tie it down to a subset of semi-arid regions through which rivers are flowing, with a bit of cultural guessing on top. I'm guessing, from the limited cues (the 'track' footprints, and the natural evolution of the junction curves through continued use of a turnoff) that the 'pixel' tiles are 100-200 yds on-the-ground. There's limited topological information (except for in analysing the fluvial and alluvial vicinities of the riverine cutbanks) but no immediate sign of extreme gradients — only hints that some adjacent dirt-tracks don't connect due to it being less flat/level in places. A practiced jigsaw-doer should be able to scroll across a Google Maps (or other vendor's) photo-overheads and twig when the right sort of features pass by. We're even good at handling orientation differences (the trickiest thing Randall might have done is to rotate his 'piece' arbitrarily, but we've all had to deal with bits of fuzzy cloud/undergrowth/stonework that could be ''any'' way round, when trying to match against the box image — which is additionally faded or otherwise not really properly colour-matched). The difference being that there's no 'giving up on this piece' (maybe no more than a couple of miles square, 'on the ground'), after five or ten minutes, to pass onto the next awkward 'middle of the difficult patch' one to see if you might have slightly better luck in whittling down the unmatched spaces. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.245.70|82.132.245.70]] 16:55, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
:Well, if we are assuming that this image is of a real location, I would suggest analyzing datasets containing all the water features of a region (lakes, rivers, etc.) to help narrow down general regions to look at. However, looking closely at the image, I am fairly certain that it's a digital painting and not a photo. [[Special:Contributions/199.247.247.123|199.247.247.123]] 22:36, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
::If totally drawn, there's a ''lot'' of unnecessary and fiddly pixel-level detail (sandbars in the river, bankside tracks, the nature of the track-ends around whatever nature of outpost they lead to) that really needn't have been contrived from all the necessary digital-pen strokes needed to implement.
::And you'd be referencing real overhead images, at the very least, to even think you'd need those. And to not try to represent the water as much bluer (there are several reasons it wouldn't be, which also persuades me that it's a satellite ground-survey rather than a mere aerial one), because "reality is unrealistic". [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.49|82.132.244.49]] 00:54, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

The title text reminds me of the Map Men episode in which the existence of the watermark was presented as proof that Google was trying to claim Bir Tawil. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.98|209.188.63.98]] 17:11, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

'''WHERE IS THIS?''' Can anyone figure out from the map where this is? [[Special:Contributions/154.47.27.37|154.47.27.37]] 22:47, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
: According to ChatGPT it's most likely somewhere in Namibia (assuming it's showing a real place at all). The explanation is quite long (and plausible, imo), this is its concusion: "Based purely on visual features — terrain color, river shape, road type, isolation, and the dark depression — the image most plausibly resembles: An area in Namibia shaped by an ephemeral river system (especially in the Kuiseb–Ugab–Huab region, or nearby gravel plains)" Other, less likely options it mentioned were: Nevada/Arizona, Australia and (Saudi) Arabia [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:14, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

The explanation jumps to conclusions that are not stated in the comic. Satellite images are used by various professions, intelligence officers are only one of them. Other professions are stock analysts, environmental investigators, or data journalists. The comic itself only speaks of remote sensing. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:638:807:507:D4BF:ABF3:E094:D532|2001:638:807:507:D4BF:ABF3:E094:D532]] 09:27, 28 November 2025 (UTC)
:Feel free to add/expand the other possibilities. My take, though, is:
:*Contractors mentioned. Excludes tertiary information-gathering (opensource analysis), and ''probably'' primary intel (IMINT, possibly real-time, direct from NRO-sponsored 'asset' or equivalent national effort, at the top level of strategic importance; private corporate entities operating their own ground-imaging satellites for commercial reasons)... Rules in lower-level IntAls doing basic regional groundwork, rules out "citizen science" and probably the original explanation of a conspiracy-theory collective working with whatever crumbs of available info they can seize upon.
:*The possible "one of [their own] people" doesn't narrow who 'us' is, but implies a more sprawling hierarchy (passing along the images) in their organisation(/collective set of ''mostly' collaborative organisations) than most corporate setups, or NGOs (e.g. 'tree counters'/'desert measurers' for UN climate change-assessors), and certainly not a close-knit group of enthusiasts (a 'conspracy clique' or academic department where the blame options are limited ("Damnit Steve!").
:*"Foreign actors" (assuming they don't mean the likes of Ryan Gosling/Ryan Reynolds, or Gerard Butler/Gérard Depardieu) sets up a direct 'us/them' contrast with the prior choice. Heavily implies these guys we see qualify as "domestic actors" working at a multinational level. If they were corporate, you'd expect business rivals mentioned (foreign and/or domestic). If mere 'interested citizens', they might blame "the[ir] government"/its TLAs for thwarting their investigations. You might even expect a ''particular'' foreign government/agency in most circumstances, especially that of the territory being observed or the obvious main external competitor in regional dominance. But here it's a general 'one or other foreign' parties with a shared stake in that part of the world. Also rules out 'us' being an internationalised collective, with the talents of multiple nations contributing (academically, in business, UN NGO, something like Bellingcat or some world-wide web of conspiracy-theorism). Or even a "Five Eyes" intelligence collaboration.
:*Then there's the expectation that they ''should and ought to'' have some idea who has posession of this site. Investigative journalism might be open to discovering something new (to their particular dossier of knowledge), but it suggests that there's an expectation of access to comprehensive (shared-)intelligence covering everywhere and everything, no matter how vague the rumour or papertrail. That's more a major Intelligence Agency mindset, than any of the other options.
:The confluence of these clues (assuming Randall wasn't being deliberately careless/contrary to his internal imagination, which seems unlikely given the not-too-confusing conclusion, and unlike him in general) leads to something along the lines of some Pentagon/Langley/Fort Meade-type team with a responsibility for grinding out general background info in some theatre such as Syria or parts of Africa, where multiple (competing-but-'not-competing') non-local nations and unsanctioned militias may well have set up bases of operations, as well as local civilians residing there. Which agrees with my guess that this (if the grabbed image is chosen specifically to match the written-in scenario) is supposed to be an area with currently flowing (as of the image) ephemerally-wet wadi, rather than featuring a Utah creek or an Australian-outback (that kind of thing being looked at by locally-interested business interests, rather than by military-type folks/etc, unless there's some more prominent concern about foreign-sponsored off-grid militias than is publically acknowledgable).
:So it's admitedly a bit of a Sherlock Scan, holistically putting the clues together, rather than as obvious as a bold name-plate attached to the wall above the projection-screen that ''explicitly'' namechecks the agency/department they're working in. But multiple small and explainable steps that lead to (a high probability of) one particular scenario, rather than a leapt-to presumption without justification. Takes more words than I'd like, to pad out into a full explanation of the more symbolic thought processes, but seems to have survived a self-skeptical analysis and reconsideration of the various alternatives mentioned (and others not yet mentioned).
:Except, perhaps, for sloppy (but coincidentally self-consistent) writing on Randall's part. Except that that doesn't sound like him at all! But I'm of course happy to see alternative interpretations mentioned here/above if you can mesh suitable reinterpretaions together via credible replacement insights. I've no monopoly on knowing the mind of the author, by any means. And apologies to anyone who found this to be too long a reply! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.49|82.132.244.49]] 16:43, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

User talk:TheusafBOT

2025-11-28T09:46:51Z

82.132.244.49: /* False positive */ new section

== Bot ==

{{notice|Know that thou art a bot most splendid.}}

{{User talk:DgbrtBOT}}

== Hi ==

Hi {{unsigned|Stiloes|13:00, 23 March 2023 (UTC)}}

== I thought it might autorevert 'wrongly' again. ==

See the sequence encompassed by [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=404:_Not_Found&curid=3587&diff=336235&oldid=322800 this current situation]. IMO, it reverted back past a valid rewrite (I can imagine why, though seemingly it was happy with the pre-vandalism rewrite until the vandalism occured). FYI, ready for perhaps your manual fixing. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.101|141.101.99.101]] 02:05, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
:Yeah, it's definitely acting up. It also removed the Soviet flags that I contributed. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.160|172.71.150.160]] 02:19, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
::THATS BECAUSE YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO ADD SOVIET FLAGS EVERYWHERE THATS VANDALISM, DUMBASS [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:37, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::This is a wiki, which means anyone can edit it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.79|172.71.147.79]] 00:49, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::ON THE GODDAMN MAIN PAGE, IT SAYS THAT YOU SHOULDNT BE A JERK-I THINK THIS CONSTITUTES AS BREAKING THAT RULE [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:50, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::There are fools out there (above IP being one), and there are rational ones (me, you, many others). To paraphrase the old saying, idiots will prevail only if the sensible do nothing. And we're not only dealing with such idiocracy (disrupters, dishonest actors, etc), but also keep on improving and adding things as we'd do anyway. Which is a net success, however you look at it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.46|141.101.99.46]] 15:21, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::Bruh. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.200|172.69.33.200]] 23:16, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
:I'll look into allowing that change. —[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 04:44, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

==User/Discussion Pages==
Hi Theusaf(BOT), I have found a problem with your bot. If someone deletes everything on a user/discussion page and substitutes it with text, then auto-revert doesn’t work. Is there anyway to fix this? [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:20, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
:Not wishing to pre-empt Theusaf but, if you're asking about what I think you are, probably it's not working because it hasn't been triggered to work, in those examples. This is down to what the 'bot is told to monitor (and consider needs reverting), and it's not intelligent enough to work that all out on its own.
:The question probably is whether theusaf can be asked to add a handler for the current issue (maybe a bit more general, without generating overreach that reverts genuine changes). Similar things have been done (are probably still active against what was happening then), but it'll need some hands-on work to add/extend this.
:But only responding in case Theusaf can't get back to you with a more precise answer (and/or solution?) fairly quickly. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.14|172.69.194.14]] 15:42, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
:Hi 42.book.addict, like others have mentioned, this hasn't been added to the bot's code. I think it may be difficult to add in, as there are valid reasons to remove or replace content from discussion pages. If the content replacing the pages is consistent, I can block the replaced content instead. --[[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 17:06, 2 December 2024 (UTC)

== Thank you ==
I would really like to thank you for preventing the annoying guy from getting on top of the leaderboard. Please ban [[User:ConscriptGlossary]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.2|172.70.162.2]] 12:35, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

:It's too late. [[User:ConscriptGlossary]] is already on top of the leaderboard. He will stay there until the bot makes one more edit. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 19:27, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

== Offensive numbers in byte count ==
I just came back and found that spam has occurred in my talk page. The six-digit and seven-digit byte count in those edits are really offending. Can an administrator hide the byte count in those edits? [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 19:27, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:I think I can answer this one easily enough: No.
:Hiding byte counts indiscriminately (which needs in-depth reconfiguring) is not useful, and arguably detrimental. Hiding byte counts that are ''only certain values'' would take even more effort. Determining which byte-values are undesirable (by whichever criteria... 13s? 8s? 911?s That number sometimes associated with marijuana use, whichever that 9ne is? Whatever other reasoning you identify, by whatever numerological method has specific or localised cultural meaning to you?) would not be a reasonable amount of effort.
:On top of this, it is not TheusafBOT's place to do anything about it (even if it could), nor Theusaf themself.
:I don't know what you think is wrong (or even meant?) by the byte-counts involved, but I don't think there is any conceivable reason to censor mere numbers. What are you going to do? Tweak the value of Pi so that it doesn't feature these strings in it? ...there's surely far more problems in disliking a random number than in having the number itself. Convince me (and everyone else) otherwise. Or at least explain yourself better. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.126.94|172.71.126.94]] 20:34, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
::The spammer inserted the spam, and then the bot reverted it, effectively repeating the offending number. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:48, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

