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A Collection (imgur.com)

submitted ago by lucidlemming

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[–]herdlesspony 87 points88 points ago

Source: http://www.kiriakakis.net/aday.html

edit: Purusing Perusing the site is worth it.

hmmm is that a real word?

[–]Hypersapien 26 points27 points ago

Thanks. The imgur link is missing some of the final pages.

[–]brainburger 2 points3 points ago

Yes. Which choad-gobbler would post half of a story on imgur?

[–]jnroman7 12 points13 points ago

Yes it is, but it's spelled "perusing".

Also, it means "reading carefully, thoroughly, or at length". Although colloquially it is usually used to mean "you ought to skim this idly."

[–]coldfu 0 points1 point ago

So what is the answer to the final question?

I think one also has to take often times grand actions to answer questions. But actions that stem from only answers are more commonplace?

[–]lethic 3 points4 points ago

I think the point is that the answer to the question isn't important, but that the eyeball-man is willing to accept new questions into his life that may displace answers that he already had.

The fish-man's question calls into question the very premise of the eyeball-man's purpose in life thus far, and the eyeball-man simply sees it and says, "that's a damn good question, I'll have to think about that".

[–]reubencm 0 points1 point ago

he kind of answers it earlier on by saying the point of the pondering is to act as the carrot that keeps humanity and the individual progressing

[–]meadow_at_dusk 0 points1 point ago

This is so amazing. Anyone else read the Lost and Found one in the webcomic section? Looks like the beginning of a series!

[–]plainsnailing 30 points31 points ago

As peculiar as it was, the eccentric art contributed to the nuance of the piece, raising questions of our own throughout the course of the sketch. Highly rewarding, I say.

[–]crushinrussian00 23 points24 points ago

As a Chemist I really appreciate this comic. In theory we are supposed to be finding answers to questions, which end up raising more questions, but sometimes in industry it feels like we just try to match answers to questions. It's good to remember why we do what we do sometimes.

[–]suntzu4u 12 points13 points ago

I like the comic and agree with almost all of it, but one pane stands out as a major misstep:

Once you see that an answer is not serving its question properly anymore, it should be tossed away.

As a chemist, I think you of all people here (unless we've got some historians in the mix) would agree that an answer should never simply be thrown away. On the contrary, we need to preserve it and all the reasons why it lost validity moving forward, so that our ideas do not become redundant.

This might seem like nothing more than a semantic argument, but what better place to do that than in a philosophical discussion, right?

[–]Ph0ton 5 points6 points ago

I am not sure what you are implying is an analogous act in chemistry to throwing away an answer. What you reference from the comic is where the relevance ends to fitting or spinning data that the parent infers. I think the comic is talking more about dogmas or philosophical tenets rather than datum. If you are talking about past faulty models within chemistry, I do not see why the history is necessary for the function of the field.

[–]coldfu 4 points5 points ago

an answer should never simply be thrown away. On the contrary, we need to preserve it and all the reasons why it lost validity moving forward, so that our ideas do not become redundant.

I think it's meant to be understood more in that when an answer isn't true anymore that we shouldn't cling to it and accept that it changed the question or added to the new answer. When it's false it can not serve as the answer any more.

[–]awesomechemist 2 points3 points ago

I hear that.

[–]spaldingnoooo 5 points6 points ago

I don't think answers have less value than questions, they can be applied to further the knowledge base at which more questions are asked. To constantly be questioning and never to be answering is a type of personal stagnation.

[–]suntzu4u 5 points6 points ago

It's a pretty slippery slope that too many people eventually slide down. As with most things within life, questions and answers about it need to be controlled in balance and moderation.

And you've brought up a good point about expanding knowledge base: answers are checkpoints, and any historian will tell you checkpoints are essential to growth and understanding.

[–]summerof2010 1 point2 points ago

I'm curious what you meant about historians there. Why would they have especially good understanding of answers as checkpoints?

[–]suntzu4u 2 points3 points ago

As I see it, almost every major event in world history (good or bad) has been the product of an idea that was mistaken for an answer.

The comic points out that even when we think we have an answer it isn't really concrete, it's just a placeholder for the next one.

