explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

675: Revolutionary

2013-11-26T15:51:32Z

Undee: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 675
| date = December 14, 2009
| title = Revolutionary
| image = revolutionary.png
| titletext = I mean, what's more likely -- that I have uncovered fundamental flaws in this field that no one in it has ever thought about, or that I need to read a little more? Hint: it's the one that involves less work.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic contrasts brilliant revolutionary scientific thought with the simplistic arrogance of assuming one understands the current scientific theory enough to correct it. The character with the goatee has a degree in {{w|philosophy}}, and perhaps has certain ideas of his own about how the world should fundamentally be described by physics. He has studied Einstein's {{w|theory of special relativity}} for less than an hour and thinks it is wrong, and that he has a better theory. When confronted about this, he considers the objection as based in {{w|dogma}}, and remains so confident that he wants to email the "president of physics". His ignorance of the field is emphasized by thinking that the entire field of physics has a president - although certain important organizations such as the {{w|American Physical Society}} do have presidents.

[[Cueball]] concedes that it is possible for such a revolutionary idea to come from a relative outsider. One example is {{w|Albert Einstein}}'s own formulation of {{w|special relativity}}, which came while he was working at a patent office in Switzerland, although he did already have a Ph.D in physics. A {{w|thought experiment}} considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences.

The "racecar on a train" idea alludes to thought experiments involving {{w|Frame_of_reference#Simple_example|frames of reference}}, which are important in relativity.

The title text seems to suggest that the philosopher is willing to believe whatever is most convenient. On the other hand, overthrowing a fundamental theory in physics means of course more work than just reading.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Yes, science is an open process in which a good idea can come from anybody.

:Cueball: Yes, widely-believed theories are on occasion overturned by simple thought experiments.

:Cueball: And yes, your philosophy degree equips you to ask interesting questions sometimes.

:[Cueball is talking to a philosopher with a goatee, who is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: But you did not just overturn special relativity, a subject you learned about an hour ago, with your "racecar on a train" idea.
:Philosopher: You just don't like that I'm turning a rational eye to your dogma. Hey, what's the email for the president of physics?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

638: The Search

2013-11-25T16:14:39Z

Undee: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 638
| date = September 18, 2009
| title = The Search
| image = the search.png
| titletext = I am so excited about the Kepler mission. This is the second most important thing our species has ever done, right behind developing the concept of delivery pizza.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a commentary on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The ant's dialogue describes the narrow scope of their search (a few tiles, and only looking for pheromone trails), and thus they conclude that there is no other intelligent life. The irony is that humanity does of course exist, but were simply not present in the kitchen at the time of search, nor do we communicate with ant pheromones. Similarly, our ability to search outer space for other life is limited to our ability to detect specific modes of communication (i.e. radio waves) and to the very limited area of space imposed by technological limitations on transportation, range, and sensitivity of our equipment.

The title text refers to the {{w|Kepler mission}} to discover {{w|Extrasolar planets}}. This mission has found more than 2,700 planet candidates that still have to be confirmed by other telescopes. So that's the difference to the ants. As of August 2013, two "reaction wheels" on Kepler have failed, causing NASA to change the mission, though it will still be looking for planets with its two remaining wheels.

The second part of the title text is just telling us that Randall likes a Pizza Service.

==Transcript==
:Ant: We've searched dozens of these floor tiles for several common types of pheromone trails.
:Ant: If there were intelligent life up there, we would have seen its messages by now.

:The world's first ant colony to achieve sentience calls off the search for us.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:521: 2008 Christmas Special

2013-11-05T11:44:01Z

Undee:

Santa actually really is Muslim. Saint Nicholas was from Turkey, although his remains have been somewhere in Italy for the past millennium.{{unsigned ip|121.222.232.156}}
: Yeah, right. Living in what was later to be Turkey makes him a muslim. Islam was not even invented yet. [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) 11:44, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

Talk:450: The Sea

2013-10-30T12:01:32Z

Undee:

Umm...before changing the page shouldn't there be some discussion here? There was a bunch of other stuff that got deleted. [[Special:Contributions/69.122.106.29|69.122.106.29]] 03:22, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

;Justification of "male enhancement" theory

DGBert wrote that there's no justification for the idea of the first pump being a penis-enlarging pump. What other theory do you have about (a) a pump, that (b) makes someone larger and (c) improves their self-image?
:If you have any hints not only coming from your own brain you are welcome. This wiki is "Explain" and not "Speculate". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:59, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

(Do we have Word Of God about this or many other 'Explanations'? An awful lot of this Wiki is speculation, without it.) Personally, while the first pump could be either kind of pump, the title text asking for ''another'' in order to drain the sea means that the first (regardless of which way one's mind snaps, on reading) was not intended to be a sea-draining pump. Randall also often does something akin to "one-lead-element Markov Chaining", and "how small I am" leading to a penis pump fits his sense of absurdist humour. Even if it isn't initially that, it's still akin to being a {{w|Garden path sentence}} (only more of a disfluent paragraph version) when parsing. All IMO. YMMV. HTH. HAND.
''[[Special:Contributions/178.107.249.215|178.107.249.215]] 13:40, 14 June 2013 (UTC)''

;Totally agree with "male enhancement" explanation

The previous explanation (last edited by [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]]) was:

<blockquote>
In this comic, Cueball compares himself to a very large sea and realizes how small he is. The initial implication is that this causes him to be humble and realize his small place on the planet -- a common sentiment expressed in poetry and blogs.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The punchline "I should get one of those pumps" induces humor by reversing the expectation: as he thinks about how small he is compared to the sea, he starts wanting to buy a pump, presumably take out the sea water so the sea could be smaller and not so much a threat to his self-image anymore. It shows that he really hasn't learned anything and is still egotistical.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The title text creates additional humor by reversing the expectation yet again, by saying that he wanted another pump to drain the sea, meaning that the purpose of the first pump was not to drain the sea. This leads the reader to ponder what possible use the first pump was to have, and how it was going to make him bigger.
</blockquote>

This, to me, felt weak, was overly complex, and ignored what seems a painfully obvious point. The number of "male enhancement" products being marketed by junk-mail at the time was a frequent source of humour, and something that anyone with an e-mail account (and a poor junk-mail filter) dealt with on a frequent basis. Ref: [http://www.google.ca/trends/explore?q=penis%20pump#q=penis%20pump%2Cmale%20enhancement&cmpt=q|Google Trends on Male Enhancement]

Note, the line is: "... one of '''those''' pumps." This wording indicates that Randall is referring to something that he expects the reader to realize is topical. If he meant a generic pump, he would NOT have used the keyword "those". People ignorant of the junk mail of the day, and the function of penis pumps, would understandably not get the joke.
''[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 10:16, 26 June 2013 (UTC)''

;Totally agree with previous explanation. [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) 12:01, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

Talk:401: Large Hadron Collider

2013-10-29T12:40:16Z

Undee:

Why is there is a link to some Higgs Boson music on this page? {{unsigned|‎220.226.203.202}}
:Probably to rub it in that the Higgs Boson is well in our past now. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:46, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
::Eeyup. /from the one who put the link/ [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 18:09, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

Apropos to birds, there was a mishap at the LHC involving a piece of bread dropped from a bird. That occurred months after this comic was made. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 04:36, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

As I see it, they are experimental physicists. They see the data, they do not find the Higgs boson, now it is the theoretical physicists' turn to find a new explanation of massive particles. [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) 12:40, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Talk:259: Clichéd Exchanges

2013-10-18T11:24:19Z

Undee:

I thought the cliche being referred to was "wrecked 'em? I hardly knew 'em!" (a double entendre on "rectum" ) http://ask.metafilter.com/122210/JokeFilter-What-is-the-origin-of-the-joke-with-the-punchline-rectum-damn-near-killed-him [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 14:25, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:In my experience it's a general "<tagword>, I hardly knew(/know) her(/him)", where the tagword is an -er/-im word and can (by sheer force of will, often groan-worthy) be taken as a double-entendre spawn. e.g. "Which cathedral is that in the picture?" "Chester." "Chester? I hardly know 'er!" (The worse the better, arguably, but that example's probably too flat.)
:Your form follows alongside of that. But this cliché is the mismatched follow-up, only sparked off (albeit by deliberate disassociation) by the "O RLY?" cliché as feed-line. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 10:30, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

The double entendre in this case is O RLY ~ orally? [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) 11:24, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Talk:242: The Difference

2013-10-18T10:32:34Z

Undee:

After reading this, I was just waiting for Hatguy to lure various animals over to the lever in order to test it without being harmed in the process... [[Special:Contributions/115.70.105.180|115.70.105.180]] 11:06, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

"Cueball pulls a lever. The lever causes a bolt of lightning to come down and strike him." I doubt that. "Cueball pulls a lever. A bolt of lightning comes down and strikes him." is correct. It may be coincidence, we cannot know that without testing. [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) 10:32, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

247: Factoring the Time

2013-10-18T10:22:09Z

Undee: /* Explanation */ 1 is not a prime number

{{comic
| number = 247
| date = April 11, 2007
| title = Factoring the Time
| image = factoring_the_time.png
| titletext = I occasionally do this with mile markers on the highway.
}}
==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is bored and so he does prime factorize the time shown at the clock. He's been doing this for almost two hours (from 1:00 pm to 2:53 pm). The number 2 is the smallest prime but 253 is in fact not a prime because it can be divided by 11. His co-worker is likely annoyed at this inactivity, and so he switches the clock from 12-hour time (2:53 pm) to 24-hour time (14:53). This makes factorization more difficult, as the time now shown is a four digit number rather than a three digit number. The number 1,453 is a prime number as well, but Cueball has only one minute to solve this.

This comic is also a play on the phrase "factoring the time", which means taking time to make sure one has sufficient time.

The title text refers to a similar challenge involving mile markers. At highway speeds (60+ mph), they would show up at least once per minute. Combined with the distraction of driving, factorizing numbers in time becomes much more difficult.

==Transcript==
:[One man is sitting at a computer. Cueball sits at a separate desk. There is a clock which reads 2:53.]
:Cueball: 253 is 11x23
:Man at computer: What?
:Cueball: I'm factoring the time.
:Cueball: I have nothing to do, so I'm trying to calculate the prime factors of the time each minute before it changes.
:Cueball: It was easy when I started at 1:00, but with each hour the number gets bigger
:Cueball: I wonder how long I can keep up.
:[Man at desk reaches back and touches the clock.]
:''BEEP''
:[Clock now reads 14:53.]
:Cueball: Hey!
:Man at computer: Think fast.

==Trivia==
*There is a [http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/xkcdtimefactorisation.html widget for OS X] to display the current time and its prime factors.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]