::The spammer was repeatedly making such edits with offending numbers. There are many other Anime haters which may be equally annoyed by those numbers, if the numbers went to their talk page. The Anime haters may even sue the whole website or at least the bot. The wiki that [[User:ClassicalGames]] created have been sued, according to reports, perhaps for the same reason. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:48, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:::Wait, what? People who hate anime (not just dislike it, not just ''not'' like it, not just ignore it and watch a totally different genre of fiction or go for long walks over tall mountains instead...) have a specific number that they hate? They'd rip out a page of a phone directory, logarithm book or rip daffodils out of the ground if they happened to form distinct groups of exactly the right numbers to trigger this (frankly obsessed-sounding) rather specialised form of mania-cum-phobia?
:::I cannot speak for the intent of the spammer, but can I suggest that by being so totally annoyed by a mere number then you are in a far worse position than merely having being spammed, and by demanding this solution you have opened yourself up to more loss (and vindicated the spammer) than you might have if it was just a transient (and thwarted) bit of random spamming.
:::I'm open to hearing reasons why a particular number is problematic, e.g. 64 for June the 4th (more a censorable number, probably, the way that's handled in a certain country), and would be very sympathetic if I heard that a full string of numbers exactly represents the precise date upon which you became orphaned in a particularly terrible train crash. But all of this requires the addition of significance to what are numbers. For any number, N, there is going to be N-1 and N+1 and you cannot avoid the possibility that something needs to indicate one more than N-1 and one less than N+1. And it's so easy to ignore a number. As I will now ignore you. Go away in disgust, or stay and grin and bear it. I'm not particularly a fan of anime (I presume that a fan would know what this number means, and why it therefore bothers anti-fans), but I am tolerant of most things ''except'' intolerance, which is apparently what you're claiming you have (in spades!)... This was my attempt to give you a fair hearing, now it's just me giving you fair notice that I consider you not worth any more time on this issue. Enjoy your life, and I won't even bother to look up whatever those numbers were and leave them as a parting shot. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.122.111|172.71.122.111]] 21:23, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

== False positive ==

Probably it suffered due to the run of nonstandard characters, I'm guessing, but {{diff|92636|this undone braille}} looks like it should have stayed (without checking the accuracy) and isn't (for example) emoji-spam, or even attempted filter avoidance by non-Latin visually-similar character obfuscations. I might have dereverted it, on behalf of the original poster, but can guess that it would rerevert my attempt too, so leaving it entirely up to 'you'. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.49|82.132.244.49]] 09:46, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:1386: People are Stupid

2025-11-28T09:31:57Z

82.132.244.49: Undo revision 392504 by 2001:56A:F9AD:EF00:74AD:956C:531A:5137 (talk) No justification for that deletion.

On average yes, an individual is of average intelligence. But taken as a population of a whole, well, that's a different story entirely. Randall needs a vacation, ever since he jumped the shark with the dead baby it just feels like the downward trend is getting steeper. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 13:20, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
::"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it." - Kay, Men in Black 1997 {{unsigned ip|172.71.30.187|01:33, 6 September 2024}}
:I don't really think that he jumped the shark. I don't quite get what you are trying to say, and individual can't be of average intelligence. You must first define the average, if we take the mean intelligence of the whole population, then take a person from the sample, then we say that the individual is of average intelligence. You can't say people is stupid while referring to the whole population, because of the definition of stupid, if we take a sample of low IQ people then those people are going to be of average intelligence within the sample, the same goes to the whole population. So this comic is perfectly valid. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.192|108.162.212.192]] 04:50, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
::I know this is a lot later, but I believe that OP was referring to the difference between mean and median measures of intelligence. More than 50% of the population can be below average intelligence if the distribution is skewed right. [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 03:36, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

Isn't that a reference to the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.119|103.22.200.119]] 04:49, 25 June 2014 (UTC)krayZpaving

White Hat being burned? This certainly will not end here.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.102.208|141.101.102.208]] 04:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

'''''Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.''''' This wiki is founded on the very principle that people are stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.29|108.162.223.29]] 05:35, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: You make an intelligent point, which I both appreciate and like. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.50|108.162.222.50]] 13:41, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
::Awww, it's just a joke, it's not personal or anything! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:43, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

This comment is one that makes me scratch my head and wonder... surely Randall is able to see that intelligence is not a relative but rather an absolute thing (if one were to kill the 10% most intelligent people the rest wouldn't get dumber, nor smarter). Surely intelligence is not to be measured in units of the common denominator. Surely it is obvious that 2nd panel is a pure strawman. Sigh...
Oh and btw an IQ of 100 is the median, not the average. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 09:18, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: I am wondering if the explanation should not include a mention of the Median/Mean problem because it is entirely possible for a majority of a population to be above or below some mean (average) statistic depending on the distribution. Also stupidity is a standard that is not dependent on either median or mean.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 11:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: The IQ of 100 is actually defined to be the median AND the average (and also the mode). It is also defined that the distibution around the IQ of 100 is a perfect bell curve. The IQ just tells you how many people in the world have your IQ (It is also defined that two values that have same distance from hundred, e.g. 80 and 120 have the same amount of people, 'cause it's a perfect bell curve (this means that there are as many people with IQ 120 as people with IQ 80). If the overall population gets more intelligent they have to make the IQ tests harder, so that 100 is again the average and median (This really happened). This and some other things are reasons why I think that IQ tests are BS. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.219|141.101.93.219]] 14:01, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
:: "A test device with numerous correlates measures an amount of environmental influences beside innate determinants, therefore bullshit"... What are your other objections to I.Q. testing? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 14:17, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

The mocking "award", which is an analogy of saying "intelligence isn't everything" (an EXTREMELY common cliche), reflects the fact that Randall, like just about anyone, is oblivious to the magnitude of the totality of positive correlates of intelligence, and even (TRIGGER WARNING, TABOO CONCEPT AHEAD) I.Q. Intelligence, I.Q., not only makes you happier, it also makes you more helpful to other people, more creative, more socially stable, better-to-do, less susceptible to mental illnesses, more likely to remember events in your life, etc. etc. etc... Basically, there isn't a positive trait or quality of life with which intelligence doesn't correlate. But people positively LOATHE awareness of how highly intelligence, in fact, matters. Hence the vehement denial whenever someone indicates its importance, all the "I know an intelligent person who is miserable/mean/...", all stressing of exceptions, all ridicule of the notion of intelligence in general, all the "don't think about it"-mentality, all writing off of I.Q. as "antiquated, grossly limited, racist, metric" rather than the extremely potent predictor that it is. tl;dr Randall at all, take time to actually STUDY intelligence or the g factor before you mock it like that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

: IQ is based on an arbitrary test and isn't necessarily accurate or reliable. Cognitive ability (which IQ does not accurately measure) WOULD make you more creative, have better memory, etc. I don't know anything about the mental illness thing, but it doesn't make you happier- you can be extremely intelligent but still have a miserable life. Also many "geniuses" in history have emotional issues and unbalanced lives. Intelligence doesn't make you more helpful, either. Yes, you might be more ABlE to help others, but only if you were educated, and only if you WANT to. Plus, this is a webcomic poking fun at people generalizing humanity, not an in-depth analysis of IQ. This whole argument is pointless, and I don't know why I just wasted a bunch of time on it... I guess I have fallen for the trap described by comic 386, Duty Calls. [[User:Random xkcd Fan|Random xkcd Fan]] ([[User talk:Random xkcd Fan|talk]]) 00:41, 26 October 2016 (UTC)

: In other words (and this is going to be my last addendum to this note, because it is a vast subject), whenever people say (or imply, as in the comic's case) that "intelligence isn't everything", the question to ask in return is, "okay, now what is the degree to which intelligence enables, facilitates, contributes to, 'the rest' to which you're opposing intelligence here?". People minimise the depth and breadth of the intellectual substrate of achievement. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:33, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

: Also, Randall (and everyone saying that) is being highly unjust in equating "people aren't smart" with "people aren't as smart as me". A perfectly valid alternative sense is, "people aren't as smart as to be rationally expected to contribute to rather than damage the discussion/situation/position at hand"--having the objective good, the objective recognition that certain situations (for instance, a certain online conversation which is expected to be competent) require certain minimal intellectual thresholds (for instance, an I.Q. of 120), in mind rather than egotic comparison. Lower intelligence, deny it all you please, comes with temperamental problems for instance. Selection for intelligence will largely filter them out. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

:: tl;dr of my entire production here: people must learn that BOTH situations of the Dunning-Kruger are equally harmful, the one that's less often considered perhaps actually even more so. Mistaken self-perception as intelligent is bad for the individual, but refusal to acknowledge the importance of one's own cognitive capacity (which is as good as universal in intelligent people--"I am not that smart" (who hasn't heard that one innumerable times?), "I just like doing thing x, my proficiency in it has nothing to do with my intelligence or I.Q.", "I have areas in which I'm 'stupid' too", "effort counts too") has societal consequences, of contributing to erroneous dismissal of the notions of intelligence & I.Q. & g etc. Shutting up for good now. Night. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

::: GAHHHHH just one more thing. Consider this: the fact that people dismiss I.Q. is the best indicator of how important a trait it really is. Thing is, people would not feel compelled by modesty to deny its importance had it not been vitally integral to many, many things. We deny what we value, so to give hope to those who lack that thing (to comfort those who lack intelligence). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:15, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

:::: Okay, no offense, but maybe you should calm down a bit. It's just a WEBCOMIC, not the Universal Decree of All Things Correct and Accepted as True. Also, I'm pretty sure you're overthinking it. Randall is just poking fun at those who say, "oh, people are stupid, you know". Cueball isn't seriously giving statistics (although I do agree with his logic- intelligence is NOT absolute, it's relative. And IQ is obsolete; it's based on arbitrary tests and vary based on things like race and social class, which should be evidence enough that it isn't some divine, and 100% precise way of calculating cognitive ability). Cueball is simply making fun of White Hat's statement that "people are stupid". Also the comic generally points out making remarks about the human race as a whole doesn't help anything... {{unsigned|Random xkcd Fan}}

:::: Hey 141.101.89.211... I wonder if you have something to say, but despite my best efforts, I'm having trouble following everything you're saying - I have a feeling you were a bit emotional (perhaps tired?) when writing that, or you might have had fewer "more things" immediately following "I'm done" statements. If you're up for it, I'd appreciate you taking the time to make sure you're saying what you want to say, and ''then'' say it, because you seem to at least have good grammar (though there ''were'' a few British spellings... :-D), so I suspect you probably have a good point. It's also conceivable that I'm just not smart enough to get what you're saying (?) or perhaps it's just too ''early'' for me. BTW the best way of making sure I see what you're saying would probably be to let me know on my [[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk page]]... might even have the conversation there if you'd prefer. Thanks for your time. [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: I don't know why you think that 141.101.89.211... No where does the comic say that. The mocking award is simply mocking people who '''may or may not''' have higher intelligence than the people they're addressing taking a Better Than Thou attitude because they think they do. In other words: "Higher intelligence doesn't give you an excuse to act like a jerk." I'm sure you can agree with that too [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.218|108.162.245.218]] 04:42, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

I would add one "people are stupid" angle not yet mentioned: judging by behavior, most groups of people are less intelligent that any member of that group individually. This is valid even for the "all people" group - just look at the planet. Surprisingly, judging by content of most wikis, the "editors of wiki" groups seems to immune. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:05, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: Good point--conforming to pressures of one's group or one's position to the detriment of one's judgment is a separate personality trait. The phenomenon is remedied by intelligence, but independent from it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: Beat me to it. I'd like to add that even individual people have their occasional stupid and intelligent moments, with the stupid ones typically being of greater magnitude. Thus, it's not unreasonable to say that the average actions of people are at least slightly less intelligent than the average intelligence of most people on most days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 12:13, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: Similar to the statement in the film "Men In Black". Agent J says, "Why the big secret [about the aliens among us]? People are smart. They can handle it." Agent K responds, "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.45|108.162.221.45]] 01:15, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

