explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2656: Scientific Field Prefixes

2025-04-26T22:27:23Z

172.71.219.78:

{{comic
| number = 2656
| date = August 8, 2022
| title = Scientific Field Prefixes
| image = scientific_field_prefixes.png
| titletext = Massage: Theoretical (10), Quantum (6), High-energy (2), Computational (1), Marine (1), Astro- (None)
}}
{{TOC}}
==Explanation==
{{w|Google Scholar}} is a search engine for academic publications, and [[Randall]] has been having fun with it.

Randall searches for various terms that are composed of some common prefixes and common suffixes, but not always commonly associated with each other in each possible combination, and tabulates the results. See this [[#Table with numbers|table with numbers]] for easy overview.

This reveals some very commonly used full terms like "{{w|Theoretical Physics}}", the most discovered, which represents almost four million hits compared to the next highest, "{{w|Computational Biology}}", with almost 3 million hits and {{w|Astrophysics}} with 2 million hits. Ducking just below 1 million hits is fourth placing {{w|Marine Biology}}. Of the 42 possible fields just 14 have more than 100,000 hits, and only four more have over 10,000.

But there are also some that have much lower numbers, eight with fewer than 10 hits in the table. "High-Energy Psychology" and "Marine Dentistry" have just one apparent occurrence each (equivalent to a {{w|Googlewhack}}), whilst there are no hits at all recorded for four of the initially combined terms. In total (with the title text) there are 48 fields, see a full [[#List of Scientific fields|list of scientific fields]] below.

An explanation for both existing and fictive scientific fields can be given below in the [[#Table with explanations|table with explanations]].

In the caption to the table Randall list four potential research opportunities i.e. those with no hits in the table: Quantum Dentistry, High-Energy Dentistry, Astrodentistry and High-Energy Theology

He thus suggests that, because of the (apparent) lack of current studies in these specialized sub-fields, there may be unexplored potential for a study. This could be that the more "used" areas have far too much competition and be might already be "used up" for potentially useful discoveries. (This does not account for how much 'study space' might be available in a given box of research, even though Randall has previously hinted that anything "Astro"-related is potentially [[2640: The Universe by Scientific Field|full of many things to study]].)
Of course the real reason for no one studying these fields are that they make no sense. {{w|Dentistry}} is related to fixing peoples teeth. The quantum world has no effect on human teeth,{{Citation needed}} and high-energy bombardment of a human's mouth may also be a bit dangerous (although x-rays and radiation treatment in the mouth could be seen as high energy). Astrodentistry is not really relevant if seeing this as something used on humans. Of course astronauts might need dentistry while in space, but it would be a stretch to call the study of dentistry in zero-G, "astrodentistry". "High-energy Theology" as a term, seems more likely to have been used...

In the title text Randall lists the figures for another 'major' field suffix, "{{w|Massage}}", and the numbers of its prefixed forms. From this, we learn that Astromassage is another 'open' field that is currently unstudied, but none of the five others have more than 10. Probably the most surprising aspect of the title text is that there are hits for both quantum massage and high-energy massage.{{citation needed}}

===Table with numbers===
*Here the table is presented with only numbers, so it can be sorted.
**Massage from the title text has been added.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!
! Physics
! Chemistry
! Biology
! Engineering
! Psychology
! Theology
! Dentistry
! Massage (Title text)
|-
| Theoretical
| 3990000
| 445000
| 553000
| 2460
| 15500
| 726
| 41
| 10
|-
| Quantum
| 478000
| 740000
| 7620
| 21100
| 699
| 447
| 0
| 6
|-
| High-Energy
| 844000
| 9600
| 3
| 119
| 1
| 0
| 0
| 2
|-
| Computational
| 510000
| 599000
| 2910000
| 67400
| 4620
| 40
| 11
| 1
|-
| Marine
| 3920
| 136000
| 945000
| 108000
| 35
| 6
| 1
| 1
|-
| Astro-
| 2010000
| 20600
| 226000
| 430
| 64
| 580
| 0
| 0
|}

