2669: Things You Should Not Do - Revision history

Amateurautist: /* Explanation */

2026-02-17T17:59:48Z

‎Explanation

73.143.159.183: Comma

2026-01-06T23:14:05Z

Comma

73.143.159.183: Added 1775 reference

2026-01-06T23:13:39Z

Added 1775 reference

160.39.41.182: /* Explanation */ reintroduced Randall's typo to the transcript in order to maintain accuracy

2025-08-19T05:00:07Z

‎Explanation: reintroduced Randall's typo to the transcript in order to maintain accuracy

Mathmaster at 00:06, 12 August 2025

2025-08-12T00:06:08Z

82.132.247.174: /* Explanation */

2025-08-06T16:37:35Z

‎Explanation

82.132.247.174: /* Explanation */

2025-08-06T15:57:34Z

‎Explanation

FaviFake: i HOPE the last {{acn}} was a joke

2025-08-06T13:48:58Z

i HOPE the last {{acn}} was a joke

Show changes

82.132.247.119: /* Explanation */

2025-08-06T13:00:32Z

‎Explanation

Mathmaster at 23:46, 5 August 2025

2025-08-05T23:46:38Z

@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 |Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
 |''{{what if|122|Lava Lamp}}''
-|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would make the container would glow opaque from the heat, making it impossible to see the lava, which would solidify after a minute.
+|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would make the container would glow opaque from the heat, making it impossible to see the lava, which would very likely destroy the container and then solidify after some time.
 |-
 !156,823

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 |Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
 |N/A
-|This probably runs the risk of the cat learning that treats are in the shape of your hand, resulting in the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of the cat treat. This may also be a reference to [[1775: Things You Learn]] where Randall suggests that he had not appreciated the severity of cat bites.
+|This probably runs the risk of the cat learning that treats are in the shape of your hand, resulting in the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of the cat treat. This may also be a reference to [[1775: Things You Learn]], where Randall suggests that he had not appreciated the severity of cat bites.
 |-
 ! colspan="4" | New!

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 |Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
 |N/A
-|This probably runs the risk of the cat learning that treats are in the shape of your hand, resulting in the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of the cat treat.
+|This probably runs the risk of the cat learning that treats are in the shape of your hand, resulting in the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of the cat treat. This may also be a reference to [[1775: Things You Learn]] where Randall suggests that he had not appreciated the severity of cat bites.
 |-
 ! colspan="4" | New!

@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 |-
 !156,823
-|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorrhagic{{asic}} fever
+|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic{{asic}} fever
 |''{{what if|98|Blood Alcohol}}''
 |Drinking someone else's blood is a bad idea unless you are a vampire bat/vampire, and even then it is not a very nutritious diet. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is much worse, as they have a very serious and likely deadly disease which can be transmitted by sharing bodily fluids, such as blood. Drinking blood is the theme of this answer. Randall teaches us that drinking blood would induce vomiting, and would be a VERY bad idea.

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:06, 12 August 2025
Line 8:		Line 8:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Some statements need to be cited.}}~~

	This comic references various questions submitted by people and used in the [[what if? (blog)\|''what if?'' blog]], and ''[[What If? (book)\|What If?]]'' and ''[[What If? 2]]'' books. In particular, promoting [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What If? 2'', released 6 days after the comic's release. This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. The page [[What If? chapters]] contains the titles, publishing date, thumbnail, question, and explanation for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. The entries are all in order of their appearance in the book.		This comic references various questions submitted by people and used in the [[what if? (blog)\|''what if?'' blog]], and ''[[What If? (book)\|What If?]]'' and ''[[What If? 2]]'' books. In particular, promoting [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What If? 2'', released 6 days after the comic's release. This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. The page [[What If? chapters]] contains the titles, publishing date, thumbnail, question, and explanation for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. The entries are all in order of their appearance in the book.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 {{incomplete|Some statements need to be cited.}}
-This comic references various questions submitted by people and used in the [[what if? (blog)|''what if?'' blog]] and ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' and ''[[What If? 2]]'' books. In particular, promoting [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What If? 2'', released 6 days after the comic's release. This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. The page [[What If? chapters]] contains the titles, publishing date, thumbnail, question, and explanation for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. The entries are all in order of their appearance in the book.
+This comic references various questions submitted by people and used in the [[what if? (blog)|''what if?'' blog]], and ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' and ''[[What If? 2]]'' books. In particular, promoting [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What If? 2'', released 6 days after the comic's release. This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. The page [[What If? chapters]] contains the titles, publishing date, thumbnail, question, and explanation for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. The entries are all in order of their appearance in the book.
 The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions and answers in his new book are borderline impossible and/or fatal to attempt in real life.

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 |Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand
 |''{{what if|84|Paint the Earth}}''
-|This would be difficult. There's not enough paint to cover the Earth's land, and—at this rate—probably won't be enough until the year 2100.
+|This would be difficult. There's not enough paint to cover the Earth's land, and — at this rate — probably won't be enough until the year 2100. But there ''may'' have been enough to cover the United States, which is almost as large as the entire Sahara.
 |-
 !156,820
@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 |Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
 |''{{what if|122|Lava Lamp}}''
-|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would make rhe container would glow opaque from the heat, making it impossible to see the lava, which would solidify after a minute.
+|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would make the container would glow opaque from the heat, making it impossible to see the lava, which would solidify after a minute.
 |-
 !156,823
@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 |Eat meat from rabid animals
 |''{{what if|2-46.5|Short Answers #4}}''
-|This references {{what if|2-46.5|this ''Short Answers question''}} in ''[[What If? 2]]''. Eating meat from rabid animals could give you {{w|rabies}}, a virus which is nearly always fatal if not treated prior to the appearance of initial symptoms. Pathogen contamination in cooked foods can persist on the surface of, ''e.g.'', tongs, chopsticks, or a fork used to grill, which is why the USDA doesn't generally allow kitchen utensils to touch raw or ready to eat foods at all. Exceptions for utensils which touch only raw or partially cooked foods, such as grill spatulas and the like, are often allowed and can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis when they would otherwise be prohibited. The rabies virus permeates essentially all nerve tissue before symptoms appear.
+|This references {{what if|2-46.5|this ''Short Answers question''}} in ''[[What If? 2]]''. Eating meat from rabid animals could give you {{w|rabies}}, a virus which is nearly always fatal if not treated prior to the appearance of initial symptoms. Pathogen contamination in cooked foods can persist on the surface of, ''e.g.'', tongs, chopsticks or a fork used to grill, which is why the USDA doesn't generally allow kitchen utensils to touch raw or ready to eat foods at all. Exceptions for utensils which touch only raw or partially cooked foods, such as grill spatulas and the like, are often allowed and can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis when they would otherwise be prohibited. The rabies virus permeates essentially all nerve tissue before symptoms appear.
 |-
 !156,825

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 |Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
 |''{{what if|2-8|Geyser}}''
-|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid and gas mixture and severely injured or killed.[https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/geysers-hot-springs/cautionary-tale/] This is a reference to the question from ''What-If? 2'' (called, appropriately enough, "Geyser"), in which it is asked what might happen to a person if they stood on top of the Old Faithful geyser as it erupted.
+|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid and gas mixture and [https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/geysers-hot-springs/cautionary-tale/severely injured or killed]. This is a reference to the question from ''What-If? 2'' (called, appropriately enough, "Geyser"), in which it is asked what might happen to a person if they stood on top of the Old Faithful geyser as it erupted.
 |-
 |156,817