1028: "Communication"

[Alltat]

Where did beret guy and the guy he warns come from? There's a hole at either end!

They arrived by parachute, obviously. One or more of them may also be responsible for one or more of the holes.

EDIT: What the hell? I wrote "HULK WANT ATTENTITOOONN!!" and it says "HULK WANT ATTENTITOOONN!!".

Which part of this was surprising? (The question works on more than one level.)

[Shidoshi]

I am still trying to figure out what filters to "hulk" in caps.

Is it "I'm"?

PS: Oh I get it now.

PPS edit: The force is strong with these CRUMBLES.

[SirMustapha]

I am puzzled: is Randall's message "show, don't tell" here? That is simply not possible, because that is the one thing that Randall DOES NOT DO in his comic.

[Eternal Density]

Not cheese graters again! This is so musical. How must bird wax floor with gentle energies?

[Vrishna]

I was waiting for the panel showing BHG digging those holes.

[camdotcam]

I'm having good day today.

[floreal]

Ahh i love mod madness.
This comic reminds me about the Sims, with the "talking in pictures" thing.
They never seem to talk about the same either ^^

[Kethryes]

Nice timing indeed
It is becoming hard to communicate around here with all this madness. Maybe we should start drawing to avoid f.ilters

Butts, hang on. loaf crumbs.

Er, I mean, "O​h, hang on. W​ord f​ilters."

How did you do to bypass the f.ilters in your 2nd sentence??

(Hey mods you should do something about it, someones is not filtered )

Edit: crumbly, really?

[TimXCampbell]

Having just woken up, the quantity of obfuscation herein becomes ... surreal.

What lesson derives from all this? A puzzlement unresolved over here. Much intrigue is experienced, though. A coffee might now be appropriate.

[J L]

I am puzzled: is Randall's message "show, don't tell" here? That is simply not possible, because that is the one thing that Randall DOES NOT DO in his comic.

Actually, he does, as most comics relying solely on pictures do. The strip shows. The title text tells.

[DragonHawk]

I, tоо, find it ironic that this comic iѕ unusually difficult tо understand, when it'ѕ apparently trying tо make a point about communications difficulties.

I don't hang out on the forums much these days, so let ⅿe ask: Obviously some text replacement games arе in effect. Have they bееn in place for some time? Or arе they new with this comic? If thеy'rе new, *that* would be a multi-modal prank of extreme worth.

(EDIT: Evolving countermeasures for text replacement rules.)

[SirMustapha]

I am puzzled: is Randall's message "show, don't tell" here? That is simply not possible, because that is the one thing that Randall DOES NOT DO in his comic.

Actually, he does, as most comics relying solely on pictures do. The strip shows. The title text tells.

Lookit here:



The third panel. Just look at it.

It actually takes a kind of "talent" to do this, but yes, it's possible to draw pictures that don't show anything.

[gormster]

Butts, hang on. loaf crumbs.

Er, I mean, "O​h, hang on. W​ord f​ilters."

How did you do to bypass the f.ilters in your 2nd sentence??

Magics.

[blazemongr]

I had to read this strip three times before I realized there were two separate holes that happened to look exactly alike.

[Nylonathatep]

The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into an escapable situation in which she c­ann­ot s­ay no! These PUA are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Spoiler:

Just kidding

Spoiler:

Sex in the city = c­ommunity
nose pick = p­ick up
Hulk = I a­m
won't = C­­annot
bottom feeding scum sucker = P­UA
Spray = s­ay
The Claw = this
Loaf crumbs = W­ord f­ilters
Butt = O­h
puppetmaster = m­oderators
breadbin = b­ook

[OviWanSymbian]

My favourite xkcd.
Maybe the second best after the "There is too much time (period)".

I've loved xkcd comics ever since I found this website. I've been sharing the joy of knowing the site with my friends, however hardly anyone (nobody actually), understood my excitement.

The funny thing is, that I thought my friends were not intelligent enough.

The really funny thing is, that my communication skills are actually non-existent.

This concludes my first post on the forum.