===List of Scientific fields===
This is included for easy reading of the numbers:
*Theoretical Physics: 3,990,000
*Theoretical Chemistry: 445,000
*Theoretical Biology: 553,000
*Theoretical Engineering: 2,460
*Theoretical Psychology: 15,500
*Theoretical Theology: 726
*Theoretical Dentistry: 41
*Theoretical Massage: 10
*Quantum Physics: 478,000
*Quantum Chemistry: 740,000
*Quantum Biology: 7,620
*Quantum Engineering: 21,100
*Quantum Psychology: 699
*Quantum Theology: 447
*Quantum Dentistry: None
*Quantum Massage: 6
**5 of these are objections to pseudoscientific healing nonsense. The last is from a Dutch medical text in which one sentence ends with "quantum" and the next begins with "massage", published in 1895 and having nothing to do with quantum mechanics.
*High-Energy Physics: 844,000
*High-Energy Chemistry: 9,600
*High-Energy Biology: 3
**Two of these are for the same conference proceedings about use of accelerators in biological research. The third is from an article which mentions a list of research areas: "extensive programs in chemistry, physics (other than high energy), biology".
*High-Energy Engineering: 119
*High-Energy Psychology: 1
**Job ad from October 31st, 2001, asking for "high energy psychology, speech pathology or special education majors to work with our mildly autistic son"
*High-Energy Theology: None
*High-Energy Dentistry: None
*High-Energy Massage: 2
*Computational Physics: 510,000
*Computational Chemistry: 599,000
*Computational Biology: 2,910,000
*Computational Engineering: 67,400
*Computational Psychology: 4,620
*Computational Theology: 40
*Computational Dentistry: 11
*Computational Massage: 1
**This is an article about modular wearable electronic devices, in the form of clothing, which provide massage.
*Marine Physics: 3,920
*Marine Chemistry: 136,000
*Marine Biology: 945,000
*Marine Engineering: 108,000
*Marine Psychology: 35
*Marine Theology: 6
*Marine Dentistry: 1
**The paper mentions the application of something in "Transportation, Marine, Dentistry, Electronics" and other fields
*Marine Massage: 1
**Article in "Professional Beauty" of 2021, mentioning "An exceptional massage technique with the professional-only Oligo-Marine Massage Cream includes smoothing, relaxing and stretching movements for total relaxation and optimal skin"
*Astrophysics: 2,010,000
*Astrochemistry: 20,600
*Astrobiology: 226,000
*Astroengineering: 430
*Astropsychology: 64
*Astrotheology: 580
*Astrodentistry: None
*Astromassage: None

