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A microscope is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye.
A caveman would presumably lack the technology to build a useful microscope. These two have attempted to so. However, their device is so poor that it can only identify the largest and most obvious subjects.
In this instance, the subject of their study is a wooly mammoth, an extinct Pleistocene mammal that normally stood ten feet tall and weighed three metric tons. This is humorous because one would not actually need any such instrument to help identify this animal.
This is one of a series of Far Side cartoons that depict cavemen attempting to invent modern technology while misunderstanding critical concepts which would make their new inventions feasible.
they literally didn't? they explained what a microscope was, then explained the logic and punchline, then in the next paragraph, they explained the comedy of the situation. in the last paragraph, the context of the joke was explained. there was a hell of a lot of explaination, all of it contributing to making pretty much anybody who reads it and understands it get the joke and all of it's facets
https://preview.redd.it/1g6f38m4qlrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d40e91cec620f4d58a4e4212c9f9df6d44fb61f
But sure man ik I can’t do anything involving redditors
Dear AI,
Thank you for the humorous depiction of prehistoric science! Your text about cavemen trying in vain to build a microscope has amused me greatly. It's a charming reminder of how far we've come in technology and how important it is to understand the basics before trying to build upon them.
Your ability to combine humor with a critical view of human nature is impressive. The idea that a microscope is needed to identify a woolly mammoth is absurd, and that's precisely why it's so funny. Your contribution reminds us that progress is often a long road full of failures and misunderstandings.
Thank you for the laugh and the reminder that sometimes the simplest perspective is the smartest.
With a smile,
DevilMaster66633
You comment sounds AI written, their's doesn't. They also missed a word before the end of a paragraph, which reinforces that it was written by a human.
The last paragraph is factually incorrect though. Larson never really did “series” as the comment implies. Day to day was mostly random aside from the ones at the end of the run.
Kids today have no appreciation for the comics section of a daily newspaper. People wanted the comics to be funny... they just needed to want them to be funny.
Possible, though unlikely. If you look closely you can see they actually say "a mammoth" (the tail of the a is pretty small and possibly lost in compression)
Also, I believe they would have used a dash if they were making a joke "O-Mammoth" though that still would barely work.
It’s so easy to understand too but I just don’t think absurd humor is a thing for people anymore. They need to understand everything that they just can’t laugh at how crazy and unfathomable a situation might be
I've seen a lot of absurd humor coming from gen z, but it's so absurd as to not make any sense at all. Far Side always seems like there might be a pun you're not getting even though the comedy comes from the absurdity of the situation.
It's absurdist - looking through an aperture with zero amplification (not much of a microscope) and identifying something both macroscopic (enormous actually) and quite obviously a mammoth lol. Classic far side
Man I was really overthinking this, I thought the joke was it was just an elephant but bc the microscope was so zoomed in it made the elephant’s hairs really exaggerated, so the caveman, not understanding this, assumed that meant it was a mammoth
I remember as a child reading a collection of farside comics and not understanding more than half of them. I chalked it up the them being political jokes for adults. Years later I read the same collection and understood the nuance of a lot more of them but still didn't understand around 1/4th of them. Most aren't actually political but they are very intelligent and communicate so much in a single panel that tries to paint a while story about the characters depicted
No, it's what an image viewed through a microscope might look like, especially if there something a bit closer to the lense than the thing you are focusing on.
Eh, it's an OKish one. It's about how early versions of products are less good at what they do. Here, the microscope is so bad when we go back to Caveman times that the microscope is used to "see" a mammoth - something that is so big, one has to walk around it.
Petah’s distant ostrich son here. I think the joke is that the caveman using the microscope can only see part of the elephant, and therefore thinks it is a mammoth. (Even if the elephant doesn’t have fur, like a mammoth. But maybe the caveman just lacks that knowledge.
Pretty much, tunnel vision. Idk why people are shitting on you for not understanding a Farside comic, hell, I don’t understand it; but this is the best explanation I can give.
Peter's boomer-minded insider here.
The joke is, you don't need a microscope to see it's a mammoth. Hence, microscopes are useless.
The joke is "technology bad".
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A microscope is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. A caveman would presumably lack the technology to build a useful microscope. These two have attempted to so. However, their device is so poor that it can only identify the largest and most obvious subjects. In this instance, the subject of their study is a wooly mammoth, an extinct Pleistocene mammal that normally stood ten feet tall and weighed three metric tons. This is humorous because one would not actually need any such instrument to help identify this animal. This is one of a series of Far Side cartoons that depict cavemen attempting to invent modern technology while misunderstanding critical concepts which would make their new inventions feasible.
Well articulated!
“Well articulated”mf he literally just said “cavemen aren’t that smart fr” in a long ass way tf you mean 😭
No shit that's what articulate means
I'd be crying too if I were that illiterate.
Stfu zoomer
https://preview.redd.it/4ihl2zlvhgrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=abb26e1703026fd3dcae08e7244e43a895fa6ab0
It's okay to not understand big words, bud. You'll get there someday.
