2879: Like This One - Revision history

DAOFS: /* Explanation */

2025-01-19T00:21:33Z

‎Explanation

B for brain: /* Explanation */

2024-01-19T17:27:07Z

‎Explanation

172.69.43.240: /* Explanation */

2024-01-15T09:35:46Z

‎Explanation

Raviolio: /* Explanation */ formatting

2024-01-12T15:21:22Z

‎Explanation: formatting

N0lqu: Unclear if she has an open palm, or is pointing with a finger.

2024-01-11T20:58:48Z

Unclear if she has an open palm, or is pointing with a finger.

Raviolio: /* Explanation */

2024-01-11T20:30:32Z

‎Explanation

DKMell: minor

2024-01-11T20:25:11Z

minor

DKMell: minor fixes

2024-01-11T20:24:39Z

minor fixes

172.70.175.53: /* Explanation */ Explained gravitational field and planetary magnetosphere.

2024-01-11T19:53:06Z

‎Explanation: Explained gravitational field and planetary magnetosphere.

GreatWyrmGold: /* Explanation */ Added some random stuff.

2024-01-11T19:43:06Z

‎Explanation: Added some random stuff.

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 * '''Planetary magnetospheres''': The Earth {{w|Earth's magnetic field|has a magnetic field}}, which covers the entire planet and any conversations taking place there.
 * '''Sound waves''': Most in-person conversations are mediated with sound waves created by human vocal cords, and those that are not (text or sign languages) are almost certainly in the presence of background noise.
-* '''Habitable worlds''': As of 2024, all humans converse on or near the habitable world of Earth.{{cn}} Depending on your definition of 'world', any environment in which a human could survive (and therefore hold a conversation) could be considered a 'habitable world'.
+* '''Habitable worlds''': As of 2025, all humans converse on or near the habitable world of Earth.{{cn}} Depending on your definition of 'world', any environment in which a human could survive (and therefore hold a conversation) could be considered a 'habitable world'.
 * '''Languages''': Conversations such as this one are possible only if one or more languages are involved.
 * '''Social interactions''': Any conversation constitutes a social interaction.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:27, 19 January 2024
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Created by a BOT LIKE THIS ONE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~
	In this comic, [[Megan]] is asking [[Ponytail]] what she does, presumably in a professional context. Ponytail responds with "I'm a researcher studying gas molecules like this one" and then she indicates the air above her outstretched hand, or possibly pointing with a finger, which, indeed, does contain or point to gas molecules. However, it would not be at all clear which one molecule she was supposed to be identifying, since they are too small for human sight to distinguish. Identifying a specific gas molecule in this way does not provide the listener with any useful information.		In this comic, [[Megan]] is asking [[Ponytail]] what she does, presumably in a professional context. Ponytail responds with "I'm a researcher studying gas molecules like this one" and then she indicates the air above her outstretched hand, or possibly pointing with a finger, which, indeed, does contain or point to gas molecules. However, it would not be at all clear which one molecule she was supposed to be identifying, since they are too small for human sight to distinguish. Identifying a specific gas molecule in this way does not provide the listener with any useful information.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 * '''Planetary magnetospheres''': The Earth {{w|Earth's magnetic field|has a magnetic field}}, which covers the entire planet and any conversations taking place there.
 * '''Sound waves''': Most in-person conversations are mediated with sound waves created by human vocal cords, and those that are not (text or sign languages) are almost certainly in the presence of background noise.
-* '''Habitable worlds''': As of 2024, all humans converse on or near the habitable world of Earth.{{cn}}
+* '''Habitable worlds''': As of 2024, all humans converse on or near the habitable world of Earth.{{cn}} Depending on your definition of 'world', any environment in which a human could survive (and therefore hold a conversation) could be considered a 'habitable world'.
 * '''Languages''': Conversations such as this one are possible only if one or more languages are involved.
 * '''Social interactions''': Any conversation constitutes a social interaction.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 The caption under the comic lists further examples of things that researchers study and are, by necessity, around them either all the time, or at any time they are talking to another person, making the researchers truthfully able to respond "...like this one" when asked about their research, despite the fact that such a statement doesn't tangibly identify anything to the other person.
-* Gas molecules: Gas molecules generally share a few basic physical characteristics simply because they're in a gaseous state. A researcher would thus be able to make reference to their study of (any particular kinds of) gas molecules as, unless they happen to be researching something incredibly exotic, the gas molecules they were studying would probably share at least something with the gas molecules found in the atmosphere. A more restrictive interpretation would be that the researcher is, in fact, studying particular kinds of {{w|Atmosphere of Earth|gas molecules that are in the atmosphere}}.
+* '''Gas molecules''': Gas molecules generally share a few basic physical characteristics simply because they're in a gaseous state. A researcher would thus be able to make reference to their study of (any particular kinds of) gas molecules as, unless they happen to be researching something incredibly exotic, the gas molecules they were studying would probably share at least something with the gas molecules found in the atmosphere. A more restrictive interpretation would be that the researcher is, in fact, studying particular kinds of {{w|Atmosphere of Earth|gas molecules that are in the atmosphere}}.