I can't believe people say things like that, man, people are stupid [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 10:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the Lake Wobegon references. Not only is it on-target, but I take personal joy seeing mentions of uniquely Minnesotan culture anywhere I can find them. --BigMal27, Minnesota-born, Minnesotan-raised // [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.88|173.245.55.88]] 11:53, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Instead of saying, "People are stupid," we would do better to say "People make poor decisions / statements / judgments." And this, for multiple reasons, few of them I suspect tied to basal intelligence. Stage of life, level of health and stress, experience relative to the topic, level of education and the quality of that education, cultural idiotic beliefs that interfere with optimal choices, and a zillion others. Plus, as a large percentage of humans are either just coming online in experience and education, or are winding down in health and mental function, we are guaranteed to see a large percentage of stupid decisions right across the IQ landscape. No help for it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.217|108.162.246.217]] 13:04, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: I.Q. affects level of health and stress, rate of acquisition of experience, level of education, quality of education obtained, preference of cultural beliefs. It doesn't seem to defy reason that it affects the zillion other factors, too. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 13:17, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
: Remember, in interaction between psychological and social factors, the question is never of *existence* of a connection, but of its magnitude. It is fine to posit a multitude of environmental factors that determine (ir)rationality, but as long as such position keeps people from connecting I.Q. with those factors' actual occurrence (how much I.Q. does it take to finish a good school? to develop a habit of reading a book every month? this is not at all trivial question, and it needs to be resolved with more than anecdotal evidence of "I know an intelligent illiterate person"), there might be an elephant buried underneath the room which no one knows about. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 13:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

I know Cueball's explanation can be construed to illustrate otherwise; but I doubt the comic was meant to be a comment on the relative intelligence of humanity. It seems more likely, to me, that the purpose of the comic was to comment on the stonewalling that the mindset, "I'm better than you," induces. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 15:12, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

The cartoon never mentions I.Q. at all, Just "Average Intelligence", so the Mean/Median discussion is moot. As for the other discussion on this page, I'm just going to quote Blaise Pascal: "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time" [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 16:00, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

As mentioned above, in other comments that it's hard to find a way to indent from, there's a difference between different 'average's. (To compare "the median" with "the average" is not a good way of doing it, because one needn't know whether you're talking mean or mode in the second sense. I could even say that I have more than the average number of arms, for a human.) The assumption that the median [i]and[/i] mean (and, perhaps, also mode) are a single location at which 100IQ can be placed is dependant upon the bell curve being symmetrical. Just one hyper-intelligent could skew the mean well above the median. (Ok, so we're talking about comic-book "hyper"ness, to make it significant, in a world's worth of population, but the principle still stands for any more manageable population.) And about IQ tests being recalibrated... there is already a common convention that there's a score-adjuster (or a look-up table, based on this) that gives you different IQs for the same number of correct answers but for people of different ages (and sometimes male/female). Which seems to me like "we give up trying to be demographically neutral, let's just find how well different people answer in our test and then work out where their own arbitrary sub-group's bell-curve stradles". That said, I like IQ tests. I do well in them, and have fun doing them, even if I don't actually believe in them any more than I believe in Sudoku puzzles! And, sorry, I ended up typing far more than I had intended... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.193|141.101.99.193]] 16:31, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

I see a lot of discussion on intelligence, but nothing on "losing faith in humanity". The way I see it everywhere is not in response to stupid people, but to acts of inhumanity. Random acts of violence and hate, for example. Or not random, but large scale. "Restored my faith in humanity" comments often refer to the opposite (in my experience) which involve random acts of kindness, or large-scale altruism. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 08:48, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

What about people using Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and any other "social network web 2.0" thing? They certainly aren't an individual or small group, they are stupid and I've lost my faith in them. :) {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.166}}

There are distributions where majority of the population would indeed be below average. Luckily for humanity, intelligence is on a bell curve! I am happy beyond words that this is the case. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.31}}

This has to be one of the most entertaining boring conversations I've ever come across! Brilliant! (Or not.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 14:12, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

I think when someone says "people are stupid", they actually usually mean something like "people systematically make mistakes that I feel are readily avoidable", rather than making an actual judgement regarding general intelligence. So this comic feels rather off to me. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.113|173.245.48.113]] 08:01, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

:If you read xkcd long enough, you'll find a lot of Randall's comics feel "off." {{unsigned ip|108.162.212.215}}

Interestingly, the people making comments about average people being stupid tend to be, eh, below-average-smart themselves. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.217|108.162.246.217]] 00:47, 28 June 2014 (UTC)

:"Interestingly," huh? You sound smart. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.215|108.162.212.215]] 14:39, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

When I say "People are stupid" I mean that a group of people making a decision is much stupider than a person. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.215|108.162.246.215]] 04:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)

'''"No, people aren't stupid. On average, people are of average intelligence."'''

Hey, guys. Consider that average intelligence ''is'' stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.215|108.162.212.215]] 14:39, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
: Yeah, this is how I've always interpreted "People are stupid" it means, considering we all think we're a smart species, our average intelligence is really low. It's not "I'm better than everybody/average/most people" but "Everybody/the average person/most people is/are worse than most people believe" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.216|141.101.99.216]] 13:15, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
:: You stupid, stupid humans. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 02:25, 25 September 2015 (UTC)

What if the distribution of intelligence is bimodal? If no one is of "average" intelligence, might the more extreme stupidity of a large portion of the population give the impression that the actual average is lower than it appears? [[User:Bppubjr|Bppubjr]] ([[User talk:Bppubjr|talk]]) 14:48, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

"People is dumb." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.164|173.245.52.164]]

All the (admittedly online) IQ tests I've done have always been focussed on logic, mental manipulation of shapes, maths, deduction etc. While this favours those with a certain type of brain, I can't help but think it is heavily biased against those with creative types of thinking. Hand me a paintbrush and canvas, and my logical brain is of no help at all --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:17, 20 October 2014 (UTC)
:Intelligence is the ability of learning, the use of logic and solving problems. While being creative is good, necessary and a very useful thing by itself, is NOT intelligence. So a person could be creative and being dumb at the same time, or the opposite. Also, there are not different kind of brains. The whole left-brain vs right-brain thing is a myth: http://www.livescience.com/39373-left-brain-right-brain-myth.html [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 21:07, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Not XKCD's best work. This is a normal response that smarter people initially feel when encountering others, having taking themselves as the baseline. This actually reflects a lack of elitism, where you expect other people to be the same as you and are surprised they are not (pretty much the opposite as portrayed here). Case in point is Freeman Dyson. Here's an excerpt from the Atlantic Monthly piece on him:

The prodigy in question, Freeman Dyson, now middle-aged, stared ahead, his incessant concentration on the road unbroken. He seemed mesmerized by the oncoming pavement, or by some idea or formulation glimpsed in the immateriality beyond the pavement. I asked him whether as a boy he had speculated much about his gift. Had he asked himself why he had this special power? Why he was so bright?

Dyson is almost infallibly a modest and self-effacing man, but tonight his eyes were blank with fatigue, and his answer was uncharacteristic.

“That’s not how the question phrases itself,” he said. “The question is: why is everyone else so stupid?”

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.124|108.162.241.124]] 00:41, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

'''386 + 1000?'''

In Duty Calls (386) http://http://xkcd.com/386/ people were just wrong. Fast forward 1000 strips and they are stupid. [[User:Hananc|Hananc]] ([[User talk:Hananc|talk]]) 13:55, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

I disagree with the author here. Due to ambiguities of language it can correctly be said that most people are stupid. On one hand, we have the strict definition of average intelligence: it is defined by the intelligence of the average. If, however, one defines intelligence based on each person's average use of what they have, well, averaged over time, most people don't use what they have. That is why I assert that most people are stupid: because they have the ability to be average or above, but in practice their lack of thinking leads to decisions as bad of those who would score far worse on any real or theoretically perfect test.

note: The form of testing and its accuracy is irrelevant. It's just a score generated by a process.

[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.16|172.68.174.16]] 07:37, 13 November 2018 (UTC)

Anybody else notice how '''TRIGGER WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T TAKE CRITICISM''' might be proving [[White Hat]]'s idea right? Just look at the arguments! Note: While not all people are stupid, a moderate percentage of internet contributers have been observed to act stupidly.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.21|108.162.242.21]] 19:50, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

== Analysis of definitions ==

1. "People are X" can mean either "all people are X" (1a) or "most people possess the property Y at least to the degree X" (1b), in this case " a majority of people are unintelligent enough to be called stupid"

2. "Stupid" can mean "below average intelligence" (2a) or "less smart than a reference value (ex. the intelligence of the speaker, or how intelligent the speaker would like humans to be, or than required to deal with a task or problem at hand)" (2b).

Now we just need to go through the combinations of the definitions.

1a/2a. All people have intelligence below average. Impossible by definition of "average".

1b/2a. A majority of people have below average intelligence. Possible if the distribution curve is skewed, i.e. if most people have intelligence slightly below average and some people are a lot smarter than the average. My sample, however, says that the opposite is the case, though it might also be skewed in respect to general population.

1a/2b. No people are smart enough for X. Possible depending on the definition of "enough". The speaker is very probably not the smartest human being in existence, but some statements such as "no living human have demonstrated enough intelligence to formulate a definite proof of Riemann hypothesis as of yet" are objectively true.

1b/2b. Most people are not smart enough for X. Again possible depending on the definition, moreso as most if not all problems could be solved well enough if all or most people just cooperated better and prioritized the global good over their own.

Therefore, the statement can be fine as long as the speaker has a good reason to say it in a particular context and/or includes himself in it. In any other case, Cueball's reaction is justified. {{unsigned ip|172.68.65.20|16:45, 10 February 2021}}

I have to disagree with this comic. Yes, on average, people are of average intelligence. However, if the average intelligence is "stupid", then the average person is stupid. [[User:R3TRI8UTI0N|R3TRI8UTI0N]] ([[User talk:R3TRI8UTI0N|talk]]) 00:11, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
:As long as you're happy with calling half* of all people ''very'' stupid.
:* - Or you could be mean and assume it's an extreme outlier dragging the number down.
:Which begs the question how smart one needs to be to be considered smart. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.56|172.70.85.56]] 00:49, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

Talk:3173: Satellite Imagery

2025-11-28T00:54:39Z

82.132.244.49:

620: Wings

2025-11-27T17:14:52Z

82.132.244.49: Undo revision 392468 by Lp0 on fire (talk) Redlinked

{{comic
| number = 620
| date = August 7, 2009
| title = Wings
| image = wings.png
| titletext = Please do not try any of this and die or get arrested.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] explains to [[Megan]] that on Saturn's moon {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}, the combination of lower gravity and a denser atmosphere make the act of flying simpler. Wings that are only capable of generating 9% of the necessary lift on Earth would allow one to fly if used on Titan.

Cueball now stands in front of an apparatus to do so; he is standing in a valley with a metal arch above him, and two pulleys that have a rope going from Cueball to one pulley to the other and to the pile of bricks that weigh 91% of his weight, so if he generates enough lift to cancel out 9% of his weight, then he will be able to lift himself and fly.

The experiment is a success. However, as Megan points out, his experiment has some problems, namely that he used hot glue for the wing joints and that he has friends into Greek mythology.

{{w|Icarus}} is a Greek character known for his self-powered flight, which ended when the wax holding his wings together melted due to the sun's heat, and he fell to his death. This supposedly occurred because he ignored instructions not to fly too close to the Sun, a tragic example of hubris — extreme arrogance. Here, {{tvtropes|IcarusAllusion|Black Hat is bringing an artificial "sun" to "Icarus" to recreate the tragedy}}.

[[Black Hat]] is standing on top of the arch with a powerful heat source, a {{w|heat lamp}}. The hot glue melts, then the wings fall apart, then Cueball falls.

In the title text, Randall asks that xkcd readers do not attempt to reproduce this. The reason for this is explained [[254: Comic Fragment|here]]. It could also simply be a media-standard "Don't try this at home" warning, as there are legitimate dangers to flying around unprotected. Sufficient height and a sudden loss of one's wings could indeed result in death (and deliberately causing someone to lose their wings and die or be injured would indeed get one arrested).

One thing to note about this comic is that Cueball is still attached via pulley to the bricks. These bricks, weighing down on the other side, should (obviously) slow his fall considerably. Of course, Black Hat could also cut the rope...{{citation needed}}

==Physics==

The calculated figure of 9% is only correct if the temperature on Titan has been raised to be the same as Earth — which, for human-powered flight, would probably be necessary anyway. At Titan's normal temperature, you would only have to generate about 3% of your Earth body weight in lift, as the atmosphere is much denser.