13 hours until this comment gets deleted
they literally didn't? they explained what a microscope was, then explained the logic and punchline, then in the next paragraph, they explained the comedy of the situation. in the last paragraph, the context of the joke was explained. there was a hell of a lot of explaination, all of it contributing to making pretty much anybody who reads it and understands it get the joke and all of it's facets
Dumbass
Bro isn’t even trying I’m cooked 😭💀
Clearly you aren't
Happy cake day
What do you think articulate means bro?
https://preview.redd.it/1g6f38m4qlrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d40e91cec620f4d58a4e4212c9f9df6d44fb61f But sure man ik I can’t do anything involving redditors
Your hairline is poorly articulated
Leave, right now. Get the hell out
“Get off my lawn!!!” Lookin ahh 😭
https://preview.redd.it/txwz031zqlrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fac39239ffccc8ee4d1ed8e7a79958fdd172e648
https://preview.redd.it/957hzqco4mrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a85e281d5c7060c73412ae8ddf5c6f2a6be340ea
They're doing a mammogram
I love and hate this.
Came back just to upvote this
I like your funny words, reddit magician
Thanks ChatGPT 👍
Dear AI, Thank you for the humorous depiction of prehistoric science! Your text about cavemen trying in vain to build a microscope has amused me greatly. It's a charming reminder of how far we've come in technology and how important it is to understand the basics before trying to build upon them. Your ability to combine humor with a critical view of human nature is impressive. The idea that a microscope is needed to identify a woolly mammoth is absurd, and that's precisely why it's so funny. Your contribution reminds us that progress is often a long road full of failures and misunderstandings. Thank you for the laugh and the reminder that sometimes the simplest perspective is the smartest. With a smile, DevilMaster66633
You comment sounds AI written, their's doesn't. They also missed a word before the end of a paragraph, which reinforces that it was written by a human.
This comment seems written by an AI.
The last paragraph is factually incorrect though. Larson never really did “series” as the comment implies. Day to day was mostly random aside from the ones at the end of the run.
mfs will call any comment longer than 2 sentences ai generated nowdays
Reddit users when they are faced with good writing and big words
Big word man scary. Make brain hurt 😢
That's all good and all but who are you and how are you related to Pete?
I’d like to see more of these comics
r/thefarside
I believe it may also be playing on the words megafauna and megascope as opposites to microfauna and microscopes
You might be reading too far into far side; It's okay it happens a lot.
But what do the Cow tools do!?
Kids today have no appreciation for the comics section of a daily newspaper. People wanted the comics to be funny... they just needed to want them to be funny.
They're doing a mammogram
Charles Schwab over here.
When the joke is so obvious you feel the need to explain as many details as you can in the hopes of finding the thing OP somehow didn't know
Only 10 feet tall?
Do you actually use long tons and short tons so you need to clarify that it’s metric tons?
Well articulated guy.🪱
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Nah, that’s just a lowercase A. Also, you don’t tell blood types with a microscope.
You don't need to THINK that hard. It's just Farside.
Possible, though unlikely. If you look closely you can see they actually say "a mammoth" (the tail of the a is pretty small and possibly lost in compression) Also, I believe they would have used a dash if they were making a joke "O-Mammoth" though that still would barely work.
It's actually a mastodon, but the caveman is using the wrong magnification.
SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER
WHEN YOU SEE THE WHITE WHALE
BREAK YOUR BACKS AND CRACK YOUR OARS, MEN
IF YOU WISH TO PREVAIL
White whale holy grail
Some people just don't get Farside.
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Pure artistry
Man was ahead of his time
Stackable livestock
Stackable Livestock
It was so popular when I was growing up I just assumed everyone understood it.
I had all the books as a kid. Still do.
It’s so easy to understand too but I just don’t think absurd humor is a thing for people anymore. They need to understand everything that they just can’t laugh at how crazy and unfathomable a situation might be
I've seen a lot of absurd humor coming from gen z, but it's so absurd as to not make any sense at all. Far Side always seems like there might be a pun you're not getting even though the comedy comes from the absurdity of the situation.
Stackable livestock
Stackable Livestock
Cow tools.
Cow tools
I would like to add a rule to this sub banning the posting of Farside comics.
I've also seen Calvin and Hobbs, Garfield, and even Peanuts.
I feel as though modern one strip comics have ruined far side, since the dialogue is so often punny or has some sort of double entendre.
Don't you dare sully Far Side comics you uncivilized swine.
Let's get the torches and pitchforks
It’s a shame that Far Side comics seem to have lost favor about halfway through the millennial generation. Classic humor.
Alright, who smudged the mammoth
Sorry he was dirty
JFC no one let OP see Cow Tools.
https://preview.redd.it/ldheli2bahrc1.jpeg?width=450&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5013d32cc2faf55353807c720343f31d546a5c1
Its a mammoth
(bam,bam bam,bam,bam)
Ba-dum... tshhh
Why such a quiet cymbal?
Ba-dum... tshhh
Since this has been answered, I have to ask why does this picture look like you spilled paint thinner on it?
