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Squirrels and philosophy: 11 degrees of separation

Jamal November 10, 2015 at 08:12 17225 views 55 comments
I noticed this on xkcd: 'Wikipedia trivia: if you take any article, click on the first link in the article text not in parentheses or italics, and then repeat, you will eventually end up at "Philosophy"'.

So I tried it starting with the article on cheese. It took 13 clicks to get to philosophy.

From "Squirrel", just 11 clicks, perhaps reflecting the fact that squirrels are more basic constituents of the world than cheese (discuss).

To my surprise, from "Love" it took 13 clicks, even though it seems closer to philosophy than squirrels, being an abstract concept and not a rodent.

Justin Bieber: 14 clicks

One Direction: 14 clicks

There you have it: squirrels are more philosophical than cheese, love, Justin Bieber and One Direction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel

Comments (55)

bert1 November 10, 2015 at 08:23 #2829
That's really interesting. It's like going down the family tree of knowledge, starting with the particular and moving to the general and ending in philosophy at the trunk. Presumably this doesn't work so well with other subject areas like, say, economics... I'll try.

...Nope, once we get to philosophy it starts looping back on itself via existence, ontology and other such abstract universal concepts.
Jamal November 10, 2015 at 08:26 #2830
It was quite remarkable that in each case the last several steps were the same, beginning at natural science, even in the case of Bieber.
ProbablyTrue November 10, 2015 at 08:27 #2831
Reply to jamalrob Diamond was nine clicks.
Wosret November 10, 2015 at 08:32 #2832
"Hair" is 8 clicks. Woman 10 clicks, and man 9.
shmik November 10, 2015 at 08:33 #2833
Sam Harris - 22 clicks X-)
Jamal November 10, 2015 at 08:37 #2835
@shmik's in the lead so far.

The object of the game, I suppose, is to find the least philosophical thing on wikipedia. Note: when any links go to a wiktionary entry I go back and click on the next link.
ProbablyTrue November 10, 2015 at 08:42 #2836
Murder is 24 clicks. Helps to be in incognito mode to keep the links fresh.
Baden November 10, 2015 at 09:11 #2837
Religion, 11 clicks. On a par with squirrels then.
Baden November 10, 2015 at 09:20 #2838
Donald Trump, 11 clicks. Las Vegas, 14 clicks. The Click, 12 clicks. :-|
Michael November 10, 2015 at 13:55 #2847
Philosophy is 4 clicks.
Benkei November 10, 2015 at 14:15 #2849
19 for "contract".

Infinte for "conscious" and "aware" because they loop back on themselves.
Michael November 10, 2015 at 14:20 #2850
Aha.

Joke ? Punch line ? Joke.

The joke's on xkcd.
shmik November 10, 2015 at 14:21 #2851
It take 13 clicks from "Getting to philosophy" according to the article Getting to philosophy.
Jamal November 10, 2015 at 14:23 #2852
Reply to Benkei Almost, but the first link in consciousness is 'quality'.
Moliere November 10, 2015 at 15:10 #2856
"computer" is a mere 9 clicks away.
Moliere November 10, 2015 at 15:14 #2857
Haha. "Kant" is 13 clicks away. :D Squirrels appear to have something truly profound to say.
bert1 November 10, 2015 at 15:29 #2858
Quoting Benkei
Infinte for "conscious" and "aware" because they loop back on themselves.


Wooow, you can't get more fitting than that! This is amazing. Consciousness knows consciousness by reflexion.
Michael November 10, 2015 at 15:42 #2859
Reply to bert1 Although, as @jamalrob says, he's wrong. Consciousness is 2 clicks and Awareness is 3 clicks.
Baden November 10, 2015 at 15:49 #2861
Baden, 13 clicks. Beaten by squirrels. And religion. Holding my own with cheese though.
bert1 November 10, 2015 at 16:22 #2863
22 for 'plank'. 'Murder' is the record holder so far.
Michael November 10, 2015 at 16:29 #2865
Plank is 14, Murder is 23, and Sam Harris is 10. See WikiLoopr.
bert1 November 10, 2015 at 16:34 #2866
WikiLoopr makes it easier.