The friction in normal ball-bearing pulleys when loaded with 182 % of a persons weight would likely be greater than 9 % of that weight. Cueball must be using futuristic super-low-friction pulleys.

When the wings come off, Cueball is going to fall with an acceleration of about 0.047 g, or 21 times slower than a free fall (neglecting friction). The net downward force is 9 % of his weight, while the total inertia is 191 % of his body mass. So a fall from 21 meters (63 ft) will feel like a fall from one meter (3 ft), equivalent to the fall of someone who has hopped off a table. If he lands on his feet, he will not sustain injuries.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Titan's gravity is 14% of Earth's, and its atmosphere 50% denser.

:Cueball: So if you can generate 9% of your body weight in lift, you can fly on Titan.

:Cueball: With wings, a stage harness, a cable, and 91% of my weight in bricks, I want to test this.
:[There is a heap of materials on the ground. Cueball is holding a stage harness.]

:[Large diagram of a bridge, seemingly metal. A rope leads through pulleys tied to the bridge. One end goes to Cueball, one end to a pile of bricks.]

:[Cueball is standing with wings attached to his arms.]

:[Cueball flaps the wings, and appears to be floating.]

:[Cueball glides.]

:Cueball: It works!
:Megan: Except you have two problems.
:Cueball: What?

:Megan: You used hot glue on your wing joints and you have friends into Greek mythology.
:Cueball: Huh?

:[Black Hat is standing on the bridge, with a large lamp labeled "heat lamp" attached to a battery.]

:[The wing segments fall off Cueball and he tumbles downward.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Sabotage]]
[[Category:Wingsuit]]

2547: Siren

2025-11-27T17:13:04Z

82.132.244.49: Undo revision 392467 by 2A00:23C8:1811:2801:134D:CB:5527:DF58 (talk) Not an established (or suggested?) category

{{comic
| number = 2547
| date = November 26, 2021
| title = Siren
| image = siren.png
| titletext = Directions from CITY OF TROY to ITHACA / Total time: 10y 54d 14h 25m / Warning: Route crosses an international border / route includes capture by the goddess Calypso / route includes a ferry
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Odysseus}} is the hero of the Greek epic ''{{w|Odyssey}}'' by {{w|Homer}}. This is a poem that relates the journey of Odysseus back home to his homeland from the newly defeated Troy, and how he inadvertently angered Poseidon thus causing the journey to take 10 years.

In the story, now widely translated and adapted for modern audiences, {{w|Circe}} warns Odysseus of the {{w|siren (mythology)|Sirens}}, who sing beautiful songs that lure sailors towards their shores, just to doom the boats to sink upon the jagged rocks surrounding their islands. In Odysseus's own case, the Sirens even claim to be able to "[http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.12.xii.html tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole world]"; at this point, Odysseus has been away from home for many years and has no idea if his wife and son remember him, so the temptation to stay and listen (and thus find out if he will be able to return alive) is especially powerful.

This comic reframes the advice as if Odysseus was being told to ignore the incorrect instructions of a {{w|Satellite navigation device|GPS-linked routefinder}}, rather than the Sirens. Errors, omissions or out-of-date information in the databases used by such devices famously have sent drivers down roads they might never have even tried to use (guided by printed maps, road-signs or even past experience) without the alluring voice of the 'infallible' dashboard device leading them through too-narrow lanes, into rivers or even hundreds of miles completely out of their way - perhaps to a destination similarly-named to their intended one. GPSs did not exist during the time the poem was written,{{citation needed}} so this could not be the case here.

A navigation system giving wrong directions can happen, for example, due to outdated or incomplete map data. Sometimes users can file an error report with the provider of the navigation system and hope that they fix the problem in a software update. This is what Circe already did multiple times. However, the error was not fixed, so she has to resort to telling Odysseus to ignore the route.

The title text shows what the route description could have looked like, had Odysseus indeed used a modern navigation system. It includes the start and destination of the route, the estimated duration and warnings about special circumstances of the journey.

Normally, the sea voyage from the City of Troy to Ithaca should take much less than ten years. For Odysseus it took so long because of the many obstacles he had to face, so the navigation system would have some sort of clairvoyance function built in.

"Route crosses an international border" and "Route includes a ferry" are standard warnings included in a route description. The former alludes to the facts that Odysseus's voyage took him to many lands and kingdoms while the latter may allude to the fact that in Book XI of the Odyssey, Odysseus visits Hades, which is traditionally reached by a ferry across the river Styx, piloted by {{w|Charon (mythology)|Charon}} the ferryman. "Route includes capture by the goddess {{w|Calypso (mythology)|Calypso}}" is not normally something that a navigation system would warn about or could know about,{{Citation needed}} but this indeed happened to Odysseus in Homer's tale; he was kept on her island Ogygia for seven years.

The weird directions in the title text may be a reference to [[461: Google Maps]].

==Transcript==
:[Circe is speaking to Odysseus.]
:Circe: Remember, Odysseus:
:Circe: As you pass the rocks you will hear a woman calling out to you, urging you to stray from your path, but plug your ears and hold your course, for her beguiling lies will draw you to a watery grave.
:Circe: I don't know ''why'' they can't just fix it. I keep filing error reports.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Circe was actually just telling Odysseus to ignore his GPS.

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

2097: Thor Tools

2025-11-27T17:11:34Z

82.132.244.49: Undo revision 392463 by Lp0 on fire (talk) Try a valid Cat..?

{{comic
| number = 2097
| date = January 11, 2019
| title = Thor Tools
| image = thor_tools.png
| titletext = CORRECTION: After careful evaluation, we have determined that the axis label on this chart was printed backward.
}}

==Explanation==

In Norse mythology, {{w|Thor}} is the name of a god of thunder and lightning. His signature weapon is a magic hammer called {{w|Mjölnir}}. In popular culture Thor might be best known for his role in {{w|Thor (Marvel Comics)|Marvel comics and films}}, which his appearance here seems to be referencing. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Avengers: Infinity War, Thor also wields an axe named Stormbreaker.

Hammers through history generally served two purposes: as weapons and as tools, though any given hammer is more specialized for one role over the other. Mjölnir is generally interpreted as a weapon, but this comic reimagines it as a tool, then extrapolates that line of thinking by giving Thor other tools instead of of a hammer. The comic is listing various hand tools in order of utility and viability as Thor's weapon, besides his actual, enchanted hammer. Hammers are heavy, blunt, and can do large amounts of damage to an opponent, whereas a hand plane is sharp, but only in one place, and will only inflict surface wounds.

Some of these tools require power, which would generally require Thor to stay near an outlet or keep a battery charging, such as the circular saw, or Dremel. However, being the god of lightning may allow him to circumvent this, by producing electricity for the direct current (D.C.) tools, although he would need an inverter to convert the lightning (D.C.) to alternating current (A.C.) for the tools requiring it. Thor would also need compressed air for the nail gun or jackhammer, only allowing Thor so many shots before reloading the air tank at an outlet, or via a concentrated wind storm.

The nail gun and staple gun would also require nails or staples respectively to function as a weapon. Although Mjölnir is believed to return to Thor if thrown, it's not clear how a similar system could work with nails and staples.

The usefulness of the nail gun as a weapon might depend on whether it was an older one that can be bump-fired or a newer one that requires a separate trigger pull for each nail.

In the title text, [[Randall]] writes that the order of the axis label should be reversed, making the plane the best tool and Mjölnir the worst. Considering that the title of the comic is "Thor Tools" ("tools", instead of "weapons"), the argument seems to be that a hammer is less useful than the rest, by seeing them as tools and not as weapons.

A few other interpretations of this could be:
* Randall proposes that Thor armed with a plane or digital calipers would be much more fearsome than with a hammer.
* The "value" of the more strange-seeming items would be much higher than his traditional hammer, perhaps more gory or more humorous.
* Thor tends to cause collateral damage, and would cause less with a plane or calipers.
* "Best" and "worst" are to be interpreted for Thor's enemies rather than Thor himself.
* Randall might just find the idea of Thor wielding a Plane as a weapon to be really funny.

The title may be a reference to Gary Larson's ''The Far Side'' comic, ''Cow Tools''. The comic depicted a cow next to a set of crude tools, and was famous for no one understanding it.

