Editing 1775: Things You Learn

{{comic
| number    = 1775
| date      = December 21, 2016
| title     = Things You Learn
| image     = things_you_learn.png
| titletext = Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)
}}

==Explanation==
This graph shows various items of information plotted by two criteria: a horizontal "How Bad Is It If You Don't Know [THING]" axis and a vertical "How Easy It Is To Grow Up Without Learning [THING]" axis. Specifically, the vertical axis measures roughly how likely the average person is to remain ignorant of a particular item. The horizontal axis measures the likelihood and severity of bad consequences arising from such ignorance.

The title text describes an encounter Randall had where a cat climbed into the engine compartment of his car. It probably serves as an explanation for the seemingly out of place point on the graph about how serious cat bites are. The "two thumbs" is a reference to a well known type of jokes among English speakers. One of the most frequent forms is one person interrupting another mid-speech and asking "what has two thumbs and doesn't give a f*ck? THIS GUY!", before pointing to themselves with their thumbs. The idea is that you only direct the attention to your thumbs so that they can point back to you, though mentioning the thumbs was not actually required except as a topic change. Randall plays on an inversion of this joke as he (presumably) was bitten on the thumb might have {{w|Amputation|lost a thumb}} or perhaps not have been able to make it at all without the intervention of the ER people. So here the "who has two thumbs", is not a deceiving distraction out of a boring conversation, and the thumbs are actually the focus of the phrase.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Badness of ignorance !! difficulty of ignorance !! Information !! Comments
|-
| not bad || (very, very) easy || 100 digits of {{w|pi}} || Most people know pi to only a few digits (3.14 or 3.1415), if they know it at all. Most people never need to directly calculate anything involving pi, and those who do generally have access to tools (such as calculators and computers) that regurgitate/use more places of pi automatically. Digits of pi beyond 3.1415 are never relevant in human-scale art or construction. Memorizing many digits of pi is a hobby.
|-
| not bad || (very) easy || Lyrics to "{{w|We Didn't Start the Fire}}" || "We Didn't Start the Fire" is a 1989 hit song by Billy Joel. Its lyrics include brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989. While the chorus is memorable, the verses of the song are just a list of people, events, and random things from popular culture. The average person is somewhat more likely to know the lyrics to Billy Joel's 1989 hit song than 100 digits of pi, but not knowing them doesn't really have any serious consequences. The lyrics can be used within the context of learning history, and may therefore be considered slightly more valuable to learn than the lyrics of other popular songs. This song was the pun in the title text of [[1794: Fire]], which was a follow up to comic #4 in [[821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3]].
|-
| (very) bad || (very) easy || That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you need to wash the bite and call a doctor immediately || Most people assume that a cat bite is just a minor injury. However, cat bites carry a fairly high risk of infection, which can be dangerous if not treated (by cleaning the bite to reduce the risk, and having a doctor examine the bite victim and apply additional treatments such as antibiotics if needed). At the same time, cat bites are quite rare, as cats default to their claws rather than their teeth when they need to attack something (not that cat claws are bacteria-free zones either, quite the opposite), so most people simply don't have to deal with many cat bites.{{actual citation needed}}
|-
| (very, very) bad || (very) easy || The red flags for an abusive relationship || It is fairly easy for someone to fall into a pattern of accepting abuse without realizing it, particularly if the abuser is skilled at emotional manipulation. Failing to recognize signs of abuse in the early stages of a relationship, tend to make people more vulnerable to long-term abuse, with devastating consequences. In many cultures, patterns of abuse are not openly discussed or taught about, making it quite common for people to grow up without the ability to quickly identify abusive behavior. 
|-
| (very, very) bad || easy || The {{w|Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms|signs of a stroke}} || The symptoms of a {{w|stroke}} are somewhat variable, including facial drooping, arm weakness, and slurred speech, depending on what areas of the brain are affected. Such symptoms can be mistaken for other conditions, or brushed off as being minor and unimportant. Like most medical diagnoses, people who are not medical professionals aren't generally taught how to identify the symptoms.  This can be a problem, because identifying a stroke quickly and seeking treatment can make the difference between life and death, or between full recovery and permanent impairment.
|-
| bad || easy || Cough into your elbow, not your hand || Covering a cough with the inside of your elbow helps prevent spreading airborne germs and is generally recommended by medical organizations. Coughing into your hand deposits them onto your hand, where they are much more likely to be spread to another person (via handshake, food preparation, shared objects, etc). The consensus around coughing into your elbow is relatively recent, so it's easy to have grown up without hearing of it. However, people living post-COVID know this fact extremely well.
|-
| not (too) bad || hard || How to ride a bike || Most children, especially in the United States[http://www.peopleforbikes.org/statistics/category/participation-statistics#youth], learn to ride a bike at a fairly young age. While this is a useful skill to know for both entertainment and transportation, most people live in places where riding bicycles for transportation are actively discouraged in favor of motorized transportation. In the US, using bicycles as a principle form of transport can be difficult, as cars don't always appreciate/anticipate sharing road-space with them. In a few counties, bicycles are a primary form of transportation, and not knowing how to ride one would make life significantly more difficult.
|-
| not bad (at all) || hard || How to escape movie {{w|quicksand}} || Quicksand in movies is a common trope, and while its physics often differ from real quicksand, escaping from it is commonly done using similar methods (e.g., not struggling, which increases the quicksand's viscosity). Knowing how to escape from quicksand is important if you sink into it, which is a situation most people will never encounter in real life. It is much more likely for characters in movies and TV shows, especially in the 1960s, to encounter and become mired in quicksand than for a real individual to do so, as real quicksand is a rare occurrence in most climates on Earth.
|-
| not bad (at all) || (very) hard || Lyrics to "{{w|The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|12 Days of Christmas}}" || The aforementioned song is a traditional holiday standard in the United States, meaning that most Americans grew up hearing it repeatedly played or sung every December, causing the lyrics to be picked up without conscious effort. However, the consequences of not learning them are minimal: at most, your friends might be [[1769|a bit surprised and dismayed]]. The lyrics come across as arbitrary and have little significance to its singers. It should be noted that, while the early lyrics to the song are very well known, the later ones aren't remembered as much and may vary between version. Failing to know ''all'' the lyrics is common. 
|-
| not bad (at all) || (very, very) hard || {{w|Theme music|TV theme songs}} || Most children in developed countries grow up watching at least some television. Traditionally, most TV shows (particularly those designed for children) opened with a catchy theme song, often with lyrics. If you regularly watched a given show, you'd hear the theme song repeatedly, and would likely remember it without conscious effort. Every generation and community grows up with different theme songs.
|-
| bad || hard || That you have to empty the dryer lint trap || A {{w|clothes dryer}} uses a stream of heated air to rapidly dry laundry after it's been washed. Dryers are typically equipped with a "{{w|lint (material)|lint}} trap", which is a removable screen designed to prevent loose fibers from entering (and clogging) the exhaust line. Removing the fibers from this screen is a basic part of operating a dryer, most people learn from example, or from reading the dryer manual, making it mildly hard not to know about. Failing to do so will progressively restrict airflow through the dryer, making the drying process less effective and efficient. In theory, this could eventually start a fire, but such is rare enough that it's considered only mildly 'bad'.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) hard || {{w|Stop, drop and roll}} || This is a technique to extinguish a fire on one's own clothing, and is frequently taught to children at an early age, and reinforced enough that most people know it. Not knowing it (or forgetting it in a panic when the situation arises) allows painful and dangerous burns to progress further.
|-
| (very) bad || (very, very) hard || That you have to pay taxes || Most residents of most countries are legally obligated to pay taxes to their government. Penalties for not doing so often include large fines, and possibly prison sentences. While the process for filing taxes can be quite complex (depending on the country), the basic knowledge that taxes are required is commonplace and frequently referenced, making it difficult not to know about. In the US, employers are generally required to deduct taxes from paychecks before employees receive them, so most people will encounter the reality as soon as they start making money. In [[1971: Personal Data]], [[White Hat]] somehow didn't know about taxes.
|-
|}