==Table with explanations==
*Here all 48 fields can be explained in a table:
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Field
! Number of Searches
! Explanation of field
|-
| Theoretical Physics
| 3990000
| {{w|Theoretical Physics}} is a whole field in itself, with journals made only for that type of physics. Also the one with by far most hits.
|-
| Theoretical Chemistry
| 445000
| {{w|Theoretical chemistry}} is the branch of chemistry which explores the underlying explanations for chemical phenomena, and has major overlaps with Quantum Chemistry.
|-
| Theoretical Biology
| 553000
| {{w|Theoretical biology}} aims at the mathematical representation and modeling of biological processes, using techniques and tools of applied mathematics. It has applications in the modelling of biological systems and evolutionary systems.
|-
| Theoretical Engineering
| 2460
| 'Theoretical engineering' is a term that can be applied to many different types of engineering. A few that can be found on the front page, as of the time of writing, are software engineering, mobile engineering, band engineering and engineering optimisation. The term itself simply talks about the theory to do with those types of engineering.
|-
| Theoretical Psychology
| 15500
| Searching this term yields almost five million results, at the time of writing. According to the [https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.ps.04.020153.002251 first result], this branch is the {{w|epistemological}} analysis of psychological science.
|-
| Theoretical Theology
| 726
| Theoretical Theology is a bit of a misnomer, considering that Theology is theoretical from the outset. Theoretical Theology would hence be equivalent to Theology, that is, the systematic study of divine nature and religion in general. Unless, perhaps, it concerns itself with questions of how any given theology would have to be under differing conditions, e.g. how a society would interact under the aegis of different moralities or deitic purposes than those currently understood to exist by that society.
|-
| Theoretical Dentistry
| 41
| While there is theory in dentistry, as with all other sciences, there is no branch of dentistry specifically concerning it.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Theoretical Massage
| 10
| Theoretical Massage is not a real scientific field,{{Citation needed}} but rather the theory about it, in contrast to the practical application of {{w|Massage|massage}}. This term is most likely to be used in the context of learning or studying massages, for example during the process of becoming a massage therapist. Alternatively this term could refer to the studying of the masses of matter, (or its massage if you will). This would make it a field of physics.
|-
| Quantum Physics
| 478000
| As with Theoretical Physics, above, {{w|Quantum Physics}} is an entire field within itself.
|-
| Quantum Chemistry
| 740000
| A field within chemistry, quantum chemistry is the study of how quantum-level effects extrapolate to chemical properties, such as the shape of electron orbitals.
|-
| Quantum Biology
| 7620
| {{w|Quantum Biology}} is a legitimate field, strange as though it may seem. It also applies another "strange" field elsewhere in this table: theoretical chemistry.
|-
| Quantum Engineering
| 21100
| Quantum engineering is the engineering of technology that uses the laws of quantum mechanics for their operation. It is used in the manufacture of quantum sensors and quantum computers. An emerging field, it is slowly growing alongside the current rise in quantum applications in technology and the push towards quantum computing.
|-
| Quantum Psychology
| 699
| Quantum Psychology is used in a similar manner to Quantum Theology (see below) - a way push pseudoscience under the guise of quantum phenomena. While quantum effects can be seen in the brain, it would mostly fall under the purview of neuroscience.
|-
| Quantum Theology
| 447
| Using 'Quantum' as a buzzword to prop up forms of spirituality is a common form of pseudoscience today, and is used to push fringe beliefs under the illusion of 'quantum phenomena'.
|-
| Quantum Dentistry
| None
| This would presumably be dentistry done on teeth which are too small to be observed on normal levels, or do not exist while also existing.
|-
| Quantum Massage
| 6
| Similar to Quantum Theology, the word 'quantum' is being used as a buzzword to promote massage services which no actual relation to quantum phenomena.
|-
| High-Energy Physics
| 844000
| High-Energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. Also known as particle physics, it is a major subfield of theoretical and quantum physics.
|-
| High-Energy Chemistry
| 9600
| High-Energy Chemistry refers to the chemistry of high-energy compounds.
|-
| High-Energy Biology
| 3
| High-Energy Biology would probably refer to biology at high energies. However, at that point, biology stops being biology and starts being physics.
|-
| High-Energy Engineering
| 119
| High-Energy Engineering would most likely refer to engineering undertaken for high-energy environments. However, this is not a real subfield of engineering and would more likely be done by as a part of another subfield of engineering.
|-
| High-Energy Psychology
| 1
| High-Energy Psychology would presumably refer to psychology done at high energies. However, the result which this refers to is, in fact, an advertisement for a job which requires knowledge of psychology and the ability to sustain your energy for a large period of time.
|-
| High-Energy Theology
| None
| High-Energy Theology presumably involves theology performed at extremely high energies. It is unknown if one can find God in a particle accelerator however.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| High-Energy Dentistry
| None
| High-Energy Dentistry would most likely involve performing dentistry with high-energy particle beams, which would be incredibly damaging to a human being. High energy lasers do exist and are used in dentistry, however they are orders of magnitude less energetic than the high-energy beams this prefix would refer to.
|-
| High-Energy Massage
| 2
| High-Energy Massage could either mean a massage done with lots of energy, which may or may not be a soothing experience, or a massage that leaves you with lots of energy, which is a claimed benefit by many massage therapists.
|-
| Computational Physics
| 510000
