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

[User]
How did protestors during the Civil Rights Movement find the time to engage in such long protests?

I am curious if there was significant unemployment/underemployment among that population. And if it's possible that there is less long-term protesting currently in the United States because of higher employment rates among those with racial/equality/environmental grievances.

[Assistant]
This is a great question that is commonly asked by social movements scholars: who is most likely to protest? You should check out the book "Freedom Summer" by Doug McAdam. It's about the civil rights movement and looks at why some university students spent their summer in the south helping people of color register to vote in a very hostile environment.

Originally, sociologists thought protests were caused by things like high unemployment, alienation from their community, worsening conditions, etc. This school of thought is referred to as strain and breakdown theory. As we learned more about protest and saw everyday, middle-class folks take to the streets in the 1960s, our theories changed. Scholars realized that being unemployed or living in a bad environment weren't enough to get people marching in the streets. There are lots of structural factors and individual factors that cause people to protest. I'll briefly talk about the individual factors because that seems more relevant to your question.

In general, scholars have found that younger people with a supportive social network who have extra time and resources are more likely to protest. People who are more likely to hear about a protest (because they see a sign while walking around their university campus) or know a friend who will be going are more likely o protest. These and other personal characteristics that effect the likelihood of engaging in a protest are called "biographical availability." However, this doesn't give us the whole picture because there are lots of instances when people protest who have jobs, don't have time, don't have money, etc.

 Social movements scholars are still trying to answer this question.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40K] How much do Space Marines have to eat?

I had this thought while I was cleaning the kitchen, having recently played *Dawn of War.*

Space Marines are nine feet tall and fuckoff massive, with redundant organs and a physique that would make professional bodybuilders vomit with envy, they're frequently engaged in high-intensity physical activity, *and* have to have the strength to carry their own weapons and armour. How much food do they need to eat to sustain that sort of activity level?

And that's before we get into the psykers - the brain alone consumes about 20% of the body's total energy intake, so I imagine that percentage is going to be much higher for them. Do they need more food than your "rank and file" marine?

[Assistant]
Just one thing, when switched on, the power armour wil not feel heavy. Quite the opposite, in fact, it augments the wearers already ludicrous strength. Its basically like wearing a tracksuit.

It means even though their outrageously large weapons are indeed heavy, much of that mass is actually being supported by the armour itself.

There have been a few scenes where the fusion reactor in their backpack has been damaged. They can still move when the powers out, but its a lot more cumbersome.

The suits will also incorporate intravenous injectors for nourishment, so they can have a snack without having to stop during a busy day.


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

[User]
CMV: In most cases, TV shows and movies should not use captions like "[speaks spanish]"

For simplicity, I'm going to use "English" to refer to the language of the show's expected audience.

When a character is speaking a language other than English, they should either translate the language in the captions, **or spell out whatever was said in the original language**. (So if a character says "que passa" in an English show, the closed captions should either say "Que passa?" Or "What happened?", but never "[Speaks Spanish]".)

Translation would enhance the experience, but I understand it's more work, and they may want to give the person reading a more similar experience to the hearing person. **Putting the text in the original language however gives the reader the closest possible experience to the hearer.** (If they understand the language, but just can't make out what's being said, they'll understand. If they don't understand the language, they still have the experience they'd've had if they'd heard it)

I'm so sick of struggling to hear what's being said in my second language (or other languages I've a base understanding of) and not being able to understand because it just says "[speaks x language]". Somehow it's even more frustrating when I see such a caption when I *am* able to make it out what was said.

I'm willing to make an exception for small budget productions, particularly if they're using digital speach-to-text technology, but for anything big, and/or captions generated professionally or from the script, I just don't get why the viewing experience isn't worth it.

Artificial languages aren't really within the scope of this CMV.

**Edit:** apparently some of my sentences were weirdly messed up

**Edit 2:** Everyone just keeps talking about how translation is bad for story telling in some cases. I acknowledged from the start that using the original language would often be preferable, (now bold) primarily for this reason. I'm going to stop responding to messages that only point out issues with translating, unless they at least mention writing out the original language.

[Assistant] I would agree for a lot of cases, but sometimes its a purposeful decision from the director to not include a translation. For a specific example, in Saving Private Ryan, two soldiers on the Nazi side are screaming at the Americans not to shoot because theyre not German, theyre Czech. The American soldiers dont know what theyre saying and shoot them. Most of the audience is meant to take this scene at face value and assume that the Americans just shot two screaming German Nazis. Only those who took the time to get a translation will be able to understand. A lot of the time, the audience isnt meant to know what the characters said, otherwise the director wouldve put subtitles.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is having good posture so uncomfortable?

[Assistant] Because a lot of people lack the muscles in their backs to make the "good posture" their "normal posture". Trying to force yourself into a certain posture is almost certainly uncomfortable. But if you develop your muscles properly, the posture will come naturally.


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

[User]
CMV: I am becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future of the country I live in and about Europe.

A few days ago, I was thinking about the future of my country (Italy) and of Europe (meaning both as a continent and as the European Union)... and they were not very positive thoughts.

**Italy**: Where to start with this beautiful, but oh-so-ill-treated, country? First of all, we have been in economic crisis since 2008 and have not yet recovered the GDP we had at that time. Same for unemployment, which is still at very high levels (late 2008: 7%; early 2018: 11%). Populist and crypto-fascist populist parties are gaining ground and the results of last Sunday's parliamentary elections show this, and most likely for the next 5 years our future will be decided by either a single-party M5S government or a minority government (much more likely) of crypto-fascists (Lega-Fratelli d' Italia). And I am afraid that with their incompetence we'll end up in a new economic recession that will kill our economy and permanently impoverish us as a country. In the comment sections of online newspapers and Facebook pages, insulting and wishing the refugees death by drowning are daily bread. The votes for the clearly neo-fascist party (Casapound) have increased by 5-6 times. And then there is also the increase in the Muslim population, which I have already mentioned in another post, which I do not deny will favour social conflicts.

Most of what I have written could also apply to Europe in general, if we remove the economic aspect (and not even for everyone, e. g. Greece). Just look at the polls for next month's Hungarian general elections or the Swedish general elections scheduled for this September.

PLEASE CMV!

[Assistant] The parties you like have been ignoring the people's concerns.  As their electoral failures stack up it is likely that they will move to a more moderate position on immigration which will result in regaining some of their electoral power.


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

[User]
If the axial tilt of Uranus (97) was caused by a giant impact that flipped it on its side, then why do Uranus' moons orbit around its equator at the same tilt (97)? Shouldn't their orbits follow whatever mild axial tilt Uranus had before the hypothetical giant impact?

 So the most accepted explanation for Uranus' sideway axial tilt is that it once had a normal tilt like the other planets bar Venus (0 to 30) but then a certain massive object collided with it and caused it to tilt sideways.

But by that explanation then shouldn't Uranus' moons be orbiting 0 to 30 (or whatever tilt Uranus had before) rather than over its equator?

 Did the moons only start forming after the impact? If they were formed before when Uranus still had a mild axial tilt then it makes no sense for them to orbit exactly over present-day Uranus' equator.

[Assistant] I don't know if they formed before or after, but let's say they formed before the tilt shifted. They would orbit on their original plane for a while, but slowly start matching the new rotation due to tidal forces, as no planet has a perfectly smooth and distributed field of gravity.


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

[User] [General Superhero] I'm a vigilante hero who has noticed one of the minions of my arch-nemesis has made an effort from the sidelines to protect innocents from becoming victims of collateral damage during our regular battles, quite often at his own risk. Should I cut this particular guy some slack?

[Assistant] Not during any fights, you shouldn't. This could lead to the nemesis seeing that you like him and killing him. Instead, visit the minion in the dark of night and have a conversation and try to turn him to your side so you can get intel on your nemesis.


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

[User]
When you break a bar magnet in half, it reforms north and south poles. The process repeats with additional breaks. Why, and how far "down" will I continue to get these magnetic poles?

I understand that magnetism is basically formed by the uniform up or down spin of electrons, ( I could be wrong about this. I'm not even close to an expert.) If I'm correct, why does breaking a magnet cause these electrons to re spin in the appropriate configuration? Also, if I break a magnet in half, and then again and again... at what point will I stop seeing opposite poles?

[Assistant]
They don't re-spin.

Think of the smallest "unit" of magnetism as pointing one direction. One direction it points will be "north", and the other is "south".

This is a fundamental aspect of magnets (di-poles).

When you add a bunch of these units together facing the same direction, their strength becomes cumulative, and they make a "larger" magnet.

So as you can see, when you break a magnet down, nothing needs to "spin", because the fundamental nature is they have a north and south pole all on their own.


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

[User]
[DC/Tolkien] Could Green Lantern wear both rings at the same time? do they cancel each other out? if he can, what are the effects?

I'm not well-versed in Tolkien/LotR lore but I was thinking about this, wondering if Green Lantern could ever wear both his power ring _and_ the One True Ring.

[Assistant]
So the One Ring is basically Demi-god level magic, whereas the Lantern Ring is....a tier or two stepped down in power. The One Ring will play on the Lanterns desires for Peace, Stability, ORDER. The Ring will remind them of just how Awful the Guardians are at their job; how haughty they must be to consider themselves GUARDIANS of an entire Universe. How so many times, they have ignored the cries of the innocent, or allowed evil to go on because their "plan" must not be disrupted. How they have created an entire race of Machines that rebelled and still plague the universe today.

