explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1106: ADD

2024-04-29T07:22:07Z

Toby1: /* Transcript */

We are lucky for the comic title, since otherwise I wouldn't be so sure this only apply to people with ADD ... in current world, there are so many things wanting your attention that they may overhelm even normal people (of course not so easily). --[[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:21, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

I agree. You don't have to be ADD to relate.
Then again, doesn't everyone who isn't autistic have some amount of attention deficit? It seems like everyone fits under one label or the other these days.
--[[Special:Contributions/138.67.184.237|138.67.184.237]] 21:33, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

:Hey, I'm autistic and I have ADD. [[Special:Contributions/130.160.145.224|130.160.145.224]] 22:00, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

::[Message deleted for harmful content]

:::I think that's very little data to go on to jump to "a psychiatrist wants your money". Axes to grind best left out of casual, low-information exchanges on the internet I think. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 05:15, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

::: Oi, I know someone who has autism, it is on NO MEANS the parents fault or the kid's laziness. It is IMPOSSIBLE to "make the most out of this" and be productive if you had seen someone try to focus on this. 108.162.216.31, please think how these people feel before commenting. See [[481: Listen to Yourself]] and [[202: YouTube]].[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 04:53, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
:::: Let's settle this. I am diagnosed with ADHD and autism. The psychiatrist means well, and is probably right about autism. With ADHD, you probably also have this but most people on the medicine don't actually need the medicine. Of course, if you are not in the USA/Germany, this doesn't apply
: It does closely resemble the executive dysfunction (and/or 'task intertia') experienced by some autistic people. Definitely can relate to this comic via executive dysfunction, though I don't have ADD. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 05:15, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

you're not allowed to have both? [[Special:Contributions/86.15.83.223|86.15.83.223]] 21:48, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

Is there an opposite to autism/ADD where you find them all interesting as hell and are able to pick and choose and have an hell of a time but get put off easily by failure except where you stick at the one that is widely believed to be impossible because everyone else fails too and it's OK and you eventually find the various solutions to it all?

And nobody cares?[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 19:33, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

It's called "perfection"[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 04:53, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

== Delete Discussion Box ==

Is it possible to delete this discussion box? There's a lot of harmful comments about ADHD and Autism, and I really don't think that visitors to this site would appreciate this blatant ableism. If it's not possible to get rid of the box, can we please get rid of the comments? Thank you. [[User:TrippCeyssens|TrippCeyssens]] ([[User talk:TrippCeyssens|talk]]) 20:26, 18 October 2020 (UTC)

This issue has now been addressed.

== Transcript ==

For the transcript, can we think of a way to convey not just the left-to-right balloon order (as the transcript for the full-width panel currently indicates) but also the relative height of each balloon? River 04:31, 13 March 2021 (UTC)River

:I added numbers for the height, not a perfect solution though. [[User:Toby1|toby1]] ([[User talk:Toby1|talk]]) 07:22, 29 April 2024 (UTC)

1106: ADD

2024-04-29T07:19:42Z

Toby1: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1106
| date = September 10, 2012
| title = ADD
| image = add.png
| titletext = 20 balloons float away while I'm busy permanently tying one to a tree to deal with it for good. Unfortunately, that one balloon was 'land a rocket on the moon in Kerbal Space Program.'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic appears to be a visual representation of the thought process of someone with {{w|Attention Deficit Disorder}} (ADD). Various of Cueball's thoughts or tasks that he must do are represented by balloons which are rising out of his reach. He holds the "math problem" balloon and grabs the "call mom" balloon, but notices "check oven" is rising out of his reach. He abandons the two balloons he holds to dive and grab the "check oven" balloon. Of course, this allows the other two to rise, presumably out of Cueball's reach, as the pullout reveals a plethora of other balloons already rising too high, some of which describe actions required to live, like balloons marked "breathe" or "drink water".

