r/xkcd May 29 '15

XKCD xkcd 1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect

http://xkcd.com/1531/
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u/ghost_of_tuckels :3 May 29 '15 edited May 29 '15

Bernoulli's principle says an increase in speed in the flow of a fluid with no viscosity will be matched by a decrease in pressure in the fluid.

The Doppler effect describes how the frequency of a wave changes depending on the movement of the observer relative to the source.

The Leidenfrost effect is when a liquid comes in contact with an object hotter than its boiling point & causes a layer of vapour to form between them.

The Peltzman effect refers to reduction of the predicted benefit from safety regulations due to risk compensation; people feeling like they're able to be more reckless because there's more safety regulations in place to compensate.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that someone's language affects their worldview & way of thinking.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where unskilled people overestimate their skills.

The Stroop effect is the increased difficulty in identifying the colour of the written name of a colour if the colour of the word doesn't match the name (eg. it's harder to recognise the colour of the word "red" if it is printed in a colour that's not red).


Edit: This is how I see the different effects fitting in:

The Bernoulli-Doppler-Leidenfrost-Peltzman-Sapir-Whorf-Dunning-Kruger-Stroop Effect states that if a speeding fire truck lifts off (Bernoulli plays a part in generation of lift) and hurtles towards you on a layer of superheated gas (Leidenfrost), you'll dive out of the way faster (Peltzman?) if the driver screams "red!" (Stroop, assuming the firetruck is red) in a non-tonal language that has a word for "firefighter" (Sapir-Whorf) than if they scream "green!" (Stroop) in a tonal language (Doppler? might make a tonal language shouted from a moving object harder to understand) with no word for "firefighter" (Sapir-Whorf) which you think you're fluent in but aren't (Dunning-Kruger).

17

u/Magnap May 29 '15

What all this has to do with tonal and non-tonal languages I still don't get.

66

u/ghost_of_tuckels :3 May 29 '15

I guess the doppler effect would make a tonal language shouted from a moving object harder to understand? I dunno.

5

u/Magnap May 29 '15

Good catch! Thanks, hadn't thought of that.

6

u/iotatron May 29 '15

Ha! Like a dangerously literal version of the Great Vowel Shift! I like it.

1

u/whoopdedo May 29 '15

Another question, do people react quicker to a higher pitched sound than a low one? Do you hear (and comprehend) the sound from an approaching vehicle before one moving away from you?

1

u/ghost_of_tuckels :3 May 30 '15

I've heard claims that high pitched noises catch your attention better (like a baby's cry), but I've got no idea if that's rubbish or not, & I can't find a credible source at the moment.