explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3116: Echo Chamber

2026-04-30T20:25:33Z

2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C: defending Mittens from slander

Sorry no " somehow also causing the events themselves to happen repeatedly" is wrong; the point is that people post videos of their cats doing "things" repeatedly; that's just what happens, not an implied effect of the echo chamber itself. [[Special:Contributions/31.54.45.20|31.54.45.20]] 08:39, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
: Weird things happen in xkcd-land. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:14, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
: I removed that text. Makes no sense. --[[Special:Contributions/181.234.89.171|181.234.89.171]] 23:06, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
:: Makes more sense than the reference to the dress. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:08, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

What has {{w|The dress}} got to do with an eco chamber? Seems like a poor example. [[Special:Contributions/192.101.166.237|192.101.166.237]] 09:51, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
: Agree. It was an optical illusion that people even very close together, perceived differently, nothing to do with echoing each other's arguments. --[[User:Jarfil|Jarfil]] ([[User talk:Jarfil|talk]]) 13:40, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
: Ahh, the good old days. When the color of a dress was the internets biggest controversy. [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.35|130.76.187.35]] 15:28, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I think the "purely partisan fishing expedition" might be the other way around: Cueball expected an expedition where actual fishing would happen, but got into a "purely partisan" or metaphorical "fishing expedition". --[[User:Jarfil|Jarfil]] ([[User talk:Jarfil|talk]]) 13:40, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
: I agree on that front. Additionally, I'm not sure where the "fishing poles made from polearms" thing is coming from, since the actual joke here is almost certainly a reference to the practice of {{w|Spearfishing}}, with "purely partisan" implying that it's spearfishing done strictly with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partisan_(weapon) partisans]. [[User:Wote|Wote]] ([[User talk:Wote|talk]]) 15:05, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
: Based on the echo chamber example, it would be some weird combination of the two - like he went on an actual fishing trip, but all they caught was caches of documents exposing someone's smalltime transgressions. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 16:34, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I've been near the center of a very echo-y solid walled spherical dome. Basically the real version of this cartoon but more like 5-7 persons tall. This one was used for the projection surface of a flight training device. The acoustics near the center are just WEIRD. Your voice comes back to you as if you were speaking directly into your own ear but somebody just a few feet away sound as if they're halfway across the room. It's ... unsettling but a neat experience. [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.35|130.76.187.35]] 15:02, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Am I the only one who read "partisan fishing expedition" and thought the joke was that it meant everyone was crowded over to either the "left" or the "right" side of the boat, causing it to capsize? Yes? Okay then. [[User:MeZimm|MeZimm]] ([[User talk:MeZimm|talk]]) 21:11, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

I think important for the interpretation of the title text is to understand the usage of the word "purely", if interpreted in the literal sense. As Wote said, it could refer to the partisan as a weapon. Then it would not be allowed to use other weapons or means for catching the fishes. The members being partisans would make the joke much less funny, as both meanings (literal and metaphorical) would be the same or close. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/88.217.185.170|88.217.185.170]] 11:42, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

My interpretation of "purely partisan fishing expedition" is that it is meant to be an extreme example of an "echo chamber" where all of the members are like-minded and of the same political party so there are no contrary opinions to there zeal to uncover dirt about someone in the "other party". Because of the zeal of their partisan opinions the result would be the most severely intense experience of an echo chamber. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 16:13, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

This is part 2 in an alleged "I built ..." series, after [[2988]] (or have I overlooked more?). Worth a category? --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:587:B01:9769:D180:4D41:151B|2001:A62:587:B01:9769:D180:4D41:151B]] 19:32, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
:As possibly outliers to the "I built..." class might be [[2429]] and [[2460]], perhaps. Although think that those aren't quite so similar to your two as your two are to each other. Maybe a proto-sequence/pairing, at least until another example arises that aligns well against both of them and makes it a more obvious set. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:55, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
::For a broader “Taking metaphors literally” category (explicit and meta), among others also [[1120]] and [[2674]] qualify, maybe also [[1639]]. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:587:B01:4B9A:861E:76A8:C159|2001:A62:587:B01:4B9A:861E:76A8:C159]] 07:55, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

