2464: Muller's Ratchet - Revision history

2A00:23C5:4080:7C01:FDE4:8901:A467:D276: Category:Internet

2026-04-15T01:16:28Z

Not without text: /* Explanation */

2024-11-27T02:35:40Z

‎Explanation

FaviFake: According to Science Girl, "she is usually distinguished by being clearly a child, both in terms of her behavior or in comparison to the size of the adults around her.". Here, she is as tall as the other women and doesn't talk, so she's Hairbun

2023-07-07T10:46:14Z

According to Science Girl, "she is usually distinguished by being clearly a child, both in terms of her behavior or in comparison to the size of the adults around her.". Here, she is as tall as the other women and doesn't talk, so she's Hairbun

FaviFake: According to Science Girl, she's different from Hairbun when she's a child.

2023-07-06T10:12:35Z

According to Science Girl, she's different from Hairbun when she's a child.

Xurkitree10: /* Transcript */

2023-04-19T08:05:29Z

‎Transcript

162.158.62.140: explain caption more explicitly

2023-02-09T18:58:25Z

explain caption more explicitly

Theusaf: Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

2022-05-26T20:01:47Z

Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

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Donald Trump: Reverted edit by anti-crap user

2022-05-26T18:52:22Z

Reverted edit by anti-crap user

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CRLF: Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

2022-05-26T18:04:56Z

Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

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Donald Trump: Crapped page

2022-05-26T16:52:50Z

Crapped page

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← Older revision		Revision as of 01:16, 15 April 2026
Line 53:		Line 53:
	[[Category:Biology]]		[[Category:Biology]]
	[[Category:Computers]]		[[Category:Computers]]
		+	[[Category:Internet]]

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 With recombination, useful novel changes can be shuffled into the population without necessarily bringing in a less useful mutation, creating descendents with both the obvious advantages (a sword) and the previously more established resilience (the fuller frame).
-The caption in this comic jokes that while the passage is explaining the spread of Internet content using evolution, Randall feels that image memes (like the one shown in the comic) have become so ubiquitous that it now seems more intuitive to instead explain evolution using the metaphor of images on the Internet.
+The caption in this comic jokes that while the passage is explaining the spread of Internet content using evolution, such as with the words "meme" and "viral", Randall feels that Internet image memes (like the one shown in the comic) have become so ubiquitous that it now seems more intuitive to instead explain evolution using the metaphor of images on the Internet.
 The degradation of digital images has previously been explored in [[1683: Digital Data]].