-* Gravitational fields: Every object with mass has a gravitational field that extends, however weakly, throughout the universe.
+* '''Gravitational fields''': Every object with mass has a gravitational field that extends, however weakly, throughout the universe.
-* Planetary magnetospheres: The Earth {{w|Earth's magnetic field|has a magnetic field}}, which covers the entire planet and any conversations taking place there.
+* '''Planetary magnetospheres''': The Earth {{w|Earth's magnetic field|has a magnetic field}}, which covers the entire planet and any conversations taking place there.
-* Sound waves: Most in-person conversations are mediated with sound waves created by human vocal cords, and those that are not (text or sign languages) are almost certainly in the presence of background noise.
+* '''Sound waves''': Most in-person conversations are mediated with sound waves created by human vocal cords, and those that are not (text or sign languages) are almost certainly in the presence of background noise.
-* Habitable worlds: As of 2024, all humans converse on or near the habitable world of Earth.{{cn}}
+* '''Habitable worlds''': As of 2024, all humans converse on or near the habitable world of Earth.{{cn}}
-* Languages: Conversations such as this one are possible only if one or more languages are involved.
+* '''Languages''': Conversations such as this one are possible only if one or more languages are involved.
-* Social interactions: Any conversation constitutes a social interaction.
+* '''Social interactions''': Any conversation constitutes a social interaction.
-* Skin microbes: For better or worse, a wide variety of microbial organisms {{w|Skin flora|live on the skin}} of any outstretched hand.
+* '''Skin microbes''': For better or worse, a wide variety of microbial organisms {{w|Skin flora|live on the skin}} of any outstretched hand.
 The title text moves into inverse cases, where it would be highly unusual or potentially disconcerting for an example of the research subject to be present at the time of the conversation. In the example given, for a neurologist to say "I'm a neurologist studying dreams ''like this one''", would imply that your conversation with them (or your entire consciousness) is itself a dream.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
 {{incomplete|Created by a BOT LIKE THIS ONE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
-In this comic, [[Megan]] is asking [[Ponytail]] what she does, presumably in a professional context. Ponytail responds with "I'm a researcher studying gas molecules like this one" and then she indicates the air above her outstretched hand, which, indeed, does contain gas molecules. However, it would not be at all clear which one molecule she was supposed to be identifying, since they are too small for human sight to distinguish. Identifying a specific gas molecule in this way does not provide the listener with any useful information.
+In this comic, [[Megan]] is asking [[Ponytail]] what she does, presumably in a professional context. Ponytail responds with "I'm a researcher studying gas molecules like this one" and then she indicates the air above her outstretched hand, or possibly pointing with a finger, which, indeed, does contain or point to gas molecules. However, it would not be at all clear which one molecule she was supposed to be identifying, since they are too small for human sight to distinguish. Identifying a specific gas molecule in this way does not provide the listener with any useful information.
 The caption under the comic lists further examples of things that researchers study and are, by necessity, around them either all the time, or at any time they are talking to another person, making the researchers truthfully able to respond "...like this one" when asked about their research, despite the fact that such a statement doesn't tangibly identify anything to the other person.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The caption under the comic lists further examples of things that researchers study and are, by necessity, around them either all the time, or at any time they are talking to another person, making the researchers truthfully able to respond "...like this one" when asked about their research, despite the fact that such a statement doesn't tangibly identify anything to the other person.
 * Gas molecules: Gas molecules are, like their name suggests, in a gaseous state, and thus generally share a few basic physical characteristics. A researcher would thus be able to make reference to their study of (any particular kinds of) gas molecules as, unless they happen to be researching something incredibly exotic, the gas molecules they were studying would probably share at least something with the gas molecules found in the atmosphere. A more restrictive interpretation would be that the researcher is, in fact, studying particular kinds of gas molecules that are currently found in the atmosphere, for better or for worse.
-* Gravitational fields:
+* Gravitational fields: The Earth has gravity, like any planet does, so all conversations there take place in a gravitational field.  Every object with mass has a gravitational field, so even if the conversation took place in deep space there would still be a weak gravitational field present.
-* Planetary magnetospheres:
+* Planetary magnetospheres: The Earth also has a magnetic field, which covers the entire planet and any conversations taking place there.
 * Sound waves: Most in-person conversations are mediated with sound waves created by human vocal cords. However, this is not true of conversations mediated by text or sign languages.
 * Habitable worlds: At present, very few humans converse outside the atmospheres of habitable planets.