Editing 2600: Rejected Question Categories
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by a SPIDER-CREATED WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION LAUNCHED AT A VOLCANO - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | Randall [[2575: What If? 2|recently announced]] he is publishing a book based on reader-submitted questions. This comic shows some of the questions he claims to have received, but rejected, with the category hinting at why they were rejected. In typical XKCD fashion, these are all implausible to various degrees (especially the last row), ending in a question that appears to be a combination of all previous categories and is therefore marked "?????" | |
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|'''Category''' | |'''Category''' | ||
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| People cheating on homework | | People cheating on homework | ||
− | | What if I made a pendulum by hanging a rock on a 2.75 meter string? What would its period be in seconds? (Show your work | + | | What if I made a pendulum by hanging a rock on a 2.75 meter string? What would its period be in seconds? (Show your work) |
− | | This appears to be a physics student trying to get out of doing their work by presenting the question for Randall to answer in ''What If'' (which is a common occurrence on question-and-answer sites such as Stack Overflow). Most school homework requires the student to "show their work", i.e. write out their process of solving the question | + | | This appears to be a physics student trying to get out of doing their work by presenting the question for Randall to answer in ''What If'' (which is a common occurrence on question-and-answer sites such as Stack Overflow). Most school homework requires the student to "show their work", i.e. write out their process of solving the question, which will usually go towards marks for the right methodology and basic understanding even if they make a wrong turn along the way and end up with an incorrect answer; the student including this caveat is a giveaway as to their tactic (along with the boring nature of their inquiry). |
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| Medical advice | | Medical advice | ||
− | | What if you got a scratch and the next day your hand | + | | What if you got a scratch and the next day your hand looks like this [''📎 attachment'']? Should you see a doctor or what? |
− | | Randall is not a physician, is not qualified to give medical advice, and will not answer medical questions. This was a problem on early Wikipedia which, for a time, required all articles covering medical topics to point to a {{w|WP:MEDICAL|Medical Disclaimer}}. This was also an issue covered in the 1st | + | | Randall is not a physician, is not qualified to give medical advice, and will not answer medical questions. This was a problem on early Wikipedia which, for a time, required all articles covering medical topics to point to a {{w|WP:MEDICAL|Medical Disclaimer}}. This was also an issue covered in the 1st whatif book, under Weird and Worrying Questions from the Inbox, where a reader asks about the effects of a toxin on the execretory system. |
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| Personal | | Personal | ||
| Why don't the squirrels in my yard like me??? | | Why don't the squirrels in my yard like me??? | ||
− | | Randall has no way of knowing why the wildlife in a given area dislike a specific person, especially if this hints at a specific animosity/belligerence and not just general avoidance of humans as a perceived threat. These kind of questions are common on sites like reddit, and are usually covered by general explanation of animal behaviors unless the asker supplies more information in the comments | + | | Randall has no way of knowing why the wildlife in a given area dislike a specific person, especially if this hints at a specific animosity/belligerence and not just general avoidance of humans as a perceived threat. These kind of questions are common on sites like reddit, and are usually covered by general explanation of animal behaviors unless the asker supplies more information in the comments. |
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| Spam | | Spam | ||
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| Requests for help with a crime | | Requests for help with a crime | ||
| Using modern science, what would be the fastest way to get through this bank vault door? [''📎'' blueprints] | | Using modern science, what would be the fastest way to get through this bank vault door? [''📎'' blueprints] | ||
− | | No, Randall is ''not'' going to help a criminal commit breaking and entering or robbery, thank you very much. A common problem | + | | No, Randall is ''not'' going to help a criminal commit breaking and entering or robbery, thank you very much. A common problem with heist movies is that they show a believable{{Citation needed}} method for breaking in to a vault which people then try to replicate in real life. Such movies often portray an expert in some other field being "smart enough" to craft the plan, sometimes unwittingly. |
|- | |- | ||
| Unanswerable | | Unanswerable | ||
| Why am I me and not someone else | | Why am I me and not someone else | ||
− | | | + | | This question is existentialist. Hundreds of the greatest scientific minds are unable to answer this question, why would someone who draws comics on the internet be able to? |
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| Vague | | Vague | ||
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| Vague and ominous | | Vague and ominous | ||
| Will I have to start worrying about spiders after Tuesday? | | Will I have to start worrying about spiders after Tuesday? | ||
− | | | + | | Possibly a [[:Category:Red Spiders|red spiders]] reference. |
− | Possibly a [[:Category:Red Spiders|red spiders]] reference | ||
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| ????? | | ????? | ||
− | | Hi, we're lonely singles in your area, and we're wondering what would happen if we shot a nuclear bomb into a volcano! Click here to log in and tell us ... | + | | Hi, we're lonely singles in your area, and we're wondering what would happen if we shot a nuclear bomb into a volcano! Click here to log in and tell us... |
| If nothing else, this entry is clearly made up by Randall, as it appears to be a combination of as many prior categories as he has room for, specifically Spam, Phishing, and an already-answered question, before getting cut off by the bottom of the panel. | | If nothing else, this entry is clearly made up by Randall, as it appears to be a combination of as many prior categories as he has room for, specifically Spam, Phishing, and an already-answered question, before getting cut off by the bottom of the panel. | ||
− | "Would | + | "Would dropping a nuclear bomb in a volcano stop an eruption?" was a question featured in the ''first'' book. Randall answered with an emphatic "No!" |
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+ | The title text refers to the launch date of the book, September 13, rendered in the American style. This may be confusing to non-Americans, for whom it will appear to reference the 9th day of the 13th month, which was referenced in comic [[2575]]. See Randall's take on ISO 8601 in comic [[1179]]. | ||
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+ | Tuesday, referenced in [[1099]], [[277]], [[564]], and most notably in [[1245]], is normally the second day of the week, however the Tuesday of the week following the publication of this cartoon (April 5th, 2022 AD) will be noted as the last day of the last week ever. Briefly. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
+ | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
In ''What If? 2'' (xkcd.com/whatif2), I answer ridiculous questions sent in by readers about everything from volcanoes to spaceships to soup. | In ''What If? 2'' (xkcd.com/whatif2), I answer ridiculous questions sent in by readers about everything from volcanoes to spaceships to soup. | ||
− | Here are a few of the common types of | + | Here are a few of the common types of questions that I did ''not'' answer: |
[In separate boxes for each category] | [In separate boxes for each category] | ||
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Vague+Ominous: Will I have to start worrying about spiders after Tuesday? | Vague+Ominous: Will I have to start worrying about spiders after Tuesday? | ||
− | ?????: Hi, we're lonely singles in your area, and we're wondering what would happen if we shot a nuclear bomb into a volcano! | + | ?????: Hi, we're lonely singles in your area, and we're wondering what would happen if we shot a nuclear bomb into a volcano! Click here to log in and tell us |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Book promotion]] | [[Category:Book promotion]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Spiders]] | ||
[[Category:Physics]] | [[Category:Physics]] | ||
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[[Category:Nuclear weapons]] | [[Category:Nuclear weapons]] | ||
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