| The field of using computational models to simulate physical systems. Such models are commonly used in both theoretical and applied physics, hence the large number of hits.
|-
| Computational Chemistry
| 599000
| The field of using computational models to simulate chemical systems. Commonly used in the field of theoretical chemistry.
|-
| Computational Biology
| 2910000
| Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. Due to its very high relevance in the fields of genetics, biochemistry, evolution, neuroscience among others, has the highest number of hits for the 'Computational' prefix, and is 2nd highest overall.
|-
| Computational Engineering
| 67400
| Computational Engineering is a relatively new discipline that deals with the development and application of computational models for engineering. Being a subfield of engineering, it has a moderate amount of hits.
|-
| Computational Psychology
| 4620
| Computational Psychology, also known as {{w|Computational cognition}} is the study of learning and cognition via mathematical modelling and computer simulation.
|-
| Computational Theology
| 40
| Computational Theology is a very fringe field, that seeks to explore the relations between God, religion and computer science and related phenomena.
|-
| Computational Dentistry
| 11
|Computational Dentistry refers to using artificial intelligence to improve dentistry. This could presumably be used to allow a robot to do troublesome tasks, such as root canals.
|-
| Computational Massage
| 1
| It is unknown what computation would be required for massage, if any. Searches show results for a paper on 'Computational Modeling of Deep Tissue Heating by an Automatic Thermal Massage Bed: Predicting the Effects on Circulation'.
|-
| Marine Physics
| 3920
| Marine Physics is a subfield of oceanography that focuses on the fundamental physical processes in the marine environment and their effects on the biosphere.
|-
| Marine Chemistry
| 136000
| Marine chemistry studies the chemistry of marine environments including the influences of different variables, such as plate tectonics, currents, sediments, pH levels, atmospheric constituents, metamorphic activity and ecology.
|-
| Marine Biology
| 945000
| Marine biology is the study of marine organisms, their behaviors and interactions with the environment. A very well established subfield of Biology, hence the high number of hits.
|-
| Marine Engineering
| 108000
| Marine engineering is the operation, maintenance and monitoring of mechanical systems aboard marine vessels, including boats, ships and submarines. Moderately known, due to the continued growth of the modern shipping industry.
|-
| Marine Psychology
| 35
| Marine Psychology is a subfield of Psychology that studies psychosocial issues and behavioral and safety concerns inherent in life and careers at sea. It does not refer to the psychology of marine life as one would assume, however.
|-
| Marine Theology
| 6
| Marine Theology is not an organized field of study, and is merely a convenient way to refer to Theology in Marine Biology. It may also result from discussion of aspects of theology as they apply to a marine society (one heavily dependent on the sea, or subject to its effects, like an island-chain population).
|-
| Marine Dentistry
| 1
| Marine Dentistry is dentistry performed on marine animals, which falls under the field of veterinary science.
|-
| Marine Massage
| 1
| Marine Massage would probably be about underwater massages. Its unknown what benefits this might give over a traditional massage however.
|-
| Astrophysics
| 2010000
| Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. Just like Theoretical Physics, it is a field onto itself, and has the 3rd highest hits for a scientific field in the comic.
|-
| Astrochemistry
| 20600
| Astrochemistry is the study of molecules in the universe, and their interaction with radiation. A hybrid field of astronomy and chemistry with overlap with Astrophysics, especially when dealing with nuclear reactions.
|-
| Astrobiology
| 226000
| Astrobiology is a scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Fairly known due to the unanswered nature of the question 'Is there life beyond Earth.'
|-
| Astroengineering
| 430
| Astronomical engineering is engineering at the astronomical scale. Highly speculative, as humanity barely has progressed beyond the Earth, and mostly the realm of science fiction.
|-
| Astropsychology
| 64
| {{w|Psychological astrology}}, also known as Astropsychology, is a form of pseudoscience blending together astrology with fields of psychology.
|-
| Astrotheology
| 580
|{{w|Astrotheology}} is the worship of heavenly bodies as deities or by association to deities. It has its roots in ancient polytheistic religions, and has survived in various forms to present-day.
|-
| Astrodentistry
| None
| Astrodentistry presumably relates to performing dentistry on astronomical objects. As astronomical bodies do not have teeth,{{Citation needed}} this is impossible to perform, and hence impossible to research.
|-
| Astromassage
| None
| Astromassage can either mean performing massages on astronomical objects, which would be impossible, or performing massages on beings in space. Since there have been no trained massage therapists in space, it is unknown how one can massage a body in space, or how the human body reacts to massages in space.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A table is drawn with seven columns and six rows. Above each column and to the left of each row there is a label. All 42 fields are filled out with a number, except when the number is 0, then it says none in a red font. Above the table there is a large header:]
:<big>Number of search results on Google Scholar</big>
:{|class="wikitable"
|
| Physics
| Chemistry
| Biology
| Engineering
| Psychology
| Theology
| Dentistry
|-
| Theoretical
| 3,990,000
| 445,000
| 553,000
| 2,460
| 15,500
| 726
| 41
|-
| Quantum
| 478,000
| 740,000
| 7,620
| 21,100
| 699
| 447
| ''None'' 
|-
| High-Energy
| 844,000
| 9,600
| 3
| 119
| 1
| ''None'' 
| ''None'' 
|-
| Computational
| 510,000
| 599,000
| 2,910,000
| 67,400
| 4,620
| 40
| 11
|-
| Marine
| 3,920
| 136,000
| 945,000
| 108,000
| 35
| 6
| 1
|-
| Astro-
| 2,010,000
| 20,600
| 226,000
| 430
| 64
| 580
| ''None'' 
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Potential research opportunities: Quantum Dentistry, High-Energy Dentistry, Astrodentistry, and High-Energy Theology