===List of tools===

All shown tools are explained below:
;Hammer
:A {{w|hammer}} ''is a tool consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object''. Thor was a hammer-wielding god and produced the lighting by using this tool. A {{w|war hammer}} was an actual blunt weapon used for combat in medieval times, and is the original Thor's attribute. There exists a variety of craftsman's hammers designed for specific purposes which can be used as weapons of opportunity to various degrees, depending on the tool's size, weight and material.
;Axe
:An {{w|axe}} or just ax is another old human tool used to split and cut wood, but it also was used as a dangerous weapon in the medieval times. The battle-axes of old were of considerably different design than the woodworking ones, being lighter and having thinner and wider blades. A woodworking axe, though not designed for combat, could be a formidable weapon of opportunity. Notably, this tool is placed slightly below the hammer, possibly indicating Randall's thoughts on Thor's axe, 'Stormbreaker' which features in the Marvel films. (Note: In Norse mythology Thor is depicted exclusively with a hammer rather than an axe).
;Claw hammer
:A {{w|claw hammer}} is a hammer tool primarily used for driving nails into other objects, but also for pulling nails from them. This item seems a bit redundant in the presence of a general hammer on the axis, but could be seen as more scary because it has a pointed, curved and split back head (used for pulling nails). In fact, the usefulness of its back head for combat is debatable at least. On the other hand, it is smaller and lighter than some other craftman's hammers, and less scary than a true war hammer, so its place on the axis may be justified.
;Circular saw
:A {{w|circular saw}} is using a, mostly electric powered, fast-revolving toothed disc to cut materials. A stationary version is called a ''table saw'' but the figure of Thor drawn above presents him using a lighter hand-held version making a buzzing sound. Since the power of the saw is far beyond the human power it is quite a dangerous tool and could be fatal to the user himself. However, it would be rather unwieldy in combat, as it is quite heavy and bulky. Also, electric circular saw would be limited by its cord length, however cordless (battery-operated) saws exist today. This item could be a mock reference to a common trope in horror movies or computer games, when a {{w|chainsaw}} (not a circular saw) is used a weapon.
;Shovel
:A {{w|shovel}} is also a historic tool. It can be used to dig into the ground, move snow or dirt, harvest, and much more. Because it has a relatively thin, sharp metal blade at the end of a pole, it can be used as a weapon of opportunity. Indeed, a small (sometimes foldable), sturdy {{w|Entrenching tool|spade}} was and still is a standard issue item for an infantryman in some countries, intended mainly for entrenching work, but also usable as a weapon – and the soldiers are trained to use it as such, sometimes to a high skill, specifically among special forces. It is rumored that Russian Spetznaz operators are specifically trained to use their spades as throwing weapons. It is therefore more useful in combat than a circular saw – but may be seen as less scary.
;Jackhammer
:A {{w|jackhammer}} is a power tool used to drill and crush hard but brittle materials like stone, concrete etc. It has heavy body with a protruding shaft that makes hard and rapid back-and-forth (and optionally also rotary) movements that drive an implement (a drill, a chisel etc.) into the worked material. Like the circular saw jackhammer is a tool that is powered far beyond single human capabilities. Most jackhammers are very heavy and can be reasonably used only in a facing-down position to work on floors, pavements and other near-horizontal surfaces, nullifying combat application. However, since Thor is purportedly very strong, he may be able to hold it horizontally for some combat...
;Socket wrench
:A handle attached to a {{w|socket wrench}} is mostly used to tighten bolts or nuts. But since it is quite heavy and resembles a hammer it could also be used in a similar fashion. It may be a self-reference to [[538: Security|comic 538]].
;Bolt cutters
:{{w|Bolt cutters}} are cutters with very long handles, typically 2 or 3 feet long, and comparatively tiny jaws. The length of the handles provides the user enough mechanical advantage to sheer through things like bolts, chain links, and lock shackles. Although this tool can cut some fairly tough objects, its usefulness in combat is limited – as far as the cutting action goes at least. On the other hand they are quite heavy and can be used as a blunt weapon.
;Hacksaw
:A {{w|hacksaw}} is a type of hand saw with very small teeth. Hacksaws are well suited to cutting materials like metal and plastic, where the larger teeth of a wood saw would tend to bind or damage the material around the cut. Hacksaw blades are fairly unlikely to seriously injure people, though a hacksaw may be useful against metal baddies like Ultron.
;Nail gun
:A {{w|nail gun}} is a tool for driving nails or other fasteners into various materials ranging from soft wood to hard concrete by a single powerful "shot" to the nail being driven. There are models powered by compressed air, electricity (several types of mechanisms) or explosive charges similar to firearm ammunition (most often compatible with {{w|.22 Short}} blank cartridges). They are normally used by slightly pushing the "nozzle" against an object, disengaging a safety nose contact mechanism, and pulling the trigger. These are quite dangerous tools and can be potentially modified – by removing safety mechanisms – to act similarly to a handgun, shooting nails as high-speed projectiles. If safety mechanisms are left intact, a nail gun would need to be used in close combat by pressing it against an opponent which would make it difficult to apply, but if applied successfully it would inflict grievous wounds.
;Staple gun
: A {{w|staple gun}} is a tool used to drive {{w|Staple (fastener)|staples}} (C-shaped pieces of hard wire) into relatively soft materials such as wood, plastics and light masonry in order to fix something to them. There exist spring-loaded hand-operated staple guns as well as power ones utilizing either electricity or compressed air. The power discharged during staple action is a lot less than that of a nail gun and would inflict minor skin wounds at most. If one manages to eject a staple into the air (not against an object) it won't travel very far. A figure of Thor is drawn above the axis showing him using a staple gun this way, with staples falling short onto the ground. The gun held by Thor makes ''kachunk'' sounds characteristic for a spring-loaded version of the tool.
;Coping saw
: A {{w|coping saw}} is a hand saw with a thin replaceable blade and is used to cut curves and shapes in wood or other relatively soft materials. While it could produce a surface wound and draw blood, a person would generally not stand still long enough to be seriously hurt by being sawed at by a coping saw, plus they could bend or break the blade relatively easily.
;Screwdriver (flat)
:A (flat) {{w|screwdriver}} is a metal rod with a handle, flattened and ground at the other end to form a fairly sharp but short edge perpendicular to the rod. It is normally used to drive {{w|Screw|screws}} into a material, by putting the edge into a groove on the screw's head and turning it while pressing firmly. It is not very dangerous normally, but many people have cut their fingers while driving screws in, or sometimes [[1474: Screws|whilst using it incorrectly to unscrew a bolt]]. It could potentially be used as a stabbing weapon similarly to a dagger, but much less effectively, or alternatively the heavy handle may be used as a bludgeon, though the smooth rod would be difficult to grip. Some nations seem to regard it so much dangerous as to ban its possession in public along knives.
;Ball-peen hammer
: Like a regular hammer, a {{w|Ball-peen hammer|ball-peen hammer}} has a flat head designed to hammer things like nail. However instead of the "claw" a regular carpenter's hammer has to pull out nails, it has a second head that is shaped like a ball and which is used to bang surfaces such as sheet metal directly. A ball-peen hammer is probably the smallest of traditional hammers, and usually used for more delicate work. Thor's Hammer has two flat surfaces for pounding (no claw), so a ball peen might be like a smaller Thor's Hammer and could be pretty deadly in his hands. The ball part would probably not be any more or less effective than the flat part, except it might bounce or deflect off some surfaces where a flat one might not.
;Screwdriver (Phillips)
:Similar to a flat screwdriver, but with a cross-shaped tip, designed to drive screws with matching cross-shaped heads. While a Phillips screwdriver could potentially be used as an improvised weapon to stab or strike like a flat screwdriver, the blunter, cross shape is less likely to inflict cutting injury, likely leading to its lower position on the list.
;Awl
:An {{w|Stitching awl|awl}} is a hand tool, basically a rather short, thin, sharp (sometimes curved) spike with a handle. It is used for punching holes through soft material (leather, fabrics) or to {{w|Scratch awl|mark points}} or lines on wood or metal to assist further work such as cutting or drilling. In a pinch, it could be used as a stabbing weapon like a dagger, but a screwdriver is more sturdy for such purpose.
;Digital Caliper
:{{w|Digital calipers}} are an instrument for precisely measuring the dimensions of small objects. Typically, digital calipers can measure inner diameters, outer diameters, and depth. The reason they are considered more formidable than Dremels and planes is likely how surprisingly sharp the calipers are. They need to be sharp to make accurate measurements, but it is not uncommon for people to cut themselves while using a digital caliper.
;Dremel
:Dremel is a brand name (often used in a generic sense) of small {{w|Die grinder|rotary power tools}} that can be used in precise work involving small objects such as engraving, milling, drilling, grinding, cutting, polishing etc. It consists of a relatively small and lightweight body housing a high-speed electric motor driving a shaft equipped with a {{w|Chuck (engineering)|chuck}}. Various implements can be fixed to the chuck – drills, milling cutters of various shapes, small cutting disks, grinding stones, brushes, soft polishing disks etc. Typically the tool is used handheld against an object held in a vice. It can also be mounted in a stand with a {{w|flexible shaft}} attached, at the other end of which an implement is fixed in a chuck, allowing for still more precise work. A Dremel would be rather useless in combat, effecting in superficial wounds only. It could be seen as a baby circular saw, therefore much less scary and placed much more to the right of the scale. However, it is still a heavy object with a firm grip, and could plausibly be wielded as a bludgeon, making it slightly more effective than a plane.
;Plane
:A {{w|Plane_(tool)|hand plane}} is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting blade over the wood surface. It is designed to scrape layers of wood off the surface. While a plane does have a sharp edge and can cause painful injuries if misused, its awkward shape and the small size of the cutting edge would make it impractical to wield and nearly useless as a combat weapon, even for bludgeoning. A hand plane could plausibly be used as a particularly brutal ''torture'' device on a restrained victim, but as Thor is typically depicted as an honorable and heroic character it is unlikely that he would use one in this manner. Could also mean an actual plane that is meant to fly. Most likely to be used as a thrown projectile or, since Thor can fly using Mjölnir, he can use the plane to fly as well.

==Transcript==

:[A wide image is shown in a single frame.]
:Hand tools Thor could have ended up with
:[Below is a small centered horizontal line with arrows at both ends, labeled "Best" to the left and "Worst" on the right.]

:[The rest of the image shows an other horizontal line in the middle, also with arrows at both ends, covering the full width. Items are marked by a dot with a text above or below, and sometimes a figure wearing a winged helmet, above the line, uses a tool mentioned below:]
:Hammer
:Axe
:Claw hammer
:Circular saw
:[Above, the winged helmet guy uses a circular saw:]
:''Bzzzz zzzz''
:Shovel
:Jackhammer
:Socket wrench
:[Above, the winged helmet guy spins the socket of a socket wrench with a tiny sound.]
:Bolt cutters
:Hacksaw
:Nail gun
:Staple gun
:[Above, the winged helmet guy fires staples into the ground in front of him:]
:''Kachunk kachunk''
:Coping saw
:Screwdriver (flat)
:Ball-peen hammer
:Screwdriver (Phillips)
:Awl
:Digital Caliper
:Dremel
:[Above, the winged helmet guy shows a running Dremel to the left:]
:''Bzzzzz''
:Plane

{{comic discussion}}

3158: Shielding Chart

2025-11-27T17:06:36Z

82.132.244.49: /* Explanation */ ...qualify. Heat radiation isn't proofed against by vacuum (and heat *convection* would imply it isn't entirely vacuum), where opaque (and generally circulationless) mitts would have some amount of superiority

{{comic
| number = 3158
| date = October 22, 2025
| title = Shielding Chart
| image = shielding_chart_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x720px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sharks can occasionally travel short distances through air when pursuing prey, but their attenuation coefficient is pretty high.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is part of a series on [[:Category:Confusion matrices|confusion matrices]].

Various hazardous (or merely obnoxious) materials, objects, and effects can have their danger reduced with specialized protective equipment. The yellow squares are where the shield fails to protect against the object. The grey-yellow squares are where the shield is partially successful, but still presents some risk. The grey squares are where the shield succeeds.

The first five barriers are materials/conditions which may be used to block some things and not others, which makes for a relatively normal comparison matrix. The last five barriers are devices which are deliberately designed and manufactured to block the last five materials/effects. Comparing those with effects for which they aren't designed is presented for absurdity.

The first three hazards - Gamma Rays, Neutrons, and Alpha Particles - represent different types of radiation. Their associated "beep" and "click" sounds mirror real detection behavior: "beep" corresponds to ionizing radiation like gamma and alpha particles, detected by modern radiation detectors, while "click" refers to neutron detection, which uses a separate type of counter designed for neutral particles. {{w|Geiger counter|Geiger counters}}, an earlier form of radiation detector, also clicked.

All but two tiles feature [[Cueball]] (or in one case [[Hairy]]) trying to make use of that column's chosen 'protective shield', although in the case of some scenarios (involving vacuum or water) he may also be sufficiently equipped against the environment he finds himself in. Also present will be the row's specific 'effect', either in its own right (an object or creature that embodies the phenomenon automatically) or as conveyed by [[Megan]] (when not just present as onlooker) who may also have had the 'shield' primarily delegated to her. The two main exceptions are where Cueball himself emits the sound (from within 'protective' suits that turn out to be ineffectual sound-blockers), to apparently annoy Megan, and depictions of radio reception (which always show Cueball's attempt to transmit, whether or not it shows a successful incoming message).

Some hazards, such as {{w|alpha particles}}, a form of radiation with particularly low penetrative power, can be easily deterred by common things; even a relatively short distance through air is enough to minimize their impact. Comparatively, more dangerous hazards, such as the far more penetrative {{w|gamma rays}}, are unaffected by all but the shielding methods actually intended for them. No effect is either all effective or all ineffective, against each form of 'shielding', and neither is any instance of shield consistent against all effects.

The title text notes that, while the shark hazard is shown on the chart to be entirely nullified by a sufficient air barrier, in reality sharks are capable of attacking prey even if it is a short distance out of the water. However, it claims a high "attenuation coefficient", which is an {{tvtropes|ExpospeakGag|overly scientific way of saying}} that you don't need a ''lot'' of air between you and the shark before it can't hurt you. Indeed, while sharks can jump out of the water to a certain height, there's a hard line between "vulnerable" and "out of reach", and a person can be within arm's reach of a shark's attack while they themselves are in no danger whatsoever. So long as they ''don't'' unwisely reach out to tempt fate.

