explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones

2017-02-15T07:06:48Z

Nonnal:

"Screw Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific!" [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 04:56, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

It is actually way less distorting than I expected [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 06:38, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Aahhhh, why are Suriname and French Guiana switched? They have the same timezone ... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.22|162.158.150.22]] 06:52, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Can anyone explain why Russia has all the hills and valleys? East-west distortion I understand, but what is the reason for the north-south distortion? [[User:Nonnal|Nonnal]] ([[User talk:Nonnal|talk]]) 07:06, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

1448: Question

2014-11-17T15:03:09Z

Nonnal: /* Explanation */ Updated the entropy hyperlink to point to Wikipedia instead of YouTube. The video was hilarious, but cannot be described as without the possibility of causing offense, and was not suitable for all ages (language).

{{comic
| number = 1448
| date = November 17, 2014
| title = Question
| image = question.png
| titletext = The universe long dead, IsaAC surveyed the formless chaos. At last, he had arrived at an answer. 'I like you,' he declared to the void, 'but I don't LIKE like you.'
}}

==Explanation==
The comic depicts a note to “Isaac”. The note asks Isaac whether Isaac likes the note-writer and asks Isaac to choose either “yes” or “no” as the answer, but Isaac (whose pen is red) has filled in a third answer and selected that one.

Notes of this form – “Do you like me?”, “yes”, “no” are sometimes written by young schoolchildren to each other as a way of gauging or inciting romantic interest. That is, the note-writer is interested in Isaac, or maybe is wondering why Isaac is staring at the note-writer so much, and passed him this note to get his answer without the embarrassment of asking face-to-face. Isaac is supposed to check an answer and hand the note back.

The comic is a reference to a short story by Isaac Asimov "[http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html The Last Question]", where humans kept asking successively more complex computers whether [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy entropy] can be reversed, thereby preventing the {{w|heat death of the universe}}. The computers always answered "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER". In the end, it figured out the answer, but there were no humans left to give the answer to.

We won’t spoil what the machine said at the end of “The Last Question” here, although the title text is a reference to this ending. However, in this comic, Isaac is ruminating on the question of whether he likes the note-writer rather than the entropy question. He answers that he likes the note-writer as a friend, but not as a romantic partner – “LIKE like” is a childish euphemism for “love”.
Another interpetation - which also takes the capitalization of both LIKE and IsaAC into account - would be that IsaAC likes the note-writer but being a supercomputer its way of liking someone or something will likely be entirely different.

The odd capitalization if "IsaAC" implies that the note's recipient, rather than being a human, is a supercomputer named with an acronym in the style of the real "UNIVAC" or the fictional "MULTIVAC". The final two letters stand for "automatic computer" - according to the computer naming scheme in "The Last Question." Other examples of computers named with acronyms that sounds like human names are HAL from the novel/film {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey}} and GLaDOS from the {{w|Portal_(series)|Portal}} video game series.

==Transcript==
:[A piece of paper.]
:Dear Isaac
:Do you like me?
:□Yes
:□No
:[Written in red.] ☒there is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer
{{comic discussion}}

1413: Suddenly Popular

2014-08-27T14:39:31Z

Nonnal: minor grammatical correction

{{comic
| number = 1413
| date = August 27, 2014
| title = Suddenly Popular
| image = suddenly_popular.png
| titletext = Are Your Teens Practicing Amplexus? Learn These Six Telltale Signs!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Add explanation of each entry.}}

Many phrases that used to be of mainly academic interest become popular when an important event or global trend is described with such phrases in the media. [[Randall]] presents a timeline of past examples, and predicts phrases that may be popularised in the near future.

Below the phrases are listed with the closest year from the time-line noted behind the phrase. Note that this year does not necessarily match with the relevant year, which may be found in the explanation of the phrase.

;{{w|World Wide Web}} - 1994
: Though first proposed in 1989, and the first test being completed in 1990, it took until around 1994 for the {{w|World Wide Web|world wide web}} to start becoming well known.

