I have noticed that I have had the same reaction to the past few comics. That reaction is "huh." There's nothing wrong with this comic, but I read it and I go "ok, yeah?" Is the joke just that the kid is young but acting like an older person? Is it, thus, a comment on the earlier and earlier ages at which we lose the innocence of our youth? Or perhaps a sadly ironic commentary on the tragedy that while mathematical concepts and constants stay the same for eternity, we must age?I doubt it. But I have no idea. So I decided to make this an open forum. e-mail me a blog post to put here, in my style or not, and I'll post the ones I like. czwheeler@gmail.com.
Because this comic wholly uninspires me.
Update: I didn't get any responses I liked enough to put up here, which doesn't surprise me that much. There's nothing to say to this. Just sort of staring blankly is all I think anyone could come up with. And, of course, the pathetic excuse that it's not meant to be funny. Good try, my friends. But that excuse is lame.
A pupil once asked the master to explain an xkcd comic, to which the master responsed "there is no joke". Then the pupil was enlightened.
ReplyDeleteThen the pupil said, "no wait, that's bullshit. It's supposed to be a comic. It's a webcomic. 'Comic' means 'funny.'
ReplyDeleteThen it was the master who was enlightened. And the pupil said, "What now, bitch?"
While I didn't really "get" this one either, I can say this in general: You shouldn't be upset when xkcd doesn't have a joke. Forget what "comic" is supposed to mean. "Comic" is simply the classification that these drawings best fall under. They aren't all funny. They aren't all meant to be funny.
ReplyDeleteI thought it might be a reference to mathematicians from past centuries. I'm by no means a math history expert, but I vaguely remember hearing lectures about various mathematicians from centuries ago who made amazing mathematical discoveries before they hit 18 or 20. Some of them (or most, I have no idea) were attending university at 11-12.
ReplyDeleteI'd go and double check, but I'm too lazy and can't for the life of me remember any names.
Locutus - While some are not meant to be funny, I think this one was. The way the character on the left says "You're thirteen" at the end has the feel of a punchline to me.
ReplyDeletePerhaps one reason I don't like xkcd is that it can't decide what it's trying to be - a long-story type comic, a bunch of one-panel gags, a collection of computer science jokes, or something else.
Anon - I think you are on to something. Of course, for this comic to make sense in that light you have to assume that the guy on the left did some awesome math at a young age ("It doesn't come easy like it once did"). Maybe. Maybe he's supposed to be one of those genius young mathematicians. Who knows. I still don't think it's that funny.
I'd swear to God this was ripped straight from Good Will hunting. It doesn't say anything about apples, or Fields Medals, or girls though.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong.
I didn't see good will hunting. Can you go into more detail? (or can someone else who has seen the movie confirm or deny this?)
ReplyDeleteHi, I left the original comment. And that's not a defense of the comic, but a mockery of it, although I guess you have to know some zen to get the joke.
ReplyDeleteAh. Yeah I guess I misunderstood. I still like my response though, so let's pretend we both planned it that way.
ReplyDeleteTO EVERYONE: If you use a name of some kind, you don't have to explain which comments are yours! But I guess it's not a big deal.
It's said that a research mathematician will do his best work when he's young (say, less than 30). This only really applies to the real geniuses who'll do something ground-breaking.
ReplyDeleteI think that's what Randall is making a joke of in this strip. It's not all that funny though.
Sorry for a late comment on this entry, just discovered this blog.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you've heard this interpretation before... When I first read this one, I assumed that it was about the odd excuses kids try to use to get out of doing math. (I guess I didn't read the alt text!) Kind of like that strip with Calvin from "Calvin and Hobbes" claming to be a math atheist. Looks like I might be wrong, but I think I'll stick with my version, makes it slightly more amusing.
READ THE ALT TEXT. Not that hard to get if you read the entire comic!
ReplyDeleteBlah, I know I'm way way way too late but I HAVE to say I think the joke here is actually playing on xkcd's art style -- you don't realize the guy is thirteen until the very end cuz there's no indication.
ReplyDeleteUm, that's my two cents.
Maybe I'm just easily amused, but there you go.