[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: If cigarettes are poisonous and addictive, why are they not illegal?

[Assistant]
This post is young, so maybe this won't get buried, but hopefully you'll see it.

It's because for a stretch of time going back to when this country was founded, tobacco was one of our biggest cash crops.  It was so profitable, in fact, that it worried a lot of farmers because they were worried about not growing enough food to feed the country.  It's still a vital part of our economy.

Now unbeknownst to a lot of people, tobacco was something that was discovered in the New World when North America was settled - and quickly spread in popularity throughout Europe.  It was seen as one of the riches of the New World, a portent of an exciting age of discovery, something exotic from a land far away that no one had seen before.

Keeping this in mind, that tobacco saturated our culture and usage carried on for nearly 500 years without any concern for ill effects on human health, and only in the last 50 did we even realize the harm it was doing us, that the historical and economic momentum can't be stopped overnight.

Edit: grammar and spelling.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Star Wars] If Obi-Wan had apprehended Jango on Kamino, how the hell would they make it back to Coruscant in a Jedi starfighter?

It isn't like Obi-Wan can call for a larger spaceship, and I don't think Jango would let him use the Slave I. This thought was brought to my attention by HISHE.

[Assistant] More than likely Obi-Wan wouldn't have attempted to apprehend and take him back to Coruscant in that starfighter. Had he successfully stopped and apprehended Jango (and let's face it, he'd need to apprehend Boba as well), he likely would have used R4 to call for a larger ship to carry them back to Coruscant.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV: Even if we assume the life begins at conception the government should not ban abortions.

So, I know, I know there are WAY to many abortion CMVs here but I am curious about looking at it from a particular viewpoint.

I believe that the only morality consistent position is that life begins at conception (not the part of the CMV that I want changed).

However even if we agree on that (for the sake of this CMV agree with the position above) the government shouldn't ban abortion because the government cannot force someone to sacrifice their body for another, even if you are responsible for the other being in the situation they are in. An example is if I were to shoot someone and they WILL die unless I give them my blood,  the government cannot force me to give them my blood. Even though it is my fault they are dying and giving them my blood wouldn't cause any long term effects on me the government can't force me to do it.

So if you remove the fetus and attempt to let it live through the procedure (even though it has a 0% of being successful) then the government doesn't have the authority to force you to sacrifice your body for fetus.

Final note: under this world view abortion would be extremely immoral and evil but morality is not the point of this CMV, consistent legality is

EDIT: So I got dragged back into work sooner than expected so I didn't get to have as many conversations as I wanted. But thankfully this post EXPLODED and there are a lot of awesome conversations happening. So thanks for the patience and you all rock!

[Assistant]
>Final note: under this world view abortion would be extremely immoral and evil but morality is not the point of this CMV, consistent legality is

Our legal system has many many inconsistent parts. Because we have inconsistent/conflicting morals and our legal system reflects that. Why do you think that killing a human should be allowed just to be "more consistent" when we sacrifice consistency every day for much less?


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] How do clouds generate the electrical energy needed for lightning strikes?

[Assistant]
Interactions between colliding precipitation particles cause them to transfer charge.  Thunderstorm clouds have two main forms of solid particles: tiny ice crystals, and larger graupel.  When ice hits graupel, ice tends to pick up a positive charge, while graupel picks up a negative charge.

Now, here's the cool part.  Ice crystals are tiny and get carried around by wind really easily.  Thunderstorms require updrafts to form and survive, so the ice gets carried upward.  Graupel is big and dense enough that it falls through the wind.  Meaning that the positive ice moves up and gives the upper cloud a positive charge, while the negative graupel moves down and gives the lower cloud a negative charge.

The ground is a good conductor of electricity, so when the lower cloud develops a negative charge, it induces a positive charge in the ground below the cloud.  So, there are three charged regions: the positive upper cloud, the negative lower cloud, and the positive ground.

So, intra-cloud lightning can occur between the top and bottom of the cloud.  Cloud-ground lightning normally carries negative charge from the lower cloud to the ground.  But, sometimes the upper cloud can form a strike that goes all the way around the lower cloud and hits the ground; this transfers positive charge to the ground, and is often called a "bolt from the blue" because it goes around the outside of the cloud to places that can have clear skies.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Halo] What did the gravemind mean when he said I am a monument to all your sins?

[Assistant]
Master Chief and the UNSC spend the entire game running around shooting and killing every member of the covenant in sight. The Arbiter/the Covenant spend the game doing the same back at them. The Gravemind is a mass of accumulated biomass, living dead and otherwise, with a great portion of that being taken from the casualties of the UNSC/Covenant war.

He is literally a giant monster that thrives and grows by absorbing corpses- And you, the player, have spent hours painting the ring red, blue, and orange with the blood of countless enemy soldiers, leaving him and the flood a great big buffet to absorb. A monument to your sins, indeed.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: How come when you crack your knuckles underwater, it is incredibly loud, but when you try and scream underwater, the sound is muffled to a whimper?

[Assistant] Water transmits sounds quite well, so if an action vibrates the water to make a sound, you'll be able to hear it clearly in the local area. However, sound does not cross mediums very well. When you're trying to talk (or scream) underwater, the sound is being generated by vibrating air in your vocal chords. When this hits the water just outside your mouth, only a little of that energy is transmitted into producing underwater sound waves. The rest is lost, reflecting back into your mouth.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why do we laugh at people when they hurt themselves? Do other species do this as well?

[Assistant] Bergson proposed a theory that laughter is our form of social reprimand. We only laugh at those we know havent hurt themselves seriously. While its true that laughing at someone indicates a feeling of relief that the injured isnt too badly hurt, it also acts as a kind of derision to make the person who tripped or hurt themselves aware that they did something wrong. Its a social corrective, a primal alert that explains why being laughed at will make you feel embarassed.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] What makes a video player better than others, why do twitter videos sometimes not load while I can always watch youtube videos?

[Assistant]
Youtube is huge with distributed servers in various data centers all over the world. When you play a video it will select the closest server near you so packets don't have to be routed all over the world to get to you. This minimizes latency and possible congestion.

It's likely that Twitter doesn't have this infrastructure, or at least not near you.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Can a diurnal predatory species evolve to become nocturnal if their prey is nocturnal? And vice versa? And can it shift back in the other way?

Let's say there's an island with hawks who are active during the day; rabbits who are active during the day, and raccoons who are active during the night. Hawks eat rabbits and raccoons. Slowly, due to some unrelated factor like disease, the rabbit population starts to diminish, so raccoons become an increasingly important food source for the hawks.

Over time, can the hawks evolve new behaviors and physical features to make them better at night hunting so they can catch more raccoons?

Let's say hundreds of generations have gone by and the hawks have evolved owl-like senses and nocturnal patterns to get really good at catching raccoons in the dark. Could the raccoons then start adapting their behavior and/or physiology to become more active during the day and less likely to be eaten by these formidable night-hawks?

[Assistant] The raccoons that stay out are night and have lighter colors (are visible) are more likely to be eaten by night hawks. Whereas the ones that feed during the day and perhaps blend in easier at night due to darker colors are better at surviving and over time then overwhelm the previously normal raccoon population.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: How does heat shrink tubing work?

One of the most fundamental properties of most materials in the universe is that they expand when heated.  Why is heat-shrink tubing different? How does it shrink when heated instead of expanding?

[Assistant] Heat shrink tubing is actually the size it is after it shrinks. The way they are manufactured is they are heated, and then expanded and allowed to cool in the expanded state. But its stretched.... it really really wants to go back to its normal size, and as soon as it's heated enough, it does.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV: God could be either benevolent or omnipotent, but not both.

I have yet to see an argument that adequately explains the existence of suffering in the face of a benevolent, omnipotent God.

Provided God were both of these things, it wouldn't have created suffering in the first place. There wouldn't have been a need. To say that a God had to necessarily do something makes it no longer omnipotent.

I often see people say that suffering serves a purpose, such as bringing us closer to God or giving life meaning.

But once again, if the God were both benevolent and omnipotent, suffering wouldn't have had to be created in the first place. An emotion humans perceive as positive could just as easily take its place. If you claim otherwise, then that God is either no longer omnipotent or no longer benevolent.

No longer omnipotent because it can't get rid of a negative emotion, no longer benevolent because it can and chooses not to.

Edit 1: my opinion hasn't been changed but I've learned new concepts and been introduced to some novel ones, so the thread was still a success!!!

I decided to stop answer as most responses are currently bringing up free will, but the concept of that is for another thread entirely.

I respect what others are saying, but i feel like ones conclusions about free will and the benevolence of creation is completely experience based. As such, I don't see a point in arguing over it as you can't change someone's life experience.

I'm still reading the responses, and will answer any that I feel I didn't address elsewhere in the thread.

Thank you all for your responses!

Edit 2: upon answering (I hope) every comment so far, it seems free will is more closely tied to benevolence than I'd originally realized. So I'll make a separate thread about that once I make my thoughts up on it (free will is one of those things that scare me, lol, so give me time pls).

