explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

635: Locke and Demosthenes

2024-07-06T22:49:23Z

DocJens: /* Explanation */ Never said it was Peter

{{comic
| number = 635
| date = September 11, 2009
| title = Locke and Demosthenes
| image = locke_and_demosthenes.png
| titletext = Dear Peter Wiggin: This letter is to inform you that you have received enough up votes on your reddit comments to become president of the world. Please be at the UN tomorrow at 8:00 sharp.}}

==Explanation==
This comic recasts a scene from {{w|Ender's Game}}, by {{w|Orson Scott Card}}. This is shown in the first two panels depicting the siblings '''Locke and Demosthenes''', as [[Cueball]] and the girl. Their real names are Peter and Valentine Wiggin (and these first names are used in the [http://xkcd.com/635/info.0.json official transcript] on xkcd). In the book these two kids write their opinions on their world's version of the internet to gain extreme political influence. Below is a synopsis:

'''Spoiler alert!''' 
In the book, Ender is an above-average-intelligence boy who is selected to become a potential leader of Earth's "Defense" Forces in the event of another {{w|Formics|Bugger}} invasion (later re-titled the Formic invasions). Meanwhile, Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine decide to save the world from itself. They do this by asserting themselves as wise demagogues who comment on political events on what are known as the "free nets" which are nets open to comment by anyone in the world. They choose pseudonyms to write under, as no one would take the words of children seriously, choosing {{w|John Locke|Locke}} (Peter's pseudonym), and {{w|Demosthenes}} (Valentine's). Eventually they gain enough respect to be invited to participate in moderated political debates in the higher-class nets. By the end of the book, Peter has become the leader of the world, and Valentine runs away with Ender to a planet formerly inhabited by Buggers to live out their lives in peace.
 '''End spoiler alert!'''

''Ender's Game'' was published in 1985, when most people had never used (and some had never heard of) the internet. The first webpage set up with individual personal opinions (leaving out forums and bulletin board services) was online in 1994, the word "weblog" was invented in 1997 and "blog" in 1999. When Orson Scott Card wrote ''Ender's Game'', Peter and Valentine's plan was based on a sci-fi idea expected to occur in the near future.

However, this apparently science-fictional future concept is now just the mundane (and extremely un-influential) act of blogging. In 1985, Orson Scott Card's idea of how politics works in practice may have seemed a little naive, but now that blogging is an everyday phenomenon, Peter and Valentine's aspirations seem downright silly. We see their plan to win vast political influence manifest itself as a WordPress blog, and a particularly unimportant one at that, with 0 comments on most posts.

The joke hinges on the underwhelming reversal of Peter and Valentine's expectations. It forms both a parody of science fiction that has been rendered outdated by technology, and also a parody of the expectations well-intentioned people have going onto the internet to express their opinions.

The titles of Peter's blog posts parody the arrogance of internet commentators, with names beginning with things like "Everyone's wrong about..." This further underscores the lack of influence his WordPress blog would have and his naivete, as this is a typically unconvincing way to speak to people about politics, but someone with the arrogance to think everyone will naturally see their genius and insist they are put in charge of the world would not realise it.

In the bottom right corner, there are links to other blogs. One is for Demosthenes, but the other is for {{w|FiveThirtyEight}}, a political blog founded by [[Nate Silver]] in 2008, more than a year before this comic was released. It was still owned by Nate in 2009, the year of this comic's release, but in 2010 the blog became a licensed feature of The {{w|New York Times}} online and in July 2013, {{w|ESPN}} announced that it would become the owner. The blog takes its name from the number of electors in the United States electoral college: 538. It is a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging. Nate Silver has been [[:Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver|referenced]], several times in xkcd, though mainly in the title text, before this comic for instance in [[500: Election]].

The title text uses Locke's full name, Peter Wiggin, and is formed as a short letter that informs him that he has become the president of the world, and that he should meet tomorrow 8:00 sharp at the {{w|United Nations}} (UN) headquarters. This is either a very child-like representation of how a presidential appointment might be announced or a sarcastic comment someone has left on his blog — either way, further riffing on the naivete of the plan in the first place. Also note that the note is addressed to "Peter" rather than "Locke"; Peter's attempt to remain anonymous has failed miserably.

During their conversation, Peter is shown feeding a squirrel. In ''Ender's Game'' the character of Peter Wiggin is a sadistic sociopath - and there is a particular scene in the book where Valentine stumbles across a squirrel skinned by Peter still twitching in pain.

xkcd has referenced Ender's Game before this, specifically in [[241: Battle Room]], dealing with Ender's experience during his training, and [[304: Nighttime Stories]], dealing with the sequels to Ender's Game.