;{{w|DNA profiling|DNA Evidence}} - 1995
: Prominent coverage of the {{w|O. J. Simpson murder trial}} in 1994 brought widespread discussion of {{w|DNA profiling|DNA Evidence}}, making it famous and showing its limitations.

;{{w|Militia Movement}} - 1997
: After the standoffs at {{w|Ruby Ridge}}, Idaho and the {{w|Branch Davidians}} compound in Waco, Texas between U.S. Government Agencies and militias, people started becoming more aware of their presence, culminating with the 1995 {{w|Oklahoma City Bombing}} on the second anniversary of the fire at the Branch Davidians compound.

;{{w|Supermax}} - 1998
: {{w|Supermax prison|Super-Maximum security prisons}}. Possibly referring to {{w|Timothy McVeigh}} and {{w|Terry Nichols}}, perpetrators of the aforementioned Oklahoma City bombing, who were incarcerated at {{w|ADX Florence}}, the former from the time of his arrest to 1999, and the latter from the time of his conviction to the present day.

[[File:Butterfly Voters View.jpg|thumb|A butterfly ballot]]
;{{w|butterfly ballot|Butterfly Ballot}} - 2000
: In {{w|United States presidential election in Florida, 2000|United States presidential election in 2000, Florida}} had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. Thus, the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting, because of the extended process of counting and then recounting of Florida presidential ballots. The {{w|butterfly ballot}} was the type of ballot design used in Florida, and was a central issue in the election controversy due to its confusing design.

;{{w|Al-Qaeda}} - 2002
: The {{w|September 11th terrorist attacks}} brought the {{w|al-Qaeda}} terrorist organisation into the spotlight almost overnight.

;{{w|Wi-Fi}} - 2003
: {{w|Wi-Fi}}, though developed in the '90s, first became popular in the early 2000s.

;{{w|Tsunami}} - 2006
: There were a number of tsunamis around this time period, in particular the {{w|Boxing Day Tsunami}} which caused 230,000 deaths, and the {{w|2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami}}. These were some of the first tsunamis to be widely captured on camera, bringing these previously obscure seismic events into the public eye.

;{{w|Viral}} - 2009
:In this context, the word viral is used to describe anything which spreads rapidly and widely on the internet. In particular an online video clip is said to have 'Gone Viral' or become a {{w|Viral video}} if it racks up a high number of views over a short time. This phenomenon has become especially prevalent due to users sharing content on {{w|Social media}}.

;{{w|Radicalize}} - 2011
: Due to the ongoing {{w|Syrian Civil War}}, and the relative ease with which one can travel from Europe to Syria by way of Turkey, there is growing concern about the risk of young Muslims in Europe (and, to a lesser extent, the United States) becoming {{w|radicalization|radicalized}} by indoctrination from fundamentalists either in their communities or on the Internet.

;{{w|Metadata}} - 2013
: Following the highly publicised 2013 leaks by {{w|Edward Snowden}} of information regarding the {{w|NSA}}'s indiscriminate surveillance of global communication metadata, awareness of the privacy value of such data became widespread, where once it was limited to IT professionals.

''From this point onwards, phrases were in the future at the time of publishing''

;{{w|Lahar}} - 2016
: A {{w|Lahar}} is a mudslide caused by the eruption of a volcano that was covered with snow or ice. Randall is speculating on a future natural disaster being caused by such an incident. {{w|Bárðarbunga}} volcano covered with {{w|Vatnajökull}} glacier on Iceland increased activity just a few days before publishing of this comic and may erupt in the near future.

;{{w|Insect-borne disease|Insect-Borne}} - 2019
: Some {{w|Category:Insect-borne diseases|diseases are insect-borne}}, meaning specific species of insects are the main vector in spreading to humans. {{w|Malaria}} is an example of an {{w|insect-borne disease}}. Randall predicts some deadly insect-borne disease will emerge around this time.

;{{w|Earth-crosser|Earth-Crossing}} - 2021
: {{w|Earth-crosser}}s are asteroids that crosses the orbit of Earth. Most of them are harmless because they cross the orbit when Earth is not there. For this phrase to become popular, the Earth-crosser would have to become hazardous asteroid, meaining it crosses the orbit so close to Earth it may collide with it. Such an asteroid would rate 5 or more on the {{w|Torino Scale}}. As of 2014, there is no known asteroid either having this rating or being potentially dangerous in the early 2020s. Because of the next two phrases, it seems that Randall here predicts an asteroid of 10 on the Torino Scale, with at least 5 km in diameter and impacting in the ocean.

