What if everyone jumped at once?

Get a copy of What If? 2 and Randall’s other books at: xkcd.com/books
More serious answers to absurd questions at: what-if.xkcd.com/
What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as they could, jumped, and landed on the ground all at the same instant?
Randall Munroe is the author of the New York Times bestsellers What If? 2, How To, What If?, and Thing Explainer; the science question-and-answer blog What If?; and the popular web comic xkcd (xkcd.com). A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time.
Henry Reich is the creator of MinutePhysics and executive producer of MinuteEarth and MinuteFood and founder of Neptune Studios (the parent company for all three youtube channels).
Credits
Narrated by and based on "What If?" by Randall Munroe
Written & Directed by Henry Reich
Illustration and Video Editing by Lizah van der Aart
Illustration and Animation by Ever Salazar
Music & Sound Effects by Know Art Studios
What If? The Video Series is the official adaptation of the What If? books by Randall Munroe and is produced by Neptune Studios LLC.
©2024 xkcd, inc.

[@alexpotts6520]

This is a masterclass in answering the question they asked, rather than the question they meant.

[@adrianthoroughgood1191]

He also answered the question they meant!

[@SimuLord]

It's a Mathematician's Answer turned up to 11.

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[@jeffbenton6183]

It seems that he did both

[@Mis7erSeven]

He also answered the question they meant. But this is just one calculation and the answer is simple and boring, so he continued with the more interesting part of the story.

[@xJarlaxle]

Most important take away from this is: the wizard who teleported everyone to Rhoad Island is an asshole

[@lbart37]

Also makes you wonder why they can't reverse the act, but alas

[@EinDose]

Was he part of the jumping crowd? How does the existence of wizard magic affect this hypothetical?

[@mitchelskulas870]

curse you thomas bennet

[@quiquaequod322]

Or Thanos...

[@someonerandom1498]

It was black hat all along

[@daviddelille1443]

Everyone who was in surgery or on life support probably died soon after they were teleported. Everyone who was deep diving experienced rapid decompression. Even assuming clothes would be teleported, quite a few people arrived naked (those who were showering, taking a bath, etc.). About a third of people arrived asleep.

[@WouterCloetens]

How many women arrived mid-childbirth?

[@Mis7erSeven]

For this coordinated jump to be possible, everyone would need to know what to do. So we can assume that the wizard would send everyone like a telepathic message 5 minutes earlier or so. Enough time to leave the water, put on some clothes ect. But sure, the people in surgery or on life support would be screwed. And it wouldn't even help if we say we exclude handicapped people from the scenario, because then they would be left behind abandoned and helpless.

[@NutchapolSal]

@@Mis7erSeveni don't think 5 minutes is enough to decompress after a dive

[@bobrulz]

@@Mis7erSeven If the wizard can teleport everyone there, surely they can make everyone jump at the same time too.

[@nevaehhamilton3493]

​@@WouterCloetens or mid-sex? 😂

[@mrquackadoodlemoo]

I like how 7,000,000,000 people jumping in one spot did nothing to the world, but getting those 7,000,000,000 people out of the one spot is what would cause the chaos.

[@jonahweiss2124]

So this begs the question, where is the best location on earth to teleport everyone to minimize deaths

[@nebulan]

It would probably be a big city that already has the capacity to handle a big population. I'm thinking Shanghai, Hong Kong or Delhi.

[@di99utpe]

I'd say the lack of food and water will kill most. So some place where the survivors of the outer layers can live of the land. (All infrastructure, such as logistics, sanitation and modern agriculture will be gone for a loooong time)

[@brandonkoh8361]

Id say probably a large city in europe that has a seriously robust and international train network. Plenty of farming in europe, trains can ferry a ton of passengers and food. Many coastal cities are within spitting distance of most other countries and thus have ships, containers etc. Edit: Actually now that Ive thought about it, the biggest factor for fatalities would likely be just that the people in the middle of the crowd of 8 billion people are literally unable to walk and will eventually die from the elements and thirst. This alone would likely contribute many billions of death since you just cant walk through people. Therefore an area with mild climate that can permeate the crowd with the largest number of deep flowing fresh water and relatively clean rivers would probably be a requirement. This allows a large number of people to gain fresh water as well as provide people a mode of transportation (floating in the water is better than standing for a week). Would ideally need to have a few main cities on the path of the tributaries, ideally with rail networks, or port cities.

[@avionyellow1712]

The biggest place that has infrastructure already built to support millions of peoples and crowds (probably wouldn't make much difference)

[@nebulan]

@avionyellow1712 OP suggested "best". Every option will have a massive body count. Well, the option where the wizard puts everything back is probably best.