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 In this comic, Randall reviews a passage explaining the internet with terms associated with evolution, comparing the constant resharing and changing of popular photos to evolutionary processes, namely {{w|Muller's ratchet}} and {{w|Genetic recombination|recombination}}.
-An image of [[Science Girl]] showing a cat to [[Cueball]], who is apparently shocked, is used as an example of the subject phenomenon. This image is altered in various ways:
+An image of [[Hairbun]] showing a cat to [[Cueball]], who is apparently shocked, is used as an example of the subject phenomenon. This image is altered in various ways:
 * A caption is added to the photo as a whole, possibly using an online "meme maker" tool. Many memes are made in this manner, such as the Office Space [https://imgflip.com/meme/That-Would-Be-Great "that would be great"] memes.
 * Individual labels are placed on the participants (which include the cat). These labels may be literal, but often they are metaphorical. A common metaphorical example is the {{w|Distracted-boyfriend meme}}.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==Transcript==
-:[A caption sits above a slightly greyed-out photo of Science Girl holding out a cat to Cueball, who has his hand over his face and is leaning away. Below are arrows leading to much smaller variations of the photo, all altered in some way.]
+:[A caption sits above a slightly greyed-out photo of Hairbun holding out a cat to Cueball, who has his hand over his face and is leaning away. Below are arrows leading to much smaller variations of the photo, all altered in some way.]
-:[From left to right: Image with the sides cropped and black text bordered by white in the bottom center; image with black text in white box with black border above cat, on Science Girl, and on Cueball; image identical to the original but with softer edges; image cropped around all sides to exclude all negative space around frame, with white text bordered by black near the top and bottom center; image cropped to cut out half of Science Girl and Cueball's legs and featuring the cat holding a sword out at Cueball; image same as the original except with black text bordered by white on top of the cat, Science Girl, and Cueball; and image blurred out and at low resolution with black text in white oval on top of Science Girl and Cueball.]
+:[From left to right: Image with the sides cropped and black text bordered by white in the bottom center; image with black text in white box with black border above cat, on Hairbun, and on Cueball; image identical to the original but with softer edges; image cropped around all sides to exclude all negative space around frame, with white text bordered by black near the top and bottom center; image cropped to cut out half of Hairbun and Cueball's legs and featuring the cat holding a sword out at Cueball; image same as the original except with black text bordered by white on top of the cat, Hairbun, and Cueball; and image blurred out and at low resolution with black text in white oval on top of Hairbun and Cueball.]
 :Caption above: When a photo goes around on social media, people create lots of new versions of it.
-:[A larger depiction of an image altered to cut out some of Science Girl and Cueball's legs and the cat holding a sword to the left of a caption, with a faint, shadowed wordmark saying "Made with ''SwordApp'']
+:[A larger depiction of an image altered to cut out some of Hairbun and Cueball's legs and the cat holding a sword to the left of a caption, with a faint, shadowed wordmark saying "Made with ''SwordApp'']
 :Caption: Sometimes, one of the edited versions becomes more popular and supplants the original. But often, the new version isn't made from the best copy of the image. It may be pixelated, cropped, or watermarked.
 :[The same image appears with a more transparent box around it showing the cropped-out areas and an arrow pointing into it saying "lost". To the left is a caption.]
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
-[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
+[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
 [[Category:Biology]]
 [[Category:Computers]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 In this comic, Randall reviews a passage explaining the internet with terms associated with evolution, comparing the constant resharing and changing of popular photos to evolutionary processes, namely {{w|Muller's ratchet}} and {{w|Genetic recombination|recombination}}.
-An image of [[Hairbun]] showing a cat to [[Cueball]], who is apparently shocked, is used as an example of the subject phenomenon. This image is altered in various ways:
+An image of [[Science Girl]] showing a cat to [[Cueball]], who is apparently shocked, is used as an example of the subject phenomenon. This image is altered in various ways:
 * A caption is added to the photo as a whole, possibly using an online "meme maker" tool. Many memes are made in this manner, such as the Office Space [https://imgflip.com/meme/That-Would-Be-Great "that would be great"] memes.
 * Individual labels are placed on the participants (which include the cat). These labels may be literal, but often they are metaphorical. A common metaphorical example is the {{w|Distracted-boyfriend meme}}.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==Transcript==
-:[A caption sits above a slightly greyed-out photo of Hairbun holding out a cat to Cueball, who has his hand over his face and is leaning away. Below are arrows leading to much smaller variations of the photo, all altered in some way.]
+:[A caption sits above a slightly greyed-out photo of Science Girl holding out a cat to Cueball, who has his hand over his face and is leaning away. Below are arrows leading to much smaller variations of the photo, all altered in some way.]
-:[From left to right: Image with the sides cropped and black text bordered by white in the bottom center; image with black text in white box with black border above cat, on Hairbun, and on Cueball; image identical to the original but with softer edges; image cropped around all sides to exclude all negative space around frame, with white text bordered by black near the top and bottom center; image cropped to cut out half of Hairbun and Cueball's legs and featuring the cat holding a sword out at Cueball; image same as the original except with black text bordered by white on top of the cat, Hairbun, and Cueball; and image blurred out and at low resolution with black text in white oval on top of Hairbun and Cueball.]
+:[From left to right: Image with the sides cropped and black text bordered by white in the bottom center; image with black text in white box with black border above cat, on Science Girl, and on Cueball; image identical to the original but with softer edges; image cropped around all sides to exclude all negative space around frame, with white text bordered by black near the top and bottom center; image cropped to cut out half of Science Girl and Cueball's legs and featuring the cat holding a sword out at Cueball; image same as the original except with black text bordered by white on top of the cat, Science Girl, and Cueball; and image blurred out and at low resolution with black text in white oval on top of Science Girl and Cueball.]
 :Caption above: When a photo goes around on social media, people create lots of new versions of it.
-:[A larger depiction of an image altered to cut out some of Hairbun and Cueball's legs and the cat holding a sword to the left of a caption, with a faint, shadowed wordmark saying "Made with ''SwordApp'']
+:[A larger depiction of an image altered to cut out some of Science Girl and Cueball's legs and the cat holding a sword to the left of a caption, with a faint, shadowed wordmark saying "Made with ''SwordApp'']
 :Caption: Sometimes, one of the edited versions becomes more popular and supplants the original. But often, the new version isn't made from the best copy of the image. It may be pixelated, cropped, or watermarked.
 :[The same image appears with a more transparent box around it showing the cropped-out areas and an arrow pointing into it saying "lost". To the left is a caption.]
-:Caption: As long as those flaws are minor enough that they don't cancel out the big change, the new version can still win out. Each good change brings with it random background damage. The degradation only goes one way. Once an image is cropped, its descendents will be, too. This steady loss of information is called '''''Muller's Ratchet'''''.
+:Caption: As long as those flaws are minor enough that they don't cancel out the big change, the new version can still win out. Each good change brings with it random background damage. The degradation only goes one way. Once an image is cropped, its descendants will be, too. This steady loss of information is called '''''Muller's Ratchet'''''.
 :[The original photo and the edited replacement are side-by-side, with the original on the right and the replacement on the left. The area above the cat where the sword is shown in the replacement is circled with a dotted line in both images. In the original, the area inside is greyed out, and in the replacement, the entire image is greyed out except for that area.]
 :[Arrows point from the emphasized parts of both images to a new photo below that combines the original image with the sword from the replacement. The dotted line is still present. A caption sits to the left.]
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
-[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
+[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
 [[Category:Biology]]
 [[Category:Computers]]