[Assistant]
What if earth is just a training ground, as many religions believe? You live, you learn, you die. Then you start over (ie Buddhism, etc).

Suffering - although might seem very significant here and now - is ultimately just a tool to help is grow and learn. Might suck that your kid died, but in the grand scheme that kid's soul is just starting over in a new body and regenerating  and you probably went through some sort of growth in the process.

Nothing really matters except for our continued growth and experience, guided by an omnipotent god.

Think of it like high school (earth). 14 year olds might think events that take place there are earth shattering and pivotal, while adults looking in from the outside (ie "god") know that all the drama really means nothing at all.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: What happens to blood after it's been tested?

I had another blood draw today for my GD test and it made me curious- what happens to the blood after the lab tests it? How is it disposed?

[Assistant] Blood is treated like any other kind of biohazard in a medical setting. There are special waste containers to hold biologically hazardous wastes, and a common method of disposing of such waste is incineration. Traditionally hospitals will have one or more incinerators in their basement where such wastes can be rendered into safe ash, while smaller establishments may just hold the waste for collection by a centralized service that incinerates it on their behalf.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Should laypeople be agnostic about matters that are still debated by experts?

Many laymen hold beliefs which are very controversial in academia and are still debated (one that comes to mind is the theism vs. atheism debate (technically there is a consensus since most philosophers are atheists. However, most of them don't consider the arguments for or against God and debate other issues) another one that comes in mind is Platonism, if you ask some layperson if 2 exists they'll probably say no).

Laypeople don't have sophisticated defences for their positions, they mostly believe what they find intuitive or were taught to believe. And any reason they give for their position probably has been considered and either rebutted or is still being debated.

So in the absence of expert consensus over p, should laymen be agnostic about p? If so would this mean that most of the globe is irrational for not being agnostic over controversial matters in academia?

I also think we can extend this towards philosophers too. Most philosophers don't consider in very detail whether x is true if x is not part of their field, yet they most probably have an opinion on x.

[Assistant]
Depends on your views about the domain-specificity of evidence from disagreement (and deference norms, which probably follow similar patterns of domain-specificity). You might think that we should hold pretty tightly to expert opinions in fields such as physics, medicine, and (maybe less so) econ, archaeology, ..., but not very much in philosophy, politics, ethics, ... So you might think that we should be agnostic if experts are undecided in the first type of fields, but not the second.

(An interesting question: should experts themselves follow a similar pattern?)


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Halo] How did the Forerunners manage to take down the Precursors?

I thought that the Precursors were supposed to be above and beyond the Forerunners in terms of technology.

Also: Why did the Forerunners feel the need to wage war against the God-like Precursors?

[Assistant]
The Forerunners won a war against the Precursors because the Precursors had no means to defend themselves. It was like if the Germans invaded Tibet. The Precursors at the time fled to the Large Magellanic Cloud, not expecting the Forerunners to have the drive, or the technology to pursue them there.

As for why... The Forerunners misunderstood what the Mantle meant. They believed it to be a philosophical burden of leadership and responsibility, when in fact it simply meant those who would become Precursors. The Precursors encouraged and assisted life in many galaxies of the Sagittarius Cluster, but they also seeded their own genetic material on worlds to continue their cycle of Death-Rebirth through evolution.

The Precursors were not one species, but many, who arose, spread out and died off over and over again, each subsequent species based on the same primordial genetic material, and achieving the same height, linked through the universal conciousness of Neural Physics. The Forerunners believed the Precursors were cheating them by denying them the Mantle, but the simple fact was, Humans were one of the Seed-Races. Forerunners were not. They could NEVER inherit the Mantle, because they were not Precursors.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: What exactly is a muscle knot? What causes them and why do massages relieve them?

[verwijderd]

[Assistant] Knots are actually caused by the fascia, basically a lining of fibers over all your muscles and organs etc. When you have a knot the fibers can get kinda bunched up on themselves, which is what you feel when you touch one. Massaging serves to relax and stretch out those bunches and flatten the fascia again, which also means it won't be pulling on your muscles in a funny way and will help your muscles feel better.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Pirates of the Caribbean] What was it like to be guided to the afterlife by Davy Jones when he actually did his duty?

This question popped into my mind while watching POTC 3 today when Jones goes on his rant to Calypso. He says that for 10 years he guided souls who died at sea to afterlife. What did that look like?

Was it pleasant? Was Jones different than what he was at that point? Was it as cruel as in POTC 2 (slitting the throat of those who didn't want to serve)?

I'm not sure if there's a canon answer but i thought I'd ask.

[Assistant]
The throat-slitting is a different thing; those men were still alive, and their choice was hold off death for another 100 years by serving on the Dutchman, or die.

Davy Jones only turned into the squid monster because he neglected his duty, so I'd imagine he looked like his human self. There's the scene where Elizabeth sees her father in his little boat and tries to bring him onboard; his ship was probably full of people like her dad, just kind of zoning out/in a trance.

EDIT: I've only seen the first 3 movies. Maybe Will starts turning fishy because Elizabeth has a thing for gills.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: the appeal of Andy Kaufman. Why is he considered such a "genius" as a "comedian"? Was most of his stuff even supposed to be funny? Why do comedians seem to love him so much?

I get that comedy requires context, and even the greats have material that seems dated when viewed from a modern perspective, but if not laughing at his material was the only issue, I could at least understand his work intellectually, in the context of the time, and accept that it *was* funny even if I'm not laughing.   I even understand why performers and comics might like him, since he played with the form and conventions of the genre in ways they'd like to.

The part that confuses me is: if the jokes on the audience, why were people so eager to allow this "genius" to act out his contempt for the audience on stage?   It seems like everyone was just desperate to not seem like the person who didn't "get it", so they'd laugh at things that just weren't that funny (the mighty mouse "joke"), and just generally give him way more respect and credibility than his material justified.  And lets say half of it isnt even supposed to be funny,  but instead is meant to be thought provoking performance art; even then, its not that great in that genre, and that's an implicit admission that its not that funny.  It seems like a "too cool for the room" thing, but that room was a comedy club that people paid to attend.

 But it seems like a bunch of comics who I love love Andy Kaufman, and they must know what they're talking about,  or see something in his work that I don't, right?  Id love for someone to explain to me why I'm wrong about him, and why he deserves the "genius" label.  I want to like him, I really do.  It just seems like its all hype to me and when you get down to the bare bones of what makes a comic funny or not funny - theit material - his just isn't that great.  But id love for someone to show me where I'm wrong.

[Assistant]
Part of the appeal was his introverted, anxious presence; Kaufman genuinely didn't have the personality of an entertainer. For example, the recent SNL 40th Anniversary featured a segment of auditions, and Kaufman's visible discomfort contrasts with the effortless 'future star' confidence of other auditioning comedians. The idea of an audience, point blank, *expecting* entertainment actually did fill him with anxiety, and contempt.

So comedians revere his willingness to go on stage and combat those expectations without compromise. Not just subverting cultural moors or expressing himself honestly, like Lenny Bruce or Richard Pryor did. But truly experimenting with the stand-up format. Making the audience's expectations part of the joke itself.

One famous Kaufman bit was going on stage and, almost expertly, bombing. Bombing *hard*. Basically crying when the audience rejects him, running off stage. The host, in near shock, reprimands the audience, drumming up support for Kaufman to return. Kaufman does, to glorious applause. Then proceeds to deliver the exact same bombing set. Except this time it's hilarious. Then you see, the first set wasn't a failure. It was a set up to a joke. It got the audience emotionally involved, just in a negative way. The second set is the cathartic punchline.

Comedians *work* in the field where Kaufman innovated. His obvious (negative) emotional reaction is something they can sympathize with. So that's why they love him; Andy Kaufman represented the comedian point-of-view, instead of the audience's. Comedians will naturally enjoy it more than the average comedy fan.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: When a new computer has its battery fully charged and is properly shut down, 2 weeks later the battery is at 0%. Where does all that energy go?

[Assistant]
Many devices have need to utilize power even when it is completely shut off, things like the internal clock. These will continually drain the battery, though generally slower than your normal usage, until there is no power to be had.

If your battery normally holds an 8 hour charge with constant, heavy use, then the low-power shutdown mode is using maybe 2% of the max power to drain in 2 weeks.

If that same heavy use kills your battery in 3 hours, then it's less than 1% usage in this mode.

But almost no modern devices turn *completely* off, and instead draw little bits of power to do things like see if the power button is being pressed, or run the GPS chip so the NSA can find you.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Driving in rural VT yesterday I noticed spiral icicles hanging from a few power lines along the road. One section had about 5 of them almost touching the ground (~20 ft.). Any idea what would cause this? More details inside.

[Assistant] They're hanging from power lines, which will oscillate in the wind. That could cause it. I'll bet if you knew the freezing rate, wind speed and direction, and powerline length and thickness you could graph the size of the coils of ice as a periodic function, or at least get pretty close.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why is it that even when the wind blows warm, we feel cooler?