[@kevinpierce9780]

“Who can stop you? All the cops are in Rhode Island.” That is one of the best lines I have ever heard.

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@user-kf9ou4ht6l]

More than a sentence, a life motto

[@MrARock001]

The only laws that enforce themselves are the laws of physics.

[@jimc.goodfellas226]

2024 is the year of "sentences we never thought we'd hear"

[@alchemander]

Words to live by.

[@Narokkurai]

A stone slab left atop the ruins of Rhode Island reads: "This place is a message. Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves a powerful culture. This place is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing of value is here. There is danger here. The danger exists in your time, as it existed in ours. The danger is only unleashed if you gather eight billion people and make them jump all at once. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited."

[@Archgeek0]

Honestly the jump was harmless. The danger is gathering eight billion people. That's just... too many mouths and butts for such a small area to contend with.

[@theviniso]

Radiation? I sleep. Ridiculously large crowds? Real shit.

[@tilad1420]

​​@@Archgeek0 I think this is a reference to the monuments considered for long term storage facilities for radio active waste. The problem is: how do you communicate to a future civilization that we don't know and who don't know us in 10000 years time to not dig there archeologically or theologically or just out of curiosity?

[@Narokkurai]

@@Archgeek0 Therein lies the spider's web. Some fools are going to take our warning as a challenge one day or another. The hell if I'm going into the apocalypse alone.

[@Archgeek0]

@@tilad1420 Oh of course, that's what makes it funny - I'm just saying the "and" clause isn't needed, as the danger is unleashed without anything more than gathering that many people together.

[@xyzabc4574]

Note to future generations: "Don't call it an island if it's not an island."

[@randomobserver8168]

Well, it WAS an island. Now actual Rhode Island is more commonly known as Aquidneck island. The colony, which was former from merging the island and mainland settlements, and latterly the state as a whole was Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the latter being the mainland, even if it was colloquially shortened to just Rhode Island. This nomenclatural conundrum was resolved in 2020, not to eliminate this deep semantic and topographical problem but for silly reasons, by just renaming the state Rhode Island.

[@stevevernon1978]

@@randomobserver8168 TIL that it took until 2020 to correct that conundrum!

[@ClutchCps]

It's funny how the action of everyone jumping at the same time wouldn't cause some post-apocalyptic event, but the aftermath of getting everyone to the same area in the first place would.

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[@jeffbenton6183]

Provided that they all have no idea how any of them got there.

[@vbscript2]

@@jeffbenton6183 It's not so much a matter of whether they know how they got there as if they were able to prepare for it in advance. If we had a few years to stock food in RI, ensure critical infrastructure can run without intervention for a few days, and position other vital resources where they need to be in advance, casualties could be greatly reduced. But if it just suddenly happened without knowing and preparing in advance? Yeah, this video describes it pretty well.

[@AliceYobby]

that's the joke, yes

[@Chronomel]

​@@AliceYobbyYeah the joke is funny, can we not point it out?

[@hkumar30]

Everyone dies. Just not in the way you were expecting.

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[@emi_is_absent]

​@@EEEEEEEETrue!

[@EdwinWiles]

*almost* everyone.

[@Ace-nq4cp]

I have officially rewritten Mad Max head cannon with this prelude.

[@heather9752]

The tagline of this channel

[@alexray230]

Aliens: "So, what caused your world ending apocalypse?" The last human alive: "We all went to Rode Island"

[@pokemonfanmario7694]

Other alien: "You dumbass it was civilisation ending not world ending. The non-sapient descendents of humanity still chug along well in the wilds alongside the reclaimed nature."

[@PtylerBeats]

It’s fascinating to know that simply bringing everyone together would tear us apart.

[@Neuvost]

crowd crush is nightmare fuel

[@nebulan]

Yeesh! Everyone with social anxiety would have a panic attack 😢

[@KabiPac]

i would say thats unlikely to happen in that situation given that theres no actual barrier that stops people from spreading out and no immediate urge to get anywhere

[@chrisschack9716]

@@KabiPac Somebody falls into somebody, maybe a few more people get knocked over, and people ARE trying to do something. It's probably not going to end well...

[@generalcodsworth4417]

​@@KabiPacthe people are the barrier. Theres no way 8 billion people will manage to cooperate enough in this situation to spread out before most people in the middle have been smothered to death

[@OrigamiMarie]

​@@KabiPac I believe those calculations are based on there being options for outlets for people. There aren't any in this case, the people _are_ the barrier for miles in every direction. Lots of people in this crowd are going to be in the middle of various kinds of crises (and many crises will start in the first ten minutes) and people move around in response to crises in and near them.