==Rankings==

100% not bad: not bad at all . . . 100%>not-badness≥50%: not bad . . . 50%>not-badness≥0%: not too bad

100% very bad: very, very bad . . . 100%>very badness≥50%: very bad . . . 50%>very badness>0%: bad

100% hard: very, very hard . . . 100%>hardness≥50%: very hard . . . 50%>hardness>0%: hard

100% easy: very, very easy . . . 100%>easiness≥50%: very easy . . . 50%>easiness≥0%: easy

==Transcript==
:[A simple X and Y graph, with the X labeled "how bad it is if you don't know {thing}" and ranging from "not bad" to "very bad", and Y labeled "how easy it is to grow up without learning {thing}" and ranging from "easy" to "hard" from top to bottom.] 

:[Points on graph from top to bottom on the left side of the Y-axis:]

:100 digits of pi
:Lyrics to ''We Didn't Start the Fire''
:How to ride a bike
:How to escape movie quicksand
:Lyrics to ''12 Days of Christmas''
:TV theme songs

:[Points on graph from top to bottom on the right side of the Y-axis:]

:That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you should wash the bite and call a doctor immediately
:Red flags for an abusive relationship
:Signs for a stroke
:Cough into your elbow, not your hand
:That you have to empty the dryer lint trap
:Stop, drop, and roll
:That you have to pay taxes

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]