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

[User]
ELI5: Why do some actors have their name in the credits as "Some Actor as Dr Wilson" and some don't?

i've always been curious about this. Specially when you see the intro-credits to a tv show and its the actors names and suddenly one of them is "THIS ACTOR AS THIS CHARACTER!!". Is there a particular reason?

[Assistant]
It's called "last billing."

The order that the actors are listed in the credits is listed as billing. Generally, the bigger a name you are, the closer to the front you'll be listed. That's called "Top Billing" and it's the best place to be -- listed very first.

But sometimes you'll have two actors of similar stature in the same production. Clearly, both of them can't be listed first, so the next best thing is to be at the end of the credits. Typically, it's separated from the rest of the actors with the word "and" or "with", and sometimes the character name is listed as a way to make the credit stand out more, even though it's not top-billed.

This is the kind of stuff that's worked out with the agents and the lawyers as part of the casting process.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we wear collared shirts when we want to look fancy?

[Assistant] Basically because that's what others think is fancy.  It's just a social construct.  It's like the question what makes a country a country.  It's really if other countries recognize it as one.  Same thing.  The only thing that makes a tuxedo "fancy" is that that's what everyone in the world has been trained since birth to recognize as fancy attire.


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

[User]
[Marvel comics] Does Professor X have any "confidentiality" built into his powers?

If he can read almost anyone's mind at a whim, it seems pretty much guaranteed that he'd learn something that the person didn't want him (or anyone) to know. Someone might be closeted LGBT, for example, and he'd learn that without their permission. Is there any way for him to know that someone has a secret and stop himself from learning it, or does everyone just have to trust him to keep his lips sealed?

I know that he's a doctor of psychology/psychiatry and therefore is held under doctor/patient confidentiality, but even then it seems like a breach of privacy that the patient doesn't even have the choice of what the doctor will know. IDK I'm imagining something like he'd enter the person's "mind palace" and their memories/information/thoughts/etc they'd freely share are out in the open, and anything they'd keep under wraps is behind closed doors, with locks increasing in strength with their importance (low-level secrets would be an unlocked wooden door, secrets they'd take to their grave would be titanium-enforced lead-lined steel bulkheads).

[Assistant]
He does not, and we have seen the outcome of that in his younger years.

When he first meets Hank McCoy in his lab he says "Wonderful, another mutant". Hank had not made his mutation know to his boss, who was also there.


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

[User] Eli5: why do shoes disintegrate when left unworn (for extended period of time) and frequently wearing them actually prevents/delays disintegration?

[Assistant]
I am assuming you are talking about leather shoes.

The leather is a natural product, with time the atmosphere dries the leather out slowly (imagine like a piece of bread left on a counter top). The loss of moisture hardens the leather. When you use the shoes, you sweat into the them, this replaces some of the moisture,  this is also why you should be polishing your shoes regularly. The polish helps to protect the leather with wax and other products to keep it in a good condition and supple.


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

[User] ELI5: How do they fit 2 billion transistors in a single square inch?

[Assistant]
With great care.

Computer chips are generally made by laying down very thin coats of metal, then a chemical that reacts to light. Some of the chemical is exposed to a pattern of light while the rest is not, and then washed with a chemical solution that leaves the exposed area behind while the rest washes away. Then another layer of metal is laid down with the photo-sensitive chemical acting like a mask. Then the mask is washed away and the process repeated with a different pattern of light.

Using many repetitions of this process a 3D chip structure can be built up in a very, very small package.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Overthrowing Doom, can it happen?

So we all know the trope. Young lad or lass, working as a smith's apprentice or tavern wench, gets tapped by the fates to overthrow the evil overlord, and take their fantasy kingdom back for the people!

Given that black-smithing and tavern-wenching are likely to be popular jobs in Latveria, is there a possibility of an unlikely local Hero, mentored and campanioned by some aged, failed demonologist, and likely a faulty DoomBot for comedic value; overthrowing Victor Von Doom, and freeing the country from his (admittedly well run and fairly led) tyranny?

Would Victor's ego lead him to his, dare I say it, doom?

Or is some poor sap about to get lasered by a few dozen DoomBots.

[Assistant] Actually, the SOI in Latveria is very high. The country is exceedingly wealthy and many jobs are performed by Doombots. The citizenry are also on the average very happy as Von Doom is a surprisingly benevolent dictator who affords his subjects good lives if not many true freedoms; passports, for instance are almost impossible to get for the average Latverian.


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

[User]
Why is it so hard (or impossible) to keep our hands steady?

I mean, I don't have particularly shaky hands, but if I shine a laser pointer across the room, the dot isn't going to be stationary.

Somewhat related (or maybe not), why is it so hard to control our bodies in general? For example: typos, mistakes when playing instruments, messing up inputs in games, etc. Would improved proprioception reduce error?

[Assistant]
When it comes to keeping limbs steady, the issue is due to the nervous system. You see, to keep your hand steady, you need to use muscular force to keep the hand up. The muscle flexes because the brain sends impulses down the nerves which excite the muscles and the muscles contract. This is a discrete phenomenon, muscle fibers contract many times a second. The stronger the force they need to provide, the more they vibrate. That's why it's hard to keep a steady hand with your arm all out in front or to the side but pretty easy when you just let it hang on your side.

You'll notice that as your arm gets progressively more tired, your hand starts to shake more and more. Your muscle fibers are basically switching between resting and flexing. The transition between the two is not always smooth but you can get better at it with practice and improved endurance.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why in the USA are big companies NOT passed down to bloodline?

In asia, big corporate companies such as Samsung and what not are almost ALWAYS passed down to their first born son (if not, their daughter or another blood relative).

it seems that in the USA that is not the case in a big majority of situations. why is that?

[Assistant] Because in the USA most big companies are not owned by a family, but by thousands of different investors who are not related to each other, and whole main interest is in hiring the boss who can make them all the most money.


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

[User]
[Guardians of the Galaxy] *Spoilers* Why does the galaxy leave Earth alone.

**Movie Spoilers Continue on only if you're up to date in the Marvel Cinematic Univers**

At the end of the movie Nova Prime tells Star-Lord that he's only half terran meaning that the scientists would know enough about earth DNA to know what is and what isn't human. He also gets abducted as a child with no repercussions from the galactic community. Aliens also seem to have heard enough about earth enough to not be confused when he talks about Earth and being Terran.

There was also a somewhat recent intergalactic Chitauri invasion of earth that a good portion of the galaxy should have heard about that was led by an Asgardian and backed by Thanos (though it's unclear if others know of Thanos' involvement).

Basically, why is Earth so known by the galactic community but the galactic community is fairly unknown to Earth? Is there some sort of Marvel Prime Directive or something?

[Assistant]
Let's be honest, prior to the current batch of superhumans that seem to be popping up on Earth, there wasn't much going on there to be concerned about.

Other spacefaring races would know about Earth because they've happened across it and it's part of the Asgardian's dimensional network, but there's no reason to stop there, it's populated with near-primitive monkeys for the most part.

The comes Loki, who promises Thanos something that plays into his future plans, in exchange for having the Chitauri invade the silly little rock for him. Nobody in the rest of the universe should care, because nobody knows what Thanos is really up to, and who gives a crap if the third dirt ball from a far flung yellow sun gets added to the Chitauri sandbox?

Conversely, Earth is so behind the scale technologically that aliens could pretty much come and go as they pleased and only a few agencies even had a chance to know.

That was until the Chitauri arrived.

Now the world knows that we're not alone in the universe, they just don't know how crowded it can be out there.


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

[User] Does the event horizon of a black hole form a perfect sphere around the black hole it surrounds?

[Assistant] If the black hole is not spinning and there's no other matter in the universe, then yes, it is a perfect sphere.  If the black hole is rotating, then the event horizon will be flatter at the poles than at the equator.  If there's other stuff in the universe besides the black hole, the gravity from those objects can deform the event horizon from spherical, sort of like how the moon deforms the earth by creating tides.


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

[User] ELI5: How is a razorsharp kitchen knife safer than a duller one?

[Assistant] The accepted wisdom is that you have greater control over a sharp knife since it cuts more reliably and consistently, and you have to apply less force to cut, so you're less likely to lose control and cut yourself.


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

[User] [Star Wars Legends] What if Darth Plagueis had trained Anakin Skywalker?

[Assistant]
Much the same to a certain point, I'd imagine. If it's Plagueis training Anakin, then Palpatine has been disposed of. Palpatine has either failed to defeat Plagueis, or Plagueis has engineered a situation where Anakin defeats Palpatine, and succeeds him as Plagueis' apprentice.

Plagueis would have manipulated his way to being Supreme Chancellor, initiated the Clone Wars (maybe behind schedule at this point, as he wont become Supreme Chancellor overnight) and ultimately manipulated the Galaxy into declaring him Emperor, and establishing the Galactic Empire - because Palpatine's vision for the new order was shared by Plagueis up to that point.

His apprentice Darth 'Insert Sith Moniker Here', formally Anakin Skywalker, would probably have had much the same role he had as Palpatine's apprentice, except he probably wouldn't have been maimed by Obi-Wan, so wouldn't be half-cyborg. Obi-Wan would probably have been defeated by Anakin, as Anakin would have been more powerful under Plagueis...