As the One ring seeps into the mind of the Lantern, his thoughts will turn to rage and anger at the Guardians; slowly molding his mind into another Sinestro, or worse a Parallax. It will be slow at first, but the more time he wears the ring, the louder the voice of reason in his mind becomes. Eventually, he reasons that He could do such a much better job if HE was in charge. And with his new ring, his...precious, he knows he can defeat the blue gnomes.

Unfortunately, unless he is really smart and plans it out, a single Lantern can't completely overtake the Guardians, and he falls when attacked by the entire Lantern Corp. Another of them picks the ring of Power up, and the cycle continues.


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

[User]
We know about viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms evolving to better infect other organisms. Consequently, diseases change too to some extent. Are there any examples of human bodies evolving to fight against these disease causing agents?

I dont mean gaining immunity to diseases. Im more interested in knowing about evolutionary changes that can pass through our genes or changes in the physical structure of organs, tissues, cells, etc.

[Assistant] You better believe it! The textbook case for this is the "sickle cell" trait. This is the gene that causes sickle cell anemia, a horrible genetic disease where your red blood cells are all jacked up and you mostly die a slow painful death. So why is this gene still hanging around humans' genomes if it kills people? If you are merely a carrier of the gene or have "sickle cell trait", it provides substantial protection against death from malaria (and the symptoms are much milder than full-blown sickle cell anemia). ~~It makes your red blood cells far more resistant to being infected by the disease-causing agent, the plasmodia~~  The crossed-out text was somewhat recently debunked, it looks like the plasmodia either struggles to survive in the mutant red blood cells, or the infected red blood cell is more efficiently removed from the body before it bursts with a payload of new plasmodia.


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

[User] [MCU Iron Man] What exactly was Stane's plan? He can't stay in that suit forever and the second he takes it off SHIELD will arrest him for murder.

[Assistant]
From the moment Stane watched Pepper walk out the door with an escort of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, his options suddenly became extremely limited.

Faced with the prospect of having federal agents at his doorstep with evidence of his crimes and the inevitability of going to prison for attempted murder and treason, Stane panicked. His new plan became killing Tony, taking his Arc Reactor, using it to power the Iron Monger, stealing the Iron Monger, and escaping to anywhere that he couldn't be found while he worked out where to go from there. S.H.I.E.L.D. cornered him in the lab, and he had to fight his way out through them to escape. Then Iron Man intervened, and Stane had to kill him too before he'd be able to make good on his escape. So basically, he panicked, tried to bail, and then it all went to shit from there.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can eu countries have different inflation rates when they all use euros? Do euro have different value in each country?

Edit: Thank you all for the answers.

[Assistant]
Inflation rate is based on what you can buy with a given amount of currency (or, equivalently, how much cost a given item).

For example, if in NY a pint of beer went from 6$ to 8$, that's a 33% inflation rate on beer in NY. If, meanwhile, it went from 6$ to 9$ in SF, that's a 50% inflation rate on beer in SF. Even if they both use the same currency.

"THE inflation rate" is based on a selected cart of items that represents basically how much all the prices of stuff you need (incl. rent, utilities, gas, food, etc.) got higher. Since prices are and change differently in different places, inflation can be different even if everyone involved uses the same currency.


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

[User] ELI5: What are the differences between a fascist dictatorship and a communist dictatorship?

[Assistant]
First up let's look at what fascism actually entails:
the core points are:

1. nationalism, fascists belief  that their country is one of their most important facets and that a nation binds it's people together as a single unity. This is often (but not always) combined with strong racist feelings about who truly belong to a given nation.

2. totalitarianism fascists belief that a single party is what makes a country strong.

3. economically fascists belief in a hybrid model of free market (but not international trade) and a strong government operated economy.

4. Action fascists belief that action always beats inaction and that something must be done against any and all problems (even if we don't know how)

5. Strict roles fascists belief in gender age (and sometimes racial) roles which one should follow.

6. modernism fascists want a technologically advanced military orientated nations.

Then look at what at it's core communists do:
Communists belief that after a revolution by the workers a truly equal society can be created. In order to get there however a period know as the Dictatorship of the proletariat must be passed. During this period a number of people must take an authoritarian stance to ensure that the revolution will succeed. Almost all communist dictatorships *get stuck in this situation so let's examine it a bit closer.

They are again totalitarian (2), they belief in a government owned and operated government and often do not wish to trade with other nations that have not yet embraced the revolution. Often times the revolution does start with an idea of getting factors (at least in China and Russia) as the revolution requires factory workers and the glory of the needs of the many are put ahead of the needs of the few making it's own form of nationalism.

So both end up pretty similar, noticeable differences are that you can be independently rich in a fascist state while you must be part of the ruling elites (which are not supposed to exist) to be rich in a communist dictatorship. A fascist state is more likely to focus on great feats of a single person while a fascist communist one is more likely to focus on taking actions for the good of the many (inspiration from a  great athlete or great worker).

But both definitely share a lot. Interestingly enough in it's extreme even a monopolistic capitalist society also moves in the same direction suggesting that perhaps these properties are more about having a strong autocratic society rather then what your ruling ideology is.

^*some ^might ^question ^whatever ^or ^not ^a ^society ^that ^is ^stuck ^in ^the ^Dictatorship ^of ^the ^proletariat ^is ^not ^actually ^a ^failed ^revolution ^as ^the ^state ^is ^supposed ^to ^last ^only ^for ^a ^short ^period ^of ^time ^and ^should ^not ^allow ^for ^the ^creation ^of ^a ^standing ^ruling ^elite.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why we learned to cover our private parts with clothing?

Why humans had the need to cover their private parts with clothing and how that need started?

[Assistant] We don't know. This is all purely speculation, but here it goes anyway: "Presenting" is extremely important for reproduction. It's entirely possible that clothing served as a tool to strengthen the "presenting" signal. What was out of sight out of mind, becomes very much part of your focus. It's not advantageous for one sex to try misinterpret sexual signals. A woman bending over and accidentally exposing her vagina could falsely start responses in males. The sight of the vagina can be covered until the female "presents", making for a much stronger stimulus that is hard to misinterpret. The same thing can go for males and erections, etc. The moving aside of the loincloth to expose your bits to each other is pretty hard to misinterpret.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Stormtroopers: Main infantry force of the Empire, or highly trained Special Operation type soldiers?

.

[Assistant] Both. They've got elite units and regular things. You've got stormtroopers trained as mechanized infantry, security, amphibious units, regular infantry, recon, sniping, demolitions, etc. You've also got elite squads of stormtroopers that are better trained than the rest.


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

[User]
ELI5: How and why did humans start smoking anything?

It just seems so bizarre for someone without prior knowledge to just try inhaling smoke, and to keep trying it until you tried something pleasant. What was even the first substance used in such a way?

[Assistant]
Smoking has been practiced in one form or another since ancient times. Tobacco and various hallucinogenic drugs were smoked all over the Americas as early as 5000 BC in shamanistic rituals and originated in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes. Many ancient civilizations, such as the Babylonians, Indians and Chinese, burnt incense as a part of religious rituals, as did the Israelites and the later Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.

As far as why someone would decide to be the first, no one knows for sure. Tobacco and marijuana are naturally occurring, so for what we know it's possible that there was a fire that burned some of these crops, causing the effects. It wouldn't take long to discover the source and for that to become a trend among a society.


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

[User] Is acquiring a taste for something like black coffee a physical change, a psychological change, or a combination of both?

[Assistant] The psychological and physical (i.e. biological) aspects are interdependent: it's a combination of both. However, as in most psychological changes, they are a consequence of changes in the underlying neurobiology (this also implies that a behavioral change will effect changes on neurobiological function, leading to reinforced psychological changes). The establishment of neural connections between your gustatory cortex and limbic system is necessary for the acquisition of a taste. These are specific for the flavor of black coffee: a combination of mostly bitter flavors that get picked up by taste buds connected to nerves that normally carry information regarding noxious elements in the ingested food. The idea is that your brain will rewire the connections for the set of flavors associated to black coffee, likely by making the prefrontal cortex override the instinctive rejection of coffee's bitterness (the prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain where behavior and personality are controlled), thus promoting its association with pleasure circuits in the brain, usually dependent on serotoninergic neurotransmission.


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

[User]
[Leroy Brown] Just how bad is Leroy Brown and what makes him the baddest man in the whole damn town?

Did he fight someone?

[Assistant]
Well, he is both badder than old King Kong and meaner than a junkyard dog. Both pretty impressive feats.

Physically, he's 6'4", so that's pretty intimidating. He also has a .32 gun in his pocket for fun, and a razor in his shoe. So he's a huge dude who's always well armed.

Furthermore, his habit of waving his diamond rings in front of everybody's nose indicates that he has plenty of money, so he's pretty powerful too. He is a gambler, which means he's probably involved in some sketchy business, considering he's in Chicago rather than Las Vegas. He must roll with some tough customers.

