"If people had wheels and could fly, how would we differentiate them from airlines?" When it stops flying, and is sitting on the ground on its wheels, go up to it and ask it, "Are you a person or an airplane?" If it answers, either way, odds are it's a person. If it ignores your question and starts vomiting luggage, it's probably an airplane. Hope that helps.
There's enough text-to-voice apps that would allow you to have an airplane state that it is human, though, and a plane is not guaranteed to have luggage upon it. Nope, it'd have to be something more directly related to the definition of a plane.
“Cartoonist”? Educator, rocket scientist, inspiration, take your pick, but xkcd is hardly a cartoon - it’s a work of art! I’ve never since seen stick figures with more emotion or personality than his :p
@@leif1075 Kerbal Space Program. It's a game that Randall Munroe has made a few comics about, including one where he attributes most of his understanding of orbital mechanics to the game.
My theory: one of the Google staff, an xkcd fan of course, saw the what if article and recognized the accuracy of the estimate. He then showed it around to his coworkers, fascinated, and it was then that they crafted their response. Indeed, their "no comment" says volumes, namely that he was close enough to the answer that they felt a need to dissuade him from such ponderings.
@@rudrasingh6354 Truth... He put truth in your brain. Google is run by data addicted technowizards with the money to live a life of perpetual D&D LARPING, complete with thrones, lizards genetically modified into dragons and secretive meetings in arcane temples in remote forests and forgotten wildernesses.
@@taitano12 You know, you'd think that, but the best LARPing in the nation so far as I can tell is up in the New England area, not in the Bay Area. If they're LARPing, they're not building out games here.
@@roguishpaladin The "Board game capitol" of the world isn't in new england, nor in the bay area, but often in the relatively unexplored areas. For a long time, it was in Salt Lake City because of the weird contradictory ideas, combined with a lack of funding to hash them out.
You're right. "No comment" seems to lean more towards "we can neither confirm nor deny" than just denying any information. "Neither confirm nor deny" is usually understood to be "you got it right"
Growing up, I saw a lot of xkcd comics printed on my university’s Mathematic department’s notice boards. Since then I have always liked xkcd. But hearing Randall Munroe going through his creative-thought process and depth research, I appreciate it so much more. This is beyond comics. This is philosophy.
I got some news for you @martins divine okoi in September his new book is being released called 'how to' and I believe it is a form of sequal that was teased in one chapter of what if? and I really hope it is. same style, more things. looks fun.
This was a treat to see pop up in my suggested videos. I've been a fan of XKCD for years and really hope he revives the "What If" portion of his website again. Really cool to actually see the person behind those amazing comics!
oh you shush. he's ONE guy! he's been busy with his books, and touring. buy them! plenty of content contained within to provide the fix you're craving. sadly, i can't figure out how to get the mouse-over text to work, though. some of his stuff is going to need some advanced e-ink development before it fully translates well to print format.
2:20 No HBP because the batter didn't try to avoid getting hit. It would be a strike, because some (disintegrated) part of the ball would pass through the strike zone.
But "If the ball is outside the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a ball if he makes no attempt to avoid being touched." Since this is also true, then...I guess it's a ball and a strike? I think the doctoring the ball rule might come into effect, though. By the mere act of throwing, the pitcher is intentionally damaging the ball and is thus ejected.
@@roguishpaladin My interpretation is that if any part of the ball is in the strike zone, the ball is considered in the strike zone. This does raise a question of what happens if a ball touches the batter while some part of it is in the strike zone, but the point of touching is outside the strike zone. The strict letter of the definition of a strike in this situation - "[t]ouches the batter in flight in the strike zone" - suggests that the point of touching must be in the strike zone to considered a strike. In this case, if it is not a hit by pitch, it would be neither a ball nor a strike. Another question arises when a pitch enters and exits the strike zone, and then hits the batter. It would be a strike under clause (b) of the definition of a strike ("[i]s not struck at, if any part of the ball passes through any part of the strike zone"); but the ball is not in the strike zone when it hit the batter, and rule 5.05(b)(2) says that's a ball.