Unlike Palpatine, Plagueis wouldn't have feared Anakin's power, but would have embraced it - arrogantly believeing that no matter how strong Anakin got, he could never defeat the "immortal" Darth Plagueis. He wouldn't have had to worry about Anakin resenting him for the death of Padme, or for turning him into the half-cyborg "Vader". Speaking of Padme, maybe Plagueis actually saves her, he had the power to! Maybe witnessing Plagueis' power over life and death causes Anakin to join him willingly, seeing that no Jedi could be this powerful, no Jedi could have saved Padme.

The infant Luke and Leia are raised as Sith by Anakin, the three of them become powerful beyond all measure (if you've played the latest SWTOR expansion - think Valkorion & his children, same kinda deal) and eventually usurp Plagueis. Game over for the Jedi, the light side in general and for democracy and a free galaxy - checkmate.


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

[User]
CMV: The imperial measuring system sucks

Im Canadian so Im somewhat used to both the metric and imperial system. And aside from when were talking about a persons height I think the metric system is better in every way. I think using feet for height is only easy because Im used to it. But if I grew up in a different country I would probably be used to the metric system. Everything else outlined below Im somewhat used to, but I think its stupid.

Mass:
So in the metric system its easy. 1000g=1kg. And then theres 1000mg=1g thats used for medications.
The imperial system has lbs, oz and stone. 16oz=1lb, 1stone=14lbs?? How are you supposed to remember these numbers.
And what if you need less than an oz? Do you start using a lot of decimals then?

Capacity (Volume):
1L=1000mL. Again easy to remember.
Now Im so confused with imperial. Theres gallon, pint and oz (no idea what the conversion is).
Also why is there an ounce in mass and liquid volume?? This part is confusing.

Length:
Metric is pretty self explanatory again.
Whereas imperial has weird units. Whats smaller than an inch?? And 12in=1ft, 3ft=1yard, no idea how long a mile is but so on.
Also whats the purpose of having a measuring unit for yards? Whats it used for?

Temperature:
Celsius is easy to remember. 0 is freezing for water, 100 is boiling for water, room temperature is 20-22. Fahrenheit is confusing.
32 is freezing, whats the boiling point?
Also it doesnt make sense for even the average human body temperature. A normal temp is in-between 36.5-37.5 C, or 97.7-99.5F.

[Assistant]
Fahrenheit is more precise than Celsius.

In the US, I'd wager that temps range largely between 0-100 fahrenheit. It's been 18 in winters by me, and high 90s in summer. It's a wide range that's accounted for, with precision. You can feel the difference in a degree. 0-100 fahrenheit in Celsius is -17.778 to 37.778. You get 55 in the same temp range that fahrenheit gets 100.

And fahrenheit is normalized around air temperature for everyday use. I'd without a doubt say that Celsius is better for anything scientific, but the temperature around you will never reach boiling point, and it freezes fairly often. Below 0 in Fahrenheit refers to it being abnormally cold for most places (barring northern countries) but in Celsius it just means freezing. Above 100 in Fahrenheit means it's a very hot day. Celsius just doesn't feel in tune with how sensitive we are to weather and doesn't account for the temp differences we are able to feel (unless Celsius uses decimals, which would be one major downside imo).

The rest, yeah totally agree.


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

[User] [Witcher] With Witchers becoming increasingly rare in the world how does the population deal with monsters?

[Assistant]
The monsters are mostly gone.
Kaer Morhen was attack and not rebuild because Witchers destroy most of the Monsters.
Does who are left can be kill by regular military. But it is "Send 1 witcher or send 1-3 squads of soldiers and not all soldiers will return"


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

[User] ELI5: Why do all living creatures have to die, why can't we live for ever? Also why does there have to be a deterioration of the living being at some point in their life?

[Assistant]
We don't have to.

Google's Calico division is working on curing death, as well as Aubrey Degrey's SENS organization. No guarantees, but it's looking like it'll be between 20-50 years before we have something concrete.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Just how non-stop crazy is the news-cycle on Earth?

Pick up any issue since 1961. At least one thing happens in it that would make breaking news worldwide for weeks. I tried to test this out and found a random comic from the very beginning (The Amazing Spider-Man (1961) Issue #4), and a very recent issue (X-Men: Gold (2017) Issue #26). The former included The Sandman terrorising a school and almost assaulting a principal. The latter included the destruction of half a Las Vegas club (pretty tame for an X-Men comic Ill admit).

Both of these events would be massive news stories if they happened in isolation, but there are thousands of issues of hundreds of comic series, most of which take place on Earth 616. Journalists and news anchors must be millionaires and/or overworked to the point of death.

And dont even get me started on the sliding timescale. These events are so condensed its unreal.

Are there any stories that delve into the crazy world of the Marvel news cycle?

[Assistant]
Simply, in the Marvel Universe, the standards for breaking news have gone up accordingly. "A supervillian destroys a club" or suchlike isn't *news* anymore- after all, as you say, that happens all the time, global papers won't report on each one any more then they'll report on each gang killing in our world. It's only when something stands out that it's worth writing a story about it.

This is actually pretty bleak when you think about it. The news isn't overwhelmed because mass death is now the new normal. "Sandman destroys a school and villains destroy a night club" is just business as normal- as the old saying goes, no-one reports "dog bites man".


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

[User]
[StarWars] Why was the orbital bombardment Thrawn used in Rebels so weak?

In Star Wars Rebels Zero Hour we see a fleet of ISDs bombard a target for the first time. In Legends turbolasers were capable of causing nuclear explosions and were regarded as being gigatons in terms of firepower. However, in Rebels the firepower of a turbolaser looks weaker than a World War II battleship with the explosions looking no more bigger than a stick of dynamite. Seeing Kanan's speederbike get blown up was pretty pathetic. Real world militaries have far bigger explosions than what we see in Rebels. Is Star Wars Rebels the true strength of a ISD turbolaser battery in canon?

[Assistant] Whenever Thrawn holds back on something, he's intentionally letting his enemies retreat so that he can track/interrogate them later. In Rebels, there was an incident where the Lothal group attacked some Imperial outpost and stole some starfighters. Rather than chasing them down and blowing up their ships, he let them go so that they could provide another vector for narrowing down the location of the Rebel base.


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

[User]
[Thor 2: The Dark World] Malekith's motivations

Was Malekiths plan to turn off all the stars in the universe ideologically/religiously motivated, as it seems patently self-destructive.

Or was it semi-rational (the dark-elves had enough technology to survive in a dead universe, so would be ok, but still - *why* kill everything else in the universe?), or was there a reason that would be seen as actually rational from our perspective?

[Assistant]
The Dark Elves evolved during a time before stars and light were a thing, and never changed when the universe became so filled with light.  This is why they're dying out in the current universe.

They wouldn't just be able to survive in the new world Malakith was creating, they would *thrive*.  It's the opposite of self-destructive, he saw this plan as the only way his species survives.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] R2 and Anakin seem really close. Why didn't Anakin -- someone who regularly went to battle -- upgrade R2 with more offensive capabilities and/or the ability to speak basic?

Imagine R2 with blasters and thermal detonators...

[Assistant]
Droids without weapons can pass through security checks far more easily.

R2 was far more versatile at covert tactics than he would have benefitted by carrying weapons. No one would suspect an R2 unit to be as adept as R2-D2 was. But if he was detected to have weapons, that would be the end of him.  And, as it happens, R2 survived decades just fine without them.

Also, why would R2 need to speak basic? Another add-on that would just draw more suspicion as to why an R2 unit had that ability.  Besides, Anakin can understand him just fine.


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

[User] ELI5: How is the USA PATRIOT Act still functioning, despite constant criticisms about its unconstitutionality, as in why hasn't the Supreme Court overturned it yet?

[Assistant]
In order to challenge the constitutionality of a law you have to have standing to do so - the simplified version of that is you have to be able to prove the law has harmed you or infringed on your rights or (in some rare cases) that it is likley to do so.

So far most of the challenges to the USA PATRIOT Act have been rejected on standing grounds, the Court finds that people lack any proof that they have been harmed by the law.  Since the most controversial provisions of the law have to do with what the government can do in secret, it turns out to be very hard to prove you have been harmed by the law (and when you can, that evidence may be in admissible on state secret grounds).  So you lack standing.

TL:DR if you can't prove you've had your rights violated because the violation was secret, you can't challenge the violation because you can't prove it happened.


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

[User]
[WH40K] Some general questions from a heretic/newbie

So I've just started with WH40K, and I have got some questions that plague me. Just general questions.
Please correct me, if I got some facts wrong

1. The warp: Do I understand it correctly, that it just appeared, when there were many humans in the universe? Psykers get their powers from it, don't they?

2. Daemon/Warp Invasions: they can't be stopped, just held off, can they? You just have to defeat the warp creatures to stop this incursion?

3. The Emperor: He is a very powerful Psyker, who got wounded by horus that badly, that He needed the golden throne, which is an ancient artifact, to survive. The GT even further amplifies his psychic abilities and He weakens the Warp Invasions, Daemons etc.

