El Goonish Shive VII: The Comic is 20 Years Old, but the Cast is Still 18

[Celestia]

... heck if math was even a little bit useful geometry would be a hard focus for every sports team ...

Except it is. It's just framed differently. They're not sitting in a classroom finding X, but they are practicing their kicks or throws or whatever to learn what force and angle works in what situation. But they're not just haphazardly guessing because then they'd never make any progress. Your brain subconsciously learns the math so you can apply it later.

[theNater]

What in the world do you think your brain is doing when you're "estimating?"

Mostly remembering, as I understand it.

Let me ask a question to check a definition: Would you say someone reciting a poem is calculating what word comes next?

[Celestia]

Mostly remembering, as I understand it.

Let me ask a question to check a definition: Would you say someone reciting a poem is calculating what word comes next?

Wow. This argument makes so little sense I don't think I can possibly address it without devolving into base insults. All I can say is that you clearly don't even understand what "thinking" is if you're confusing it with memories.

[Radar]

Except it is. It's just framed differently. They're not sitting in a classroom finding X, but they are practicing their kicks or throws or whatever to learn what force and angle works in what situation. But they're not just haphazardly guessing because then they'd never make any progress. Your brain subconsciously learns the math so you can apply it later.

It's less doing math and more creating a look-up table for the brain in a very specific situation so a conscious command of "send the ball there" is translated directly into specific commands for the muscles without doing any calculations whatsoever - that would only slow you down in a situation where you need an immediate response. The training is also very much about the precision of your moves.

So being able to calculate things quickly consciously does not have to have any bearing on being able to instinctively estimate where you send a volleyball - especially since Grace was not even sure how strong she is in this form and went all-out anyway just to be sure to win. Also, solving geometrical problems is very different from just crunching numbers and it was not established, if Grace can solve any mathematical problem quickly - just that she is fast in calculating numbers.

There is also another simple fact that math and moving the body are done by different parts of your brain, so even if we were to agree that semantically you are doing math while aiming a football or volleyball shot, this would still be completely unrelated to doing math consciously. This is also why thinking about what you are doing messes you up in sports.

[theNater]

Wow. This argument makes so little sense I don't think I can possibly address it without devolving into base insults. All I can say is that you clearly don't even understand what "thinking" is if you're confusing it with memories.

I'm starting to believe I don't understand the terms are you are using them, which is why I'm asking these clarification questions.

Is it your position that retrieving memories is not a form of thinking?

[KillianHawkeye]

Wow, didn't expect this to be such a hot topic.

Billiards is a bad example in this case, which is why I made a Captain America joke originally, because the 2D nature of the game doesn't take into account gravity, and the small heavy balls and soft surface minimize the influence of friction and air resistance. Also, you have a long stick to help you visualize the ball's trajectory for at least the first leg of its journey.

But I guess this forum is the wrong place to make a simple joke.

[Windscion]

... I guess this forum is the wrong place to make a simple joke.

Can I make this my new sig?

[KillianHawkeye]

Absolutely! :D

[Anonymouswizard]

New comic, and if Kevin was intentionally sentient him knowing the food pyramid would make complete sense. He obviously has a broad knowledge of what's beneficial to his pupil's recovery, and it allows him to make a rough guess without knowing the latest knowledge.

Of course, he was an unplanned child, so who knows what he knows or why.

[Fyraltari]

He'd need a broad knowledge base just to speak English anyway.

[Maat Mons]

It's much weirder that he recognized Arthur as his father. He shouldn't have any memories from before he gained sentience.

[Radar]

What I find even weirder is that Kevin does not have a mouth and yet he chews scenery like there's no tomorrow.

I particularly like his dietary comment: "whatever the best guess is for proper nutrition these days."

[Maat Mons]

Barb's name has been revealed to be Camelia. It is a sad day.

[Taevyr]

Well then, seems like Grace almost got Isekai'd.

[Radar]

I like Mr. Verres: being too enthusiastic is a bad sign for a potentially risky job. His comment on being glad he does not have to do the cover up was also good. I think being moved to a diplomatic position serves him well.

[Windscion]

Narratively, the griffins aren't the problem. But meeting Grace may well cause them to give our cast a heads up to the real problem: the pyro Uryuom who wants to kill/enslave humans and take over the planet, and who has access to magic again. (See https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2004-03-03 (prophecy) https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2018-05-04 Uryuoms blocked and https://www.egscomics.com/comic/sister3-299 Uryuom magic restored.)
After all, if Uryuoms do not come from outer space, logically they may well come from the "other half" of this world.

