1545: Strengths and Weaknesses - Revision history

Beanie: Redundancy

2023-04-03T13:14:26Z

Redundancy

Osufnek: linked to category instead of individual comics

2023-03-31T00:17:53Z

linked to category instead of individual comics

Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T21:09:53Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:17, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T20:17:32Z

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Davidy22: Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by 172.70.206.163

2022-05-04T02:11:51Z

Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by 172.70.206.163

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X. K. C. D. at 23:29, 3 May 2022

2022-05-03T23:29:54Z

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172.70.206.163: /* Transcript */ quicksort

2022-03-24T21:24:30Z

‎Transcript: quicksort

Esogalt: Besides the argument that it's woefully overused, in this case "[citation needed]" doesn't even make sense.

2021-10-09T06:38:06Z

Besides the argument that it's woefully overused, in this case "[citation needed]" doesn't even make sense.

Char Latte49: Fixed the wikilink for Identical Ancestors point

2021-04-29T15:32:42Z

Fixed the wikilink for Identical Ancestors point

108.162.241.4: /* Explanation */ Adding a citation needed joke

2019-05-13T14:30:48Z

‎Explanation: Adding a citation needed joke

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:14, 3 April 2023
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	In [[1088: Five Years]], [[Beret Guy]] is also asked where he will be in five years, and he later interviews [[Hairy]] in [[1293: Job Interview]].		In [[1088: Five Years]], [[Beret Guy]] is also asked where he will be in five years, and he later interviews [[Hairy]] in [[1293: Job Interview]].
−
−	~~[[:Category:Job interviews\|Job interviews]] are a recurring topic on xkcd.~~

	==Transcript==		==Transcript==

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 The title text takes this further, equating producing offspring during an interview (which would be awkward for all involved) with something that may actually help assess a candidate's efficacy as an employee, namely writing out a sorting algorithm on the spot, another stereotypical interview question (see also [[1185: Ineffective Sorts]], especially the bottom left panel).
-In [[1088: Five Years]], [[Beret Guy]] is also asked where he will be in five years, and he later interviews [[Hairy]] in [[1293: Job Interview]].  Other job interviews were portrayed in [[125: Marketing Interview]] and [[1094: Interview]].
+In [[1088: Five Years]], [[Beret Guy]] is also asked where he will be in five years, and he later interviews [[Hairy]] in [[1293: Job Interview]].
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:24, 24 March 2022
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	[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]		[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
	[[Category:Job interviews]]		[[Category:Job interviews]]
		+	[[Category:Programming]]

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 For the second question Cueball answers that he will one day be the ancestor to all living humans or none of them. As you go farther and farther into the future the ratio of people alive will either go to 0% or 100% of the descendants of the character. The {{w|Most recent common ancestor|most recent common ancestor (MRCA)}} for humans is unknown but occurred some time after {{w|Mitochondrial Eve}}, around 140,000 years ago. If the MRCA's ancestors are traced back, the {{w|Identical ancestors point}} can be found, at which point the entire population are either ancestors of all living humans or of no living humans.
-In the last frame, for Cueball to be the ancestor to all living humans within 5 years means that all the humans who are not his children or grandchildren (including Cueball himself), must have died in a near total extinction of the human race - his apparent optimism about the possibility of this occurring would therefore be worrisome{{Citation needed}}.
+In the last frame, for Cueball to be the ancestor to all living humans within 5 years means that all the humans who are not his children or grandchildren (including Cueball himself), must have died in a near total extinction of the human race - his apparent optimism about the possibility of this occurring would therefore be worrisome.
 The overarching joke is that, rather than answer Ponytail's questions with answers relevant to the job she's interviewing him for, Cueball is answering her questions from an existential standpoint. He may be assuming that she wishes to assess his fitness as an organism from a genetic perspective (in which his biggest limitation is survival time and mortality), or he may simply be misinterpreting or deliberately avoiding her questions from a professional perspective.

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 In a roundabout way, Cueball answers that he is a living organism, and as such he has inherent flaws which could cause him to die. This is a reference to the fact that biological systems are "messy" and are not always optimal in design or operation.  For example, cancer is a disease where the cellular machinery that governs cell replications breaks down and prolific cell division happens, endangering the organism through the creation of tumors. While this is a true weakness, it is also a weakness of all biological organisms and is not likely to help the interviewer determine if he is qualified for the job. However, it is likely to help the interviewer determine if he is right for the job — because the interviewer is likely to presume that a person who gives silly and unhelpful answers is not right for most positions.
-For the second question Cueball answers that he will one day be the ancestor to all living humans or none of them. As you go farther and farther into the future the ratio of people alive will either go to 0% or 100% of the descendants of the character. The {{w|Most recent common ancestor|most recent common ancestor (MRCA)}} for humans is unknown but occurred some time after {{w|Mitochondrial Eve}}, around 140,000 years ago. If the MRCA's ancestors are traced back, the {{w|Identical Ancestors Point}} can be found, at which point the entire population are either ancestors of all living humans or of no living humans.
+For the second question Cueball answers that he will one day be the ancestor to all living humans or none of them. As you go farther and farther into the future the ratio of people alive will either go to 0% or 100% of the descendants of the character. The {{w|Most recent common ancestor|most recent common ancestor (MRCA)}} for humans is unknown but occurred some time after {{w|Mitochondrial Eve}}, around 140,000 years ago. If the MRCA's ancestors are traced back, the {{w|Identical ancestors point}} can be found, at which point the entire population are either ancestors of all living humans or of no living humans.
 In the last frame, for Cueball to be the ancestor to all living humans within 5 years means that all the humans who are not his children or grandchildren (including Cueball himself), must have died in a near total extinction of the human race - his apparent optimism about the possibility of this occurring would therefore be worrisome{{Citation needed}}.