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 132 points 1 year ago

Reads comic.

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

[–] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 97 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year 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 35 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Child1? You start numbering at 1? You monster!

[–] Chiarottide@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year 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 1 year ago (1 children)

Better not ask what happened to child0

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 22 points 1 year 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 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year 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.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

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

4F0CF706A40BEF97C29DA16BECC5B642, YOU COME DOWNSTAIRS THIS INSTANCE!

What have I done

[–] oce@jlai.lu 3 points 1 year ago

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

[–] MeDuViNoX@sh.itjust.works 57 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Who learns twelve before one through eleven?

[–] notst@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago

That's my favorite part of this joke.

[–] joemo@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 year ago

The first few updates must have been riveting 😂.

[–] Johanno@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is twelve a number or a word?

[–] Grippler@feddit.dk 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

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

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

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year 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 1 year 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 1 year ago

It's in a superposition of states until observed.

[–] match@pawb.social 45 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year 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 10 points 1 year 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 14 points 1 year ago

Context

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

[–] WagnasT@iusearchlinux.fyi 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] bss03@infosec.pub 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is that a stormlight archive reference?

[–] TheActualDevil@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

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

[–] who8mydamnoreos@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

Used every word he had to make that sentence

[–] moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] otter@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 year ago

Didnt' forget this time!

Hopefully I did that correctly

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

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