This represents how someone with ADD quickly drops one task to take on another, only to jump to yet another task before that one is done; or alternatively, it represents how the person with ADD feels; that while they are focusing on one task, 20 others are getting away from them. The title text further reinforces this, noting that while committing to actually complete one task (represented by tying a balloon to a tree), 20 others floated away. The task he chose to complete is (as stereotypical for someone with ADD), a task that results in no necessary accomplishment — the task is to land a rocket on the moon (Mun) in ''{{w|Kerbal Space Program}}'', a PC-based spaceflight simulator and video game. Additional humor comes from the fact that landing a rocket on the moon in Kerbal Space Program would require a lot of repetition through trial-and-error, making a long and involved task during which many other important tasks might be ignored normally.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is holding a balloon with "Math Problem" written on it. He is running to grab a balloon labeled "Call Mom" that is floating away.]

:[Cueball is now holding both balloons, but looks over his shoulder and sees a balloon that reads "Check Oven".]
:Cueball: ''!!''

:[Cueball releases the balloons he had been holding and runs for the third.]

:[Cueball jumps for the "Check Oven" balloon and snatches it just before it is out of reach.]
:''LEAP''
:Cueball: Hah!

:[Full width panel showing 16 balloons floating away and one Cueball is holding. The balloons are different sizes and colors, and are floating at different heights. They are labeled as follows from left to right. Listed as * Label - color - height order (1 is the lowest balloon)]
:*Parking Meter - blue - 11
:*Taxes - green - 3
:*Buy Soap - red - 12
:*Phone Call - green - 7
:*Relax - yellow - 6
:*Inbox - blue - 9
:*Clean - red - 13
:*Beat Game - green - 4
:*Feed Cat - yellow - 8
:*Drink Water - blue - 15
:*Call Mom - red - 2
:*Math Problem - green - 3
:*Send Card - red - 14
:*Check Oven (Cueball is holding this one still) - yellow - 1
:*Engine Light - yellow - 10
:*Read - blue - 16
:*Breathe - blue - 5

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Kerbal Space Program]]

2787: Iceberg

2023-06-10T23:50:25Z

Toby1: made transcript a lil more detailed

{{comic
| number = 2787
| date = June 9, 2023
| title = Iceberg
| image = iceberg_2x.png
| imagesize = 258x397px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 90% of the iceberg is hidden beneath the water, but that 90% only uses 10% of its brain, so it's really only 9%.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MISUNDERSTOOD ICEBERG. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is one of many comics in the [[My Hobby]] series. The previous comic in this series was [[2733: Size Comparisons]], released just over 4 months prior.

The [https://www.agcas.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Resources/ITG/iceberg_metaphor.pdf iceberg metaphor] is a famous metaphor sometimes [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31633371/ misattributed to Freud]. It asserts that the majority (often stated as 90%) of an iceberg is out of sight below the surface, as a metaphor for the invisible aspects of something. For instance, about 95% of the mass in the universe does not appear to be in the form of ordinary ("baryonic") matter, but rather dark matter and dark energy. Excluding dark energy, dark matter accounts for about 85% of the total mass of the universe. So baryonic matter is like the "tip of the iceberg," visible to us above the surface, while dark matter is the invisible majority of the iceberg below the surface.

The author deliberately misunderstands the metaphor by taking it literally. He thinks the teacher is saying the part of an iceberg below the surface is literally made of dark matter. He points out that the {{w|Titanic}} sank after its hull hit an iceberg underwater, which wouldn't be possible if it were made of dark matter, which is not known to interact at all with ordinary baryonic matter except by gravity; we have only detected dark matter gravitationally.

