explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2838: Dubious Islands

2023-10-07T09:42:22Z

Knob-creek: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2838
| date = October 6, 2023
| title = Dubious Islands
| image = dubious_islands_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x1040px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Running for office in Minnesota on the single-issue platform 'dig a permanent channel through the Traverse Gap because it will make this map more satisfying.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DUBIOUSLY LARGE ISLAND - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The definition of "island" is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by bodies of water. In most cases we don't count rivers and canals as the surrounding bodies{{citation needed}}, although small pieces of land like Manhattan are exceptions. Inland islands surrounded by rivers are called [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holm "holm"].

Randall has ignored this, so he considers large parts of North America as "dubious" islands because they're separated from other parts of the continent by major rivers, canals, and large lakes.

The repetition between the title "Dubious Islands" and the in-image label "Dubious Islands of North America" emphasizes the "Dubious-ness" of this map. "Dubious" means "thought not to be completely true or not able to be trusted" (per Cambridge Dictionary).

Randall's map's "Dubious Islands" are indeed not to be trusted -- they leave out many rivers and canals which would break them into many additional "islands". For example, southern Nova Scotia, southern New Jersey, and the nearly 60-mile-long "Grand Strand" of South Carolina are also islands by the sense used here in recognizing the Cape Cod Canal as creating an island.

These and many other omissions would be errors -- except that Randall clearly labelled his islands "Dubious" (not to be trusted) from the start, and he is presumably well-aware of this map's inaccuracy.

The {{w|Parting of the Waters}} explains the connection between the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers shown.

{{w|Isa Lake}} drains into both the Snake River (via the Lewis River) and the Madison River (via the Firehole River), explaining the connection there.

It is unclear why {{w|Divide Creek}} which connects Hudson's Bay to the Columbia River is not shown on this map.

The title text suggests that a new island could be created by digging a canal through the {{w|Traverse Gap}}, and this is Randall's platform when running for office in Minnesota. This is unnecessary and would create little benefit to residents,{{Citation needed}} but constituents who like interesting maps might vote for him.

These islands are possibly Randall's humorous interpretation of what continued climate change-induced sea level rise might cause. But this seems unlikely since some of the connections shown are over 7000' in elevation, a water level that would leave almost all of North America (and many of these "islands") completely submerged.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Title:] Dubious Islands of North America
:[Subtitle:] And the waterways that separate them

:[A map of mainland North America, down to the Panama isthmus. It is internally separated by various waterways, given labels or otherwise.]

:[Separating land approximating Nunavut (with some Northern Territories) from neighbouring Canada:] Mackenzie Athabasca Churchill

:[Comprising the much of the remainder of Canada, much of the northern United States (including Alaska), additionally separated by:] Columbia Snake Madison Missouri Chicago [Unlabelled, some of the Great Lakes and the channel past Quebec]
::[An incursive gap near the central point, from the north:] Nelson Red
::[An internal label, with arrow:] Traverse Gap
::[An incursive gap near the central point, from the south:] Mississippi
::[A separate fragment of land south of the Madison, in the western half of the land-mass, bordered to its south by:] Yellowstone
::[A small fragment off the southen part of the western edge, an arrow and a label:] Chehalis/Black Lake

:[Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and parts of the adjacent US, disconnected by:] Champlaw Hudson
::[Label with an arrow on the east coast:] Cape Cod Canal

:[A small triangle of territory, further isolated by:] Erie

:[Most of the Eastern Seaboard of the US, additionally divided off by:] Tombigbee
::[Fragment of land shorn from the northern part of the eastern edge, label with arrow:] Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
::[Fragment of land shorn from the tip of Florida, label with arrow:] Okeechobee Waterway

:[Strip of land west of the Tombigbee, bounded also to its west by:] Mississippi
::[Fragment of land immediately to its south, with a nearby label and arrow:] Atchafalaya

:[The remainder of the continent; comprising much of the US, all of Mexico and various central American territories, with a final tip of the eastwards-bending isthmus:] Panama Canal

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]

