Difference between revisions of "1796: Focus Knob"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Explanation)
(Transcript)
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==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
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Personal Focus
  
{{comic discussion}}
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A rotary knob. The order of the available settings are:
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1. Detail Oriented (left extreme)
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2. Fiddling with email settings (Between detail oriented and healthy balance)
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3. Healthy balance (a little to the right)
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4. Panic and existential crisis (Between healthy balance and big picture)
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5. Big Picture (right extreme)

Revision as of 10:53, 8 February 2017

Focus Knob
Maybe if I spin it back and forth really fast I can do some kind of pulse-width modulation.
Title text: Maybe if I spin it back and forth really fast I can do some kind of pulse-width modulation.

Explanation

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The image is of a rotary knob used for adjusting parameters in instruments. Apparently this one is for adjusting Randall's personal focus level, with the extremes of focus being towards small details and big picture respectively.

While performing any task, it is easy to get so lost in the details that you forget the big picture. It is also equally easy to think so much about the big picture and make vague plans while missing out on the details.

One can get lost doing small tasks that might increase efficiency for long projects (eg. fiddling with email settings), but these might make one lose track of the big picture.

The healthy balance, Randall suggests, is focusing mostly towards the big picture, while keeping an eye on the details. Focusing too much on the big picture can ensure nothing gets done, leading to panic and existential crises.

In the title text, Randall imagines spinning the dial to and fro, causing pulse modulation (a technique often used to encode data in waves).

Transcript

Personal Focus

A rotary knob. The order of the available settings are: 1. Detail Oriented (left extreme) 2. Fiddling with email settings (Between detail oriented and healthy balance) 3. Healthy balance (a little to the right) 4. Panic and existential crisis (Between healthy balance and big picture) 5. Big Picture (right extreme)