;{{w|Thermohaline}} - 2022
: Thermohaline circulation is one of the ocean circulations. This circulation equalizes the temperature and salinity of oceans in all parts of the world, stabilizing global climate. If this phrase becomes popular, the thermohaline circulation would probably become problematic or come to at least a partial halt. This may be caused by an impact of a large asteroid.

;{{w|Snow blindness|Snow-Blindness}} - 2024
: This phrase suggests the asteroid impact caused a long {{w|impact winter}}. {{w|Snow blindness}}} is an eye condition caused by excessive exposure of cornea to UV light which leads to (temporarily if treated properly) blindness. The source of this excessive exposure is usually light reflected from snow and ice.

;{{w|Amplexus}} - 2025
: A form of non-penetrative reproduction carried out by some animals, for example frogs, involving grasping the partner with front legs. This may be connected to the other posts (some change in human society) or it may simply be a joke at how new sexual language/fads appear and hit mainstream media from time to time (for example a number of acts gained fame from Sex and the City). This also ties in with the title text that imagines a senstationalist headline suggesting teenagers may be doing this.

;{{w|Aquaplaning|Controlled Hydroplaning}} - 2028
: {{w|Aquaplaning|Hydroplaning}} occurs when a vehicle tire comes in contact with a puddle in such a way that the surface tension of the water does not break. The film of water, having a much lower coefficient of friction than the road surface, causes the tire to lose traction. Typically, in this scenario, the driver isn't planning to hydroplane and loses control of the vehicle. In theory, controlled hydroplaning would be achieved when the driver plans for it ahead of time. This could be necessary if, in this hypothetical future, most of the roads are flooded since the impact winter (after only four years) ends and thus a great thaw causes all roads to become wet all the time.

;{{w|Paradoxical reaction|Paradoxical Reaction}} - 2031
:A {{w|Paradoxical reaction}} is a medical term for when the outcome of a medical treatment, typically the taking of a drug, is the opposite of that expected. For example taking a pain relieving medication make the pain worse. For this term to suddenly become well known, a large scale or particularly notable case must have taken place.

;{{w|Desertion|Drone Desertion}} - 2033
:{{w|Desertion}} is the abandonment of a post or duty, usually military in nature. With the increasing use of autonomous drones by the military this hints at an event where drones 'decide' to desert, possibly due to unspecified advances in {{w|Artificial Intelligence}} and {{w|Robot Rights}}.

;{{w|Human hair growth|Rapid Hair Growth}} - 2034
:Maybe some humans have developed a very rapid hair growth (maybe on the entire body) caused by the cold year after the impact winter.

;{{w|Oath#Divine_oath|I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death}} - 2038
: This is a {{w|Oath#Divine_oath|divine oath}}. After the impact and the desertion of the drones a strong fraction has made their leader divine, and everyone now has to swear allegiance to this new God-Empress using this phrase - which would certainly make it a very "popular" phrase. The phrase [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodEmperor God-Emperor] was popularized in the science-fiction works ''Dune'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''.

The title text is an example of a {{w|clickbait}} headline. Many organizations will post a link on social media to their content with a sensationalized headline in order to draw readers in. In this case, the headline is geared towards parents who are worried about their children being sexually active. Such headlines are the internet's answer to television news {{w|Promo_(media)|promos}} ("A new trend among teens is sweeping the nation, but is it dangerous? Details at 11.").