"i dont really like math for its own sake" this is SO TRUE even linear algebra can be fun if youre doing it in the context of graphics programming less so if youre doing it in school 💀💀💀
I immediately added this to my favourites around 1:37 after i had my mind blown a couple of times...paused ...writing this and i cant wait to watch the rest. ...i leave a like most of the times let alone i have subscribed a long time ago...but this video is really something and i hope i can learn something that i can use as a game designer one day
On that last question.... Make it 'wings' instead of 'wheels' and --- Size ( even really big people are smaller than the smallest plane), speed (presumably not fast enough to start losing articles of clothing, but fast enough to get lift), cruising height above ground (the need to breath is a real limiter) lack of ability to show up on radar (unless they can pick up birds too then refer back to size), length of runway needed to land and take off ( if we had vertical capability, they would notice the lack of rotors on top), and so on... Or we could look at it from the way it was asked....They could tell at a glance that you had no registration numbers printed on your side and there for were not registered as a plane. Probably had no submitted flight plan, and therefore would probably end up crashing into other unregistered, flyers. Then the lack of burning and exploding on impact would probably be a dead give-away. Thank you very much! LOL
I've known about xkcd for years, own all three of his written books (or his first three), but this is the first time I've ever seen him or heard his voice. I never realized that I'd be able to, but I'm kinda sad it's in a video of answers I already know.
One time I calculated the amount of water the leaking faucet in my dorm room wasted in the week it took for maintenance to fix it and that was about where I peaked in life.
1. From this question I learned that approaching the speed of light anywhere except a vacuum is a REALLY bad idea. 2. How fast can an object travel in an atmosphere without triggering a nuclear explosion?
Such an incredible person! Wow! Making education as - learning and not just knowing something and inspiring and motivating the excitement to learn together: this is education. Wow!
I have to say, while I love What If and XKCD and would support anything Randall wants to do, I'm finding his live talks and What If TH-cam videos less fun than the actual comic. I think the comic timing of the drawings hits harder and, unless you want to freeze the video constantly, it's hard to appreciate the simple elegance of his drawing style, which often adds to the humor.
I have another "what if" for him, and I'm hoping that he gets enough such questions for a sequel to the book of the same title. What if all our remaining fossil fuel reserves spontaneously ignited?
It would probably trigger major rupturing of the bedrock wherever oil deposits and coal mines are found, and just cause global warming to get even worse at best. Either way at least we could disillusion Trump.
I always have to explain the basics to people before I can ask the question. YOU, I believe do not require this. IF a machine was used to truly color match a ultraviolet paint. (not that black light stuff at the hobby store) and I painted a door with it. What would you see when you look at that door? If I missed any items of consideration, please add them in the answer. 1. light spectrum 2. visible light spectrum 3. method of human sight. 4. human method of seeing color. 5. Objects reflective (reason we see color)
black lights from the hobby store do emit UV rays(they wouldn't make various things glow if they didn't) they just *also* emit purple party light. Anyways, to answer your question: Light, as you may know, is a spectrum; it goes from short to long, and our eyes are wired to detect some reddish wavelengths, some greenish wavelengths, and some blueish wavelengths. Every object absorbs and reflects some part of the spectrum, and what our eyes see as color is the amount of light reflected at points within their detection ranges. The amount of light an object reflects in one wavelength does not change how much it reflects in other wavelengths, so a door painted with UV paint would look no different from a door painted with normal paint, except that it would reflect UV rays more.
"If people had wheels and could fly, how would we differentiate them from airlines?"
When it stops flying, and is sitting on the ground on its wheels, go up to it and ask it, "Are you a person or an airplane?" If it answers, either way, odds are it's a person. If it ignores your question and starts vomiting luggage, it's probably an airplane.
Hope that helps.
There's enough text-to-voice apps that would allow you to have an airplane state that it is human, though, and a plane is not guaranteed to have luggage upon it. Nope, it'd have to be something more directly related to the definition of a plane.
@@roguishpaladin but have you ever seen a person vomit luggage?
Ah, the modified Harkness test.
Urgent
@@roguishpaladin Or more related to the definition of a human, which is Mr. Munroe's point I think.
