# It's my turn to be stumped by an XKCD **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597 "2012-03-12T22:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/1 "2012-03-12T22:26:07Z")
> **[Communication](https://xkcd.com/1028/)** > > Anyone who says that they're great at communicating but 'people are bad at listening' is confused about how communication works. I don’t think there are any references here I’m not getting. I’m simply stumped. It’s not just that I don’t get the joke, I don’t even understand what in the comic is supposed to constitute the joke in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/2 "2012-03-12T22:44:25Z")
Did you read the mouseover? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/3 "2012-03-12T22:45:40Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Did you read the mouseover? Well, yes, and I had already figured out it’s supposed to be something about communication. I just can’t parse what’s going on in the strip. ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/4 "2012-03-12T22:46:14Z")
This morning, I assumed this one was three seperate strips, like the old [boomerang](http://xkcd.com/445/) [comics.](http://xkcd.com/475/) Much confusion resulted. But I think the joke is just: A. It’s ironic that two people tried to warn others of the holes and all three end up falling in. B. Mocking how terrible and self important human communications can be. C. In the end, the absolutely clueless fairylander who should be the worst communicator of the lot ends up communicating best. In other news, I’ve quit my job and am enrolling in a university course in analysing jokes 😛 . ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/5 "2012-03-12T22:46:54Z")
I lose all track of having any feeling of knowing what’s happening at panel 6. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/6 "2012-03-12T22:48:34Z")
> [@Jaguars](#): > > A. It’s ironic that two people tried to warn others of the holes and all three end up falling in. I got that this was probably what was supposed to be going on overall. > [@](#): > > B. Mocking how terrible and self important human communications can be. Okay, how does the strip illustrate self-importance? > [@](#): > > C. In the end, the absolutely clueless fairylander who should be the worst communicator of the lot ends up communicating best. What makes him a clueless fairylander? I don’t mean that as a debate topic, I mean literally, I don’t comprehend this strip. What is happening that indicates “clueless fairylander”? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/7 "2012-03-12T22:49:23Z")
The take-home message: It’s easier to show someone what you mean than tell them. Especially if the person you’re trying to tell doesn’t listen real well. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/8 "2012-03-12T22:50:43Z")
Okay, Kindergarten level question here, because it appears that is where I need to be: In panel two, what does it mean that there’s a thought bubble over person B which contains an image of person A posed as he is currently posed in the “actual” world in that panel? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/9 "2012-03-12T22:52:41Z")
I had to go to the forums for this one too. Hat Guy sees hole to the left. He goes to warn Hair Guy about the hole, but poor communication leaves Hair Guy understanding that Hat Guy is upset, but not about what. Hat Guy walks off annoyed by Hair Guy’s confusion and complains about it to Girl, but Girl is more interested in warning him about the hole to the right (in the same manner in which Hat wanted to warn Hair). They both walk off confused and annoyed. Girl meets Hair Guy (who inexplicably becomes Bald Guy) and commiserate about Hat Guy being annoying. They walk off, and all three fall into the holes that each was trying to warn the others about but nobody was listening. Epilogue: Beret Guy sees a hole, takes Bald Guy to see it, and Communication Happens. This in conjuction with the alt-text (“Anyone who says that they’re great at communicating but ‘people are bad at listening’ is confused about how communication works.”) suggests that the point is to establish that the onus is on the communicator to explain well just as much as it’s on the listener to pay attention. Honestly I think it’s _really_ freaking opaque. (On consideration this may also be the point of the strip, as Randall could easily have picked a better method of communication.) > [@Frylock](#): > > Okay, Kindergarten level question here, because it appears that is where I need to be: > > In panel two, what does it mean that there’s a thought bubble over person B which contains an image of person A posed as he is currently posed in the “actual” world in that panel? That’s to show B is more concerned with A’s agitation than with A’s reason for the agitation. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/10 "2012-03-12T22:54:49Z")
Thanks **Bosstone** it has become much clearer to me now. I’ve said before: My interlocutor’s failure to understand is identical to my failure to explain. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/11 "2012-03-12T22:57:30Z")