Maybe Mittens likes being in the laundry hamper, why does OP keep removing them? [[Special:Contributions/2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C|2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C]] 20:25, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3137: Cursed Number

2026-04-30T20:13:33Z

2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C: fdiv bug

Warning! Do not read! 421827639108237885847650045004 --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 22:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:Oh no, too late! bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
::Well, at least you knew that reading the string "bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf" was the only antidote! [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Maybe it's safe if you read it scientifically? ~4.218276391088547650045x1029?--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:43, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Edit: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:44, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:isn't it just 854327335721902̷̨̧͉̼̲̒͛́̏͑̃͊͗̃̈́̎́̕͝4̷̝͉̹̜̘͎͕̬̞͔̣̠̘̆̒̅̂̈̾͆̂̎̓̽̒͂͆̚5̴͈̬̙̂̈́̈͊́͝2̸̡͈̘̼̼͇̙̣͎͚̀̆̃͆̉̍͋̉͘̕͜͝8̴̨͔̣̍̆̇̍̓̾̿͛͋̀̈̈́͠͝7̴̢̧̟̘̠͙̮̘͕͕͈̹̆͌̀̋̋̔͜͠5̷̟̼͉̯̹̜̬̜̦͕̭̺͙́̈̅͒̑̏̏͑̔̍̌͘͝͠͝ͅͅ6̵̟͔̦͙̘̞̙̫͈̩̠̰̎͒̒̒̌͌̽̑̓̚3̷̢͈͕͚̦̰͇̳̥̂̂͒̔́̈́̈́̾̅̌̚2̸̧̦͔͔͕̞̝͍̼̳̪̎͌̈̈́́͌̃͛̕͠9̷̢̟̖̦̭͕̬̜̝̼͖̋̀̂̆̌͐0̷̛̺̭̹̰͌́̑̕1̶̛̛͓̜̦̻̰̪͓̱̝̫͎͍̲̾͌̀̐̍̒̍͌̇͂͑? {{unsigned ip|37.40.140.119|15:43, 10 October 2025}}

Not pictured - an MTF team breaking into the compound and abducting the original authors while clean-up arrives with amnestics. {{unsigned|Xurkitree10|10:25, 4 September 2025}}
: An MtF team wielding Blahaj and Monster Energy, breaking into the compound and abducting the transphobic authors [[Special:Contributions/2601:19B:4287:6680:FD8B:1D14:2B2:50F4|2601:19B:4287:6680:FD8B:1D14:2B2:50F4]] 01:13, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 23:50, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
: I'm a German. You <snicker> did this on purpose <guffaw> right? AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E|2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E]] 09:00, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:: What? That's {{W|The Funniest Joke in the World}}. [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 14:27, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
: Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput! [[Special:Contributions/2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C|2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C]] 20:09, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, I—BAHAHAHAHA《プロキシ》(XKCD中毒者) 21:11, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

This comic is the best comic in a while [[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug Pentium FDIV Bug] is a math error when handling specific rarely-encountered numbers. {footnote: over 30 years ago!!} No FDIV deaths are reported, but we might not know. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 00:20, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:ahaha 0.1+0.2 goes brrt (e.g. = 0,30000000000000004) [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:: FWIW the double-precision value closest to 0.1 is exactly 0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625 (that's 7205759403792794/256) [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 14:57, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:: It wasn't a normal floating point rounding thing, but rather an error in a lookup table used *recursively* in division calculations -- it could cause errors as early as the fourth decimal point when dividing two 7-digit integers (and possibly earlier with different, more complicated inputs). it was really bad [[Special:Contributions/2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C|2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C]] 20:13, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

