explain xkcd:Sandbox

Welcome to the explain xkcd sandbox!
We have an explanation for all 3209 xkcd comics, and only 62 (2%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

(Not the) latest comic

Go to this comic explanation

Proof Without Content

|< < Prev #3201 (January 30, 2026)

Title text: There's also a proof without content of a conjecture without content, but it's left as an exercise for the reader.

|< < Prev Random Explanation

Explanation

This is incomplete: This page IS THE PROOF OF ITS OWN CREATION. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

This comic refers to a proofs without words, which rely on images or other geometric tools to visually demonstrate a concept without further explanation. The comic gives an example of a proof without any content at all, which proves its own existence. However, it claims to be a convincing proof, in which it might fall a bit short. Note that this conjecture cannot be generalized and the proof only proves this special case: the vast majority of all other conjectures cannot be proven without content.

This proof requires the conjecture to be stated, which could be construed as content.

This could also be a parody on scientists sometimes creating empty papers as an inside joke, such as a comprehensive overview of chemical-free consumer products – the point with that paper being that the lay meaning behind "chemical-free" can be considered technically nonsensical, given that anything physical contains chemical elements, so no products can be free of them. (And, even in the various more vague senses that may be intended, it isn't necessarily as good a selling point as it may try to suggest.)

The title text refers to another proof without content, that a conjecture without content could exist. This would imply a conjecture-proof pair with no content whatsoever. This could only be discussed indirectly, which is why it is mentioned and left as an exercise for the reader. Alternatively, the exercise could be forming the conjecture and proof itself if the comic is interpreted as a blank sheet of paper.

Transcript

This is one of 41 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

[Within a panel, two boxes stacked vertically. Each one has a label above it.]

Conjecture:

[Within the box]

It's possible to construct a convincing proof without words, pictures, or content of any kind.

[The next label]

Proof:

[The box underneath this label is empty.]

[Caption under the panel]

Proofs without words are cool, but we can go further.

  Add comment        Create topic (use sparingly)       Refresh 

Discussion

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.

---

This is a test. PoolloverNathan^{[stalk the blue seas]} 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 12:53) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this

^furhhfghure _{guyrburgryhuyvfr} "rvhru"

interesting way of writing quotations xd

hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line

Please beware that <p> on mediawiki also disables automatic paragraph breaks, so you need a closing </p> or you'll break automatic paragraph formatting for the rest of the page. Zmatt (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

hi uh its hard to get here. is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

yum yum [citation needed]

Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve {{trout}}

This is the leaderboard:

Last 7 days (Top 50)

Rank Score Pages Changes Username 1 22 18 22 TheusafBOT 2 18 15 17 Qwertyuiopfromdefly 3 17 14 16 Victoria 4 13 8 15 Elizium23 5 11 7 11 FaviFake 6 10 4 12 BunsenH 7 8 5 8 DollarStoreBa'al 8 6 2 7 Megan 9 6 2 6 R128 10 6 2 6 1234231587678 11 5 3 4 Kynde 12 5 3 4 Christian 13 5 2 4 Trimutius 14 4 1 4 Lp0 on fire 15 4 1 4 Tibbs 16 4 2 3 Quincy 17 4 1 3 Luke 18 4 1 3 Theusaf 19 3 1 2 Barry Margolin 20 3 1 2 Jack 21 3 1 2 Minecraftip 22 3 1 2 Chris Phoenix 23 3 1 2 Logalex8369 24 3 1 2 Paul Nickerson 25 3 3 3 Sean McDonough 26 3 1 2 User 8496351 27 3 1 2 Lyall Deere 28 2 2 2 MikeTheNewGuy 29 2 2 2 LandmineFlipFlop 30 2 2 2 NotBob 31 1 1 1 Alstocras 32 1 1 1 Geoff 33 1 1 1 Hcs 34 1 1 1 Sci09273.15 35 1 1 1 管委会篝火无法解放军“赐额“你去呢管理哦法？ 36 1 1 1 These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For 37 1 1 1 Chronotix 38 1 1 1 EebstertheGreat 39 1 1 1 Wobcomic 40 1 1 1 Martin 41 1 1 1 Benzaldehyde 42 1 1 1 Alexei Kopylov 43 1 1 1 AgentMuffin 44 1 1 1 New editor 45 1 1 1 Elektrizikekswerk 46 1 1 1 DKMell 47 1 1 1 Wilh3lm 48 1 1 1 Mike Patton 49 1 1 1 Rob 50 1 1 1 Carl

<a href=" [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING][tab] "Cancel the meeting! Our cover is blown.">

More testing: hello ​ does​this​work (yes​it​does) This isn't a good name (talk) 22:44, 28 January 2026 (UTC)
        Add comment

New to the explain xkcd sandbox?

