https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Wizziam 2026-04-17T09:40:10Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2501:_Average_Familiarity&diff=216384 2021-08-12T00:17:47Z

<p>Wizziam: added transcript</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2501<br /> | date = August 11, 2021<br /> | title = Average Familiarity<br /> | image = https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/average_familiarity.png<br /> | titletext = &quot;How could anyone consider themselves a well-rounded adult without a basic understanding of silicate geochemistry? Silicates are everywhere! It's hard to throw a rock without throwing one!&quot;<br /> <br /> | imagesize =<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by A SILICATE (DON'T WE ALL KNOW THE FORMULA?). Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> This comic claims that scientists vastly overestimate how familiar other people are with their own field of study. As an example, Randall shows a pair of geologists specializing in silicate chemistry. The scientists are under the impression other people at least know the chemical makeup of feldspar and quartz. In truth, the &quot;average Joe&quot; can't be expected to know the chemical makeup of ''anything'' reliably, and may not even know the definition of &quot;feldspar&quot; beyond &quot;a rock&quot;.<br /> <br /> The title text plays on the term &quot;you can't throw a rock without hitting one,&quot; a common hyperbole about how common something is. Indeed, silicate rocks are extremely common on Earth.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :Ponytail: Silicate chemistry is second nature to us geochemists, so its easy to forget that the average person probably only knows the formulas for olivine and one or two feldspars.<br /> :Cueball: And Quartz, of course.<br /> :Ponytail: Of course.<br /> :Even when they're trying to compensate for it, experts in anything wildly overestimate the average person's familiarity with their field.</div>

Wizziam