This table might imply that lead is the best defense against everything in general, but it is toxic, so don't bring lead with you at all times.
===Table===
{| class="wikitable" | style="background:#E6C3C3;"
! Shielding Chart
! scope="col"| {{w|Air}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Lead}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Water}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Glass}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Vacuum}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Oven mitts}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Armor}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Hazmat suit|Bio-hazard suit}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Faraday cage}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Shark cage}}
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Gamma rays}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Gamma rays are not significantly shielded by air.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Lead is commonly used as {{w|Lead shielding|shielding}} against gamma rays. Lead works because of its density and high atomic number, scattering gamma rays.
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|Water can be used to shield against gamma rays, but you need at least 10 feet of water between you and the gamma rays for it to work.
|colspan=7; style="background:#FFF978;"|Gamma rays have the highest energy of any type of light and have no mass or charge, making them pass through most materials easily.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Neutrons}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Neutrons are not stopped by low density materials such as air.
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|Lead's high density means that neutrons will keep bumping into lead nuclei, losing their energy through inelastic scattering. However since lead nuclei are much heavier than neutrons, most of the energy will remain with the neutron; as a result, many collisions are needed to slow the neutrons. Some neutrons will also be absorbed by the nuclei, although the {{w|Cross section (physics)|cross section}} is rather low.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Since protons and neutrons have almost the same mass, a collision with a hydrogen atom in water will result in the neutron losing almost half of its energy, resulting in a very rapid attenuation. Moreover the cross section for the fusion of neutrons and protons is high, leading to most neutrons being captured to form deuterium.
|colspan=7; style="background:#FFF978;"|None of these materials are dense enough to slow or absorb neutrons in significant quantities.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Alpha particles}}
|colspan=4; style="background:#C4C5C7"|As alpha particles are almost completely unable to travel through most materials, any of these would effectively stop them. Even if they didn't, the intervening air and distance to Cueball would prevent them being detected in any case. In the third panel, Cueball questions if his equipment is working, as this is the only thing which isn't detected within the first four shields.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|While alpha particles are unable to travel through air, they can move freely in a vacuum. As such, alpha particles are able to reach Cueball in this scenario, activating his detector and allowing Cueball to know that his equipment is indeed working properly.
|colspan=3; style="background:#C4C5C7;"|As with the first four shields, any of these materials would block the particles, and in any case they would have a hard time travelling through air to reach Cueball regardless of the shield provided.
|colspan=2; style="background:#FFF978;"|There are gaps in both the cages through which the particles could pass. In both cases, the emitter has been moved closer to the observer, because otherwise the effect would be masked by the intervening air.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Light}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Light passes easily through air; if it didn't, we would not be able to see.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|As lead is a solid, opaque material, light is not able to pass through it.
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|Water is mostly transparent to visible light. It will attenuate over long distances, but won't be quickly blocked.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|As glass is a largely transparent substance, light is usually able to pass through it.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Because a lack of air does not impact the travel of light, it reaches Cueball without issue.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Cueball is able to use the opaque oven mitts to cover the light source, successfully preventing the light from reaching him.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|The helmet Cueball is wearing is opaque, blocking the light from reaching him. It also makes this a fairly useless set of armor.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|As with the oven mitts, Hairy uses the helmet part of the biohazard suit to block the light source.
|colspan=2; style="background:#FFF978;"|As both types of cages have holes in them, it is easy for the light to pass through the holes and reach Cueball.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Sound}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Air is the most common medium through which we perceive sound. It would not serve as an effective barrier between a source of sound and someone's ears, unless it was over a very great distance.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Lead is very dense, and is in fact used for soundproofing due to its resistance to buffeting by airborne sound waves. But, as an extremely dense solid, it is a very fast conductor of vibration within itself (so long as the thickness of the material does not invoke the dampening softness and attenuate those vibrations). In this case, Megan is directly knocking upon the lead screen itself, which seems to be enough for the sound of the knocking to emerge at Cueball's side.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Sound travels significantly faster and further in water than in air, making it difficult to locate and understand, but certainly not doing any good when it comes to ''blocking'' sound. The image in this square is of a dolphin,[[[285: Wikipedian Protester#top|''cetacean needed'']]] detecting fish using sound waves, which it is very good at doing precisely ''because'' its sounds travel very well through water.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Glass, while useful for muffling sound, cannot block it entirely, as anyone whose neighbors mow the lawn at 6:00 can attest to.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|"In space, no one can hear you scream." In a vacuum (like space), there are no atoms or molecules to carry sound waves.
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|Oven mitts are thick enough that they block some of the sound if a person shouts into them, but it will not be enough to fully block out the sound.
| colspan=2; style="background:#FFF978;"|The two cases of whether sound can penetrate suits are the only two cases where Cueball is trying (successfully) to inflict the phenomenon on [[Megan]], who otherwise features only as the (attempted) instigator. Neither suit is able (or intended) to significantly block sound waves.
| colspan=2; style="background:#FFF978;"|The cages are open enough that their ability to block sound is negligible, and standing in one will do very little to block out sound.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Heat}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Air can be a fairly effective thermal insulator when constrained, as in {{w|aerogels}} and many types of insulation. However, freely moving air as depicted in this panel flows as it heats up, transferring heat from the campfire to Cueball's marshmallow. Additionally, air does little to block thermal radiation from the heat source.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Lead conducts heat, allowing Cueball to toast a marshmallow on the surface of the shield. However, since lead is poisonous, he should not do this.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Heat will raise the temperature of water. If the temperature is raised high enough the water will start to boil; boiling has long been used by humanity to prepare food. Marshmallows however are not meant to be boiled.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Cueball appears to be holding a glass bottle over an open fire, into which he has presumably placed his marshmallows. Depending on the temperature, the type of glass and its thickness, it is possible to heat the contents of a glass container, but if the container is unsuitable this can be dangerous to the user. Also, it is unclear how he proposes to consume the sticky marshmallow mess this would create.
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|The lack of matter in a vacuum completely blocks transmission by conduction and convection, the two main ways in which heat is spread. It still allows transmission by radiation, which is less efficient. For the specific example of the thermos shown in the image, the way they are constructed completely blocks radiation, but there are enough residual air particles for a very slow convection. The fact that the shielding is made from one single (very thin) piece, and it has lips, also allows some conduction.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Cueball is holding a pan over an open fire while wearing oven mitts. Pans whose grip or handle is not made of a material that conducts less heat than the pan proper are dangerous to grab onto with one's bare hands: wearing oven mitts protects the user from heat. It should be noted that, depending on the weight of the pan and the time the pan needs to be held over a fire to prepare its contents, this can be quite tiring for the user. Also, this implies that oven mitts are a better heat shield than a vacuum, which isn't correct (at least as far as pure heat conduction goes).
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A suit of armor is made of metal, which will conduct the heat and do little to protect one's hands against an open flame. The inside of the gloves will be made of some kind of cloth and/or leather, which, as well as giving little protection, might pose a fire hazard.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Bio-hazard suits are designed to help filter air and allow the user to handle dangerous chemicals. However, most bio-hazard suits are made out of fabrics with a laminate coating, both of which are prone to burning and allow heat to pass through.
| colspan=2; style="background:#FFF978;"|Both cages have a minimal effect on the heat from a fire. Depending on the intensity of the fire and the distance from the cage this can create a comfortably warm temperature to the person inside of the cage.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Swords}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Air has a negligible force against objects and is unable to stop Megan's sword's thrust.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Lead is a heavy and dense metal, and as a result, it can stop blows from a sword.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|While water has a greater force than air against objects, it is still not enough to stop Megan's attack.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Glass is easily broken by sharp blows, especially if it isn't tempered, and as a result does not stop Megan's sword.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A vacuum has no resistance against objects and unsurprisingly is not able to stop Megan's attack.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Oven mitts are typically made of fabric, which would provide only limited protection. They also do not cover the full body.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|The metallic armor Cueball is wearing was probably designed to stop penetrating and slashing sword blows, with further layers beneath to dampen impacts.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Swords are sharp, and as such are able to break through the thin hazmat suit Cueball is wearing.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A Faraday cage can be a fine mesh, optimal to screen out various radio frequencies of EM radiation but not intended to stop anything else and comparatively delicate against any physical penetration.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A shark cage, while able to provide resistance against larger threats, has holes through which Megan's sword can go.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Particulate matter#Health problems|Toxic dust}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Dust can travel through air, hanging onto small currents. Air does nothing to protect Cueball.
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|{{w|Lead poisoning|Lead is poisonous}}, so while a solid lead barrier would prevent toxic dust from passing through, any dust or metal fragments from the shield would still be dangerous.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Water actually can be {{w|Dust abatement|used to prevent the spread of dust}}. However, toxic dust that gets into drinking water will {{w|Water pollution#Groundwater pollution|contaminate it}}, and could cause health problems, just as airborne toxic dust can.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Dust cannot travel through glass, and being fully encased in a glass bell protects one from dust (though it would bring its own problems).
| style="background:#FFF978;"|With no air to slow it down, dust in space can move at dangerously high speeds, possibly fast enough to tear through Cueball's space suit.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Oven mitts are worn on the hands and do not normally interfere with one's breathing. However, if there is a notable amount of toxic dust in the air, holding an oven mitt over one's face is better than no protection.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A suit of armor still allows the wearer to breathe, and provides no particular protection from dust.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|A biohazard suit is fully enclosed with its own internal oxygen supply, and so protects the wearer from airborne particles.
| colspan=2; style="background:#FFF978;"|Both cages are too open to provide any significant protection against dust.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Radio}}
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Radio waves are more than able to travel through air. This is what allows walkie-talkies to work.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Although lead is a relatively poor conductor and therefore attenuates radio waves less than most metals, a lead enclosure can still work as a Faraday cage with a sufficiently thick layer of lead.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Radio waves from two-way radios, like the kind shown in the comic, {{w|Radio propagation#Direct modes (line-of-sight)|cannot penetrate deep water}}. There are {{w|Radio propagation#Surface modes (groundwave)|radio frequencies that ''can'' penetrate deep water}}, but these have a much lower frequency, require more powerful transmitters, and (in the case of {{w|Extremely low frequency#Difficulties of ELF communication|extremely low frequencies}}) cannot transmit audio.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|In a similar way that glass is transparent to visual light, it is also transparent to radio waves, allowing them to pass through.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|As there is nothing getting in the way of radio waves in a vacuum, radios work very well in space. This allows ground control to communicate with astronauts in space.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Oven mitts, typically being made of fabric, have no effect on radio waves.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|A metal suit of armor blocks radio waves. This is because metals are very good electrical conductors, which block the radio waves.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Biohazard suits do not block radio waves, and someone wearing such a suit can send and receive radio transmissions without issue.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|A {{w|Faraday cage}} is specifically designed to block electromagnetic fields such as radio waves. In fact, this is the ''only'' 'hazard' here that it blocks.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|The openings in a shark cage are too wide for the cage to experience the properties of a Faraday cage.

|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Sharks}}
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Sharks cannot travel very far on land or in the air.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Shielding yourself with lead plates will effectively protect you against sharks.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Sharks live in water, so water is not an effective shield against sharks.{{cn}}
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|Glass will effectively protect you against sharks, provided that it is thick enough. In fact, sharks are commonly (and safely) shown to the public in aquariums.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|In the vacuum of space, Cueball is very far from sharks' ocean habitat (though he may be at risk of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5xcvAoKojo dolphins]).
| style="background:#FFF978;"|Although shark-shaped Oven mitts are quite common due to their similar appearance, oven mitts are not very effective at stopping sharks.{{cn}}
| style="background:#DDDCB2;"|Depending on the design of the armor, a shark might be able to permanently deform it enough that it causes injury, though the more flexible {{w|Chain_mail#Practical_uses|chain mail}} ''is'' successfully used to prevent actual piercing damage from bites.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A biohazard suit is weak enough that a shark can rip through it.
| style="background:#FFF978;"|A Faraday cage is weak enough that a shark can rip through it.
| style="background:#C4C5C7;"|A shark cage is specifically designed to protect against sharks. In fact, this is the ''only'' hazard here that it blocks.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[The whole comic is in one panel]
:[A 10x10 matrix sits in the middle with rows labelled as follows:]
:Gamma Rays
:Neutrons
:Alpha Particles
:Light
:Sound
:Heat
:Swords
:Toxic Dust
:Radio
:Sharks
:[The columns are:]
:Air
:Lead
:Water
:Glass
:Vacuum
:Oven Mitts
:Armor
:Bio-Hazard Suit
:Faraday Cage
:Shark Cage


:[In all of the Gamma Ray boxes, Cueball stands next to a gamma ray emitter with a smattering of dots a short distance away from it, which is perched on a table as necessary, a geiger counter held in his hand or worn.]

:[Gamma Rays vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[Just standing a few feet from the emitter. The geiger counter Cueball wears beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep!

:[Gamma Rays vs. Lead - gray tile]
:[The gamma ray emitter and the table have a lead enclosure covering them. The geiger counter, held towards everything else in Cueball's hand, does not beep.]

:[Gamma Rays vs. Water - grayish-yellow tile]
:[The gamma ray emitter and table are placed in a large, nearly full, glass of water. Cueball's outstretched geiger counter beeps once:] Beep!

:[Gamma Rays vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[A glass 'bell-jar' covers the gamma ray emitter, atop the table, the geiger counter beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep!

