https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Xkcdeelishexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-20T08:14:32ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2683:_Fan_Theories&diff=2963542683: Fan Theories2022-10-11T02:36:32Z<p>Xkcdeelish: Upmost changed to utmost</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2683<br />
| date = October 10, 2022<br />
| title = Fan Theories<br />
| image = fan_theories_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 267x318px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = The furry fandom is great. Such sweet and enthusiastic people.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a THREE-D PRINTED FORM BASED ON A HYPOTHETICAL SOLUTION TO THE NAVIER-STOKES LAMINAR-TURBULENCE BOUNDARY EQUATION. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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Once again, [[Randall]] has devised a new and effective way to annoy a very sizable proportion of the scientific community.<br />
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In this comic, [[Cueball]] refers to scientific {{w|hypothesis|hypotheses}} he is trying to explain to [[Ponytail]], [[White Hat]], and [[Megan]], as "fan theories." Scientists are sometimes upset when their very serious hypotheses are not treated with the utmost respect, because there are a lot of charismatic cranks who obtain undeserved recognition.<br />
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This comic appeared 60 years after [https://iep.utm.edu/kuhn-ts/ Thomas S. Kuhn's] renowned 1962 treatise, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions."<br />
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The title text<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Ponytail, Cueball, White Hat, and Megan standing in a line. Cueball has his hand raised, and Megan has hands balled into fists, exasperated.]<br />
:Cueball: But according to leading fan theories, Jupiter's moons may harbor subsurface oceans.<br />
:Megan: Will you ''please'' stop calling them that?<br />
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:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:How to annoy scientists: refer to all hypotheses as "fan theories"<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>Xkcdeelish