explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1831: Here to Help

2017-05-03T09:52:28Z

Charliemike: "technical meaning" in the hard problem abstract

{{comic
| number = 1831
| date = May 1, 2017
| title = Here to Help
| image = here_to_help.png
| titletext = "We TOLD you it was hard." "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is the hard problem explanation relevant? The main part of that explain has been moved into a trivia for easier reading to the conclusion at least.}}
This comic is a satire of computer programmers, who sometimes forget that not everything can be solved with an {{w|algorithm}}. In the first panel, [[Megan]] talks about how the field that she and [[Hairy]] works in has a difficult problem that many people have been working on. [[Cueball]], believing that algorithms can solve their problem, tries to help. In the next panel, Megan and Hairy silently watch Cueball working on the problem on his laptop. Finally, six months later, Cueball concedes, and an exasperated Megan retorts sarcastically, pointing out that she had explained its difficulty six months ago with the timeline.

The title text furthers Cueball's apparent arrogance by showing a dialogue. Megan or Hairy says, "We TOLD you it was hard," referring to the first panel, but Cueball, still confident in his own ability's superiority, says, "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard." The joke is that Cueball believes that, even though he has just failed, it was his attempt which proved the difficulty, and not Megan and Hairy's work for years. The dialog references an exchange from the recent film ''{{w|The Imitation Game}}'', in which {{w|Alan Turing|Alan Turing's}} superior claims, "The Americans, the Russians, the French, the Germans, everyone thinks Enigma is unbreakable." and Turing replies, "Good. Let me try and we'll know for sure, won't we?"

The satire, however, applies far beyond computer programmers. It can be read as a political commentary, like in ''[http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-nobody-knew-health-care-could-be-so-complicated.html Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.]'' It is what we'd all like to see when well-meaning advice givers provide the "simple" solution to all our problems, or management provides glib advice from ten thousand feet. It is a commentary on the universal tendency to see problems as simple because we don't know what makes them hard.

In the first place, the satire apparently refers to the mathematical/informatical definition of a "hard problem" (see [[#Trivia|below]]) and its confusion with its trivial understanding as well as to a common misunderstanding about verification/falsification. The plot is that Cueball is an enthusiastic and optimistic programmer but obviously a bad informatics guy because he apparently does not know the technical meaning of a "hard problem" and mixes up the lack of a successful falsification/disproof that a problem is "hard" with a verification/proof. Actually, the formal proof that a problem is "hard" would not be a fail, but an "epic win" (well, maybe not for the disappointed Cueball).

The comic may refer to the false belief that there is a solution algorithm for any problem (see [[#Trivia|below]]).

This may also be referencing IT support call centres ([[806: Tech Support]]), who often act as though complex computer problems can be solved with clichèd solutions such as 'turn it off and back on again'.

This comic calls back to [[793: Physicists]] in central theme.

==Transcript==
:[Megan, standing next to Hairy, is addressing the reader holding her arms out. Cueball walks in from the right.]
:Megan: Our field has been struggling with this problem for years.

:[Cueball holds his laptop high up in one arm above Megan's head while holding his other arm out as well. Megan has turned to look at him.]
:Cueball: Struggle no more! I'm here to solve it with ''algorithms!''

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball sits on a chair at a desk with his laptop working on it, while Hairy and Megan looks on from behind.]

:[Cueball, still sitting at his laptop, points at the screen. Megan raises her arms and four small lines above her head, on either side of her speech line, indicate her annoyance with Cueball.]
:Six months later:
:Cueball: Wow, this problem is really hard.
:Megan: '''''You don't say.'''''

==Trivia==
*'''Hard problem''':
**The trivial understanding of a "problem" is any random task like "make me a webpage" and a "hard problem" means "it takes much effort to solve it". However, the informatical definition of a "problem" is a formal description of a task like "find me the password to a given hash (with a length of N bits)" so it can be solved with an algorithm, i.e. a formal mathematical "how-to" or a piece of program code. A "hard problem" is a problem which can only be solved by "brute force", that means (in this example) you have to try every possible password (2^N possibilities) and check whether its hash matches the given one. A "simple problem" is a one where a "short-cut" algorithm to the "brute force" method exists. There are problems which can be formally proven to be "hard" but, unfortunately, most problems like breaking a certain encryption algorithm can only be hoped to be "hard" or at least not be proven "simple" by finding a "short-cut" too soon. You may prove that a problem is not "hard" by finding such a "short-cut" but you cannot prove it is "hard" by trying and failing (the fact that you didn't find a "short-cut" does not mean there is none).