I have a different interpretation of this comic than the one in the explanation. See, I think it makes more sense that due to the infinite nature of numbers, it can be said that there may exist one that happens to be a severe cognitohazard, rather than there certainly being one such number in the comic's universe. [[User:HoneyBadger|HoneyBadger]] ([[User talk:HoneyBadger|talk]]) 01:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I found this number years ago, while reading a hexadecimal dump of an image file, and yes, it is just as potent, possibly more so, in hexadecimal. Want to know what it is? It starts (in hex of course) DEADFACEABEDEFACEDAFADEDBADBEADEDBEDAD before going off into more ‘normal’ digits. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044|2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044]] 03:42, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Oh, magic numbers. What about a ''0x31124837h'' pointer?  [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

SCP nerd here, I think the article should link to a different SCP. SCP-033 isn't really a good example of a cognitohazard, since it affects written/digital storage, not the mind/brain. [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-012 SCP-012] for example would be a closer fit. (CW: somewhat graphic self harm) --[[User:Muno|Muno]] ([[User talk:Muno|talk]]) 04:45, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Speaking of SCP, there's one that's very similar to this. Unfortunately it's only available in Japanese, [http://scp-jp.wikidot.com/scp-1051-jp SCP-1051-JP]. It is about large prime numbers that causes death if viewed while being recognized as a prime number. [[Special:Contributions/124.144.180.57|124.144.180.57]] 16:29, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

If one supposes that reading the cursed number inside another number is also bad, then for you to have at most a 1/2 chance of reading it in a string of numbers with the bounds given in the comic, you would have to read 1.8*10^21 digits strung together [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:15, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:I got a lower bound of 3.12E15 digits, assuming the number is aperiodic. [[Special:Contributions/216.171.48.25|216.171.48.25]] 13:14, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Taking an average reading speed of 40 digits per second, that would take the reader a trillion years. [[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 07:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
::Good. Trillion years divided by 9 billion people still gives 111.(1) years of non-stop reading. [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

This also exists for computer science in the form of weird code《プロキシ》(XKCD中毒者) 21:11, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash features a visual "virus" that causes neurological damage to hacker's minds when they see a carefully crafted image. This XKCD might be a slight reference to this, too. {{unsigned ip|91.233.139.14|10:31, 4 September 2025}}
:Another literary example would Max Barry's ''{{w|Lexicon (novel)|Lexicon}}''. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:28, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Strange that nobody mentioned [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-001 SCP-001]. Also {{w|BLIT_(short_story)|BLIT}} is related obviously --[[Special:Contributions/2A06:C701:4D78:0:7F56:89BF:2BB3:1DA0|2A06:C701:4D78:0:7F56:89BF:2BB3:1DA0]] 12:13, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Wait, it's a real, nonnegative number? Dammit, I was WAY off! [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 14:13, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:I take psychic damage when I see -1 after spending way too much time writing a function that only expects positive integers with no error handling (I'm not very good) [[Special:Contributions/174.77.66.51|174.77.66.51]] 16:58, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
::Speaking of bad error handling, one of the first programs I made was a country-building simulator. I had a friend play it. A prompt asked how much of the national budget to put into the navy. My friend misunderstood the prompt COMPLETELY and typed in "boats" and the program proceeded to spam output with "boatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboats" millions of time, took up all the processing time and made the PC unusable until the entire OS crashed. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 20:36, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Should we include Roko's Basilisk in the list of information hazards? Just feels like it's relevant. {{unsigned ip|216.93.213.106|16:59, 4 September 2025}}
: Or manual breathing. [[Special:Contributions/172.58.113.84|172.58.113.84]] 17:19, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

According to jewish mysticism, there is a name of god of length 216 letters/numbers that let you conjure. Also referred to in the movie Pi {{unsigned|DaveK|18:30, 4 September 2025}}

New around here but... I just added a paragrap explaining that 128-bit numbers (or up to 39 decimal digits) are more common than Randall suggests. I'd be surprised if he was surprised by this. Start of a new series...? Or maybe I'm overthinking it. [[User:Tsgsh|Tsgsh]] ([[User talk:Tsgsh|talk]]) 20:46, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Is this comic possibly in reference to the recent developments in the Busy Beaver problem? (Taken ad absurdum, of course.) --[[Special:Contributions/2600:8800:FF0E:400:1455:42BD:D223:A669|2600:8800:FF0E:400:1455:42BD:D223:A669]] 00:20, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I feel like there's a separate joke here. Mathmeticians are going insane, so they form a (questionable) theory that a cursed number is the cause -- when in fact it likely has something to do with the field of mathematics itself. I remember my math professor from college saying something along the lines of "Math isn't a mentally safe profession, quite a number of us loose our minds."