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Google Search]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]
[[Category:Confusion matrices]]

Talk:2251: Alignment Chart Alignment Chart

2025-04-19T02:19:50Z

172.71.219.78:

OK, hope someone will now explain it after I created this page. I'm lost on this one ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

Arrgh, edit conflict! [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 11:55, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the Punnet Square is ''also'' a meme template...[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 15:59, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

I vaguely remember Randall to refer to the clay-sand diagram (or whatever it is called) as his all time favorite diagram on what-if somewhere. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:35, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:You vaguely remember "Starsand" from https://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ with the quote "Fortunately, there's a wonderful chart by the US Geologic Survey that answers all these questions and more. For some reason, I find this chart very satisfying—it's like the erosion geology edition of the electromagnetic spectrum chart." directly applicabe to this chart[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 17:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I fear any attempt to "explain" the CIE chromaticity diagram will devolve into arguments about why Randall chose it. I have found that folks outside the world of optics or neurooptical studies have a hard time understanding why the raw colors available in single wavelengths comprise that short curvy line inside the full colorspace. The way our brain processes the relative signal strengths from the different types of retinal cones is quite amazing. [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:CGW I'm shocked! Surely you know that single-wavelengths are the curvy outer boundary while the inner curvy line shows the response to blackbody spectra. ;-) -Fred [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.61|173.245.52.61]] 19:55, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
::Thanks for that; I was about to question the statement myself. All in all, I feel the current explanation of the chromaticity diagram doesn't really explain much, and seems unnecessarily biased to boot. I know just enough about chromaticity to think it's wrong but not enough to correct it. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 19:58, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
:::I agree that explanation isn't great, if it's not improved when I have free time tonight I'll take a stab at it. Or maybe CelloCGW will, since he IS an optics guru (which is why I had to raz him).[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.61|173.245.52.61]] 20:13, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

@Fred - mea culpa. I should think before writing. Fortunately :-), the ratio of the colorspace to any 1-dimensional line's area is still infinite! [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 20:33, 6 January 2020 (UTC) .... now that someone did post some explanation of CIE, more comments. The current CIE spec may be paywalled, but it has changed little if at all over the last 40 or 50 years, so it's not all that hard to get the values. There are several sites (naturally I've lost the URLs) which provide algos to convert HSM to RGB to HSV and so on. See Wikipedia, https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/003/cie.15.2004.tables.xls , and similar repositories [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 20:44, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

:I redid the CIE explanation - focusing on describing the diagram, rather than one thing it might get used for (e.g. black body). I think the diagrams on the right are labeled chaotic because they are not some neat geometric shape over-all. I didn't really follow much of what was there, so feel free to revive some of it if it seems useful. (My background in color theory comes from computer science and graphics, rather than from physics or hardware design.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.201|162.158.107.201]] 00:57, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
::It's better! Though it might be nice to explain what the x and y coordinates on the CIE diagram represent. (I personally have no clue, even after perusing Wikipedia.) As for chaoticness and shape, really CN and CE are the one two that aren't simple geometric shapes; even CG is a trapezoid. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 15:04, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm only familiar with 4th and 5th edition, but should the "Good/neutral/evil:" axis eplanation be changed to "selfless deeds or selfish deeds"? Good and evil are highly subjective ("One person's 'freedom fighter' is another person's 'terrorist'.") but at least in 5e the axis is explained as risking/sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others (Good) vs. sacrificing others for your own benefit (Evil). Also, the explanation of the CN character may benefit from dividing which parts of the explanation are "chatoic" vs "neutral". Finally the "lacking rhyme or reason" part of chaotic is highly debated within D&D circles. There are certainly people who play that way, but there are also others who feel that chaotic characters have just as much motivation and goals as a lawful or neutral character just that part of their motivation is to act contrarily to Tradition/Authority. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.54|162.158.186.54]] 14:37, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