“Cartoonist”? Educator, rocket scientist, inspiration, take your pick, but xkcd is hardly a cartoon - it’s a work of art! I’ve never since seen stick figures with more emotion or personality than his :p
Cartoons are art...
Not as educational... but if you like emotional stick figures, look up Alan Becker on youtube.
Randall Munroe: Cartoonist. Also, you know, ex-Nasa roboticist
Who learned more about orbital mechanics playing KSP than hanging out at NASA.
@@LordFokas To be fair, most people learn more about orbital mechanics playing KSP than anywhere else.
Yeah, that ex made me think he was old.
@@timothymclean What is KSP?
@@leif1075 Kerbal Space Program. It's a game that Randall Munroe has made a few comics about, including one where he attributes most of his understanding of orbital mechanics to the game.
This guy is an internet legend
Fungamerplays yeah
yes
I agree. Though I didn't realise who it was until the image of the cartoon came up...
I love this haughty dipshit.
He really is
Did Randall just get nerd-sniped by Google?
Ayup. They Randall'ed Randall.
did you just reference Randall to Randall about Randall?
@@entropy7999 it would appear so, yes. Now, back to my infinite resistors....
@@tf2excession My favorite "What-If" is still "What if you had a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (small furry critters)"?
@@jordananderson2728 I totally forgot about that!
I thought Randall was black and white, with a very slim body, slim hands and legs and no face. The more you know
Slenderman basically
No no, you're thinking of CGPGrey
@@SoulOfTheReaver you'd need glasses too
Having never seen Munroe's face before, I feel a little bit jarred being forced to think of him as anything other than Cueball from XKCD.
I imagined him as black hat
"oh no, he's hot"
TIL he's not a stickman...
My theory: one of the Google staff, an xkcd fan of course, saw the what if article and recognized the accuracy of the estimate. He then showed it around to his coworkers, fascinated, and it was then that they crafted their response. Indeed, their "no comment" says volumes, namely that he was close enough to the answer that they felt a need to dissuade him from such ponderings.
@@nickelchlorine2753 What have you put in my brain
@@rudrasingh6354 Truth... He put truth in your brain. Google is run by data addicted technowizards with the money to live a life of perpetual D&D LARPING, complete with thrones, lizards genetically modified into dragons and secretive meetings in arcane temples in remote forests and forgotten wildernesses.
@@taitano12 You know, you'd think that, but the best LARPing in the nation so far as I can tell is up in the New England area, not in the Bay Area. If they're LARPing, they're not building out games here.
@@roguishpaladin The "Board game capitol" of the world isn't in new england, nor in the bay area, but often in the relatively unexplored areas. For a long time, it was in Salt Lake City because of the weird contradictory ideas, combined with a lack of funding to hash them out.
You're right. "No comment" seems to lean more towards "we can neither confirm nor deny" than just denying any information. "Neither confirm nor deny" is usually understood to be "you got it right"
Growing up, I saw a lot of xkcd comics printed on my university’s Mathematic department’s notice boards. Since then I have always liked xkcd. But hearing Randall Munroe going through his creative-thought process and depth research, I appreciate it so much more. This is beyond comics. This is philosophy.
You gotta admit, Google's got style
Google's got multiple copies of everyone's style, in RAM, on disk and on tape :D
hear hear
Put you at 666 likes. So proud
Harry Potter Reference?
This is Randall Monroe?? He's so smart. I read his book, What If, last year and enjoyed every bit of it. Big ups
Have you read his comics, they're really good.
I got some news for you @martins divine okoi in September his new book is being released called 'how to' and I believe it is a form of sequal that was teased in one chapter of what if? and I really hope it is. same style, more things. looks fun.
Martins Divine Okoi same
@@entropy7999 have you heard that What If 2 exists now?
@@vibaj16 Already read it! Was a very fun read, though I did enjoy the first one a tad more.
Just bought his new book “How to”, just like “What if” I have so far been enjoying it
I'm reading How to as well, and it was my first introduction to him believe it or not. I'm loving it so much!
Don't forget Thing Explainer
Why can't I imagine this guy being THE GUY behind xkcd?
SAME
He doesn't look geeky enough.
ithuvanian I think that might be it...
Because you are thinking funny people can not be intelligent.
