Comments on: Hopefully there are some underemployed postdocs working the call center…

By: P.L. Frederick

P.L. Frederick — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:31:49 +0000

I thought I’d get edumacated smarter reading these comments. That idea went horribly, horribly wrong. Must. Rest. Now.

By: Karl

Karl — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:09:34 +0000

I only vaguely remember what a fourier transform is, but I still found #26 funny. It’s not pretentious it’s absurdist. It’s not a math joke at all really. It’s a comment on how unfunny garfield is.

Liz is the vet from garfield.

It is ok not to like absurdism, but you don’t get to dictate to the rest of us what is funny or not.

By: sonasi

sonasi — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:48:19 +0000

Ya, XKCD really isn’t funny at all. I agree with Mike and Sam — it’s popularity is because it makes people in science programs feel like they’re in a special exclusive club, and not because it’s funny or intelligent. It’s dumb. I think the check is funny though, only because I wish I had done something like that…

By: j

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:36:19 +0000

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I feel that xkcd and Dinosaur Comics are so different in their scope, subject matter, and style of humor that they can hardly be compared.

By: j

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:35:00 +0000

Hey Mike –
I think xkcd is pretty funny. It’s flawed, sure, but I’m not aware of lots of physics comics that outdo it (I’d say Dinosaur Comics is about equally funny, just in a very different way). Really, I think physics comic humor is pretty much in its infancy and could be developed greatly if there were to develop a critical mass of physics cartoonists competing and playing off each other. (The key to this happening, of course, is to first get a heck of a lot more people seriously interested in physics than currently are!) But hey, you think you can do better? Link to your work, and I will read with pleasure! Or perhaps there are already loads of great physics comics that I am just unaware of. Again, I’d be happy to be educated.
J

By: Joe Fitzsimons

Joe Fitzsimons — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:53:14 +0000

Actually, regarding ‘Exhibit A’, it seems to me that taking the quantum Fourier transform of Schroedinger’s cat would in fact save it. Maybe he gave the right medicine to the wrong cat …

Frankly I love xkcd, and while I can see that the humour is somewhat niche, it seems absurd to blame it for damaging the image of physics.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:13:13 +0000

I agree with Mike 100%.

Exhibit A: http://xkcd.com/26/

Now, I can’t see why anyone would find this funny in any way other than “I know what a Fourier transform is”.

Exhibit B: http://xkcd.com/208/ Now I don’t know what regular expressions are, but I think I `get’ the comic—it’s just not very funny. I think, if anyone finds it funny, a large proportion of the humour would be “hahaha I know what that technical term means”.

There are some examples of good ones such as http://xkcd.com/507/ , in which there is a joke other than knowing the scientific method, I guess. But I think in general xkcd depends far too heavily on recognition of jargon. And my opinion is that this is lazy and “cliquey”.

Dinosaur comics (http://www.qwantz.com/), on the other hand is funny and clever, “geeky” if you like, in a way involving appreciation of subtle concepts, not of technical terms and in-jokes.

By: John R Ramsden

John R Ramsden — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 09:32:05 +0000

Maybe the IMF needs to write out a cheque for exactly e^(PI . SQRT(163)) to get the world’s economies back on their feet.

Actually, that’s always puzzled me – If every country goes to the IMF for a handout, where do *they* get the money? The aliens on Alpha Centauri?!

By: MrEnerstat

MrEnerstat — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 05:30:37 +0000

The lesson learned here (should you choose to learn it) is when a Verizon rep tells you the charge per Kb is 0.002 cents; DON’T BELIEVE THEM!!

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 03:08:20 +0000

I don’t see anyone printing out my “pretentious” comment and posting it on their office door, so I don’t think it makes any difference to the image of physicists.