:[Gamma Rays vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[The gamma ray emitter appears to be held within an open hatch of a satellite. The satellite, together with a spacesuited Cueball, can be seen to be in orbit around the Earth. His chest-mounted geiger counter is transmitting three beeps:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Gamma Rays vs. Oven Mitts - yellow tile]
:[Megan stands to the left of the gamma ray emitter, wearing oven mitts and covering the emitter with one hand. Cueball’s body-mounted geiger counter beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Gamma Rays vs. Armor - yellow tile]
:[Cueball stands to the right of the gamma ray emitter wearing a suit of plate armor. From inside the armor, his Geiger counter beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Gamma Rays vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Cueball stands to the right of the gamma ray emitter wearing a bio-hazard suit. From inside the suit, his Geiger counter beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Gamma Rays vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is surrounded by a mesh cage. His geiger counter beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Gamma Rays vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is within a barred cage. His geiger counter beeps three times:] Beep Beep Beep

:[In all of the Neutron boxes, Cueball stands next to a neutron emitter, that looks like two half-sphere shells that are angled slightly open in Cueball's direction, in similar scenarios to the above but with a heftier pedestal in place of the table. No visible effects emit from the emitter. Cueball holds the top handle of the same large detector in each scenario.]

:[Neutrons vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[The detector emits two clicks:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Lead - grayish-yellow tile]
:[The emitter and pedestal are within their lead enclosure. The detector clicks once:] Click

:[Neutrons vs. Water - gray tile]
:[The emitter and pedestal are in the large glass of water. The detector makes no noise.]

:[Neutrons vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[The glass bell-jar covers the pedestalled emitter. The detector clicks twice:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[The emitter sits in the satellite's open hatch. Spacesuited Cueball's hand-held detector transmits two clicks:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Oven Mitts - yellow tile]
:[Megan wears oven gloves and covers the emitter, on its pedestal, with both hands. Cueball's detector clicks twice:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Armor - yellow tile]
:[Cueball has removed his armor’s helmet and placed it over the emitter. His detector clicks twice:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Cueball stands as normal, having draped his unworn biohazard suit over the emitter, leaving the hood on the floor. His detector sounds two clicks:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[Within his mesh cage, two clicks come from Cueball's detector:] Click Click

:[Neutrons vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Within a barred cage, the detector Cueball holds clicks twice:] Click Click

:[In all of the Alpha Particle boxes, it is a small spherical mass or flask with 'fizzy' strands or dashes, set in the same base scenarios as previously.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Air - gray tile]
:[Cueball is holding a detector and looking at it. The detector is doing nothing.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Lead - gray tile]
:[There is a lead wall between the alpha particle source and Cueball. Cueball's worn detector is doing nothing.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Water - gray tile]
:[The alpha particle item is stood in a large glass of water. Cueball is holding a detector and looking at it. The detector is doing nothing.]
:[Cueball:] Does this thing even work?

:[Alpha Particles vs. Glass - gray tile]
:[The source, on its table, is covered by a bell-jar. Cueball stands looking at it, wearing a detector that does nothing.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[The source of alpha particles is inside the open satellite hatch. Spacesuited Cueball floats nearby, with a detector that transmits three beeps:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Alpha Particles vs. Oven Mitts - gray tile]
:[Megan wears over mitts, placing one over the source on its table. Cueball looks ok, his worn detector doing nothing.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Armor - gray tile]
:[Cueball, in his full suit of armor, has picked up the source from its table and is holding it directly in his hand. There is no sign of any detector activity occuring.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - gray tile]
:[Cueball, wearing the bio-hazard suit, looks impassively at the source on the top of its table. There are no beeps.]

:[Alpha Particles vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[The table with the source has been moved to be right next to the mesh cage. Cueball, inside the cage, presses right up to the inside of the same mesh edge, putting his detector right next to it. There are three beeps:] Beep Beep Beep

:[Alpha Particles vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Again, the source, on its table, is right next to the bars of the cage. And, again, Cueball is pressed right up against (and perhaps through) the inside edge of the cage. Three beeps sound:] Beep Beep Beep

:[In all of the light boxes, Megan points a brightly lit battery torch towards Cueball.]

:[Light vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[Megan points the torch towards Cueball. Rays of lights splay out over Cueball's face as he instinctively holds one arm protectively over his eyes.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Light vs. Lead - gray tile]
:[Megan points the torch towards Cueball, but only illuminates a lead wall that stands between them. Cueball makes no reaction.]

:[Light vs. Water - grayish-yellow tile]
:[Megan stands nose-deep in the giant glass of water, aiming her shining torch out through the water and out of the glass towards Cueball. Cueball shields his eyes with his arm, but is silent.]

:[Light vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[Megan stands within a person-sized bell-jar, shining her torch towards Cueball, who is outside and shielding his eyes.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Light vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[Megan and Cueball, in spacesuits (i.e. with 'fishbowl helmets'), are seen orbiting high above the planet below. Megan holds a torch, shining it towards Cueball.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Light vs. Oven Mitts - gray tile]
:[Megan points her torch towards Cueball. Cueball wears oven-gloves, and casually holds one begloved hand over the end of the torch, from which no light is seen.]

:[Light vs. Armor - grey tile]
:[Megan shones her torch upon the armored figure of Cueball, whose helmet visor is down.]
:[Cueball:] Nope.

:[Light vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - grey tile]
:[Megan makes to point her torch at Cueball, who is dressed in all but the hood of his bio-hazard suit. He holds the hood out, fully covering Megan's torch.]

:[Light vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[The torch is pointed by Megan towards Cueball, arm across his eyes as he stands within in his mesh cage.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Light vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Megan's torch shines through the bars of the cage at Cueball, his arm protectively held up.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[In most of the sound boxes, Megan appears to be screaming in Cueball's direction.]

:[Sound vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[Cueball stands with his hands over his ears, as a tensed-up Megan lets out a loud scream.]
:[Megan:] AAAAAAAAA!

:[Sound vs. Lead - yellow tile]
:[Between Megan and Cueball is a full-height thick lead wall. Megan is tapping on her side.]
:[Megan:] Knock Knock
:[Cueball:] Who is it?

:[Sound vs. Water - yellow tile]
:[An underwater scene, showing sea-floor with various corals/sea-plants. Just above is a dolphin, projecting sound waves towards two small fish.]

:[Sound vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[Megan is stood within her person-sized bell-jar, screaming loudly. The bell-jar is vibrating. Cueball is covering his ears.]
:[Megan, in notably distorted text:] AAAAAAAA!

:[Sound vs. Vacuum - grey tile]
:[Megan and Cueball float in space, high above the planet. They are both wearing space helmets. An abortive speech-bubble emerges from Megan's helmet.]
:[Megan:] .....

:[Sound vs. Oven Mitts - grey tile]
:[Megan stands to the left of Cueball, wearing oven-gloves. Her hands are over her mouth, muffling her attempts to say anything.]
:[Megan:] <two lines of unintelligble sounds>

:[Sound vs. Armor - yellow tile]
:[Megan is holding her hands over her ears. Cueball is wearing his suit of armor, which is vibrating, while he emits a large scream.]
:[Cueball:] AAAAAAAAA!

:[Sound vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Megan has her hands over her ears. Cueball is screaming from within his bio-hazard suit.]
:[Cueball:] AAAAAAAAA!

:[Sound vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[Megan is yelling at Cueball, standing within his mesh cage with his hands over his ears.]
:[Megan:] AAAAAAAA!

:[Sound vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Megan yells, as Cueball holds his hands over his ears behind the bars of the cage.]
:[Megan:] AAAAAAAA!

:[All of the fire boxes show a small campfire, or other more expansive flames. In all but one case, Cueball is present. In most of these instances, he is holding a marshmallow, sometimes at the end of a long stick.]

:[Heat vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[There is a campfire, with Cueball extending a stick-speared marshmallow over it.]

:[Heat vs. Lead - yellow tile]
:[A campfire has a lead slab propped up above it. Cueball's marshmallow-stick is being held to its upper surface.]
:[Marshmallow:] TSSSSS
:[Voice from off-panel:] NO!

:[Heat vs. Water - yellow tile]
:[A campfire heats a cauldron/cooking-pot held over it. Cueball dips his stick with a marshmallow into the container as splashes/vapor emerge. Megan stands behind Cueball.]
:[Cueball:] They're better boiled.
:[Megan:] NO!

:[Heat vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[With a campfire between them, Megan and Cueball stand with sticks in their hands, held close to the fire. Megan has speared her own marshmallow. Cueball holds something, that looks like a wine bottle, in a forked/looped end, a few small puffs of vapor emerging from open top of the bottle.]

:[Heat vs. Vacuum - greyish-yellow tile]
:[Surrounded by a general setting of flames, there appears to be a cross-section of a vacuum flask. The neck of the flask is plugged. The inside of the flask appears to be half full of liquid with some solid chunks floating in it.]
:[Arrowed label, pointing at the flask's chunks:] Ice

:[Heat vs. Oven Mitts - grey tile]
:[Megan and Cueball stand around the campfire, Megan holding her marshmallow-on-a-stick. Cueball is wearing oven gloves and, with one hand almost over the flames, is holding the handle of a frying pan that is actually in the flames. Something (possibly a marshmallow) seems to be sizzling in the pan.]

:[Heat vs. Armor - yellow tile]
:[Megan is holding her marshmallow stick over the campfire. Cueball is holding his marshmallow over the fire, directly in his gauntleted hand, as he wears the full armor.]
:[Cueball:] OW! OW!

:[Heat vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Around the campfire, Megan toasts her marshmallow normally. Cueball wears his biohazard suit, holding his gloved hand close to the flames whilst holding a marshmallow.]
:[Cueball:] Ow! Ow!

:[Heat vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[The campfire is built just to the left of the mesh cage, within which Cueball is standing.]
:[Cueball:] Mmm, warm.

:[Heat vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball's cage has a campfire just outside its bars.]
:[Cueball:] Mmm, warm.



:[In all of the sword boxes, Megan is thrusting a sword rightwards, towards/into Cueball, in this row. Cueball also holds a sword, in all but one case, but lowered and not in a defensive manner.]

:[Swords vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[Megan is poking Cueball with a sword.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Lead - gray tile]
:[Cueball is standing in a lead container as Megan hits her sword against the outside of it, making a metallic sound:] Clank

:[Swords vs. Water - yellow tile]
:[Cueball and Megan are both underwater, wearing diving gear. Megan is poking Cueball with her sword.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[Megan is standing in her person-sized bell jar; however, she has smashed a hole in the side and is now poking Cueball with her sword through the hole.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[Cueball and Megan are floating in space, wearing spacesuits. Megan is poking Cueball with her sword.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Oven Mitts - yellow tile]
:[Cueball stands next to Megan, wearing oven mitts. Megan is poking him with her sword.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Armor - gray tile]
:[Cueball is standing in a suit of armor next to Megan. She tries to poke him but cannot penetrate the armor, instead producing a metallic "clink"]
:[Cueball:] Ha!

:[Swords vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is wearing his biohazard suit as Megan pokes him with her sword.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing inside a person-sized Faraday cage as Megan pokes him with her sword through the mesh.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Swords vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing inside of a shark cage as Megan pokes him with her sword through the bars.]
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[In all of the tiles in the Toxic Dust row, clouds, and further particulate specks, illustrate the toxic dust, in several cases, apparently being discharged by a burning brazier. All tiles have Cueball in the scene.]

:[Toxic Dust vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing next to a container resembling a metal trash can, with flames visible on top and a cloud of smoke and particulates rising from the flames.]

:[Toxic Dust vs. Lead - grayish-yellow tile]
:[The burning trash can is encased in a rectangular lead box. Cueball is touching the outside of the lead box as a few particulates are coming off of it.]
:[Cueball:] This shield is also ''producing'' toxic dust.

:[Toxic Dust vs. Water - yellow tile]
:[Cueball and Megan are both standing (presumably) outside, watching as particulates hover in the air. There are a few clouds present as well.]
:[Cueball:] Don't worry, this will all be safely absorbed by the groundwater.

:[Toxic Dust vs. Glass - gray tile]
:[Cueball is standing in a person-sized bell jar as toxic dust floats around the outside of it.]

