Difference between revisions of "1962: Generations"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 12: Line 12:
 
This comic is making fun of the various names we give "generations", and also predicting some future ones. It refers to the [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/defining-generations-where-millennials-end-and-post-millennials-begin/ Pew Research Center's recent announcement that they have decided where the Millennial generation ends].
 
This comic is making fun of the various names we give "generations", and also predicting some future ones. It refers to the [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/defining-generations-where-millennials-end-and-post-millennials-begin/ Pew Research Center's recent announcement that they have decided where the Millennial generation ends].
  
The 1856-1873 generation -..- may be referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Morse_code#Comparison_of_American_and_International_Morse Morse Code] for the number 9, although this is the eighth generation in this list.
+
The 1856-1873 generation -..- may be referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Morse_code#Comparison_of_American_and_International_Morse Morse Code] for the number 9, although this is the eighth generation in this list. More likely, though, it is referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code the letter X] instead in International Morse Code. This may be an error on Randall's part, since the generations are an American phenomenon.
 
 
I believe it is referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code the letter X] instead.
 
  
 
The paperclip machines in 2090-2107 and in the alt text are referencing to the concept of a [https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer paperclip maximizer], where an AI might be designed to be helpful, but end up being harmful. The clicker game [http://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ Universal Paperclips] makes this concept playable.
 
The paperclip machines in 2090-2107 and in the alt text are referencing to the concept of a [https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer paperclip maximizer], where an AI might be designed to be helpful, but end up being harmful. The clicker game [http://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ Universal Paperclips] makes this concept playable.

Revision as of 20:12, 2 March 2018

Generations
For a while it looked like the Paperclip Machines would destroy us, since they wanted to turn the whole universe into paperclips, but they abruptly lost interest in paperclips the moment their parents' generation got into making them, too.
Title text: For a while it looked like the Paperclip Machines would destroy us, since they wanted to turn the whole universe into paperclips, but they abruptly lost interest in paperclips the moment their parents' generation got into making them, too.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by THE PREVIOUS GENERATION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This comic is making fun of the various names we give "generations", and also predicting some future ones. It refers to the Pew Research Center's recent announcement that they have decided where the Millennial generation ends.

The 1856-1873 generation -..- may be referring to Morse Code for the number 9, although this is the eighth generation in this list. More likely, though, it is referring to the letter X instead in International Morse Code. This may be an error on Randall's part, since the generations are an American phenomenon.

The paperclip machines in 2090-2107 and in the alt text are referencing to the concept of a paperclip maximizer, where an AI might be designed to be helpful, but end up being harmful. The clicker game Universal Paperclips makes this concept playable.

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

Table guy! Maybe this could be a table with "Year", "Generation Name", "References" and "Speculation". Or something. 198.41.230.172 17:31, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

The highlighted generations are clearly the ones Pew Research named, but I can't figure out why Randall's numbers don't seem to match Pew's here: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/ft_15-05-11_millennialsdefined/ TheAnvil (talk) 17:37, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

—••— means X in Morse code Inexorably advancing wall of ice (talk) 18:21, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

I originally read it as "sunglasses smiley", of the same style as ";)" Nitpicking (talk) 19:49, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

But seriously, it was funny the first time. I'm sorry for the above incomplete tag in the comments[citation needed],but it feels like most comics since maybe #1900 (1914: Twitter Verification comes to mind...) have this kind of thing for their incomplete tag. Maybe if it's spaced out more, instead of put into nearly every comic nowadays, it won't be so much of a problem. --162.158.75.184 18:02, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

If you can address this problem, please edit the user. 162.158.155.26 23:04, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
Removed the incomplete tag, changed the citation needed tag into the correct one. Dude, please don't do that again, it's not funny, just seriously annoying. The incomplete tag is not there for you to abuse. Herobrine (talk) 12:07, 3 March 2018 (UTC)
Oh, and now that I've finally caught up to you, 162.158.155.26, please check your talk page. Herobrine (talk) 12:07, 3 March 2018 (UTC)

Can someone help me? Halo422 (talk) 20:20, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

What's the emoji 2000-2017? 172.68.141.214 21:05, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

I think I found it: 💅 "nail-polish" (Comes up very different on different systems) 162.158.79.233 21:20, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
Couldn't this emoji, and hence the title "Generation 💅", refer to the rise of nail care salons or manicure salons during the recent years? I don't know about other countries, but at least in certain parts of Europe, Germany in particular, there seems to be such a boom of this kind of establishments that I often wonder how they survive and open even more such businesses, even though it appears there's more nail salons than (manicured) nails in town. Passerby (talk) 20:56, 4 March 2018 (UTC)

I have to believe the 1748 - 1765 generation is some form of "Long s" such as U+1E9C or U+1E9D 162.158.79.233 21:12, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

