Episode 680 - Intelligence in Fiction
Mar 25, 2024
Today we're talking about the depiction of “intelligence” in fiction! There are a lot of ways this shows up: the genius detective who can understand any clue and uncover any lie, the amazing doctor who can understand any disease, the computer nerd who can do ANYTHING with computers, the genius savant with Asperger's, the crafty serial killer with plans within plans…
Topics and Show Notes
Mostly though these depictions are absolutely fictitious, simply based on tropes, like the action-man James Bond/Jason Bourne type “spy” trope which doesn't exist in reality and yet that's how we always think of spies. They're generally exaggerated to the point of silliness. The depiction of an “intelligent” person in fiction often involves wearing glasses; dropping quotes (usually Shakespeare); an obvious odd quirk that makes them not fit in well with others- being nerdy, dressing badly, talking weirdly, shyness, meanness; and they're almost always a polymath, in that they know about EVERYTHING, not just the field they specialise in.
Recently I've been binging the series Bones. It's about a group of scientists who perform special forensic tasks for the FBI. They're all super geniuses, especially the main character “Bones”, Temperance Brennan, who all the other charters frequently acknowledge as super brilliant. The dumbest person in their team is Angela, the artist, who's main role is to do sketches and reconstructions of the dead and provide an intuitive counterpoint to the cold scientists. Ironically she'd have to be by far the most intelligent person in their group and one of the most intelligent people in the world because while the others have very narrow specialties she's a genius at computer programming, mechanical engineering, code breaking, and and makes intuitive leaps that are impossible for normal people. It's a very silly show in its depiction of and understanding of intelligence, with the “smartest person” (Bones) actually being the dumbest in the group while the dumbest one (Angela) is the smartest.
Two of the main bulwarks of intelligence in fiction are Sherlock Holmes and serial killers, which are actually related. Sherlock is from a late 19th century stereotype of an intellectual superman. He's aware of the smallest detail, has a clinical, analytical mind, he drops quotes, he's classically educated, he has “no time for fools”, doesn't relate well to others, and is prone to obsession. His relationship to the modern depiction of the fictional serial killer is his rivalry with the character Moriarty, on which serial killers tend to be based- not on the character but the battle of wits. In reality serial killers and psychopaths are never very intelligent, the trope seems to be based on Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dalmer having reasonably high IQs but neither ever came up with fiendish plans or devised clever clues or plots, their crimes are simply gross, evil. and absolutely selfish, but in no way clever. This has resulted in the fictional serial killers typically matching the intelligence of detectives in an evil, dark reflection.
The trouble with depicting intelligence in fiction is usually that the writers don't know very much about it so they trick us by having other characters react to their genius character as if they're amazing, or showing the genius by having the character perform some massively exaggerated act like solving an incredibly hard puzzle, or creating one, dropping random quotes, or just telling us that the character is smart.
Some of my favourite intelligent characters are Abby from NCIS, Egon from Ghostbusters, Nero Wolfe from the Nero Wolf Mysteries, Daria, Sherlock Holmes, the Villain behind glasses from Log Horizon, John Crichton from Farscape, Doctor Who, and Mr Spock from Star Trek.
What are your faves? The characters from Big Bang Theory? House? Lisa Simpson?
This week Gunwallace has given us a theme inspired by Gamma Blue Smoldering of Creel - Heavy rocking fire. This is a hammer forging red hot steel on an anvil, rhythmically pounding it into shape, slamming into it with thunderous blows,drawing out the metal into a brutal sword of pure rock!
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic:
Cafe Strange - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2024/mar/19/featured-comic-cafe-strange/
Featured music:
Gamma Blue Smoldering of Creel - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com /Gamma_Blue_Smoldering_of_Creel/ - by Odebear, rated E.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!
Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS
Episode 679 - Correlation doesn't equal causation
Mar 18, 2024
The phrase “Correlation doesn't equal causation” is something associated with science and statistics but it really applies to EVERYTHING and that's important to understand. But was does it mean? If a bunch of things happened at the same time, those things aren't necessarily related or causal. An example Tantz gives is that statistics show in the summer there are more drownings and that people eat more ice cream. That means that those two things are correlated. We know they aren't causal though: ice ream doesn't drown people and people drowning don't cause people to eat more ice cream… the third hidden variable is that it's summer: it's the rise in temperature that causes people to want more ice cream and to swim more, which increases the chances of drowning.
Episode 677 - You can't spell "Fail" without "AI"
Mar 4, 2024
I remembered that a promised Quackcast was AI: slavery for artists and creators. This is an important subject to cover especially from this angle.
Episode 674 - Fashion
Feb 12, 2024
Do you change your style to go with current fashions or do you stick with your own thing and stay independent of changing trends? This is complicated by the fact that most people's styles are often influenced by an earlier fashion they just stuck with, but certainly not always, and some fashions reach a point where they become fully developed and eternal (like Art Deco), so it's worth sticking with those rather than changing to reflect ephemeral trends that are never properly formed.
Episode 671 - Art Vs the Artist
Jan 22, 2024
Art VS the artist! Can you infer something about the creator from their creation? Do you think the art is an accurate reflection of the artist?
Episode 668 - Year in Review!
Jan 1, 2024
Happy new year. Happy 2024! We're doing a year in review show this time because what else do you talk about in the last recorded thing/first presented thing of the year? We chat a bit about the progress of Drunk Duck's massive update and we each talk about what we personally achieved with our own webcomics- Tantz with Verdant and finishing Without Moonlight, Banes with Kaiju Valentine, me with Pinky TA and Bottomless waitress with Banes, and our new 3 way group comic called Key of Dreams, which is still in the planning stages.
Episode 663 - AI and The Duck
Nov 27, 2023
This Quackcast tackles the issue of AI comics on Drunk Duck. We're discussing either a ban or rules that would enable them to be posted under conditions. We also talk about AI generated imagery and the issues with it and well as its future and the relationship between it and artists. This is a very complicated and much misunderstood subject.
Episode 660 - The Multiverse
Nov 6, 2023
Multiverses are really popular in fiction right now, eg. Dr Strange into the mouth of Madness, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Flash, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Rick and Morty, and The Loki TV series (which I love). So what is a multiverse and why is it used? Basically when multiple universes coexist at the same time, either there are a few and they're widely different or they are infinite and every possibility exists. In the real world the idea of multiple universes is purely theoretical and a relatively minor part of various quantum physics theories, while in fiction it's an important tool for mashing together separate IPs that wouldn't normally fit together and also telling interesting stories with parallel elements and “what-if” scenarios.
