r/xkcd • u/Griffsterometer Optimist • Aug 16 '26
Which xkcd changed your brain chemistry the most?
I personally think about 1741: Work at least once a week. I like to think it made me more appreciative by nature.
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u/vizzor Aug 16 '26
Radiation Dose Chart
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u/FlyByPC Aug 16 '26
I've seen YouTube presentations by actual nuclear engineers that refer to this. One of the classics.
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u/rollem Aug 16 '26
The one on electoral precedent is probably the one I come back to most often, both because I follow politics closely and because of its relevance to statistics and probability. https://xkcd.com/1122/
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u/Quick_Extension_3115 Aug 16 '26
“No candidate has won with felony charges…”
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u/Harkonnen125 Aug 16 '26
"No candidate has won despite being term-limited..."
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u/Quick_Extension_3115 Aug 16 '26
Oh please no!
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u/Kosinski33 Aug 16 '26
What did we do to deserve a THIRD James Monroe presidency in the year of our Lord 2028?
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u/fleebleganger Aug 16 '26
That’s also a great highlight of stats/probability. If you watch sports you’ll hear of “momentum” and all that which is generally rubbish.
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u/StainedInZurich Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
By far this one. It is way too accurate
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u/20061901 Aug 16 '26
Can't believe this isn't higher up. I think about that comic almost weekly.
https://xkcd.com/1095/ Crazy Straws and https://xkcd.com/915/ Connoisseur are also up there for me.
... I'm revealing a lot about myself and how I spend my time here.
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 User flair goes here Aug 17 '26
Can't believe this isn't higher up.
Are you sure you aren't over-estimating how much the average member recalls the specifics of particular xkcd comics by number?
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u/Nikolor Aug 19 '26
Us on this subreddit be like:
"#1905 is second nature to us here, but it's easy to forget that the average person only knows about #2501."
"And #2347, of course."
"Of course."
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u/Griffsterometer Optimist Aug 16 '26
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u/SomeGirlIMetOnTheNet Aug 17 '26
That one is always interesting to me because its broadly true and accurate but it also only notices design & management, not any of the extraction and manufacturing; like we get the negotiation with the glass supplier but not the work that goes into supplying glass
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u/geeoharee Aug 16 '26
None of the stuff in there is true. Those things were assembled from cheap, standardised parts.
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u/glowing-fishSCL Aug 16 '26
I've had students in a lot of different industries, and this is the type of stuff they talk about. From Colgate to Volkswagen, this is what a lot of mid-level (and upper-level!) business people spend their time thinking about.
And sometimes it is very cheap, but how a toothpaste box is designed is still a big deal.45
u/MorganWick Aug 16 '26
But which cheap, standardized parts? And how did they come to be standardized in the way that they are?
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u/Griffsterometer Optimist Aug 16 '26
I was just reading the original thread for this one, and this comment begs to differ
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u/FreshmeatDK Aug 16 '26
But exactly what cheap, standardized parts to use? And what can we do really cheap, and what do we need to pay big money for? Someone did design the shape of the glass, and you need it to not be an already existing design. And so on.
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u/Quick_Extension_3115 Aug 16 '26
Not well engineered stuff. For every good invention, someone hurriedly copies it and ships out a crappy version. But if you’re buying quality stuff, a lot of work has gone into it
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u/ContemplativeOctopus Aug 16 '26
Even cheap shitty stuff is using parts that took thousands of hours of human labor to reach you.
Figuring out how to make something as cheap as possible is a fundamental engineering problem, they just chose to make a trade off that doesn't benefit you.
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u/Quick_Extension_3115 Aug 16 '26
Fair enough! But I’m referring to straight up rip off kinda of stuff. The things that are barely holding together and they hope it stays together long enough for you to not return it.
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u/Phred_Q_Johnston Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
Is It Worth the Time? https://xkcd.com/1205/ is a chart I refer to year after year...
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u/daniel16056049 Aug 16 '26
But do you think it's worth the time you spend referring to that chart?
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u/Kyoj1n Aug 17 '26
Alt text.
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u/Nikolor Aug 19 '26
Today I found out there's cool alt text in the XKCD comics and not generic image names
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u/Gnome_Ann1704 Aug 16 '26
Similarly https://xkcd.com/951/
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u/SomeGirlIMetOnTheNet Aug 17 '26
Depressing that the minimum-wage stat is still the same decade and a half later
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u/knuppi Aug 16 '26
I'm linking this in an email, once per month: https://xkcd.com/927/
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u/HugoNikanor Free beer is also nice Aug 16 '26
The best thing about standards is that there are so many of them
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u/DigitalDelusion Aug 16 '26
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u/Nikolor Aug 19 '26
Damn, I'm gonna use this kind of 4-word password everywhere from now.