It looks more like a forte (U+1D191). I'm not sure why that would be funny—maybe because of fortepianos? 172.69.69.214 21:43, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
My position comes from the fact that documents written by this generation (i.e. Declaration of Independance and the US Constitution) are noted for having this letter form. The script form of the long s looks like what Randall has written, which, to your point, looks like a "forte" 162.158.79.233 22:51, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
Actually, it quite clearly is not long s. Long s only has the tic on the left side of the main stroke, not on both sides as is the case here. 162.158.78.118 22:24, 3 March 2018 (UTC)
I read it as an italic lower-case F, f, as used to denote mathematical functions. I think it looks more like one of those than a long s, ſ, though I don't have an explanation for why that would be used to name a generation. Smylers (talk) 09:50, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Hitler was born in 1889, about three years before the "Oops, one of us is Hitler" generation ... --141.101.105.240 21:37, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Can someone who's a big Trekkie than I am help explain the dates for Star Trek: The Next Generation? If we're going off of the events of the show + movies, it seems to start well before the events of the show and end before the last of the movies. PvOberstein (talk) 21:49, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Year 2378 may be explained by last episode of Voyager happening that year, but no idea about year 2360. -- Hkmaly (talk) 00:59, 3 March 2018 (UTC)
Year 2360 is when the humans who became adults (18) in 2378 were born. This time-span is probably when the majority of human TNG characters would have been born (not necessarily notable ones). This is similar to how people born in 1982 became the first new adults in the new millenium. 172.68.46.143 05:02, 3 March 2018 (UTC)
William T. Riker was born in 2335, Jean Luc Picard 2305, Deanna Troi 2336, Data 2338, Guinan ... ehmmm ... well she was already adult in 1893. Even Wesley Crusher was born 2348. They don't allow children on bridge. Usually. -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:49, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Filled in most of the table with explanations (I'm pretty sure most of the latter generation names are references to potential transhumanist futures), but I'm not sure what "Second-Greatest" Generation refers to unless it's about the Civil War. Also, I'm not entirely certain whether the generation before the gilded one was cut a lot of slack. And I'll let someone more versed in standard sociological history fill in the common reasons for the core 20th century generations.WingedCat (talk) 22:49, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Paperclip machine

I think the paperclip machines refer to the browser game "Universal Paperclips", where paperclip machines take over the universe. [1]. Best regards, 172.68.110.10 11:55, 3 March 2018 (UTC)

The incomplete explination tag seemed to be a useless joke, so I deleted it.
Ω

Wow that’s a lot of speculation on the Ω generation! 177 words of it! Who knew people could imagine so much inspired by a single character (and no historical context to extrapolate from). Personally, I tend to think of it as the “resistance generation” given my electronic background 😜. PotatoGod (talk) 15:11, 4 March 2018 (UTC)

Ω may be a reference to Year Omega in the novel The Children of Men. 172.69.69.172 18:04, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Why is there an incomplete tag in the transcript? What's wrong with it? 108.162.216.148 22:49, 4 March 2018 (UTC)

Millennials were *originally* called "Echo Boomers" (after the Baby Boomers, and because most of them are that generation's kids), "Generation Y" came later but before "Millennials" stuck as a non-snowclone name. 162.158.63.100 01:56, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Generation X being the tenth generation of Americans seems a bit of a stretch. A generation is generally 35 years, and seems unlikely to be less than 20. And Douglas Coupland, who coined this use of the term, used "X" as lazy shorthand for alienation and a rejection of societal norms. If no one objects, I'll update the text. --162.158.158.33 09:02, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

"1730 - 1747 Most of the United States' Founding Fathers were born in this period. (But not all: Benjamin Franklin, for instance, was born two generations prior, in 1706.)" So, since when is a generation 12 years? Nitpicking (talk) 00:35, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

It's the first time I've read(/noticed) that, and I'm not sure I would have said it myself, but... One generation in those days might well average at <26 years, so the intergenerational gap might be best considered as two such generations (e.g. like a great-uncle, being your grandfather's youngest brother, sort of age) rather than one (just an uncle, such as your mother's eldest brother), what with the tendency for early children and big families making the advance of generations more pertinent than their onward persistence through time.
I may be overthinking it, but that sounds to me like a credible justification for the choice of words, should it not just be an error/thinko... 162.158.159.121 03:22, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

“ This also implies that Napoleon's generation was named after him.” Why does it say this when there is absolutely no such implication? 108.162.246.116 12:02, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

The others namechecked in Mixed Bag, (Hitler and Licoln) have generations here-named for (or, better, about) them. I agree it's not quite right. Perhaps "This also implies that a neo-Napoleonic generation might have been named for their own neo-Napoleon". i.e. only because of the competing neo-Hitler/neo-Lincoln characters was it not, with the same caveat thst the ur-Napoleon was also snubbed (and his namesake successors, obviously). Perhaps or perhaps not for differing reasons but conceivably Wellington/etc supporters had mutually exclusively been adamant about which historic figure was Le Grande Fromage originally born amongst that cohort.
Of course "Hitler's Generation" and even "Lincoln's Generation" are also geographically and socially a subset of the temporal bracketting (of those born when their figurehead was prominant, not at the time their future-figrehead was born), with connotations of their own, for good or ill according to the eye of the beholder.
...So it's bad phrasing, but I can imagine why it was written. Not quite how to succinctly write it better, though, even to my own satisfsction. 162.158.159.73 12:33, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

Now I can't see this page when I'm logged in. I can see it fine when logged out. Error when logged in is:

MediaWiki internal error.

Original exception: [Yv7GONoeKp91oLam6dPHcQAAAFY] 2022-08-18 23:07:36: Fatal exception of type "MWException"

Exception caught inside exception handler.

Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.

Any ideas what could be causing this?? --Orion205 (talk) 23:14, 18 August 2022 (UTC)