[@Pablo360able]

Thomas: "What would happen if everyone got together in one place and jumped?" Randall: "We wouldn't be heavy enough to affect the Earth's orbit." Thomas: "Damn, I guess nothing would happen." Randall: "That's not what I said."

[@curlyhead360]

This is how my non-american self found out Rhode Island is not just like... A single island.

[@randallpetersen9164]

Yeah it's pretty dumb. The US has two Washingtons, too.

[@sirk603]

@@randallpetersen9164one is a state, one is a city in a federal district.

[@randallpetersen9164]

@@sirk603 Uh, thanks. I live in one and have lived in the other. :)

[@greggv8]

Rhode Island was officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations until the citizens voted in 2020 to change the name to Rhode Island, because that's what people had been calling it for a long time.

[@mammocas]

I just want to say that my heart fills with joy every time I see a whole world map using a proper projection. Thank you for that.

[@RedneckRough]

My favorite is the Japanese person going “Oh, I forgot to put out the fire.”

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

Oh look who can read Japanese, Mr. Fancypants! 🤣 But seriously though, thanks for the translation. Makes the video even funnier knowing this.

[@SupersuMC]

Oh, shi-

[@Mis7erSeven]

まあ、それでは遅すぎます。

[@Amanda-C.]

I've seen worse translations on way higher production values on this site. After the last one I watched (with a Japanese guest on the channel, even!), I'm just pleased the translation was entirely natural and grammatically correct. But maybe you'll empathize with how suspicious that word 火消し was for me. I've been tricked a lot by unusual readings in strange places, and my first guess sounded weird in my head, so I didn't believe it was actually the most straightforward possible pronunciation.

[@clarencejohnson8964]

残念だなーw

[@Fabonj]

"Did the rapture just happen? Have I been Left Behind™?" "No, you just got excluded from the species-wide jump in Rhode Island." "NNNOOOOOOO!!!"

[@KatSpicert]

Nah, that's definitely a "YYAAAAAY!!!" type of situation, because you're most definitely not surviving that species-wide jump event.

[@douglaswolfen7820]

Now I finally have time to read! *drops glasses*

[@Novakillerex]

⁠@@douglaswolfen7820well I can still read the big print books *eyes fall out*

[@Maserati7200]

@@douglaswolfen7820no! That’s not fair! That’s not fair!! There was time now!

[@greensteve9307]

Wait, that's actually a good point. Would the people physically unable to jump have been left alone?

[@andyk3889]

2:02 I’ve also been there; they truly do have some of the best bathrooms ever

[@tylermfdurden]

People massively overestimate how important we are and massively underestimate the sheer size and mass of the earth. To put it into scale, this is like asking "what if a few specks of dust landed on a billiards ball?"

[@randallpetersen9164]

They also massively underestimate just how thin our atmosphere is. "Oh look at all that sky, how could we cause the climate to change?" Yeah smart guy, go into space and you'll see it's like the skin of an apple, it's hardly there at all.

[@ZlothZloth]

@@randallpetersen9164 Space is just an hour's drive away - if you could drive straight up. (Thank you Hoyle)

[@nicholasweaver2374]

This would make a great setting for a novel.

[@olivianava5422]

"The Jump" by Nicholas Weaver. You go in thinking it's about like warp drive or something that changed the world, but it's about a literal jump.

[@nicholasweaver2374]

@@olivianava5422 Good title!

[@childofnewlight]

"The Walking...Billions?"

[@MegawackyMax]

I was thinking the exact same while I was watching the video.

[@roryschussler]

I feel like the one about the Earth stopping spinning would be a little bit more interesting. To avoid the heat of the day and night, you have to stay in the permanent twilight band that moves around the Earth, circling it once per year.

[@WalnutBun]

I love that every video on this channel inevitably turns into "and everyone died, the end".

[@Calthecool]

So far he’s pulling questions from the first what if book, just wait for the second one. Like half of the questions result in human extinction, the earth being destroyed, or the galaxy being destroyed.

[@LichLordFortissimo]

Incidentally, the galaxy in the 2nd book is destroyed by soup.

[@theviniso]

Well, at least in the Nascar(?) one only the vehicle pilot dies.

[@jameshart2622]

​@@LichLordFortissimo I loved the one about filling the solar system with soup out to Jupiter.

[@CaveSpiderRider]

Yes, but we get the thrill of finding out how and why everyone dies.

[@Micha-Hil]

I love how half of this video isn't even about the jumping simultaneously thing, it's about how would people live if they were suddenly and abruptly all brought together with no reason

[@nathanielli8459]

Found your channel today mid-poop, just finished all ur videos. Subscribed with notifications.