==Transcript==
:[The "real" names and the fact that the squirrel is vomiting comes from the official [http://xkcd.com/635/info.0.json transcript] on xkcd.]

:[Valentine (a.k.a. Demosthenes, with long dark hair), is laying on her back on the ground looking up at the sky with her hands behind her head. Peter (a.k.a. Locke, looking like Cueball) is attracting a squirrel with some food his hand.]
:Valentine: Ender's up there saving the world, but down here it's falling apart politically. What can we do?

:[Peter turns towards and sits down, leaning back on one hand. Valentine sits up in a similar position. Her hair looks like a mix between Megan and Hairbun's hair. The squirrel behind Peter is bending over the food Peter has thrown out for it.]
:Peter: I know — we get on the nets and anonymously post political opinions. People reading our articles will see our intelligence, recognize how clear and logical our arguments are, and insist that we be put in charge, so we can fix everything!
:Valentine: Brilliant!

:[Beneath the first two panel is large panel displaying a blog page. The background is light gray and then there are four white rectangular sections with rounded corners.]
:[There is a heading in the top central section:]
:<big><big>'''Locke'''</big></big>
:<big>Powered by Wordpress</big>

:[Below is the largest section, which extends below the panel. It has a scroll bar to the right which is partly scrolled down. The last sentence of a post can be seen at the top, with a time stamp below. Then follows the heading of a new post and the first line of this, which is partly cut off at the bottom of the panel:]
:which is why we must reach out to the Russian leadership.
::Posted at 3:15AM by Locke
::Comments (0)
:<big>'''The Problem with China'''</big>
:In recent months much has been made of

:[To the right is two sidebars. The top one shows recent posts:]
:Recent posts:
:>> A few thoughts on...
::Comments (0)
:>> Russian Aggression...
::Comments (1)
:>> Trade policy and the...
::Comments (0)
:>> And one more thing...
::Comments (0)
:>> Everyone's wrong about...
::Comments (1)

:[Below this is list of links to other websites, this section also extends below the panel. The second link is partly cut off at the bottom of the panel, so it is not possible to see that this is probably also underlined:]
:Blogroll:
:>> Demosthenes
:>> FiveThirtyEight

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category: Ender's Game]]

505: A Bunch of Rocks

2024-06-21T16:14:08Z

DocJens: /* Explanation */ Got rid of ambiguity regarding whether the novelette and Surreal Numbers: were the same novelette.

{{comic
| number = 505
| date = November 17, 2008
| title = A Bunch of Rocks
| image = a_bunch_of_rocks.png
| titletext = I call Rule 34 on Wolfram's Rule 34.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] awakens to find himself trapped for eternity in an endless expanse of sand and rocks. At first, he uses this time to derive all of mathematics and physics, plus more, including {{w|quantum mechanics}} and {{w|general relativity}}. Next Cueball creates a computer that can process any possible function, out of rocks and rules for the interaction between rocks. He then simulates a particle followed by the interactions between particles, followed by the entire universe. The amount of time it takes to simulate the change in the universe merely from one instant to the next takes an extremely long time, as the time it takes to update just one row of rocks would be eons, assuming a realistic time to place each rock.

Cueball is using the rocks to build a {{w|cellular automaton}}, a computational model based on simple rules to advance from one state to the next. Certain cellular automata are {{w|Turing-complete}}, which means that they can be used to represent any conceivable algorithm if expanded infinitely, including simulating the physics of the universe. He specifically seems to be running Wolfram's {{w|Rule 110}}, which is capable of universal computation. When using Rule 110 for universal computation, one builds a background pattern, which can be seen in the comic as the pattern of smaller triangles, and then performs computation by sending out "rockets" to collide and interact with each other. Cueball can simulate the functioning of an entire universe because he has unlimited time and space (and rocks).

Cueball then apologizes for any flaws we see in the simulation. This implies that the audience is living in Cueball's simulation, making Cueball essentially God, and that he might make mistakes along the way. The final frame cuts to a classroom where a bored student stares at his hands waiting for class to end. Cueball admonishes the student for thinking that class is lasting forever, the joke being that the boredom felt in a classroom is nothing compared to the boredom that inspires Cueball to spend his endless time toiling to keep the universe moving. Indeed, the minutes of lecture actually took many "billions and billions of millennia" for Cueball to simulate. Another possible explanation is that the entirety of this comic is a fantasy in Cueball’s mind as he zones out during a math lecture.

