Editing 1545: Strengths and Weaknesses
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] is in a job interview and is being asked | + | {{incomplete|May need some more detail on the likelihood of becoming the ancestor of all living humans. Explain the title text.}} |
+ | Here [[Cueball]] is in a job interview and is being asked prototypical job interview questions by [[Ponytail]], "What is your greatest weakness?", "What is your greatest strength?" and "Where do you see yourself in five years?" | ||
− | In a roundabout way, Cueball answers that he is a living organism, and as such he has inherent flaws which could cause him to die. This is a reference | + | In a roundabout way, Cueball answers that he is a living organism, and as such he has inherent flaws which could cause him to die. This is a reference the fact that biological system are "messy" and are not always optimal in design or operation. For example cancer is a disease where the cellular machinery that governs cell replications breaks down and prolific cell division happens, endangering the organism (tumors). While this is true weakness it is also a weakness of all humans and is not likely to help the interview determine if the candidate is right for the job. |
− | For the second question Cueball answers that he will one day be the ancestor to all living humans or none of them. As you go farther and farther into the future the ratio of people alive will either go to 0% or 100% of the descendants of the character. The {{w| | + | For the second question Cueball answers that he will one day be the ancestor to all living humans or none of them. As you go farther and farther into the future the ratio of people alive will either go to 0% or 100% of the descendants of the character. The {{w|Most_recent_common_ancestor| most recent common ancestor (MRCA)}} for humans is estimated to have been alive between 2,000 and 4,000 years ago. If the MRCA's ancestors are traced back, the {{w|Identical_ancestors_point|Identical Ancestors Point}} can be found, at which point the entire population are either ancestors all living humans, or no living humans. For humans, this point is estimated to be between 5,000 and 15,000 years ago. |
− | + | Assuming there are still humans living 15,000 years from now, and if the gene pool has been scattered into isolated sets via space travel then it is highly unlikely that someone living today will be their ICA. While this could be considered his greatest personal strength in the bigger picture of the life cycle of the universe, once again, this answer likely does not help the interviewer determine whether he is suitable for the role. | |
− | + | For Cueball to be the ancestor to all living humans within 5 years means that all the humans who are not his children (or grandchildren), must have died in a near total extinction of the human race. His apparent optimism about the possibility of this occurring is therefore somewhat confusing. | |
− | The | + | The overarching joke is that Cueball assumes that the interviewer is assessing his fitness as an organism from a genetic perspective rather than his fitness for performing a particular job. The biggest limitation on fitness is survival time and mortality. |
− | + | The title text takes this further, equating producing offspring during an interview (which would be awkward for all involved) with something that may actually help assess a candidate's efficacy as an employee, namely writing out a sorting algorithm on the spot, another prototypical interview question (see [[1185: Ineffective Sorts]], especially the bottom left panel). | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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