[@iabervon]

This reminds me of last Monday, when a lot of people managed to get to northern New Hampshire, not far from Rhode Island, in time for a scheduled event, and then were up to 12 hours late getting home due to traffic. Fortunately, the eclipse wasn't so popular that society collapsed while they were away.

[@nebulan]

Also, everyone had time to prepare, and they (like my group who drove from West Virginia to Ohio) brought snacks and water!

[@nebulan]

Also, our cell signal was great the whole time at the ohio state park we visited!

[@williamreinhard]

We spent three days at a beautiful lake in rural Indiana, had a small beach all to ourselves for the eclipse and drove home without traffic the next day. Planning ahead is key.

[@SimuLord]

If they can get a big crowd in and out of Loudon for a car race, I'm sure an eclipse wasn't that much worse.

[@nebulan]

@SimuLord the state park in ohio we went to said that 4th of july crowds were worse. They were prepared

[@freedot1463]

This be the greatest subversion in What if’s history

[@thatjeff7550]

My favorite one is his subversion of, "What would happen if the Sun vanished?" and went on about how easy it would be to drive across rivers and lakes due to the water freezing, how easy it would be for us to see the stars in our galaxy, and oh, we'd also die within a few hours due to not receiving any heat from our now-vanished sun.

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[@maxpis4412]

@@thatjeff7550 not hours, it could definitely last days, maybe weeks

[@DrachenGothik666]

@@EEEEEEEE I prefer R. It's a pirate thing. RRRRRR. 😛🏴‍☠

[@CarlosAM1]

​@@maxpis4412 centuries perhaps. We have a lot of energy sources here on earth

[@sagacious03]

Super excited for this analysis video! Thanks so much for uploading! Might comment more later!

[@iainballas]

This was one of the best videos I've ever seen ever. I love how half of it is about what happens after an arbitrary, theoretical event rather than the effects of the event itself!

[@xSARGEx117x]

Seems a lot of people were unaware of xkcd before the youtube channel and don't know these are old what-if questions. Well I guess they're part of today's lucky 10,000! I really hope Randall does all of them, I absolutely love the we comic and what if series. I also would love to hear a physics (or given the creator's history, robotics) lecture in the style of "Up Goer 5"

[@mirage1729]

10,000! is a really really big number! #unexpectedfactorial

[@moth.monster]

As a fan of the comics, I am enjoying this look back on the old blogposts in a new way.

[@xSARGEx117x]

@@moth.monster and they're narrated by the man himself, can't beat that!

[@scorpodile9649]

@@mirage1729 (citation needed)

[@Ranakastrasz]

Just be careful, Some of the Lucky 10,000 are less lucky than others.

[@conliffeiain]

As someone who flies in and out of TF Green about once a month, here is random TF Green bathroom fact that will change your experience flying in or out of it. The front surface of the top of the urinals is highly and I do mean HIGHLY reflective, which means you might accidentally look at every single person's wiener all at once without meaning to. Once you know it, you can't unknow it. You won't even do it in purpose. You will walk in, see wieners, and then remember "Don't look at the wieners."

[@The360MlgNoscoper]

😭

[@Alex-js5lg]

Reflective floors and walls in public restrooms that have gaps in their paneling are such terrible design.

[@clownfromclowntown]

Imo, that's on you for not using a stall. I don't know why some men feel the need to make pissing a group activity.

[@Zerossoul]

@@clownfromclowntown Blame the Romans. It's been common for very long time.

[@jazzabighits4473]

@@clownfromclowntown urinals can be separate, not just one big trough

[@declanmullin6727]

I'm sorry but XKCD referencing Vsauce makes my nerdy heart sing

[@nate567987]

got to keep with the kids

[@gerwiggin]

I find it so wonderful that your voice and video style mimics so well your cartoons and books, this was so fan to watch, specially considering that the answer is answered in the first 30 seconds 🤣

[@apothecary4371]

I've had the "what if?" book for a long time now, and this has always been my favorite fact. I am dyslexic and reading in school made me feel stupid and agitated. this book was what taught me to enjoy reading and ever since I've made reading part of my daily routine. that wouldn't have been possible without your work and i can't thank you enough for it!

[@bvoyelr]

I've read each of these as articles. I know every plot twist, joke, and nuance. And yet I still watch and enjoy these videos.

[@kitthekat6844]

I did not expect this, what a wonderful twist explained in a very interesting manner!

[@timtom6212]

I’ve had your book for the longest time, it’s so cool to see you making videos on a book I grew up with

[@bigbocchi]

We changing the earth orbit with this one Nevermind the world just turned into Mad Max

[@Tensho_C]

💀

[@suhnih4076]

Bruh

[@Nothing-1w3]

lmao

[@FIREBRAND38]

No, they DIDN'T change the Earth's orbit at the cost of going Mad Max.

