Editing 2217: 53 Cards
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| β | + | {{incomplete|Created by a 53-CARD DECK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
| β | The comic is a satire of the way that conversations tend to go between physicists and perpetual motion enthusiasts | + | In this comic, [[Cueball]] claims that he has found a way to manipulate a {{w|Standard 52-card deck|52-card deck}} into a 53-card deck by only shuffling and rearranging the cards, presenting a complex-looking diagram to support his claim. [[Ponytail]] naturally disputes the claim immediately, which Cueball counters by challenging Ponytail to prove that his math is wrong. |
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| + | The comic is a satire of the way that conversations tend to go between physicists and perpetual motion enthusiasts. {{w|Perpetual motion}} is the idea that it could be possible for a mechanical system to work indefinitely without any external input of energy. The {{w|laws of thermodynamics}} absolutely prohibit this, so the only way that this could be possible is if the laws of thermodynamics are wrong. Unfortunately, the laws of thermodynamics are some of the most foundational and well-tested laws in science, so perpetual motion is considered to be a {{w|pseudoscience}}, pursued only by ignorant or quixotic cranks. | ||
One of the things that you could do with a perpetual motion machine is to violate the {{w|law of conservation of energy}} - that is, you could create free energy out of nothing, simply by building a mechanical device. This is likely what Randall is satirizing with the idea of a process that can generate an extra card out of nowhere - it makes no physical sense, but nonetheless Cueball is convinced that he has found a way to do it. | One of the things that you could do with a perpetual motion machine is to violate the {{w|law of conservation of energy}} - that is, you could create free energy out of nothing, simply by building a mechanical device. This is likely what Randall is satirizing with the idea of a process that can generate an extra card out of nowhere - it makes no physical sense, but nonetheless Cueball is convinced that he has found a way to do it. | ||
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A common defense employed by pseudoscientists, when challenged on their ideas, is to issue a counter-challenge and demand people prove them wrong, as Cueball does in this comic. This is a fallacious line of argument, since the fact that Ponytail cannot prove Cueball wrong does not mean that he is right. Nonetheless, this aggressive defense often works to discourage argument, since it takes far less effort to make a claim than to refute it. | A common defense employed by pseudoscientists, when challenged on their ideas, is to issue a counter-challenge and demand people prove them wrong, as Cueball does in this comic. This is a fallacious line of argument, since the fact that Ponytail cannot prove Cueball wrong does not mean that he is right. Nonetheless, this aggressive defense often works to discourage argument, since it takes far less effort to make a claim than to refute it. | ||
| β | + | The comic is referencing the {{w|Banach-Tarski paradox}}, which is a mathematical theorem providing a way to "dismantle" a solid sphere, rearrange the component pieces, and reassemble them into two solid spheres identical to the original. This is only possible in a mathematical ideal case, because the component pieces are collections of infinitely many disjoint points; it can not be performed in real life. Cueball's operations of shuffling and rearranging are analogous to the operations used in the Banach-Tarski operation, which "involves only moving the pieces around and rotating them without changing their shape". What is possible in mathematics is frequently not possible in physical reality, which is why Ponytail is so confident Cueball's perpetual motion plan is flawed. The Banach-Tarski paradox was also referenced in [[804: Pumpkin Carving]]. | |
In the title text, Ponytail responds to Cueball's challenge with snark, claiming that the most obvious error is the fact that the formula's result is "53". The implication is that his math results in the wrong ''answer'', which is proof that the calculations must contain errors. This, of course, starts with the assumption that Cueball's claimed result is impossible, rather than attempting to find the flaws in his specific method. Because most people would conclude, by basic physical reasoning, that merely shuffling and rearranging a deck of cards cannot increase the number of cards in the deck, that feels like a safe assumption. By analogy, increasing the amount of energy in a system only by moving and transferring energy should be equally impossible, on its face. | In the title text, Ponytail responds to Cueball's challenge with snark, claiming that the most obvious error is the fact that the formula's result is "53". The implication is that his math results in the wrong ''answer'', which is proof that the calculations must contain errors. This, of course, starts with the assumption that Cueball's claimed result is impossible, rather than attempting to find the flaws in his specific method. Because most people would conclude, by basic physical reasoning, that merely shuffling and rearranging a deck of cards cannot increase the number of cards in the deck, that feels like a safe assumption. By analogy, increasing the amount of energy in a system only by moving and transferring energy should be equally impossible, on its face. | ||