The Swiss patent office line refers to {{w|Albert Einstein}}, who was employed as a Swiss patent clerk while coming up with his theory of special relativity. This joke is also referenced in [[1067|1067: Pressures]]. Also, there is a standing joke that very few important inventions have come from Switzerland, since the country hadn't been involved in the world wars, and thus has not been part of the weapons race, nor was it a driving force in the preceding Industrial Revolution. In the center of the comic, the binary numbers pointing to the particle are both 42. This is a reference to the comedic answer to the ''Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything'' from the ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series.

Cueball mentions that if we see an artifact flutter in and out of reality, he must have made a mistake in the last "billions and billions of millennia." This implies that the small period of time the artifact is present in his time is much longer than our universe has existed. That is a ''very'' long time. However, because it was a really long time, the difference could be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect more than just a small mote of dust disappearing]. It is also possible, however, that it took billions of years to simulate an instant in our universe.
The line "I've rederived modern math in the sand and then some," is possibly referring to "Surreal Numbers: How two ex-students turned on to pure mathematics and found total happiness" by Donald Knuth, in which a young couple finds themselves stranded on a deserted island (similar to Cueball), and spend much of their time deriving the properties of surreal numbers from a few base axioms.

The title text suggests that {{w|Rule 34 (Internet meme)|Rule 34}} should be called on {{w|Elementary cellular automaton#Random initial state|Wolfram's Rule 34}}. Rule 34 (see [[305: Rule 34]]) is a humorous rule of the Internet that states, "If you can imagine it, there is porn of it. No exceptions." Wolfram's Rule 34 is a cellular automaton. Therefore, the title text says that either someone has made pornography featuring the cellular automaton in question, or someone has used the cellular automaton to produce pornography.

From ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]'':
{{quote|Things simulated in stones in the desert are ''exactly'' as real as things simulated in silicon on your computer.}}

===Graphs===
The three diagrams in the "Physics, too. I worked out the kinks..." panel are, from left to right:
# The {{w|Normal distribution}} of the {{w|Gaussian curve}} marking the points that represent a standard deviation of σ and 2σ. This is one of the fundamental building blocks of statistics. In quantum mechanics, particles are viewed as inherently random, therefore the time at which a particle will decay, the position of a particle, and its velocity are all calculated using similar curves. A deviation of at least σ occurs 32% of the time, while a deviation of 2σ or more occurs about 5% of the time.
# The {{w|Inclined plane#History|Epitaph of Stevinus}}, an explanation of the mechanical advantage of using an {{w|inclined plane}}. The inclined plane is one of the six classical {{w|simple machine}}s, one of the fundamental building blocks of mechanical and civil engineering.
# The last graph is unknown. It may represent coupled pendulums, {{w|length contraction}}, or a hypothetical solution to something we haven't derived yet.

The graph that represents particle interaction is a {{w|Feynman Diagram}}. This shows the interaction of subatomic particles that collide and exchange some momentum via a photon. The slope of the middle line represents the distance moved and the time lost/gained during the interaction.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in a desert with lots of rocks lying around. He is narrating his own situation. The first panel spans the entire width of the comic. The first line of text is written to the left of him, the second line to the right.]
:So I'm stuck in this desert for eternity.
:I don't know why. I just woke up here one day.

:[The next four panels take up the second line of the comic.]
:[Cueball stand in the desert.]
:I never feel hungry or thirsty.

:[Cueball walks in the desert.]
:I just walk.

:[Zooming out while Cueball continues to walk in the desert.]
:Sand and rocks

:[Zooming far out as Cueball again just stands in the desert. First line of text, above him, is a continuation of the text in the previous panel. The second line is below him.]
:stretch to infinity.
:As best as I can tell.

:[The next three panels take up the third line of the comic. The last takes up half the width.]
:[Cueball is sitting in the desert, in a contemplative position. First line of text above him, the second below.]
:There's plenty of time for thinking out here.
:An eternity, really.

:[Cueball is sketching stuff in the sand. First line of text above him, the second below.]
:I've rederived modern math in the sand
:and then some.

:[Three different graph types are depicted. First line of text above them, the second below.]
:Physics too. I worked out the kinks in quantum mechanics and relativity.
:Took a lot of thinking, but this place has fewer distractions than a Swiss patent office.

:[The next eight panels take up the fourth and fifth lines of the comic. All pictures are the same size.]
:[Cueball is walking along the desert, laying out rocks on a line. Four have been deployed. He is laying down the fifth and has a sixth in his other hand.]
:One day I started laying down rows of rocks.

