[2013-Oct-16] Awful.

[Lethal Interjection]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3146#comic

I am really, really disappointed. Seriously.
That first panel was just so sad. I mean, what sense is it to mention economic debt in any way whatsover? Aside from maybe having some poor attempt at being topical, or an even worse attempt to make some sort of political/economic statement.

[CuriosityKiledTheMartians]

Pure science advocates might think economic debt is irrelevant, but then NASA still got shut down, didn't it?

What I had a problem with was the description of what happens when you travel at the speed of light. This site gave a more entertaining description: http://what-if.xkcd.com/1/

(Posting here because I'm not sure where to send hate mail)

[innominata]

I would buy that book.

[Andy]

Well, the joke is that he's taking standard correlations or observations or whatever that get thrown around all the time in attempts to make the date relatable, and instead of completing the thought as expected (e.g. "the stack would reach the moon(or something)") he's just turning it on its head and pointing out the logical observation that none of these relatable things would actually work.

[Belgand]

The axon one felt like it was derivative of Neil deGrasse-Tyson's statement: "If you removed all the arteries, veins, & capillaries from a person's body, and tied them end-to-end...the person will die."

[Carcinogeneticist]

Well, the joke is that he's taking standard correlations or observations or whatever that get thrown around all the time in attempts to make the date relatable, and instead of completing the thought as expected (e.g. "the stack would reach the moon(or something)") he's just turning it on its head and pointing out the logical observation that none of these relatable things would actually work.

...which he subverts once more at the end with "Science Facts For Future Intolerable Pedants"

So he's really making fun of the old joke of taking these kinds of comparisons literally.

[Astrogirl]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3146#comic

I am really, really disappointed. Seriously.
That first panel was just so sad. I mean, what sense is it to mention economic debt in any way whatsover? Aside from maybe having some poor attempt at being topical, or an even worse attempt to make some sort of political/economic statement.

I am not sure if your comment is a joke.

[Lethal Interjection]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3146#comic

I am really, really disappointed. Seriously.
That first panel was just so sad. I mean, what sense is it to mention economic debt in any way whatsover? Aside from maybe having some poor attempt at being topical, or an even worse attempt to make some sort of political/economic statement.

I am not sure if your comment is a joke.

It wasn't.

[Astrogirl]

Okay, he did not try to be topical or make a political statement. This panel and the others are just turning around common examples where large numbers are made visible in some way. Debt, though usually the debts of one government/country not of all of them, are made visible by stacked $100 bills very often, e.g. here: http://demonocracy.info/infographics/us ... _debt.html . He's turning it around by noting that you can't really stack money very high at all. Similarly the second thing, if you moved through space near the speed of light you would observe some objects in a rotated or distorted way (I think there is an if xkcd about it) - except you wouldn't observe much as you would die. I think I have seen a "all the neurons in a human brain in a line would be such and such long" comparison more than once, but I don't remember how long and I can't easily google one.

[Lethal Interjection]

Oh, I get it. It just felt a cheap, easy way to get in a political dig.

[Hinotori]

Oh, I get it. It just felt a cheap, easy way to get in a political dig.

I'm utterly mystified.

I can't, for the life of me, determine what your problem with the comic is.

Is it because it talks about something political/economic (in such a distant, general, vague sort of way, no less)? In that case, I wonder what comic you've been reading because SMBC has never been one to stay away from political or economic topics. For Christ's sake, it's one of the more recurring subjects.

Is it because it somehow, in a tangential way, relates to the recent/current debt ceiling debate? Well, first of all, see above. And secondly, the first panel doesn't even single out the US; it refers to all the world's governments. There's hardly anything in there that's even remotely controversial.

Is it because "topicality" is a bad thing?

What? Why? Why would it ever be a bad thing? I'd only ever consider being topical a bad thing if there was clearly a stretch to make it work. In this case, the talk about debt has been ubiquitous, and so many analogous comparisons have been made that it's hard to tell them apart. That's precisely why Zach probably used it for the first panel, because it was so relevant and fitting. And that's a bad thing? I just... I don't even.

[Lethal Interjection]

Oh, I get it. It just felt a cheap, easy way to get in a political dig.

I'm utterly mystified.

I can't, for the life of me, determine what your problem with the comic is.

Is it because it talks about something political/economic (in such a distant, general, vague sort of way, no less)? In that case, I wonder what comic you've been reading because SMBC has never been one to stay away from political or economic topics. For Christ's sake, it's one of the more recurring subjects.

Is it because it somehow, in a tangential way, relates to the recent/current debt ceiling debate? Well, first of all, see above. And secondly, the first panel doesn't even single out the US; it refers to all the world's governments. There's hardly anything in there that's even remotely controversial.

Is it because "topicality" is a bad thing?

What? Why? Why would it ever be a bad thing? I'd only ever consider being topical a bad thing if there was clearly a stretch to make it work. In this case, the talk about debt has been ubiquitous, and so many analogous comparisons have been made that it's hard to tell them apart. That's precisely why Zach probably used it for the first panel, because it was so relevant and fitting. And that's a bad thing? I just... I don't even.

I'm done explaining. Apathy has long since taken over.

[Kimra]

I'm done explaining. Apathy has long since taken over.

Welcome to my life.

[GUTCHUCKER]

I'm done explaining. Apathy has long since taken over.

Odd, that's what I feel like saying, and sometimes do, when I don't actually have a reason.

[Kimra]

Odd, that's what I feel like saying, and sometimes do, when I don't actually have a reason.

This has only just occurred to me: Get yourself an avatar, son.