this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2026
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xkcd #3210: Eliminating the Impossible

Title text:

'If you've eliminated a few possibilities and you can't think of any others, your weird theory is proven right' isn't quite as rhetorically compelling.

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3210/

explainxkcd for #3210

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[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Doyle observed that Bell seemed to be able to diagnose patients from little information, noticing minute details: "Dr Bell would sit in his receiving room, with a face like a Red Indian, and diagnose people as they came in, before they even opened their mouths. [...] He would tell them their symptoms and even give them details of their past life, and hardly ever would he make a mistake." This ability led Doyle to model his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes on Bell.

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

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Thanks! I had assumed it was all fantastic fictional fluff. Really interesting to learn there's a grain of truth behind it

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Very tiny grain - I feel like Doyle was a bit of a dreamer who was easily misled by confident adults and even children