https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&feed=atom&action=history1499: Arbitrage - Revision history2024-03-29T02:28:15ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=337658&oldid=prev172.71.158.35: /* Explanation */2024-03-18T23:50:27Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Explanation</span></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 23:50, 18 March 2024</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A distinguishing feature of {{w|social animals}}, rather than animals simply sharing a {{w|habitat}}, is that they perform tasks that benefit their group. All such societies rely on some situations where the individual is not working purely on short term self-interest. The payoff for this is generally that co-operation makes things better for the group as a whole. Most people would find Hairy's behavior embarrassing and shameful, and thus would not socialize with people who behave like that. By rejecting such individuals, society protects itself from such people.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A distinguishing feature of {{w|social animals}}, rather than animals simply sharing a {{w|habitat}}, is that they perform tasks that benefit their group. All such societies rely on some situations where the individual is not working purely on short term self-interest. The payoff for this is generally that co-operation makes things better for the group as a whole. Most people would find Hairy's behavior embarrassing and shameful, and thus would not socialize with people who behave like that. By rejecting such individuals, society protects itself from such people.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The title text mentions the ''{{w|invisible hand}}''. In economics this is a metaphor used by {{w|Adam Smith}} to describe unintended social benefits resulting from the individual actions of self-interested parties. In the context of arbitrage, the ''invisible hand'' compels all of a given fungible substance to be sold for the same price, as a result of the actions of individuals like Hairy who are only seeking personal profit. The ''invisible hand'' is a sort of personification of the market; in the title text, the person has become so real that it can be sent a text message, but, despite presumably being able to hold a phone, the Hand doesn't reply (it IS only a hand). It is tempting to wonder why Randall/Cueball is texting it in the first place - not, presumably, to invite it to dinner, since the market would doubtless behave just as Hairy is doing. As it is invisible, though, perhaps it would at least be less embarrassing to sit at a table with.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The title text mentions the ''{{w|invisible hand}}''. In economics this is a metaphor used by {{w|Adam Smith}} to describe unintended social benefits resulting from the individual actions of self-interested parties. In the context of arbitrage, the ''invisible hand'' compels all of a given fungible substance to be sold for the same price, as a result of the actions of individuals like Hairy <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">(or [[Black Hat]] in [[958: Hotels]]) </ins>who are only seeking personal profit. The ''invisible hand'' is a sort of personification of the market; in the title text, the person has become so real that it can be sent a text message, but, despite presumably being able to hold a phone, the Hand doesn't reply (it IS only a hand). It is tempting to wonder why Randall/Cueball is texting it in the first place - not, presumably, to invite it to dinner, since the market would doubtless behave just as Hairy is doing. As it is invisible, though, perhaps it would at least be less embarrassing to sit at a table with.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Transcript==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Transcript==</div></td></tr>
</table>172.71.158.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=313656&oldid=prevFaviFake: Fixed broken link (was a redirect)2023-05-22T07:53:34Z<p>Fixed broken link (was a redirect)</p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 07:53, 22 May 2023</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l32" >Line 32:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The invisible hand of the market is also mentioned in [[958: Hotels]].</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The invisible hand of the market is also mentioned in [[958: Hotels]].</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The same idea was previously used in [[1110: Click and Drag]], where a person takes [http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/2n2w.png free drinks to resell]. Later, [[1721: Business Idea]] implies a similar plan to extract wealth out of a small market inefficiency that, in reality, would be far too onerous to exploit; in this case, premium gasoline at regular price. See also the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}}'' regarding why it would not be worth trying these kind of ventures out.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The same idea was previously used in [[1110: Click and Drag]], where a person takes [http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/2n2w.png free drinks to resell]. Later, [[1721: Business Idea]] implies a similar plan to extract wealth out of a small market inefficiency that, in reality, would be far too onerous to exploit; in this case, premium gasoline at regular price. See also the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''</ins>[[<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">what if? (blog)|</ins>what if?]]<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'' article </ins>''{{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}}'' regarding why it would not be worth trying these kind of ventures out.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{comic discussion}}</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{comic discussion}}</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]</div></td></tr>
</table>FaviFakehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=283644&oldid=prevTheusaf: Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF2022-05-26T20:00:13Z<p>Reverted edits by <a href="/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/Donald_Trump" title="Special:Contributions/Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> (<a href="/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Donald_Trump&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="User talk:Donald Trump (page does not exist)">talk</a>) to last revision by <a href="/wiki/index.php/User:CRLF" title="User:CRLF">CRLF</a></p>
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<a href="//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=275535&oldid=268240">Show changes</a>Xray Kilo Charlie Deltahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=268240&oldid=prevTheusaf: Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky7202022-05-11T18:47:25Z<p>Reverted edits by <a href="/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/%F0%9F%91%96%F0%9F%94%A5" title="Special:Contributions/👖🔥">👖🔥</a> (<a href="/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:%F0%9F%91%96%F0%9F%94%A5&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="User talk:👖🔥 (page does not exist)">talk</a>) to last revision by <a href="/wiki/index.php/User:Jacky720" title="User:Jacky720">Jacky720</a></p>
<a href="//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=268240&oldid=265969">Show changes</a>Theusafhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1499:_Arbitrage&diff=265969&oldid=prev👖🔥 at 17:29, 11 May 20222022-05-11T17:29:44Z<p></p>
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