Another example:
On a warm day, if somebody blows on your face your face gets cold/chill.

[Assistant]
It causes evaporation of sweat on your skin. The phase change from a liquid to a gas absorbs energy in the form of heat (from your skin) so it cools you off.

It's why you sweat, and also why very high humidity makes you feel so much hotter (less water evaporates off your skin when the air is saturated with moisture).


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV: Reposts arent as bad as people here claim they are, and people tend to overreact. Theyre actually a good thing for people who missed the post.

Im not always on reddit (still almost daily though) and in many great posts I see, people go around shaming the OP for a repost or go so far to call them a karma whore. Whats the deal with that? If they wanna repost them let them. Theyre hurting nobody if not giving people who had missed the original post a chance to check it out. And you see that in how many people appraise the post in comments how theyre obviously seeing it for the first time. Let people repost  all they want, theyre not breaking any site rules and if the majority really has already seen the repost before, they wouldnt upvote it. It would die on its own. Getting hated by the minority 10% who are on the site more often than the rest is really unfair.

[Assistant] The thing is, there is already a method for people to see good content they missed. They can just go to the Top section and look. There is no need for reposts. And suppose everybody had the same view you do; you would just see the same content every single day because thousands of people would all be re-posting the same thing.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why do many music albums have exclusive releases in Japan that may include extra tracks and/or remixes of songs?

[Assistant]
Music albums are a lot more expensive in Japan than in the U.S. So to entice  buyers, they add the bonus tracks.

This also attracts buyers outside of Japan. Back in the days of vinyl, before CDs, "Japanese pressings" were of higher quality than American records, so enthusiasts would favor them. These days CDs are of the same quality, but Japanese releases tend to often have fancier packaging, full lyric sheets, etc. Japanese albums still have a lot of appeal to collectors, and the bonus tracks make them even more appealing.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Black Panther MCU] What are the Wakandans living outside the city doing?

Is it some form of cover for the real Wakanda where people are assigned a chit that determines whether they live in the city, or what looks like generic third-world Africa? Is it a matter of choice? Surely there's enough foreign presence in the area that some'd end up having to live in poverty just to keep up the facade, which seems kind of backwards.

Is it just some form of facade, where they're going back home every night to sophisticated dwellings? Was Wakanda affected by the AIDs epidemic, or was there just a mysteriously AIDs-free country in the middle of Africa? Are the poor Wakandans just living in African squalor?

You can say 'Well. America, for instance, has people living in poverty in some of its biggest cities', but the proximity of those Wakandan Citizens to Wakanda is like having a full Medieval serfdom just outside NYC.

[Assistant]
I imagine it's a rite of passage, serving both to keep traditions alive and to create a buffer for anyone spying on their nation over borders.

Those folk arent necessarliy a lower caste, they could just be getting in touch with their ancestors way of life for a few years at a time before jumping back into the nanotech labs.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: For every nutrition/exercise tip there seems to be an exact opposite tip. Why is this and how can we tell what's true?

[Assistant]
The mainstream 24/7 ad driven media needs a new headline to click on daily.....so today coffee is healthy and chocolate is bad.....wait till tomorrow and it will probably reverse. But whatever....they get the shock value and clicks.

The whole "eat in moderation, mostly real foods and move more" just doesn't get the clicks.

Solution? Stop reading health and fitness sites that rely on a new headline daily to pay their bills.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] We know about colour blindness, where certain colours cannot be seen properly and get compensated for by the other cones in the eye. Is there a similar condition for taste buds where people will experience vastly different flavours from a 'taste-normal' person?

[Assistant] There are some particular foods that are experienced vastly differently than others.  Probably the most famous is that some people find cilantro to be a very favorable taste while others are almost repulsed by it, reporting that it tastes "soapy."


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Why does your brain need glucose to survive but when you eat a bunch of sugar, your body doesn't seem to like that and long term it causes all sorts of diseases?

[Assistant]
Why you need glucose: Your brain (and all of your cells) rely on glucose to create ATP for energy.  Because of the degree of specialization of neurons your brain is especially bad at creating energy (ATP) from things other than glucose, while your liver is great at it.  It's true that you don't have to eat glucose AS glucose, your body (in particular your liver) can convert fat and protein into glucose molecules.

Why too much is bad for you: your body regulates cellular uptake of glucose by using insulin as a signal for cells to draw glucose out of the bloodstream.  Have too much glucose in your bloodstream for too long and cells become less responsive to the high levels of insulin in your blood.  Then the extra glucose stays in your blood and starts to bind to things randomly (the non-enzymatic glycosylation u_ironlenin already mentioned). That's the mechanisms by which diabetes kills you... blood vessels get hardened, you get poor flow to fingers and toes, and poor flow to the smaller vessels in your heart.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Could someone explain why astronomers use Julian dates?

I know that dates in general are constructs, but what's so special about 4713 BC and why is it preferable in science?

[Assistant]
Astronomers like Julian dates because they make math simpler for events that don't have anything to do with the Earth year.  If a variable star has a period of 270 days, it is a lot easier to add subtract 270 than it is to count through all the months to figure the exact date.

Why 4713 BC?  It is pretty arbitrary, but it is useful because it predates any historical events, so you don't have the BC/AD problem.

The reason for that particular date is pretty obscure.  When they came up with it in the 1500's, there was a 15 year cycle, a 19 year cycle, and a 28 year cycle astronomers cared about.  4713 BC was the last time all three cycles started at the same time.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[DC] Would Deadshot also have perfect aim in a FPS?

If he played as Widowmaker in Overwatch, would he never miss as well?

[Assistant]
If he tried to apply his real-life firearm skills?  Then no.  Aiming in a game is different from aiming a real gun.  Arguably easier, of course, since you only need to move your hand, and you generally don't need to think about issues like bullet drop, wind, recoil etc.  But nonetheless, it's different enough that your skill in one will not affect your skill in the other.

However, seeing as Deadshot has no superpowers whatsoever, he probably got to his level of marksmanship with an insane amount of dedication and hard work.  If he applied that same level of effort to gitting gud at Overwatch, it's quite possible he'd achieve the same level of accuracy he's capable of in real life.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why is it that some people can sleep through loud alarms and noises while others seem to be awoken by the drop of a needle?

[Assistant]
Evolutionary biologist here. It involves a lot of complicated neuroscience, but it basically boils down to this: Imagine that the stuff around your is a kind of paper and that loud sounds are needles trying to puncture their way through. If get woken up easily by sounds, then your brain is surrounded by pretty thin paper. Those who can sleep through alarms have brains surrounded by cardboard, which is harder to puncture than paper.

The reason paper-brains are more common than cardboard-brains is because of natural selection. Imagine that you're a caveman and you're sleeping in your cave. ALL OF A SUDDEN, A tiger comes by and roars, getting ready to eat you.  A paper-brained caveman would have woken up and defended himself, but a cardboard brained caveman wouldn't have and died.

TLDR: Paper is better than cardboard.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
If we've only had plastics for the last 80 years, how do we know it will take thousands of years to decompose?

edit: first time on the FRONT PAGE!

[Assistant] We use accelerated degradation testing (treating plastics with high temperature / pressure / humidity) to speed up the degradation reaction, and based on what we see when the reaction is "played at 10,000x speed" so to speak, we calculate how long it will take under normal conditions.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Does long term whiskey consumption really alter/lower your voice?

I've heard people say this is the case numerous times. Is there any truth to it?
If so, what causes this to happen?

[Assistant]
Physician (who loves whisky) here. What changes one's voice over time is not the alcohol but rather the untreated gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (AKA heartburn). Alcohol, fatty food consumption, genetic predisposition, stress, amongst other things can cause GERD. When stomach acid hits your esophagus, your cough. And the cough along with the acid irritate the tissue in your larynx.
Over the long run, that acid will wear down on your voicebox. Not so good. In fact, it's bad.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [The Truman Show] Why was Truman made aware of the existence of boats and planes and such, only to discourage him from seeking them out? Why didn't they just not tell him such things existed?

[Assistant] To make the show more realistic.  The whole point of the show was that it was someone's life.  It had to be an idealized version of an actual life.  Creating some scenario where he couldn't escape the island would diminish the realism of the experience.  Without the notion of boats and planes the reality collapses to a zoo.  The creators would naturally want to minimize the zoo aspect of his existence and its negative ethical implications.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Why are their different levels of octane for gasoline (regular, premium, etc) and how does that effect my car (and why do some cars need regular while others need premium)?

[Assistant]
To put this into something a five year old might understand...

Imagine we gave you three fully-blown balloons. We wrote 87 on one, 89 on another, and 92 on the last one. That number indicates how hard you can squeeze the balloon before it pops. You can squeeze the 87 balloon a little before it pops, the 89 balloon can be squeezed a bit more, and the 92 can be squeezed even harder. The harder you can squeeze that balloon, the bigger the pop.

Now to bring that back up to speed (ha-ha! car pun)...