:[Toxic Dust vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is floating in space next to a satellite with an open hatch that is emitting toxic dust.]
:[Satellite:] Achoo!
:[Cueball:] My suit!

:[Toxic Dust vs. Oven Mitts - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing next to the burning trash can and covering his face with an oven-mitted hand.]
:[Cueball:] ''Cough''

:[Toxic Dust vs. Armor - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing next to the burning trash can in a suit of armor.]
:[Cueball:] ''Cough''

:[Toxic Dust vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - gray tile]
:[Cueball is standing next to the burning trash can while wearing his biohazard suit. He is unaffected by the toxic dust it is producing.]

:[Toxic Dust vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing next to the burning trash can in a person-sized Faraday cage.]
:[Cueball:] ''Cough''

:[Toxic Dust vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing in a shark cage next to the burning trash can.]
:[Cueball:] ''Cough''

:[Most tiles in the radio row depict Cueball carrying a two-way radio handset, except where the transceiver appears to be part of the various protective suits that he is wearing.]

:[Radio vs. Air - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is holding a handheld two-way radio in his right hand, close to his face, and speaking into it. A voice from the radio is responding to him.]
:[Cueball:] Eagle Base, come in.
:[Radio:] Go ahead.

:[Radio vs. Lead - gray tile
:[Cueball is standing inside a lead box, again holding the radio close to his face.]
:[Cueball:] Eagle Base, come in? Hello?

:[Radio vs. Water - gray tile]
:[Cueball is underwater, in a diving suit. He is once again holding a hand radio. Bubbles are rising from his helmet and a shark is swimming underneath him.]
:[Cueball:] Hello?

:[Radio vs. Glass - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing inside a person-sized bell jar, holding the radio close to his face.]
:[Cueball:] Is this... part of the mission?
:[Radio:] Sure.

:[Radio vs. Vacuum - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is floating in space next to the satellite. He is not visibly holding a radio, implying that it is integrated into his spacesuit.]
:[Cueball:] Eagle Base, I have the package.

:[Radio vs. Oven Mitts - yellow tile
:[Cueball is wearing oven mitts while holding the radio close to his face.]
:[Cueball:] Eagle Base, tactical mitts acquired.
:[Radio:] Copy that.

:[Radio vs. Armor - gray tile]
:[Cueball is standing in a suit of armor. He is not visibly holding a radio.]
:[Cueball:] Repeat that? My suit radio is having issues.

:[Radio vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is wearing his biohazard suit. He is not visibly holding a radio.]
:[Cueball: Copy that.]

:[Radio vs. Faraday Cage - gray tile
:[Cueball is standing inside a person-sized Faraday cage, holding the radio close to his face.]
:[Cueball:] Eagle Base? Come in?

:[Radio vs. Shark Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is standing in a shark cage, holding the radio close to his face.]
:[Cueball:] Eagle Base, why am I-
:[Radio:] Don't worry about it.

:[All tiles in the Shark row depict a shark, except when only the shark's fin is seen emerging from a body of water. Cueball is somehow present in each case.]

:[Sharks vs. Air - gray tile]
:[Cueball is standing on land next to a body of water. A shark fin is protruding from the surface of the water.]

:[Sharks vs. Lead - gray tile]
:[Cueball, wearing diving gear, is standing on the ocean floor in a person-sized lead container. A few small fish are swimming above and to the left of him and a shark is floating below the fish.]

:[Sharks vs. Water - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is again underwater, wearing diving gear. He is very close to a shark and seems to be pointing at it.]
:[Cueball:] Kitty!

:[Sharks vs. Glass - gray tile]
:[The shark is now in a water tank, behind a wall of glass. Cueball and Megan are standing next to the tank, looking at what is likely an informative plaque in front of it.]

:[Sharks vs. Vacuum - gray tile]
:[Cueball is floating in space. Earth is visible in the background, with a shark fin visibly protruding from a body of water.]

:[Sharks vs. Oven Mitts - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is underwater, wearing diving gear and oven mitts, he gently touches the shark's snout.]
:[Cueball:] ''Boop!''

:[Sharks vs. Armor - grayish-yellow tile]
:[Cueball is underwater, now wearing a suit of armor. The shark appears to be biting his armored right hand.]
:[Shark:] cronch cronch
:[Cueball:] Ow.

:[Sharks vs. Bio-Hazard Suit - yellow tile]
:[Cueball, underwater and wearing his biohazard suit, is now petting the shark on its snout.]
:[Cueball:] Good kitty!

:[Sharks vs. Faraday Cage - yellow tile]
:[Cueball is inside an underwater Faraday cage, which is suspended by a tether going straight up. The shark is in the process of tearing apart the cage.]
:[Cueball:] ''No! Bad kitty!''

:[Sharks vs. Shark Cage - gray tile]
:[Cueball is underwater, in a shark cage suspended from one side by a tether going straight up. The shark is swimming a short distance away from the cage.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Confusion matrices]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3163: Repair Video

2025-11-04T23:36:57Z

82.132.244.49: /* Explanation */ Tried to avoid going into this, but can't ignore that it's the elephant in the room, logicwise...

{{comic
| number = 3163
| date = November 3, 2025
| title = Repair Video
| image = repair_video_2x.png
| imagesize = 305x449px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The statue should be in the likeness of whatever sculptor posted the sculpting tool repair video that was most helpful during the installation of the statue.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by following a video by DenverCoder9. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] finds a video explaining how to fix the exact problem he is currently having with his humidifier. The caption states that people who go to the effort of helping people, by creating such videos, should at least be rewarded by a statue.

Thanks to this one, Cueball finds the solution to his problem easily, unlike in [[979: Wisdom of the Ancients]]. This comic could be seen as a happier version of the events in that earlier comic, though this one concerns an appliance and the other concerns software.

It is initially unclear whether this is one statue for each individual helper, or not, but the title text implies that a single model/muse is used, perhaps to symbolically represent gratefulness for the totality of ''all'' such helpful people in a single monumental creation of appreciation. Or, otherwise, as one original statue to then be duplicated as necessary to allow each helper to have their own personal copy.

The choice of muse arises from the assunption that the sculptor who is making the statue(s) will at some point experience the problem of having broken sculpting tools (though this depends upon the interpretation of their use in 'installation'), and so need to watch an instructional video on how to repair them and start/continue the commission. Therefore, as a representative helpful figure, the person who made the video consulted by the sculptor should be the one studied as the archetype for the final form.

This requires that the sculptee be positively identified prior to the point at which sculptor gets too far into the sculpting process. Simplicity then suggests that the nascent commemorative process starts off by the hiring of a candidate craftsman who is ''currently'' inactive due to being beset by broken (but, under guidance, fixable) implements, and proceeding in whatever manner then leads towards the final goal.

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

:[Cueball sits at his desk, on which there is a laptop computer showing a video. His hands are on his lap. Behind Cueball's chair and on the floor, there is a humidifier with "E-21" printed on it, making noise. The humidifier's cord extends to the right side of the panel.]
:Voice from computer: Hey all!
:Voice from computer: Does your E-21 humidifier make an annoying clicking noise? Mine did, but I finally figured out that there's an easy fix, so I made this video in case anyone else...
:Cueball: Oh my god. Yes. '''''Yes.'''''
:Humidifier: Click click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I know there's more important work in the world, but I feel like these people deserve, at minimum, a statue.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3163: Repair Video

2025-11-04T23:23:16Z

82.132.244.49: /* Explanation */ Minor corrections/improved structure.

{{comic
| number = 3163
| date = November 3, 2025
| title = Repair Video
| image = repair_video_2x.png
| imagesize = 305x449px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The statue should be in the likeness of whatever sculptor posted the sculpting tool repair video that was most helpful during the installation of the statue.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by following a video by DenverCoder9. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] finds a video explaining how to fix the exact problem he is currently having with his humidifier. The caption states that people who go to the effort of helping people, by creating such videos, should at least be rewarded by a statue.

Thanks to this one, Cueball finds the solution to his problem easily, unlike in [[979: Wisdom of the Ancients]]. This comic could be seen as a happier version of the events in that earlier comic, though this one concerns an appliance and the other concerns software.

It is initially unclear whether this is one statue for each individual helper, or not, but the title text implies that a single model/muse is used, perhaps to symbolically represent gratefulness for the totality of ''all'' such helpful people in a single monumental creation of appreciation. Or, otherwise, as one original statue to then be duplicated as necessary to allow each helper to have their own personal copy.

The choice of muse arises from the assunption that the sculptor who is making the statue(s) will at some point experience the problem of having broken sculpting tools, and so need to watch an instructional video on how to repair them and start/continue the commission. Therefore, as a representative helpful figure, the person who made the video consulted by the sculptor should be the one studied as the archetype for the final form.

This requires that the sculptee be positively identified prior to the point at which sculptor gets too far into the sculpting process. Simplicity then suggests that the nascent commemorative process starts off by the hiring of a candidate craftsman who is ''currently'' inactive due to being beset by broken (but, under guidance, fixable) implements, and proceeding in whatever manner then leads towards the final goal.

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

:[Cueball sits at his desk, on which there is a laptop computer showing a video. His hands are on his lap. Behind Cueball's chair and on the floor, there is a humidifier with "E-21" printed on it, making noise. The humidifier's cord extends to the right side of the panel.]
:Voice from computer: Hey all!
:Voice from computer: Does your E-21 humidifier make an annoying clicking noise? Mine did, but I finally figured out that there's an easy fix, so I made this video in case anyone else...
:Cueball: Oh my god. Yes. '''''Yes.'''''
:Humidifier: Click click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I know there's more important work in the world, but I feel like these people deserve, at minimum, a statue.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3163: Repair Video

2025-11-04T23:20:26Z

82.132.244.49: /* Explanation */ Revised the old last paragraph to have both consistent flow and to be logically self-consistant. (Split into several paragraphs for thematic readability and progression.)

{{comic
| number = 3163
| date = November 3, 2025
| title = Repair Video
| image = repair_video_2x.png
| imagesize = 305x449px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The statue should be in the likeness of whatever sculptor posted the sculpting tool repair video that was most helpful during the installation of the statue.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by following a video by DenverCoder9. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] finds a video explaining how to fix the exact problem he is currently having with his humidifier. The caption states that people who go to the effort of helping people, by creating such videos, should at least be rewarded by a statue.

Thanks to this one, Cueball finds the solution to his problem easily, unlike in [[979: Wisdom of the Ancients]]. This comic could be seen as a happier version of the events in that earlier comic, though this one concerns an appliance and the other concerns software.

It is initially unclear whether this is one statue for each individual helper, or not, but the title text implies that a single model/muse is used, perhaps to represent gratefulness for the totality of ''all'' such helpful people in a single monumental creation of appreciation. Otherwise as one statue to be duplicated as necessary to allow each helper to have their own personal copy.

The choice of muse arises from the assunption that the sculptor who is making the statue(s) will at some point experience the problem of having broken sculpting tools, and so need to watch an instructional video on how to repair them and start/continue the commission. Therefore, as a representative helpful figure, the person who made the video consulted by the sculptor should be the one studied as the archetype for the final form.

This requires that the sculptee be positively identified prior to the point at which sculptor gets too far into the sculpting process. Sinplicity then suggests that the nascent commemorative process starts off by the hiring of a candidate craftsman who is ''currently'' inactive due to being beset by broken (but, under guidance, fixable) implements, and proceeding in whatever manner then leads towards the final goal.

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

:[Cueball sits at his desk, on which there is a laptop computer showing a video. His hands are on his lap. Behind Cueball's chair and on the floor, there is a humidifier with "E-21" printed on it, making noise. The humidifier's cord extends to the right side of the panel.]
:Voice from computer: Hey all!
:Voice from computer: Does your E-21 humidifier make an annoying clicking noise? Mine did, but I finally figured out that there's an easy fix, so I made this video in case anyone else...
:Cueball: Oh my god. Yes. '''''Yes.'''''
:Humidifier: Click click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I know there's more important work in the world, but I feel like these people deserve, at minimum, a statue.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]