Editing Talk:563: Fermirotica

Explanation marked as incorrect. I would do some editing, but I do not have the time or explanation-writing skill to do so effectively.

Issues:

1. The explanation's listed April Fools' joke seems to have no proof; it has no mention in the comic.

2. The title text seems to just be a complaint against Google's methods for statistics (i.e. "I love" is sarcasm). All it says is that Google just wildly guesses, based on unrelated, random events, and calls it statistics.
[[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 04:26, 12 January 2014 (UTC)


I doubt that the title text was complaining or sarcastic at all.  If I recall correctly, the ability to plug calculations with units into Google was pretty new in 2009, and especially useful, given as he switched his time units from minutes to years. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.234|108.162.231.234]] 17:04, 12 January 2014 (UTC)


Except that it specifically states that Google guesses (stats are ballpark) and change based un unrelated occurrences (time of day and your mother's presence).  That sounds like either sarcasm, or him actually loving how google doesn't (or didn't at the time) do a very good job with stats. [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 23:08, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

I agree with Zweisteine - it is obvious a sarcastic comment, because the results from Google is so random that it will change during the day - and of course there is the your mom joke. Is there a category for these comics? (Like with the velociraptor comics etc.) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:20, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

The two sentences of the title text are unrelated.  The first is not sarcasm, but is straightforward praise of Google's "dimensional analysis".  Searching on "sqrt( 2 / (pi * (18600 / mile^2) * (80 / year) * 30 minutes) )" yields an answer of "139.379395 meters" with Google correctly doing all of the unit conversion for you.  Wow, that really is cool!  It should be noted when Google gained this capability, if we can find a source for that.  The second sentence is a straightforward discussion of the limitations of the model, as the probability of having sex is not uniformly distributed throughout the day.  The mom part is a joke because it applies to a specific individual, not simultaneously to the general population around you (unless it is "Moms Visit Campus Day").  There is no April Fool's joke here.  Where does the 18,600 persons / square mile population density come from?  Is it for a specific metropolitan area?  Finally, what Randall is calling "dimensional analysis" is more commonly referred to as unit conversion.  For physicists, at least, dimensional analysis refers to a more subtle and powerful tool where equations for phenomena can often be deduced (to within a scaling factor) purely by analyzing the units involved.  Wikipedia's articles on "Dimensional analysis", "Units conversion by factor-label", "Drake equation", and "Fermi paradox" should all be linked. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.217|108.162.212.217]] 12:26, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

April's fool seems to refer to the date of the comic being April 1st 2009. {{unsigned|Eric957}}

:Understood, but there is no meta-"joke within a joke" or joke on the reader which would serve as a kind of April Fool's joke.  This is just a regular comic which happened to be published on 1 April.   -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.217|108.162.212.217]] 18:38, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

I think this represents a "Fermi Estimation" - it may give a number to a problem by taking "best guesses" for something that is not easily calculated exactly. See also http://whatif.xkcd.com/84/ [[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 17:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

:I agree; I think it has little if anything to do with the Fermi Paradox. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.123|173.245.52.123]] 03:21, 26 November 2016 (UTC)

:Also agree! Pretty positive this has to do with “Fermi Problems” (aka “Fermi estimates”). 

:Uh, I got 10cm. Interpret that however you'd like. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.49.66|162.158.49.66]] 05:52, 31 December 2015 (UTC)

::I take it as you were off by an order of magnitude at least in one of your parameters or you made a mistake in the calculation. The only way you can get that without X_f and X_d being inconsistent is if you put the population density high enough that people are literally overlapping. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.123|173.245.52.123]] 03:21, 26 November 2016 (UTC)

:::Yeah, make sure to convert your years or minutes so they are both in the same units of time.  I came up with 4 meters on my first calculation, realized there was a mistake, corrected the units and got 7.1 kilometers.  Now, if your units are correct and you got 10cm, then you might want to move to a quieter neighborhood. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.154|108.162.237.154]] 01:24, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

This equation is not perfect (besides several environment factors, thus "on average"), because the times when people have sex are not independent: Usually two people have sex at the same time. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.61|162.158.89.61]] 23:56, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

:Wait, that's what the 2 is for. I should learn the circle equations... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.61|162.158.89.61]] 00:01, 21 November 2018 (UTC)

Pretty sure this is about Fermi estimation more than the Paradox? Also disappointed to see no callout of the Fermi+Erotica pun. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.143.59|172.70.143.59]] 10:10, 20 May 2023 (UTC)