The ratings you see on pumps (87%, 89%, 92%) correspond to the ratio of octane to heptane. Those chemicals aren't necessarily important, but it is important to know that the higher that percentage, the more the gas can be squeezed before it ignites and goes pop. Just like with the balloons, the more compression, the bigger the pop and the more power you get from it.

HOWEVER, your engine has to be designed to take advantage of higher octanes or else pouring 92% in an engine designed for 87% is just wasteful. On the other end, pouring 87% in an engine designed for 92% can be damaging to the engine.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] What are muons, and how do they relate to time dilation?

[Assistant]
Muons are elementary particles, which are basically like the "heavier older brother" of electrons. They decay with a half-live of about 2 microseconds.

They're produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray collisions with air molecules. The muons travel downwards, but they should all decay away before they reach sea level, according to Newtonian mechanics.

However relativistic mechanics says that in the rest frame of the Earth, the muon's time is dilated (quite a lot, because the muons are almost moving at c). And the time dilation is long enough for muons to reach sea level. There are many of these muons passing through your body right now.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Star Wars] Why is bringing balance to the force so important?

[Assistant]
The Force is the energy of life. The dark side is disease, cancer.

When Palpatine rose to power, he was manipulating the dark side to the point where it was actively interfering with the abilities of the Jedi, blinding their visions and diminishing their powers.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: What is the difference between a notebook and a laptop?

My Mom wants to get my siblings either a notebook or laptop for Christmas. She is asking me what the difference is between "a notebook with a keyboard" and a "laptop" and personally I'm not that tech savvy either so I don't know, and Google is confusing me.

[Assistant]
There is no difference, they are functionally the same.

Manufacturers tend to call lower end models notebooks, but there's no set definition.  Both terms came from people's words for a portable computer.

Useful distinctions:

tablet: a computer that is able to be used as a screen only with typically a touch screen or stylus  depending on who you talk to, this includes laptops with a tablet mode, while others would make a further distinction of "tablet PC"

netbook: a low power laptop that was developed to be more portable than a laptop but only really powerful enough for basic web browsing. (this term is less useful now because most manufacturers have been able to push netbook power up to be comparable with low end regular sized laptops, and these have mostly been supplanted by straight tablets like the iPad)


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why doesn't intel increase the size of the processor to make it faster? We're trying techniques to make transistors smaller, but would a 1 square meter processor outperform what we have now at the same transistor size?

Edit: I'm learning something new with every answer, great sub, thanks a lot.

[Assistant]
Several factors:

 * Job 1 is making money, and bigger processors cost more (and you can't necessarily charge more for them)

 * Most of the die is not logic anyway - it's cache.  You could make processors bigger now, and just not have so much cache (or have fewer processors, since most are 2 or 4 cores per die)

 * Bigger processors are less power efficient, and everyone is on a power efficiency kick right now

 * A new (and bigger) design carries a fair amount of risk - you spend a few hundred million dollars, and it might not work as expected.  Plus, if it's really bad, you have no new product for the next cycle.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Last Airbender] Why did they return to Omashu to seek Bumi as Aang's teacher instead of asking him when they first ran into him?

Making a round trip is kind of out of their way.

[Assistant] Because he had to learn the elements in order of the Avatar cycle (Air>Water>Earth>Fire), and had to learn water first. This was also before he learned that he had a deadline to master all four elements from Roku, so he was kind of taking it easy and concentrating on figuring out water instead of looking forward and trying to figure out a plan for the other elements.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Eli5 when a hen lays eggs, what happens to all the eggs that would make a rooster?

[Assistant]
Every time a hen lays an egg, it's basically menstruating. Having its period. The eggs will not generally be fertilized. Most chickens are segregated, so that the roosters won't mate with the hens.

When somebody wants to raise chicks, they'll put the rooster(s) in with the hens so they'll get busy. Then they let the hens sit on the eggs, which eventually hatch. Some of those chicks will be male, and if raised will become roosters.

In most factory farms, the boy chicks are killed early, because it's not profitable to keep them. This is done after they hatch, as we can't sex a chick before then. So to answer your question, they go the same way as the eggs that would make hens.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
I told my girlfriend about the latest neutrino experiment's results, and she said "Why do we pay for this kind of stuff?  What does it matter?"  Practically, what do we gain from experiments like this?

She's a nurse, so I started to explain that lots of the equipment they use in a hospital come from this kind of scientific inquiry, but I didn't really have any examples off-hand and I wasn't sure what the best thing to say was.

[Assistant]
X-rays: Roentgen, an experimental physicist, trying to figure out how cathode rays work. Didn't give a shit about medical imaging at the time.

MRI: Isadore Rabi, an experimental physicist, realized that nuclei resonate in magnetic fields. Didn't give a shit about medical imaging.

PET: Paul Dirac, a theoretical physicist, realized that his equation allowed for a positively charged electron. Didn't give a shit about medical imaging.

All these things were invented by people doing physics for the sake of physics, none of whom cared about medical imaging. Yet, their physics lead to medical imaging.

But do we do physics because it leads to medical imaging technology? No, we do it because it's awesome.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: I live in a small town. Every time after it rains, there's a LOT of slugs on the sidewalk. Why?

[Assistant]
The bodies of slugs-- and snails, as well-- are composed primarily of water. In addition to this, they breathe through their skin. While this is beneficial in wet environments, when its dry they're in danger of drying out and dying. This is why you won't see many slugs and snails out during the daytime-- they come out at night when it's cooler and there's more moisture in the air.

As a result, they come out during and after the rain because the air and the environment is filled with residual moisture from the rainfall, making the conditions, temporary as they may be, prime for them to be active.

This is coincidentally why pouring salt on slugs has such a reaction-- it draws the moisture from their body and rapidly dries them up/kills them. So please don't do that, hahah.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
If I flipped all the bits in an mp3 file (0 to 1 and vice versa) would the resulting mp3 file sound at all recognizable, or would it just be noise?

It would be cool if this produced a kind of sonic negative of a given recording, but I'm guessing it would just sound like static.

[Assistant] mp3 files are not completely composed of audio data.  They are divided up into a series of "frames", and each frame has some accounting data that specifies its bit rate, frequency, version, etc.  Each frame starts off with a sync word, which is 11 bits in a row of all 1's.  If you flipped the bits the sync word would become all 0's, and no program would be able to recognize it as an mp3 file, so there would be no sound at all.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[General Superheroes] Do heroes have their own 'turf' they defend? Do heroes contact each other to efficiently cover urban areas between themselves, and work out shifts so the city is never undefended?

I know groups like the Avengers and the Justice League have got organisation and strategic deployment on lockdown, but what about the (mostly) solo heroes? How do they decide who patrols which area, and would they discuss essentially their shifts for patrol so they can get adequate sleep/normal lives while another hero is out on patrol?

This is related to my last question about when Superheroes sleep, and I was wondering if heroes ever contact nearby heroes to organise patrol areas and shifts to ensure all heroes involved can take some time off to sleep/work/socialise whilst not leaving the city undefended.

[Assistant]
Some heroes have their own designated areas. For example, Spiderman will cover most of Manhattan, but Daredevil is known for the more locally Hell's Kitchen area.

I don't think many solo heroes work out shifts with each other. More just begrudgingly accept the help they didn't ask for.

I know the Superhuman Registration Act was put together to try and set up more organized teams and have them set for certain areas to make it seem more like shift work, but that kinda got out of hand...


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why is it for some people common to think involuntarily about their most embarrassing moments when they try to fall asleep?

[Assistant]
I read about this the other day, the theory was that the brain needs to process the bad experiences that you have during the day, but most people are far too busy to give your brain the quiet time that it needs to do this. So when you lie down at night the first thing that your brain does is think, whoa quiet time and then starts to process all of these thoughts.

What its trying to do is to look at each bad experience and learn from it so it can be dealt with better next time. So if you want to avoid this, give yourself a 30 minute or so quiet break during the day to allow the processing to happen (avoid FB, phones etc) and then you wont get the processing happening at bed time..


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: If we could take a snapshot of every atom in the universe, could we effectively predict the future?

So, a very theoretical question considering it's near impossible to complete any part of it.

However, if we could somehow capture the orientation/position/type/energy states/nature of subatomic particles/etc. of every atom in the universe, compiled this information into a supercomputer and ran it in some sort of physics emulator, could it track the positions of where the atoms will end up based on their surrounding atoms, current momentum, etc (assuming our universe isn't effected by something outside of it)? Basically, are atoms predictable?

To my understanding, even though the logic would be difficult beyond belief, I think that this *would* be possible. And if so, a fast enough computer (technology we probably won't ever be able to/need to create) should be able to run the simulation of the newly captured world at an accelerated pace, allowing us to literally see into the future. I can't really wrap my mind around the concept of accelerating time though, and there are most likely properties of physics which we don't even know exist, so I have my doubts. There are a lot of 'ifs' in this problem..

Thoughts?

[Assistant] Quantum Mechanics at least suggest, if not prove, that there may be an element of inherent randomness that cannot be eliminated. If that is the case, then it is certainly at least plausible that there is some degree of unpredictability that also cannot be eliminated in macroscopic events.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
How does the Higgs field work with Lorentz transformation, I'll settle for someone explaining it in Galilean transformation.