[Shidoshi]

The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into a escapable situation in which she c­ann­ot s­ay no! These bottom feeding scum sucker are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Spoiler:

Just kidding

Spoiler:

Sex in the city = c­ommunity
nose pick = p­ick up
Hulk = I a­m
won't = C­­annot
bottom feeding scum sucker = P­UA
Spray = s­ay
The Claw = this
Loaf crumbs = W­ord f­ilters
Butt = O­h
puppetmaster = m­oderators
breadbin = b­ook

Spoiler:

There's also God = Odin
magic = magic
And some magic so we can't change font colors to black

[shirosuzume]

It is refreshing with a strip once in a while that you actually have to sit down and read instead of just skimming. Makes the humor last longer.

I agree. I am sometimes annoyed with myself that when there are words, I'm naturally drawn to them, with the result that I skip through the comic, or piece of art, or whatever, too fast... when there aren't any words, I actually have to look at the pictures to derive meaning, and I appreciate it more.

Also, I wonder if this is how my dog experiences the world . Seeing as any words I have mean nothing to her, yet if I show her, she tends to get it...

*EDIT: I'm tickled at having stumbled upon a word filter I hadn't seen before! I'll inform my puppy that she's been upgraded to direwolf.

[Zylon]

*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with an infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

[Shidoshi]

I'm also amazed that friendship filters to magic which in turn filters to witchcraft. Pony goes phony, seems like mods like dem ponies =D

[Red Hal]

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[Xezlec]

My reading of it was "communication is impossible, so don't try. Instead, use talk only to build a rapport, and then get people to actually do something you want them to understand." Given the real world, this does not seem like a viable option most of the time.

Instead, I find that being very respectful of people, trying to see where they're coming from, and trying to explain in a way that protects whatever ideas are really precious to them is the best you cann do. If what you need them to understand is exactly the inverse of something precious to them, your only hope is to change their social group and rewrite their identity, which is not easy (or necessarily ethical). Fortunately, most of the things we think are key components of other people's ideologies really aren't. You cann drill down pretty far before you hit that bedrock.

EDIT: wow, cann filterrs to will. Subtle. Very subtle.

[KingErroneous]

This sums up every game the The Sims I've ever played.

[Nylonathatep]

*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

I think the m­oderators are allow to have fun on the forums once in a while. It's just a way to build a fun, relaxing atmosphere and to release their penned up stress and frustration. It's also allows them to get high from being on a powertrip.

Other popular forums also have this once in a while... last time Penny Arcade ran a whinning forum for people to post anything that usually breaks the rules on the forum. Something Awful does crazy things like this all the time.

so

Spoiler:

words = w­ords
Friendship = F­riendship
Witchcraft = m­agic
direwolf = d­og (Game of Throne reference)
A Galaxy far far away = T­he W­orld
centipede = c­at
Christmas = W­yoming
Atomic Spacecraft = A­ircraft
A­dam = Hitler

[HTH]

edit: for some reason, "c.a.n" is being changed to "will" and "c.a.n't" to "won't" every time I post, that's adorable. "c.a.n" c.a.n not always be replaced with will!!

Have you considered using "cannot" instead? It is the generally preferred form over being split, but not necessarily over being contracted (it reads as more emphatic than the contraction). In split form, you suggest the ability not to do something vs. the inability to do something.

I also thought of Lode Runner. Apple II version of course. The XBOX version was rattling around in there, too, but not so indelibly burned into my memory in green phosphor.

[zebazga]

I have nothing to add, but I feel compelled to come out of lurker mode in appreciation for the moderators and March madness.

Viva la moderators!

[MathUhhhSaurus]

I bet Black Hat Guy (BHG) had something to do with the holes. Probably why he wasn't in the comic lol
h a t = cravat?

[MathUhhhSaurus]

I'm also amazed that friendship filters to magic which in turn filters to witchcraft. Pony goes phony, seems like Puppetmasters like dem ponies =D

but then, when you say friendship is magic it filters to magic is witchcraft...maybe the goal was to make people type that sentence haha

[Sprocket]

It took me a few goes to figure out what the hell was going on... which seems fitting, given the topic. My reading:

Spoiler:

Panel 1: White-hat guy sees a dangerous hole in the road.
Panels 2-3: WHG tries to tell hair-guy about the hole, but all hair-guy hears is "WHG seems worried about something".
Panels 4: WHG gives up, hair-guy doesn't understand.
Panel 5: WHG rants to hair-girl about hair-guy not understanding, meanwhile hair-girl tells WHG about a hole in the ground.
Panel 6: They part ways, WHG thinks that hair-girl is going to tell hair-guy about the hole too.
Panels 7-11: Hair-girl meets hair-guy, they share stories about WHG, wander off, and fall into the hole WHG tried (and failed) to warn them about.
Panels 11-12: WHG also falls into a different hole, that hair-girl tried to warn him about (which he ignored, thinking they were talking about the same hole).