==Transcript==
:Obscure words and phrases everyone suddenly becomes very familiar with.
:[A time line to the left is marked of by several phrases to the right around the time they became familiar to the public:]

{|
|
| <-- World Wide Web
|-
|
| <-- DNA Evidence
|-
| 1995
|
|-
|
| <-- Militia Movement
|-
|
| <-- Supermax
|-
| 2000
|
|-
|
| <-- Butterfly Ballot
|-
|
| <-- Al-Qaeda
|-
|
| <-- Wi-Fi
|-
| 2005
|
|-
|
| <-- Tsunami
|-
|
| <-- Viral
|-
| 2010
|
|-
|
| <-- Radicalize
|-
|
|
|-
|
| <-- Metadata
|-
| 2015
|
|-
|
| <-- Lahar
|-
|
|
|-
|
| <-- Insect-Borne
|-
| 2020
|
|-
|
| <-- Earth-Crossing
|-
|
| <-- Thermohaline
|-
|
|
|-
|
| <-- Snow-Blindness
|-
| 2025
|
|-
|
| <-- Amplexus
|-
|
|
|-
|
| <-- Controlled Hydroplaning
|-
| 2030
|
|-
|
| <-- Paradoxical Reaction
|-
|
| <-- Drone Desertion
|-
|
| <-- Rapid Hair Growth
|-
| 2035
|
|-
|
|
|-
|
| <-- I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death
|-
| 2040
|
|-
|}

{{comic discussion}}

1396: Actors

2014-07-18T16:01:16Z

Nonnal: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1396
| date = July 18, 2014
| title = Actors
| image = actors.png
| titletext = Once again topping the list of tonight's hottest rising stars in Hollywood is ξ Persei!
}}

==Explanation==
The comic uses two different meanings of the word ''hottest''. In the opening question, "Who are today's 10 hottest actors?" the word ''hottest'' could refer to an actor's popularity, success, demand or attractiveness. Cueball and Megan think the word ''hottest'' is asking them to the list the 10 actors who have the highest surface temperature, and we see them measuring "Justin's" (possibly referring to {{w|Justin Bieber|Bieber}}, {{w|Justin Long|Long}}, {{w|Justin Theroux|Theroux}}, or {{w|Justin Timberlake|Timberlake}} or any of the several other ''Justin''s in show business[http://www.imdb.com/search/name?count=100&gender=male&name=justin&sort=starmeter,asc]) surface temperature using an {{w|infrared thermometer}} (the beam is typically a laser pointer to know the location where the radiometric temperature comes from). The measured temperature of 81.5 is given (this being the USA) in degrees {{w|Fahrenheit}} and corresponds to 27.5 {{w|°C}}, this temperature is below the average human temperature of 36 {{w|°C}} probably due to some colder object (the shirt in this case) within the infrared thermometer field of view. Besides, deriving surface temperature from bright (radiance) temperature requires knowing the emissivity of the object. Since not all objects radiate with the same efficiency, two objects with the same surface temperature will emit different thermal radiance, but if emissivity is not taken into account they will report different surface temperatures.

With such a measurement of ''hotness'', the hottest actor on any given day would probably be whoever is having a fever. Or, an animal actor, of a species with a higher body temperature than humans. ({{w|Category:Films about birds}})

The title-text references the temperatures of Hollywood's rising stars, this time misunderstanding ''stars'' as actual stars, not famous people. In this case, the star {{w|Xi Persei|ξ Persei}} in the Perseus constellation (which is located in, and responsible for the fluorescence of, an object called the {{w|California Nebula}}, a possible joke on the location of Hollywood), one of the hottest stars (35,000 {{w|kelvin}}s, {{w|Sun}}: 5,800 K) visible to the naked eye. The star also has similar declination (+35° 47′) as the latitude of Hollywood (34° N) so it is literally rising there every night.

==Transcript==
Opening Question: Who are today's 10 hottest actors?

[Cueball is holding a clipboard, taking notes, while Megan aims an infrared thermometer off screen.]

Megan: 81.5, but I think it got part of his shirt. [Megan yells] Hey Justin — Hold still!

Closing: We grab an infrared thermometer and find out!