Historians study that: our misunderstanding, on a large scale, of the difference between those two terms. They see the pattern of the nature of society in its most influential moments, how ideas affect society and contemporary ideas within, and how they affect ideas that follow.

Those major events that historians pour over are the checkpoints for the timeline of human nature: how far we've come and where we might go.

[–]fashigady 20 points21 points ago

My favourite question which needs no answer is 'Does no one ever read the sidebar before posting?'

[–]StopThinkAct 18 points19 points ago

Oh just enjoy something thought provoking you fuddy duddy.

[–]thrik 2 points3 points ago

I really doubt you want /r/philosophy turning into a karma whore's paradise, with every submission on the front page being a link to imgur.

[–]Sheol 4 points5 points ago

While no one wants that, this isn't just a picture, it's a comic, and the comic has philosophic underpinnings that could very well lead to interesting discussion.

[–]12ealdeal 2 points3 points ago

?

[–]thaman02 9 points10 points ago

Posting guidelines:

This is not a forum for idle musings. If you are posing a question, make sure to weigh in on your own question first.

Submit quotations or pictures within the body of a self-post; links to picture submissions will be automatically removed.

[–]UpThaPunx 5 points6 points ago

If no one posted things like these, we would never really question why those rules were made in the first place.

[–]Ciceros_Assassin 2 points3 points ago

What's the point, when the rules found there are rarely, if ever, enforced?

[–]summerof2010 0 points1 point ago

I see your point if you only follow rules because someone is making you. But I'd like to think that people would follow those guidelines simply so they can be a productive and unobtrusive member of the community. And they are called guidelines after all. They're there to give one a sense of what kind of content in what kind of format is expected and appreciated in the sub. If you really don't like it, you could always go somewhere else, or make your own community conforming to your own sensibilities.

[–]Ciceros_Assassin 0 points1 point ago

I'd like to think they would, too, but I've been on reddit a long time. I'm obviously not arguing against the idea of guidelines in communities, I'm saying that the answer to your original question is: no, they don't, because there are no penalties for not reading it.

[–]pleaseavoidcaps 0 points1 point ago

That's a keeper!

[–]levirax 3 points4 points ago

Always liked this comic...dont remember the first sub that submitted it, but it was well recieved their as well...thanks for sharing again.

[–]mvonballmo 3 points4 points ago

Pretty neat, but hopefully the source material is still around because there are two pretty bad spelling errors:

Questions are always on heat to mate with answers. Everybody knows they rarely survive the matting process.

[–]Repyl 3 points4 points ago

Great, could anybody break it down to me, like, what the meaning of it is? (I can of course figure some out, but I feel some perspective would be great)

[–]Vulpyne 7 points8 points ago

My interpretation was that it boils down to answers being useful (and needed) but changing circumstances can make the answer to a question wrong or no longer relevant. Questions, in a way, always remain probing when not associated with an answer and aren't as vulnerable to that issue. Questions are a hole that prompts you to examine the current (relevant) context.

I could be wrong, and I'm not sure I agree entirely, but that's what I took from it.

[–]sure_bud 0 points1 point ago

can you give an example of a changing circumstance for an answer? like finding more about something so our previous answer was wrong? like geocentrism vs. heliocentrism

[–]Vulpyne 5 points6 points ago

I think a simple answer would be something like "Is Vulpyne happy?" "Yes, Vulpyne is happy". If you "collect" that answer, put it a box and treasure it, it likely will no longer be relevant at some point. The value in answers is their relevance, so it won't have value at that point.

Of course, questions don't always maintain their relevance either: Once I've died (of old age, hopefully) it's not very likely that my mood will be changing. So the question "Is Vulpyne happy?" becomes a lot less interesting at that point.

Did this help?

[–]sure_bud 0 points1 point ago

yes it did! thank you :)

[–]Chadwickx 1 point2 points ago

The answer to the question "can you see?" changes pretty quick once your blindfold is removed.

Don't take that literally.

[–]reddiquettePolice 1 point2 points ago

We all of the sudden existed. We were given a way to figure out what is going on around us. Figuring this out is knowledge. Sometimes we have false-answers to questions. False-answers are not real knowledge. The old person was proud of their false-answers. They would eventually stop existing if they continued to follow those false-answers, instead of continuing to search for knowledge which leads to...