4. The end of all this: The incursions couldn't be stopped completely, only if He were to defeat the Chaos Gods?

Did I understand all this correctly?
Thanks in advance and sorry for this bulk of questions.

[Assistant]
1. Warp was originally were all souls rest, but the War in Heaven 60 million years ago fucked it so bad it became Chaos as we know it. Now any time a massive amount of emotions flood it it can result in a new Chaos God. All psykers draw from it, but are constantly at risk.

2. Yeah pretty much, once something like an Eye of Terror opens up your kinda boned. Smaller rifts might be able to be fixed though copius amounts of fire.

3. The Emperor is a fusion of thousands of human shamans, the old school psykers. He was their giant middle finger to Chaos trying to eat their souls. The throne doesn't do shit to close holes, it was part of a bigger project to avoid the Warp

4. He was a problem, but even he couldn't take on Chaos Gods alone. He was just trying to find loopholes to avoid them like the Web Way, which was what the Golden Throne plan was trying to do.


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

[User] If temperature is the cumulative speed of molecules in a material, what exactly produces the infra-red light we commonly associate as heat?

[Assistant]
In classical thermodynamics, temperature can be associated with the distribution of velocities of particles (not only molecules) - the wider the distribution, the higher the speed of particles on average, and the higher the temperature.

At the microscopic level, particles can lose some energy related to this motion and radiate it away. This can be the energy level of electron orbitals, rotations and vibrations of molecules, lattice vibrations in a material, etc. The spectrum of light produced by thermal radiation depends only on temperature. You can calculate it, and it just so happens that it peaks close to the infrared for everyday temperatures. For temperatures close to those near the surface of the Sun (\~6000K), it peaks at visible light.


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

[User]
Why is Electron so huge?

Electron is headless Chrome/Blink, no? If it was meant for that purpose, why have they not trimmed some of the fluff in terms of size and performance?

Every time someone develops something in Electron, the first gripe is that it is huge and not performative. Just wondering why this hasn't been solved yet, or if it is even possible to solve.

EDIT - Before this gets too far, by poor performance I am actually referring to high resource usage.

[Assistant]
> Electron is headless Chrome/Blink, no?

It's not headless. Headless means no graphics (or rather, no display).

The thing that make web browsers huge is the html/css renderer and the javascript engine. If you remove that electron is useless.


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

[User] [DC] Where was Dr Manhattan between his death as normal human and resurrection as Dr Manhattan?

[Assistant]
Everywhere, a trillion atoms scattered together like dust in a hurricane.

His mental form somehow persisted and he used his methodical and delicate thought processes to slowly pull what was himself together.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are cities built at sea shores despite threat of storms and tsunamis?

I know that water transportation is one reason but wouldn't it be better to build cities a bit far from the sea shores given the threat of storms and tsunamis?

[Assistant] Transportation is the biggest reason. Until 150 years or so ago, water was the only efficient means of transporting large amounts of goods and even today remains critically important for international trade. Also access to water, the moderating aspect of water on temperatures.


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

[User]
CMV: NFTs are digital garbage whose popularity is fueled by greedy speculation.

Weve seen this before Hummel figurines, beanie babies, Thomas Kinkade collectibles. People will compete to spend money on tokens purely out of speculation under the misguided belief that These are gonna be worth something someday. With NFTs, I dont believe there is any true value to them and as a medium, I do not believe they will have lasting artistic significance.

My current take is that NFTs are an offshoot of what Ill deem The Blockchain Bubble. When I googled What makes an NFT valuable? I got this: Factors that make NFTs such a valuable investment are utility, ownership history, underlying value, perception of the buyer, liquidity premium and future value

All of this is subjective with a heavy profit motive, but the profit hinges on speculation not retailing or commodities.

People compare owning an NFT to owning an original painting or the Masters of a recording. The problem with this is - those products can be commoditized while an NFT can not.

Moreover, NFTs are not competitive in the digital ecosystem - there are literally BILLIONS of drawings paintings pictures songs and depictions that are free, all over the internet. They arent scarce or limited - so why would I want to pay for something when I can obtain it for free?

We are in the middle of a hype-cycle and humans flock towards the next shiny thing like magpies but I concede there may be more to this than I realize. Maybe there is something about NFTs that is valuable change my view!

[Assistant]
The NFT PDFs people are selling are insanely stupid. It's literally selling low effort digital art for insane prices based on speculation.

The underlying technology has a lot of promising real world potential though.

Event tickets: We can get rid of predatory ticket services that charge insane fees for sending you a PDF. If a band is going on tour, their concert promoter can sell the tickets as NFTs directly to customers. If someone wants to sell their ticket to another person, they don't have to do the "transfer" shit through ticketmaster and end up paying another insane fee for sending a PDF. If the ticket NFTs are on a proof of stake blockchain (the kind that doesn't require insane computing power to make transactions), you would end up paying a fee somewhere around a penny to transfer the ticket to the person buying it from you.

Logistics: Several logistics companies are already using NFTs as BOLs (shipping receipts essentially) and reporting increased efficiency and less wasted time/fuel caused by mix-ups of which driver is supposed to take which shipment. IDK the ins and outs of it, but reducing waste in transportation is always a good thing.


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

[User] ELI5: Why was tarring and feathering such a popular punishment back in the day?

[Assistant]
Besides making a chicken-man?

It was done because it was painful and humiliating. The tar really stinks - and sticks.

It would take many days for the tar to clean off. Trying to remove it by force was not really an option, unless skin is optional.

TL;DR: Essentially it was a punishment intended to humiliate and try to coerce societal conformity through shaming.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are neodymium magnets so strong when neodymium is not a magnetic element?

[Assistant] Magnetism comes from the poles of atoms oriented in the same direction. Traditional iron magnets are made of iron atoms, which loosely orient in a direction. However adding neodymium forces the iron into a fixed structure, with almost all the atoms are oriented more efficiently. So the new crystal structure amplifies the magnetism of iron as neodymium magnets are made out of  neodymium/iron/boron.


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

[User] ELI5: What does a virus or bacteria gain from making its host sick?

[Assistant] Bacteria and viruses don't necessarily want their host sick, or even dead. Complications happen when the virus is in an organism it's not supposed to be in, and that organism isn't equipped to handle the virus. Rats carried the plague and were doing just fine, but when they jumped shipped and infected humans, they wiped out millions in the 14th century. It's the same with the influenza virus, and other viruses. Their goal is to multiply within their host for a while and then spread. Sometimes though, killing your host and exposing its fluids to other organisms is the best way to migrate.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why did the Soviet Union have such a hard time feeding its population.

Russia, especially, seemed to have a lot of money, plenty of farmland, and a decent infrastructure. So, why did it have trouble filling its grocery stores with food?

[Assistant]
Because at every level, the incentives were all in favor of people making decisions contrary to the public good.  It was a logistical structure built around the premise that people would simply obey their masters because their masters worked for the 'public good'.

On the one hand, working harder and innovating didn't yield any rewards.  On the other hand, cheating the system *did*.  So all up and down the system, you had people who were either withholding the full measure of their capabilities or turning those capabilities to graft.

In contrast, an American farmer works harder because he makes more money.  He doesn't under-report his production because it wouldn't make any sense to do so - he won't get paid for anything he doesn't report.  Similarly, the people transporting, distributing and retailing the food are all primarily interested in getting the most they can to the customer so they can get paid.


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

[User]
[Predators/Deadpool] how would a yautja react to someone who literally cannot die, like deadpool?

seeing as how yautja like to keep the skulls of their prey as trophies and deadpool can still survive while decapitated...how would that go down?

would the yautja hunt down deadpool, take his head and then immedietly toss it away since the head DOESNT STOP TALKING?

what if deadpool regenerated his whole body back after the yautja spends a stressful grueling day hunting and fighting him?

at what point do the yautja say, "fuck it. i give up!"

[Assistant] They don't always take skulls for trophies. Just beating an immortal fighter in fair combat would be a tale worthy of taking a trophy for. One of Deadpool's swords or maybe his mask. Something the hunter can mount on a wall and say yes they beat this unstoppable warrior in single combat.  Combat to the death is preferred but just a good bloody fight that the yautja has a chance of losing is still a good fight.


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

[User]
Is it a disaster for those who are not good at maths to learn Econ?

I mean myself

What a wrong choice. Can I change my major even though I have learned it for 4years ,chasing a master degree now?

[Assistant] Good at math is not like astigmatism. Yes people have different talents and graduate-level economics requires substantial math, but in a normal graduate program there are people who have different math skills and you may have to work harder, but maybe you can work with other students and realize that you are intimidated by math rather than bad at it. Give yourself a chance if you have interest in the subject.


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

[User]
[Ghostbusters] Are the ghosts in the containment unit....happy?

I mean, obviously they're not thrilled to be there, but is it ethical to keep them there? Whats the "inside" like? Are they throwing normal deceased people and animals in with fully malevolent spectres and demons? Are deceased persons still entitled to certain rights?

[Assistant] There's an episode in the cartoon series of (The real Ghostbusters) where they go inside the containment unit. It's basically an anti-reality where being dead is normal and they're afraid of the living.


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

[User] [ELI5] Why is dust one of the most common allergies? Isn't dust one of the most common things in the world?