[@akaHarvesteR]

How could they change the orbit anyway? The humans on the earth are a closed system. There's no transfer of mass/momentum, so there is zero net force. Whatever impulse the earth got when the humans jumped off, gets cancelled back the moment they land.... Unless someone manages to get yeeted out on at escape velocity. The orbit, the rotating, everything stays absolutely unchanged. Well if you ignore the mass extinction event from the attempt

[@Scottrick]

Every time I hear this question answered, there is no mention of the fact that it wouldn't matter how much people weighed compared to the Earth, the orbit could never be affected by such an event. The mass of people and the planet would momentarily move away from each other, then back toward each other due to gravity. There would be no net movement one way or the other.

[@di99utpe]

It would if everyone jumped at escape velocity! 😋 But then everyone would die alot quicker. As a massive plasma ball of meat and fluids tearing thru the sky.

[@SimuLord]

@@di99utpe Set that mental image to Nyan Cat music (or Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".) You're welcome.

[@Arkayjiya]

It would matter though. If people weigh somewhere near the same order of magnitude as the entire Earth, the amount of energy released by the friction and shock of the jump would be astronomical. I don't know how much energy could realistically escape within those conditions but it's not absurd to think that enough could escape that it would have an effect, at least until you do the math.

[@Merennulli]

If the Earth was perfectly rigid, that would be correct. But the Earth deforms when you apply enough force. That deformation is why earthquakes alter the orbit of Earth ever so slightly.

[@vikiai4241]

More credibly, suddenly moving the mass of all those people to one point on the Earth's surface would alter the axial rotation, though the proportions of mass between the Earth and its human population is so huge, I am doubtful we would have equipment sensitive enough to measure the change. Convince the entire bacterial mass of the planet to migrate to one location, and we might have something (barely) measurable, however.

[@benjaminlee985]

The stick figure mad max drawing is brilliant. So many nice details.

[@DrachenGothik666]

That one was my favourite.

[@lolasunflower6350]

Yesssss!!! Love the books and I am happy that I discovered this channel today😍😁✨️

[@albevanhanoy]

I appreciate that you actually wrote cities names in their original script haha. I could recognize 上海市 and 北京市. (The character 市 means "city" , the other characters mean "Shanghai" and "Beijing" . respectively)

[@doodlewoodledoodle]

My dumbass thought those were hiragana characters for a second there 💀

[@k4kadu]

I like how the answer is "basically nothing" and you made the most interesting thought experiment anyways. xD

[@realshaoran4514]

This may be the best and most funny xkcd what-if video that I've ever seen so far, I could not stop grinning and laughing with the aftermath of the jump 😂

[@Nikkiflausch]

This was one of my favourite what-ifs, and it’s so cool it‘s now a video too!

[@kakutasubeats]

Alright guys April 31st at 12:00pm pst on the dot let's all jump at once

[@EmperorBrettavius]

I'm busy that day, can we move it to the 32nd?

[@re57k27]

I have school that day and I don't want to wake up late. Can we do it some other time?

[@scubaad64]

I'm doing it!

[@norbertnaszydowski4789]

didn't you learn anything?

[@Ikxi]

Depending on if this is noon or midnight (ampm too confusing) I'll be working or sleeping...

[@sinom]

"any two people who meet are unlikely to have a language in common" The exact likelihood there would be interesting. Even JUST counting English and Chinese you've already got a more than 5% chance of 2 people being able to communicate. Assuming all languages it would make sense for the chance to be close to 10% (with polyglots ofc having an advantage)

[@Mis7erSeven]

5-10% definitely counts as unlikely.

[@randomobserver8168]

@@Mis7erSeven A fair point. But there are also scores of people within immediate earshot of any single person, for some time before people got really dispersed. That would have an impact as well, if we move beyond the "any two people" version.

[@Merennulli]

Depending on whose statistics you use, between 18% and 24% of humanity speak English as a first or second language. Your odds of being within earshot of someone who can understand if you speak English are extremely high. For 6 hours and 40 minutes. Then your odds drop dramatically. (CO2 accumulation.)

[@thomasrinschler6783]

The thing is, assuming that everyone is packed in in a hexagonal pattern, you'll have six immediate neighbors, and 12 neighbors just beyond them. If you speak English or Chinese, you should be able to communicate with several people around you barring bad random luck. English is spoken by 1.4 billion people, so it's a 1 in 5.7 chance that one of your neighbors will speak it, and Mandarin has 1.1 billion speakers, so it's a 1 in 7.3 chance. Other languages like Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian, and Portuguese (all with over 250 million speakers) will have somewhat decent chances, although they are all between 1 in 10 and 1 in 32. Once you get below those, well, now you're very likely out of luck.

