Editing 12: Poisson
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 12 | | number = 12 | ||
− | | date = | + | | date = December 22, 2005<!-- Per http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//Poisson.jpg - at least that was the first crawl date --><!--DO NOT ADD 2006-01-01 - this was NOT the actual post date of the comic, but merely the default date in the xkcd database. These comics do not have a known post date--> |
| title = Poisson | | title = Poisson | ||
− | | image = | + | | image = Poisson.jpg |
| titletext = Poisson distributions have no value over negative numbers | | titletext = Poisson distributions have no value over negative numbers | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] expresses himself as a {{w|Poisson distribution}} | + | [[Cueball]] expresses himself as a {{w|Poisson distribution}}. |
− | + | Per Wikipedia, in mathematics, a Poisson distribution is a distribution that shows the probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed interval of time or space. The horizontal axis typically represents the "number of events" while the vertical axis is a decimal representing the probability (i.e. 0.5 for 50% probability) a given number of events will occur in that fixed interval of time or space. It is commonly represented by a bar graph, or a point graph (sometimes with a line connection to show a trend, even though there is no actual value for non-integers). | |
− | + | A simple example is the number of heads coming up on a fair coin flip. The distribution for one coin flip should be 0.5 at 0 heads and 0.5 at 1 heads; for 2 coin flips, the distribution would be 0.25 at 0 heads, 0.5 at 1 heads and 0.25 at 2 heads; etc. Multiple graphs like this are sometimes overlaid on one graph with a legend to distinguish the points (one coin flip in red, two coin flips in blue, etc.). | |
+ | |||
+ | What's important to note for this comic is that this distribution only has data points on non-negative integers and is not continuous through decimal numbers or (as the image text tells us) negative numbers because events can't occur 0.3 of a time, or -2 times. | ||
+ | |||
+ | After implying that the concept of a person being a mathematical distribution is irrational, [[Black Hat]] suggests he is "less than zero". Since the Poisson distribution doesn't exist or has no value at negative values, Cueball either leaves or disappears magically. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hence, the punchline is the same as the title text: Cueball doesn't exist to Black Hat anymore, because he has a value less than zero. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball | + | :[Cueball talking to Black Hat] |
:Cueball: I'm a poisson distribution! | :Cueball: I'm a poisson distribution! | ||
− | |||
:Cueball: Still a Poisson distribution! | :Cueball: Still a Poisson distribution! | ||
− | :Black Hat: | + | :Black Hat: What the hell, man. Why do you keep saying that? |
− | |||
:Cueball: Because I'm totally a poisson distribution. | :Cueball: Because I'm totally a poisson distribution. | ||
:Black Hat: I'm less than zero. | :Black Hat: I'm less than zero. | ||
− | :[Cueball is gone | + | :[Cueball is gone; Black Hat is whistling.] |
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | * This comic | + | *This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006. |
− | * This | + | **It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with the 41 comics]] posted before that on [[LiveJournal]]. |
+ | **But this comic, as well as [[5: Blown apart]] also released that day, were never posted on LiveJournal. | ||
+ | *The release date is given from [http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//Poisson.jpg - wayback.archive]. At least the 22nd of December was the first crawl date. | ||
+ | **This also explains that it was "released" on a Thursday. | ||
+ | **On xkcd it was released for the first time to the public on Sunday the 1st of January 2006. | ||
+ | *One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]]. | ||
+ | *[[Randall]] was still experimenting with character design, as Cueball has a face in the first two frames. | ||
+ | *This is the first appearance of Black Hat on xkcd. | ||
+ | **However Black Hat appeared in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]] which was released almost 3 months before this one. | ||
− | {{ | + | {{Comic discussion}} |
− | [[Category:First day on xkcd | + | [[Category:First day on xkcd]] |
[[Category:Checkered paper]] | [[Category:Checkered paper]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Math]] |
− |