[Assistant]
People are usually allergic to *specific kinds of* dust. For example, the kind that is made of human skin flakes. Or they are allergic to the tiny creatures called *dust mites* that live in some dust.

A current theory is that people are more likely to develop an allergy when the environment they grow up in is too clean.


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

[User]
[LoTR] How exactly was Sauron forging the ring a power boost?

How would the story have gone if he decided not to forge the ring?

[Assistant]
It wasn't really a power boost, he was already an extremely powerful maia, but he wanted to avoid the mistake Melkor made.

Melkor dispersed his power over time, imbuing it into the earth and into his corrupted projects (Dragons).  He became weaker and weaker, to the point where the Children of Eru Illuvatar could physically hurt him with their weapons (Fingolfin and Beren).  He retained his majest as an Vala, but his power was no longer what it once was.

Sauron preserved the bulk of his power in an object, keeping it secure and available so long as the ring was in his possession.  Doing so he also gained the forced loyalty of all other ring wearers as their rings were made with his knowledge and thus his spirit.  This was in a way a power boost, as it assured some amount of deference from men, elves and dwarves.

If he had not forged the ring, over time his power would disperse into the world, like Melkor.  The end result would probably be the same, he would become a powerless spirit of malice, but the process would probably take much longer as Sauron was fairly prudent about how he used his power.


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

[User] ELI5: What is an identity graph and why are companies building them?

[Assistant]
An identity graph is a collection of identifiers and their relationships to real users. These identifiers could include your email address, third party cookies and other stable pieces of data.

Companies want to buy these because they help make a profile of a person and tie together the data related to different identifiers.


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

[User]
Does the orbit of the earth around the sun affect spaceship launches?

Do we time the launches of satellites and spaceships etc to coincide with the part of the earth they are on facing the opposite direction to the path of the earths orbit around the sun? It seems as though if we took off while facing the direction of the orbit, the earth would be moving towards the rocket as it took off. If launched from the opposite side then the earth would be moving away from the rocket as it is launched making it easier? Does this have any effect or does the gravity of the earth cancel it out?

[Assistant]
Everything on earth already has earths' velocity. Any thrust you're adding just adds to this velocity. For launches into earths' orbit the sun doesn't matter. For launches to other planets our orbital location and theirs matter since you need to transfer between orbits. In that case too it not so much the timing of the launch that matters but when you're trying to change orbits.

Just to clarify, gravity is the same for a location though out the day. Earth's velocity doesn't affect gravity at all.


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

[User] ELI5: Can someone explain Paul Romer's quote I am convinced that both markets and free trade are good, but the traditional answer that we give to students to explain why they are good, the one based on perfect competition and Pareto optimality*, is becoming untenable. Something much more interest.

[Assistant]
Basically he is saying that he is convinced neoliberal capitalism is good, but that the reasons neoliberal economists have been using to justify it for the past century or so are becoming so obviously wrong that they are no longer tenable.

Those reasons being **perfect competition** (the situation prevailing in a market in which buyers and sellers are so numerous and well informed that all elements of monopoly are absent and the market price of a commodity is beyond the control of individual buyers and sellers) and **Pareto optimality** (an economic state where resources cannot be reallocated to make one individual better off without making at least one individual worse off). In 2020 it's abundantly clear that these theories do not reflect the reality of markets, and probably never have.


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

[User]
If water is so scarce in some areas, why isn't it prohibitively priced?

Here on Reddit I constantly see people complaining about almond farms, golf courses, and Lake Meade. I've been discouraged from moving to the Southwest United States, because of their water crises. I currently live in Utah, where we have a water crisis of our own. In my area, I see a lot of PSAs about conserving water, but never any notifications/complaints about "high water prices" (people in my city complain about everything).

My economic question is, if there's a shortage, why aren't they raising the prices substantially?  No one wants to be price gouged, but this is a long-term crisis and price increases will generate behavior change signals to people who are not using water economically, and force badly behaving companies out of business.

Are there barriers in the way of keeping drought-stricken areas from raising the price of water? Or are we already in equilibrium and people are just fear-mongering because this is Reddit?

[Assistant]
This opens up all kinds of questions. Water is ultimately really cheap. As far as monthly expenses go, it's a blip on the radar for most people.

So the question is, how much more expensive do we have to make it to discourage its use enough.

Which leads us to the next point. We *want* people to have easy and cheap access to water, because we desperately need it to survive. Of course we also want to conserve water, because we desperately need it to survive.

You could say "well, households that consume less than X gallons get the cheap price and everything above that is really expensive", which works fine in principle, but then you gotta think about enforcement. How do you make sure people actually stick to this, does the law even allow such restrictions, etc. And what about companies, who probably use way more water than households anyway?

These are for the most part solvable issues, but it's not really that easy to implement a "good" water conservation policy. Not to mention that you need the political will to implement it.


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

[User]
What is the physical basis for electric charge?

That is, what is it about protons that attracts electrons and repels other protons and vice-versa? Or is it one of those things where that's just the way it is and nobody knows why yet?

[Assistant]
We can push things a little farther than just to say that's how it is.  There's a deep principle of nature called *U(1) gauge invariance*.  It's a kind of symmetry transformation that the laws of physics have, meaning if apply this transformation, the laws of physics are unchanged.

The details of U(1) gauge invariance are somewhat technical, but it has a huge array of consequences.  These include the existence of electric and magnetic fields, the existence of photons, the fact that photons are massless, the fact that photons have spin 1 (which is why electromagnetic fields have a polarization), conservation of electric charge, and the fact that like charges repel and unlike charges attract.

So probably the deepest answer to your question is that the universe has a U(1) gauge invariance.  Now why does U(1) gauge invariance hold?  That we don't know, but it is remarkable to have one principle explaining so much.


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

[User] ELI5: whats happening in your body when youre hungover that makes you feel so crappy?

[Assistant]
There is still a lot of debate regarding the causes of hangovers and it is challenging to study.

There are a few factors that are thought to be the main contributors to feeling so crappy.

1. Your body has an inflammatory response to the alcohol, inflammatory responses don't feel good
2. Alcohol alters the levels of different neurotransmitters in your brain and this takes time to return to normal
3. Alcohol damages your mitochondria (part of your cells that make energy).
4. The metabolites of alcohol (chemicals that your body breaks alcohol down into), particularly acetaldehyde, are toxic.  Acetaldehyde is usually broken down really quickly so probably has minimal impact for most people, unless you are genetically less able to break it down (its build up in the body causes 'Asian Flush' in some East Asian people for example)

Edit:

I should have included something about dehydration up here. Dehydration definitely contributes to how you feel in the morning but it is not solely responsible for the actual alcohol hangover.

This is the reason hangovers can still occur with appropriate hydration and why they don't go away simply by rehydrating.

It's generally considered that the effects of dehydration often occur concurrently but should be considered separately to the effects of the alcohol.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why it's so hard to hold back laughter.

Like when I'm in class, for example, and something funny suddenly pops into my head and makes me want to laugh but I can't simply choose to laugh or not laugh. I have to hold back the laughter. Why is this?

[Assistant]
The euphoria of laughter is an involuntary emotional response. Just like you can't choose to stop your own heart from beating, you can't choose to not find an event funny/sad/scary/etc.

We have these responses because they benefit humanity through authenticity - imagine if you couldn't naturally laugh at things, but always had to decide to "fake laugh". There would be nothing truly funny, since any laughter is done out of a conscious desire to laugh. Same with our reactions to anything evoking a specific emotion - for the emotion to exist, we must react to it naturally.


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

[User]
[Terminator] In T2 what if Sarah had simply held a press conference and revealed the T-800 (friendly Arnie) to the world? Proof that the robot was from the future and that they can't allow A.I. to control the nukes?

Then at least a nuclear holocaust would be avoided.  Sure, the USA government would confiscate the T-800 and use the technology for better weapons of war.  But America already dominates the world's military, so that wouldn't change.

And people worldwide might set aside their differences and be awe struck at the wonder of time travel, and billions of deaths avoided....

[Assistant] The problem is, every time you do anything that becomes public knowledge, you potentially create another data point that's accessible to Skynet in the future. If a copy of the article about Sarah Connor's robot survives and comes to the attention of Skynet, there might be another Terminator waiting right where you said the press conference was going to be.


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

[User]
[Invincible] Question about a certain comic event.

Major comic spoilers, you've been warned.

So I was reading ahead in the Invincible comics, and came across "that" moment. So Mark comes across a female Viltrumite named Anissa, who shows "great interest" in her when they first meet, and later Mark runs into Anissa again after a fight with Atom Eve. Viltrumites had come to Earth to breed with humans to replenish their dwindling populace, but Anissa thinks humans are too weak for her and wants someone strong to father her child, someone like Mark, and let's just say, she wasn't taking no for an answer.

When Eve and Omni-Man catch wind of this, they both seem ready to tear Anissa limb from limb, Omni-Man before he even knew what exactly happened, but Mark stops them from attacking her.

My question ultimately is why Mark felt the need to stand up for the woman who violated him against his will for selfish gain. Is it some form of Stockholm Syndrome or something? Any answers are greatly appreciated.

