Talk:1366: Train

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 17:53, 12 May 2014 by 173.245.55.66 (talk)
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I just did an explanation from scratch for the first time, please could you tell me how I could improve it? Thanks :) Cheeselord99 (talk) 07:02, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Am I the only one who gets Inflation when going to xkcd.com (without the www)? This comic shows at www.xkcd.com and m.xkcd.com however. 108.162.221.5 07:11, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

I created an account. The 108.162.221.5 ip address today is me, along with 108.162.221.53 today. Mikemk (talk) 07:16, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
I thought today's comic was late. http://www.xkcd.com/1366/ kept on displaying "Web-page not available" (browser thing, not server-thing), then I checked here. So. Oh, http://www.xkcd.com/ also... Hmmm... That's not right. Oh, "Ping request could not find host www.xkcd.com. Please check the name and try again." DNS errors? Only those trying via cached details get anything? Things are not working for xkcd.com or m.xkcd.com either. So, DNS poisoning or human error of some kind? Not the place to discuss this, I know, sorry... 141.101.89.211 10:05, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
Explanation is good, but there are certainly related comics or maybe what-if ... I've found Orbital Speed, but I think there were something mentioning how fast sun goes relatively to galaxy ... -- Hkmaly (talk) 10:14, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
Found two related comics - any other? Condor70 (talk) 11:33, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

It sounds like the dark matter engine in Futurama:http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_matter_engine 108.162.215.77 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

That's just what I was thinking! --173.245.55.66 17:53, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

I think the last paragraph, considering the situation from the point of view of multiple trains, is not relevant. The whole concept of what makes this idea funny and interesting is that you MUST view the situation from the point of view of a single train (or elevator). --RenniePet (talk) 13:24, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Second-last paragraph - my comment was written at the same time as another paragraph was added. --RenniePet (talk) 13:26, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

I do not understand what the last paragraph is suggesting as it seems to violate the 3rd Newtonian law of motion.

The last paragraph is not correct, the Earth would also experience an acceleration (albeit a small one).--Sturmonium (talk) 13:54, 9 May 2014 (UTC)


This line: "The logic of the comic also fails when taking acceleration into account. Whether the train or earth is moving can be determined by which one experiences a force due to acceleration or deacceleration when the train starts." is incorrect, according to the principle of General Relativity. You cannot experimentally distinguish between your own acceleration against a fixed universe, and your position remaining fixed against an accelerating universe. This applies for rotation as well; if you fix the reference frame of the train rider, the acceleration of the universe creates gravity waves that cause any rider on the train to experience what feels like an acceleration. Therefore, the logic of the comic is indeed correct, even for accelerating trains. I will correct this edit.--JB Gnome (talk) 14:12, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

But the comic doesn't say that the train accelerates the universe: rather, it just accelerates the Earth. Does that make a difference? 141.101.89.225 14:34, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Does anyone have an idea where "train guy" is heading? He's saying "almost", like he's almost there but wasn't sure if there was something more. Maybe he's timing when he needs to jump off the train? 173.245.55.62 14:58, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Pat

I see this comic as a nice ab absurdo for the many people who think the sun rotates around us, and further to those who claim the earth has 6 thousand years etc... 108.162.242.117 18:12, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

I don't have a citation, but some traditional Polynesian navigation works using this view. Their "maps" are made of a grid of bush materials where intersections are stars or islands (possibly with a pebble tied on to represent the island). They consider the map and the earth to be connected, and you don't move along the map - the map moves. So you don't go to another island, you bring it to you. At night you move the stars to the right place, and during the day you paddle the sea and land so they are in the right place and direction.--DivePeak (talk) 21:15, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

A train rotating the Earth is NOT physically equivalent to a train traversing the Earth. It would be true for a flat Earth, but rotation is absolute, see Newton's bucket argument. [1] --Gleyshon