Talk:3101: Good Science

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 03:21, 12 June 2025 by 2a11:3:200::2004 (talk) (alternative interpretation)
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Should I find it comforting that, faced with "ammonium hydroxide", the student(?) decodes that as basically just "ammonia"? I mean, there are differences between anhydrous and hydrated versions, but it implies a certain amount of relevent scientific knowledge. If I mentioned "whateverium phlobotomide", the uninitiated would (as well as maybe stumbling over any unfamiliar parts of the name) probably be blind to it potentially being just a technical variation of the essential part of the name. Or, to put it another way, the technobable involved if you were to be told that all the dangerous dihydrogen monoxide had been swapped out for hydrogen hydroxide. (Or that it had been even more dangerous by introducing some trace amounts of nullanol.) 92.23.2.228 22:49, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

I'm thinking that there are two uses for rigour without curiosity. The explanation covers the professional motive: to have a career in producing good-looking results. There is also a political motive: to block a line of research, to prevent its results from gaining traction. Table 1 of this: [1] covers a variety of kinds of sociology, most of which could have opponents. 112.213.42.56 02:06, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I think there's an alternative reading for this one in the last panel, the first time I read it as dismissing the student's question and continuing her statement, which is a quite common move in other comics and always implied with ....... This way, the research became a meta-critique of bad science and somewhat links to rigor vs curiosity. First time commenting here, idk what to do now. 2A11:3:200:0:0:0:0:2004 03:21, 12 June 2025 (UTC)?