[Assistant]
He doesn't want his father and girlfriend to become killers.

Omniman is, of course, still only recently redeemed from being a genocidal monster. Meanwhile, Eve's greatest regret is choosing punishing her abusers over saving her family, and her powers could easily become weapons of mass destruction if she let loose. Both have a lot to lose, psychologically, from cold blooded killing, no matter how justified it might be.

They're moving away from violence. Everyone is. He doesn't want to be the reason they move back.


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

[User] Eli5: Why do we get blisters when wearing new shoes for the first time?

[Assistant]
The average foot is covered with fairly soft and scrapeable skin. That skin wears away when it's rubbed or tugged against something over and over again. If the constant pulling action is along the surface of the skin and it's in short quick jerks, it can actually separate the top layer of your skin from the bottom. Fluid fills the middle and you get a blister.

So take that foot and jam it into a shoe that doesn't fit properly and you create a number of pinch points. As you walk and your weight shifts that foot around a little in your shoe over and over again in the same way, the conditions near the shoe's pinch-points can be perfect for this tugging action to occur, resulting in blisters.

If the shoe is a "near fit" and you continue to walk in it over time, it softens due to the repeated stretching, some of the seams wear down a tiny bit from friction, and its leather or other content molds and stretches to accommodate your foot better. This reduces the pulling action because it's no longer pressing against your skin in the same way, so you don't get the blisters any more.


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

[User] [Avatar] Does the Avatar asautomatically have greater potential as a Bender in a particular element than a native Bender of that element?

[Assistant]
For the most part, yeah.

Fully realized Avatars can, at their peak, reshape the planet around them. That being said, the power of each Avatar in their base form is up to them--if they train enough they'd probably be the strongest bender of an element, but that doesn'T mean they will be ABSOLUTELY the strongest. Individual benders might be more skilled as well--some of the masters we see far outstrip Korra and Aang in bending skill due to a long life of single element mastery.

Avatar state? Yeah, def. Each new avatar is the strongest--the combined power and knowledge of their previous lives stack into god mode.


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

[User]
ELI5: Noise Canceling Headphones

They work great, but how do they cancel the noise?

[Assistant]
Every sound is a wave in a medium.

That means, sounds are vibrations in the air. Like a wave in your pool.

Now, if you have ever been splashing in the pool, you may have noticed that two peaks of a wave, when they collide, will make a bigger wave. Also, a peak and a trough (the dip) , if they collide, they sort of cancel out.

Well, if that peak is exactly the same shape, and exactly the same size as the dip (in reverse) the wave will totally cancel.

What the noise cancelling headphones do is listen to the outside waves coming towards you, use a computer to calculate the inverse dips needed, and pump that into your headphones to cancel the noise.


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

[User]
CMV: Discriminating against thugs is not racism and is perfectly OK to do

First, I need to define what I mean by thugs/the thug culture.  This is a subculture, primarily in US, that glorifies crime, gang violence, objectification of women.  The subculture has some adjacent practices that are related to these values (ie. Rap that glorifies crime, and objectification of women)

Treating people ascribing to this subculture differently is not racist because any race can ascribe to it.  Moreover, no race is ultimately predisposed to be apart of the subculture.  So its 100% separate from race (though there may be correlation via poverty).

Its OK for me to act and treat someone differently because of their values/subculture, regardless of their race.

Edit: My view is changed, somewhat.  I acknowledge that discriminating on these traits has unintentional consequences that disproportionately effect blacks.  In turn, those consequences cause a vicious cycle; blacks get less opportunity and never escape the thug cycle.
However, I still maintain that discriminating on these traits is no inherently racist.  Id go on to say that those who label, decry, ostracize those who express these views as racist only do one thing: cause people to check-out and double down.  What is far more effective is either giving this another term such us unintentional racism or describing to these people how their actions are unintentionally racist.

[Assistant]
The issue is that "thugs" is not a well-defined group. Even if we ignore its more racist connotations, we can still find plenty of examples of people misusing the word.

Imagine an older person who considered all rap to be "thug music". If he was your employer, and he found out that you liked listening to rap, is it okay for him to hold that against you?


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

[User]
[Dragonball Z] Why did Supreme Kai never stop Freeza?

Isn't he suppose to be some sort of guardian of the universe? So, wouldn't a genocidal intergalactic overlord be something he should get involved in?

[Assistant]
Freeza serves a purpose. The Universe wants to stay balance between destruction and creation (Ying and yang). People like Freeza and Goku are left practically unchecked because they balance each other out with destruction and protection.

It is only when that balance begins to fail that the Gods get involved. The Kai's will only get involved if something too destructive is created (like Buu) and Bills will wake up if there is not enough destruction.


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

[User]
U.S. Media has been largely criticized as inadequate, sensationalist, and celebrity focused. What kind of policy change can be made to change this and what evidence exists in support of this claim?

Is there any way to theoretically change the standard in U.S. Media?  A large problem is that celebrity news and sensationalist headlines often get the viewers and make the money. Journalism as it is is struggling as the Internet grows -- not only because everyone gets their news for free now, but also because news organizations now recognize that the gossip and entertainment get the most clicks and therefore the most ad revenue. Journalism is also considered entertainment media so they don't even necessarily have to be accurate (according to *The Corporation*)

The Netherlands and Sweden have government subsidized news media which takes out the money incentive but puts a focus on quality. Could a similar policy or other policies work in the United States? Also, many of these things I've heard in class or online without any real statistics or tangible evidence. Does this evidence exist? These things interest me and are important to me but I'd hate to be talking out of my ass.

[Assistant] If you want to change the media, start with the consumers. The issues with the media are a symptom of a larger problem. Namely, that the American education system sucks. People who are better educated are more discerning news consumers. When that happens, the market for news and information will respond accordingly.


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

[User] What EXACTLY is google storing about me? What data do they have, and what will they sell to companies? Why should I be worried?

[Assistant]
Google knows whatever you and your friends tell google about you.  Your account info (name, maybe where you're from, etc.) It also knows what you search for on any of it's services while you're logged in (maps, search, YouTube, plus, etc.).

Google doesn't sell your information to companies.  Your information is the crux of Google's business. It makes money by being the middleman between your information and companies.  In other words, Google uses the information you give them over time in your searches to tailor advertisements you see on Google pages to be from companies you are most likely to purchase something from.  Companies pay lots of money to Google for this because they are very good at putting the right ads in front of the right people.

You don't need to be worried about anything; you just can't be dumb (ie. don't google your social security number or your bank acct numbers; common sense stuff).  In fact, most times people benefit heavily from what google knows about them.  For example, you search google for "ice cream parlor" and your results have the potential to tell you about nearby parlors (maps knows where you live) and if you have a friend with an opinion about the parlor (plus knows your friends and has reviews of places).  Google knowing things about you can make for a much richer web browsing experience.


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

[User]
ELI5: How come increased memory on an iphone is so expensive? A 16GB micro sd only cost $10

Why does it cost $100 more when buying an Iphone. Just take the same Micros sd and throw it in for just $10 more?

[Assistant]
Annoyed with the fanboy comments here so here's an actual answer:

The read/write speeds for one are lower on most MicroSD (for the purpose of this answer, we'll assume a standard 10/20 card, rather than the 'extreme' cards that are upwards of 60-100 for 64GB that have comparable speeds).

Secondly, the quality of the actual flash storage is different. Many MicroSD cards wouldn't be able to handle the sheer amount of actual data writing involved in effectively running an OS. MicroSD cards are mainly used for occasional writing and more often, lots of reading. This means the storage isn't changed much, which gives the appearance of a great quality and long lasting product. Take it from experience, start writing GBs of data to a MicroSD card over and over and soon enough it'll fail. It's why desktop SSD's aren't just loads of MicroSD cards slotted together.

The storage in the iPhone had to be of similar quality to that in a desktop SSD. It has to run a full mobile OS, frequently write data (pictures, music, videos, text messages etc.) and still perform at fast speeds with minimal to no loss in overall capacity over a long period of time. It has to have near zero failure as it'll cause the entire device to fail (think system file corruption). It's also in constant 24/7/365 use for several years.

While it's well known the actual storage doesn't really cost that much as Apple buy so much of it, the fact is that they charge a premium for their devices, and they can also make bigger profit margins by charging more for more internal capacity. An extra 80 for doubling the capacity each time (although that's now changed slightly with the 6 and 6+).

The final thing is this: by controlling the storage as internal only, Apple can control the overall experience further. A MicroSD card with a read/write speed of say 20/20Mbps versus 200/200Mbps would give very different results when copying data or playing back HD films. Apple can guarantee what will and won't work, the speeds of syncing data, and also what data can be copied to the device as it's not removable or readable as an actual storage device (for the most part when non-jail broken).

Source: IT Engineer, Apple Certified Tech Co-ordination, former Apple employee, overall Apple/Tech nerd.

TL;DR: The flash storage used in a MicroSD card is of a lower quality than that used in an iPhone (or other smartphones). Apple charge a premium because they can.


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

[User]
[LOTR] How do events play out if Boromir survived?

Let's imagine that most of events of The Fellowship of the Ring takes place. Boromir is tempted by the Ring, he confronts Frodo, causing him and Sam to split, and Boromir comes to his senses, regretting his actions, hears Merry and Pippin in trouble, and goes to their aid.