Now the real question is to me one of the most basic questions: to exist or not to exist?

If you even have a tiny thought to answer this question [other than suicide], then you have chosen to exist. Most people do not realize this, chose some false-answer, and then have destructive existences.

[–]thedarkpurpleone 0 points1 point ago

I took it to mean that even if you have answers to all your questions you should keeping asking those questions because answers can become outdated or irrelevant. For example some people may 'have' the question "Do I believe in god?" and some people may have an answer to go with that such as "Yes I do" or "No I don't". The answer to this question can change over time as a person changes, but some people get so caught up on their answer that they don't let it go, or let the question fade while only keeping the answer, (as the Frog man hints at with the "Questions rarely survive the coupling process") Another point the comic is trying to get across is that we should constantly be questioning the answers we have that we never asked ourselves the question to, For example someone who grew up in a religious family and has always identified as religious, but never took the time to stop and really ask themselves if they believe this was hinted at by the eye guy when he says "I am extra careful with a lot of the Big Ol' answers that have been around long before we came along, they bully their way into our collection without any of our questions inviting them in and we accept them because they satisfied so many questions of those that came before us..."

Also (if the last few pages were there) it implies that Old people (the frog man) get too set in their ways to change.

tl;dr: It's important to question EVERYTHING.

[–]Sakred 0 points1 point ago

The entire comic is summed up nicely in one of the frames: "What's the point if a wrong answer will stop you from returning to the right question?"

I can't even begin to express how brilliant I think this is. I wrote this down, I'm going to keep it with me.

[–]Repyl -1 points0 points ago

why am I being downvoted for simple seeking knowledge and perspective? derp.

[–]deja-vu-comment 1 point2 points ago

Wonderful. Should be front page in about an hour. :-)

.

[–]amod00 1 point2 points ago

that's a pretty amazing comic. Thanks for sharing!

[–]idlefritz -1 points0 points ago

Great stuff!

[–]wildster -1 points0 points ago

This made my happy and sad.

[–]BrockLobster 0 points1 point ago

Dang, found a typo on the source page. 14th page, 2nd panel.

[–]Philoso-fox 0 points1 point ago

legnht O:

[–]GrowdonTreeman -1 points0 points ago

Awesome.

[–]sladoid 0 points1 point ago

Wow, so saving this and printing it off. It's going to be laminated and slid right inbetween a few of my books, I hope many will stumble across it

[–]you_on_drugs 0 points1 point ago

That's why I love Hempel's D-N model and fart in the general direction of Hume.

[–]KNessJM 1 point2 points ago

Reminds me of a quote by Rowdy Roddy Piper.

"Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions."

Deep for a pro wrestler.

[–]Bonez916 1 point2 points ago

I just love this sub so much

[–]MalConst 1 point2 points ago

As a mathematician who lived with engineers for 3 years, reading this was very rewarding.

[–]consistence 0 points1 point ago

really nice. The world gets shrunk by answers and overwhelming by questioning. But where's Commander Keen?

[–]KingBearington 0 points1 point ago

It seems this comic assumes a Hegelian view of history.

[–]natty_dread 0 points1 point ago

I think the second part is essential to the message of the whole comic. You should either link directly to the strip, or upload the rest....

[–]jmkiii -1 points0 points ago

I am tempted to send this to my christian friend...

[–]ecilarorrim 0 points1 point ago

Very well worded. I like the aliens dressed in tweed too.

[–]Samccx19 0 points1 point ago

Even though this is a great comic, this has been posted to Reddit a large number of times. Not sure how many on this sub, but still regulary reposted on others.

[–]Thefuckyoulookingat 0 points1 point ago

holy shit.

[–]Duramax159 -1 points0 points ago

Reality can change as easily as the way you care to see it. An answer, static in nature as it is, refers to one frozen snapshot of that reality. Its value can only go down. Today's treasure could be tomorrow's garbage.

Woahhhhhh

[–]Draggedaround 0 points1 point ago

Poignant.

[–]Dunabu 1 point2 points ago

I love these drawings. They're very expressive.

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