So the cursed number is a red-herring. The title text alludes to this fact: that mathematicians will intentionally go down paths that lead to insanity because they feel drawn towards it. {{unsigned ip|67.190.17.105|14:16, 5 September 2025}}

Regarding the bit in the explanation about representations of the cursed number in different bases, presumably it is the specific string of characters that is cursed. Otherwise, I could declare 10 to be in the cursed number base, and then ... chaos. Surely someone would have done that by now. And if it *is* a specific string of characters, the cursed number thus has a different value in different bases - consider that if the cursed string is 123, then I could write that in base 10 to have a value of 123d, or I could write that in base 4 to have a value of 99d, etc. [[Special:Contributions/163.116.254.46|163.116.254.46]] 16:52, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

10^22 has 23 digits (one 1 and twentytwo 0s), so "greater than a 10^22, or 10 sextillion" should be corrected to "greater than 10^21, or a sextillion". [[Special:Contributions/84.208.77.216|84.208.77.216]] 19:30, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I think part of the humor/joke is that mathematics had so few PSA in real life compared to other scientific fields. The only one I can think of was about what probabilities mean during covid. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C|2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C]] 22:06, 5 September 2025 (UTC)
: I agree. I think the idea is similar to XKCD 208 ("Everybody Stand Back. I know Regular Expressions."). Here the mathematicians' efforts to put bounderies on seemingly pointless numbers has some real world importance.[[User:Aqua-chestnut|Aqua-chestnut]] ([[User talk:Aqua-chestnut|talk]]) 13:13, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

This is a similar concept to the short story Different Kinds of Darkness, by David Langford. --[[Special:Contributions/35.143.89.131|35.143.89.131]] 01:01, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3137: Cursed Number

2026-04-30T20:09:40Z

2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C: finish The Joke

Warning! Do not read! 421827639108237885847650045004 --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 22:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:Oh no, too late! bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
::Well, at least you knew that reading the string "bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf" was the only antidote! [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Maybe it's safe if you read it scientifically? ~4.218276391088547650045x1029?--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:43, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Edit: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:44, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:isn't it just 854327335721902̷̨̧͉̼̲̒͛́̏͑̃͊͗̃̈́̎́̕͝4̷̝͉̹̜̘͎͕̬̞͔̣̠̘̆̒̅̂̈̾͆̂̎̓̽̒͂͆̚5̴͈̬̙̂̈́̈͊́͝2̸̡͈̘̼̼͇̙̣͎͚̀̆̃͆̉̍͋̉͘̕͜͝8̴̨͔̣̍̆̇̍̓̾̿͛͋̀̈̈́͠͝7̴̢̧̟̘̠͙̮̘͕͕͈̹̆͌̀̋̋̔͜͠5̷̟̼͉̯̹̜̬̜̦͕̭̺͙́̈̅͒̑̏̏͑̔̍̌͘͝͠͝ͅͅ6̵̟͔̦͙̘̞̙̫͈̩̠̰̎͒̒̒̌͌̽̑̓̚3̷̢͈͕͚̦̰͇̳̥̂̂͒̔́̈́̈́̾̅̌̚2̸̧̦͔͔͕̞̝͍̼̳̪̎͌̈̈́́͌̃͛̕͠9̷̢̟̖̦̭͕̬̜̝̼͖̋̀̂̆̌͐0̷̛̺̭̹̰͌́̑̕1̶̛̛͓̜̦̻̰̪͓̱̝̫͎͍̲̾͌̀̐̍̒̍͌̇͂͑? {{unsigned ip|37.40.140.119|15:43, 10 October 2025}}