When it is actually the other way around.
igrewold no, I just don't picture him like that, I thought of him as younger
I shouldn't have watched this. It's messing with the xkcd narrative voice that I had going.
Creighton Miller TRUE
I'm not able to read XKCD the same way I always had...
Creighton Miller My version is the Will Wheaton what if audio book
I'm so glad that for me it ISN'T Wheaton.
same
Google is both scary and awesome at the same time.
You can tell he was nervous but he did a good job. Excellent payoff.
0:30 - "...some calculations..." (Randall pauses so we can read the comic, then: Rising compulsion to mouse over for title text, barely resisted)
Kirk Schafer it's a what if. Doesn't have it.
What ifs do have mouse-over text
@@SuperGarryGamer Oh. Woah!
This was a treat to see pop up in my suggested videos. I've been a fan of XKCD for years and really hope he revives the "What If" portion of his website again. Really cool to actually see the person behind those amazing comics!
Google is such a troll
Google was nerd sniping.
+Ben Pyman Ahahah!
AquaPhoenix Productions tru
AquaPhoenix Productions but how cool is getting physical, exclusive content directly from Google's staff?
Yep.
I love how this is just a less organized version of the what if book
kids, i remember when what-if was a weekly series. ANd then a monthly. ANd then a yearly
:'(
oh you shush. he's ONE guy! he's been busy with his books, and touring. buy them! plenty of content contained within to provide the fix you're craving. sadly, i can't figure out how to get the mouse-over text to work, though. some of his stuff is going to need some advanced e-ink development before it fully translates well to print format.
I like how he just basically reverse engineer google without them getting mad.
Those Google peeps trolled him pretty good...
They should have included a link to rickroll him, given the amount of times xkcd mentions that.
I thought he was banned from TED
why would he be banned?
Zevti that was funny
I'm a bit upset that he didn't open with that.
155UR 5H4NK0V17CH Yeah...dang.
Zevti The solution, of course, is to use brackets: Linux (or BSD :]) would...
I almost awaiting him to talk about awkward combinations of parenthesis and emoticons...
URGENT: If people had wheels and could fly, how could we distinguish them from airplanes?
LOL
+Apollys I KNOW IT! People wear clothes! ^^
Best question
Chasey Not all people :)
Airplanes generate their own thrust, which must be enough to take off on their own.
Planes are made of metal, people are not
2:20 No HBP because the batter didn't try to avoid getting hit. It would be a strike, because some (disintegrated) part of the ball would pass through the strike zone.
But "If the ball is outside the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a ball if he makes no attempt to avoid being touched." Since this is also true, then...I guess it's a ball and a strike? I think the doctoring the ball rule might come into effect, though. By the mere act of throwing, the pitcher is intentionally damaging the ball and is thus ejected.
@@roguishpaladin My interpretation is that if any part of the ball is in the strike zone, the ball is considered in the strike zone.
This does raise a question of what happens if a ball touches the batter while some part of it is in the strike zone, but the point of touching is outside the strike zone. The strict letter of the definition of a strike in this situation - "[t]ouches the batter in flight in the strike zone" - suggests that the point of touching must be in the strike zone to considered a strike. In this case, if it is not a hit by pitch, it would be neither a ball nor a strike.
Another question arises when a pitch enters and exits the strike zone, and then hits the batter. It would be a strike under clause (b) of the definition of a strike ("[i]s not struck at, if any part of the ball passes through any part
of the strike zone"); but the ball is not in the strike zone when it hit the batter, and rule 5.05(b)(2) says that's a ball.
@@roguishpaladin Also, the "doctoring the ball" rules - 6.02(c)(1) through (5) - don't apply to throwing the ball.
I can't believe noone laughed at his pizza delivery joke XDD
"i dont really like math for its own sake" this is SO TRUE
even linear algebra can be fun if youre doing it in the context of graphics programming
less so if youre doing it in school 💀💀💀
So that's how Randall looks like
He's not a stickman and he's got a face
plot twist: google has like 5 people who memorised all its information and they just type them out in real time
That would amount to about a similar storage capacity, if fully used...