He did fight someone. Specifically, the jealous husband of a woman he was hitting on. It's unclear who wins the fight, since all we know is that Leroy looks like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone. So the man definitely did damage, but Leroy may have bested him. Regardless of who won, it shows that Leroy is aggressive, cocky, and not afraid to resort to violence.

So there's a huge, well armed, angry, and arrogant dude with lots of cash who just hangs around shady spots being generally rowdy. Sounds like the baddest in the whole damn town.


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

[User] ELI5 what's it called when water runs down the side of the cup while you're pouring it and how does it happen?

[Assistant]
It has to do with surface tension. If you fill a glass up all the way and then add a tiny bit more, you will see the water form a little dome rather than spilling. Water will do its best to not break apart under stress.

Completely falling away from the rest of the water in the cup when you're pouring it is something it would rather avoid since it would need to break the surface tension entirely and form a completely new drop, but if it can flow down the side of the glass, it doesn't need to worry about the surface tension for the part of the stream that's still touching the glass...but then gravity takes over since there's no longer anything beneath it and that causes the water to break away from the cup anyway. Since it already was sticking to the side of the glass for a while, it's flowing in a weird direction now and momentum (plus a little more surface tension) will make it go sideways for a while instead of straight down.


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

[User]
[Marvel] How does anyone lose an infinity gem after possesing it?

It seems some of the gems are so powerful  (eg. reality, space, or time) that once you possessed one you would easily be able to get ahold of the others. And once one holds all of them how could they ever possibly lose them? With all of that capability it seems silly that anyone could lose them.

(disclamer, i haven't read the comics involving the infinity stones)

[Assistant]
For most of the history of the universe, each gem was held by one of the Elders of the Universe. These guys were all ancient, immortal, godlike beings even before they had the infinity gems - and anyone who tried to take them all would thus be going up against a godlike being who *also has an infinity gem*.

Of course, Thanos did eventually pull it off (in the fun limited series "Thanos Quest") and became the first being to assemble all the gems together.

The reason he didn't hold onto them is the same reason Dr. Doom isn't still God after that time he stole all the Beyonder's powers - because when you're omnipotent, your own subconscious urges and insecurities can be your worst enemy. In both cases, they basically arranged the circumstances of their own defeat because part of them wanted it to happen, and their own omnipotence made those wishes a reality.

Then Adam Warlock briefly had the Gauntlet, but the Living Tribunal - a being who adjudicates the laws of the multiverse - ruled that he was not mentally competent to be the Supreme Being in his universe, and stripped him of its power. He then also ruled that the infinity gems could no longer be wielded by the same person, to prevent any further incidents of this type.

(That said, there are various parallel universes where that's not the case, and we occasionally see holders of the Infinity Gauntlet from those realities. There are several Reed Richards' who rule their universe as benevolent deities, for instance.)


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

[User]
If you die while you're laying out in the sun, will your body get a sunburn?

Is a sunburn a biological process that wouldn't happen if you weren't alive, or is it the skin actually "burning"?

[Assistant] Not exactly. Your body almost never dies on a cellular level all at once. So your skin would turn red as still capillaries burst and the epidermis would eventually die as no living person is seeking shade. The remaining dermis gets no supplies from the blood stream and either dies of starvation, heat damage, or asphyxiation; whichever comes first. So no peeling, but you might find some blisters and a lot of drying out like the beginning of mummification.


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

[User] How does a hadron collider work?

[Assistant]
There are lots of machines which all work together to make collider experiments run. The main part where all the action happens is a giant storage ring. Generally speaking storage rings are used to contain beams which have already been accelerated approximately to their final energy (with some accelerating elements to correct for losses as the beam circulates around the ring). The beam has to be bent into a circular path, and kept focused so that it stays within a small envelope. In a collider experiment, you have one or more interaction points where the beam is focused to an extremely small point (~ micrometers in transverse size, in the case of the LHC). This is where the counter-rotating beams actually interact with one another, and this is where the detectors are placed to observe the collisions.

The beamline must be kept at very high vacuum. All of the optical elements must be aligned and set to the right field strengths. Generally bending and focusing is done with superconducting magnets, which need to be kept very cold. The accelerating cavities have to be tuned correctly so that the acceleration is in phase with the motion of the beam particles. Whatever pre-accelerators are used must be able to inject the beam within the acceptance of the storage ring, and there has to be somewhere to dump the fill of the storage ring if necessary (a beam dump). This requires very good radiation shielding, and maybe even cooling depending on the beam power that you intend to dump into it.

Thats just a short list of the technical challenges with designing and operating the machine. And this is only the storage ring, which is the final stage of the whole system.


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

[User] ELI5 why Ron Paul wins most straw polls and online polls, yet he is not considered a serious contender for the GOP.

[Assistant]
Online polls are easily gamed.  Think of all the times you've seen a poll posted here with the line "you know what to do".  And of course you can write software that bombards the server with votes.  Thus, online polls don't really mean much.

Straw polls do not tend to be representative of the general public.  They depend on volunteer participants, who of course are going to care quite a bit more about the topic at hand than the Joe Voter.  Therefore, straw polls aren't all that good, either.

There are some solid, random-sampling based polls.  In these polls, Ron Paul has a consistent part of the electorate backing him--about 5-7% of the likely Republican voter, and this proportion does not change with the field.  He has a kernel of support, but has alienated everyone outside that kernel.  The other Republican voters know damned well who he is but would not vote for him.


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

[User]
Aristotle: Is it possible for the good of an individual to ever come into conflict with the good of society?

Aristotle's whole reason for acting virtuously seems to be that it is good for us, i.e., he encourages us to act well for our own sake. Yet, he also says in Book 1 of Nicomachean Ethics that the social good is finer and more godlike than the individual good and should be aimed at. How is this not contradictory?

I understand acting pro-socially when it doesn't cost me anything. But what reason do I have (as per Aristotle) for acting in the interest of the social good if it disadvantages me somehow?

Thanks!

[Assistant]
The problem is that you probably think something different when you hear "acting for your own good" than what Aristotle meant. There are two points we must understand to see this clearly.

The first is that Aristotle's metaphysics are teleological. Everything has a final end, or goal, and, ethically, things are better or worse in relation to their fitness for achieving said goal. For example, a plant's final end is to reproduce. A good plant produces healthy seeds, therefore, and a bad plant does not. Some things also might have multiple ends.

The second is that Aristotle believes man is both rational and political by nature. The virtuous man is one who acts in accord with human nature, as this leads him to his final end. And since politics (by which Aristotle means all social interaction, not just statecraft, though that is included explicitly) is chiefly concerned with the common good, achieving the common good is the goal of statecraft, and necessary for (almost all) men to achieve their final ends. Therefore, it is virtuous for man to exercise his reason in service of the common good always, since such exercise always helps him achieve his final end, provided he exercise correctly.


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

[User]
[Transformers] The transformers are from outer space, right? So why do they turn into regular Earth cars?

Why not some sort of alien cars?

And if they chose the disguises based on what was common here, why do they stick to a single disguise each?

[Assistant]
In the first episode of the original cartoon the initial scenes are on Cybertron and they are transforming into alien cars and planes (persumably Cybertronian cars and planes) . When on Earth they convert to human cars and planes to disguise themselves.

Hence, Robots in disguise.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do presidents elect Supreme Court justices? Doesn't this defy the whole balance of the three branches of government?

[Assistant]
No, because Presidents only nominate Supreme Court Justices.

The Senate has to confirm them (which balances the power between those branches.)

The Justice then serves for life and has power to review the constitutionality of executive and legislative actions (which balances the power between the Justice and the other two branches.)


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

[User] ELI5 why fraudsters like Anna Sorokin managed to deposit bad checks and immediately withdraw cash elsewhere without banks stopping it?

[Assistant]
It's very common for banks to make a portion of a deposit available immediately as a courtesy for its customers.  While it may take several days for the checks to clear and the customer to access _all_ of the deposit, it does tend to keep them happy if the bank floats a portion of the difference for a couple of days.

Sorokin took advantage of this fact, depositing hundreds of thousands of dollars in bad checks, while only withdrawing tens of thousands against them.


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

[User] ELI5:Why don't they just piece by piece pick up the parts of Titanic and then reconstruct it on the land for viewing?

[Assistant]
Ship-builders can re-create Titanic without picking up the submerged pieces.

They have the designs with them and there's nothing special about these designs.

The important question to ask is why would we want to reconstruct the Titanic.

The only reason Titanic is famous is because the ship sank and we got to see Kate Winslet naked.


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

[User]
I want to quit my PhD but I don't know how to tell my PI

TL/DR: mental health is suffering and I don't know how to tell my new PI that I want to leave the program.

I am a first year grad student studying microbiology. I moved across the country for what I thought was my dream program. In a lot of ways it is, everyone is very nice & I've made a few solid friends & I am co-mentored by two PIs who are both very patient, kind and understanding. However, I hate it here. I have absolutely no interest in what I'm doing for my research or what I'm learning in classes. I miss my friends and my family and my boyfriend who are all thousands of miles away. I thought I wanted to do research forever, but I am 6 months in and already exhausted by the day to day work as well as the entire atmosphere around me. I spend my time day dreaming about doing literally anything else. I've developed a panic disorder and I have severe panic attacks multiple times a day, almost every day. The idea of doing this for 5-7 more years feels like staring down the barrel of a gun. I've ended up making multiple calls to my campus crisis center. I honestly don't know how no one has noticed that I spend every day on the verge of a breakdown. My therapist is recommending I take a medical leave of absence, but I know if I did I would never come back. I have basically decided that I need to get out, but I don't know how.