The title text references the myth that we use only 10% of our brain, and we could become more intelligent or powerful by "unlocking" the remaining 90%. If icebergs had brains, and the 90% in the "dark matter" part underwater used only 10% of its brain, while the tip also used 10% of its brain, then most of the cognition would occur in the underwater part. Hence the "9%" figure would refer to the cognition occurring underwater, with 1% of its cognition occurring above water. In reality, human beings use pretty much all of their brain. They just don't use it all at the same time. Doing so wouldn't result in heightened intelligence or superpowers, but a (most likely fatal) seizure.{{Actual citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is standing on a podium and pointing to a chart with a stick. The chart depicts an iceberg in water, most of it is underwater but a little is above the surface.]
:Off screen voice: But then how did it interact with the ordinary baryonic matter in the Titanic's hull?
:[Label of iceberg above the water:] Normal Matter
:[Label of iceberg beneath the water:] Dark Matter

:[Caption below panel:]
:My Hobby: Refusing to understand the iceberg metaphor

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category: My Hobby]]
[[Category: Physics]]

Talk:730: Circuit Diagram

2023-01-12T03:10:43Z

Toby1: comment on the holy water beaker

So, is the arena a new kind of comparator or something? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:28, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

11:13, 10 April 2013 (UTC)11:13, 10 April 2013 (UTC)[[User:Jh6p|Jh6p]] ([[User talk:Jh6p|talk]])
The 3 liter capacitor could also be a ball approximately 6 inches in diameter if the seams on the ball were similar to the seams on a basketball. Perhaps a volleyball?

: "A squirrel. What it does as a circuit element is unsure."
Perhaps an allusion to a {{w|Squirrel-cage rotor|squirrel cage}}?
[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 18:51, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

: The shape of the squirrel's tail reminds me of a {{w|hysteresis}} curve, although this is admittedly a bit of a stretch. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 16:02, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

The 'to scale' motor would be about half a mile wide. Powering the rabbit on Gaia's vibrator (also included)? --[[User:StarChaser Tyger|StarChaser Tyger]] ([[User talk:StarChaser Tyger|talk]]) 08:40, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

I beg to differ on the flux capacitor thing, as cool as it sounds. Since it is right above the I-90 notation, it is more likely a fork in the road (notice the road stripes indicating that you can pass at any point in the fork). [[Special:Contributions/97.87.12.114|97.87.12.114]] 02:15, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
: Oh, I'm pretty sure it's a flux capacitor. Compare some of [http://www.google.com/search?q=flux+capacitor&tbm=isch these images]. Yes, there are several road references in this comic, but an electronic reference (especially to a ''fictional'' electronic component!) makes more sense. Also I've never seen a Y-shaped highway intersection that looked quite like that (and especially not on an interstate). —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 14:52, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

I have wasted 4 hours on the puzzle, and after wasting 9 pages of A5 paper, the resistance of that terrible resistor mess worked out to be exactly 25265/33783 ohm, or about 0.74786135 ohm. --KopaLeo [[Special:Contributions/199.48.226.89|199.48.226.89]] 15:16, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

I think that the "fishing float" might actually be a picture of an ordinary push switch (similar to foot switches used on standard lamps). [[Special:Contributions/87.194.171.29|87.194.171.29]] 16:12, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

Isn't the "YES" resistor a reference to the anecdote of how John Lennon and Yoko Ono met? That's what I thought when I saw it, but then, I kinda like The Beatles a bit. [[Special:Contributions/200.70.22.74|200.70.22.74]] 12:27, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

I think the attempt to explain every single piece of the comic is rather silly. The humor largely draws from the absurdity of the diagram, and that can probably be summarized without going into detail about the possible references of each individual component. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 03:22, 26 November 2013 (UTC)
: I disagree. The joke works on multiple levels, both the absurdity of the circuit, and the smaller parts of which it is comprised. [[User:Hydroksyde|Hydroksyde]] ([[User talk:Hydroksyde|talk]]) 02:40, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

I concur with KopaLeo - I got the same answer for the resistance of the grid of resistors - about 0.748 when rounded. What a problem!
--techdude
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.65|108.162.215.65]] 20:45, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

I feel like I should point out that putting a ground connection in holy water probably creates {{w|Holy Ground}} [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.197|108.162.212.197]] 11:36, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

