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User:Miranda42

2015-02-18T07:56:09Z

Miranda42: Creating a user page

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1488: Flowcharts

2015-02-18T07:52:40Z

Miranda42: I edited the incomplete notice.

{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Improve the explanation, specifically on the point of the scatterplot, and finish the table please.}}
This comic is a flowchart style. Interestingly, the first option, "Do you like flowcharts?" loops back to itself until you choose NO. This is probably because the reader will keep choosing "yes" until they are annoyed and do not like flowcharts anymore.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like line graphs. If they follow one line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If they follow the other line, they are asked "Charge a battery?" If the follow one line (probably "yes" but it's not marked) they are asked whether they are A/C or D/C (the only choice is A/C) and are led to a drawing of a battery.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are told to take the path of least resistance. This part of the flowchart resembles an electric diagram, and the word "resistance" is a pun because resistance in electricity is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric current flow through it. Thus, whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a golden spiral parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. The title text is funny because the mathematics of the famous Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio are actually one and the same- the limit of the ratios of each successive term in the sequence is equal to the golden ratio. So it matches up perfectly, not "almost" perfectly like the pictures in the mobile site link.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predeccessor
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like graphs?
| Start
|-
| Data or Axis?
| This item is duplicated. It is asking which type of graph you prefer
| Data, line, access
| Do you like graphs?
|-
| Line
| This forms a line on top of the axis of time and happiness. It is positive slope.
|
| Data or Axis?
|-
| Axis
| Leads to A choice
| Time or your happiness?, X or Y?
| Data or axis?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| Choose between your time and your happiness. Presumably, choose whichever you value more.
| Time, Happiness
| Data or axis?
|-
| Time
| You value your time more than your happiness. This forms the horizontal axis for the line graph.
|
| Time or your happiness?
|-
| Your happiness
| You value your happiness more than your time. This forms the vertical axis for the line graph.
|
| Time or your happiness?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer?
| X, Y
| Axis
|-
| X
| Forms the horizontal axis for the {{w|Scatterplot|scatterplot}}.
|
| X or Y?
|-
| Y
| Forms the vertical axis for the scatterplot.
|
| X or Y?
|-
| Data
| Leads to a scatterplot. May be a series of AC current symbols leading into one another
|
| Data or Axis?
|-
| Scatter plots?
| A scatter plot is made of not connected points in a graph. This is why there's no line to the second Data or axis option
| Help charge a battery?
| Do you like graphs?
|-
| Help charge a battery?
|
| Are you A/C or D/C?, Like Spirals?
| Asks whether you have knowledge in {{w|AC current}} or {{w|DC current}}. No output is given for DC,l even though that would be the prefered method of charging a battery.
| Positive or Negative Phase?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or Negative Phase?
| This is useless, because both choices lead to the same result.
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|Rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC, but two of the diodes point in the wrong direction, making this a loop directing both inputs to the top. The single output leads to a battery. Since the battery is not connected to the other side of the rectifier, no current can flow. In this way the battery can also be seen as an end-point in the flow chart.
| Battery
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like Spirals?
| Well, do you?
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom output is correct. Alternatively, telling some one "No" is a form of resisting what they say, in which case you would follow the other path out of Like Spirals?.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like Spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|
| Yes, even though it's total BS., Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Yes, even though it's total BS.
| This option fades out to a golden spiral to which the flowchart is aligned.
|
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Are you?
| Yes, I want to look at something else, Start
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|-
| Yes, I want to look at something else
| This option leads to the random comic button. The joke is that you click the button and look at some other comic.
| Tired of Flowcharts yet?
| [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random]
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1488: Flowcharts

2015-02-18T07:48:22Z

Miranda42: I edited this explaining the flowchart in more detail.

{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Improve the explanation and finish the table please.}}
This comic is a flowchart style. Interestingly, the first option, "Do you like flowcharts?" loops back to itself until you choose NO. This is probably because the reader will keep choosing "yes" until they are annoyed and do not like flowcharts anymore.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like line graphs. If they follow one line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If they follow the other line, they are asked "Charge a battery?" If the follow one line (probably "yes" but it's not marked) they are asked whether they are A/C or D/C (the only choice is A/C) and are led to a drawing of a battery.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are told to take the path of least resistance. This part of the flowchart resembles an electric diagram, and the word "resistance" is a pun because resistance in electricity is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric current flow through it. Thus, whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

Curiously, there is a chart almost identical to the time/your happiness one, but it is not led to by anything. Instead of being a line chart, however, it has a tiny flowchart inside it.

The title text and the faint image of a golden spiral parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. The title text is funny because the mathematics of the famous Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio are actually one and the same- the limit of the ratios of each successive term in the sequence is equal to the golden ratio. So it matches up perfectly, not "almost" perfectly like the pictures in the mobile site link.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predeccessor
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like graphs?
| Start
|-
| Data or Axis?
| This item is duplicated. It is asking which type of graph you prefer
| Data, line, access
| Do you like graphs?
|-
| Line
| This forms a line on top of the axis of time and happiness. It is positive slope.
|
| Data or Axis?
|-
| Axis
| Leads to A choice
| Time or your happiness?, X or Y?
| Data or axis?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| Choose between your time and your happiness. Presumably, choose whichever you value more.
| Time, Happiness
| Data or axis?
|-
| Time
| You value your time more than your happiness. This forms the horizontal axis for the line graph.
|
| Time or your happiness?
|-
| Your happiness
| You value your happiness more than your time. This forms the vertical axis for the line graph.
|
| Time or your happiness?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer?
| X, Y
| Axis
|-
| X
| Forms the horizontal axis for the {{w|Scatterplot|scatterplot}}.
|
| X or Y?
|-
| Y
| Forms the vertical axis for the scatterplot.
|
| X or Y?
|-
| Data
| Leads to a scatterplot. May be a series of AC current symbols leading into one another
|
| Data or Axis?
|-
| Scatter plots?
| A scatter plot is made of not connected points in a graph. This is why there's no line to the second Data or axis option
| Help charge a battery?
| Do you like graphs?
|-
| Help charge a battery?
|
| Are you A/C or D/C?, Like Spirals?
| Asks whether you have knowledge in {{w|AC current}} or {{w|DC current}}. No output is given for DC,l even though that would be the prefered method of charging a battery.
| Positive or Negative Phase?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or Negative Phase?
| This is useless, because both choices lead to the same result.
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|Rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC, but two of the diodes point in the wrong direction, making this a loop directing both inputs to the top. The single output leads to a battery. Since the battery is not connected to the other side of the rectifier, no current can flow. In this way the battery can also be seen as an end-point in the flow chart.
| Battery
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like Spirals?
| Well, do you?
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom output is correct. Alternatively, telling some one "No" is a form of resisting what they say, in which case you would follow the other path out of Like Spirals?.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like Spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|
| Yes, even though it's total BS., Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Yes, even though it's total BS.
| This option fades out to a golden spiral to which the flowchart is aligned.
|
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Are you?
| Yes, I want to look at something else, Start
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|-
| Yes, I want to look at something else
| This option leads to the random comic button. The joke is that you click the button and look at some other comic.
| Tired of Flowcharts yet?
| [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random]
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}