Editing 563: Fermirotica

{{comic
| number    = 563
| date      = April 1, 2009
| title     = Fermirotica
| image     = fermirotica.png
| titletext = I love how Google handles dimensional analysis. Stats are ballpark and vary wildly based on time of day and whether your mom is in town.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Fermi problem}}s are a type of estimation problem involving several quantities that are not to be measured but that can be estimated to within an {{w|order of magnitude}} to be inserted into equations relating the quantities to produce an estimate for a target quantity accurate to within an order of magnitude, based upon the assumption that overestimations and underestimations of the magnitude of the input quantities will compensate for each other in the resulting estimated quantity. {{w|Erotica}} is material meant to cause sexual arousal in a person. "Fermirotica", then, is erotica made from the solving of a Fermi problem.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] is solving the Fermi problem of finding the average distance from the observer wherein a couple can be found copulating. (The example parameters given in the comic yield 139 metres.) The implication of the equation is that we are surrounded by sex in our everyday lives and that this is arousing to [[Cueball]].

Nevertheless, we rarely encounter couples during the act itself.{{citation needed}} In this way, the comic may also be referencing the {{w|Fermi paradox}} in that the calculation suggests that the observer is highly likely to be surrounded by copulation but, paradoxically, never observes it. This is similar to the Fermi paradox which suggests that extraterrestrial life (i.e. space aliens) should be commonplace in our universe yet humanity has yet to discover the presence of extraterrestrial life. Of course, the lack of empirical evidence of couples having sex can easily be explained by the fact that most couples only have intercourse in privacy. By the same token, the original problem may be explained thusly: Alien species might conceal themselves from our observations, e.g. in order to {{w|Prime directive|avoid interfering in the development of civilizations}}. This answer to the Fermi Paradox is commonly called {{w|zoo hypothesis}}.

The second panel has [[Cueball]] sexually aroused by imagining the intercourse that has been determined to be statistically nearby. This manner of arousal is termed ''statistical {{w|voyeurism}}'' by an off-frame speaker who is evidently upset by it. Possible reasons for being upset are that he considers it an inappropriate use of statistics, or finds voyeurism inappropriate in general, or because it accurately predicts an ''actual'' copulation he is aware of and would rather keep private (e.g. the off-frame speaker is actually about to have sex).

The title text refers to the {{w|Google search#calculator|Google calculator}} and praises its capabilities of {{w|dimensional analysis}}, and more specifically {{w|unit conversion}}. [[Randall]] assumes that most readers will enter the equation with the example parameters into the {{w|Google}} search engine. The built-in calculator will output the result in the correct {{w| SI unit}} ''metre'', although the population density was given as ''people per square mile''. The second part of the title text states that the examples are nothing more than an educated guess, and that the equation is simplified. In reality, more parameters must be taken into account, e.g. the time of day, since most people will have sex in the evening or night. The insulting{{citation needed}} suggestion that the probability of sex rises when the reader's (supposedly promiscuous) mother is in town represents a ''{{w|Yo Mama joke}}''.

Note that this comic was released on April 1st without being an April Fools' Day comic. But Randall made another April Fool on his reader, see the [[#Trivia|trivia section]].

==Transcript==
:P<sub>d</sub> Regional population density (e.g. 18,600/mi²)
:X<sub>f</sub> Average person's frequency of sex (e.g. 80/year)
:X<sub>d</sub> Average duration of sex (e.g. 30 minutes)
:<math>r=\sqrt\frac{2}{\pi P_d X_f X_d}</math>
:On average, someone within distance r of you is having sex.
:[Cueball standing at easel.]
:Cueball: Mmm, That probable couple 150 meters away is so hot. Oh yeah, theoretically work it, baby.
:From out of frame: Hey! No statistical voyeurism!

==Trivia==
*This comic was released on April 1 with no obvious ties to {{w|April Fools' Day}} and is thus not one of [[Randall|Randall's]], [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]].
*But on that day Randall, Jeph Jacques and Ryan North altered their {{w|Domain_Name_System|DNS}} records to point to each others websites. So xkcd.com showed the [http://questionablecontent.net/ Questionable content] website, questionablecontent.net the [http://www.qwantz.com/ Dinosaur comics] website, and www.qwantz.com led to the [http://www.xkcd.com xkcd] website.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Aliens]]