'Mangle' gets stuck in a different loop. But all the other ones I've tried get stuck at ontology and philosophy. I find that immensely pleasing for some reason.
shmik November 10, 2015 at 17:22 #2868
Reply to Michael Cool site though it's not strictly accurate, try Sam Harris yourself.
Michael November 10, 2015 at 19:08 #2875
Reply to shmik Yeah, it's picking up the italicized cultura in Literature.
Sir2u November 10, 2015 at 23:06 #2885
School is 5 clicks to infinity. When it gets to awareness it circle to conscious.
Sir2u November 10, 2015 at 23:09 #2886
Shit is 13 clicks to infinity, it also hits the aware conscious loop.
Sir2u November 10, 2015 at 23:11 #2887
This is fun but I have work to do, work by the way seems to be a one clicker.
Michael November 10, 2015 at 23:44 #2889
There is no aware-conscious loop. The first link in consciousness is quality which then goes to philosophy.
Sir2u November 11, 2015 at 00:04 #2892
Quoting Michael
There is no aware-conscious loop


You're right, blame it on Benkei, I just followed his lead. :-}
Just goes to show that you should never believe the things you see on the internet without checking it out first.
So school runs out to 8 clicks.
Sir2u November 11, 2015 at 00:06 #2893
And shit is ten. :P
Phil November 11, 2015 at 06:13 #2906
Reply to shmik completely made my afternoon
Benkei November 11, 2015 at 09:45 #2908
Quoting Sir2u
You're right, blame it on Benkei, I just followed his lead. :-}
Just goes to show that you should never believe the things you see on the internet without checking it out first.
So school runs out to 8 clicks.


Lol, woops. Apparently I had linked through "quality" before via "consciousness" which made it darker and I couldn't see the difference with regular black text any more.
Jamal November 11, 2015 at 09:56 #2909
Reply to Benkei Amateur!

(Though it happened to me too)
Streetlight November 11, 2015 at 12:01 #2915
Takes 4 for goat. This is clearly significant.
Benkei November 11, 2015 at 12:25 #2916
"Feces" loops back on itself I think.
Michael November 11, 2015 at 13:12 #2923
Reply to StreetlightX I get 13.
Michael November 11, 2015 at 13:13 #2924
Reply to Benkei I get 3 (if you skip the anchor link).
Benkei November 11, 2015 at 13:15 #2925
Reply to Michael I thought the rule was nothing in "parentheses" and nothing in "italics". First one then seems to be "many other names"? What's the first link you use on the "feces" page then?
Jamal November 11, 2015 at 13:21 #2926
You click on the first link that goes to another article.
Michael November 11, 2015 at 13:24 #2927
Reply to Benkei The "many other names" link is just an anchor to further down the same article. The "official" rules, as stated here, are:

  • Clicking on the first non-parenthesized, non-italicized link
  • Ignoring external links, links to the current page [my emphasis], or red links
  • Stopping when reaching "Philosophy", a page with no links or a page that does not exist, or when a loop occurs
Streetlight November 11, 2015 at 13:25 #2928
Oops, didn't read the rules. 13 it is!
Benkei November 11, 2015 at 13:32 #2930
Quoting jamalrob
You click on the first link that goes to another article.


Awww, shiiittttt. Stop making up rules!
Streetlight November 11, 2015 at 13:56 #2938
"Cuban" goes for 3! - and does not end up at "philosophy".
Sir2u November 12, 2015 at 01:59 #2993
Politician goes to 10 clicks.

That is a surprise: never imagined that there was even a small connection.
Pneumenon November 12, 2015 at 23:32 #3060
This makes the game easier: http://xefer.com/wikipedia
Benkei November 13, 2015 at 10:08 #3093
naked for 22.
ArguingWAristotleTiff November 13, 2015 at 12:43 #3098
I have tried more than once to play this game you guys are playing and I just don't freakin get it. I'll just sit over here, have a drink and watch. 8-)
ArguingWAristotleTiff November 13, 2015 at 12:47 #3099
Reply to Pneumenon Thank you Pneumenon!
Unicorn for 21
ArguingWAristotleTiff November 13, 2015 at 12:49 #3100
Why is 6 degrees!
Jamal November 13, 2015 at 12:51 #3101
Reply to Pneumenon That is very cool.
Benkei November 13, 2015 at 13:33 #3102
AK-47 for 29.

Zeus for 27.
Baden November 13, 2015 at 14:03 #3107
Reply to Benkei I get 19 for both of those on Wikiloopr. Still can't beat murder the way I'm playing it. :-*
Cavacava November 13, 2015 at 14:14 #3108
Toffee, 21 to Philosophy 24 to Ontology
Benkei November 13, 2015 at 15:37 #3124
Reply to Baden Hmmm... I used Pneumenon's link. I'll check it out manually then...

Edit: I get even less.
Baden November 13, 2015 at 15:43 #3125
Reply to Benkei So much for the shortcuts then. :s