Not pictured - an MTF team breaking into the compound and abducting the original authors while clean-up arrives with amnestics. {{unsigned|Xurkitree10|10:25, 4 September 2025}}
: An MtF team wielding Blahaj and Monster Energy, breaking into the compound and abducting the transphobic authors [[Special:Contributions/2601:19B:4287:6680:FD8B:1D14:2B2:50F4|2601:19B:4287:6680:FD8B:1D14:2B2:50F4]] 01:13, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 23:50, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
: I'm a German. You <snicker> did this on purpose <guffaw> right? AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E|2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E]] 09:00, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:: What? That's {{W|The Funniest Joke in the World}}. [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 14:27, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
: Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput! [[Special:Contributions/2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C|2600:1700:946:7000:A8C8:9A1C:6D1F:790C]] 20:09, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, I—BAHAHAHAHA《プロキシ》(XKCD中毒者) 21:11, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

This comic is the best comic in a while [[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug Pentium FDIV Bug] is a math error when handling specific rarely-encountered numbers. {footnote: over 30 years ago!!} No FDIV deaths are reported, but we might not know. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 00:20, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:ahaha 0.1+0.2 goes brrt (e.g. = 0,30000000000000004) [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:: FWIW the double-precision value closest to 0.1 is exactly 0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625 (that's 7205759403792794/256) [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 14:57, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I have a different interpretation of this comic than the one in the explanation. See, I think it makes more sense that due to the infinite nature of numbers, it can be said that there may exist one that happens to be a severe cognitohazard, rather than there certainly being one such number in the comic's universe. [[User:HoneyBadger|HoneyBadger]] ([[User talk:HoneyBadger|talk]]) 01:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I found this number years ago, while reading a hexadecimal dump of an image file, and yes, it is just as potent, possibly more so, in hexadecimal. Want to know what it is? It starts (in hex of course) DEADFACEABEDEFACEDAFADEDBADBEADEDBEDAD before going off into more ‘normal’ digits. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044|2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044]] 03:42, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Oh, magic numbers. What about a ''0x31124837h'' pointer?  [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

SCP nerd here, I think the article should link to a different SCP. SCP-033 isn't really a good example of a cognitohazard, since it affects written/digital storage, not the mind/brain. [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-012 SCP-012] for example would be a closer fit. (CW: somewhat graphic self harm) --[[User:Muno|Muno]] ([[User talk:Muno|talk]]) 04:45, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Speaking of SCP, there's one that's very similar to this. Unfortunately it's only available in Japanese, [http://scp-jp.wikidot.com/scp-1051-jp SCP-1051-JP]. It is about large prime numbers that causes death if viewed while being recognized as a prime number. [[Special:Contributions/124.144.180.57|124.144.180.57]] 16:29, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

If one supposes that reading the cursed number inside another number is also bad, then for you to have at most a 1/2 chance of reading it in a string of numbers with the bounds given in the comic, you would have to read 1.8*10^21 digits strung together [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:15, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:I got a lower bound of 3.12E15 digits, assuming the number is aperiodic. [[Special:Contributions/216.171.48.25|216.171.48.25]] 13:14, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Taking an average reading speed of 40 digits per second, that would take the reader a trillion years. [[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 07:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
::Good. Trillion years divided by 9 billion people still gives 111.(1) years of non-stop reading. [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

