Editing 95: The Sierpinski Penis Game

{{comic
| number    = 95
| date      = April 28, 2006
| title     = The Sierpinski Penis Game
| image     = the_sierpinski_penis_game.jpg
| titletext = Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Chaos game|The Chaos Game}} is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen {{w|Transformation_(function)|transformation functions}} to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.

One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}}, which is the fractal pictured in this comic. See details in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKtFN71Lfs this video].

The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.

The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by {{w|negative feedback}} (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves {{w|positive feedback}} (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.

The title text mentions two inappropriate places to play the Penis Game. A baby shower is supposed to be a celebration of childbirth or pregnancy, so it would be an inappropriate place for such crude humor. A terrorist attack is typically a time in which lives are lost, so it would be very immature to play such a crude game. The title text may also be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.

==Transcript==
:[A large triangle, point down, is shown, with many smaller triangles inside all pointing up. There is one large triangle in the middle, with 3 medium triangles on either side and three triangles on either of their sides as well, for a total of 9. This trend then continues three more times, with 27 around the nine and 81 around those. Finally, there were supposed to be 243 (3x81) very small filling out all the space outside the larger triangles, but staying inside the original triangle. But there seem to be missing three of these near the top. Two of those are on either side of the first (top left) of the nine triangles of size 3, as well as one to the left of the top of the top right second largest triangle. But there is also one extra triangle just below the P in the bottom triangle with a sentence. That would have been the first of the next level of 3*243=729 triangles in level 7. But it is the only one. So 240 small triangles plus 1 even tinier for a total of 362 inside the largest framing triangle.] 

:[There is a word inside the largest of the triangles and a sentence in the largest triangle below that triangle.]
:Penis! 
:Haha, penis.

==Trivia==
*Inside the large outer triangle with tip pointing down, there are 362 triangles all with tip pointing up.
**One triangle is larger than the other, the Level 1 triangle. 
***Around this there are 3 Level 2 triangles, one on either side of Level 1.
****Around these 3 there are 3 for a total of 9 Level 3 triangles
*****Around those there are 3 for a total of 27 Level 4 triangles
******Around those there are 3 for a total of 81 Level 5 triangles
*******And around those there were supposed to be 3 around each for a total of 243 Level 6 triangles.
*******However, three of these smallest triangles are missing, leaving only 240. See details in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
********A single Level 7 triangle has also been added out of the possible 729.  See details in the transcript.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Penis]]