{{comic discussion}}

1320: Walmart

2014-01-22T06:03:53Z

Nonnal: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1320
| date = January 22, 2014
| title = Walmart
| image = walmart.png
| titletext = What I really want is to hang out where I hung out with my friends in college, but have all my older relatives there too.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please expand upon this explanation.}}

This comic satirizes the way in which large social networks, such as Facebook and Google+, attempt to aggregate all aspects of the user's online social presence. Earlier social networks had more granular focuses; e.g. MySpace originated with a music focus, and even earlier various bulletin board systems were centered around specific topics. By contrast, many social media companies attempt to encapsulate the variety of aspects of their users' online lives, thereby aggregating their personal, professional, and private lives in a way that was previously unlikely to occur.

The comparison to Walmart, a large multi-national "big box" retailer that sells everything from gardening supplies to televisions to groceries, is apt because Walmart, too, is attempting to aggregate various aspects of your life into a single location -- but rather than aggregating your social media presence, it's attempting to aggregate your shopping habits.

The punch line of the joke is that social interactions at Walmart are awkward, contrived, and frequently undesired -- just as they can grow to become in a social network that is insufficiently focused or too bloated. People communicate differently with different groups of people, and if they are attempting to connect with friends, they are unlikely to want their grandparents present. Similarly, if a person is attempting to buy groceries, he may not be interested in extended small talk with acquaintances with whom he may not share much in common (perhaps the fact that they both shop at Walmart is the biggest similarity they share).

The title text elaborates on this idea by sarcastically implying that simultaneous interactions with peers and extended relatives is desirable.

==Transcript==
:When a network tries to become everyone's one-stop hub, the Walmart of social interaction...
:[Cueball and Hairy standing in a supermarket, Cueball holding groceries under his arm, Hairy with a cart]
:Cueball: Oh, uh, hi! Funny running into you here.
:Hairy: Oh, hey! Yeah! How've you been?
:...it inevitably becomes the Walmart of social interaction.

{{comic discussion}}

1262: Unquote

2013-09-09T13:34:26Z

Nonnal: Augmented "The Old Country" section, plus minor editorial changes

{{comic
| number = 1262
| date = September 9, 2013
| title = Unquote
| image = unquote.png
| titletext = I guess it's a saying from the Old Country.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|May the Force be with you}} is one of the many famous phrases from the {{w|Star Wars}} movies. While ''Star Wars'' has become popular enough to be part of popular culture, the cartoon suggests that eventually it will fade into obscurity -- by which time, ironically, Star Wars-like hovercraft will be in general use.

The title text indicates that the now-unknown catchphrase is being written off as a foreign expression. "The old country" is a reference to the foreign country or place where one's parents (and/or ancestors) were born; in current usage, it typically would help explain the use of an expression that is otherwise unclear to a listener who was not familiar with that culture. The use of the expression in this comic implies that the speaker has no idea about the origins of the phrase and assumes it must be a translation of a foreign expression rather than an obscure cultural reference.

The title may be a reference to one of comedian Steven Wright's jokes, which goes like this: "I wish the first word I ever said was the word "quote," so right before I die I could say 'unquote.'".[1] This has later spawned numerous stories of people allegedly having "quote" as their first word.[2]

A similar topic was addressed in [[493: Actuarial]], with [[Black Hat]] predicting when the last of the original Star Wars cast would die.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy is standing next to a hovercraft, and his friend is sitting in it.]
:Hairy: Bye!
:Friend: May the force be with you!
:Hairy: Huh?
:Friend: It's just something my grandma used to say.
:Friend: No idea what it means.
:I wonder on what date ''Star Wars'' will be quoted for the last time.

==References==
1. ''[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Wright#When_the_Leaves_Blow_Away_.282006.29_.2F_I_Still_Have_a_Pony_.282007.29 Wikiquotes article on Steven Wright]'', 2013-07-8. Accessed 2013-09-09.<br />
2. ''[http://sagihairius.tumblr.com/post/45784925343/my-mom-just-informed-me-that-my-first-word-was Tumblr post by Sagihairius]'', 2013-19-03. Accessed 2013-09-09.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]

Talk:1262: Unquote

2013-09-09T13:25:27Z

Nonnal:

My prediction: forever. Not sure we would recognize their star wars, though ... "{{w|Han shot first}}" pale in comparison to what will next generations do with it when they will be doing holographic version. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:50, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

The idea of this makes me sad. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 13:09, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

