Elaborate jokes that will only be understood by like 5 people on the planet are the actual best

Mar 4, 2024 · 3:47 AM UTC

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And yes, "5 people" was obviously an exaggeration. Conway's Game of Life is something that many programmers and other "mathy" people know, so a couple million people in total probably, but it's still quite niche overall. Ask a random person on the street and they'll have no idea.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
hmm, is it that niche? usually that's the main example people give to show you can create interesting things with automata
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Simply knowing what the word "automata" means is probably like 5% of Americans at best.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
the best bit is the attention to detail of having it wrap around to the top
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I actually don't get that part; were old Game of Life clients toroidal or something? All the ones I've come across are just euclidian planes.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
The “Blink” one should have been rotated 90 degrees in the second frame.
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Hmm, yeah. But then the glider would also have to be different in the third panel, which might make it harder to recognize.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
everyone understands that. popular meme and game of life.
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Isaac King 🔍 @IsaacKing314
4 Mar 2024
Replying to @IsaacKing314 @hejibits
And yes, "5 people" was obviously an exaggeration. Conway's Game of Life is something that many programmers and other "mathy" people know, so a couple million people in total probably, but it's still quite niche overall. Ask a random person on the street and they'll have no idea.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
mmmh. Almost every actual & former CS student would get it, no ? (nice one, btw !)
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Isaac King 🔍 @IsaacKing314
4 Mar 2024
Replying to @IsaacKing314 @hejibits
xkcd.com/2501/
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
I know this exclusively because of a Minecraft mod that makes use of it for a very convoluted form of power generation
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Oh that sounds interesting. What mod?
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
it's not that niche, I studied fucking sociology and they showed me this
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Oh, interesting. I expected programmers and other "mathy" people to be familiar, but why sociology?
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
The life game. I know it because of the powder game. One of the best free sandbox ever
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That game was great, I spent so much time on it. I still have no idea how "ant" actually works.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
I know a Game of Life meme when I see one, so that number's probably inaccurate
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Isaac King 🔍 @IsaacKing314
4 Mar 2024
Replying to @IsaacKing314 @hejibits
And yes, "5 people" was obviously an exaggeration. Conway's Game of Life is something that many programmers and other "mathy" people know, so a couple million people in total probably, but it's still quite niche overall. Ask a random person on the street and they'll have no idea.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
I better like this so others will think I'm one of those 5 people. There's 1K likes, but who will really know?
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Isaac King 🔍 @IsaacKing314
4 Mar 2024
Replying to @dmkoelle
In retrospect, I should have been. Conway's Game of Life is pretty popular in nerd circles, and my phrasing was the classic "you're special if you get this" bait that makes everyone want to prove they're part of the ingroup.
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
I'm kinda upset that the line didn't rotate between the first and second frames
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Replying to @IsaacKing314
I’ll bet you weren’t expecting 4000 likes on this
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In retrospect, I should have been. Conway's Game of Life is pretty popular in nerd circles, and my phrasing was the classic "you're special if you get this" bait that makes everyone want to prove they're part of the ingroup.
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