: It seems from this page that even nerds tend to interpret the alignment system by the ‘common sense’ meaning of the names instead of the detailed explanation. I once simply went through the Wikipedia article, which cited the second edition IIRC: ‘lawful’ means sticking to ''some'' code of conduct, whereas ‘chaotic’ is a pure opportunist or behaves randomly. ‘Good’ and ‘evil’ indeed mean selfless vs selfish deeds, but afaik in one of the official explanations ‘evil’ meant exercising authority over others—so all managers would be ‘evil’ automatically. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 16:42, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I am not sure the phase diagram is for Water - that has nine solid phases. Surely it is merely a simple example.
[[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 16:52, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

As an interesting note, this comic's alt-text also ends with a period inside of a quote. This was discussed at length in the previous comic. [[User:Agrasin|Agrasin]] ([[User talk:Agrasin|talk]]) 16:52, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm just upset that both a soil diagram and the QAPF were included, but not the TAS. Where's the love for extrusive igneous rocks? [[User:Mergelong|Mergelong]] ([[User talk:Mergelong|talk]]) 18:22, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

BTW, I offer my condolences and wish luck to the person who's going to make a transcript of this comic. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 22:28, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

"lawful heterozygous silty liquid" Is this not him being Lawfull, having inherited different forms of a particular gene from each parent, and basically a bag full of salt water? [[User:Nappy|Nappy]] ([[User talk:Nappy|talk]]) 07:51, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

A phase diagram was also used in https://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.7|162.158.89.7]] 08:23, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

The phase diagrams for oxygen and radon look similar to the Lawful Neutral one here. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.166|172.68.34.166]] 23:06, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

Is it coincidence that the evil chaotic diagram looks a bit like a brain? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.9|162.158.158.9]] 10:52, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Made a "real" one using actual picts from the internet based on this comic ... but ALSO using his comic. Meta, meta, meta, maybe? https://imgur.com/gallery/CagOh8s

I'm fairly certain that Randall is classifying himself using the Omnispace classifier, rather than referencing "the true neutral, neutral good, lawful good, and lawful neutral charts in the Alignment Chart Alignment Chart." as the current description suggests. If you look at the Omnispace classifier, Silt, Liquid, Heterozygous, and Lawful Good all share a common point on the chart. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.207|172.69.68.207]] 17:55, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

It is unclear to me why the explanation claims that the chart in the comic is missing the low central vowel ä. The official IPA chart does not include this vowel, and the use of a diaresis to indicate centralization, like all other diacritics for indicating relative articulation, are given in a separate section from the main chart. Granted, the vowel chart on Wikipedia does include ä, but there is no reason that we should expect XKCD to do the same. That said, the omission of ɐ is quite odd, and seems to be an error. {{unsigned|IcarusProblem|01:40, 12 December 2023}}
== Omnispace Classifier ==

I think the Omnispace Classifier is meant to be a horrific Frankenstein amalgamation of the other 8 kinds of chart. Theoretically it can "classify anything" since it can classify anything the other 8 can, but practically it would obviously be totally useless, or at least a lot less useful than just using the specific chart that works for the situation. [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 12:09, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

In the description of the Omnispace Classifier, saying "the diagram created for this comic is considered to be chaotically evil." is wrong. The diagram created for this comic is ''not'' an Omnispace Classifier, it is an alignment chart. It's even in the title "Alignment Chart Alignment Chart". [[User:Pureawes0me|Pureawes0me]] ([[User talk:Pureawes0me|talk]]) 14:11, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
:I concur. [[User:LtPowers|LtPowers]] ([[User talk:LtPowers|talk]]) 15:04, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
I feel the "Omnispace Classifier" is actually chaotic evil due to its mishmash of axes, which change randomly in topic and direction depending where you look on the graph. --[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 17:43, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