*'''Set of algorithms''':
**There is a formal proof that the cardinality of the set of problems is greater than the cardinality of the set of algorithms.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1831: Here to Help

2017-05-03T09:47:41Z

Charliemike: added 'see below' link to the set of algorithms explanation

{{comic
| number = 1831
| date = May 1, 2017
| title = Here to Help
| image = here_to_help.png
| titletext = "We TOLD you it was hard." "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is the hard problem explanation relevant? The main part of that explain has been moved into a trivia for easier reading to the conclusion at least.}}
This comic is a satire of computer programmers, who sometimes forget that not everything can be solved with an {{w|algorithm}}. In the first panel, [[Megan]] talks about how the field that she and [[Hairy]] works in has a difficult problem that many people have been working on. [[Cueball]], believing that algorithms can solve their problem, tries to help. In the next panel, Megan and Hairy silently watch Cueball working on the problem on his laptop. Finally, six months later, Cueball concedes, and an exasperated Megan retorts sarcastically, pointing out that she had explained its difficulty six months ago with the timeline.

The title text furthers Cueball's apparent arrogance by showing a dialogue. Megan or Hairy says, "We TOLD you it was hard," referring to the first panel, but Cueball, still confident in his own ability's superiority, says, "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard." The joke is that Cueball believes that, even though he has just failed, it was his attempt which proved the difficulty, and not Megan and Hairy's work for years. The dialog references an exchange from the recent film ''{{w|The Imitation Game}}'', in which {{w|Alan Turing|Alan Turing's}} superior claims, "The Americans, the Russians, the French, the Germans, everyone thinks Enigma is unbreakable." and Turing replies, "Good. Let me try and we'll know for sure, won't we?"

The satire, however, applies far beyond computer programmers. It can be read as a political commentary, like in ''[http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-nobody-knew-health-care-could-be-so-complicated.html Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.]'' It is what we'd all like to see when well-meaning advice givers provide the "simple" solution to all our problems, or management provides glib advice from ten thousand feet. It is a commentary on the universal tendency to see problems as simple because we don't know what makes them hard.

In the first place, the satire apparently refers to the mathematical/informatical definition of a "hard problem" (see [[#Trivia|below]]) and its confusion with its trivial understanding as well as to a common misunderstanding about verification/falsification. The plot is that Cueball is an enthusiastic and optimistic programmer but obviously a bad informatics guy because he apparently does not know what a "hard problem" is and mixes up the lack of a successful falsification/disproof that a problem is "hard" with a verification/proof. Actually, the formal proof that a problem is "hard" would not be a fail, but an "epic win" (well, maybe not for the disappointed Cueball).

The comic may refer to the false belief that there is a solution algorithm for any problem (see [[#Trivia|below]]).

This may also be referencing IT support call centres ([[806: Tech Support]]), who often act as though complex computer problems can be solved with clichèd solutions such as 'turn it off and back on again'.

This comic calls back to [[793: Physicists]] in central theme.

==Transcript==
:[Megan, standing next to Hairy, is addressing the reader holding her arms out. Cueball walks in from the right.]
:Megan: Our field has been struggling with this problem for years.

:[Cueball holds his laptop high up in one arm above Megan's head while holding his other arm out as well. Megan has turned to look at him.]
:Cueball: Struggle no more! I'm here to solve it with ''algorithms!''

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball sits on a chair at a desk with his laptop working on it, while Hairy and Megan looks on from behind.]

:[Cueball, still sitting at his laptop, points at the screen. Megan raises her arms and four small lines above her head, on either side of her speech line, indicate her annoyance with Cueball.]
:Six months later:
:Cueball: Wow, this problem is really hard.
:Megan: '''''You don't say.'''''

==Trivia==
*'''Hard problem''':
**The trivial understanding of a "problem" is any random task like "make me a webpage" and a "hard problem" means "it takes much effort to solve it". However, the informatical definition of a "problem" is a formal description of a task like "find me the password to a given hash (with a length of N bits)" so it can be solved with an algorithm, i.e. a formal mathematical "how-to" or a piece of program code. A "hard problem" is a problem which can only be solved by "brute force", that means (in this example) you have to try every possible password (2^N possibilities) and check whether its hash matches the given one. A "simple problem" is a one where a "short-cut" algorithm to the "brute force" method exists. There are problems which can be formally proven to be "hard" but, unfortunately, most problems like breaking a certain encryption algorithm can only be hoped to be "hard" or at least not be proven "simple" by finding a "short-cut" too soon. You may prove that a problem is not "hard" by finding such a "short-cut" but you cannot prove it is "hard" by trying and failing (the fact that you didn't find a "short-cut" does not mean there is none).

