Main Page

Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 2 xkcd comics, and only 61 (2%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

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 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.

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

This can also be a parody on scientists doing empty papers sometimes 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 intimate.)

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

[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.

Is this out of date? .

New here?

Last 7 days (Top 10)

Rank Score Pages Changes Username 1 22 18 22 TheusafBOT 2 13 7 16 BunsenH 3 10 6 11 Elizium23 4 10 8 9 Qwertyuiopfromdefly 5 8 5 8 DollarStoreBa'al 6 6 2 7 Megan 7 6 2 6 1234231587678 8 6 2 6 R128 9 5 5 5 DKMell 10 4 2 3 Quincy

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, memes and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd web comic, it should be here.

• If you're new to wikis like this, take a look at these help pages describing how to navigate the wiki, and how to edit pages.

• Discussion about various parts of the wiki is going on at Explain XKCD:Community portal. Share your 2¢!

• List of all comics contains a table of most recent xkcd comics and links to the rest, and the corresponding explanations. There are incomplete explanations listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!

• We sell advertising space to pay for our server costs. To learn more, go here.

Rules

Don't be a jerk. There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.

If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.

Please only submit material directly related to —and helping everyone better understand— xkcd... and of course only submit material that can legally be posted (and freely edited). Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.

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