Last 7 days (Top 10)

Rank Score Pages Changes Username 1 22 18 22 TheusafBOT 2 18 15 17 Qwertyuiopfromdefly 3 17 14 16 Victoria 4 13 8 15 Elizium23 5 11 7 11 FaviFake 6 10 4 12 BunsenH 7 8 5 8 DollarStoreBa'al 8 6 2 7 Megan 9 6 2 6 R128 10 5 3 4 Kynde

Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.

You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to sign up for an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for comics, characters, themes and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd web comic, it should be here.

• If you're new to wiki editing, see the explain xkcd:Editor FAQ for a specific guidance to this Wiki and the more general help on how to edit wiki pages. There's also a handy wikicode cheatsheet.

• Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the Community portal.

• You can browse the comics from List of all comics or by navigating the category tree at Category:Comics.

• There are incomplete explanations listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!

Trivia

If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.

  Add comment        Create topic (use sparingly)       Refresh 

Discussion

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.

---

This is a test. PoolloverNathan^{[stalk the blue seas]} 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 12:53) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this

^furhhfghure _{guyrburgryhuyvfr} "rvhru"

interesting way of writing quotations xd

hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line

Please beware that <p> on mediawiki also disables automatic paragraph breaks, so you need a closing </p> or you'll break automatic paragraph formatting for the rest of the page. Zmatt (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

hi uh its hard to get here. is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

	Soup

yum yum [citation needed]

Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve {{trout}}

This is the leaderboard:

Last 7 days (Top 50)

Rank Score Pages Changes Username 1 22 18 22 TheusafBOT 2 18 15 17 Qwertyuiopfromdefly 3 17 14 16 Victoria 4 13 8 15 Elizium23 5 11 7 11 FaviFake 6 10 4 12 BunsenH 7 8 5 8 DollarStoreBa'al 8 6 2 7 Megan 9 6 2 6 R128 10 6 2 6 1234231587678 11 5 3 4 Kynde 12 5 3 4 Christian 13 5 2 4 Trimutius 14 4 1 4 Lp0 on fire 15 4 1 4 Tibbs 16 4 2 3 Quincy 17 4 1 3 Luke 18 4 1 3 Theusaf 19 3 1 2 Barry Margolin 20 3 1 2 Jack 21 3 1 2 Minecraftip 22 3 1 2 Chris Phoenix 23 3 1 2 Logalex8369 24 3 1 2 Paul Nickerson 25 3 3 3 Sean McDonough 26 3 1 2 User 8496351 27 3 1 2 Lyall Deere 28 2 2 2 MikeTheNewGuy 29 2 2 2 LandmineFlipFlop 30 2 2 2 NotBob 31 1 1 1 Alstocras 32 1 1 1 Geoff 33 1 1 1 Hcs 34 1 1 1 Sci09273.15 35 1 1 1 管委会篝火无法解放军“赐额“你去呢管理哦法？ 36 1 1 1 These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For 37 1 1 1 Chronotix 38 1 1 1 EebstertheGreat 39 1 1 1 Wobcomic 40 1 1 1 Martin 41 1 1 1 Benzaldehyde 42 1 1 1 Alexei Kopylov 43 1 1 1 AgentMuffin 44 1 1 1 New editor 45 1 1 1 Elektrizikekswerk 46 1 1 1 DKMell 47 1 1 1 Wilh3lm 48 1 1 1 Mike Patton 49 1 1 1 Rob 50 1 1 1 Carl

<a href=" [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING][tab] "Cancel the meeting! Our cover is blown.">

More testing: hello ​ does​this​work (yes​it​does) This isn't a good name (talk) 22:44, 28 January 2026 (UTC)
        Add comment