[@Secretlyanothername]

​@@Merennulliabout 1/6th the world's population speak English, and similar amounts speak Chinese. Hindi and Spanish have hundreds of millions. Which means that someone near you will understand your screams as you die of thirst or in the crush.

[@StratosFair]

An xkcd classic, glad to see it animated !

[@JunkyardDigs]

I literally asked myself this out loud yesterday.... Never thought I'd get an answer so quick 😂

[@eeveestar6826]

This is my favourite chapter of What If

[@EEEEEEEE]

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[@Mousethebidoof]

Mfw when the wizard who teleported everyone there would also be there, and probably be mauled to death

[@AttilaAsztalos]

...along with hundreds of cosplayers snatched from conventions everywhere, also dressed like wizards, who would get clobbered to death due to being mistaken for the real wizard, seconds after someone near them yells "I know what this is, we're on Rhode Island, we're all gonna die, and it's a wizard's fault!!!"

[@Merennulli]

The manager at Visit Rhode Island who hired that wizard has a lot to answer for.

[@ArxInvicta]

@@Merennulli ...which means not only do all Wizards and Wizard cosplayers get mauled to death but also everyone that looks remotely like a manager. While the loss of cosplay wizards would be tragic for mankind, the loss of managers is more on the "meh" side of things.

[@keiyakins]

​@ArxInvicta Just don't kill the telephone sanitizers.

[@svartiske3283]

It's so great to see the continuation of xkcd's long legacy taking shape here on the ol' KZbins. Model citizen-scientists, Randall & co., offering up both absurdity and precise hypotheses about things we never knew could be answerable. It's fun to imagine all the wrong ways that things could be approached or that events could take place, because it really puts into perspective how great it is that what does work on Earth does work on Earth. 🍠

[@reidgerardi8673]

I love this channel. PLEASE KEEP IT UP

[@DerangedScout]

Vsauce moment

[@DerangedScout]

Nevermind, vsauce was mentioned

[@XPERIENCE1001]

I love whatif

[@BlakeGamer-qy6ve]

FRICK YOU BEAT ME TO IT

[@LuNa_097]

Hello Michael, Vsauce here, why can you jump ?

[@Breadbrowser]

Yeah

[@cubed.public]

I like how this basically went: yea, there's no effect. Anyway, here are the massive logistical hurdles afterwards Also I would like to include: Massive evolution of human faith to the appearance of magic Mass panic and looting The massive privacy invasion (assuming everyone exists in every part of Rhode Island, that exists every home, bank, etc.)

[@Terrafire123]

I mean, the main issue is that Rhode island has enough food to feed about ~0.01% of the 8 billion people now there, and the other ~99.99% of people don't have enough food. There's only enough cars for about ~0.01% of the population to leave, either, so the other 99.99% of people are stuck walking it on foot, unless they manage to get a boat or plane ride. Suffice it to say, they'll have a hard time finding food.

[@Legority]

this is literally how my brain works when thinking about any hypothetical and i love it

[@MegaloGater]

I really really love how you not only answer the base question of what-if but also go beyond that, what happens next, how would this go on for humanity. Some additional thoughts/questions: Standing in the exact middle of that massive crowd, shoulder to shoulder to each other, would/could oxygen become an issue, given that this is now basically an rhode island sized lung? If panic breaks out among the claustrophobics and people start to run/push around, wouldnt this affect general survivability a great deal? Could you even survive anywhere near the middle? I mean it would take quite a while for enough people to move so that the middle bunch even get the chance to make any step towards water/food? Based on current statistics, on average between people being suddenly put on that place and people finishing the jump, how many children would be born right then and there? Contrary, how many would die of old age?

[@EmperorJim]

I jumped just now after seeing there was a new What If video.

[@ZLunas]

Not the *weirdest* apocalypse I've ever heard of, but it's up there

[@gonvillebromhead2865]

This was always my favourite "what if". A masterclass in asking the more interesting questions!

[@OccamKant]

I like how the first third is dealing with the question, and then the last two thirds is dealing with the unrelated (to the jump itself) aftermath of the question.

[@MegawackyMax]

"This is not part of the recording." IT IS NOW!

[@d1MnZz]

Most satisfying example of saying "nothing happens, you dummies" this channel is so fun.

[@dragonluvver975]

It's awesome seeing this as a video after reading it!

[@devnol]

I love how Randall will never settle for a boring answer akin to "oh nothing would happen, end of story, thanks for watching" and will instead strive to find a whimsical and informative way of expanding upon the idea of the question. This is what makes What If a must-read for me.

