this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
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Source: https://xkcd.com/2839/

Explain XKCD: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2839

Title text: My first words were 'These were my first words; what were yours?'

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[–] superduperenigma@lemmy.world 130 points 11 months ago

Reads comic.

Goes back to count how many words are in the comic.

[–] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 98 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

I wish my future child would send remote log for easy management.

timestamp hostname process level text
[DT] child1 shit WARNING child1 shat. Refresh diaper.
[–] KapiteinPoffertje@lemmy.world 36 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Child1? You start numbering at 1? You monster!

[–] Chiarottide@lemmy.world 32 points 11 months ago

You keep child0 unassigned in case the girl you met at the club three years ago starts looking for you

[–] WhiteHawk@lemmy.world 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Better not ask what happened to child0

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 21 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I let my children pick their own 96-bit number and just hope there's no collisions.

[–] z500@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

I just name my children using GUIDs. To keep things simple I normally call them by the first 32 bits, but when they're getting into trouble I use all 128.

[–] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago

4F0CF706A40BEF97C29DA16BECC5B642, YOU COME DOWNSTAIRS THIS INSTANCE!

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 1 points 11 months ago

Well their full names are 128-bit. I just use the last 32 bits to store timestamps, demographic info and checksum bits.

[–] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 6 points 11 months ago

What have I done

[–] oce@jlai.lu 3 points 11 months ago

If he ever sends a 404, hopefully he just returns on all fours.

[–] MeDuViNoX@sh.itjust.works 55 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Who learns twelve before one through eleven?

[–] notst@lemmy.world 47 points 11 months ago

That's my favorite part of this joke.

[–] joemo@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 11 months ago

The first few updates must have been riveting 😂.

[–] Johanno@feddit.de 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Is twelve a number or a word?

[–] Grippler@feddit.dk 28 points 11 months ago (2 children)

There is only a distinction when written, when spoken everything is words.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

We have solid reason to believe numbers are a pretty distinct symbolic category. We don't use the same part of the brain we use for speech to process numbers. We use a different distinct part of the brain that is not used for speech and is more related with visual processing. Both, speech and number areas, are activated when we read spelled out numbers, and even homophones pointing to the theory that numerals develop into their own thing inside our brains.

[–] morphballganon@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

But being able to express those symbols in a sentence requires words

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's more like, they can exist in our head without being words. So they are a distinct thing.

[–] morphballganon@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

That's fine. So the kid has a concept of 1-11 but doesn't know the words for them.

[–] Hupf@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

It's in a superposition of states until observed.

[–] match@pawb.social 44 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Twist: he knows more than 12 words, he just didn't learn the right number

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago

Yeah, I immediately thought of that scene in the West Wing.

President Josiah Bartlet : Sweden has a 100% literacy rate, Leo. 100%! How do they do that?

Leo McGarry : Well, maybe they don't and they also can't count

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Actually, I've always had a rather extensive vocabulary, not to mention a phenomenal grasp of grammar and a superlative command of syntax. I simply chose not to employ them.

[–] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 13 points 11 months ago

Context

For the uninitiated, uh huh had only ever said uh huh throughout the movie till he drops this.

[–] WagnasT@iusearchlinux.fyi 28 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] bss03@infosec.pub 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Is that a stormlight archive reference?

[–] TheActualDevil@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

It'd be so much weirder if it wasn't.

[–] who8mydamnoreos@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago

Used every word he had to make that sentence

[–] moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 11 months ago (2 children)
[–] otter@lemmy.ca 16 points 11 months ago

Didnt' forget this time!

Hopefully I did that correctly

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 9 points 11 months ago

How do you count to twelve without knowing the other numbers?