(Oh, hello, edit conflict. Anyway...) Assuming that humanity is (collectively) doomed to die off at some point in the possibly distant future, through natural cateclism, external interference or some form of self-inflicted destruction, there 'will' be a last time for ''every'' saying and quote, in their original form or morphed into the dialect/language of the future. Thus someone ''will'' say some form or other of "May the force be with you" on one final occasion, although whether it outlives (just) "Don't tell me the odds" and/or "I've got a bad feeling about this!" is a question for another day. ;) [[Special:Contributions/31.111.104.72|31.111.104.72]] 13:16, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

Sadly, those last two examples will no doubt long outlive MTFBWY, if for no other reason than people will use them "accidentally" in casual conversation. In terms of conscious use of a Star Wars references, I'd like to think that MTFBWY would outlast them all... -- [[User:Nonnal|Nonnal]] ([[User talk:Nonnal|talk]]) 13:25, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

1252: Increased Risk

2013-08-16T13:50:57Z

Nonnal: Augmented the sections about probability and logic, including the example of the coin flip

{{comic
| number = 1252
| date = August 16, 2013
| title = Increased Risk
| image = increased_risk.png
| titletext = You may point out that strictly speaking, you can use that statement to prove that all risks are tiny--to which I reply HOLY SHIT WATCH OUT FOR THAT DOG!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
The panel satirises the common misunderstanding of the concept of percentage. Quoting a percentage figure, without mentioning the base which this ratio acts on is meaningless (outside of arithmetic for arithmetic's sake). Most everyday communication however, succumbs to such incompleteness. In the aftermath of this ambiguity, people tend to conflate relative and absolute changes.

If the probability of a shark attack at the North beach is 0.000001 (one in a million), then the probability of shark attack at the South beach is still 0.0000012 (1.2 in a million). The difference between these values is not enough to normally justify choosing one beach over the other, even though a "20% greater" chance sounds significant when stated out of this larger context.

[[Cueball]] parodies the concern by noting that by going a third time their chance of attack by dogs with handguns increases by 50%. If the chance of the dog attack is 0.000000001 (one in a billion) on each visit to the beach, then in after two visits the chance of attack is is about 0.000000002 whereas after three visits it becomes 0.000000003. This summing, however, reflects a common misunderstanding of statistics. While they experienced no attacks at the first two visits, the risk on this single trip is also only 0.000000001. The third visit doesn't increase the risk at this trip.

[[Beret Guy]] further misunderstands probability by believing that, since they haven't been attacked by dogs with handguns in their first two trips, the chance of attack by dogs with handguns is much higher on their third outing. The fault in the logic involves the lack of dependency of the events between successive visits, and is best illustrated with a coin flip: if I flip a (fair, neutral) coin 10 times in a row and each time it lands on "heads," then the odds of getting heads on the next coin flip is still 50%. In other words, past experience does not impact the fact that on the next coin flip, the odds of getting heads or tails are still 50/50. By extension, the odds of getting attacked by dogs with handguns is not greater on the third trip than it had been on the first two trips to the beach.

The title text discusses the argument that, if a tiny risk increased by 50% is still tiny, then since any probability can be reached by repeatedly increasing by 50%, then any probability is "tiny". That is, if you define any arbitrary value ''x'' greater than 0 as "tiny," then the statement that "a 50% increase in a tiny risk is still tiny" means that (100%+50%)*''x'' = 1.5''x'' is also "tiny." Thus, one could iteratively calculate ''x2'' = 1.5''x1'' until eventually arriving (after enough iterations) at a number that would be considered "large" by any reasonable person. [[Randall]] is about to debate this when he presumably sees a dog with a handgun.

==Transcript==
:Ponytail: We should go to the north beach. Someone said the south beach has a 20% higher risk of shark attacks.
:Cueball: Yeah, but statistically, taking three beach trips instead of two increases our odds of getting shot by a swimming dog carrying a handgun in its mouth by '''''50%!'''''
:Beret Guy: Oh no! This is our third trip!
:[Reminder: A 50% increase in a tiny risk is ''still tiny''.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Friday comics]]
[[Category:Comics from August]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Math]]