Here is where things will diverge. Boromir fights valiantly to try and save them, but for whatever reason the Orcs leave with the Hobbits while he is fighting. He gets wounded, but survives as Aragorn arrives to finish off the last of the Uruk Hai.

How does events play out from here?

[Assistant] Boromir Formally requests help to Rohan so they don't have to wait for the arrow/beacons. Rohan has more time to gather their forces and arrive sooner. This allows Aragorn and Boromit to take command of Gondor's forces. Gandalf now free from stopping Denethor's madness goes to match the witch king and takes him down. Theoden lives and not much else changes.


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

[User]
ELI5: If my ISP has a cable that can provide upto 50mb speeds, but i purchase the cheapest package (only upto 10mb) how do they ensure i don't get the fastest speed available?

This thought occured to me recently since my dad has been comparing ISPs since we are looking for a new provider. A quick check on BT told us we can get speeds upto 16mb since a new higher speed cable has been installed in the area. However if i were to buy the lowest tier package (speeds only upto 10mb or something) whats stopping me from actually getting the full speed.

Is it as simple as some software they have that automatically caps my speed somehow? How does one do that if so?

[Assistant] When someone sends some data to you, they send it in little chunks called packets.  Usually they start sending packets fairly slowly, and increase the speed until your computer is like "wooooah there hold up buddy" and then they back down a bit and keep sending at that slightly reduced speed.  Your ISP limits your speed by having your modem do the "wooooah there" message at 10 mbit/s or whatever your limit is.  It's possible to hack a modem to get around that though, but the technique varies a lot and may be detected by your ISP.


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

[User]
CMV: Video game voice actors should not be paid based on game performance

I didn't want to stuff the title full of qualifiers, so let me put it here: **I only hold this opinion because of the current Video Game industry, where artists, developers, and designers are not paid based on performance.**

The facts:

* You cannot have a game without code. Duh. Games are code.
* Games without good art assets are harder to become immersed in, and are harder to grab audience with a screenshot.
* Any game has inherent rules. For a game to be fun, the rules must be fun, so you need game designers.
* Games existed without voice actors.
* There are games without voice actors.
* No-one else is being paid more if the game does better (AFAIK).

My opinions:

* If anyone buys a game for the voice acting, they are in the minority.
* Voice acting is not as important as programming, design, or art.
* The strike reeks of elitism- "I'm an actor, and actors should be paid *more*, like in actor-driven industries such as television or film."
* A universal strike would be more useful- pay everyone based on how well the game does.

[Assistant]
I don't know if you're aware of this fact and objecting to it, or if you're unaware and this may change your view, but: actors being paid as a portion of the revenues of their performance is part of the regulations of SAG-AFTRA (The Screen Actor's Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Actors) - a union that most professional actors belong to.

Actors are paid differently than (for instance) programmers because actors have a union and a condition of their union membership is that they may not perform in any capacity that does not pay according to union standards: one of which is a potion of the finished product's revenue. For that same reason, SAG-AFTRA members may not appear in (for instance) community theater productions in which the actors are not paid: if they do, they risk losing their union membership.

SAG-AFTRA membership is *tremendously* valuable to actors, such that an actor will pass on a single, lucrative job if it would jeopardize his union status. Since most television, film, and professional theater productions hire *only* union actors, VO actors can't afford to give up their union status by taking jobs that don't pay according to SAG-AFTRA standards.

You may object to SAG-AFTRA's pay standards, but the fact remains that a.) most VO actors are members of the union, and b.) to use those actors, game studios must pay according to union standards. The best VO actors are all union members, and the games industry's refusal to cooperate with union standards is already forcing the union to consider a strike and boycott of video game voice acting.

VO acting is *acting*, and acting requires skill and professionalism. If the games industry wants to use professional actors, it must pay according to the standards of professional acting.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] if my animagus animal was an ape or a chimp, could I still grab my wand and use non verbal spells?

[Assistant] I don't see why not.  You still are mentally there as an animal and are aware of what happens when you are transformed.  Your biggest problem is accuracy as you have to be very precise with wand movements or spells are likely to backfire or not be what you want them to be.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does the "Meta" in Video Games develop?

How does the metagaming come about in game that are played competitively like Street Fighter or Overwatch? Do developers account for that or is it a entirely fan made thing?

[Assistant]
The metagame is almost always originally created by players. Players want to try to win, typically certain strategies are more effective. Even with "perfect balance" players' preferences tend to congregate (for example, a group of influential people agree a strategy is good, so they begin playing it. As they become experienced with that strategy, writing guides and so forth, they get better with that strategy so the strategy becomes even better). It's inevitable that certain strategies will become more common.

Developers will often influence the metagame by nerfing strategies that are deemed too powerful or "too stagnant" so the players and fans don't get bored.

Developers might also choose to reinforce the metagame. Somewhat famously in League of Legends, developers force players to play with assigned lanes fitting predefined roles. It was a bit controversial, because this means every single league game follows the same formulaic lane assignments. (Compare to other MOBAs where the lane you choose to go is a very important strategic decision.) But there are advantages as well. When you log in and play a game of League, you know exactly what you're doing and what your responsibilities are. For a 30 minute game with 9 other complete strangers, it makes it a lot easier to jump in.


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

[User]
I believe increasing the minimum wage would almost single handedly get us out of recession CMV

EDIT: "would almost single handedly fix our economy" would have been a better summary. I don't think we're technically in a recession.

Our current minimum wage is at a historic low considering inflation, and many people are forced to live below the poverty line or work multiple jobs just to get by. Increasing the minimum wage would put more money in the pockets of the millions (I'm guessing at this) of people that work in such jobs. Of course, a lot of this money would go into savings accounts, but a lot of it would also get spent right away and go right back into the economy. It's better for it to be in the savings account as of individuals than those of large corporations like McDonald's and Wal-Mart, which will either hoard the money or give it to their already wealthy shareholders who won't necessarily increase their own spending.

Sure, there would be layoffs and some small businesses might close, but you could argue that those businesses were poorly run or based on an unsustainable model if they require their employees to live in poverty or work multiple jobs.

My last opinion is that we need minimum wage to adjust every year with the poverty line. Having a minimum wage that requires new legislation in order to change results in the stagnant wage we have now, and makes it easier for large corporations to manipulate it by putting money in the pockets of politicians.

Change my view. :-)

[Assistant]
If your goal was to put money into the hands of those in poverty, why tie it to employment at a minimum-wage job? Is there something special about minimum-wage jobs? Why not just give people in poverty money, no strings attached, through a negative income tax?

You list out (and downplay) several perceived disadvantages with raising the minimum wage. Some jobs might go away. Some businesses might close. These directly represent damage to the economy, undermining part of your entire point for enacting a minimum wage in the first place. A negative income tax has none of these drawbacks. We could even probably adjust our income taxes such that it's cheaper for corporations to have a negative income tax for the poor than it is to have a higher minimum wage.

Basically, raising the minimum wage is an inefficient way to fix the problem. We can do better, easily.


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

[User]
[The Matrix Saga] What did Neo really achieve in the end?

All the humans are still plugged in to pods and being used as batteries. The machines could kill everyone in Zion any time they wanted and may well do so. The World is still ruined and all life is gone from it. Trinity is still dead.

That uplifting upbeat we are gonna take back what is ours final message from the end of the first film ended up ultimately playing out like this. Seems Mr Anderson might as well have just stayed working his office job because he sure didn't change anything.

[Assistant]
If we ignore the events of a certain MMO...

Neo struck a peace deal with the Machines.  "I will take care of your rogue Agent problem if you promise to leave Zion be."  The Machines agreed to this, because they were having trouble dealing with Smith.

As part of this deal, humans plugged into the Matrix would be given a choice.  If any humans in the Matrix realized the nature of their world, they would be woken up and allowed to join the others in Zion should they so wish.  The idea is that the humans in Zion would have no need to raid the Matrix and the power plants for new humans, which means the Machines wouldn't need to send squiddies against the humans and defend against their incursions. That is to say, there would be peace.

Naturally, as with any peace deal, there is always the possibility that either side, or both, will not keep their side of the bargain.  The Machines may decide to attack Zion anyway.  The humans may decide to continue raiding power plants.  There's no way to guarantee this peace will continue. Indeed, the Architect and the Oracle acknowledge that this peace probably won't last forever, though the Architect also declares that he has no intention of being the first to violate the deal.

So, on the whole, is the world still a shithole?  Yes.  But, for now, at least it's a peaceful shithole.


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

[User]
[World War Z] Do people still go camping or on road trips post-war?

Is there still an interest in camping or outdoorsy travel after the Zombie War? Let's say around the time when the book has been published, when society has mostly gotten back on relatively stable ground.

In the United States or Canada for example, would I be able to go to a store and buy camping supplies?  Would there be campgrounds maintained by the government?  Would there be much of an interest in it anymore?  Even in places "cleared" like the continental US would people be paranoid to go into the woods?