Wouldn't this field provide an frame of reference that was "better" than another one where the average velocity of the Higgs particle is zero?

I am in my Senior year of a duel degree in physics and engineering. So I know some stuff but I can't wrap my mind around this.

[Assistant]
The Higgs field is a scalar field, meaning at every point in space and time it has a numerical value (as opposed to, say, a vector field, whose value is a vector). That value doesn't change depending on your coordinate system or your velocity - that's what Lorentz invariance means. (An example of a "scalar field" which is *not* Lorentz invariant is the time, since that changes between observers depending on their velocity.)

Lorentz invariance also means that there's no preferred rest frame, physics is the same no matter how you rotate or what your speed is. But, as you notice, if the Higgs varies throughout space and time, it should define a preferred frame and violate Lorentz invariance.

And, in principle, you're right. *And that's totally fine.* The Higgs doesn't actually do that (more on that in a sec), but it could in theory, indeed it has before, and that's no problem. The laws governing the Higgs are still Lorentz invariant (i.e., if the LHC were moving on a spaceship zipping past the Earth, it would have gotten the exact same Higgs results it did here), but the solution doesn't have to be. After all, we're living in a part of the Universe which is very, very different from other parts - stars, planets, government shutdowns, and so on. Definitely not Lorentz invariant at the level of the solution, as we'd say. But the laws of physics still are, so it's alright.

As for the Higgs itself, today it's uniform (on average) everywhere and has been for billions of years, so it doesn't define a preferred frame. Back in the very early Universe it was likely different, because of all the incredibly high energy interactions that were happening, so then it would have had some time evolution and hence a preferred frame (likely the same as the cosmic rest frame which today is the rest frame of the CMB), but that's long since not been the case.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Is there a limit on how long a power cord can be?

Probably a stupid question, but I was joking around about ice frozen on the moon, and how we can melt it by using a hair drier with a super long cord. This got me thinking though if there was a cord that long, there'd be a huge delay as the electricty travels up the wire.

But then I thought even more would the electricity even reach the hair drier? Is there a limit to how far electricity can travelalong a wire? I imagine some of the energy is lost when it has to travel. So, would a power cord to the moon even work?

[Assistant] Short answer: yes. The longer a given wire gets, the greater electrical resistance it has. Resistance causes a voltage drop. If the wire is long enough, that voltage drop would be sufficient that the device would fail to work.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: How does the umbilical cord of mammals in nature get cut?

More specifically, how long after birth would it take?

[Assistant] When a puppy is born, mama licks this new little wet and squiggly thing. She feels this weird hard string attached to this warm squish ball and knows it isn't a part of herself, and not a part of the pup. She bites and yanks it off. She continues to lick the poppy until he's clean, making sure the spot where the cord was pulled away remains licked. She rotates and licks each individual puppy and makes sure they are all clean and happy. She then will likely have another contraction / birth until she is empty of puppies. It's a great thing to watch cause the moms are so quick with instinct, and you image how much mom instinct we all have too!


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5 how can we have confident projected winners in elections with less than 10% of votes reported?

This bothers me as well as my spouse. I can only speculate that it is based on previous voting results, or something similar. I'm not sure how they do this with primaries, like in NH. Is it really just an educated guess, or is there more to the numbers?

[Assistant] it is kind of like an educated guess except that there are sound mathematics behind it. once you count a certain percentage of the votes and a candidate is in the lead by a certain amount you can calculate that the odds of someone else winning are less than a gazillion to one. the government counts all votes for the official result but the news wants to give people information quickly.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[A:TLA] Was Aang's victory over Ozai brought about by sheer happenstance?

This has always bothered me.

It is pretty clear that without the Avatar state, Aang would have perished when Ozai smashed his stone barrier. Instead, of course, Aang was smashed against a stone that just so happened to release his blocked Chakra; Avatar State resumed, righteous can of elemental whoopass opened on Ozai, etc.

This all makes for a very satisfying turnaround sequence, but it also means that the fate of Aang and likely the entire world apparently depended entirely on that rock being right there. In the world of bending, it seems very little is actually left to chance, which makes this all the more... unexpected, somehow.

Is it possible that it was Aang's expectation of imminent death, combined with the unexpected pain of his old injury, that re-unlocked the Avatar state? If he hadn't hit that rock just then, would he have still managed to reconnect before his death (apparently seconds away) at Ozai's hand?

Perhaps some wayward spirit with a gift for foresight just happened to kick that stone into that rock column when it was forming, back in the beginning of the world? I desperately want it to be almost ANYTHING other than chance!

[Assistant]
I think you had it right when you said it was his expectation of death, mortal terror at said death and then the pain that re-focused his mind and allowed the chakra to open, not the physical impact itself fixing his back a'la Dark Knight Rises.

His spirit would later tell Korra "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change", a bit of wisdom that was probably taught to him at that exact moment, though it would take a few decades before he could put it in so many words.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Can someone please explain the String Theory as simply as possible?

Pretend that you are describing the String Theory to a(n) ~~8 year old~~ 4 year old.
Thank you!

EDIT: Thanks for all of the answers!

[Assistant] It says that at the smallest level, fundamental particles can be described by a vibrating string. Just as a guitar string plays a different note depending on the type of vibration, a string would be a different particle depending on how it was vibrating.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Xcom] Why don't the Colonels train the rookies and squaddies on how to shoot right and not panic?

[Assistant]
They are trained, the problem is that they're facing a completely alien threat, meaning it'll take time to adjust and learn how the aliens move, shoot etc. This also means the aliens apperance and weaponry can have a pretty shocking effect, enough to pull a rookie out of the moment for a few seconds.

Remember, what you see as a "turn" on the battle map is just a few seconds in real time, and events happen almost at the same time.

When they "rank up" they have gathered enough experience on the field and probably got some training in between missions from the more experienced members of X-Com.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why is yogurt usually considered good for you, while ice cream is almost considered bad for you? What makes them so different?

They're both dairy products which are usually loaded with sugar. what makes one good for you while the other is relegated to dessert only status?

[Assistant]
Yogurt has bacteria that is purportedly good for you, combined with the fact that it generally has less sugar and fat, makes it a healthier option. The probiotic part is debatable, because studies seem to indicate your gut microbiome returns to its original state after a relatively short time.

In some ways, unless you go for low sugar and fat yogurt, it's like comparing a cheeseburger with a double cheeseburger. The lesser of two evils.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
What are real-life applications to fractional and higher-order (specifically of degree 3+) derivatives?

I found this intriguing because the 4th, 5th, and 6th time-derivatives of displacement are snap, crackle, and pop, respectively--those names sound like they lack practical importance (apart from the cereal joke), at least to someone inexperienced like me.

[Assistant]
They come up all the time in engineering or anything where you model a system with differential equations.

In electrical circuits each reactive component in a circuit increases the degree of the differential equation that describes the transfer characteristics of the circuit. Quick example, an electric guitar's electronics can be modeled with a 3rd order differential equation, where the reactive components are the inductance of the pickup coil, the parasitic capacitance of the coil, and the tone cap.

In control systems it's not uncommon to have higher order. In control systems you have some physical system called the plant, a feedback loop through a sensor, and a controller that takes the input of the feedback loop before feeding the system. The total closed loop system can be described by a differential equation, the order of which would be the sum of the orders of the controller, sensor transfer characteristics, and system. It can easily be 5-6th order even if you're approximating things.

Another example, iirc the relationship of the roll control of an F16 with with the actual roll angle of the aircraft is 4th order. Someone may want to check me on that, it's often referenced when people bring up the fact that the aircraft is slightly unstable in order to turn faster. The controller is going to be at least 2nd order, so the total closed loop system is at least 6th order.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
How did logical positivism persist for so long?

It seems like positivism had some serious problems that were pointed out early in its life.  For example, how can the statement "only things which are observable are meaningful" be observed to be meaningful?.

Since this wasn't its death knell, why was it still lingering on until Quine came to put it out of its misery?  What key ideas allowed it to fight back against these pre-Quine criticisms?

[Assistant]
The period from the classical writings of logical positivism to the publications of its supposed death knell is only thirty years, which doesn't seem to me particularly long in historical terms.

But anyway, one reason it lasted longer than one might infer it ought to have lasted, given the popular understanding of what it was about, is that the popular understanding of what it was about is mistaken.  For instance, it didn't endorse your "only things which are observable are meaningful" maxim.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: From a non-religious standpoint, why do we have religion?

[Assistant]
Religion was a way for people to explain phenomenons they could not explain in any other way. By being able to explain these phenomenons gave people a sense of comfort and 'power.

Look at it this way. If you don't understand thunderstorms, you don't know why they happen and why they sometimes set stuff on fire. You feel very out of control. Now if you believe thunderstorms are caused by a god, there is an explanation, and because usually you can pray to these gods or do sacrifices etc, you also have a way to 'influence' these phenomenons. You suddenly feel more comforted and in control.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[The Fifth Element] Does magic exist?

