2693: Wirecutter Recommendation - Revision history

2601:147:4900:DB80:8807:86E9:3A02:81B2: /* Explanation */ added links

2025-12-08T23:31:59Z

‎Explanation: added links

Lettherebedarklight: nvm already mentioned

2025-11-05T04:08:27Z

nvm already mentioned

Lettherebedarklight: /* Explanation */ +

2025-11-05T04:07:09Z

‎Explanation: +

Firestar233: if you have something to add, add it to the main explanation.

2025-02-16T07:51:07Z

if you have something to add, add it to the main explanation.

172.68.174.194: added alternate explanation

2025-02-15T17:01:03Z

added alternate explanation

172.70.162.161: Lazy/bad punctuation interaction.

2023-05-21T18:32:02Z

Lazy/bad punctuation interaction.

172.71.158.192: /* Explanation */

2023-05-20T23:31:00Z

‎Explanation

172.71.158.192: /* Explanation */

2023-05-20T23:30:32Z

‎Explanation

172.70.162.47: /* Transcript / Re-removed Title Text from Transcript (again... It customarily does not* belong there)

2023-02-15T00:49:09Z

‎Transcript: Re-removed Title Text from Transcript (again... It customarily does *not* belong there)

No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO: Added title text, deleted tag.

2023-02-14T22:33:53Z

Added title text, deleted tag.