[@Calthecool]

I love the V-sauce reference at the beginning, because the video about this question was the most viewed one on his channel for years and I always thought that it was such an obvious question.

[@lukeorlando4814]

Well that was beyond informative in ways I did not expect

[@sovietunion8304]

Hey I just saw the book in a museum today after realizing it was yours I bought it Been haveing fun with it thank you for the series If it wasn’t for this I wouldn’t know what that book was

[@emmanueleng1160]

TLDR: Public health crisis

[@edwinhuang9244]

Tonight, billions will die,

[@cononsberg6919]

And everybody did the Flop, and the whole world shook. But not in the way we had expected.

[@BurrritoYT]

Asdfmovie reference

[@thelxr]

It’s so nice to see What If adapted to KZbin. I hope this project thrives and inspires many to be curious and challenge themselves with uncovering the mysteries of earth. I kinda see Randal Munroe as the modern Carl Sagan - we need more or you guys in a life, to never forget that the world despite all its flaws is full of wonder, and “playful by its nature”. Heh, let’s sprinkle a bit of Alan Watts in here for good measure - we were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played :3 Hugs!

[@bbh6212]

This is one of my favorite answers from the original What If, topped only by the Periodic Table question, which is by far the best.

[@AngelWedge]

I keep hearing the theory that if everyone in China jumped up and down at the same time, it would make a big enough seismic event to cause a tsunami in California. I always thought the numbers for that are out by orders of magnitude. But at university, there was a variation that seemed slightly more plausible: suggesting that if everyone in China sneezed at the same time (and presumably in the same direction), they could send a wave of air pressure that would cause a noticeable breeze on the far side of the pacific. That one made me wonder if it could actually be plausible; but I don't know the right kind of physics to estimate that one. Fluid dynamics is weird, and possibly incompatible with common sense. But a little while later, someone misheard a variation of that debate, and it somehow mutated into "if everyone in China broke wind at the same time" … how would you even search that?

[@a_921]

I don't think that is how physics work. If you buy 100 (or 1000) normal fans and put them up in your house, they will not have the effect of a hurricane, because their effect won't like, erh, add up. But I do wonder what the result would be if enough ppl in an enclosed space broke wind.(with all the gas being released)

[@centurybug]

I think the outcome of most of these What If questions can be summed up as "a fun way for humanity to face near extinction"

[@residentgeardo]

That is so hilarious! I read the comic for this years ago and it is still funny as hell. Love the Mad Max impression at the end!

[@EeveeFromAlmia]

This video has affected me so much I’ve watched come from away just to try and shake some of the abject horror. Dude this is such a cool concept

[@irakyl]

Okay but if everyone on Earth jumped on Rhode Island that would include my buddy Rick and he's fat enough to push the entire island underwater

[@blueyoshi8517]

Rhode Island... is as much of an island as Italy.

[@The360MlgNoscoper]

Caseoh moment

[@suhnih4076]

Lol😊

[@LincolnDWard]

@@blueyoshi8517 The whole state isn't an island, but the island is an island (It's like if New York state was called The State of Long Island)

[@SimuLord]

Rhode Island as a state name made more sense when it was known formally as "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". The part that isn't an island was explicitly named out. They dropped the Providence Plantations bit officially in 2020 by a referendum to amend the state constitution because "plantation" is kind of a dirty word (and 2020 was a pretty prime time for dropping such things from old place names.)

[@archonthewings3454]

the vsauce stick figure was too accurate lol

[@khays7208]

The part about the bathrooms is 100% accurate can confirm

[@Machthild]

Of all "Uhm, actually" style moments I've seen until now, the cellphone part honestly is my favourite I think.

[@starryknight5555]

I love the twist of this video!

[@CelestialAnamoly]

The Great Rhode Islands incident

[@nebulan]

📯📯🫡🫡

[@Becky_Cooling]

More deadly than the black death!

[@robobo1726]

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE I REMEMBER IT ON THE WEBSITE

[@katiekim3565]

This series is so reminiscent of some of the early days of KZbin and I love it

[@WhiteCattStudios]

very interesting question. i really love your content.

[@SonicRooncoPrime]

I remember this comic! It was so fun seeing it in video form too!

[@A2ne]

this was always my favorite what if? because of how much of a world it built, and how many ideas could stem from such a simple question

[@cookiegirl1113]

i found ur chanal on such a weir coincidence.. i just tiped random letters in the search box bc i was mad i didnt found what i was searhcing for and the letter i tiped in were xkcd haha i like ur videos!! u got a new subscriber

[@RubenKelevra]

2:07 technically the issue resolves itself after 100 years by itself 😌

[@RohithChandrashekar]

Got your book bro. It’s cool

[@nsomandin5342]

No no no you cant take this masterfull aproach and make it as long as your normal videos, I need a 20 minute episode of this at least.

