Editing Talk:2515: Vaccine Research

<!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.-->
Too bad White Hat and Randall didn't bother to research the other half of the question.  YES, vaccines work to save lives.  But There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, and you need to research *both* sides of any question, not just the side you agree with.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 12:52, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
: I really don't want this to turn into a long debate, but how do you know White Hat/Randall didn't find anything about the risks of vaccines? They never claim that and the fact that White Hat calls the vaccines "pretty good" instead of something like "perfect" would suggest he's aware of the downsides but considers the benefits to outweigh the risks. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 13:27, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:: Since that's left ambiguous (deliberately?), one possible reading of the comic is as a joke on how "my own research" just reinforces prior beliefs, whatever they were. This reading doesn't play as well with the understatement in the punchline, though. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.157|172.69.71.157]] 21:20, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

I don't trust the "scientists", so I decided to do my own research. Anyway, I need 5000 people for a double-blind clinical trial, so DM me if you know anyone interested.
[[User:Svízel přítula|Svízel přítula]] ([[User talk:Svízel přítula|talk]]) 13:25, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
: That's exactly where I thought this comic was going to go when I read the first panel. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.217|172.68.133.217]] 18:07, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:It so happens that I did register to participate in vaccine trials. They didn't call on me yet, so I'm available. Reach out to the Coronavirus Prevention Network here: https://www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org/ and maybe I can be one of your subjects. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:23, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

I'm unsure whether I'd call Cueball's response "nonchalant", nor that there's any indication as to his motives being deceptive. I read it more as US-style "irony", or UK-style "understatement as intensifier". --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.157|172.69.71.157]] 21:20, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
: I read it as sarcastic, too. Perhaps the explanation should be updated. Sarcasm would also suggest that clearly White Hat doesn't know about the effort because they've spent so much time reading the already produced research on the "100s of Studies" [[User:Sem 1983|Sem 1983]] ([[User talk:Sem 1983|talk]]) 21:26, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:: Yeah, I did that. Hope my rework didn't suck. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.193|108.162.221.193]] 21:47, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Should we tag this as a Tuesday comic, or as a Monday comic? This comic was posted on the site on Tuesday, but the "official publication date" per https://xkcd.com/archive/ says it to be 9/13 (Monday). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.183|172.69.34.183]] 22:03, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:If Randall states it is a Monday comic I think we should leave it as such, but it could be stated in a trivia that the comic was first released on Tuesday. Do we know exactly when it was released, and was it for sure Tuesday all over the world at that moment? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:15, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
::It was later than its usual timeframe (hello from the UK where the ''exception'' seems to be that "today's" comic arrives "today" - usually they're an hour or three post-midnight) but if Randall the same nonchanlent attitude towards waking hours as me then even post 5AM might be 'intended' to count... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.5|162.158.88.5]] 10:56, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
::: The bot that posted this comic posted it at 11:00 UTC on 9/14 (Tuesday), which corresponds to 4am Pacific Time and 7am Eastern. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.139|172.68.133.139]] 17:53, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

Did Randall misspell “sheepish” or is there a subtle joke in the title text?  It reads “sheapish” as of this comment. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.87|172.70.130.87]] 23:14, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
:Says "sheepish" at 03:22 UTC Tuesday. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:23, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
::It also was the correct spelling when [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2515:_Vaccine_Research&oldid=218005 this page was created] by the bot here on explain. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:52, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
:::I’m feeling gaslit.  May need to check my eyesight.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.209|172.70.130.209]] 13:19, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

:I missed the use of "sheepish" on my first read, until this comment pointed it out.  I suspect this is a reference to how some people refer to others as "sheep" for believing what experts are telling them.  This should probably be included somehow. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 12:05, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
::maybe a double entendre but I’m pretty sure Randall means the usual usage of sheepish - affected by or showing embarrassment caused by consciousness of fault [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.198|162.158.74.198]] 13:24, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

I wonder if this is related with some declarations from rapper Nicki Minaj, unvaccinated, who, after becoming covid-positive, wrote in her Twitter that would leave music aside for a while to investigate by herself the effects of the vaccines.