== Chart Position Rationale ==

The page currently tries to explain each chart's position based on the content of the chart, e.g. the political compass chart is lawful because politics relates to laws. I think this is wrong: the charts are arranged based on their properties ''as charts''. It's not based on whatever it is they represent. This feels more in character with how Randall tends to do things. It also avoids making a bunch of value judgments about various topics. [[User:Khaim|Khaim]] ([[User talk:Khaim|talk]]) 23:05, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

Possible explanations for each chart:
* Soil chart: Information-dense, continuous, triangular
* Punnett square: Simple, square
* IPA vowel chart: Irregular shape
* Phase diagram: Square, continuous
* Alignment chart: "A is A"
* CIE chromaticity diagram: Irregular shape, ''curved'', nonlinear
* Political compass: Square (lawful), highly subjective, not very useful
* QAPF rock diagram: Diamond shape is misleading since it's actually two ternary charts stuck together, not very useful (unless you're a geologist?)
* Omnispace classifier: Totally made up, irregular, completely useless
[[User:Khaim|Khaim]] ([[User talk:Khaim|talk]]) 23:31, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

:I agree with this, and it's how I first interpreted the comic.--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 23:40, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
:Well, the point is to make any connection to both axis of the chart. Your explanations do not do that properly either. e.g. for IPA vowel chart "Irregular shape" does not explain why it would be considered "good", while it is one of maybe more possible reasons for being considered chaotic. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:39, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

== XKCD Alignment Chart ==

A while back, I was searching for an XKCD alignment chart, with no success, so I made one. It is not perfect, so I'm wondering what other opinions on the alignment of the characters are.

Lawful Good- Beret

Neutral Good- Ponytail

Chaotic Good- Mrs. Roberts

Lawful Neutral-Cueball

Neutral Neutral- Megan

Chaotic Neutral- White hat

Lawful Evil- Hairy

Neutral Evil- Danish

Chaotic Evil- Black Hat

--[[User:Fallencrow305|Fallencrow305]] ([[User talk:Fallencrow305|talk]]) 22:10, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

:What about Help I'm trapped in a drivers license factory Elaine Roberts? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 15:48, 29 September 2016 (UTC)
::Or Hairbun? Or Science Girl? Here are my predictions: Elaine - Chaotic Good, Hairbun - Lawful Good, Science Girl - Lawful Neutral --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 16:00, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

:What? How can Beret Guy be anything other than chaotic?— {{unsigned|}}

:You did:
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! Lawful !! Neutral !! Chaotic
|-
! Good !! Beret || Ponytail || Mrs. Roberts
|-
! Neutral !! Cueball || Megan || White Hat
|-
! Evil !! Hairy || Danish ||Black Hat
|}
:'''[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|speak]] | [[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|museum]]) 18:10, 17 October 2022 (UTC)'''

...while I see the slight logic of moving the above section away from the Main Page "Talk", it is only associated with this Explanation by having a common subject. Perhaps should have been re-asserted under a suitable bit of the Community Portal, or the (Talk of the) umbrella page for all characters? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.147|172.70.86.147]] 15:54, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the Punnett square is neutral because the effect of a genetic combination can be good (resistance to HIV) or evil (Huntington disease). [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:36, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

I object to the soil chart being lawful good. Two of the categories are concave. You can mix sandy loam with sandy loam and get loam, or silt loam with silt loam and get silt. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 07:15, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Popping by here only because of someone discovering a couple of redirect pages were not done, due to failure of the 'BOT of the day. (Was it really only four-and-a-half years ago that we were still pre-theusafBOT?) Good catch, that user! Of course, I still wonder what the Omnispace Classifier Classifier would rationalise as (as per the Omnispace Classifier, but with a subordinate Omnispace Classifier also added to the other eight... perhaps even a recursive OC-Clqssifier, in turn an OCC-Classifier). Idle thought, only, whilst I was noting the wikifixes just done! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.18|172.70.162.18]] 12:21, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

== Changed into Charts --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.219.78|172.71.219.78]] 02:19, 19 April 2025 (UTC) ==
* 2nd - Punnett square replaced as Keyboard Layout
* 5th - Alignment Chart replaced as Periodic Table
* 7th - Political compass replaced as [[Skew-T Log-P]]
* 8th - QAPF rock diagram replaced as [[Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond|NFPA Hazard Diamond]]
* 9th - Onmispace Classifier replaced as Multiplication Table