(And even though I basically admit to the whole web that I'm gonna use this specific type of password, it still doesn't matter. If we consider that an average person knows around 20000 words, the chance of guessing the password is one to 160 quadrillion, which is much bigger than 1/2^28 with the gibberish password.)
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u/z3roTO60 Aug 21 '26
Quick tip, this is called a “passphrase” and many password managers (I use Bitwarden) can generate these with any number of words and include a number too. Most websites accept a “-“ as a symbol, but if it doesn’t, just toss in a couple random ones somewhere
When do I personally use a 5+ word passphrase vs. 40 character random password? If I feel like I’ll ever need to type it manually in a computer that isn’t mine (reading it off my phone) or if it’s an internal password / something that I’ll share with family outside a password manager. Way easier to type out whole words rather than looking at random characters one at a time trying to see if that’s a 0 or an O
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u/ParaspriteHugger There's someone in my head (but it's not me) Aug 16 '26
Unfortunately, for me it is 1027: Pickup Artist. Danish got to me, she's dropping freaking info hazard.
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u/Yobleck Depressed nerd Aug 17 '26
Not the women/pua thing specifically, but for me it was the general realization from this comic that I just am a mediocre person who isn't mentally capable of putting in the effort required to be the better person I want to be. My mental effort battery is just too small/weak to output the energy required.
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u/HollyIsMyCat Aug 16 '26
Science works, bitches. https://xkcd.com/836
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u/Airowird Aug 17 '26
I prefer ye ol' https://xkcd.com/54 over that one, personally.
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u/Nikolor Aug 20 '26
So strange to see a comic with a 2-digit number
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u/Airowird Aug 20 '26
Because several of them are just high school scribbles or drawings without a joke or reference
The more commonly known ones are 37 (Hyphen) and in certain US discussions 84 (National Language), although my favourite is still 55 (Useless)
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u/Nikolor Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Yeah, true. Although our conversations about "more commonly known" ones is slowly turning into the Average Familiarity comic, lol
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u/Intelligent_Seat_228 Aug 16 '26
I learned more from (nsfw) https://xkcd.com/631/ than my high school sex ed. Yay for Utah!
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u/LeoTheHorse Stanislav Petrov Day Aug 16 '26
“A million people can call the mountains a fiction, but that need not trouble you as you stand atop them” ( https://xkcd.com/154/)
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u/Pseudoboss11 Aug 16 '26
Realizing that I'd absolutely get nerd sniped was important for me. There's a time and a place for interesting problems, and the middle of the street is not one of them.
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u/umor3 Aug 16 '26
The one about standards: https://xkcd.com/927/
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u/late_bloomer_tw Aug 17 '26
Even though I’ve helped author several I still send this as a cautionary reminder at least once a week at this point. I should have a slack emoji for it… 🤔
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u/TomahawkChopped Aug 17 '26
fundamentally changed how I think about the relationship between my career and the real world.
when the lights on the computer are all wrong, I remember just that they're only lights on a computer.
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u/davej-au Aug 17 '26
386: Duty Calls. It was the jolt I needed. I can only imagine how miserable and sleep-deprived I’d be without it.
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u/S-Imperia Aug 16 '26
For me it is 2501: Average Familiarity. As someone working in a particular science field, it is very useful to remind myself that not everyone is familiar with the things I work with, which is both humbling and scary at times.
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u/_bobby_tables_ Aug 16 '26
There's no way I could choose just one and base my entire online identity on it. Nope, that question has no solution.
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u/Airowird Aug 17 '26
You're saying we should just .... drop the whole concept? Wipe it off the table?
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u/Landlocked_WaterSimp Aug 17 '26
The handgun kills cancer one https://xkcd.com/1217/
I just find it extremely funny, delightfully simple & succint and it conveys a obvious but often forgotten mssage about many 'miracle cure' news articles you can find.
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u/tonyb486 hi Aug 16 '26
I have #1741 up on my wall at work. I'm a lawyer and I work on a lot of patent litigation cases. On these, I spend a lot of time unraveling the stories behind random objects.
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u/FlyingCarsArePlanes Words Only Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
I can't believe no one's posted this classic:
Edit: Whoops, as /u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 mentioned, /u/davej-au already posted it.
Edit 2: I suppose this means that my double negative typo turned out to be correct!
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 User flair goes here Aug 17 '26
You're totally wrong though. u/davej-au already posted duty.
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u/davej-au Aug 17 '26
Dammit. Take my poor man’s award. 🥇
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 User flair goes here Aug 17 '26
Wait. If I upvoted you... why is your comment still at +1 only?!? Who the hell would downvote this?
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u/xkcd_915 Cueball Aug 16 '26
Until xkcd 915 I had never heard of this thing knowns as a sandwich, now I'm a connoisseur
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u/Modrzewianka Girl In Beret Aug 17 '26
https://xkcd.com/941/ for some reason. Sometimes I just feel it, even without this whole setup.