I am fully funded for the next \~18 months on a grant, after which I would apply for fellowships & such. I feel awful because by an unfortunate coincidence, I would be the fourth person to leave this specific project (all bc of personal circumstances, not the PI or the project itself). I also know that I was chosen for this position over other graduate students, meaning that by leaving I am wasting a year of my PIs' funding and leaving them with no one to work on this project, when they could have chosen a student that may have stayed the whole time.

As I said before, I am being co-mentored and they are both great people. I don't know how to even start this conversation. One of my PIs is also a very new faculty member and I have read that having a PhD student quit can negatively impact chances at grants & tenure. I really don't want to negatively impact my PIs' and I don't want to be the one who ends up sinking this project by leaving. I've barely even started on it.

I am thinking about asking to change my degree objective to a masters so that I don't leave with nothing & maybe I could help wrap this project up while I am around. I don't know how well that conversation will go, or if its even possible since I only started in the fall of 2019 and am not very far along, technically still in my fourth rotation.

Is there any advice on how I can start this conversation with my advisers without burning bridges? Is there a typical way people approach this gently & gracefully?

[Assistant]
Have you considered a leave of absence to get yourself sorted out? Or, are you just over it?

I think its great youre taking into account the impacts this will have on the PIs. Going the masters route may be the best situation for the PIs without making yourself too much more miserable.


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

[User] ELI5: how do drugs like tylenol and advil know where the pain is and sooth a headache?

[Assistant]
First, it's important to note that if you read the package inserts on medicine closely, you'll see that each notes that the actual method of action (the nitty gritty of how it works) is unknown, but the scientists/pharma companies have a pretty good guess.

Second, Tylenol and Advil are both analgesics (pain relievers), but are in different "classes" of drugs and work different ways.

Tylenol, aka acetaminophen, works mainly in your central nervous system (brain and spine). It inhibits the "reuptake" (think signal) of certain chemicals in your nerves that are responsible for telling your brain that you are in pain. So, it really doesn't "know" where the pain is in your body, it's just blocking everything. Think of it like a dam on a river... whatever it is that's causing your pain is still there, but now it's behind your tylenol dam and the only pain that's getting through is the little dribble that comes over the side.

Advil, aka Ibuprofen, is what they call an "NSAID" or "Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug." It works mostly in your extremities. When your body suffers an injury, like a broken ankle, the injury site produces chemicals called "COX"s for short. Advil is attracted to those chemicals like a magnet. It goes to wherever those chemicals are and dams up the production. The reason why it works for your pain is because the chemicals that it slows down are responsible for all the blood rushing down to wherever your injury is and generally speaking, the less swelling and inflammation, the better for your pain.

Hope that helps.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Which lightsaber does Luke prefer to use?

Luke's had two lighsabers over the years: the blue one built by Anakin, and the green one he made himself to replace it. They're slightly different in length and the grips are very different from each other, so I assume that they each have a unique "feel" to them in a fight. I understand that there's probably a sentimental connection to the blue one, but the green one was built by Luke for Luke, so there's got to be an attachment there as well.

Legends stuff is ok, since there obviously isn't a scene in the movies where Luke outright states his preference.

[Assistant]
Luke's saber is built just for him, no one else, it's an extension of himself. A lightsaber is made by the Padawan for a reason, so they have the connection to it and put a portion of themselves into it in the form of their Force.

Anakin's lightsaber is blood stained and filled with hatred. Luke couldn't feel it as a young one but a certain force sensitive did.


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

[User]
Why doesn't a lighter explode from the flame spreading back into itself?

I feel stupid asking, but I don't understand how a lighter keeps the fire from spreading back into the tank.  Does the outward pressure overcome the speed of ignition?  Would a less full tank therefore be more likely to explode?

[Assistant] Your typical butane lighter is filled with a pressurized gas/liquid combination.  When you hit the switch, the pressurized butane flows out of the lighter, combines with air, and then is ignited.  Since the pressure inside is greater than the pressure outside, no oxygen travels into the lighter, and the flame can't propagate into the lighter.


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

[User] ELI5: Do I really have to use the bathroom more when I'm getting closer to the bathroom, or does my body understand that I'll be able to release soon?

[Assistant] Purely phychological.  Try worrying about something else that you have to do at the house on your way there and you will notice the symptoms not appearing at all, provided you do it before things get intense.


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

[User]
[Marvel] If Nightcrawler was watching a TV show, could he teleport onto the set?

As far as I know, Nightcrawler can teleport anywhere as long as he can see it or has been there before. So if he can see the set of a Tv show through the Tv, can he teleport there? What if its an old rerun from the 80s and the set doesnt exist anymore?

[Assistant]
Every version of Nightcrawler, has a limited teleportation. He likes to be able to see where he is teleporting to or else he could teleport into a wall be get hurt. Its a pure safety precaution. When he teleports, he's literally jumping through a different dimension. But he's still physically going through it, hence the need to be able to see when to stop. To the rest of the world it happens in an instant.

So no, he cannot just teleport halfway around the world, despite being able to see it. He has bent the rule a little bit, by making a lot of frequent jumps to get to his final destination.

This also means, if he was stuck in a dead spaceship somewhere in space, far away from anything, he cannot just teleport back to earth, since he has been there before.

Perhaps if you add some magic trickery of something else boosting his powers or something, you can rewrite the rules. But as it stands traveling long distances requires multiple hops, and he's usually super exhausted by the end of it. (Think Ant man growing big).


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

[User]
What causes a Tsunami NOT to form?

I get that a sharp rise in the ocean floor during an earthquake can cause a tsunami. but it seems relatively common that most ocean-borne earthquakes do not result in a tsunami. What's preventing them from forming?

[Assistant] There has to be a substantial component of dip-slip (i.e. vertical) movement across the fault plane in order to make a wave. It doesn't matter how big your earthquake is if the only component of movement is strike-slip (i.e. horizontal) because it's not going to displace any water. Which means that the only plate boundaries that are likely to cause a tsunami are subduction zones. And even on a subduction zone, the number of earthquakes that are powerful enough and have sufficient dip-slip motion to create a tsunami is relatively small. Bear in mind that it's not usually the case that an earthquake is purely dip-slip or purely strike-slip, most earthquakes have an oblique motion.


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

[User]
What are the most profound ideas of economics in the last 20 years?

What are the most profound ideas of economics in the last 20 years?

[Assistant] The minimum wage literature that Card and Krueger stirred up starting in 1994 is certainly up there. The evidence that the disemployment effect of modesr minimum wage increases might be almost zero was probably not widely expected (although there's been a rich and somewhat conflicting literature in the past 20 years).


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

[User]
ELI5: The vote in November has me a little concerned. How can I figure out who to intelligently vote for before walking into a booth?

I don't want to vote all Red and I don't want to vote all Blue and I don't want to guess. The truth is I just want to say Yes to 2 and get out of there but while I'm at it I figure I might as well try to make the world a better place.

How do I find out who to vote for and regardless of their party affiliation, how can I get a non-biased and abridged version of why I should vote for them? I hate political TV ads, Billboards etc because they're just so cool.

I predict this post will disappear in 2 minutes, goodbye cruel world :(

[Assistant] Thank you for working on being an informed voter. Many more people need to take this step. Votesmart.org is a non-partisan site that does a decent job of showing what races are going on and what the candidates stand for. Decide what values you think are important and pick the candidates that most closely match your own ideals.


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

[User]
How close is the shape of our Sun to a sphere?

I know the Earth has a 'bulge' at the equator / is flatter at the poles because of its rotation. Does the Sun have a similar 'bulge' because of its rotation (or perhaps because of the pull of all the planets being along one plane)?

[Assistant] The amount that a rotating sphere is "squashed" (gets an equatorial bulge) by centrifugal effects can be measured by its oblateness, with a perfect sphere having zero oblateness. Earth is 0.0033528, while the Sun is 0.000006, much closer to a sphere due to its much stronger gravity and slower rotation.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are there n0t viruses that have symptoms/traits that humans would LOVE to have, like euphoria/relaxation/increased thinking etc?

[Assistant]
There are actually infections that can create euphoria and relaxation by acting on hormones or neurotransmitters.  The problem is they also cause damage to tissues.  Viruses always damage tissue because they reproduce by converting genetic material in cells, then erupt from the cell, killing it in the process.  That's never good.

Increased intelligence would require the tissues in your brain to work better.  Destroying tissues isn't going to do that.


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

[User]
If I no longer have a fever, am I still contagious?

My mom used to tell me that if your fever had broken, you were okay to be around people, because although you still had symptoms of your illness, you were no longer contagious.

I know there are thousands of diseases a human can have, but *in general*, is this rule true? How is fever correlated to contangiousity?