:[Cueball, with a rock in his hand, continues to deploy rock 16, in a more intricate pattern. There are grid-lines in the sand (5 rows, 6 columns), with each intersection either empty of filled with a rock. No rocks lay anywhere but at an intersection on the grid.]
:Each new row followed from the last in a simple pattern.

:[Zooming out showing even more laid out rocks. Cueball is seen directly from above, and we see his shadow falling on the grid of rocks (7 rows, 14 columns).]
:With the right set of rules and enough space,

:[Continues to zoom further out showing clear triangular patterns (with no rocks) in the laid out grid of rocks. Cueball is not seen. (8 rows, 42 columns). First line of text above the grid, the second line below.]
:I was able to build a computer.
:Each new row of stones is the next iteration of the computation.

:[Zooming far out (no Cueball) with rows intersected by five clear V lines on top of them. The V's are drawn inside each other, with the smallest V at the top right, and the other V's starting just to the right of the previous one, and then continuing the same distance past the previous V, as the total length of the first V. The "*" in the first line of text above this grid references to the footnote below written in a smaller font.]
:Sure it's rocks instead of electricity, but it's the same* thing. Just slower.
:<nowiki>*Turing-complete</nowiki>

:[Cueball stands in a contemplative pose (on a clean white background - i.e. no dessert).]
:After a while, I programmed it to be a physics simulator.

:[A black panel with white drawings and text. A small white dot (a particle) is labeled by two arrows coming of two binary strings.]
:Every piece of information about a particle was encoded as a string of bits written in the stones.
:00101010
:00101010

:[A Feynman diagram showing two particles interacting. Two arrows going in and out with a snaking line between them.]
:With enough time and space, I could fully simulate two particles interacting.

:[The next two panels take up the sixth line of the comic. The second panel takes up three-quarters of the width.]
:[Cueball standing before the vastness of the desert, with his programmed lines of rock stretching to infinity.]
:But I have infinite time and space.

:[A black panel with white drawings and text. Depiction of two large galaxies, one with four jets coming out of its center, the other a flat disc. Several smaller galaxies and/or stars are shown around them.]
:So I decided to simulate a universe.

:[The next four panels take up the seventh line of the comic. They are of similar widths.]
:[Cueball is walking by his grid of rocks, lines indicate he has just thrown another rock down in its place. It falls so hard it sinks into the sand that splashes out around it. The 14 rocks above him lie on the grid, four others below this grid have not been used yet.]
:The eons blur past as I walk down a single row.

:[Zoom far far out to show multiple rows of rocks. It is not very clear that there are several triangular patterns (with no rocks) in different sizes in the laid out grid of rocks. There are about 50 rows and 90 columns. There are six large triangles on top of each other at the left edge. To the right, there are three even larger triangles from top to bottom, the one in the middle further to the left than the one above, but further right than the bottom one.]
:The rows blur past to compute a single step.

:[Shows the placement of two particles in the simulation.]
:And in the simulation...

:[The two particles have moved just long enough as to not overlap with their previous positions, shown as an after-image with faint gray lines. The text continues directly the one from the previous panel.]
:another instant ticks by.

:[The next two panels take up the eighth line of the comic. They each take up half the width.]
:[A Cueball-like person (you) observes a mote of dust vanish.]
:So if you see a mote of dust vanish from your vision in a little flash or something

:[Cueball is standing between two rocks on the ground, while holding two rocks, one lifted up to his head. The first line of text is above him. It is a direct continuation of the text in the previous panel. The second line stands below to the right of him.]
:I'm sorry. I must have misplaced a rock
:sometime in the last few billions and billions of millennia.

:[Cueball stands in the "clean" part of his infinite desert, in front of the vastness of his infinity of infinite lines or rocks.]
:Oh, and...

:[A Cueball-like student sits in a classroom with his head in his hands, Megan sits behind him, and a teacher points to the blackboard. A clock shows the time at five minutes to ten.]
:If you think the minutes in your morning lecture are taking a long time to pass for ''you''...

==Trivia==
This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023401/https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints available as a signed print] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Footnotes]]

2894: Research Account

2024-02-15T23:31:16Z

DocJens: /* Explanation */ Doesn't relate

{{comic
| number = 2894
| date = February 14, 2024
| title = Research Account
| image = research_account_2x.png
| imagesize = 291x479px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Focus of your research: EXTREME PETTINESS AND UNWILLINGNESS TO LET ANYTHING GO
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT WILL ARGUE WITHOUT MERCY - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] has a longstanding craving to win online arguments and to prioritize these arguments (see [[386: Duty Calls]], one of Randall's viral comics). In the comic he is filling out a form to register for a research account. Such accounts are typically intended for people doing serious work in the relevant field, who need access to the materials provided to support that work. Cueball, however, has filled out “other/none” for institution, and “to win an argument with someone in a group chat” for “reason for requesting access to our datasets”, making it clear that his interest is both petty and personal. While this may be honest, it doesn't match the assumed purpose, and he may be worried that it might mean that his registration would be rejected or subsequently cancelled. So he then selects all and deletes his previous justification, replacing it with “independent research”, which is an accurate, if generic, explanation. Randall is undoubtedly familiar with such registration forms from doing background research for xkcd and What If?.

