https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=81.218.33.181explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-07-10T01:24:28ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1215:_Insight&diff=381321215: Insight2013-05-22T08:38:29Z<p>81.218.33.181: Explanation</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1215<br />
| date = May 22, 2013<br />
| title = Insight<br />
| image = insight.png<br />
| titletext = The great thing is, the sentence is really just a reminder to the listener to worry about whatever aspects of the technology they&#39;re already feeling alarmist about, which in their mind gives you credit for addressing their biggest anxieties.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
Hat guy is giving a profound insight into <Google Glass>. This insight, however, can be given, sounding just as profound, for any other new technology that comes around (hence the angled brackets around ''Google Glass''). This, of course, means it is not profound at all, as it has no actual insight into Google Glass (or any other technology).<br />
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The alt text hilights a common trait of human listeners. The above sentence is constructed in such a way as to trigger the listener's reservations from the new technology. The sentence sounds profound, not because it has any actual insights, but because it causes the listener to fill in the missing insights with his own, pre-existing, thoughts on the matter. Not only does this cause cueball to regard hat guy as insightful, but it also causes cueball to think hat guy agrees with whatever it is that cueball fears <Google Glass> for.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:Maybe before we rush to adopt &lt;google glass&gt; we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives.<br />
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Don't have any insights about a new technology? Just use this sentence! It makes you sound wise and you can say it about virtually anything.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>81.218.33.181