Meanwhile:
Panels 13-18: Beret guy sees a hole in the road, and goes to find bald guy. Rather than try to tell him about the hole, he drags him over and shows him the hole. They both walk away understanding that the hole is there.

I think Beret and Bald also get the benefit of really wanting to understand the danger because they were able to see that other people were injured because they didn't understand the danger.

This sums up every game the The Sims I've ever played.

lol <3

[sehkzychic]

So.....Is Hulk only one who notice panels 9 and 11 show bald guy not hair guy? HULK IS JUST CHECKING.

[bmonk]

Where did beret guy and the guy he warns come from? There's a hole at either end!

Maybe they walk with a bounce in their step?

[Antimon]

This is one of my all time favourite xkcds I think. So spot on it hurts.

[bmonk]

Testing that fall.

The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into a escapable situation in which she c­ann­ot s­ay no! These bottom feeding scum sucker are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Spoiler:

Just kidding

Spoiler:

Sex in the city = c­ommunity
nose pick = p­ick up
Hulk = I a­m
won't = C­­annot
bottom feeding scum sucker = P­UA
Spray = s­ay
The Claw = this
Loaf crumbs = W­ord f­ilters
Butt = O­h
puppetmaster = m­oderators
breadbin = b­ook

Spoiler:

There's also God = Odin
magic = Witchcraft
And some magic so we can't change font colors to black

Spoiler:

How about winter is coming = spring, summer, and maybe fall?

[Steve the Pocket]

*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

Quoted for truth. And heaven forbid you're on a site where it's not just something they do for a day but something they have implemented 24/7. At best, it's straight-up trolling; at worst, it's a cynical attempt to weed out all but the fiercest loyalists who will never question anything they do.

[Vael]

I may be a very critical person. I might be a misanthrope, I judge, I often spew venom. C'est la vie.

But this comic.

Is brilliant. (please pronounce that period!)

It's brilliant, full stop?

Anyway, I enjoy this comic if only for the timing.

It's brilliant, full stop, ovary drop?

I enjoy this comic because I feel each person will have a slightly different understanding of it.

[Someguy945]

This got me thinking that the best way to tell someone something is to show them, generally speaking though.

Showing something to a person can be a very effective form of communication, but I don't think that's the intended message of the comic. The intent is best explained by the alt text: Adjust your method of message delivery to suit your audience and you will have the best results.

[Rotherian]

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been further even more decided to use even go need to do look more as anyone can. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that when one really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It’s just common sense. Sheesh!

[Monika]

It took me a few goes to figure out what the hell was going on... which seems fitting, given the topic. My reading:
Panel 1: White-hat guy sees a dangerous hole in the road.
Panels 2-3: WHG tries to tell hair-guy about the hole, but all hair-guy hears is "WHG seems worried about something".
Panels 4: WHG gives up, hair-guy doesn't understand.
Panel 5: WHG rants to hair-girl about hair-guy not understanding, meanwhile hair-girl tells WHG about a hole in the ground.
Panel 6: They part ways, WHG thinks that hair-girl is going to tell hair-guy about the hole too.
Panels 7-11: Hair-girl meets hair-guy, they share stories about WHG, wander off, and fall into the hole WHG tried (and failed) to warn them about.
Panels 11-12: WHG also falls into a different hole, that hair-girl tried to warn him about (which he ignored, thinking they were talking about the same hole).

Meanwhile:
Panels 13-18: Beret guy sees a hole in the road, and goes to find bald guy. Rather than try to tell him about the hole, he drags him over and shows him the hole. They both walk away understanding that the hole is there.

Thank you so much

(I was already getting a headache trying to figure out what exactly was happening.)

[Lerkistan]

I found the comic easy to understand, assuming that the spoiler description is the intended meaning. Didn't notice the sudden hair loss, though.

...frankly, I don't have anything more to add to the discussion, I just wanted to see how much I would get crumbled...

edit: Nothing? Disappointing...

[SirMustapha]

*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

I think the m­oderators are allow to have fun on the forums once in a while. It's just a way to build a fun, relaxing atmosphere and to release their penned up stress and frustration.

Because there is no way to do that in real life.