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 !Thing Being Chosen!!Judgment!!Explanation
 |-
-|Vacuum cleaner||Fine||Vacuum cleaners are an everyday household item. Many brands and models are available offering a range of functionality at different prices. This is exactly the kind of thing where ''Wirecutter'''s reviews are helpful when deciding which kind to buy.
+|{{w|Vacuum cleaner}}||Fine||Vacuum cleaners are an everyday household item. Many brands and models are available offering a range of functionality at different prices. This is exactly the kind of thing where ''Wirecutter'''s reviews are helpful when deciding which kind to buy.
 |-
-|Headphones||Fine|||Headphones are also fairly ubiquitous, and ''Wirecutter'' would likewise be useful in such a scenario.
+|{{w|Headphones}}||Fine|||Headphones are also fairly ubiquitous, and ''Wirecutter'' would likewise be useful in such a scenario.
 |-
-|Electric scooter||Fine||While less common than the two above, electric scooters are still a popular electrical product, so ''Wirecutter'' is a decent choice for advice.
+|{{w|e-scooter|Electric scooter}}||Fine||While less common than the two above, electric scooters are still a popular electrical product, so ''Wirecutter'' is a decent choice for advice.
 |-
-|Favorite movie||Weird||Most people would say that your choice of favorite movie should be based on your own experiences, rather than someone else's opinions. Reviewing movies is a very different endeavor to reviewing products, and one would not expect ''Wirecutter'' to be particularly proficient with it. While a movie review website may be a reasonable source of recommendations on whether to see a particular movie at all, it would seem strange to choose one's own favorite movie based on a website's recommendation. In fact, though, precisely this kind of thing does happen, through mechanisms such as social proof and norm internalization.
+|Favorite {{w|movie}}||Weird||Most people would say that your choice of favorite movie should be based on your own experiences, rather than someone else's opinions. Reviewing movies is a very different endeavor to reviewing products, and one would not expect ''Wirecutter'' to be particularly proficient with it. While a movie review website may be a reasonable source of recommendations on whether to see a particular movie at all, it would seem strange to choose one's own favorite movie based on a website's recommendation. In fact, though, precisely this kind of thing does happen, through mechanisms such as social proof and norm internalization.
 |-
 |Personal style||Weird||Not only does the term "personal style" encompass a vast range of topics, it is also (predictably) a deeply personal thing. These two factors mean that not only will ''Wirecutter'''s recommended likely not fully discuss every factor of your personal style, it also isn't the kind of service you'd use to choose something as nebulous and personal as your "personal style."
 |-
-|Neighborhood||Weird||It can be assumed this means "the neighborhood one lives in." In this case, it is odd to rely on ''Wirecutter'' for recommendations on where to live, as it is a product review website and since a respectable portion of that decision is up to personal circumstances, preferences, and local conditions that a national newspaper (even one with the resources of the ''New York Times'') will not be able to see. In a best case scenario, ''Wirecutter'' is recommending neighborhoods based on empirical data, such as local economic growth. There are [https://www.businessinsider.com/us-news-best-places-to-live-in-america-2016-3 publications] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2022/07/28/the-best-and-most-affordable-places-to-live-in-america-in-2022/?sh=566a26ca6bbf that] [https://money.com/best-places-to-live/ rank] the "best cities to live in", which could relate to this topic.
+|{{w|Neighborhood}}||Weird||It can be assumed this means "the neighborhood one lives in." In this case, it is odd to rely on ''Wirecutter'' for recommendations on where to live, as it is a product review website and since a respectable portion of that decision is up to personal circumstances, preferences, and local conditions that a national newspaper (even one with the resources of the ''New York Times'') will not be able to see. In a best case scenario, ''Wirecutter'' is recommending neighborhoods based on empirical data, such as local economic growth. There are [https://www.businessinsider.com/us-news-best-places-to-live-in-america-2016-3 publications] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2022/07/28/the-best-and-most-affordable-places-to-live-in-america-in-2022/?sh=566a26ca6bbf that] [https://money.com/best-places-to-live/ rank] the "best cities to live in", which could relate to this topic.
 |-
-|Pet||Weird||While the ''type'' of pet may be more easy to rank on a website (especially with a pro/con system), picking an ''individual pet'' is an extremely personal decision that probably can't be considered covered by a product review website like ''Wirecutter''.
+|{{w|Pet}}||Weird||While the ''type'' of pet may be more easy to rank on a website (especially with a pro/con system), picking an ''individual pet'' is an extremely personal decision that probably can't be considered covered by a product review website like ''Wirecutter''.
 |-
-|College major||Bad||The major someone chooses in college typically has a significant impact on the rest of their career, and choosing one is no trivial task that should depend on personal experience and preference. Like with some of the other topics, this is far too personal and important to be chosen by a product review site. As with "Neighborhood", any recommendations can only be based on empirical data like employment availability, tuition cost vs. expected salary, etc. [https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/top-ten-college-majors Rankings] [https://www.mydegreeguide.com/best-college-majors/ like] [https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/save-money/best-college-majors/ this] do exist, however, and are often used by prospective students to weigh the pros and cons of prospective majors.
+|{{w|College major}}||Bad||The major someone chooses in college typically has a significant impact on the rest of their career, and choosing one is no trivial task that should depend on personal experience and preference. Like with some of the other topics, this is far too personal and important to be chosen by a product review site. As with "Neighborhood", any recommendations can only be based on empirical data like employment availability, tuition cost vs. expected salary, etc. [https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/top-ten-college-majors Rankings] [https://www.mydegreeguide.com/best-college-majors/ like] [https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/save-money/best-college-majors/ this] do exist, however, and are often used by prospective students to weigh the pros and cons of prospective majors.
 |-
-|Career||Bad||One's optimal career choice is subject to a wide range of highly personal factors, including your talents, ambitions, and capabilities. It is highly unlikely that a hardware review site like ''Wirecutter'' would be capable of accounting for every one of these factors for every conceivable viewer. Could be related to [https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs rankings] [https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-best-jobs-in-america-in-2022-ranked/ like] [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/12/these-are-10-best-us-jobs-of-2022-according-to-new-research.html this].
+|{{w|Career}}||Bad||One's optimal career choice is subject to a wide range of highly personal factors, including your talents, ambitions, and capabilities. It is highly unlikely that a hardware review site like ''Wirecutter'' would be capable of accounting for every one of these factors for every conceivable viewer. Could be related to [https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs rankings] [https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-best-jobs-in-america-in-2022-ranked/ like] [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/12/these-are-10-best-us-jobs-of-2022-according-to-new-research.html this].
 |-
-|Religion||Bad||Do ''not'' base your religious worldview on the electronic device equivalent to Yelp. The idea of ''Wirecutter'' reviewing religion has appeared in a previous comic, [[2536: Wirecutter]].
+|{{w|Religion}}||Bad||Do ''not'' base your religious worldview on the electronic device equivalent to Yelp. The idea of ''Wirecutter'' reviewing religion has appeared in a previous comic, [[2536: Wirecutter]].
 |-
-|Spouse||Very Bad|| In general, people pair off when choosing spouses. This would mean that ''Wirecutter'' would be required to either find one potential spouse for every reader (cumbersome, to say the least) or would recommend ''one'' spouse for multiple (possibly millions of) partners. Even assuming an accelerated divorce rate, it would be impossible for the choice spouse to actually accomplish the role.
+|{{w|Spouse}}||Very Bad|| In general, people pair off when choosing spouses. This would mean that ''Wirecutter'' would be required to either find one potential spouse for every reader (cumbersome, to say the least) or would recommend ''one'' spouse for multiple (possibly millions of) partners. Even assuming an accelerated divorce rate, it would be impossible for the choice spouse to actually accomplish the role.
 Perhaps [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/wirecutter-recommends-the-best-partner this parody] by ''The New Yorker'' inspired this comic.
 |-
-|Dreams||Very Bad|| There are two possible definitions of "dream" that may be referred to here.
+|{{w|Dreams}}||Very Bad|| There are two possible definitions of "dream" that may be referred to here.
 * When it comes to "the series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep," most people cannot consciously control what they dream about, so recommending this sort of dream is somewhat pointless. Further, as this information is largely inaccessible outside of the mind of the dreamer, ''Wirecutter'' has limited ability to make meaningful suggestions.
 * On the other hand, if Cueball is relying upon ''Wirecutter'' to recommend "a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal," he is allowing one of the most personal and individual aspects of his life — something which may give life itself a sense of meaning — to be dictated by a consumer product review site. As with many entries here, this is something that most people have to come up with or discover for themselves; relying on a third party to recommend one FOR him is deeply unlikely to bring about long-term satisfaction.
 |-
-|Favorite child||Very Bad|| Assuming this is a reference to the reader's own children, it can be difficult and furthermore bad practice for a parent to choose their "favorite" child, and using ''Wirecutter'' to do this analysis is near impossible. And a website that purports to know more about how to judge the relative merits of your own family than you would be... interesting.
+|Favorite {{w|child}}||Very Bad|| Assuming this is a reference to the reader's own children, it can be difficult and furthermore bad practice for a parent to choose their "favorite" child, and using ''Wirecutter'' to do this analysis is near impossible. And a website that purports to know more about how to judge the relative merits of your own family than you would be... interesting.
 The alternative interpretation of assuming that this is from "all children, everywhere" is more difficult. There are approximately 1.3 billion persons under the age of 18, most of whom have at least one good quality,{{citation needed}} and defining a useful ranking in such a situation is functionally impossible.
 |-