This is a tough one. So, the dude with the square hat sees a hole He tries to tell a dude with hair about it Dude with hair can’t understand him Dude with square hat leaves. Meets a girl Dude tells her about the dude with hair. She tells dude with a square hat about a different hole Girl meets dude with hair and they walk off, talking about the dude with the square hat. They walk into the first hole. Dude with the square hat walks into the second hole …ugh, I’m exhausted. Anyway, it’s kind of a shitty comic (today). Bosstone does a better job than this and makes an intriguing hypothesis that Randall intentionally made this confusing to further make his point. I’d say that’s reaching for 99% of comics, but that’s actually possible for Randall. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/12 "2012-03-12T22:59:29Z")
1. Hat man: “Hey, there’s a hole there” 2. HM: “hey man, there’s a hole there” Squiggly Hair Man: “here comes a guy” 3. HM: “a big hole is over there” SHM: " He seems excited" 4. SHM: “hey, the guy is walking away” HM: “that guy seems clueless” 5. HM: “SHG is clueless” Walking woman: “there’s a hole up ahead” 6. WW: “HM seems clueless” HM: “WW will meet SHM” 7. SHM: “how about that HM” WW: “How about that HM” 8. SHM: “did you see HM?” WW: “I saw HM” 9. SHM: “He’s some HM” WW: “yes” 10-12) SHM and WW fall into hole, as does HM 10. Beret Guy: “hey, a hole” 11. BG runs from hole 12. BG “Let me show you something” Roundheaded Kid “here comes BG” 13. RHK “what does BG want?” 14. BG: “look at the hole” 15. BG and RHK “That’s a hole all right. Better not step in it” OK, that was way too much work… ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/13 "2012-03-12T23:02:42Z")
It means that Guy In Hat is completely failing to get his message across. All Guy With Short Hair is getting is ‘Guy In Hat is kinda crazy’. So Guy In Hat stalks off thinking Guy With Short Hair is an idiot, and Guy With Short Hair wanders off thinking Guy With Hat is crazy. So, Guy In Hat meets Girl…she tries to warn him of the hole, he tries to tell her about Guy With Short Hair ignoring his warning about the other hole. They talk past each other, and stalk off thinking that the other one’s an idiot who won’t listen. Girl meets Guy With Short Hair, they talk about how Guy In Hat is a loon…and they both fall in the hole. Guy In Hat falls in the hole he failed to hear Girl warning him about, since he was so busy trying to warn her about the one on the other side, while talking about the idiot who wouldn’t listen. All 3 of them are crappy communicators, who fail to get their point across, _or_ listen to what the other one might be trying to tell them. (Communication is a two way street, after all.) So, now Guy In Beret meets Bald Guy. He skips the whole warning, and goes with ‘let me show you something’…which leaves Bald Guy a bit confused about what Guy In Beret is planning at first, but clearly he gets the point across well enough that Bald Guy follows. And then he shows him the hole that nobody else noticed, thus communicating well, if not the same way as everybody else was trying. ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/14 "2012-03-12T23:03:00Z")
On point B, what Bosstone said about them talking about the people, not the problems. On Point C, the guy with the beret is a recurring character. see [here](http://xkcd.com/452/), [here](http://xkcd.com/478/), and [here](http://xkcd.com/167/), for example. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/15 "2012-03-12T23:03:07Z")
Story about confusing communication is confusing. It’s a, I say, it’s a joke, son. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/16 "2012-03-12T23:23:37Z")
In the “why didn’t I get it?” post mortem, I can’t shake the feeling that part of the problem is that I think it’s more likely the listeners aren’t listening well than that the speakers aren’t speaking well–since the message is an extremely simple one to get across. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/17 "2012-03-12T23:33:42Z")
If it’s such a simple message and the recipient still doesn’t get it, I think the onus is on the speaker to revamp their message. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/18 "2012-03-12T23:38:30Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > If it’s such a simple message and the recipient still doesn’t get it, I think the onus is on the speaker to revamp their message. Thus Guy In Beret’s switching to ‘let me show you something’. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/19 "2012-03-12T23:39:40Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > If it’s such a simple message and the recipient still doesn’t get it, I think the onus is on the speaker to revamp their message. I disagree. Some things are as clear as can be. “There’s a hole in the ground in that direction so you should be careful” is definitely clear enough in the scenario in the comic. And the speech balloons in the cartoon suggest that’s exactly what the person is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597/20 "2012-03-12T23:50:21Z")
But the other person doesn’t pick up on it. So either the other characters are all idiots, or for some reason, the message isn’t getting across. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-my-turn-to-be-stumped-by-an-xkcd/615597.md?page=2)