Editing Talk:1790: Sad

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My first instinct is that Ponytail is feeling despondent about politics. I am reading too much of myself into it? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 17:25, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
: The title ("Sad" - a common interjection in Trump's tweets) strengthens this argument. {{unsigned ip|162.158.58.129}}
:: As does this being a problem that's been going on for the past few months. Contrary to what the explanation says, a programmer creating functions that don't do anything but return the same data back is not 'semi-common in regular life'. That and the title clearly indicate that this is about more than a programmer subverting complaints about their work. Something very bad is going on that has Ponytail, who also just happens to be a woman, depressed and angry. The election seems like the obvious thing. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.28}}
::: My reaction was based on the "Fact Check" reference, which is largely used in politics. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 18:01, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
Could "sad" could also refer to the medical term "[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder Seasonal Affective Disorder]", a condition where people feel depressed during the winter as a result of getting too little sunlight?  [[User:Mr. I|Mr. I]] ([[User talk:Mr. I|talk]]) 20:05, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
: I would have expected it to be in all caps if that were the case [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 20:42, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
::Well in principle it is written in all caps on xkcd, but that is because of the font. If you copy paste the title it does come out Sad. But if you read it on xkcd you would see it as SAD. That is why we have this site to clarify. She (or rather Randall) is really sad, and with the way Trump is going to ruin the US for over half the population many will be really sad. Horrible what he has already started within a week of his inauguration, and with Randall obviously feeling like this too, and even living under him (not like us foreigners) then he is very likely sad. :-( --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

It is not really true that "side effects" in this context are "unexpected, unintended, and typically unwanted..."  A side effect in functional terms is simply an effect other than on the output of the function.  As the linked wikipedia article explains, these are very common and typically (but not always) how a program interacts with the outside world.  In a pure functional language functions do not have side effects.  Ponytail's job may or may not be (but probably isn't) to avoid side effects at all costs. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.24|141.101.107.24]] 21:23, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Having just been through a break up recently (and the resulting sadness that eventuates) I identified with the "No, you deal with this" as a classic response to "If you have a problem with what I did, deal with it." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.178.27|162.158.178.27]] 02:00, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
: Even without suffering a break up I came to the same connection and interpret the whole comic in that way. Tbh I don't see any connection to Trump's inauguration at all. But I'm not from the USA, and I understand the arguments leading to this conclusion. Yet I think it could be inserted as an alternative interpretation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:09, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
::For sure it is that which caused this. See my comment above, and the other Sad after Trumps election comic in the trivia. (And his [[I'm With Her]] comic). But a break-up also makes you sad, so if that is easier to relate to then this comic could also be for such a person. I do not live in the states but I'm sad because now we end up in a worse than current path scenario from the very bottom of the [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] comic. I would not be surprised if this election result will cause all ice to melt on Greenland very soon with devastating effect for Europe (because the Gulf stream may stop, so the "heat up" could case ice winters in Europe and cold summers) and many other places due to higher sea levels and wilder weather to boot. Sad? maybe, scared? for sure. We are not talking centuries, and maybe not even many decades the way things are going already and now Trump will make it worse by trying to stop scientist talking about their results and making oil lines through protected/fragile nature areas. ( Not to talk about the wall or women's rights etc. etc. etc.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
::: I recommend reading this http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-going-to-be-okay.html and this http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-going-to-be-okay-follow-up.html Those articles were written right after the vote, but they're still valid, I think. Yes, I agree with you that Trump might wreck havoc. But I object that he can do as much damage in (at most) 8 years as you worry about. He's no totalitarian dictator who can do whatever he wants (and if he can do, the US American system is seriously flawed. I know another democratic system which was seriously flawed and yes, the result was the worst catastrophe in the 20th century which indeed did influence the whole world in a very bad way). However, I don't want to argue about politics. And I don't want to say that the current explanation is wrong. I just want to say that there might be a (plausible) alternative interpretation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:40, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
::::I entirely agree with Elektrizikekswerk. The election was bad, but it isn't the source of all sadness these days. There's no indication that this is about the election, so I don't understand why everyone is automatically accepting that as truth. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 11:18, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
:::::Because this is the fourth since the election that is sad and is released in relation to events related to Donald Trump - see [[1790:_Sad#Sad_comics|Sad Comics]] section above. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:25, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
When people talk about virtual farms, I assume that they're talking about Farmville, so I was a little surprised for them to mention Stardew Valley instead. Oh well. I guess it's just me. (#waiting-for-the-nintendo-switch-port) --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD'''  ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 12:02, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

I vote we remove anything about Donald Trump and speculation on Ponytail's depression other than the fact that she's obviously depressed and the initial correlation to Trump. i.e. lines 2 through 5 ("Of course, such sadness..." through "a clear relation to this comic!"). The comic doesn't dwell on it and it just seems like a ton of word cruft. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.215|172.68.132.215]] 21:27, 28 January 2017 (UTC)

Why is like half of the explanation info about Trump? I came here to have XKCD explained, not the current political situation. I can go to other sites for that. If the Trump correlation is really that relevant, I think mentioning just once should be enough. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.112|108.162.210.112]] 21:35, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
:I'm with this guy. I'm commenting out the four Trump paragraphs as a test, seeing as every fact has been repeated a second time in the much more relevant Trivia section. If it turns out we need it the admins can just delete the comment markers.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.215|172.68.132.215]] 18:59, 1 February 2017 (UTC)