[@josephknezekdesigner]

All these countries are yours, but attempt no jumping in Rhode Island."

[@williamtoole2927]

He's like the new and improved CGP grey. I love it!

[@NorthernSeaWitch]

Until he starts nattering on about hexagons, then it's back to the same old same old.

[@williamtoole2927]

@@NorthernSeaWitch u make it sound like a bad thing lol. hExAgOnS ArE tHe bEsTaGoNs!!!

[@DatOneMudkip]

ok, but how about multiple jumps? how many jumps would it take to move the earth by, say a kilometre?

[@di99utpe]

We can't. It's like a person floating in space. The only way to move away from your center of gravity is to throw something so it' doesn't come back to you. Like a jet engine does, it shoots out hot gasses that won't come back again. If everyone could jump so hard they broke escape velocity it would move the earth.

[@PlanetKhaos]

Unfortunately whilst the initial jump would push the planet away, it wouldn't stay that way for long. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so when the gravity of the earth pulls humanity back to the ground, the gravity of humanity combined also moves the earth back to where it initially was.

[@us3rname651]

I live in Rhode Island and I thought this was fantastic! Thanks Randall!

[@waterlily7903]

So the apocalypse isn’t zombies or aliens, it’s... a science experiment for the sake of random human curiosity? That checks out 😂

[@only-anime8241]

I also have one curious question WHAT IF 🤔- A whole Planet like Earth or a Star like Sun is made of Radioactive element like Uranium.

[@Mobius_Klein]

There is a minute physics channel where y you can find your answer

[@Mobius_Klein]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKXYYaB_pb1rpLcfeature=shared

[@di99utpe]

It depends on what type of uranium. Raw uranium isn't that active. The kind we use in powerplants or bombs have been enriched so it can cause a chain reaction. Else it's just a heavy poisonous radioactive metal. Using "normal" uranium the earth is too small to do anything more fancy than creating a heavy planet. Our sun us powered by nuclear fusion of hydrogen. You can't do fusion with anything heavier than iron, so it will go dark, kinda. The sun is mostly made of hydrogen wich doesn't have much mass. Changing Uranium on the other hand wich is much heavier would create a stellar object massive enough to create a black hole. The only question is; would the core create a fission reaction strong enough to counter the gravity? Probably not. Everything would try to collapse into the core until it can't compress any more creating a shockwave and a super nova. Some mass will be ejected by the force and the rest will create the black hole

[@baltakatei]

“What if Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were made out of Uranium, Neptunium, and Plutonium?” was answered in one of the What If books. Basically, the fission reaction of Neptune exploding would cause a local supernova and sterilize the solar system.

[@thomasrinschler6783]

@@baltakatei Actually, from the book, neptunium-Neptune would just glow like a mini sun. It was when you substitute fissionable isotopes of uranium and plutonium for Uranus and Pluto that you get supernova-like explosions. Also Mercury was made up of mercury and Ceres was made up of cerium in the same article. Nothing much happened there except they got shinier and more easily visible to the naked eye (that is, when new-sun-Neptune isn't over the horizon). The question failed to ask what if the Moon were made of selenium and the Earth of tellurium though... And if the Sun were pure helium, which would probably be the most disastrous result.

[@norbertnaszydowski4789]

how much pressure could the Moon keep if we geve it the access to enough gas?

[@TheCrabMesiah]

I think that because the moon doesn’t have enough gravity, that gas would just float away into outer space but I could be wrong.

[@norbertnaszydowski4789]

@@TheCrabMesiah moon actually has a minuscule amount of atmosphere, i am more concerned about earths gravitational pull

[@hive_indicator318]

Fraser Cain has actually answered this on his weekly q&a show. The answer is basically enough for us, but we'd have to replenish it every century or so. Oh, and it'd take a lot of trips

[@KellyR-qx7wn]

You forgot to account for all the angular velocity/momentum change of 12+ billion people spread around the earth simultaneously being deposited into that one location. Assuming they are randomly distributed, you may have one individual traveling at 1,670 km/h directly towards someone else traveling 1,670 km/hr towards them (one person from the equator with the 2nd one from directly 180 degrees opposite on the other side of the equator). Most others will be colliding with others at some less extreme velocity. However, however improbably, there would still be a statistical chance that some of the 12+ billion survive the ultimate "mosh pit from hell" will survive long enough to jump.

[@a_921]

I think you have the plot for a new (and weird) horror movie

[@TheJimmyCartel]

this is my favorite one yet

[@Nerdsown]

This was amazing