: Might also be a reference to demineralised (demin - holy) water [[User:Toby1|toby1]] ([[User talk:Toby1|talk]]) 03:10, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

To center of Sun could possibly be another map reference. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.202|108.162.250.202]] 01:08, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

The 'moral rectifier' seems like it's built of diodes which prevent current flow to the left, which might mean it's making the current 'more right'? with right being a synonym for moral?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.18|108.162.212.18]] 00:15, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

;3L capacitor

The capacitor reminded me of a time I asked my dad why desktop PCs (the kind we could afford at the time were 200-500 W) couldn't have capacitors to protect them from 1-second or shorter power interruptions without the cost of a UPS. He said such a capacitor would have to be as wide and tall as a 2L pop bottle. (He didn't say how much it would weigh.) [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 04:38, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Where did the claim that the EKG is atrial fibrillation come from? At best it it hard to tell without a time scale what the ventricular rate is, but there is no evidence of extra P waves between QRS complexes that I see. If the diagnosis is made based on the absence of P & T waves, keep in mind that some recording conditions make those (especially T) hard to see. In an {{w|Einthoven's triangle}} arrangement, they might not show up at all above the noise. If we had a time scale that let us calculate ventricular rate, we might be able to conclude {{w|supraventricular tachycardia}}, but I'm hesitant to make a strong claim that this is abnormal at all given that it's hand drawn and we have no scale.[[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:07, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Does this really belong in Category:Charts? I'm moving it to Category:Maps instead. [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 21:38, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Are we really explaining "vibrator" as "a motor with an off-center weight attached to it"? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.97|141.101.91.97]] 06:51, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

I just spent 3 hours trying to work out the resistor nest. I was unsuccessful. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:32, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

I did an LTSpice simulation or the resistor mess. It looks like the 25265/33783 ohm answer above is correct. It drew 1.3371463 amps from a one volt source. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.133}}

Based on Randall's promotion of international standards (such as ISO 8601), it seems odd that he's using the US zigzag symbol for a resistor, rather than the IEC rectangular one. [[User:Walale12|Walale12]] ([[User talk:Walale12|talk]]) 21:37, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Looking at the label "Tear Collector" I think it refers to the heartbeat below it, not the symbol above, suggesting that a heart (or heart break) is a likely source of tears. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.44}}

I'm not sure why the rat's nest of resistors is considered such a difficult problem. I would like to respectfully point out that by far the easiest way to solve it is by assuming a constant current through the network. You can then assign a name to each of the nodes, set one of the end nodes to 0V, and solve by KCL. Granted, there are 13 unknowns and 14 equations, but it still took less than 30 minutes to complete since they are all 1st order! archerator [[User:Archerator|Archerator]] ([[User talk:Archerator|talk]]) 04:57, 30 August 2015 (UTC)

120×72 @ 537,847: the coil symbol next to "Take off shirt while wiring this part. Ooh, yeah, I like that." is similar in appearance to chest hair in stylized comic strips. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 17:19, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

144×177 @ 31,753 - Could the rats next of 1 Ohm resister be a reference the the sign that Blackhat holds up in: https://xkcd.com/356/ as you can't show an infinite numbers of 1 ohm resistors in the diagram?{{unsigned ip|141.101.98.108}}

To me, the arena calls to mind the one in the Labyrinth in the Percy Jackson book series. One of the figures resembles a centaur, which was a gladiator that was defeated in said arena in the scene it is introduced. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.46|108.162.245.46]] 22:16, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

And here I was thinking that the fishing float was a Pokeball... [[User:Whoop whoop pull up|Whoop whoop pull up]] ([[User talk:Whoop whoop pull up|talk]]) 19:03, 28 April 2017 (UTC)

I think that "take off shirt while wiring this" could be sexual reference- there is "ooh, i like that"

:I always thought that the 555 timer was called so because of the three 5k ohm resistors...apparently it is a myth! Does anybody know the real reason?