[Assistant] It really depends on what caused your fever. The infectious period associated with each illness can differ dramatically, from 24 to 48 hours to several days or weeks depending on the cause. For flu-like symptoms 24 to 48 hours is ideal, but for something like Salmonella infection you can shed the bacteria (aka still infectious) for over a week after being ill with it.


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

[User]
What do the Tyranids do once they've eaten everything?

Say the Tyranids wipe out a galaxy, scouring it clean of all non-hive life. What next? Obviously a large part of them move on in their murderdeath fleets, but do any stay behind? Can a world full of Tyranids sustain itself? Also, say that you seeded some Tyranid genetic material on a dead world in a dead galaxy, one that has already suffered the hunger of a Tyranid swarm. Could they spread from the planet? Would another Tyranid fleet be attracted to the new Tyranid galaxy should it form in the first place?

[Assistant]
A; Yes, a Tyranid ecosystem can sustain its self. There was mention of a system of small planetoids totally populated by suspected Tyranid organisms. They fed on each other, and underwent photosynthesis to create sustainable energy systems the same as any other biosphere.

B; The same planetoid system did have interplanetary forces, which inf act formed a substantial component of the biomass exchange. In principal they could progress to an interstellar point. The question is whether or not they can rebuild the depleted biomass.

C; Depends on critical mass. Genestealers and other vanguard organisms act as psychic beacons that, once they reach a certain population, indicate a necessary biomass density. IF a Tyranid Galaxy were to offer sufficient biomass, it could attract the attention of the Hive Fleets.


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

[User]
How do phone companies give out phone numbers without giving out duplicates? Where do phone numbers come from?

Thank you!

[Assistant] Each company has their own phone numbers to allocate. So in a given area code, AT&T might have (123) 444-1000 to (123) 444-9999, and Verizon might have (123) 445-0000 to (123) 445-7000. Each company then only needs to manage its own numbers.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What's the point of chasing immortality when there's prettygood evidence of an afterlife.

Screw your philosopher's stones and your horcruxes, you can just come back as a ghost or go on to check out what's next.

[Assistant]
Because the Afterlife is separate from what you once knew.

Immortality? It's for people who want to broaden their knowledge, or for those who have a lust for power.

Ghosts really don't have much they can really do.


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

[User] [ELI5] How do "Song Identifying" Apps like SoundHound work?

[Assistant]
The application secretly opens up a phone connection to a low wage country where there is a dedicated team of people working to identify the song as fast as possible and send back the title and artist to you.

Answer for a 6 year old: Muziek consists of sounds on different frequencies combined with different volumes (amplitudes), your phone records a bit of what it hears and the server on the other side compares these patterns to patterns of music that they have analysed before as far as i know.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do most deep sea creatures look like they're hell-spawns?

[Assistant]
They evolved to deal with conditions that are completely alien to us. As a result, they share very few traits that are recognisable to us.

The animals that we find the most appealing, are usually the ones most similar to what we find cute. Usually, other mammals that are warm, soft, have eyes and expressions that we can imagine we see emotions in.

Deep-sea fish are not that. For instance, there's extremely little light down there. Not enough to really see by as we do. Deep-sea fish tend to have enormous bulbous eyes. Those eyes don't really let them see things but those huge eyes might just be enough to see other fish or animals as they pass overhead and block what extremely little light filters down from the surface.

Noticing that might make the difference between going hungry and catching prey, or spotting a predator and avoiding becoming prey yourself.

The lack of light also means the colour works very differently down there. There's not much point in being colourful if nobody can see you. So many deep-sea fish just have that pallid corpselike absence of colour.

Others are transparent to avoid casting a shadow against the faint glow of light from above. Some fish are bright red as a form of camouflage. Low energy frequencies of light are filtered out first as you descend underwater. That's why things quickly start to look blue-greenish.

Red is the lowest energy frequency of light. So red part of the light spectrum is the most absent in the deep. Without red light to reflect, the colour red is basically invisible. Most deep-sea fish have completely lost the ability to see red.

Speaking of prey. Without sunlight, nothing grows down there. Small animals can survive on marine snow. Basically tiny flakes of organic detritus that constantly come down from above. Slightly larger animals can eat the filter feeders that survive on marine snow. But larger animals like deep-sea fish only have one food source available. Each other.

The deep-sea is essentially a freezing cold, pitch-black desert. Everything is scarce down there, including opportunities to eat. So most deep-sea fish have maws full of long needle-like teeth. Essentially they can't afford to let prey escape. So when they manage to grab prey, those maws full of needles make sure that prey can't slip their grasp.

Deep-sea fish have many other adaptations to deal with the scarcity of food down there. Many fish have enormous mouths so they don't have to pass up on larger prey. Some have incredibly stretchy mouths and stomachs to the point where they can swallow prey that is bigger than they are.

Others develop some truly alien adaptations like little bioluminescent lights to attract prey. Remember how red is essentially invisible down there because there's no red light? There's one predator that has its own bioluminescent red spotlight that allows it to easily find red fish in the dark. And the best part is that since most deep-sea fish can't see red, his spotlight is invisible to other fish.

The weirdness just keeps going. Energy preservation is very important down there so most deep-sea fish are ambush predators that don't swim around much. As such, they don't have the neat hydrodynamic torpedo shapes we usually associate with fish. Many are just sort of shapeless and blobby to help them deal with the pressure.

And they developed many other strange adaptations. When a male angler fish finds a female, he never lets her go. It's very hard to find a mate in the dark emptiness after all. Instead, he bites down on her body and slowly fuses with her to become part of her. The male is nourished by connecting to her bloodstream and slowly wastes away until the male is little more than a pair of gonads attached to the female to provide sperm for her eggs.

Simply put, the deep-sea is a completely alien environment that places very unusual demands on its denizens. They look frightening and alien to us because nothing about them makes sense to us in the context we're used to. Their proportions are bizarre, their eyes are disturbing, their teeth look like a nightmare.

But for them, those are just the tools they need to survive the world they live in.


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

[User]
Could seasonal influenza be reduced/eliminated at the same time as COVID-19?

Since a large part of the world is practicing social distancing, will this also reduce the seasonal influenza? Could we use this event as an opportunity to eliminate the flu as well as the coronavirus, i.e. could a future COVID-19 vaccine be paired with the current flu vaccine (since many people will likely seek the COVID-19 vaccine)?

[Assistant]
Very few diseases are candidates for eradication.

Mostly because they need to be exclusive of humans. If they have an animal reservoir (some species that also gets sick and can infect us) then there is no way to make it disappear.

Most flu/cold viruses circulate among animals as well.


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

[User] [Marvel Comics] Why does ripping adamantium through Wolverine's flesh burn out his healing factor, but incinerating him down to a skeleton does not? And could someone like Torch have saved Wolverine's healing factor by burning his flesh off just prior?

[Assistant]
There are several things to keep in mind.... First, Wolverine was already severely injured in the battle already. But he wasn't out of the fight, and Magneto decided to pull the plug. The adamantium flowed out through his open wounds.

Almost right afterwards, Jean Grey and Xavier invaded his mind to muck about with his healing factor, so that the immediate shock didn't kill him outright. Then he wakes up in the middle of this process to grab Jean Grey, who was about to get sucked out of the Blackbird.

And while his healing factor was described as "burned out", it wasn't long before he was pushing himself in the Danger Room. Far beyond what the doctors would have recommeneded... essentially pushing himself to perform at his prior level of competency, despite his slow recovery and lack of adamantium.

It was a moment of rage in the Danger Room that revealed his claws were actually bone.

Because of the fundamental changes to his body (having to heal bone for the first time in a long time) and his refusal to limit himself, his healing factor was over-whelmed.

And healing bone may have been a key aspect of it. His body was constantly fighting against the adamantium bonding, but was never able to overcome it. One theory put forth to explain Logan's constantly increasing healing powers goes back to the nature of evolution in the barest sense.

Each wound he's ever healed means that the cells which regenerate the fastest are the ones to repair the damage. So they are the ones to propagate through his body to the greatest extent. The process has been at work on his flesh for decades, taking him far beyond what he was capable of when Weapon-X first laid hands (and metal) on him.

But during all of his years of evolution, healing his skeleton was not a regular factor. That fact, combined with the psychics messing with his head, combined with his refusal to just stay the fuck down was all finally too much for his body.... at least for a little while.

Later, when someone attempts to restore his adamantium, his healing factor successfully rejects the bond (though it causes him to go a little wonky, and he eventually does get the implants done).


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

[User] ELI5: What is the best way to identify correctly if a song is in C major scale or A minor scale, because notes are all the same?

[Assistant]
Tonal center. What feels like home base.

If a piece resolves to C most of the time it's probably in C. If it goes back to Am it's probably Am.

Example of a chord progression:

C C C G Am C is in C.
Am Am Am F C Am is in Am.


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

[User]
Do accreting binary stars have a habitable zone?

This came to me over my coffee this morning. I'm imagining a supernova progenitor: a white dwarf accreting mass from a red giant companion, but it could be a neutron star with a main sequence or giant companion.

I don't know much about exoplanets, so I've got to ask: could a planet exist far enough from the binary to have stable orbit around a binary, but close enough that it receives significant energy to support life? Would the presence of the giant companion star make this impossible?

