https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=86.83.254.141 2026-07-10T18:03:40Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=584:_Unsatisfied&diff=33388 2013-04-12T16:18:47Z

<p>86.83.254.141: /* Grammatical error */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 584<br /> | date = May 15, 2009<br /> | title = Unsatisfied<br /> | image = unsatisfied.png<br /> | imagesize = <br /> | titletext = Forever comparing, never evaluating on any external scale. If you were a sort function, you'd never break the nlogn barrier.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> In this comic [[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}.<br /> <br /> The title text is referring to a concept in computer science, all {{w|Comparison sort|comparison based sorting algorithms}} are incapable of sorting an arbitrary set of n values faster than an order of n*log(n)*k where k is an arbitrary constant and n is the number of values to compare.<br /> <br /> If [[Cueball]] was capable of establishing an external scale he could use use {{w|bucket sort}} or different order n {{w|sorting algorithm}}, but as he does not know what the best thing for him is he can't establish limits and thus he can't achieve this.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[A blonde, Ponytail, and a man, Cueball, are holding hands, looking at another woman with black hair, Megan.]<br /> :[Two arrows direct the comic into a pair of different paths.]<br /> <br /> :(Left path) [Cueball is holding hands with Ponytail, but he is thinking about Megan.]<br /> :(Right path) [Cueball approaches Megan. He is thinking about Ponytail.]]<br /> <br /> :(Left path) [Cueball is performing oral sex on Ponytail, and still thinking about Megan.]]<br /> :(Right path) [Cueball and Megan have sex on the arm of a chair. The man is thinking about Ponytail.]]<br /> <br /> :(Left path) [Cueball and Ponytail are drawing something together, and the man is thinking about Megan.]]<br /> :(Right path) [Cueball and Megan are hiking together. The man is thinking about Ponytail.]]<br /> <br /> :(Left path) [Cueball and Ponytail are holding hands, and the man is thinking of Megan.]]<br /> :(Right path) [Cueball and Megan are holding hands, and the man is thinking of Ponytail.]]<br /> <br /> :[The path unites again.]<br /> :[Two gravestones are next to each other. One of them is thinking about a third gravestone.]:<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Romance]]</div>

86.83.254.141