What the hell happened when that big beam of light shot out of that pyramid and stopped that giant asteroid? The military says it wasn't them and it's classified, but on the internet there are rumors of stones, elements, the Mondoshawan, and some lady...

Whatever happened there, that asteroid moving towards earth at FTL speeds, the beam... Is this the work magic, or just super-advanced technology?

[Assistant]
The "asteroid" was a lovecraftian horror we can't begin to comprehend.

It's magic in the same way cthulhu is magic, in that it plays by a set of rules but us understanding them would be like a dog doing calculus.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[I Robot] If a human is hurting/killing another human

If a human is hurting/killing another human, how will a robot behave using the 3 rules?

[Assistant]
According to the law priority structure, a robot will prevent harm to humans at a higher priority than obeying them. In addition, even within the parameters of the First Law, robots will use force to prevent one human from harming another, as long as it's preventing more harm than it's causing. Sufficiently complex robots could even kill a human to, say, prevent him from killing 100, as long as the robot saw no other way to save them.

However, positronic brains are not designed to withstand such robo-moral conundrums, and a robot forced to act this way would likely shut down forever shortly thereafter.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
What's the deal with Nietzsche and women?

In *Human, all too Human* he says contradictory passages. He mentions that there can be women of free spirit, but before that he says how incapable women are. He also mentions that women will eventually "inherit all of men's traits", but he also mentions the chaos that comes when women emancipate. And, of course, "the best woman is better than the best man".

In *The Gay Science* he mentions how dumb it is to expect women to be chaste before being wed, and then sexual demons after that.

In *Beyond Good and Evil* he suddenly starts throwing shit at them out of the left field, even saying that "profound men" should "own women" (238), but he also says that women are good at lies, manipulation and ignorance of truth (232, and this is probably a compliment in this context). In 234 he also says that women being bad at the kitchen is what has held humanity back, though I'm not sure if this a parable or not.

From reading his books, it seems undeniable that Nietzsche was sexist, though it's hard to say if he wanted women to emancipate and was warning to its difficulties, that it was a social norm that was unbreakable, or that he thought that women were intrinsically worse than men in what he was interested in, and he thought that was okay.

Also, I read in an article that he was actually in favor of women studying higher studies when he was a professor (uncommon at the time) and that he was good friends with some feminist women.

So, what's going on here? Is this guy just confused about women?

[Assistant]
> So, what's going on here? Is this guy just confused about women?

There is a lot to say about individual passages, but with Nietzsche especially we run into a really tough problem of exegesis (we see a similar problem in reading, say, Beauvoir's *Second Sex*).  Sometimes Nietzsche is talking about women as a type - in this case he's just talking about the socio-cultural construction of women qua women.  He does this with nationalities too - like when he talks about "Germans" or "The English" or whatever.  This means it's not always immediately clear if he's actually saying something about women *qua* persons or he's just talking about women *qua* women.

So period-expected sexism + sometimes referring to all people by way of terms like "men" + sometimes doing genealogical criticism of the sexes = a very confusing situation for the reader.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why do hot and steamy showers feel so comfortable but not hot weather?

[Assistant]
Largely becasue you are naked and you can make it stop at any time.

Hot showers are enjoyable not just for the heat, but for the physical sensation of water on your skin, and the combination of the hot from the water and the cool from evaporation.  Also, if you do perspire, you don't notice with all the other water.  Finally, you can also adjust them to exactly who hot you want, and turn it off when you have had enough.

With hot weather, you get sweaty, your clothes absorb it and start to chafe, it gets in your eyes so you have to wipe your brow all the time, and it is just overall unpleasant.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Have living things always had an immune system? How did they survive / evolve to deal with diseases, and how does that compare to modern immune systems?

[Assistant] Viruses have likely existed about as long as unicellular life, which is a very long time. And unicellular organisms have their own defenses against viruses, so once multicellular life developed the foundation of an immune system was already in place.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Star Wars] How powerful was old Obi-Wan?

Using Yoda as an example, he was extremely powerful despite his advanced age (although Yoda may be an exception because of his incredible knowledge of the force), was Obi-Wan more powerful when he was older?

Did he gain any power during the years between Episodes 3 and 4 besides the ability to become a force ghost?

Would he have been able to defeat Vader if he had not allowed himself to be killed? Since Vaders robotics weakened his connection with the force would he still have been able to defeat Obi-Wan?

Was the plan for Obi-Wan to die the whole time and come back as a force ghost to help Luke in the grand scheme to overthrow The Emperor?

[Assistant] The theory is that Obi-Wan, having lost his own master right before his eyes years ago, understood the impact his death would have on Luke all that much more. He did not needlessly sacrificed himself as an unnecessary distraction (because the Empire intended to allow the Falcon's escape all along) but rather to galvanize the younger Skywalker onto the path of the Force and into destroying the Death Star.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: When I have a full bladder during the night, I sometimes dream that I pee. What keeps me body from actually wetting the sheets?

[Assistant] Both nocturnal penile tumescence (morning wood) and REM atonia (a purposeful block from activating normal muscles while dreaming so that you don't sleepwalk or kick your dog or eat your pillow) prevent you from peeing the bed.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why are banks allowed to use money in way they cannot give people their own money back?

[Assistant]
Consider a small village with one bank and no outside help. An individual wants to build a factory. So he takes out a loan.
In future this factory happens to be very successful thereby creating lot of growth.

However to begin with the loan money has to come from somewhere? The idea is banks which collect small to large savings from the villagers can afford to loan a part of their savings. This is based on the statistical assumption that normally everyone wouldn't take out their money simultaneously. So the bank can invest a % of the money it has.
The bank makes money by fee and loan interests. The villagers get safety and sometimes interest on their savings. The economy grows as a whole.

The problem is during unstable times, wars,  recession, rumors suddenly a lot of people start taking out their money (this is called a run on the bank). This violates the underlying statistical model.

On a personal level saving money is a good habit. On a collective level just plain savings isn't good because there is no economic growth. Banks ideally  transform the personal savings of a society into engine of economic growth.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: What part of a jet engine actually generates the thrust?

Hello, I've recently been reading up on jet engines and how they work. Air gets sucked in, compressed, injected into the combustion chamber to create expanding gas (that's how I understand it) so what part is actually generating the thrust, the turbine spinning or the gas being forced out of the back? And while I'm here, can anyone explain how the afterburner works? I understand it reheats the gas but how does that generate more thrust? Thanks!

[Assistant]
The gases being forced out the back are the source of thrust.  It's actually different depending on what type of jet engines you're talking about.

Turbojet engines (all of the early jets, plus most older fighter jets) are all about the hot gases coming out from the turbines to provide thrust.

Turbofan engines (think airliners) on the other hand, actually generate the vast majority of their thrust from the cool air being blown back by the giant fan blades at the very front of the engine.  A small part of the air gets sucked into the core of the engine, where it's compressed and burned to run the turbines, which in turn drive all the other components.  This exhaust does provide some thrust as well.  But most of the air (80% or more) bypasses the core entirely, providing thrust from the fan alone.

As for the turbines spinning?  Jet engines are actually powered in reverse, sort of.  The first 2/3 of the engine exists mostly to feed the rear 1/3 of the engine, and in turn the rear third actually provides the power to run the front third.  That's all the turbines are there for, but it's the part that makes it all work.

Afterburners are a pretty simple concept, actually.  They work by dumping huge amounts of raw jet fuel straight into the superheated exhaust gases, where they instantly ignite and provide even more thrust in the form of those awesome blazing exhaust flames.  Basically, they turn the jet exhaust into a rocket engine of sorts.  It consumes horrific amounts of fuel, but the sheer burst of power is worth it when a fighter really needs every last shred of power it can get.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Does derivatives have any productive meaning for society or are they simply gambling on prices?

To my (limited) knowledge derivatives is simply speculation on what price level a given commodity will reach. Does society benefit from this in anyway? If not why do you allow it? To me it seems like an awful waste of capital. If the resources were invested in stocks they would undoubtedly do good for the society as a whole. Not to mention the amount of brainpower from some very smart people, that could otherwise be allocated to more productive activities.
To me derivatives seems as rent seeking without any productive purpose. Am I missing something?

[Assistant]
This criticism is common and also applies to any secondary capital market such as the stock exchange too.

However derivatives do serve a real purpose of efficiently reallocating risk and liquidity. The classic example is the future market for corn or wheat. A farmer with a futures contract for the price of his crops has a guaranteed price when the harvest comes. In effect he has insured against the risk that prices will change and pooled it through the secondary capital markets.

There are many examples like this so there are very valid arguments for such markets.

Nevertheless there is a valid question on whether excessive resources are given to the secondary capital markets for this purpose alone.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Dune] How do the sand worms get enough nutrition/food in a such inhospitable desert to grow so large?

Does spice have something to do with it?