This also exists for computer science in the form of weird code《プロキシ》(XKCD中毒者) 21:11, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash features a visual "virus" that causes neurological damage to hacker's minds when they see a carefully crafted image. This XKCD might be a slight reference to this, too. {{unsigned ip|91.233.139.14|10:31, 4 September 2025}}
:Another literary example would Max Barry's ''{{w|Lexicon (novel)|Lexicon}}''. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:28, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Strange that nobody mentioned [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-001 SCP-001]. Also {{w|BLIT_(short_story)|BLIT}} is related obviously --[[Special:Contributions/2A06:C701:4D78:0:7F56:89BF:2BB3:1DA0|2A06:C701:4D78:0:7F56:89BF:2BB3:1DA0]] 12:13, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Wait, it's a real, nonnegative number? Dammit, I was WAY off! [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 14:13, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:I take psychic damage when I see -1 after spending way too much time writing a function that only expects positive integers with no error handling (I'm not very good) [[Special:Contributions/174.77.66.51|174.77.66.51]] 16:58, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
::Speaking of bad error handling, one of the first programs I made was a country-building simulator. I had a friend play it. A prompt asked how much of the national budget to put into the navy. My friend misunderstood the prompt COMPLETELY and typed in "boats" and the program proceeded to spam output with "boatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboats" millions of time, took up all the processing time and made the PC unusable until the entire OS crashed. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 20:36, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Should we include Roko's Basilisk in the list of information hazards? Just feels like it's relevant. {{unsigned ip|216.93.213.106|16:59, 4 September 2025}}
: Or manual breathing. [[Special:Contributions/172.58.113.84|172.58.113.84]] 17:19, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

According to jewish mysticism, there is a name of god of length 216 letters/numbers that let you conjure. Also referred to in the movie Pi {{unsigned|DaveK|18:30, 4 September 2025}}

New around here but... I just added a paragrap explaining that 128-bit numbers (or up to 39 decimal digits) are more common than Randall suggests. I'd be surprised if he was surprised by this. Start of a new series...? Or maybe I'm overthinking it. [[User:Tsgsh|Tsgsh]] ([[User talk:Tsgsh|talk]]) 20:46, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Is this comic possibly in reference to the recent developments in the Busy Beaver problem? (Taken ad absurdum, of course.) --[[Special:Contributions/2600:8800:FF0E:400:1455:42BD:D223:A669|2600:8800:FF0E:400:1455:42BD:D223:A669]] 00:20, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I feel like there's a separate joke here. Mathmeticians are going insane, so they form a (questionable) theory that a cursed number is the cause -- when in fact it likely has something to do with the field of mathematics itself. I remember my math professor from college saying something along the lines of "Math isn't a mentally safe profession, quite a number of us loose our minds."

So the cursed number is a red-herring. The title text alludes to this fact: that mathematicians will intentionally go down paths that lead to insanity because they feel drawn towards it. {{unsigned ip|67.190.17.105|14:16, 5 September 2025}}

Regarding the bit in the explanation about representations of the cursed number in different bases, presumably it is the specific string of characters that is cursed. Otherwise, I could declare 10 to be in the cursed number base, and then ... chaos. Surely someone would have done that by now. And if it *is* a specific string of characters, the cursed number thus has a different value in different bases - consider that if the cursed string is 123, then I could write that in base 10 to have a value of 123d, or I could write that in base 4 to have a value of 99d, etc. [[Special:Contributions/163.116.254.46|163.116.254.46]] 16:52, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

10^22 has 23 digits (one 1 and twentytwo 0s), so "greater than a 10^22, or 10 sextillion" should be corrected to "greater than 10^21, or a sextillion". [[Special:Contributions/84.208.77.216|84.208.77.216]] 19:30, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I think part of the humor/joke is that mathematics had so few PSA in real life compared to other scientific fields. The only one I can think of was about what probabilities mean during covid. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C|2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C]] 22:06, 5 September 2025 (UTC)
: I agree. I think the idea is similar to XKCD 208 ("Everybody Stand Back. I know Regular Expressions."). Here the mathematicians' efforts to put bounderies on seemingly pointless numbers has some real world importance.[[User:Aqua-chestnut|Aqua-chestnut]] ([[User talk:Aqua-chestnut|talk]]) 13:13, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

This is a similar concept to the short story Different Kinds of Darkness, by David Langford. --[[Special:Contributions/35.143.89.131|35.143.89.131]] 01:01, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)