I HAVE HIS BOOK AND JUST FOUND THIS TALK IM EXCITED
Matthew Cupelli i have both of them
I absolutely love Randall Munroe.
I’ve been reading XKCD for over a decade, how is it possible I didn’t know this video existed?
I was immediately confused when I saw him, because I was expecting a hat.
love this guy. his what-if series is stellar, and I eagerly anticipate each tuesday's submission.
I wish it were each Tuesday. Feels like once a quarter nowadays
@@Zimpfnis The rate is decreasing greatly. There were 4 in 2017, only 2 in 2018.
"... so this is impractical. " Love this guy.
This might be one of the best TED talks of the year for me.
HE DIDNT ASK THE (...:)) VS (...:)!
Pietro Celano He didn't want to get banned.
lmao
I immediately added this to my favourites around 1:37 after i had my mind blown a couple of times...paused ...writing this and i cant wait to watch the rest. ...i leave a like most of the times let alone i have subscribed a long time ago...but this video is really something and i hope i can learn something that i can use as a game designer one day
Hahaaaa. Whichever employee is responsible for those punch cards is a legend.
I am totally in love with him! Reading his book makes me realize we should be BFFs.
xkcd is the only way I bear having religion class. Thank you so much Randall!!!
Wasn't he banned? He must have sneaked in...
Yeah. But he never got his question answered....
Which was? (I can't remember:-)
Jarod Obando I guess they'd let him in after a promise of no graphs.
@@jarodwilfrid8505 How to end a parenthetical with emoticons.
@@proot. He said "... (I can't remember :) " (so he knew it :))
That was so brilliant. The best TED Talk I've seen in a while.
Randall Munroe is one of the two people online who I would donate money to.
He should get a ig Nobel prize!!!
Glad to see he is no longer banned from TED after the “Emoticons in parentheses” incident.
?
I read this guy’s book, and it’s honestly great. I saw the name and instantly clicked
I've been reading XKCD for years now... and I've never seen Randall's face! 😄
Randall is simply the best
THIS IS THE GUY THAT WROTE THE GREATEST BOOK OF ALL TIME
He didn't write the Bible
@@nishantak911 You're the one who's written the greatest comment of all time!
The world would be a colder place without guys like Randall Munroe.
i just pre-ordered his book "How To" omg i can't wait for it to ship. this guy is awesome!! I bought his other two books as well, and they are lit.
GUYS THE BOOK JUST REACHED Oh my gosh ! ! IM SO HAPPYYYY
I read XKCD three times a week! Didn't know you had a TED talk.
He's amazing !!!! Getting the book just now. Sending so much love nerd royalty !!!! 🌸♥️🌸♥️🌸♥️🌸🌠🌸🌠🌸🌠🌸🌠🌸🌸🌠
I love that Randall Munroe and Henry Reich actually teamed up at one point...
RANDALL MUNROE??? THIS GUY'S MY HERO!!!!
On that last question.... Make it 'wings' instead of 'wheels' and --- Size ( even really big people are smaller than the smallest plane), speed (presumably not fast enough to start losing articles of clothing, but fast enough to get lift), cruising height above ground (the need to breath is a real limiter) lack of ability to show up on radar (unless they can pick up birds too then refer back to size), length of runway needed to land and take off ( if we had vertical capability, they would notice the lack of rotors on top), and so on... Or we could look at it from the way it was asked....They could tell at a glance that you had no registration numbers printed on your side and there for were not registered as a plane. Probably had no submitted flight plan, and therefore would probably end up crashing into other unregistered, flyers. Then the lack of burning and exploding on impact would probably be a dead give-away. Thank you very much! LOL
Reminder to self: he. Is. MARRIED.
Self: still smart. Hot. FUNNY.
Easily the best ted talk out there.
I've known about xkcd for years, own all three of his written books (or his first three), but this is the first time I've ever seen him or heard his voice. I never realized that I'd be able to, but I'm kinda sad it's in a video of answers I already know.
"You learned the Portuguese language in 20 minutes?"
"Not all of it."
"No comment" made me laugh out loud. Good one Google!
One time I calculated the amount of water the leaking faucet in my dorm room wasted in the week it took for maintenance to fix it and that was about where I peaked in life.