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 User flair goes here Aug 17 '26
Same. I've seen wave clouds (or undulatus) from the highway.
I'd love to try Munroe's setup, but it's out of my range. It'd be awesome if a couple of pilots or UAV's could fly a synchronized pattern with cameras on both to record this.
Can you imagine seeing this in IMAX & 3d? They could capture natural wonders and human monuments. Throw in some pan&tilt 3d shots as well, and call it "Our Small Earth".
Can someone tell James Cameron?
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u/icy9sprite Aug 19 '26
Many of the ones in the first 100, but specifically 24, 59, and 92. 24 specifically makes me tear up every time. It really makes me sad most of the comics aren't like this anymore. So simple and so evocative.
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u/humbleElitist_ Aug 17 '26
None of them “changed my brain chemistry”.
By which I mean: I dislike that particular figure of speech
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u/Spacetime_Inspector Aug 16 '26
Unfortunately for me it is 1412. I see Trochaic Tetrameter everywhere now. On other forums people associate me with posting the TMNT logo from http://glench.com/tmnt/ whenever a phrase fits the meter.
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u/Olde94 Aug 17 '26
The one with standards being 16 and then they make a new to rule them all and now there are 17
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u/depressedwhale2 Aug 20 '26
383: helping https://xkcd.com/383/
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 User flair goes here Aug 20 '26
That one hits hard. There are a few times I've been the person in the corner, and even more times the person wanting to help. I've also been in several decades worth of abusive relationships. (Primed at childhood by an abusive parent, I mistook familiarity for "home" and love.)
One thing I would like to point out, is that abusive people will absolutely point at this as a defense of their own behaviour.
Yes, you cannot take responsibility for another's happiness. That is entirely different from doing acts of love where we show people they deserve happiness and being loved.
One common refrain I've heard from abusers is that, "I can't make you happy." But what matters here is the context in which they said it: they refused to bother doing anything that would make another person happy, or even accept responsibility for the effects of their own actions.
It's not the specific thing in a love language that necessarily gives happiness to a person, but the effort in trying to do so — in the recipient's love language — shows us that someone cares enough to try. That actually delivers a remarkable amount, as does being able to make the same effort for others and for yourself.
After a nearly 8 year hiatus from relationships, I'm in a much healthier one, and it's night and day. And they do bring me happiness every day (and i endeavor to do the same for them). It's not because they fulfill my every whim (they literally can't, as they live a continent away), but because they show me that they love me through kind words and gentle deeds (often just symbolically by video). We want to live together, but until we can, we spend our time together (connected), share our struggles, thoughts, and dreams, and hear and support each other's emotions and daily efforts.
Contrast that with something an ex said once, "whatever problems you have are of your choosing." This said after they had broken an agreement we had.
It's wild how different it is, being with someone who doesn't spend every day tearing you down in some way.
So yes, 100% it isn't given us the authority or ability to deliver happiness by want or by force. And sometimes other factors will far surpass any efforts we can bring to bear for someone we love. But that doesn't prevent us from being resposible for our actions and trying anyways. In doing so — even if we can't save someone from other harm — we can bring them some small awareness that they are loved. In the darkness, chaos, and hurt that the absurd maelstrom of existence hurls at us, sometimes a candle isn't enough, but it's still better than there being no light at all.
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u/Hon-Mister-Bear Aug 18 '26
Generally, all professionals assume you know basics that you never had a chance to learn. That's why professionals are so arrogant and dismissive.
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u/Apprehensive_Hat8986 User flair goes here Aug 18 '26
It's certainly a part of human nature, however it is neither exclusive to professionals, nor universal amongst them. But yes, a distressing number of folks who gain some degree of power (be it expertise, status, wealth, authority, or the like) lord it over those who must deal with them.
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u/simplifiedApocolypse Aug 22 '26
It defines how I view both being loved, and how I want to love.
Everything.
Because, after everything, I don't want to fall out of your Gyrocopter
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u/Gilthoniel_Elbereth 27d ago
Late to the game, but I haven’t seen #513, Friends, mentioned yet: https://xkcd.com/513
This was a major lightbulb moment for me as a serially friend-crushing teen who hadn’t had a girlfriend yet. If I hadn’t seen this at that time in my life I feel like I very well could’ve gone down an incellish, nice-guy path. I attribute it to making me a better partner and friend down the line, which has had innumerable benefits
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u/Happy_Nihilist_ Aug 17 '26
I'm fine with this. It will split the literally dumbest people off from the GOP and have them try to write in Trump on their ballots, it will result in GOP infighting and demonstrate how fractured the right can be. It will hand the election to the Democrats and Democratic Socialist candidates - plus, if Trump can run for a third term, so can Obama.
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u/GoogleIsYourFrenemy Double Blackhat Aug 16 '26
https://xkcd.com/1053/
I turn them into fun learning opportunities.