[Assistant]
It takes a very long time and sandworms live for many thousands of years. They eat both large things and small things, filtering microorganisms from the sand and may even use the sand itself. This may be similar to the Blue Whale, which is the largest animal on Earth yet survives by eating some of the smallest (plankton).

Additionally, Arrakis is inhospitable *because* of the sandworms. The planet was once temperate but the sandworm larvae sequestered water deep underground, creating the dry conditions that a mature sandworm requires.

Spice is produced by these larvae deep underground and is released when decomposition produces the right conditions (producing a pocket of gas) to blow it to the surface. This is then fed on by organisms closer to the surface which, in turn, can be fed on by the sandworms. Arrakis only appears inhospitable because we are mostly water and live on the surface.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Eli5: why are we told to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth if all the oxygen gets in your blood stream in the lungs either way? Would it not be better to just breathe in and out of your mouth for the most oxygen?

[Assistant]
The nose warms, filters and moistens the air so that its ready for the lungs.

The mouth just draws in air without warming, filtering or moistening the air.

Breathing through your nose reduces the amount of dust and crud that gets in your lungs.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] What is the difference between Polymorphism and Allotropy?

[Assistant] They basically describe the same thing, different solid structures for the same material, except allotropy is only for a single element while polymorphism refers to things like alloys and polymers. Graphite and diamond are *allotropes* of carbon, while calcite and aragonite are *polymorphs* of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Im pretty sure allotropes could also be called polymorphs, theyre just a special case.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] What happens to aquatic life when a lake freezes over? Do the animals and plants somehow hibernate, or do they find a way to live under to ice? Where would they get oxygen?

[Assistant]
It really depends on the organism in question. Many fish remain isothermic with the water, and do regular fish things, others will go into a semi-restful state where they are sluggish and barely move to conserve energy. There are frogs that will bury themselves in the mud and essentially hibernate through the winter, and even some frogs that allow themselves to become fully frozen in ice until the spring thaw.

Arctic fish have adapted to the cold and contain antifreeze compounds in their bloodstream, while Arctic aquatic mammals have thick layers of blubber to provide insulation in the cold waters.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5 why I get a burst of creativity late at night?

Just seems curious. Around ten o'clock PM, I just get hit with energy and an ambition to do things, like design an excrement catapult or install high-speed internet. So... Why?

[Assistant]
Creativity or energy?

Creativity - probably because you are relaxing.  Examples would be the recent study showing people were better at creative problem solving after drinking, or every story of it came to me on the toilet.

Energy - some people are night people.  Probably left overs from when people would get eaten by very largr cats in the night.  If your brother Carl was awake he might wake everyone before someone died.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why does paper lose its flatness after touching water then drying?

[Assistant] Uneven drying. When paper gets wet, it ever so slightly expands as it absorbs water. Sine the entire piece doesn't dry completely at the exact same time, some spots will contract at different rates until the paper is too dry to be pliable to the drying process, in which it 'locks' into a wavy pattern.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV: At this point in time, if the vast majority of Covid deaths are unvaccinated people, then let vaccination be the choice of the individual

Last year twice as many people died from heart disease then from Covid-19.

Another group, nearly twice as many died from cancer than from Covid.

Yet another group, stroke and diabetes combined accounted for deaths equal to roughly 75% the count of Covid deaths.

**At this point in time, if the vast majority of Covid deaths are unvaccinated people, then let it be the choice of the individual.** If your choice is to vaccinate, and you are protected then let the unvaccinated carry the burden of their choice.

If your primary or fallback defense is that we need to protect the community and not just the self, or that unvaccinated people are being "selfish" by tying up medical resources, then please re-read the above statistics and answer these questions...

\-Where is the illegalization or excessive taxation of empty sugar foods and beverages?
\-Where is the illegalization of artificial food products that have been banned in other developed countries?
\-Where is the subsidization of healthy foods?
\-Where is the social stigma around junk foods?
\-Where is the mandate that any company with over 100 employees require their overweight employees to exercise (excluding those who have weight gain for medical reasons)

If you are for shaming unvaccinated individuals, while 4.5 times as many people die annually, year after year, from reducible causes that go unaddressed, then I ask you to turn to your loved ones who suffer from heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and any other ailment correlated to high sugar diets, artificial / processed food products, and unhealthy lifestyles. I ask you to consider shaming them for not living healthier lives and passing on better habits to the next generation (affecting others besides themselves). I ask you to consider shaming them for tying up our medical resources - especially during this pandemic when we could have used more beds for Covid patients.

I, for one, do not support shaming anyone for their decisions. I don't support forcing them to do what they don't want in order to "unburden resources". And let the above facts demonstrate that we never once care to "protect the community" until politicians with an agenda socially engineer us to do otherwise. There is an opportunity to save far more people each year than just those affected by Covid, all by utilizing healthier and and more ethical approaches. But we won't ... Because it's not a focus of our government ... Because there's no money in it - just public health.

[Assistant]
Your entire view rests on the assumption that deaths are the only thing we want to avoid.

There are other outcomes that we should shape public policy to beyond just deaths. That includes hospitals overwhelmed or strained, which lessens the healthcare everyone receives for every other problem.

Vaccines are *very* effective at reducing hospitalizations both for people who directly get sick, as well as preventing people from spreading the virus in the first place.

Therefore, if we want to optimize to lower strain on hospitals, vaccine requirements are very effective and help us all.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: How accurate is a colorized photograph, and how does it work?

I have searched this and I saw that it was asked already, but the answers given did not answer it well enough in my opinion.

[Assistant]
It's 100% guesswork.  The colors are made up. That being said, it's reasonable to assume the sky is not going to be purple, and the persons dress at the wedding is going to be white, not bright yellow.  The fire truck is probably red and the street lights are likely red as well.  Trees are probably green and so is the grass, how green though is a guess.

Although there's nothing in the picture's data that would lead someone to believe that grey is red instead of green for example.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] When your foot falls asleep, why does it tingle so much and why is it so sensitive when it comes in contact with anything else?

[Assistant]
The easiest way to think of this is to think about how nerve conduction works. Nerves are like long fibers, which link up so that so that each fiber has a small gap between it and the next cell.

This gap is called the synapse. The nerve cells are arranged end to end so that the receiving end (the dendrite) flows along through the terminal end, the axon.

Everyone knows electrical impulses flow along these nerves, but what a lot of people don't' realize is that these electrical impulses are basically the flow of actual molecules - specifically, anions and cations. Commonly, for example, calcium and potassium are the electrolytes which transfer.

So in terms of nerve conduction, ions build up in one side of the synapse until the action potential, a stimulus  from pressure, another nerve, the triggering of a neurotransmitter, etc, causes the ions to release into the synapse where they trigger the action potential along the next nerve on the line, an so on.

What all of this has to do with your foot falling asleep, is this: when you put pressure on a nerve for a long time, it screws the whole chain up in a physical way. Some nerves will be mispositioned so that the synapse is too wide for ions and neurotransmitters to fill the gap, some will have been cut off from the blood supply and will be trying to take in oxygen instead of signaling, some will be too close to another signal source, so they get over stimulated, etc. It creates a confusing jumble of random output, and your brain, unable to interpret the mess, registers it all as a tingle.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Star Wars] What if Vader was transported into the Body of Anakin Skywalker before Episode 3?

 I always wondered about this. Let's say that because of some Force/Sorcery bullshit Vader gets his mind inserted into his past self, how would the story change?

For one he still has Padme and she's alive, he knows about Palpatine and has the powerful ability of foresight.

So far none knows that he's from the future, so if he's smart and careful he could topple both the Jedi and Palpatine.

What would he do?

[Assistant]
Probably saying fuck this shit, fuck the sith, fuck the jedi, fuck everyone.

Take a ship, grab Padme and leave for a distant off republic planet. Make a small fortress to protect her and just live there.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why is superheated steam used in turbines since according to Gibbs free energy formula, at higher temperature, the ability to produce work is lowered?

So Gibbs free energy is the maximum reversible work that can be produced in a thermodynamic system at constant P and T, and according to the formula, higher T means lower G. Then why is Superheated steam used as means to produce work? Or am I looking at it wrong?

[Assistant] Because when the steam does work by moving the rotor of the turbine it lowers the pressure and temperature of the steam. You can think of it as a kind of temperature buffer so that the steam does not condense as it goes through a large turbine because water will damage the blades in a turbine.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Star Wars] How effective would earth artillery fire be on Jedi?

Normal this is Waldo.

Fire for effect; grid 4QFJ15.

Pair of Jedi in the open; over.

Forget the shotgun would the howitzer be the ultimate Jedi killing weapon? Can't really dodge or use a light saber to dodge artillery shells.

[Assistant]
Would they be useful? Sure. The ultimate Jedi killing weapon? No. Jedi are precognitive, fast, pretty good at sneaking right past enemy lines, and the better our soldiers follow orders, the worse they are at resisting mind tricks. It's no more the ultimate Jedi killing weapon than it is the ultimate human killing weapon.

Even just talking hypothetically, the Death Star would have better claim to *that* title.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why do I need an ISP to connect to the internet?