Internet's nuclear scientist in creating logically sound and mathematically correct memes😂
this guy has the dedication of a journalist just to draw comics for random dudes on the internet ._.
To split apart people and airplanes, try to refuel. If they scream, it's people.
Dude takes Fermi estimations to a whole new level!
3:00 why is the spotlight on that one goddamn woman?
+Julian Yang She looks so displeased too xD
yeah
Nice picture.
Julian Yang hahaha lol
I love this guy's website!! Been following it for a while now.
1. From this question I learned that approaching the speed of light anywhere except a vacuum is a REALLY bad idea.
2. How fast can an object travel in an atmosphere without triggering a nuclear explosion?
Below the Coulomb barrier
Isn't it crazy that someone could destroy an empire by pitching a ball at just 90% light speed?
"Just" 90%... 😅
This is one of my all time favorites!
Nice talk. Always entertaining.
There he is, the man, the myth, the legend.
Finally. I know what Randall Munroe looks like.
A great mind! So glad I bought his book What if
Damn I'm glad TH-cam recommended me this, I love the book and know every question n answer
hero to a generation (or two)
He's the coolest guy to ever exist
This was an unexpected surprise! xkcd was literally the first webcomic I'd discovered!
Love that jacket
+Dillon McManus xkcd.com/90/
+Roman Fox 😂
Wow, he just got nerd-sniped by Google. FOOOOOOM
Such an incredible person! Wow! Making education as - learning and not just knowing something and inspiring and motivating the excitement to learn together: this is education. Wow!
His book, What If, is unique and awesome! That's why I like him!!
Did he ever illustrate a comic on finding love after a broken heart?
BlAnds It’s scientifically impossible without an answer to Pi / 2.
I have to say, while I love What If and XKCD and would support anything Randall wants to do, I'm finding his live talks and What If TH-cam videos less fun than the actual comic. I think the comic timing of the drawings hits harder and, unless you want to freeze the video constantly, it's hard to appreciate the simple elegance of his drawing style, which often adds to the humor.
I would ask Randall Munroe "Is your mother part of the Kennedy clan? Because you look like a Kennedy."
Thank you Randall
Anyone else distracted by wondering if the slides had ALT text?
Randal (trying to find out google's data which is a secret to even the government): "its almost as simple as solving a sudoku puzzle"
Randall looks exactly like I've imagined him all these years.
I have another "what if" for him, and I'm hoping that he gets enough such questions for a sequel to the book of the same title.
What if all our remaining fossil fuel reserves spontaneously ignited?
It would probably trigger major rupturing of the bedrock wherever oil deposits and coal mines are found, and just cause global warming to get even worse at best. Either way at least we could disillusion Trump.
I must have watched this 4 times in my life
Ahahahaha!! I like Google's sense of humour. X-D And this dude's too.
This guy is my motivational hero
I always have to explain the basics to people before I can ask the question.
YOU, I believe do not require this.
IF a machine was used to truly color match a ultraviolet paint. (not that black light stuff at the hobby store)
and I painted a door with it. What would you see when you look at that door?
If I missed any items of consideration, please add them in the answer.
1. light spectrum
2. visible light spectrum
3. method of human sight.
4. human method of seeing color.
5. Objects reflective (reason we see color)
black lights from the hobby store do emit UV rays(they wouldn't make various things glow if they didn't) they just *also* emit purple party light. Anyways, to answer your question:
Light, as you may know, is a spectrum; it goes from short to long, and our eyes are wired to detect some reddish wavelengths, some greenish wavelengths, and some blueish wavelengths. Every object absorbs and reflects some part of the spectrum, and what our eyes see as color is the amount of light reflected at points within their detection ranges. The amount of light an object reflects in one wavelength does not change how much it reflects in other wavelengths, so a door painted with UV paint would look no different from a door painted with normal paint, except that it would reflect UV rays more.
You just explained to me the basics of light. Either you are a bot responding, or you missed the question on the last line.
@@TheAnyName in what way did I not answer your question?
Omgggggg I read the book he wrote !!! This book can't protect you if a bullet shoots right through, I think this is at the back of the book
Loved his book. Same goes for this video.