SCP-4559 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-4559.

page 1 of 3123next »

Author Post

Westrin 06 May 2019 06:52

---

SCP-4559 cannot be predicted in any meaningful way.

---

I had an idea and some people told me it was good so I crapped this out. It's a boldpost and my first thaumiel. Anxious to see how it does, so let's see for ourselves.

---

Art

A collection of SCP art, including SCP-4559

---

---

Only nerds have signatures

Last edited on 05 Mar 2020 09:31 by Westrin Show more

Marcovalent 06 May 2019 08:25

Because this is a Thaumiel SCP I think the Foundation would focus on it more than say, a safe SCP,
I would suggest adding either test logs or interviews.

Nonetheless I enjoyed it, +1

Crashington 06 May 2019 12:43

This ia so damn simple but I love it :D

rattles 06 May 2019 14:28

This is what we really need out of the Thaumiel class. +1

fishingenthusiast 06 May 2019 14:43

this is probably the most Douglas Adams-y thing i've ever read on the site.

The Great Hippo 06 May 2019 15:01

The idea of a truly random event (and the effectiveness it could have for things such as cryptography) is a cool idea. You appropriately make it a very short article, too.

Some things holding me back from an upvote:

+ show block

• Making it whether or not someone wants a receipt feels a little too silly. Maybe that's just me, though. I was hoping for something similarly trivial, but still (in some respect) mechanical (for example, the idea of the Foundation's cryptography relying on a specific register at a specific store and whether or not it rounds up or down when calculating taxes has a much more "fun" and whimsical energy to me). Take this with prescription grade salt, though.
• The real kicker is the prose itself. It feels very much like a more technical approach would work wonders, here; instead of saying "truly random", just "an outcome that cannot be predicted" (without mentioning quantum computers, etc). The phrase "truly random" was particularly egregious, to me; I feel "impossible to predict" or another more technical term would be applicable, here.
• And the final kicker: True random number generators actually do exist. Not truly true, but so genuinely random that they are all but literally impossible to predict. I suppose this is addressed by the fact that in this setting, it's theoretically possible to predict those things, but it's also theoretically possible to predict this thing (the receipts). Because, y'know — anomalies.
• One final note — I feel like you missed an opportunity here to make this about the choice between paper and plastic, and to then have the Foundation force grocery stores to keep both so they don't break their random number generator.

aismallard 06 May 2019 16:25

I largely agree with the above. There are several places where the wording is repetitive or not as clinical as I think it should be. In a short work, each word matters, and I feel there are several areas where the word choice is not ideal.

Last edited on 13 Jul 2019 21:24 by aismallard Show more

Anyar 06 May 2019 18:30

I agree that the idea seems a bit silly, like something I'd almost expect from a -J.

The only known truly random event in the world is… the customer's choice of receipt? And this is apparently different enough from advanced random number generators that it's classified as Thaumiel and used to contain SCPs?

---

*you're

Duke of Nothing 06 May 2019 15:58

Short, sweet, and simple. Yet good. A primary example to how good articles don't have to be long.

(Also, could this be at least partially inspired by either the Improbability or Bistromathics drive from the H2G2 series?)

---

Je suis devenu mort

al90 07 May 2019 04:12

I agree with most of the criticisms made above. The idea of whether or not a person wants a receipt being the only "truly random" event in the whole universe just seems a little too jokey for its own good. Like, haha, yes, everyone can relate because in real life everyone basically answers this question randomly when we're at a store. But that joke is the entire conceit of the article, and I just don't think it's enough. I think an event that is really, truly, anomalously random is an interesting seed of an idea, but it would need a much more rigorous treatment than this article gives.

I also agree that some of the writing seems un-clinical- maybe it's just me, but phrases like "studies that revolve around" and "truly random thing" don't read like something that would appear in a scientific document. Due to these issues, I had to downvote.

rua0 07 May 2019 19:45

Here's some of the stuff running through my head:

• Can we influence it with public notices encouraging customers to 'go paperless'?
• What if I tell Group A to always pick the receipt for a month? Then I tell them they're free to choose again. Does this condition them?
• What SCPs require randomness that supersedes omniscience? I'd like a cross link if you know any.
• Containment procedures based on preserving optional receipts would be really cool. Subsidies to paper mills making receipts. Backing of consumer protection laws. Suppression of online grocery shopping. Protocols to minimise the use of food rationing in emergency scenarios. Protocols to preserve consumerism in general.
• What if the SCP deems one of those measures to be cheating and suddenly an entire country becomes non-random until interference is removed?
• This is fun.

M hate T 08 May 2019 15:17

I adore any SCP that can be humorous while also being a non J. I like Js as well, but this type of balance between joke and actual SCP is wonderful. Great job.

Yamatto 08 May 2019 17:02

I dunno man, it's kinda passing my suspension of disbelief, because if working retail for ten years taught me anything, the quickest way to guarantee a customer will want a receipt is not to print one. +1

page 1 of 3123next »