In the title text, he says that his research focuses on “extreme pettiness and unwillingness to let anything go” (in all caps), further reinforcing the reason that he is doing this solely to win an argument. It is possible this is a pun on different meanings of the word "focus" - while the question about the focus of one's research is typically about the subject matter they are researching (raft building in fire ants, etc), Cueball appears to be writing about what drives his desire to do research. This is more like the idea of a "spell focus" in fantasy settings, an object meant to allow a spellcaster to focus their energies and perform magic. Similarly, Cueball is not doing research INTO pettiness, but rather is focusing entirely on his pettiness as his main reason to perform research and achieve his goals. Of course, there is a focused area of research related to individuals who obsessively pursue matters disproportionately to their severity, who are known as {{w|querulant|querulants}}.

It is not uncommon for online forms to include fields like these, where it's unclear what, if anything, will be done with the input, and therefore how much it matters what is entered. It's unlikely that anyone would have the capacity to review all the freetext answers submitted, and in any case, by the time they did so, Cueball would presumably have already accessed the materials he wanted.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball sits at a desk, typing at his laptop computer.]

:[Above him, there is a box indicating his computer screen.]

:[Caption above screen:] Application for research account

:[Under the caption, there is a panel, representing the computer screen; in the panel: (cut off from above) "Institution: Other/none", where the option has been selected from a drop-down menu. Under that is written "Reason for requesting access to our datasets:", under which is a comment field where "To win an argument with someone in a group chat" has been written. Under that, two long bubbles containing the words "Select all" and "Delete" separate another panel, with a panel featuring the comment field with "Independent research" written. The cursor can still be seen blinking.]

:[Caption below the comic panel:]
:I never know how honest to be on these forms.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]

13: Canyon

2022-10-08T14:56:13Z

DocJens: Kalvin and Hobbes

{{comic
| number = 13
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Canyon
| image = canyon_small.jpg
| titletext = They're standing at the lip of the canyon, which isn't clear at all.
}}

==Explanation==
This is one of the early comics that explores a theme [[xkcd]] returns to often: the wonder around us, if we would just look.

[[Cueball]] and his friend (who also looks like Cueball) are having a discussion. After the friend asks Cueball what the time is, Cueball simply states that it is "now." Then there is a beat panel showing the two standing at the lip of a great canyon drawn in detail and color.

The friend claims that "now" is a boring answer, since it's a {{w|tautology}}, a functionally useless answer, and a bad joke all at the same time. Cueball, however, asserts that "now" is the least boring answer he could give.

It is typical for human beings to focus on mundane concerns, like a meeting they might be late for or a bus they have to catch, and take their familiar environment for granted, no matter how fabulous it might have been at first sight.

The title text explains that they stand on the lip of the canyon, which may not be clear if you do not look very carefully at the color drawing. There are two tiny stick figures at the edge of the canyon, near the center of the panel. On the other six panels, there is just a ragged line, which thus obviously is this lip of the canyon.

The inspiration for this might be Kalvin and Hobbes, something which Randall is very fond of.

==Transcript==
:[Two guys, both Cueball-like, are standing at a cliff's edge.]
:Friend: What time is it?

:[Cueball looks at his watch in silence.]

:[Cueball looks up.]
:Cueball: Now.

:[The full scene is shown: the two men (barely visible) are standing at the lip of a huge canyon in a rocky, barren landscape. A pock-marked moon and a ringed planet are visible in the burgundy-colored sky.]

:[The two guys are again seen standing at what is now known to be the lip of the canyon.]
:Friend: That's a pretty boring answer.

:[Same scene as before.]
:Cueball: Is not.

:[Same scene.]
:Cueball: It's the least boring answer imaginable.

==Trivia==
*This was the 7th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]].
**The next was [[8: Red spiders]].
*This comic kept its original title: "Canyon"
**This is the first of the original comics that kept its title unchanged after transfer to xkcd.
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I'm not sure where they are, but they should be more excited! I would be."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 07]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 07]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]