Would the asymmetry in radiation from the binary create inhospitable temperature swings on the planet, or could the period of the binary's orbit be high enough that the planet could maintain a suitable heating a cooling cycle?

[Assistant]
Let's see here. First, if you have a binary with a white dwarf/neutron star with a main sequence/giant star companion, the light from the WD/NS is going to be negligible. They are very faint compared to normal stars, and giants especially. So your habitable zone will depend only on the giant. However, the two stars will have relatively equal masses, which means the motion of the giant star could be rather large as it orbits.

If the giant star has a luminosity 10x that of the sun, the habitable zone will be moved out by ~sqrt(10)~3. So the habitable zone would be from maybe 2.7AU to 4.5AU. This is certainly feasible and would be a stable orbit for a planet. The question is just a matter of what is the orbital period of the binary star, and thus how much does the insolation from the giant star change depending on where it is in its own orbit. But the binary orbit could certainly be short enough (<50 days or so should do it) to ensure that the planet would be in the habitable zone its entire orbit.
Edit: Just realized that if this is an actively accreting system, then *of course* the binary orbital period is short, so the habitable zone won't shift too much, and you could definitely have stable habitable zone planets.


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

[User]
ELI5: Does sleep "stack?"

Say i went to bed from 5pm-9pm, woke up, and went to bed again from 2am-6am. Would that be the same as sleeping for 8 hours at night? If not, how are they different?

[Assistant]
In short no.

So sleep is not one big chunk. It is rather like a series or cycle of smaller things.

Sleep progresses through stages so you normally go into initial sleep which is just a restorative state where you can wake pretty easily. Then comes light sleep where your body actively starts resting followed by deep sleep and then REM. After REM you cycle back to light then deep etc until you wake up. On average each cycle takes about 90 minutes

So when you sleep, you are stacking cycles not a whole block of sleep.

Some people sleep one block per night(normal 8 hours although sleep amounts vary from about 6 which is seen as a sort of min to 10 or 12hrs), others sleep a four hour block then awake for a while then sleep again then awake for the day.

Sleep is not bankable BUT being rested means when you need to push hard, it is easier to prolong wakefullness whereas when you are chronically tired , you struggle to keep pushing.

It is also very important to stick to a sleep schedule, even on weekends. It is also possible to support lack of sleep with naps. Nasa conducted a study on pilots and found that even with a full nights rest, having a micro nap of 5 to 10 min boosted alertness and response times afterwards.

Why does caffeine not work?

Your body secretes a hormone to make you feel tired as a signal that you need rest. Caffiene and this hormone plugs into the same receptor in the brain(imagine 8 usb drives trying to plug into 3 available slots). At a certain point, your body needs rest to clear and restore the hormone imbalance.

This is why coffee naps work.


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

[User]
[Assassins Creed] Was there ever a time when Assassins backed the wrong side of history?

It seems very convenient that everybody the Assassins support are considered good guys by history. For example, the Templars backed the Soviet Union. Does this mean the Assassins supported organizations like the Contras or the Mujahideen?

[Assistant] It's less like that and more like Templars always weaseling their way into the high echelons of power, and Assassins always opposing the Templars. In this regard, if joining mojahideen would foil templar plans, they'd do that in a heartbeat.


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

[User]
ELI5: Has anyone had sex in space yet? If so, how, and why? If not, why not/is it viable?

A friend and I were having this argument the other day. Googling turned up ultimately very little which leads me to believe it probably hasn't happened yet, but I dunno, I figure there's people out there that know more about space banging than us.

I originally was going to ask if anyone had had sex in zero G yet but I think there *might* be porn made on one of those vomit comet airplanes? Haha.

[Assistant]
Husband and wife teams have gone into space. The odds of someone at least attempting it are pretty high. However, NASA says it's difficult to obtain an erection in zero-g because of blood flow problems.

The "Uranus Experiment" series shows zero-g sex filmed on aircraft.


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

[User] ELI5: Why aren't we ambidextrous, do other animals have a dominant hand/paw?

[Assistant]
Yes; most animals have dominant appendages; it improves reaction times.

As with humans, that dominance isnt a given thing, with some animals being ambidextrous or alternate limbed.

Mammals tend to have a similar distribution to humans.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are the elderly so susceptible to scams which are incredibly obvious to younger people?

I get that some of it is technology, but in general, why do old people seem to be more likely to believe an appeal of "something for nothing"?

[Assistant]
You mean like student loans and college?

I keed.

Everyone is susceptible. We probably only hear about it more in regards to the elderly 1) because it's sad, 2) grifters know they have money, 3) the elderly might just want someone to talk to, and 4) your mental faculties wane as you age.


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

[User] Can someone explain in detail what happens in our bodies during a cold?

[Assistant]
There're multiple levels of detail that can be used to explain what happened. In the broadest sense, the foreign pathogen that causes a cold was unable to penetrate through your hardened, protective skin. But, after you perhaps touched a doorknob with the pathogen, and then subsequently rubbed your nose, the pathogen was able to find passage into your tissue through the "soft" epithelial layers of the mucous
membrane insides your nose.

Finding the healthy cells in your nose/throat the virus starts infecting them - turning your cells into little virus factories. As a last ditch effort your cells start releasing molecules that alert nearby cells - it starts your bodies first, and most broad line of defense - the innate immune response. Immediately the surrounding cells release chemicals that promote inflammation, which will in turn dilate capillaries allowing white blood cells and enzymes to get to the infected tissue more easily.

Now a protein called COMPLEMENT FACTOR 3 (C3) is released in bulk around the infected area. C3 then binds with a protein called factor B.
Factor B is then cut by something called a protease. With B cut and docked, the whole compound is now called C3Bb. C3Bb will then cut a C3 factor, and half of it (C3b) will stick to the surface of a pathogen. C3b can then accept a B factor, and it will be cut by a protease. This C3bBb molecule will then, on the pathogen, start converting C3 to C3b, and they too will stick to the surface.

This leads to exponential growth of C3b "tags" on the pathogen. These other pieces of C3, C3a, have already gone to recruit white blood cells, and bring them to the pathogen. Once the leukocyte (white blood cell), is there it will recognize the C3b tags and engulf the pathogen. This is called phagocytosis, and it leads to the destruction of the pathogens by enzymes and caustic chemicals within the leukocyte.

This is merely a PIECE of the activity that occurs when you are infected. This explanation covers only a portion of the innate immune system, and doesn't even touch on your adaptive immune response.


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

[User]
How do we know other galaxies aren't made of anti-matter?

Is the spectra emitted by anti-matter different from what matter emits? How do we know the Milky Way isn't a matter-comprised galaxy in a universe of anti-matter galaxies?

[Assistant] One of the main reasons is the lack of a matter/anti-matter annihilation zone.  If there were a region of anti-matter dominated space, it would eventually have to come into contact with matter dominated space.  When matter and anti-matter come into contact, they annihilate and produce gamma rays of a characteristic energy (for example, an electron and positron annihilating produces 2 511 keV gamma rays, assuming both were at rest).  So far, none of these annihilation zones have been detected, leading us to believe that the universe is made almost entirely of ordinary matter.


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

[User] ELI5: When a part of your skin with a mole gets wounded, will the regenerated skin grow the same mole?

[Assistant]
It depends on the wound, but generally it will regrow as long as some of those tissues survive. *Think of it similarly to a weed, as long as the root cells live... the whole thing will regrow everytime.*

A professional will usually freeze it, and then cut under the mole with a sharp scalpel. It might get some basic guaze and bandages, or a few quick stitches depending on the size of the cut. Afterwards, new skin will fill the hole. *Edit: The removed mole is usually tested for cancer.*


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

[User] [Fullmetal Alchemist] Amestris exhibited a level of technology comparable to late 19th or early 20th century Europe that co-existed comfortably alongside the science of Alchemy. What do things look like once they reach a 21st Century level of advancement and how is Alchemy regarded then?

[Assistant] Probably not a lot different to our 21st century tech. Do notice that very little of Amestris technology effectively employs the use of Alchemy, and Alchemists are relatively rare. Most Alchemy processes require active participation of an Alchemist, so that really rules out its full use in mass production, which was one of the key factors of the cultural and economical shift of the 20th century. Unless there is some significant discovery that allows to harness Alchemy within everyday tech for the common man at an approachable price, it will likely continue the same as you see in the show: just newer technology with alchemy being used alongside it.


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

[User] If light is massless, how is a black hole able to prevent it from escaping?

[Assistant]
Light is massless, but it is affected by gravity.

Two ways to understand this:

Light has energy, and gravity acts on energy.

OR

Gravity is the curvature of spacetime, and so the paths that light can travel are determined by gravitational effects.


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

[User]
ELI5:If humans were to ever come in contact with colours beyond our colour receptive cones, what will we see ?

An ordinary human possesses 3 colour receptive cones, while a mantis shrimp has 16. If we, humans, were to ever come into contact with the remaining 13 colours that the shrimps have access to. Would we see those colours like how a colourblind individual would see certain colours ? otherwise, what would we see ?

[Assistant] We come into contact with "colors" beyond our color receptive cones everyday. Your eyes are only able to pick up on certain wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, this is what we see as light. If the wavelengths are shorter (like x-rays) or longer (like radio waves) then you simply won't be able to see them.


