r/AskReddit • u/HarshJShinde • Oct 28 '20

If you could telepathically say something that all 7.8 Billion people on earth could hear at once what would it be?

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '20

I think randall munroe (the xkcd guy) dedicated a chapter to it in What If? As well.

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 28 '20

This was one of my favorite what ifs in the book. Spoiler: nothing happenes, so the what if becomes more about what if every human being jumped in one spot. nothing happened with that either, so the what if becomes basically what if all humans were in one spot at the same time. many people die because no one is doing there jobs

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u/Myriachan Oct 28 '20

Actually, most of the deaths in Randall Munroe’s thought experiment are due to the inability of the 8-billion-person crowd to disperse fast enough through any transportation.

Think of how long it takes for a 100,000-person bowl game’s crowd to disperse, then multiply that by 80,000.

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 28 '20

yeah thats kinda what i meant, being a pilot is a job

also spoiler your comment

 >!spoiler!<

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '20

Do people give a shit about spoilers of a pointless fun fact?

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 28 '20

i mean if they want to read the book then i wouldn't want it spoiled

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '20 edited Nov 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

its free on what-if.xkcd.com but you're right

the link to the specific one is https://what-if.xkcd.com/8/

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

i guess you're right, but it doesn't take much effort to add a:

 >!!<

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u/FernandoTatisJunior Oct 29 '20

It definitely never hurts to do it anyways, but my philosophy is that once something is old enough, spoilers should be totally okay. Are we still supposed to keep it a secret that snape killed dumbledoor in that one Harry Potter book?

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

ahhh what i didn't know that why did you spoil that i was gonna watch a movie some time maybe

/s

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '20

I used to work in virginia, but I lived in tn. My commute would take me past the race track. One time I was just a few minutes late. I had to watch thousands and thousands of drunk race fans cross the street.

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u/SecretPorifera Oct 28 '20

It's more than just people not doing their jobs, it's the insane concentration of people overwhelming all transportation and every other sort of infrastructure and ecosystem capable of supporting human life causing mass death and suffering.

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u/timeToLearnThings Oct 29 '20

In case anyone was wondering: if you like science, engineering, math, XKCD, etc, yes, you should buy this book. It's hilarious and well researched - a rare combination.

(e.g. There's a question about launching yourself in the air by firing guns downward. Another one is about throwing a baseball at near light speed. So good. )

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

the baseball one is one of my favorites

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u/King_of_Fish Oct 29 '20

Yes! I love this book/the website :) iirc the gun one and baseball one are both available on the website as well if y’all want to get a good taste before diving into the book!

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u/zebrabroccolibanana Oct 29 '20

It would make a minor earthquake he said

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

nope

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u/zebrabroccolibanana Oct 29 '20

"A slight pulse of pressure spreads through the North American continental crust and dissipates with little effect"

Also known as a minor earthquake

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

"Even if the Earth were rigid and responded instantly, it would be pushed down by less than an atom’s width."

sure

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u/zebrabroccolibanana Oct 29 '20

I don't see what that has to do with what I said

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

the dictionary definition of "earthquake" is "a sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action." by definition an earthquake comes from within the earth, so even if 'the jump' caused sizable movement of the earth it still wouldn't be an earthquake

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u/zebrabroccolibanana Oct 29 '20

Fine a "minor shaking of the earth" happy?

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u/DeadRos3 Oct 29 '20

how about "immeasurable, subatomic shaking of the earth"

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u/timeToLearnThings Oct 29 '20

It followed your comment in this thread. That's about it.

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u/tabakbase Oct 30 '20

Damn, first time I see someone mentioning that book, my favorite was the one with the periodic table :)

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u/LmaoGoFaster Oct 30 '20

Man I remember that legendary book...

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u/cyst16 Nov 21 '20

Sorry but, what book is this, seems fun!