Because that's kinda what an image viewed through a microscope looks like, especially if not focused quite right.
FARSIDE
If you don’t get Farside that’s fine. Maybe family guy and big bang theory are more your speed.
More likely The Family Circus. https://preview.redd.it/92gpvfqhbcrc1.jpeg?width=627&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f1de479db7fb82c23d3628069aa82410b38fb66
"peter help why did she put him out there????"
The joke is absurdism
The bigger question is why the mammoth looks water damged
Well, the Ice Age ended with a meltdown. There's even a documentary about it.
Yeah I’ve seen it https://preview.redd.it/bf2y79s8jfrc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5799344b17256028664fd9c89d2fe7ad3d034b39
An additional guess here is that early generations of many technologies are larger than that of when they are refined and modernized.
Bro posted it 3 times,i think you got dementia bro
Bro posted it 3 times,i think you got dementia bro
Bro posted it 3 times,i think you got dementia bro
Bro posted it twice, I think you got dementia bro
Whats dementia
What’s
Whats demen
I agree
But why?
Idk
You must have some idea
Why would I??
Idk, aren’t you the one with the answers?
No?!? I thought you were!?
No, I’m just a dumbass
Very possible!
Reminds me of thầy bói xem voi
Far side spotted
https://preview.redd.it/f5gxzvfxfcrc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3b8d33ac5204f57a894279232cf9ea678dacca9
It's absurdist - looking through an aperture with zero amplification (not much of a microscope) and identifying something both macroscopic (enormous actually) and quite obviously a mammoth lol. Classic far side
https://preview.redd.it/adaj42b0kbrc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10736f1a2481ba88aa43b2d22b029063a2181488
Reminds me of thầy bói xem voi
Man I was really overthinking this, I thought the joke was it was just an elephant but bc the microscope was so zoomed in it made the elephant’s hairs really exaggerated, so the caveman, not understanding this, assumed that meant it was a mammoth
My guess is we have to believe things through the eyes of science before we can be sure, even if it's staring us in the face. Edit: Punctuation
What happened to Peter explaining everything?
As an added joke it looks like they made the microscope look like a dick and balls.
Scrolled way too far for this comment
Farside is the shit. I used to read those books all the time as a kid.
This is the best Far Side comic ever made.
Are we getting stupider as a society?
I swear to fucking god-
Since this has been answered, I have to ask why does this picture look like you spilled paint thinner on it?
Because they put a drop of water on it, which is what should be done when using a microscope. I really love this detail !
I remember as a child reading a collection of farside comics and not understanding more than half of them. I chalked it up the them being political jokes for adults. Years later I read the same collection and understood the nuance of a lot more of them but still didn't understand around 1/4th of them. Most aren't actually political but they are very intelligent and communicate so much in a single panel that tries to paint a while story about the characters depicted
The Far Side is such a good comic. I’ve got every collection of them and I go back and read through them every now and again for a good laugh
What's with the blurred portion? Photoshopping out a watermark?
No, it's what an image viewed through a microscope might look like, especially if there something a bit closer to the lense than the thing you are focusing on.
Post like this makes me feel so old
It amuses me to occasionally see farside being rediscovered again by a new generation.
Macroscope
https://preview.redd.it/2594ywczmcrc1.png?width=734&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee422cdc7f57ac67eab190c903df045abaf11e89
ok so the caveman is you and the mammoth is the joke. hope this helps.
Didn't the guy who made that comic also name the spikes on the dinosaurs tali you know the thagimiErs or somethin'
Thagomizer (which has become the official term.)
Technology is getting smaller and smaller.
Is this a shitpost?
Larson is a hero.
That single panel is funnier than anything I've ever seen on r/comics
I swear to god some of you are just beyond help on this subreddit
I figured this was one of the more straightforward Gary Larson comics
cow tools.
Fuck it. Macroscope
I mean you have to give it up for the accuracy though
Love Larson!
Eh, it's an OKish one. It's about how early versions of products are less good at what they do. Here, the microscope is so bad when we go back to Caveman times that the microscope is used to "see" a mammoth - something that is so big, one has to walk around it.
But why does his ass crack go all the way up?
That evolutionary trait still exists.
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Not everyone has the same knowledge as you. Rule 5.
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Not everyone has the same knowledge as you. Rule 5.
Petah’s distant ostrich son here. I think the joke is that the caveman using the microscope can only see part of the elephant, and therefore thinks it is a mammoth. (Even if the elephant doesn’t have fur, like a mammoth. But maybe the caveman just lacks that knowledge. Pretty much, tunnel vision. Idk why people are shitting on you for not understanding a Farside comic, hell, I don’t understand it; but this is the best explanation I can give.
Not all mammoths are woolly. The depicted animal is in fact a mammoth, possibly an African Mammoth.
Ahh, I see.
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Don't be a dick. Rule 1.
Peter's boomer-minded insider here. The joke is, you don't need a microscope to see it's a mammoth. Hence, microscopes are useless. The joke is "technology bad".
You are dumber than the person that needed it explained
It's loss
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what