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:08, 5 November 2025
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	The title text references {{w\|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w\|I know that I know nothing\|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.		The title text references {{w\|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w\|I know that I know nothing\|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.
−
−	~~Wirecutter was also the topic of [[2536: Wirecutter]].~~

	<!--===Alternative Explanation=== previous ip added this, maybe incorporate into explanation; not deleting so that next editors can see it		<!--===Alternative Explanation=== previous ip added this, maybe incorporate into explanation; not deleting so that next editors can see it

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:07, 5 November 2025
Line 54:		Line 54:

	The title text references {{w\|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w\|I know that I know nothing\|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.		The title text references {{w\|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w\|I know that I know nothing\|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.
		+
		+	Wirecutter was also the topic of [[2536: Wirecutter]].

	<!--===Alternative Explanation=== previous ip added this, maybe incorporate into explanation; not deleting so that next editors can see it		<!--===Alternative Explanation=== previous ip added this, maybe incorporate into explanation; not deleting so that next editors can see it

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 The title text references {{w|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w|I know that I know nothing|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.
-===Alternative Explanation===
+<!--===Alternative Explanation=== previous ip added this, maybe incorporate into explanation; not deleting so that next editors can see it
 Depending on pauses and emphasis, which can change where the imaginary parenthesis are, there are multiple ways to interpet  [[Cueball]]s statement "I just went with the one wirecutter recommended".  For example, it could mean "I just went with the recommended (single wirecutter)", meaning [[Ponytail]] may have just asked something like "The procedure has multiple methods that can be used to accomplish it.  Which method did you use?", and  [[Cueball]] is saying that he went with the one wirecutter method instead of the two wirecutter method.
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 This is the kind of interpretation that people who do not know that there is a product review site called Wirecutter get to ponder.  However, given that the last item is "Site for product recomendations", the explanation in the first section is almost definitely the correct one and this humor was probably unintentional.
+-->
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:01, 15 February 2025
Line 54:		Line 54:

	The title text references {{w\|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w\|I know that I know nothing\|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.		The title text references {{w\|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?", a very similar question to 'why you should trust us', which ironically the Wirecutter staff struggles to answer despite (or perhaps {{w\|I know that I know nothing\|because of}}) ostensibly having picked the best philosophies of epistemology.
		+
		+	===Alternative Explanation===
		+	Depending on pauses and emphasis, which can change where the imaginary parenthesis are, there are multiple ways to interpet [[Cueball]]s statement "I just went with the one wirecutter recommended". For example, it could mean "I just went with the recommended (single wirecutter)", meaning [[Ponytail]] may have just asked something like "The procedure has multiple methods that can be used to accomplish it. Which method did you use?", and [[Cueball]] is saying that he went with the one wirecutter method instead of the two wirecutter method.
		+
		+	The humor comes from wondering what the procedure must be. This is fairly mundane for vacuum cleaner, headphones and electric scooter, but becomes quite interesting to ponder what the procedure is when it gets to pet {neutering pet with a wirecutter?}, religion, spouse, favorite child {neutering favorite child with a wirecutter???}, dreams {self-neurosurgery with a wirecutter????? (safety tip: self-neurosurgery with a wirecutter is '''not''' a recommended procedure.)}.
		+
		+	This is the kind of interpretation that people who do not know that there is a product review site called Wirecutter get to ponder. However, given that the last item is "Site for product recomendations", the explanation in the first section is almost definitely the correct one and this humor was probably unintentional.
		+

	==Transcript==		==Transcript==

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 * On the other hand, if Cueball is relying upon ''Wirecutter'' to recommend "a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal," he is allowing one of the most personal and individual aspects of his life — something which may give life itself a sense of meaning — to be dictated by a consumer product review site. As with many entries here, this is something that most people have to come up with or discover for themselves; relying on a third party to recommend one FOR him is deeply unlikely to bring about long-term satisfaction.
 |-
-|Favorite child||Very Bad|| Assuming this is a reference to the reader's own children, it can be difficult and furthermore bad practice for a parent to choose their "favorite" child [[cn]], and using ''Wirecutter'' to do this analysis is near impossible. And a website that purports to know more about how to judge the relative merits of your own family than you would be... interesting.
+|Favorite child||Very Bad|| Assuming this is a reference to the reader's own children, it can be difficult and furthermore bad practice for a parent to choose their "favorite" child {{cn}}, and using ''Wirecutter'' to do this analysis is near impossible. And a website that purports to know more about how to judge the relative merits of your own family than you would be... interesting.
 The alternative interpretation of assuming that this is from "all children, everywhere" is more difficult. There are approximately 1.3 billion persons under the age of 18, most of whom have at least one good quality,{{citation needed}} and defining a useful ranking in such a situation is functionally impossible.
 |-

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 :Favorite child
 :Site for product recommendations
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
 ''[https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter Wirecutter]'' is a product review website, owned by ''The New York Times''. As such, ''Wirecutter'' is best used for comparing brands and models of consumer products. The comic, however, lists things that ''Wirecutter'' should ''not'' recommend, or that one should not choose based on ''Wirecutter'' reviews.
@@ Line 58: / Line 56: @@
 ==Transcript==
 :[Cueball and Ponytail standing next to each other. Cueball has his palm raised.]
 :Cueball: I just went with the one Wirecutter recommended.
@@ Line 86: / Line 83: @@
 :Site for product recommendations
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2693: Wirecutter Recommendation - Revision history

2601:147:4900:DB80:8807:86E9:3A02:81B2: /* Explanation */ added links

Lettherebedarklight: nvm already mentioned

Lettherebedarklight: /* Explanation */ +

Firestar233: if you have something to add, add it to the main explanation.

172.68.174.194: added alternate explanation

172.70.162.161: Lazy/bad punctuation interaction.

172.71.158.192: /* Explanation */

172.71.158.192: /* Explanation */

172.70.162.47: /* Transcript */ Re-removed Title Text from Transcript (again... It customarily does *not* belong there)

No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO: Added title text, deleted tag.

172.70.162.47: /* Transcript / Re-removed Title Text from Transcript (again... It customarily does not* belong there)