Difference between revisions of "338: Future"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
((Dgbrt & Davidy²²) My best stab foy you two)
(Rewrote everything. Hope this is less confusing)
Line 8: Line 8:
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Confusing, bad grammer}}
+
{{incomplete|Probably some native English speaker should revise this version}}
This comic is a play on being stuck in the past literally and figuratively, and is about lost opportunities. To understand this comic you have to look at it one cell at a time without looking ahead as looking ahead eliminates the irony of the comic.
 
  
A voice calls out to [[Megan]], who is with Hairy, beckoning her to explore the future with the speaker. In the future we see [[Cueball]] alone, without Megan, and see her response "I can't". The joke is that Megan is literally trapped in the past while Cueball is figuratively trapped in the past.
+
[[Cueball]] is in the last panel (the future) but somehow manages to get his message into the first panel (the past). [[Megan]] answers in the first panel but somehow her message gets to Cueball in the last panel.
  
Because Megan is not with Cueball in the final frame, Cuball calls her to come. If his calling her to the future had an impact she would be there, and he would not have called (see grandfather paradox). This would also it would violate the rules of causality as a future event cannot have an impact over a past event. Therefore because Megan is not in the last frame, she is '''literally''' stuck in the first frame (which represents the past).
+
This comic can be interpreted in several ways. First, it is not clear if Cueball's question is intended for Megan alone, for both Megan and [[Hairy]] or at the past world in general. If the question is intended for several people, the comic is just about how one could sometimes desire to know the future without waiting for it, however time flows at its usual rate and there's no way around this.
 
Harry could be a younger and therefore harrier version of Cueball, or a interloper who ruined Cueball‘s chances with Megan, but from the comics perspective, it does not matter. Cueball is thinking about the past, when Megan was around, and therefore Cueball is '''figuratively''' stuck in the past.
 
  
The title text is another pun. Cueball says the past was too cramped. This is also true in both the literal and figurative sense. There are twice as many people in the first panel as there are in the last panel so it is '''literally''' more cramped. The relationship between Megan and Cueball did not work out therefore the past was '''figuratively''' cramped as there were not many options for there relationship to work out.
+
If the question is intended only for Megan, it means Cueball is asking Megan to become his girlfriend. She answers she can't maybe because, as before, time runs at its usual rate and she can't go faster; or maybe because she's already with Hairy (they're shown holding hands) and she's not leaving Hairy for Cueball.
  
 +
Finally, the Cueball in the future could just be the very same person as the Hairy in the past, having become bald as he gets older. In this scenario, Cueball is just missing Megan, who was with him in the past but no longer is, maybe even because she has died in between.
 +
 +
In the title text Cueball seems to be considering to go back to the past, but he rejects doing so because, having seen the future, now the past doesn't look attractive.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==

Revision as of 23:18, 14 December 2014

Future
But the past was much too cramped!
Title text: But the past was much too cramped!

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Probably some native English speaker should revise this version
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.
Cueball is in the last panel (the future) but somehow manages to get his message into the first panel (the past). Megan answers in the first panel but somehow her message gets to Cueball in the last panel.

This comic can be interpreted in several ways. First, it is not clear if Cueball's question is intended for Megan alone, for both Megan and Hairy or at the past world in general. If the question is intended for several people, the comic is just about how one could sometimes desire to know the future without waiting for it, however time flows at its usual rate and there's no way around this.

If the question is intended only for Megan, it means Cueball is asking Megan to become his girlfriend. She answers she can't maybe because, as before, time runs at its usual rate and she can't go faster; or maybe because she's already with Hairy (they're shown holding hands) and she's not leaving Hairy for Cueball.

Finally, the Cueball in the future could just be the very same person as the Hairy in the past, having become bald as he gets older. In this scenario, Cueball is just missing Megan, who was with him in the past but no longer is, maybe even because she has died in between.

In the title text Cueball seems to be considering to go back to the past, but he rejects doing so because, having seen the future, now the past doesn't look attractive.

Transcript

[The comic has three panels. In the first panel, Hairy and Megan are holding hands. There is a voice bubble originating from Cueball standing in the third panel.]
Cueball: Come explore the future with me!
[And Megan says something which goes to the third panel.]
[The two voice bubbles cross in the middle of the second panel.]
[The voice of Megan says…]
Megan: I can't.


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

I think the explanation with Megan not able becuase she could be dead wrong. It is because she is in love with Hairy. Cueball is in my oppinion just in the other side of a larg frame that has been split to make the time issue clear. The future is what Cueball wish to enter together with Megan but she do not wish to do so. I have written an alternative explanation - but will leave it to other to decide which is more true to the intent of the comic. Kynde (talk) 18:58, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Please discuss this first before editing the explain. And try to understand the explain first. I'm doing a revert on your edit. --Dgbrt (talk) 19:52, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
WP:BOLD. I'm reverting your autorevert. You've already been warned about this in the past. At least try to understand the content of an edit before undoing it. Davidy²²[talk] 20:29, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
Please let's do discuss major edits BEFORE it's included into the explain. This one wasn't helpful. I do change AND not undo by always all my edits. And I did mention that edit here at the discussion page right before.--Dgbrt (talk) 20:45, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
Your unwillingness to read/disagreement with the content does not make his additions valueless. Davidy²²[talk] 21:25, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
Please let's do discuss major edits BEFORE it's included into the explain. --Dgbrt (talk) 19:49, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

She says "I can't" not "we can't"

Imo, this comic needs two axes of time to make sense lol. AzureArmageddon 02:26, 6 October 2023 (UTC)