*'''Set of algorithms''':
**There is a formal proof that the cardinality of the set of problems is greater than the cardinality of the set of algorithms.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1831: Here to Help

2017-05-03T09:45:30Z

Charliemike: Added cardinality of set of algorithms. // Of course, Randall being Randall, the formal math part is relevant. Thank you for belowing it to a trivia section -- The hard problem explainer

{{comic
| number = 1831
| date = May 1, 2017
| title = Here to Help
| image = here_to_help.png
| titletext = "We TOLD you it was hard." "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is the hard problem explanation relevant? The main part of that explain has been moved into a trivia for easier reading to the conclusion at least.}}
This comic is a satire of computer programmers, who sometimes forget that not everything can be solved with an {{w|algorithm}}. In the first panel, [[Megan]] talks about how the field that she and [[Hairy]] works in has a difficult problem that many people have been working on. [[Cueball]], believing that algorithms can solve their problem, tries to help. In the next panel, Megan and Hairy silently watch Cueball working on the problem on his laptop. Finally, six months later, Cueball concedes, and an exasperated Megan retorts sarcastically, pointing out that she had explained its difficulty six months ago with the timeline.

The title text furthers Cueball's apparent arrogance by showing a dialogue. Megan or Hairy says, "We TOLD you it was hard," referring to the first panel, but Cueball, still confident in his own ability's superiority, says, "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard." The joke is that Cueball believes that, even though he has just failed, it was his attempt which proved the difficulty, and not Megan and Hairy's work for years. The dialog references an exchange from the recent film ''{{w|The Imitation Game}}'', in which {{w|Alan Turing|Alan Turing's}} superior claims, "The Americans, the Russians, the French, the Germans, everyone thinks Enigma is unbreakable." and Turing replies, "Good. Let me try and we'll know for sure, won't we?"

The satire, however, applies far beyond computer programmers. It can be read as a political commentary, like in ''[http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-nobody-knew-health-care-could-be-so-complicated.html Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.]'' It is what we'd all like to see when well-meaning advice givers provide the "simple" solution to all our problems, or management provides glib advice from ten thousand feet. It is a commentary on the universal tendency to see problems as simple because we don't know what makes them hard.

In the first place, the satire apparently refers to the mathematical/informatical definition of a "hard problem" (see [[#Trivia|below]]) and its confusion with its trivial understanding as well as to a common misunderstanding about verification/falsification. The plot is that Cueball is an enthusiastic and optimistic programmer but obviously a bad informatics guy because he apparently does not know what a "hard problem" is and mixes up the lack of a successful falsification/disproof that a problem is "hard" with a verification/proof. Actually, the formal proof that a problem is "hard" would not be a fail, but an "epic win" (well, maybe not for the disappointed Cueball).

The comic may refer to the false belief that there is a solution algorithm for any problem.

This may also be referencing IT support call centres ([[806: Tech Support]]), who often act as though complex computer problems can be solved with clichèd solutions such as 'turn it off and back on again'.

This comic calls back to [[793: Physicists]] in central theme.

==Transcript==
:[Megan, standing next to Hairy, is addressing the reader holding her arms out. Cueball walks in from the right.]
:Megan: Our field has been struggling with this problem for years.

:[Cueball holds his laptop high up in one arm above Megan's head while holding his other arm out as well. Megan has turned to look at him.]
:Cueball: Struggle no more! I'm here to solve it with ''algorithms!''

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball sits on a chair at a desk with his laptop working on it, while Hairy and Megan looks on from behind.]

:[Cueball, still sitting at his laptop, points at the screen. Megan raises her arms and four small lines above her head, on either side of her speech line, indicate her annoyance with Cueball.]
:Six months later:
:Cueball: Wow, this problem is really hard.
:Megan: '''''You don't say.'''''