Regarding the resistor part - I read http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ResistanceDistance.html and implemented it in Mathematica. <nowiki>g = Graph[{1 <-> 2, 1 <-> 3, 1 <-> 4, 1 <-> 5, 2 <-> 3, 2 <-> 6, 3 <-> 6, 3 <-> 7, 3 <-> 8, 4 <-> 7, 4 <-> 5, 5 <-> 9, 5 <-> 10, 6 <-> 12, 6 <-> 11, 7 <-> 12, 7 <-> 11, 7 <-> 13, 7 <-> 14, 7 <-> 9, 8 <-> 15, 8 <-> 10, 9 <-> 14, 10 <-> 15, 11 <-> 12, 11 <-> 13, 13 <-> 14, 14 <-> 15}]; m = KirchhoffMatrix[g] + 1/15; inverse = Inverse[Table[m[[i, j]], {i, 1, 15}, {j, 1, 15}]]; omega[i_, j_] := inverse[[i, i]] + inverse[[j, j]] - 2*inverse[[i, j]]; omega[1, 13]</nowiki>. The result was 167294/195327 = 0.856482...

I feel that it needs to be electronic eel more than an electric one.

Ok, who the hell did the explanation for Magic Smoke? I even had to make a <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[285|REAL Citation needed]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> sign to indicate that the needed citation wasn't a joke.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.21|108.162.242.21]] 15:02, 4 November 2019 (UTC)

Isn't it 616 not 666 citation[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast]--[[User:Galactic ascencion|Galactic ascencion]] ([[User talk:Galactic ascencion|talk]]) 07:32, 17 March 2020 (UTC)
:Well the image clearly shows a 666. Also the wikipedia article you use as a citation here, states also both numbers. The number should be most famous (at least to people who do not follow the bible/quran word by word and to specific translation) due to its use by iron maiden in the song "the number of the beast" which also states it as 666, and other pop culture references. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:10, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Could wimp also stands for {{w|weakly interacting massive particles}}, a candidate of {{w|dark matter}}? Then it will reasonably omit the electromagnetic interactions running in this circuit diagram.--[[User:Lamty101|Lamty101]] ([[User talk:Lamty101|talk]]) 14:13, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

; Balloon

The line of the balloon also crosses another circuit, which could be a hazard in itself (flying kites or balloons near high-voltage lines is quite dangerous, and helium-filled balloons are often forbidden in railway stations with overhead catenary). This may also be what the "caution" arrow is indicating. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.73|162.158.159.73]] 13:14, 22 January 2022 (UTC)
:By my reading, the ballon is anchored ''at'' the junction between the caution-bend and the vertical one. I think there's danger of the balloon rising to touch the solder-blob, or other bits above it, but I think its already electrically bonded at the non-balloon end (insofar as 'reality' can be interpreted). Yes, there's possible danger (and you IRL point is true) but it's elsewhere, if not almost everywhere else..! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 15:34, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

While I won't revert [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=730:_Circuit_Diagram&oldid=225428 this minor 'correction'], I disagree that it was wrong before. "Types of junction" is a plural-phrase already. "One type of junction" vs. "(Two/Many/No) types of junction". (It is the type(s) that is/are singular/plural, what they then are ''of'' is similar to a postpositive adjective, but in propositional form. "Types of junctions" reads clunkily.

Caveat: I am approaching this as British English (I hope!) but I extensively looked to see if this was one of those cases* US English differs and failed to find anything at all about it. * - by complete fluke, I wrote "this was one of those cases", which could have been "'''one''' of those case'''s''' which '''was'''", where the plurality agreement does not not ask for "were". Well, except in a certain dialect ("He were, she were, they were, we were ...") not far from another area that goes the other way ("He was, she was, they was, we was, ..."), but that doesn't help matters. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.68|172.70.86.68]] 16:05, 23 January 2022 (UTC)