[Assistant] Probably, but the people who do are probably regarded as at least a *little* weird. You'd definitely be *extremely* paranoid about spending a night in the woods, though. Nowhere is *really* completely cleared, after all. There's probably still Zeds lost in ditches or caves that were missed. If you're camping, you'd best be armed and vigilant.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does sometimes when you delete an app from your phone to open up space but when you try to download same thing you deleted it says not enough space

[Assistant] You know when a house gets built, how there are piles of lumber/materials in the yard, on the driveway, etc that get cleared up once house is built? Similar idea... maybe theres room for the completed dwelling, but not all the initial construction debris.


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

[User]
[Jurassic Park] What actual military purpose would a dinosaur serve that something else couldnt better?

So a big point in the newer movies is that Ingen wants to weaponize the raptors and genetically design dinosaurs like the Indoraptor to be sold to the military/highest bidder. I always thought this was dumb because what can a velociraptor do that a hellfire missile cant? Regardless if something like the Indoraptor would be a good anti-personnel weapon, what happens when the media gets footage of the US sending a engineered killing machine to go tear apart some villagers in a 3rd world country?

If its just for warlords or private clients, why would you spend $9 million on a dinosaur which is limited in its capability, when you could hire a bunch of mercenaries and arm them? Im just wondering if theres an actual application.

[Assistant]
- Terror. It strikes fear into the enemy because this is not something that can be reasoned with. It's not fighting them, it's hunting them.
 - It costs $850,000 - $1.4m per year to keep a US soldier in the field. Once the infrastructure is there, they'll be cheaper than soldiers. In fact, you don't even have to equip them outside of putting trackers on them.
 - They're like big attack dogs, but because they're genetically engineered and not kept as pets there's less of a moral quandary/animal rights issue about sending them into battle - especially amongst the general public
 - Raptors can be more Intelligent and Reactive than missiles, strikes and robots can *legally* be. They all need a human in the trigger loop to reduce civilian casualties. Raptors *can't* have this. Now, maybe there will be a law in the future, but right now they can argue they're just big attack dogs and fall under that category.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Is Yoda the strongest because of his innate Force abilities or because he's had 900 years to practice everything to mastery?

Seems like Yaddle was quite powerful too.

Put another way, if Sidious gains immortality, through clones or other means, will he become as powerful? Do you think Yoda was as powerful as he is now when he was 75?

[Assistant] Yoda was not strong in the force because of innate ability, training or race. Yoda was strong in the force because of his *understanding* of the force, which takes a certain kind of mind to attain. Sort of innate, sort of learned. Yoda is a good character because Yoda makes us ask a lot of questions about what he says though like, 30 minutes total screen time, if that.


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

[User]
ELI5: How and why in some places is it illegal to collect rain water?

I've always been curious about this.

[Assistant] In some States local authorities have deemed rain water to be collective public property. It refills the local water supplies and so collecting it, or collecting a lot of it changes how the rivers and creeks flow and changes how the public water supplies refill. That is theft under these laws.


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

[User] ELI5: What is a torrent?

[Assistant]
Imagine a big computer file is like a giant book. Suppose the only way you could get a copy of the book from a single person was one page at a time. Well, it might take too long for you to wait to get the book from just one person. How can you speed it up? You could get pages from many people at once. But how to keep track of what you need?

What if it was a copy of the book with a table of contents and a bunch of chapters. If you want a copy of the book first ask one person for the table of contents. Once you have the table of contents, you can call out all the chapters do you not have. Anyone what has those chapters can start giving you the pages of the chapter.

These people do not even need to have the whole book, they only need to have one of the chapters you need. This works really well if a bunch of people are trying to get a copy of one book. The person with the complete copy first gives everyone a table of contents and a different chapter. Everyone starts yelling out what chapters they need and everyone works together sharing chapters until everyone has a copy of the book.

tl;dr A computer file is treated like a book with a table of contents and chapters.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do people age?

Please try to explain as simply as possible.

[Assistant] Nothing is perfect. Even our bodies, the result of billions of years of evolution from the simplest single-celled life forms, begin to fail after awhile. All of the things that make our body run, our stomachs, hearts, brains, kidneys, will eventually stop working. But the main thing that causes people to age is their own DNA. All DNA has little bits on the end of it called telomeres. Every time DNA is copied (this happens every time cells divide) the telomeres get shorter and shorter. The good thing is that telomeres don't have anything important in them, so it's ok. But after the telomeres are gone, the important parts of the DNA start getting lost. This causes many bodily functions to slowly stop working like they are supposed to, and eventually stop working at all.


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

[User]
[Wall-E] How was the Axiom self-sustaining?

What was originally intended to be a voyage lasting a few years at the most, turned into one lasting 700 years. For the entire time the Axiom has continued to provide for the entire human population aboard. They're kept (very well) fed, they're provided a hover-chair, clothing, etc.

They're clearly going through a ton of food. They're also many robots aboard that are regularly maintained and need to be repaired with new parts. There are also things things like paper and such that gets thrown away. There's rocket fuel for voyages to Earth to drop off the EVE robots and many other things. When we see the garbage disposal area of the ship we see there is a huge amount of waste being generated. All of which is stuff that most likely will have to be replaced somehow.

And how does the economy of the ship work? The people aboard seem to live a life of luxury, preforming no actual work of any kind. When the captain does his morning announcements on their 700th anniversary he mentions to ask for a free cupcake in a cup. This being free implies that not everything is free, meaning people have to pay for stuff aboard the ship. Where do people get the money for things? The only one who seems to have anything resembling a job is the captain. Are they given an allowance?

[Assistant]
Heavy duty recycling programs, external matter scoops to recoup fuel (likely hydrogen and helium) and possible other elements which can be synthesized into food and the like. Onboard refineries and machineshops to produce the materials required for maintaining the ship and it's robots. Automated hydroponics and cell-cultures sustained by recycled waste and collected hydrocarbons. In principle, creating a self sustaining generation-craft is doable (and most of the systems to allow that would also be necessary for a mission lasting several years and sustaining a crew of thousands) and they seem to have most of the technology they would need.

As for the economy... Either they are afforded stipends from the 'Company' which they then pay back into the system for services, creating a closed circuit finance system with zero loss or gain... Or they've become so dense through over-pampering that the term 'Free' has become more of an attraction than actually meaning 'No Cost'.


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

[User]
ELI5: how can our hearts beat (practically) forever?

Our heart is a muscle just like our biceps for example, but I cant curl 10 pounds indefinitely, my arm gets tired eventually, even with such a light weight. Yet our hearts pump for DECADES. How is this possible, and what sets the heart apart that gives it this unique ability?

[Assistant]
Your other muscles are actually capable of long-term repetitive usage. The two main things any muscle needs to do that is a consistent fuel source and damage prevention.

Skeletal muscle has stores of fuel in side each cell.
There's extremely short term energy, in the form of two chemicals called ATP and Creatine Phosphate. Your muscles have a bunch of this floating around, but once they start working hard, those stocks will last about 10-15 seconds.

Your muscles also store sugar by turning into a big chained molecule called Glycogen. Once you start using your ATP and Creatine up, your muscles will start unpacking the Glycogen into sugar (glucose) to use. This is a little slower to get going - hence why you need the extremely short term fuel floating around. When they use sugar for energy, they turn it into Lactic Acid. Lactic acid makes your muscles feel sore and tired in the short term, during exercise.

When your muscles are sore and tired the day after exercise, this is *not* lactic acid, but actually because of lots of little micro-tears in the muscle that need to be repaired. The process of these tears forming and healing isn't hugely understood, but it's thought to be one of the main processes behind muscle growth.

Once your muscles have used up both their ATP/creatine phosphate stores AND their glycogen stores, they'll switch to using fuel directly from your blood (sugars, ketones, and other things). This form of energy is not very good at fueling a burst in power, but is very consistent. This is the kind of energy that marathon runners are using. This is also why marathon runners have very lean, thin-looking muscles - the glycogen storage takes up a lot of space in a muscle, and they're not training to use it.

Your heart is a special kind of muscle that avoids both lactic acid build up (short term tiredness) and micro-tears. Part of this is just management: it's especially focused on getting rid of lactic acid and repairing damage *fast*. Your skeletal muscles know you'll rest and sleep eventually, so they mostly wait until they can take their time to repair.

Part of this is prevention. Your heart has a ton more blood flowing through it than your muscles, and so it uses fuel from the blood as its primary fuel source. The cellular structure is also different, and built to spread out the strain much more, causing fewer tears.

But keep in mind, your heart *does* rest. It doesn't stop, of course, but it does slow down a lot when you sleep. Also, your skeletal muscles never entirely switch off. They may not be *flexing*, but just being alive uses energy.


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

[User] [Batman] For incarnations of the character where he doesn't just sport a simple dual color suit, does Harvey Dent a.k.a Two-Face own a collection of actual half-burned/charred suits or what?

[Assistant]
Despite appearances, Harvey is actually one
of the more vain criminals in Gotham. Although
his trademark look was initially accidental he's
had several plastic surgeries over the years
to augment his unique appearance and is very
conscious of style and presentation.

It's less of a disfigurement at this point
and more of a brand and he spends a lot of
money to maintain it.

He does have an extensive collection of suits
both dual colored and fresh/distressed and all
of these suits are custom made and bullet resistant.


