explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

182: Nash

2013-02-09T01:14:51Z

WanFactory:

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = November 10, 2006
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==
The first panel references a scene in the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/ A Beautiful Mind] in which Dr. {{w|John Forbes Nash, Jr.}} comes up with his famous concept of {{w|Nash equilibrium}} when he realizes that they get suboptimal results if all the guys go after the same hot girl. The second panel deconstructs the idea by having Dr. Nash point out that staying away from the hot girl does not actually constitute a stable Nash equilibrium. The third panel has physicist Dr. Richard {{w|Feynman}} render the entire discussion moot by taking all the girls while the mathematicians ponder optimal strategies.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
:First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.

:First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
:[Second Man shakes his fist]
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T01:13:24Z

WanFactory: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==
The first panel references a scene in the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/ A Beautiful Mind] in which Dr. {{w|John Forbes Nash, Jr.}} comes up with his famous concept of {{w|Nash equilibrium}} when he realizes that they get suboptimal results if all the guys go after the same hot girl. The second panel deconstructs the idea by having Dr. Nash point out that staying away from the hot girl does not actually constitute a stable Nash equilibrium. The third panel has physicist Dr. Richard {{w|Feynman}} render the entire discussion moot by taking all the girls while the mathematicians ponder optimal strategies.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
:First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.

:First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
:[Second Man shakes his fist]
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T01:11:31Z

WanFactory: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==
The first panel references a scene in the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/ A Beautiful Mind] in which Dr. {{w|John Forbes Nash, Jr.}} comes up with his concept of equilibria when he realizes that they get suboptimal results if all the guys go after the same hot girl. The second panel deconstructs the idea by having Dr. Nash point out that staying away from the hot girl does not actually constitute a stable Nash equilibrium. The third panel has physicist Dr. Richard Feynman render the entire discussion moot by taking all the girls while the mathematicians ponder optimal strategies.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
:First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.

:First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
:[Second Man shakes his fist]
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T01:08:22Z

WanFactory: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==
The first panel references a scene in the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/ A Beautiful Mind] in which Dr. Nash comes up with his concept of equilibria when he realizes that they get suboptimal results if all the guys go after the same hot girl. The second panel deconstructs the idea by having Dr. Nash point out that staying away from the hot girl does not actually constitute a stable Nash equilibrium. The third panel has physicist Dr. Richard Feynman render the entire discussion moot by taking all the girls while the mathematicians ponder optimal strategies.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
:First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.

:First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
:[Second Man shakes his fist]
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T01:07:05Z

WanFactory: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==
The first panel references a scene in the movie A Beautiful Mind in which Dr. Nash comes up with his concept of equilibria when he realizes that they get suboptimal results if all the guys go after the same hot girl. The second panel deconstructs the idea by having Dr. Nash point out that staying away from the hot girl does not actually constitute a stable Nash equilibrium. The third panel has physicist Dr. Richard Feynman render the entire discussion moot by taking all the girls while the mathematicians ponder optimal strategies.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
:First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.

:First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
:[Second Man shakes his fist]
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T00:59:17Z

WanFactory: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==


==Transcript==
:[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
:First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.

:First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
:[Second Man shakes his fist]
:Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T00:57:51Z

WanFactory:

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==


==Transcript==
[Two men stand talking two each other. The first man is pointing off the panel]
First Man: Hey, Dr. Nash, I think those gals over there are eyeing us. This is like your Nash Equilibrium, right? One of them is hot, but we should each flirt with one of her less-desirable friends. Otherwise we risk coming on too strong to the hot one and just driving the group off.
Second Man (Dr. Nash): Well, that's not really the sort of situation I wrote about. Once we're with the ugly ones, there's no incentive for one of us not to try to switch to the hot one. It's not a stable equilibrium.
First Man: Crap, forget it. Looks like all three are leaving with one guy.
[Second Man shakes his fist]
Second Man (Dr. Nash): Dammit, Feynman!
{{comic discussion}}

182: Nash

2013-02-09T00:55:23Z

WanFactory: Created page with "{{comic | number = 182 | date = 2006-11-10 | title = Nash | image = nash.png | titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on R..."

{{comic
| number = 182
| date = 2006-11-10
| title = Nash
| image = nash.png
| titletext = Maybe someday science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it!
}}

==Explanation==


==Transcript==


{{comic discussion}}

1063: Kill Hitler

2013-02-04T17:44:45Z

WanFactory: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1063
| date = June 1, 2012
| title = Kill Hitler
| image = kill_hitler.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Revised directive: It is forbidden for you to interfere with human history until you've at least taken a class on it.
}}

== Explanation ==
In this comic, which I believe Randall created just to put in "BRB, Killing Hitler", [[Black Hat]] creates a one use time machine. [[Cueball]] selects the most common suggestion for Time Machine usage "Killing Hitler". Black Hat finally relents and goes to kill Hitler, however, he goes to the year 1945, when Hitler is already in his bunker. Hitler has already committed his atrocities and the war was already turning against him. Later in 1945, he reportedly died by suicide in that very same bunker. The joke in here being that Black Hat didn't save any lives or prevent the Holocaust or a global war by killing him in 1945 because he went back in time too late. He needed to go earlier, before his rise to power, like 1932. The image text also references the time travel theme from the Superman movie in which Jor-El states: "It is forbidden for you to interfere with human history".
It is surprising that Black Hat did not stay and replace Hitler and do a better job thus altering History and maybe becoming his own descendant.

== Transcript ==
:[Black Hat and Cueball stand in front of a double door, which bears the label 'TIME door'. Black Hat has his hands on his hips.]
:Black Hat: I finished my time machine, but it's one-use only.
:Cueball: You gotta kill Hitler.

:[Close-up of Black Hat, one hand palm upward.]
:Black Hat: You are you so obsessed with this Hitler guy? We have all of time we could explore!

:[Close-up of Cueball with both hands palm upward.]
:Cueball: He's evil incarnate! He murdered millions and sparked global war! Everyone agrees -- if you get a time machine, you kill Hitler.

:[Black Hat enters the now open Time door as the other man looks on..]
:Black Hat: Fine, fine, I get it! Calm down. - BRB, killing Hitler.

:[Black Hat returns and shuts the door, the other man has outstretched arms.]
:Black Hat: There. Done. Are you happy?
:Cueball: Thank you.
:Black Hat: He was in some kind of bunker. 1945 was loud!

:Cueball: NO!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

[[Category:Hitler]]