XKCD: It's more than a comic

And then there's this.

[edit] Oh, hey, page topper. In which case: the article is about a phenomenon known as... The Hum.

edited 15th Oct '15 7:48:38 AM by scionofgrace

Has it actually been proven? Last I'd seen, there were a lot of anecdotes about cases where a low frequency generator was in a similar place, but experiments were generally not very reproducible.

This reminds me how I was able to hear a very high-pitched whistle whenever a (vacuum) TV screen was on. Now I don't seem to hear it anymore, but I can't really know if this is because of my hearing diminishing with age or the fact that this kind of TV screen is almost extinct by now.

My favourite fact about the Bloop is that it apparently originated from the same approximative region as the location of R'lyeh.

It's the type of TV. The flatscreens that are everywhere now don't make the same kind of hum that the old CRT T Vs did/do.

I remember that noise. I also remember how whenever we had a blackout , it got really quiet, and I noticed how much background noise there had been before

Bell's theory misunderstandings and ExplainXKCD's entry for it

That actually is funny.

It's funny in a "I think I get it" way.

Over-thinking it

"Figuring out which ideas are true is hard." No kidding.

All the examples sound like under-thinking it, not over-thinking.

The idea is we keep taking things we've been doing for centuries and wondering "is this going to kill us all?" rather than just figuring "well we've been doing them for centuries and we're still here".

The counterpoint is "smoking=death" though. Which took centuries to figure out.

No idea how it became popular in the first place though. Most Europeans introduced to it found it distasteful at first, and there's a Native American parable describing how while corn and wheat grew where a messenger from the Spirits placed her left and right feet, tobacco grew from where she sat down and possibly relieved herself.

The point is that each of these things (water, sitting, and sleep) have numerous people telling us that what we're doing is wrong and that we need to do it differently because modern society is supposedly less healthy than ever. The studies he's citing disprove the underlying premises of a vast amount of other research, which has been "overthinking" it for decades.

IE: The "overthinking" was happening offscreen prior to this conversation. By, you know, the world we live in. The comic is a response to a kind of thinking in general.

That's not what I would call "overthinking" something, but whatev.

White Beret Guy found yet another new job.

I officially love White Beret Guy

They should comment all sports like that.

Like this?

Beret Guy needs to meet Luna Lovegood. They'd be perfect.

edited 22nd Oct '15 8:54:01 PM by Galadriel

His commentary demonstrated a higher level of understanding than I had anticipated.

Ideas for finishing off Polio and Psychology research participants are horrible people.

The nanomachine immunization thing just results in me thinking of the Gray Death. Or perhaps more appropriately, Ambrosia.

I can't say that I haven't done this one before although I do use the jingle when attempting to remember. I'm even worse when it comes to using the knuckle mnemonic.

I thought it went like this:

30 Days Hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31,
Except for my Uncle Spitz, who was given 30 to life.

I always lose track of the jingle when it comes to the leap years part.