https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Thyringer 2026-04-18T10:28:57Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1610:_Fire_Ants&diff=106114 2015-11-30T17:12:59Z

<p>Thyringer: fine arts</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1610<br /> | date = November 30, 2015<br /> | title = Fire Ants<br /> | image = fire_ants.png<br /> | titletext = Here in the entomology department, we have a simple two-step formula for answering any question: (1) ants are cool, and (2) we forgot the question because we were thinking about ants.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|More details needed.}}<br /> <br /> A university student ([[Cueball]]) goes to his advisor ([[Hair Bun Girl]]) because he is uncertain about his choices for {{w|Graduate school|grad school}}. However she doesn't advise him about academic matters, but instead talks about {{w|ants}}, specifically the ability of {{w|fire ants}} to join together to form [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ZysgGAABw floating rafts] in case of flooding. This is of course pretty cool, but not helpful. So Cueball asks what he lesson he should learn from this. The advisor just states that ''Ants are so cool''. Correctly Cueball states that she is not big on metaphors, as there was none hidden in her first statement. She continues to tell him what she is big on: Ants.<br /> <br /> This humor relies on a tendency to use a particular phasing to incite corresponding modes of thought. An example of the phrase 'consider the' can be found in Monty Python's ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9czBBKof7Yo Life of Brian]'', or in the [https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Matthew-6-28/ Biblical reference] on which that sketch was based. While some uses of the phrase 'consider the' indicate simple taking notice, such as 'consider the source', the phrasing 'consider the ''noun''' as a sentence typically indicates deeper contemplation of the metaphor being offered. When Hair Bun Girl says &quot;Consider the fire ant.&quot; as a sentence, it appears to be phrasing to invite metaphorical interpretation but by the end of the comic Cueball has realized it was not an invitation to analyze a metaphor.<br /> <br /> In the title text we learn that the advisor belongs to the {{w|entomology}} department (making her an entomologist - i.e. someone who studies insects). In that department they have a two-step formula to answer any questions. It won't help you much because all you will learn is that ants are cool and then they have forgotten anything else you told them while thinking of ants.<br /> <br /> Or perhaps entomology is a red herring: [https://twitter.com/texttheater/status/671321872596901888 Somebody noticed] that ''fire ants'' is an anagram of ''fine arts''.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Cueball is talking to Hair Bun Girl, an advisor, who is sitting behind a desk.]<br /> :Cueball: I'm having second thoughts about grad school and could use some advice.<br /> <br /> :[Same setting as before. The animated advisor talks while gesticulating with her hands.]<br /> :Advisor: Consider the fire ant.<br /> :Advisor: When there's a flood, fire ants survive by joining together into giant floating rafts.<br /> <br /> :[Cueball is just standing there in the next beat-panel]<br /> <br /> :[Back to the first setting but in a larger frame.]<br /> :Cueball: Wait, what lesson am I supposed to take from that?<br /> :Advisor: Ants are '''''so cool!'''''<br /> :Cueball: ...You're not big on metaphors, are you.<br /> :Advisor: I am big on ants.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]<br /> [[Category:Animals]]</div>

Thyringer