Talk:1876: Eclipse Searches

I don't get it. - BK 108.162.216.16 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Because people are apparently (according to the Google-search data, anyways) more excited about the upcoming eclipse than they were about the election, Cueball is predicting that society is going to go a little crazy when the eclipse actually happens. Megan adds that the traffic jams will likely be insurmountable and "if you're planning to be on the road, bring water"--i.e., don't expect to go anywhere fast. In the title text Mr. Munroe further explains this statement, noting that past eclipses have generated bad traffic jams and those were before the days of widespread social media networking, which will certainly make matters much worse. Berets (talk) 17:21, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

To be fair, not that many of us were excited for election day. The Trumpists were excited. The #imwithheriguess weren't. We wanted Clinton because she wasn't Trump. Nervous about the insanity that would occur if Trump won, but not excited about the mediocrity that would happen if Clinton won. 108.162.245.88 21:43, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

I guess the association with traffic jams is that in the USofA, people are used to stand for hours in line to vote. --198.41.242.29 17:47, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

I remember the 1970 eclipse! Here in Northern Virginia, it was nearly total. I was nine and my dad made us a pinhole camera. Now I'm gonna have to make one for my kids, since it looks like the goggles are pretty much sold out. 162.158.255.118 19:08, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

I understand this XKCD differently. The fact that no one looks up "eclipse" is that something bad will happen during it, that's why Cueball is urged to bring water, as in essential survival gear. 108.162.216.106 20:12, 14 August 2017 (UTC) AM

Yeah, and the Moon will fall into the Sun like the ISS did before: 1830: ISS Solar Transit 2 --Dgbrt (talk) 22:26, 14 August 2017 (UTC)