Editing Talk:1028: Communication

I can't decide if the irony that this comic didn't communicate its idea well was intentional or if I just didn't get it at first because I'm dumb... {{unsigned ip|71.240.171.146}}
:Don't worry.  Not everybody can read "international," so it may be a bit hard to interpret.  Really, he's just citing John R. Trimble: ''"Clear writers assume, with a pessimism born of experience, that whatever isn't plainly stated the reader will invariably misconstrue."''  In this case, after several examples of ''poor'' communication (and the consequences) the only ''clear'' communicator is [[Beret Guy]], who rather adeptly shows rather than tells [[Cueball]] of the peril.  Visual [http://wordnik.com/words/prolix prolix]?  Maybe.  As you say, that may be the point. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:44, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
:Well, it wouldn't be that you're dumb, it would be that you're "bad at reading comics" :) [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:43, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

I don't believe that the holes are only one person deep.  It seems as though the heads are level with the ground just to show who is falling into each hole at that moment. [[Special:Contributions/108.20.154.235|108.20.154.235]] 11:20, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

After panel 5-6, does WHG think that he actually communicated the left hole successfully to the girl, given that he does not understand her "hole!" message as a warning of the right hole? I remember that's how I read it the first time. {{unsigned ip|87.104.184.2}}

Where does the name Harry come from? Is this established usage on the wiki? Dropping it in the explanation out of nowhere is confusing. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:44, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

:Using names to refer to the characters was a tradition that was officially started back on the blog when Berg [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2010/07/23/all-the-girls/ guest authored] one of the explanations. This makes it easier for everyone to be sure they are referring to the same character, and they're also cute fan-made names. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]])  17:04, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

::Sure sure, I get that, but [[Cueball]] and [[Danish]] have pages where confused users can go to understand where the name came from. "Harry" just drops out of nowhere here. Does he appear in other comics? Should we make a page for him? [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:19, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

:::I don't think we call him Harry, but there are other comics where a character with a little bit of hair shows up. If he shows up in at least 3 comics you can go ahead and create the category and his character page. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]])  17:04, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

::::He was of course referring to [[Hairy]] which has been clarified long time ago. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:11, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I disagree that the moral is that the best way to teach is to show someone, I believe the moral is that teaching hasn't happened until the learner understands.  If you succeed in communicating by talking, that's great, if you succeed by showing, that's great too.  However, if you try to teach by talking and the other person doesn't understand, you've failed.  If you try to teach by showing and the other person doesn't understand, you've also failed.  I'm going to make a change to include that.  If anyone objects, revert it. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:35, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:I agree with you (that is a first ;-) I think you forgot to implement the change you were advocating for, and said you would make. I have tried to make it clear that it is about communication not about how you do it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:20, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I took the moral to be that you need to not immediately jump to what you're you're saying, rather talk a little first. [[User:Banak|Banak]] ([[User talk:Banak|talk]]) 17:00, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


I don't get what part of "there's a hole over there" is so hard to understand that you need to show them it for people not to be confused. Really, this comic must've been based on some special kind of stupid people.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.208|141.101.81.208]] 07:56, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

:Are you familiar with the concept of a metaphor? Did you miss the xkcd comic where Randall himself pointed out that models are imperfect representations of abstract ideas (iirc, the example in question was gravity as it relates to spacetime, "what's pulling the planet down into the grid then?") It isn't lost on me that this comment is a year old, I just... it felt like it necessitated a response. If you're getting caught up in the specifics of this being a literal situation, then it's you who has missed the point. [[User:Aepokk|Aepokk]] ([[User talk:Aepokk|talk]]) 08:55, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

:(yeah, I know this is more than three years old) Aside from what Aepokk already wrote, if I told you "Пази, рупа на путу у оном правцу", would you immediately understand what I was trying to communicate to you? [[User:BytEfLUSh|BytEfLUSh]] ([[User talk:BytEfLUSh|talk]]) 23:06, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

«It is very typical for the character Beret Guy to succeed, especially with something difficult, where White Hat fails.» I would be grateful for examples that show how this is typical. :-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.106|162.158.150.106]] 19:26, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

I think this is an examination of communication '''gaps'''. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 02:42, 30 August 2019 (UTC)

== Religious reference? ==

Is the similarity between this and the common Christian evangelism explanation a coincidence? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.160|172.71.150.160]] 01:05, 17 March 2024 (UTC)