Flowcharts
Flowcharts
[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.] Start [One arrow points to the first real choice.] [Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.] Do you like flowcharts? Yes No [Yes goes back where it came from.] Do you like line graphs? Yes No Data or axis? Line Axis [The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.] Time or your happiness? Time Your happiness [These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.] Scatter plots? Yes No Data or axis? Data Axis [The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.] X or Y? X Y [These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.] Help charge a battery? Yes No Are you A/C or D/C?, A/C D/C Positive or negative phase? + - [The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.] Positive or negative DC terminal? + - [These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.] Like spirals? No Yes Take the path of least resistance? Never Yes [Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:] Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images? Yes, even though it's total BS. No, it's total BS. [Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.] Tired of flowcharts yet? No Yes, I want to look at something else [No takes you back to the start box at the top.] [Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

Note : A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the Trivia section below.
This comic is a flowchart style, like many. Interestingly, the first option, Do you like flowcharts? loops back to itself if you say Yes . As the yes lines of other options point to the type of graph they describe (for example, the yes line of Do you like line graphs? points to a line graph), this may be interpreted as a recursive reference to the flowchart itself, although it points to the option itself rather than the START node. Also, this may cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing Yes , until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying No .
After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like line graphs . If they follow the yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about scatter plots where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.
Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are A/C or D/C current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a circuit diagram of a rectifier bridge with a battery connected to it.
If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are asked whether they would take the path of least resistance . This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word " resistance " is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material impedes the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers never it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.
Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.
The title text and the faint image of a golden spiral parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly everything . The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [1] , where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video Illuminati Confirmed . The limit of the ratio of two consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio, so a Fibonacci spiral matches up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.
This comic bears reminiscence of 730: Circuit Diagram , although it is not exactly the same idea. Putting a golden spiral over other things was again used in 2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral , like the spiral page on xkcd which this comic is a link to.
[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.] Start [One arrow points to the first real choice.] [Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.] Do you like flowcharts? Yes No [Yes goes back where it came from.] Do you like line graphs? Yes No Data or axis? Line Axis [The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.] Time or your happiness? Time Your happiness [These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.] Scatter plots? Yes No Data or axis? Data Axis [The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.] X or Y? X Y [These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.] Help charge a battery? Yes No Are you A/C or D/C?, A/C D/C Positive or negative phase? + - [The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.] Positive or negative DC terminal? + - [These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.] Like spirals? No Yes Take the path of least resistance? Never Yes [Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:] Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images? Yes, even though it's total BS. No, it's total BS. [Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.] Tired of flowcharts yet? No Yes, I want to look at something else [No takes you back to the start box at the top.] [Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]