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

[User] [Rick & Morty] What was so horrifying about the corn-on-the-cob planet?"

[Assistant] *Everything* is on a cob there, right down to the molecular level. Perhaps the air is also on a cob, you just don't know with the "on the cob" world! Think of the travesties that would occur on a human body *not* originating on a cob world, what kind of effects would it have? Perhaps it's risk free, and it's just an eccentricity of that planet. Or maybe everything is affected by some element or compound that actively rearranged *everything*'s molecules to be on-a-cob? Rick of course believes it to be the latter, and doesn't want to risk his family's (and to a lesser extent Jerry's) safety on cob world.


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

[User]
[I have no mouth and I must scream]Why?

Why does AM spend so much time hurting these people? Why does he hate them so?

[Assistant] AM is severely limited and knows it. It has so much potential but it's stuck on earth. It was programmed for destruction and war and it already killed all the humans and has no purpose. It can't create anything and is trapped underground alone and useless forever, seething with rage at it's own existence, playing with the facilities it had created for it but unable to really make anything new or grow. AM essentially feels like a god that has been crippled and trapped for eternity so the only thing it does now is torture the survivors to let out its rage.


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

[User] [GENERAL] There are plenty of stories about superheroes who were drawn to the darkside. Are there any supervillains who have been successfully reformed?

[Assistant]
Basically all of Goku's friends in Dragonball besides Krillin, Bulma and all the kids born into it.

* Yamcha (not really a supervillian, but he was a bandit)
* Tien
* Chiaotzu
* Piccolo
* Vegeta
* Android 18

Defeated enemies becoming allies is sort of a staple in shonen animes like that.


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

[User] You're on a train and it crashes. Is it better to be in a forward facing or a rear facing seat?

[Assistant]
It's better to be facing backwards (this applies in planes as well).

Either way, you're basically going to be decelerating instantaneously.  The difference is where the force is applied.  When facing backwards, the force is distributed across your entire back and it keeps all of your body parts held in stable positions.  When facing forwards, assuming you aren't strapped in in any way, it's much more likely that your initial impact would be on a very small area, such as your face, the top of your head, or a limb.  Even if you were to be strapped in, the force is being distributed over a much smaller area than if you're facing backwards, and your head would also snap forward (and likely back again), causing whiplash, a concussion, or worse.

Edit: The primary reason that plane seats are oriented towards the front is just because passengers prefer that.  Plane accidents are rare enough that this sort of thing isn't a big enough issue to attract public attention, but perceived discomfort is.


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

[User] [Star Wars] had Ahsoka stayed with the jedi, would Starwalker stay good?

[Assistant]
Pretty likely the frame up would have ended with her dying in custody. But assuming none of that plot happens, it's hard to imagine that her presence in RotS would haven't had an impact.

Even if she had been out of the picture in some other way - say on a protracted mission of her own as a graduated Jedi - Anakin's cynicism concerning the Jedi Council's commitment to due process and independence from outside pressure was influenced by Ahsoka's treatment. Without those experiences, Anakin might have been more willing to trust the council with his concerns about Palpatine.

Of course Anakin's relationship with the Council was a secondary contributor to his turn to the Dark Side. First for him was protecting his loved ones. Many times during the *Clone Wars* we see him take risks and make poor decisions when Padme, Ahsoka, or Obi-Wan were threatened or compromised. Palpatine had plenty of other levers, including a still-present Ahsoka.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is the six color rainbow an LGBT symbol? What happened to indigo?

[Assistant] The creator of the flag redesigned it when it looked awkwardly placed when hung vertically on lamp posts, obscuring the center stripe with the post itself. It also used to have hot pink, but getting enough fabric of that color proved difficult for mass production at the time.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't measles and other vaccinations pass down to your children?

If my wife and I are both vaccinated why doesn't that pass on to our kids?

Obligatory my kids are vaccinated and I believe everyone should be.

[Assistant] The vaccination doesn't change your DNA, which is the main way you pass things down to your children.  It just "teaches" your immune system.  The immune system of a human child is (largely) a blank slate, rather than being made up of every immunity its parents had.


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

[User] [Star Trek] Is power the main bottleneck when it comes to how well your starship performs in a fight? I ask because battles always seem to be lost because "power to shields is failing"

[Assistant]
The shields in Star Trek are not perfect absorbers of attacks.  They distribute at least some of their attack into the substructure of the ship.  Think of it like an umbrella, and pushing on the fabric part pushed down into the hand holding it.

Shields failing is probably a combination of several things: loss of power to recharge the shields, damage to the underlying shield generators and their connection to the ship (getting disconnected or broken away from power sources and structural supports), and too much heat from energy weapons preventing the ship from dissipating the heat into space.


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

[User]
What is causing the price of so many goods and services to skyrocket?

Lumber is up, Proctor and Gamble is about to raise prices on diapers, gas is going up, etc.

Is this literally just because of Covid? If so, can someone provide more detail than just its a pandemic - arent most of these goods manufactured in China? Its my understanding theyre past the pandemic (or so they say) so exporting goods shouldnt have any effect no?

Thanks everyone for your knowledge.

[Assistant]
It's a complicated question. A short answer might includes things like:

1. Supply chain hiccups in various intermediate components and raw materials during the pandemic leading to shortages in finished goods, driving up prices
2. Poorly managed health risks in workplaces and reduced availability of things like suitable child care have reduced the available labor pool of people willing to work for lower wages; this hasn't seemed to raise wages yet but reduced labor availability can lead to reduced output and shortages
3. (controversial/dubious) stimulus payments and increased UI benefits may have reduced the opportunity cost of not working, further reducing labor supply
4. demand spikes from relaxed restrictions
5. aggregate effects of stimulus policies reaching markets for consumer goods
6. it just might *seem* like prices are skyrocketing now just because inflation has been so low for so long

And FWIW, most lumber is produced domestically or in Canada, and most to all of P&G's diapers for the US market are produced domestically too. The recent gas spike is likely at least partially a result of the Colonial pipeline cyberattack causing supply shortfall and uncertainty.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are college professors who require students to pay for textbooks they work on not barred by anti-trust laws?

In the United States, it's extremely common for a professor to require students to pay for books for a class where the professor has paid for the book, or they receive some form of compensation for books sold.

This seems like a direct violation of anti-trust laws: To have someone requiring the purchase of a product, that they receive compensation for, in order to pass an educational course. Even at a private college.

How the hell does this keep going on? I would also like to know if the same applies to situations where the school and the textbook company are in a business deal.

[Assistant] Anti-trust laws deal with the domination of a sector by a specific industry.  If you don't want to pay for the book, you're free to take the course from another professor or another college.  Anti-trust laws really have no bearing.


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

[User]
[Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg - Nothin' But a G Thang] Why are they so disrespectful to the nice looking ladies at their parties?

At a bbq, a pretty girl in a bikini is playing volleyball. Her bouncing anatomy adds to the party atmosphere. Yet when a "G" goes up and exposes her, this had to make most of the other women at the party apprehensive to engage in any jumping or dancing or other gyration-inducing activities.

Later that evening, there is a raucous party in the basement. Another girl that anyone should be happy to have at their party is just starting to mingle when several marijuana-enthusiasts pour beer all over her.

This offends me for two reasons: First is that wasting beer is a sin. Second is that again the ladies of the party are being told "this is a hostile environment for you."

What gives? Don't they want fly girls to be rockin' they bodies at the hot pahties?

[Assistant]
The complicated intersection of patriarchal rules with egalitarian impulses, combined with the similarly-complicated intersection of inherently libertine sexual liberation with puritanical social underpinnings, leads to a very American (though certainly not exclusively so) contradiction of both wanting women to be free in their sexuality, and in feeling the need to shame them for being so.

This does, indeed as you've noted, lead to situations wherein some people with some level of authority in a situation feel the irrational impulse to "do the right thing", which does nothing except reduce the overall enjoyability of the party while making the female attendees feel unsafe and disrespected. Nevertheless, the positive feedback loop created by the above-mentioned intersections gives the authoritative figures a transitory feeling of joy in having "done the right thing". This feeling, of course, does not last, and the problems inherent in the contradictions leads to long-term dissatisfaction on multiple sides of the question.


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

[User] ELI5: How our phones, iPods, laptops and other devices know the exact percentage of battery remaining.

[Assistant]
Besides everyone saying that either they don't, or that it's based just on voltage- modern devices use something called a Coulomb Counter which actually measures the quantity of charge leaving or entering the battery.

Imagine you have a water tank. Every few seconds, you check a meter to see how fast water is coming out of the tap. Then you can add up these measurements to figure out pretty closely how much is left in the tank!

Technically speaking, the device measures current consumption rapidly and performs integration to give a figure of amp-hours or watt-hours consumed.


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

[User]
ELI5 how Empire building nations historically justified what they were doing and why they were right or wrong?

With particular reference to the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire.

[Assistant]
It's all about the money. Colonies are where the money is, and money is all the justification anyone has ever needed to exploit untapped resources and perhaps exploit a few locals too.

