Researchers Eltjo Buringh and Jan Luiten van Zanden used historical book catalogs to put together statistics on the number of books (or manuscripts) published annually per region. Some estimates range from 40,000 books to 532,800 scrolls, The Great Library of Alexandria and other writers say that all those numbers are implausible. but how much writing was lost is hard to pin down. For example, when the Library of Alexandria burned, a lot of writing was lost, On the other hand, a lot of Egyptian readers were probably excited to get out of overdue book fines. Getting accurate counts of the number of extant books at different times in history is very hard bordering on impossible. Preorder here! ◀︎ ▶︎ Reading Every BookĪt what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime? You hate nerds, maybe you even hate the nerdish qualities in yourself, and that is why you hate xkcd.What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions comes out 9/13. Remember though, when you next complain about GOOMH-baiting - it is not so much the references, but the audience at which it is aimed that bugs you so much. The far easier way is to throw in references to things that are considered the domain of 'clever' people. The difficult, but more elegant and artistic way to achieve this would be to make comics that are clever, and require some thought and understanding to unlock. To pander to the egos of nerds, he must make his comic obscure and difficult to understand. Stephanie Meyer, however, attracts veritable hurricanes of scorn for fulfilling the wishes of impressionable teenage girls, a social group that is considered misguided at best, and the cause of all cultural ills at worst.Īnd like the Twilight author, Randall compounds this problem by being so blunderingly cack-handed. Penny Arcade and a thousand other webcomics are aimed solely at those who play video games, and it is not a matter of contention that they pander to the sensibilities of their audience. PhD comics is quite well regarded, despite the fact it specialises in drawing out the laughter of recognition from post-graduate students. Pandering to a particular demographic in and of itself is not annoying. Nerds are, in short, fairly contemptible, and it is for that reason that GOOMH-baiting in XKCD is so offensive. It is why anonymous debates on the internet inevitably spiral toward attempts to prove intellectual superiority, where the shit-flinging antics of status-challenging chimps seem like a Galilean dialogue by comparison.
It is the basis of the 'nice guy dilemma', where a lack of courage, confidence or assertiveness is viewed not as a failing, but as some form of intellectual and moral high ground. It is why you will hear nerds complain that all sports are a waste of time, but debating Joss Whedon trivia is not. This synthesis should not be particularly surprising - it remains the standard portrayal of a nerd in virtually all media. To be a nerd is, apparently, to have: a love of sci-fi and fantasy and a blindness to the trash that permeates so much of both genres an almost fanatical appreciation of the scientific philosophy a fondness for technology, even in its most worthless and wasteful forms social awkwardness and poor hygiene and an immature, sometimes almost dysfunctional, view of sexuality.īut these characteristics can be regarded as symptoms of two more fundamental traits, namely physical cowardice and intellectual egotism. XKCD is a comic for nerds, written by a nerd. You are now better, nicer, more practical and happier.
Thick as it gets, but more than worth the investment."Īll that said, there were some good parts. They may very well change your whole outlook on reality. "I am a better, nicer, more practical, and happier person because I read Gödel, Escher Bach and I am a Strange Loop.
"Anyone who hasn't read GEB is of course, living in sin." wave of nerd-panderization about Gödel, Escher Bach, which the comic didn't even directly reference. Jays and tits may be more closely related than we thought."Īnd then there was this. TITRIOTSRJ: the 'tit riot' part makes perfect sense but what does the 'SRJ' mean?" "There seems to be another acronym in the alt text: Some people thought the alt text was another clever acronym. Here are some quotes I'd like to share with you: In short, the thread was everything the haters hate about the xkcd fanbase (minus the GOOMH, which was mysteriously missing). A good serving of squares from the forumites.
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