ISPs seem to be gatekeepers to the series of connected networks we call the internet. Why can't we all just have our own individual gates?

[Assistant]
For the same reason we can't all have a private road to the airport or that restaurant we like.

If the airlines are the huge, fast pipes that form the backbone of the Internet, and your LAN is a gated community, the ISP runs the trams connecting your community to the express trains (which may or may not also be run by your ISP) that go to the airports.

It wouldn't make sense (or be possible) for everybody's driveway to lead directly to the airport because you don't always want to go that far, and it wouldn't make sense if every house only had a gate to their neighbour's garden because that would be terribly slow if you need to go further than a few houses over.

So you pay an ISP to connect your house to his network of trams and trains that connects to other rail and air networks, effectively connecting you to the whole globe.

You could arrange with your neighbours to go through their gardens until you reached a nearby tram stop instead, but not everyone is comfortable giving their neighbour a key to their garden gate.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: What happens when a country (like Egypt today) 'floats' it's currency?

[Assistant]
Allowing a currency to "float" is to allow the exchange rate of the currency to change depending on the currency exchange market. People can buy and sell at different prices so the demand for the currency will determine the rate at which it is exchanged.

This is in contrast to a "fixed" currency which has a value tied to that of another currency or even something like gold.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Silmarillion] Are there elf peasants in the First Age? What do they think of this whole mess?

The Silmarillion doesn't delve too much into the economics of elvish society, so I can only assume it's the case that someone has to perform the less glamorous tasks of farming, mining, and cleaning. So is there an underclass that does these things while the more high-born elves get to spend their time hunting orcs and dancing in meadows? Do they believe in the sacredness of the war against Morgoth, or do they resent their kings for spending elvish lives on this quest to retrieve three jewels?

[Assistant] I dont know about farming or cleaning, but mining was apparently something that the nobility would do. Maeglin, AKA that one asshole who let Morgoths army into Gondolin because he was upset that his cousin wouldnt marry him, was a miner (also a blacksmith) and was actually out prospecting when he was caught by the orcs. From this we can likely infer that most of the menial tasks were performed by elves who were also warriors who did them in their spare time because it was their passion.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[DC] What changes would we see in Gotham specifically and in the Justice League if Batman suddenly developed a healing factor that was similar to that of Deadpool?

Peak Batman in his late 30s/early 40s just wakes up one morning with none of his old injuries that hes accumulated over many years as Batman and notices that any and all injuries pretty well heal almost immediately and his aging is also slowed drastically.

[Assistant]
Biggest one would be that he would effectively be immortal.

So that means:

* No expectation or pressure on the Bat-kids to eventually pick up the Bat-Mantle once Bruce gets too old or worn out from being Batman. Bruce will probably be in Gotham for as long as Gotham stands.

* Batman can be immortal, but Bruce Wayne can't... unless he eventually fesses up to being an immortal and maybe Batman as well given enough years. Or invents new civilian identities that still allows him to maintain his resources and presence in Gotham. He can't be Batman 24 hours, 365 days a year though- Bruce being 100% Batman all the time for an extended period is shown to be a pretty bad thing for him and Gotham, especially without a stable support network.

* Bruce will have to accept the fact that he most certainly will have to experience most of his friends and family dying naturally if not pre-maturely, which is probably his biggest fear.

* Bruce won't have to rely on theatrics and subterfuge as much to fight crime. The only reason he'd need to hide in the shadows and be a super crafty fighter in most engagements would just be the psychological warfare aspect since he could pretty much just charge/tank anyone if he wanted to. And that in itself might be a better substitute- people won't need to *assume* Batman is invincible if he is regularly healing bulletholes and hacked off limbs during giant brawls.

* Like Logan, he might have to deal with accumulating psychological fatigue and cynicism if he keeps the Batman thing going for enough decades, and accumulates enough negative traumatic/experiences (such as the everyone dying thing). Even in the standard continuity, that's something he cyclically struggles with after a decade or two of Batmanning.

* Ra's Al Ghul would probably become super jelly and not obsessed with just trying to pawn off his legacy and daughter to Bruce, but probably will try to capture and harvest Bruce's immortality for himself.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Infamous] Im confused here. Are conduits able to turn into their elements or become intangible like logias from One piece? And if so why/how can they be harmed?

Maybe Im missing something here but the wiki says that they heal on a  molecular level. Also in the games, especially second son, we can clearly see them changing into their element while traveling or being harmed (smoke and neon for example). My question is why they cant just turn intangible and remain there to mitigate all incoming damage? Why/how are they being harmed? And how does intangibility work in this universe?

[Assistant] Their powers appear to require practice and experience to get to a point where they can freely control them, and most of the characters we see didn't have a whole lot of time to practice since they were trying to hide or only recently gotten their powers. Most likely they just don't know how to stay transformed.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why is the American healthcare system so expensive when most other places, it is relatively cheap?

[Assistant]
Most places that have universal healthcare under a single-payer system have the government pay for it.

This is, of course, funded by taxes.

Here in the US, we don't have a single-payer system. There's no one organisation that can negotiate and limit medical care costs. There are various insurance agencies, and a lot of medical care is actually for-profit. While a lot of the profit comes from the insurance companies (even the local and federal government ones), a good deal of it is still passed down to the consumer.

And yes, the fact that we're "consumers" rather than "patients" is part of the problem.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Wrote the paper as a PhD student, it got accepted to a conference, but I am not any more a student. Can I still go and present as a student ?

So, basically the paper was written and submitted as student. But PhD is over, so not anymore a student. Is there any way to still attend it as a student. The fee for a regular is 3 times that of a student.

[Assistant] About 99% of the time yes. What matters to these kind of things is your current affiliation. If you've left academia, you're fine applying as a student. If you're a postdoc now or a professor, I'd contact the organisation team of the conference to check.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: How come tornadoes never touch down in big cities, and if one did, how bad would the destruction be?

I've lived near a larger city my whole life and we do get some warnings but they always touch down in the smaller towns, what would be the destruction power of a tornado that went through a city?

EDIT: Well obviously I'm wrong about it never touching down in bigger cities, but is it any less likely that they would touch down near/ on them?
EDIT2: Thank you all for your answers, I now realize I am an idiot for not hearing about those that actually hit cities.

[Assistant] Tornadoes do hit cities, but most tornadoes hit in the Midwest (OK, KS, etc.) There are few large cities in those areas compared to the east and west coasts. In addition, tornadoes are prone to form in open spaces as they require certain wind and temperature measurements that often occur in those open spaces. Think about how rare tornadoes are (theya re rare, at least damaging ones) and the relatively small space cities take up compared to the entire countryside in the midwest.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Harry Potter] Was throwing a Horcrux through The Veil a legitimate way to destroy it?

[Assistant]
We are told that a Horcrux must be completely destroyed beyond repair to no longer function as a Horcrux. But, as far as we know, crossing through the Veil doesn't destroy the container. So this is an interesting question.

That said, it seems that the main aim of Horcrux destruction isn't to destroy the soul fragment within but rather to so destroy the container that it can no longer house the soul fragment, thus releasing it from Earth and ushering it into the beyond.

As far as we know, there is no way to return once you have crossed through the Veil. You are dead, and your soul moves on to the afterlife, unable to return. This is both the Ministry's understanding and Nearly-Headless Nick's understanding. But we don't currently understand how the physical transforms into spiritual when passing through the Veil. Was Sirius's body obliterated, or does it still exist on the fringes of the afterlife realm? If the latter, you could potentially argue that the magic of a Horcrux is too strong for the afterlife realm to unbind it, thereby creating a Horcrux that can't be destroyed by the living.

But since the goal of a Horcrux is to bind part of your soul to Earth, and going through the Veil removes something from Earth, it's likely that the Horcrux would no longer be effective to the creator if it was thrown through the veil even if the Death magic of the Veil wasn't enough to break the container's hold on the Horcrux. (However, this seems unlikely since death seems to cause spells to cease functioning anyway.)

So in conclusion, throwing a Horcrux through the Veil may or may not destroy it. But even if it doesn't destroy the Horcrux, it will probably undo the magic binding the soul to the Horcrux or will be useless to the creator of the Horcrux because that piece of their soul is no longer on Earth and therefore no longer binding the caster's main soul to Earth.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Starwars: What did Padme ever do for the Gungans to gain their loyalty?

In one episode of Clone Wars when Padme is captured on Mon Calamari, the Gungans immediately are willing to rescue her because she supposedly did a lot for them.  What did she do?  All I know is that gungans sacrificed themselves for  her people in Episode 1.  Surely she did more than be one of 3 people in the galaxy who is friends with Jar Jar.

[Assistant] She and Boss Nass brought their two peoples together. They hated each other before the invasion of Naboo, and were constantly fighting. Gungans killed Naboo, Naboo enslaved Gungans, and so on and so forth. Then all of a sudden, the two races actually work together. They start coexisting peacefully. All the incidents between them stop. The Gungans actually manage to get representation in the *Galactic Senate*. She actually did quite a bit for them, and they all recognize that.