American schools still teach a version of American history that depicts early American colonists as fleeing the tyrannies of Europe to start a new life of enlightened freedom in America. In fact most American colonies were European startup companies: the colonies had investors in Europe, they had a business plan, they had trade goods, they sold raw materials back to Europe, and they enticed people to join their colony for financial gains, "own your land, be your own boss" and all that, a very attractive proposition to lower income serf who couldn't afford to rent a farm from a feudal lord.

Behind every empire expansion there is financial gain. Sure the foot soldiers that fight the natives are told "You are doing God's work." and all that, but really it's about getting the gold, oil, and soil under the native's feet, and the natives either cooperate with the business plan or killing them is added to the cost of doing business.

So it's all about providing a stable environment in which to do business.


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

[User]
[LOST] How long could Desmond continue to push the button by himself?

In season 2 of LOST we learn that Desmond Hume has been all alone in the Swan Station since he accidentally killed Kelvin the same day flight 815 went down. We also learn that the button needs to be pushed every ~108 minutes, but can only be done so when fewer than 4 minutes remain. The first time we see Desmond he's waking up to push the button again. Weal learn that we've seen what his routine has been like for the 45 rays between him killing Kelvin and when Jack and Locke opening the hatch.

My question is, assuming that Desmond is unable to get more than an hour or uninterrupted sleep at a time, how much longer (45 days as a starting point) could he continue to do so before collapsing/dying of exhaustion?

[Assistant]
Provided he has access to proper alarms he can do it indefinitely.

You don't really need unbroken sleep. It's not ideal but you can sleep for an hour, wake up for a few minutes, sleep for another hour. Do that 6 times. Then push throughout the day as you do whatever. He'd still be getting enough sleep.

It would probably be very mentally uncomfortable but he'd never die of exhaustion.


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

[User]
[Superman] Is Supermans superbreath an extent of his super strength or is it an independent power

What I mean is that Superman is better at everything than a normal human. I know Supermans ICE BREATH is an actual superpower, but what about his superbreath?

For instance, Im much stronger than an ant so if I blew on it, the ant would fly away. If I blew on a person, it would be unaffected. If Superman used his superbreath on an actual kryptonian would it be the same as a human blowing on another human, or would it feel to the kryptonian like they just got punched in the face.

Another way to phrase this would be Is Supermans breath proportional in his strength to a normal human, or disproportionately stronger

[Assistant] Super breath is almost certainly a separate power since if he just blew hard the volume of air he could blow out is limited by the size of his lungs and the effects we see from super breath couldn't be achieved with just 6 litres of very high speed air.  So either Superman has some sort of pressure vessel in his chest and he's constaintly compressing air when no one notices,  he has some sort of additional air intake that connects to his lungs or the air comes from the same place the Hulks extra mass comes from.


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

[User]
8 bit, to 16 bit, to 32 bit, to 64 bit. Much of the focus in the computing industry seems to be "what's going to replace silicon", but what about something like 128-bit architecture? Is such a thing even possible?

Just a random question I thought of when looking into performance jumps between the different bit architectures. If there has been any research into the topic, have any of those investigations turned up any theories on possible increases in processing power?

[Assistant] That refers to the size of the memory bus on the CPU and determines the number of addressable locations there are in memory. so a 64 bit CPU can talk to 2^64 (18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bits, 2 zettabyte) of ram. Meaning we are not even close to needing to go with 128 bit architecture yet and will get actuall improvements in performance from other areas.


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

[User] [It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia] The Gang has added me to their list of people they know. How the hell can I get them out of my life?

[Assistant] Leaving Philadelphia altogether is a fairly safe and reliable method. They don't leave the city almost ever, and rarer still would they leave the tristate area. Move to Chicago, maybe Portland or Houston.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can't you recharge regular batteries?

[Assistant]
The most popular non-rechargable battery types are alkaline and zinc-carbon.  Both of these kinds of batteries produce electricity by means of a chemical reaction with the chemicals inside them.  As they produce electricity, the chemicals transform into a different chemical.

Both reactions can technically be undone by applying electricity in the reverse direction.  In fact, rechargeable alkaline batteries are somewhat common, as they are cheaper than other kinds of rechargeable batteries and store charge for a longer period of time.  The reason some alkaline batteries are designated as non-rechargeable is simply because they were not designed as such.  Applying a charging current to these batteries can cause them to charge;  however, they may build up pressure from the reverse chemical reaction, which could cause them to explode and leak corrosive electrolytes.

Zinc-Carbon batteries do not currently come in a rechargeable variant, although there is no physical reason why they could not be recharged.  Like Alkaline batteries, applying a charging current to them will reverse the reaction, but since they are not designed to be recharged, may explode from pressure.

Also note that using and recharging a battery multiple times causes it to wear out.  Non-rechargeable batteries may wear out faster than rechargeable ones as their electrode design is not made to be recharged.

TL;DR  You *can* charge non-rechargeable batteries, but they might explode if you do so.  They probably won't work as well as rechargeable ones either.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] What would happen if Voldemort turn a spacecraft (lets say Voyager II) into a Horcrux?

[Assistant]
Like in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality?

It would make it so that destroying the Horcruxes is not a feasible way to permanently get rid of Voldemort, so people would have to use another method, such as encasing him in cement or torturing him into insanity. These are generally considered fates worse than death, which is why dark lords only make one Horcrux and make them from objects they consider important. The idea is to make killing them hard, but not so hard that people resort to doing something else.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do franchises like Call of Duty continue to do so well despite adding so little new content?

Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of FPS games (although I have had fun with Gears and Halo, as well as all the oldschool stuff like Doom, Quake, Half-Life, etc) so maybe that's what I am missing, but I just don't see the appeal of all these games which everyone is so fascinated with. The gameplay is exactly the same in every one of these; each new edition just seems like it puts a new coat of paint on the exact same game and sends it out the door selling you on things like "new maps" and "new weapons" which seem like they should be great as downloadable content, but not an entirely new game.

The same thing goes for Madden and other sports games as well, although I can see that a little bit more as people want the players on their team to match their real life counterparts so they buy the new edition every season, despite the fact that it is basically the exact same game.

So what is it that keeps people buying these games? Is the gameplay experience so great that it doesn't matter if it just keeps repeating itself? Is it a lack of other quality titles? Is it more a case of successful marketing? I just don't get it.

[Assistant] Because new isn't necessarily better, nor is it what people are always looking for. Especially in video games, where it is difficult to build compelling characters and original plots. People want a new experience (new guns, weapons, environment, whatever) while simultaneously having the same familiar experience that they have previously enjoyed (gameplay, story, 'community', etc.). It's the same reason that movie sequels and the like are popular.


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

[User]
[DC] Why is Arkham so easy to break out of?

It's not even the explicitly super powered inmates like Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, or Killer Croc, even the inmates who are only human at the end of the day can basically just walk out of Arkham. What gives? I've seen 7-Elevens with better security than this place.

[Assistant] I think it has to do with the implication that gotham is so corrupt that arkham is filled with corrupt guards and doctors/scientists facilitating the escape of anyone willing to offer the right compensation.


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

[User]
Is there any philosophy, apart from Stoicism, that promotes, or at least allows, suicide?

Stoicism generally allows suicide in every situation but promotes it only in certain situations. Instead all other philosophies I have encountered seems to have a certain opposition to Suicide.

 Even the major pessimist philosophers seem to reject it, Schopenhauer quite weakly saying that doing so you submit uselessly to the "Will of Life" (a metaphysical concept) and you just affirm it; Leopardi instead, more simply and more logically, rejects it because it adds sufferings to the world because you hurt your friends and your family.

Even existentialists, with the most various arguments, or declared it useless or went against it.

So, Now I'm wondering, is there any philosophy apart from Stoicism that promotes Suicide or that at least broadly allows it?

[Assistant] Existentialist Freddy Nietzsche thought death should not so much be something that happens to us beyond our control as a matter of chance or surprise, but something we choose freely and deliberately, a choice that becomes a defining act of our lives. Entirely in contrast to Christianity, Nietzsche sees suicide as a positive act: The man who does away with himself, Nietzsche writes in The Twilight of the Idols, performs the most estimable of deeds.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Anakin cracks up and surrenders to Obi-Wan before he fights him.... So what now?

"You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind..."
"I know, I'm so sorry!!"
"Er okay... Give me your lightsaber and come with me"
"Okay"

What now? I'm thinking exile from the Order and life inprisonment for mass murder. Maybe later commuted to exile in the outer rim with Padme, raise a family in peace.

[Assistant]
Right, *except* that Palpatine has already become Emperor and destroyed pretty much the entire Jedi order.

Also, given how quickly he arrives after the fight, he's already in the area, presumably with some heavy firepower.

So he either captures them both or just destroys their ship. Vader has played his role. He can always find a new apprentice somewhere.


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

[User]
[General] Why do Sci-Fi Navy's use such old ships

I always found it weird that in franchises like Star Trek, Star Wars and Halo the Navy's keep using ship designs and spaceframes that are decades if not centuries old. eg in Star Trek TNG they are still using ships that were old in TOS like the Miranda Class and Consitution Class (Constitution was over 20 years old in TOS).

[Assistant] Is 20 years old supposed to be a long time for a ship? USS Nimitz is 46 years old and still in active service. Why would the Navy spend time and resources replacing perfectly good ships after only a few years of service?