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==Transcript==
 :[A caption sits above a slightly greyed-out photo of Hairbun holding out a cat to Cueball, who has his hand over his face and is leaning away. Below are arrows leading to much smaller variations of the photo, all altered in some way.]
 :[From left to right: Image with the sides cropped and black text bordered by white in the bottom center; image with black text in white box with black border above cat, on Hairbun, and on Cueball; image identical to the original but with softer edges; image cropped around all sides to exclude all negative space around frame, with white text bordered by black near the top and bottom center; image cropped to cut out half of Hairbun and Cueball's legs and featuring the cat holding a sword out at Cueball; image same as the original except with black text bordered by white on top of the cat, Hairbun, and Cueball; and image blurred out and at low resolution with black text in white oval on top of Hairbun and Cueball.]

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:58, 9 February 2023
Line 25:		Line 25:

	With recombination, useful novel changes can be shuffled into the population without necessarily bringing in a less useful mutation, creating descendents with both the obvious advantages (a sword) and the previously more established resilience (the fuller frame).		With recombination, useful novel changes can be shuffled into the population without necessarily bringing in a less useful mutation, creating descendents with both the obvious advantages (a sword) and the previously more established resilience (the fuller frame).
		+
		+	The caption in this comic jokes that while the passage is explaining the spread of Internet content using evolution, Randall feels that image memes (like the one shown in the comic) have become so ubiquitous that it now seems more intuitive to instead explain evolution using the metaphor of images on the Internet.

	The degradation of digital images has previously been explored in [[1683: Digital Data]].		The degradation of digital images has previously been explored in [[1683: Digital Data]].