Editing 903: Extended Mind

{{comic
| number    = 903
| date      = May 25, 2011
| title     = Extended Mind
| image     = extended mind.png
| titletext = Wikipedia trivia: if you take any article, click on the first link in the article text not in parentheses or italics, and then repeat, you will eventually end up at "Philosophy".
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the fact that the narrator has become so dependent on Wikipedia as a source of information that although it gives him the great advantage that he appears learned on any topic with a remarkable degree of specificity, the downside is that whenever Wikipedia goes offline, the limitations of his actual knowledge are revealed.

The title, "Extended Mind", refers to a theory proposed by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers, which postulates that the mind not only includes what can be found in the skull, but also incorporates external things, like Wikipedia.

The title text refers to an observed phenomenon that many of Wikipedia's page links eventually lead to the {{w|Philosophy}} page. This may be due to the fact that the first few links in any article tend to reference more general or abstract ideas, which eventually gravitate towards philosophy. This is not actually true, though. It works for the spark plug page and countless others but not for all. The comment section below has some examples, but many of them are not working anymore, because Wikipedia references change in time, as just about anyone can just log in and add/remove links, or just adjust their position in an article. Most instances of this not working are because of endless loops (page A to page B back to page A, or anything like that).

More info on this bizarre characteristic of the encyclopedia can be found {{w|Wikipedia:Getting to Philosophy|on their page about it}} or on [http://matpalm.com/blog/2011/08/13/wikipedia-philosophy/ this blog].

==Transcript==
:[An IM window is open over a Chrome window with tabs for Spark Plug, Feeler Gauge, and Wikipedia.]
:Message with Mike1979
:Mike1979: I replaced my spark plugs and now my car is running weird.
:Me: The spark gap might be off.
:Me: You can check with a feeler gauge.
:Mike1979: What should the gap be?
:Me: Usually between 0.035" and 0.070".
:Me: But it depends on the engine.

:[An IM window is open over a Chrome window with a single Wikipedia tab, marked ERROR. The page says: "Wikipedia has a problem. Try waiting a few minutes and reloading (can't contact the database server: unknown error (10.0.0.242))]
:Message with Mike1979
:Mike1979: I replaced my spark plugs and now my car is running weird.
:Me: What is a spark plug??
:Me: Help
:Me: What is a car??

:When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points.

==Trivia==
*The error code shown in the right panel (10.0.0.242) caused a [https://lists.archive.carbon60.com/wiki/wikitech/236027 bit of a discussion] from the wiki techs. Randall replied with:
::Randall: "I drew it based on an older error message where the IP was 10.0.0.243. I changed it to 242 (a) because I try not to get too specific with those things, and didn't want people poking the actual machine at .243 (if it was still there) - I actually considered putting .276 and seeing how many people noticed, but figured they'd just think I made a dumb mistake. and (b) as part of this ancient inside joke involving the number 242 ..."

*For a few weeks after this comic came out, following the links as explained in the title text would actually lead only to the Science page, due to someone/someones altering the links.  The alterations could have been coincidental, good-faith edits, but were much more likely to be vandalism to break this trick.  The edits were eventually reverted, and, as of July 2016, all first links lead to the ocean.  Er, Philosophy. At least, when they're not stuck in endless loops.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]