Difference between revisions of "Talk:1246: Pale Blue Dot"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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I'm sure Randall is talking about Stargate and the character {{w|Ba'al_(Stargate)#Ba.27al|Ba'al (Stargate)}}. This even does make more sense on the last sentence at the title text. While we have two theories on this the comic is incomplete.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 
I'm sure Randall is talking about Stargate and the character {{w|Ba'al_(Stargate)#Ba.27al|Ba'al (Stargate)}}. This even does make more sense on the last sentence at the title text. While we have two theories on this the comic is incomplete.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 
: I disagree. I don't believe Ba'al from Stargate was ever called "Ba'al the Annihilator" or "Ba'al, the Eater of Souls". I think Randall's just making up it up. [[Special:Contributions/76.64.65.200|76.64.65.200]] 17:25, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 
: I disagree. I don't believe Ba'al from Stargate was ever called "Ba'al the Annihilator" or "Ba'al, the Eater of Souls". I think Randall's just making up it up. [[Special:Contributions/76.64.65.200|76.64.65.200]] 17:25, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 +
: I also disagree, though the description as stands is currently incorrect. "Ba'al" is not a specific deity in the Northwest Semitic pantheon, certainly not one "associated with demonic or otherwise evil forces", it's a title that had been used for several different deities. However the name is often included in Jewish and Christian demonology where it probably got its "evil" connotation. [[Special:Contributions/69.28.44.231|69.28.44.231]] 18:30, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Revision as of 18:30, 2 August 2013

To call this a "simple call for funding for space exploration" completely misses the point of the Ba'al theology with which it is intertwined.

I think it completely misses all the points of the comic. --Kronf (talk) 11:44, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
This comic makes philosophical claims that cannot be falsified. Randall can't be serious about the soul eater. That's so dark. Theology? Sort of. But quite undeveloped. More like mythology. Does make one wonder: Why is there really something rather than nothing? tbc (talk) 12:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
Took at shot at adding something on this. (Long-time reader, first-time editor. Will create account at some point.) --173.13.203.241 14:58, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
(I wrote the following this morning, before anyone else had made any Talk/Discussion points, but then rushed out without saving it properly. Probably now not relevent, but here you are anyway...)
"This is a simple call for funding of space exploration."??? I'd say that (whatever Randall, and I, think about the importance of funding space research) it's more an affectionate parody of the "Consider this pale blue dot..." speech, which it subverts by suggesting that arguably the most intellectually interesting image of the planet is indistinguishable from a manufacturing error in a LCD array (presumably in a computer projector) or from the kind of photo you get when you don't take the lens-cap off of a digital camera. Or so my take on it, is... 178.98.215.19 18:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)


I'm sure Randall is talking about Stargate and the character Ba'al (Stargate). This even does make more sense on the last sentence at the title text. While we have two theories on this the comic is incomplete.--Dgbrt (talk) 17:05, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I disagree. I don't believe Ba'al from Stargate was ever called "Ba'al the Annihilator" or "Ba'al, the Eater of Souls". I think Randall's just making up it up. 76.64.65.200 17:25, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
I also disagree, though the description as stands is currently incorrect. "Ba'al" is not a specific deity in the Northwest Semitic pantheon, certainly not one "associated with demonic or otherwise evil forces", it's a title that had been used for several different deities. However the name is often included in Jewish and Christian demonology where it probably got its "evil" connotation. 69.28.44.231 18:30, 2 August 2013 (UTC)