2838: Dubious Islands

2023-10-07T09:27:43Z

Knob-creek: /* Explanation */ holm vs island

{{comic
| number = 2838
| date = October 6, 2023
| title = Dubious Islands
| image = dubious_islands_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x1040px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Running for office in Minnesota on the single-issue platform 'dig a permanent channel through the Traverse Gap because it will make this map more satisfying.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DUBIOUSLY LARGE ISLAND - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The definition of "island" is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by bodies of water. In most cases we don't count rivers and canals as the surrounding bodies{{citation needed}}, these are called "holms", although small pieces of land like Manhattan are exceptions.

Randall has ignored this, so he considers large parts of North America as "dubious" islands because they're separated from other parts of the continent by major rivers, canals, and large lakes.

The repetition between the title "Dubious Islands" and the in-image label "Dubious Islands of North America" emphasizes the "Dubious-ness" of this map. "Dubious" means "thought not to be completely true or not able to be trusted" (per Cambridge Dictionary).

Randall's map's "Dubious Islands" are indeed not to be trusted -- they leave out many rivers and canals which would break them into many additional "islands". For example, southern Nova Scotia, southern New Jersey, and the nearly 60-mile-long "Grand Strand" of South Carolina are also islands by the sense used here in recognizing the Cape Cod Canal as creating an island.

These and many other omissions would be errors -- except that Randall clearly labelled his islands "Dubious" (not to be trusted) from the start, and he is presumably well-aware of this map's inaccuracy.

The {{w|Parting of the Waters}} explains the connection between the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers shown.

{{w|Isa Lake}} drains into both the Snake River (via the Lewis River) and the Madison River (via the Firehole River), explaining the connection there.

It is unclear why {{w|Divide Creek}} which connects Hudson's Bay to the Columbia River is not shown on this map.

The title text suggests that a new island could be created by digging a canal through the {{w|Traverse Gap}}, and this is Randall's platform when running for office in Minnesota. This is unnecessary and would create little benefit to residents,{{Citation needed}} but constituents who like interesting maps might vote for him.

These islands are possibly Randall's humorous interpretation of what continued climate change-induced sea level rise might cause. But this seems unlikely since some of the connections shown are over 7000' in elevation, a water level that would leave almost all of North America (and many of these "islands") completely submerged.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Title:] Dubious Islands of North America
:[Subtitle:] And the waterways that separate them

:[A map of mainland North America, down to the Panama isthmus. It is internally separated by various waterways, given labels or otherwise.]

:[Separating land approximating Nunavut (with some Northern Territories) from neighbouring Canada:] Mackenzie Athabasca Churchill

:[Comprising the much of the remainder of Canada, much of the northern United States (including Alaska), additionally separated by:] Columbia Snake Madison Missouri Chicago [Unlabelled, some of the Great Lakes and the channel past Quebec]
::[An incursive gap near the central point, from the north:] Nelson Red
::[An internal label, with arrow:] Traverse Gap
::[An incursive gap near the central point, from the south:] Mississippi
::[A separate fragment of land south of the Madison, in the western half of the land-mass, bordered to its south by:] Yellowstone
::[A small fragment off the southen part of the western edge, an arrow and a label:] Chehalis/Black Lake

:[Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and parts of the adjacent US, disconnected by:] Champlaw Hudson
::[Label with an arrow on the east coast:] Cape Cod Canal

:[A small triangle of territory, further isolated by:] Erie

:[Most of the Eastern Seaboard of the US, additionally divided off by:] Tombigbee
::[Fragment of land shorn from the northern part of the eastern edge, label with arrow:] Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
::[Fragment of land shorn from the tip of Florida, label with arrow:] Okeechobee Waterway

:[Strip of land west of the Tombigbee, bounded also to its west by:] Mississippi
::[Fragment of land immediately to its south, with a nearby label and arrow:] Atchafalaya

:[The remainder of the continent; comprising much of the US, all of Mexico and various central American territories, with a final tip of the eastwards-bending isthmus:] Panama Canal

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]