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

[User]
If 2 black holes were close enough that their event horizons were overlapping, could things in that overlapped region escape those black holes?

When I first thought of this, I was imagining 2 black holes of the same size with their event horizon's overlapping. I was also thinking that for the sake of theory, it would be good to imagine that both black holes were pinned in place.

[Assistant] Horizons don't overlap, they merge. When two BHs get close, the horizons bulge towards eachother and a bridge forms. The single event horizon then relaxes into its final single-BH shape in a process known as "ring-down".


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

[User] [IT] If nobody outside of the Losers Club knew about Pennywise, then how did they explain the massive spike in child disappearances/deaths that happens every 27 years?

[Assistant]
They didn't.

Pennywise's influence causes people to overlook shocking violence or other things that are wrong. Since Derry was such a nowhere, most outside reporters wouldn't even take note of it (and no internet so you'd have to do a little digging if you wanted to know it in the first place).

Lots of disturbing things happen in Derry and people take them in stride. Factory explosions, dangerous cults burning down buildings, etc.


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

[User]
Why does Pauli's Exclusion Principle exist?

I get that it doesn't allow fermions like electrons and quarks to get cramed together past a certain point, but why?

[Assistant]
Its a fundamental fact of nature that particles of the same type are exactly identical to each other.

This implies that probability densities for multiple particles must be invariant under exchange of any two identical particles.

This implies that the multi-particle state vector can only change by a phase under exchange of any two identical particles.

We define bosons to be particles such that this phase is 1, and fermions to be particles such that this phase is -1.

Then the spin-statistics theorem is what relates these two types of particles to certain values of their spins.

Its easy to show that for particles where the phase is -1 (fermions), the state vector can only be identically equal to zero if any two of the identical particles are placed in the same state. Therefore there does not exist any valid state vector in the multi-particle Hilbert space where two identical fermions occupy the same state.

That just comes directly from the definition of what a fermion is, and how the state vector has to transform under permutation symmetry (because particles are identical).

Why are matter particles (quarks and electrons) fermions rather than bosons? Thats just how it is in our universe.


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

[User] Why are pokemon starters always Fire/Water/Grass?

[Assistant]
Fire, Water and Grass are all useful types to the budding trainer.

**Fire** is great for camping and outdoorsy people. Fire types can really assist the young trainer by allowing them a free source of warmth, fire and a (generally) powerful, loyal companion.

**Water** types are normally brilliant companions, due to their water-producing abilities. Water is the basis of human biology and life, and as result a free water source is invaluable to those setting out on an adventure. Water types are also useful in that they can ferry the trainer across (sometimes vast) expanses of water.

**Grass** Pokemon are useful friends to have, as any trainer that finds themselves without a shelter for the night may find themselves staying in the (manipulated by their Grass Pokemon) trunk of a tree, or they might seek shelter in a cocoon of branches and leaves. Grass Pokemon are natural creatures of the forests, and as a result will be invaluable in gathering berries and other natural food for the adventuring trainer.

All three type are useful in their own way, and are naturally strong for battles.


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

[User]
[The Force Awakens & The Last Jedi (spoilers)] Why didn't vader appear to Kylo and try to talk to him?

I mean we see at the end of ROTJ Vader is capable of becoming a force ghost. Why hasn't he come to see Kylo and tell him to stop his bullshit? We've seen Yoda come to Luke talk, its clear that Kylo is obsessed with Vader talking to his partially destroyed helmet and trying to be like him. So if Vader came back to the light side and became Anakin Skywalker why not try to reason with Kylo at any point? Especially when he was going to blow up the ship Leia was on? After killing Snoke and claiming the title of supreme leader? Hell even when he went to confront Luke? So many prime oppprtunites before or around those times? Seems like Anakin is a bit of a slack grandfather.

[Assistant]
That wasn't *Vader.* That was Anakin.

Anakin gave up being Darth Vader before he died. That was the whole point of why he turned against the Emperor in the first place. He gave up the power of the dark side, recognized its power but rejected it - and that's why he was able to become a Force ghost in the first place.

As for why *Anakin* didn't reach out to Ben, we don't know. Perhaps he couldn't. The only time we see ever Jedi Force ghosts interact with people, it's with people they knew in life.

For another reason, perhaps he *wasn't* able to, because of Snoke's power and influence over him. We know that Yoda was unable to approach Luke because he cut himself off from the Force - perhaps Snoke's power extended in such a way that Anakin wouldn't have been able to reach out even if he had ever manifested as a Force ghost after Endor (which there's currently no evidence of, anyway).


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

[User]
Is there a physical meaning to integrating Position, or differentiating Acceleration?

From the relationship a=v', v=x', can one continue the pattern and come out with anything of use?

[Assistant] Differentiating acceleration is certainly useful. It's called jerk, which is in fact a pretty suggestive name as to what it means physically. Think about when a car comes to a stop just a bit too fast. People also occasionally consider the higher derivatives of position. I've read at least one paper in which the fourth, fifth, and sixth derivatives of position are called snap, crackle, and pop. Works for me.


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

[User] ELI5: Why doesn't Windows' "check for a solution to your problem" feature ever work?

[Assistant]
It checks against an issue tracker at Microsoft HQ and if it has been fixed, it gives you a link to an article online about how to do so.

If the problem has not been fixed, Microsoft gathers all reports from all Windows machines and is able to prioritize what bugs to fix next based on severity (crashing 6 times per day with blue screen) and/or effect size (20% of all users). You might see the fix in Windows update later, which is why it's always good to keep up-to-date on security- and bug-fixes.

The reason it may not provide a solution is that you might be the only user with that particular error code in that sequence of events. Computers are stupid and don't catch certain patterns a human might to know two issues are related. At least it's providing more data to get it fixed...


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

[User]
ELI5: Electricity.

My mother always unplugs appliances that arent being used bc they waste electricity; does this still ring true today, or are appliances updated & dont waste as much? Obviously, the fridge, hot water heater and washer & dryer use the most power; how can I see which other things use the most power & is it worth it to still unplug them?

[Assistant]
Depends on the appliance.

* Lighting: No, the switch completely disconnects it. A lamp does not need to be unplugged.

* Motor devices: No, the switch completely disconnects it. Example, vacuum, blender.

* Heating device: No, the switch completely disconnects it. Example, kettle, hair dryer.

* Electronics: Yes, they have a power supply that produces the low voltage DC power they run on. Even if they use nothing, this power supply is still making DC power and consuming some electricity. Beyond this, they still often have varying degrees of rest modes rather than off. Your TV is waiting and watching for a TV remote signal for example. Example, TV, computer, phone charger, video game console.

* Mixed devices, with any sort of electronic controls: Yes, these devices are a small computer paired with something else. The main part turns fully off by the computer, but the computer is still running. Example, an oven with its clock. A washing machine ready for you to hit a button. Etc.

How much do these electronic devices draw? We're talking maybe up to $5 a year of electricity for a device, but you do have a lot of them. If you use the device daily, it might not be worth it. If you don't use the device for 16 months, might want to consider unplugging it.


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

[User] [Wall-E] Did any humans get left behind on polluted Earth? Were there people who couldn't afford the trip or did BnL foot the bill?

[Assistant] I think it's safe to say that most of the humans just died. Earth was uninhabitable and BnL wouldn't just give spots away. Nor would they mention that uncomfortable fact on any in flight entertainment.


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

[User]
CMV: The right to vote should never be removed from a current citizen.

(Edit: This has become much more of an involved conversation than I expected.  I am trying to respond to as many points as I can, but please be patient and feel free to respond to each other as well!  I am somewhat disappointed not to see any deltas from someone NOT the OP.)

The only ways I know of that you can be disenfranchised (permanently or temporarily) in the US are:
1) Crime
2) Debt
3) Disability
4) Place of residence

Of these, I cant see any legitimate reason for them.

In the cases that have potentially understandable reasoning (e.g. complete mental incapacity) would seem to have such a small impact on an election as to be negligible.  A couple of non-vetted sources estimate numbers on the scale of thousands to a couple million of Americansless than 1% of the general population by the most recent census.

The remainder of cases are by definition reasons I dont even see the potential for legitimacy.

To be clear, I am not referring to practices of voter suppression (preventing legal voters from legally voting).  I am referring to legally stripping a voter from their legal right to vote.

Edit: I have agreed that severe mental incapacity would be a reasonable exception.

Edit: I have some homework to figure out the difference between depriving rights such as lift/liberty (capital punishment/imprisonment) and voting.

Edit: There are methods of voter suppression that amount to disenfranchisement.  In the interest of staying on topic I am avoiding encouraging discussion in that grey area and staying in clearcut "officially removed right to vote".

[Assistant]
3. Mental immaturity is reason why we don't allow children to vote. Same can be said for disability.

4. Place of residence shouldn't effect federal elections but certainly would void your right to vote in state elections.


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

[User] ELI5: Is there an actual not racist reason basketball is largely made up of people who are black?

[Assistant] A large part of the black population is poor and urban.  Basketball is a sport that can be played in cities with very little room, and doesn't cost much.  Therefore, it's a sport that many of them have access to.  Baseball, football, etc, take up a lot more space.