[Kish]

The "pyro uruyom" you linked is Damien. He blew himself up fighting Grace a long time ago.

"No, your optimistic attitude is all wrong, you need to go into this meeting with powerful and friendly people freaked out about the possibility of them attacking us" is a disastrously bad approach for a diplomat.

[Rater202]

The "pyro uruyom" you linked is Damien. He blew himself up fighting Grace a long time ago.

On the Contrary: Dmien was a Chimera created by religious fanatics who got tired of waiting for their "Master of Fire."

Much more recently, after Magic's not change, we saw an uryom light fires with magic while doing evil laughter.

[Kish]

Oh. You're both treating "Oh, and I guess there's an Uryuom pyromaniac or something. I dunno." as a sternly factual statement about who is lighting the candle and essential future plot points.

Well, it's better than forgetting the bulk of Paint it Black, I suppose.

[Rater202]

Oh. You're both treating "Oh, and I guess there's an Uryuom pyromaniac or something. I dunno." as a sternly factual statement about who is lighting the candle and essential future plot points.

Well, it's better than forgetting the bulk of Paint it Black, I suppose.

Dude...

Damien completly and utterly failed to live up to the prophecy. He didn't "unite the Chimeric outcastes of the world," he just killed a bunch of people and terrorized some child soldiers.

When we're told that there's an Uryuom language prophecy about a "being of power" and a "master of fire" that's still in play because the only posisble person so far that could have fulfilled it was 1: An active attempt at manufacturing the individual and 2: Died without coming close and then see an Uryuom giving into evil laughter after casting fire spells specifically...

Yeah, there's a connection there. If there wasn't we could have seen literally any other display of magic.

If that's not tied to the prophecy then that would be narratively unsatisfying.

[Vinyadan]

On one hand, I'd be happy if it's connected to the prophecy. On the other hand, we saw the uryom cast spells from a wand, which doesn't imply he's a master of fire in a special way, just that he can use a fire wand.

We also saw that an uryom army attacked Herak to gain access to human magic, and one of the golems used in the attack was at the Badly Guarded facility. It probably has something to do with the fire wand guy (at least, it must have been the reason why he earlier was severed from magic).

[theNater]

"No, your optimistic attitude is all wrong, you need to go into this meeting with powerful and friendly people freaked out about the possibility of them attacking us" is a disastrously bad approach for a diplomat.

Me, I would like her to be concerned enough about how the meeting will go that she doesn't do this again. I feel like that could be a problem.

[Gnoman]

The dialogue in panel 3 is really odd, and I can't tell if it is supposed to be.

"any dark clothes that need washing not back there" isn't a wrong sentence and has a meaning that can be parsed, but it isn't something I'd ever expect to hear.

[Rater202]

And Saturday's NP will have Grace asked if she is also magic.

Since, you know, everyone has seen Nanase floating in the halls.

[Qwertystop]

The dialogue in panel 3 is really odd, and I can't tell if it is supposed to be.

"any dark clothes that need washing not back there" isn't a wrong sentence and has a meaning that can be parsed, but it isn't something I'd ever expect to hear.

Tracks perfectly to me.

[Taevyr]

The dialogue in panel 3 is really odd, and I can't tell if it is supposed to be.

"any dark clothes that need washing not back there" isn't a wrong sentence and has a meaning that can be parsed, but it isn't something I'd ever expect to hear.

It feels like a normal sentence for everyday speech, but a bit oddly structured for use in a literary medium. Especially when it comes out of nowhere

[webrunner]

someone should put this current arc in cronological order when it's done

[Gez]

someone should put this current arc in cronological order when it's done

What a silly idea!

When that part of the storyline is over, someone will have to put a list of all the pages in chronological order.

[webrunner]

What a silly idea!

Well obviously the next step is to go full Haruhi and come up with a completely separate also anachronical 'airing order'

[Wildstag]

The discussion in today's comic once again makes me sad for the English language and it's lack of gradient in speech. Scared implies passive and active fear, whereas a word for "healthy respect/fear" doesn't really exist, and putting it that way verbally sounds like an excuse.

A healthy amount of concern and risk mitigation kinda needs a different set of shorthand words than just "scared"; it's just such a severe word.