==Trivia==
*'''Hard problem''':
**The trivial understanding of a "problem" is any random task like "make me a webpage" and a "hard problem" means "it takes much effort to solve it". However, the informatical definition of a "problem" is a formal description of a task like "find me the password to a given hash (with a length of N bits)" so it can be solved with an algorithm, i.e. a formal mathematical "how-to" or a piece of program code. A "hard problem" is a problem which can only be solved by "brute force", that means (in this example) you have to try every possible password (2^N possibilities) and check whether its hash matches the given one. A "simple problem" is a one where a "short-cut" algorithm to the "brute force" method exists. There are problems which can be formally proven to be "hard" but, unfortunately, most problems like breaking a certain encryption algorithm can only be hoped to be "hard" or at least not be proven "simple" by finding a "short-cut" too soon. You may prove that a problem is not "hard" by finding such a "short-cut" but you cannot prove it is "hard" by trying and failing (the fact that you didn't find a "short-cut" does not mean there is none).

*'''Set of algorithms''':
**There is a formal proof that the cardinality of the set of problems is greater than the cardinality of the set of algorithms.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1831: Here to Help

2017-05-02T10:59:25Z

Charliemike: explanation of the math/informatical joke about a "hard problem"

{{comic
| number = 1831
| date = May 1, 2017
| title = Here to Help
| image = here_to_help.png
| titletext = "We TOLD you it was hard." "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|No details are included. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is a satire of computer programmers, who sometimes forget that not everything can be solved with an {{w|algorithm}}. In the first panel, [[Megan]] talks about how the field that she and [[Hairy]] works in has a difficult problem that many people have been working on. [[Cueball]], believing that algorithms can solve their problem, tries to help. In the next panel, Megan and Hairy silently watch Cueball working on the problem on his laptop. Finally, six months later, Cueball concedes, and an exasperated Megan retorts sarcastically, pointing out that she had explained its difficulty six months ago with the timeline.

The title text furthers Cueball's apparent arrogance by showing a dialogue. Megan or Hairy says, "We TOLD you it was hard," referring to the first panel, but Cueball, still confident in his own ability's superiority, says, "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard." The joke is that Cueball believes that, even though he has just failed, it was his attempt which proved the difficulty, and not Megan and Hairy's work for years. The dialog references an exchange from the recent film ''The Imitation Game'', in which Alan Turing's superior claims, "The Americans, the Russians, the French, the Germans, everyone thinks Enigma is unbreakable." and Turing replies, "Good. Let me try and we'll know for sure, won't we?"

The satire, however, applies far beyond computer programmers. It can be read as a political commentary. ([http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-nobody-knew-health-care-could-be-so-complicated.html "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."]) It is what we'd all like to see when well-meaning advice givers provide the "simple" solution to all our problems, or management provides glib advice from ten thousand feet. It is a commentary on the universal tendency to see problems as simple because we don't know what makes them hard.

In the first place, the satire apperently refers to the mathematical/informatical definition of a "hard problem" and its confusion with its trivial understanding as well as to a common misunderstanding about verification/falsification. The trivial understanding of a "problem" is any random task like "make me a webpage" and a "hard problem" means "it takes much effort to solve it". However, the informatical definition of a "problem" is a formal description of a task like "find me the password to a given hash (with a length of N bits)" so it can be solved with an algorithm, i.e. a formal mathematical "how-to" or a piece of program code. A "hard problem" is a problem which can only be solved by "brute force", that means (in this example) you have to try every possible password (2^N possibilities) and check whether its hash matches the given one. A "simple problem" is a one where a "short-cut" algorithm to the "brute force" method exisits. There are problems which can be formally proven to be "hard" but, unfortunately, most problems like breaking a certain encryption algorithm can only be hoped to be "hard" or at least not be proven "simple" by finding a "short-cut" too soon. You may prove that a problem is not "hard" by finding such a "short-cut" but you cannot prove it is "hard" by trying and failing (the fact that you didn't find a "short-cut" does not mean there is none). The plot is that Cueball is an enthusiastic and optimistic programmer but obviously a bad informatics guy because he apperently does not know what a "hard problem" is and mixes up the lack of a successful falsification/disproof that a problem is "hard" with a verification/proof. Actually, the formal proof that a problem is "hard" would not be a fail, but an "epic win" (well, maybe not for the disappointed Cueball).

This comic may also be a subtle reference to [[793: Physicists]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Is this complete?}}
'''Megan:''' (speaking to Hairy) Our field has been struggling with this problem for years.

'''Cueball:''' Struggle no more! I'm here to solve it with ''algorithms!''

''[beat panel]''

'''Caption:''' Six months later:<br/>
'''Cueball:''' Wow, this problem is really hard.<br/>
'''Megan:''' ''You don't say.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]