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

[User] Does data have weight? Ex If I were to weigh a USB before and after loading it with data, would there be any difference (no matter how minute)?

[Assistant]
Yes, but only technically. A 0 bit in a flash drive is a low voltage state, and a 1 bit is a high voltage state. The high voltage state has a higher potential energy, so it also has more mass by E=mc^2 . With that known, a drive that is completely full of 1s will be heavier than one completely full of 0s. For a 4GB drive, its on the order of 10^-18 g. This is an attogram, which is 1 millionth of a nanogram. Or put another way, its the equivalent of about 3000 *atoms* of gold.

However, a drive filled with actual data wont be all 1s. There will be roughly as many 1s and 0s. So really, it will be about half as big of a difference. And an empty drive wont be all 0s either, since any data that was on it previously would still be there just delisted. Bits in the high voltage state weigh more than bits in the low voltage state. But an empty or full flash drive can weigh more, less, or the same as each other.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why did evolution decide to require a male and female in order to reproduce, when single celled organisms successfully reproduced asexually?

Trying to understand the evolutionary benefits of requiring a male and a female when a satisfactory option (perhaps even better?) was already in place...

Wow... lots of responses quickly!  Thanks guys... I dont know if I am breaking rules, but can i throw a curve ball out there?  If multiple partners creates stronger/complex offspring... why hasn't (and can) evolution evolve to allow more than 2 involved... therefore further complicating and diversifying the offspring?

[Assistant]
Sexual reproduction gives more variation within the species in a shorter timeframe. Variation can be a good thing.

Edit: to answer your second question, these sorts of things come about if the benefit outweighs the cost. So if it's beneficial to have a multi partnered relationship, outweighing the cost of complexity, it will eventually happen. The closest we have come that i know of are polyamory, polygamy, harems... You get the idea.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why are Thor and Jane Foster together?

Jane is an astrophysicist, she's smart, funny, and dedicated to her job. Thor is a hunky, loutish guy with a hammer, who's prone to sudden year-long disappearances, and who probably looks at Jane's scientific pursuits with some amusement, because the Asgardian seers already know so much more.

So why are those two together? They don't seem to share any common interests. (All right, Jane might be curious about the way Asgard technology works, but that's not something related to Thor as a person.) Was it one of those weird "love at first sight" things?

[Assistant]
Have you *seen* Thor?

I imagine there are very few straight women on the planet who would not be at least a little bit interested in a man of his physique.

Those that aren't probably are attracted to the fact that he is quite possibly the most powerful creature to grace the surface of the planet Earth.

...and is rich beyond measure.

...and knows thousands of years of Earth history by memory.

...and is intimately aware of dimensional physics and science so complicated it might as well be magic.

It's a slam dunk as to why Jane might like Thor.

As to Thor liking Jane? Well, she's smart, hot, sweet, and a generally good person who solves problems with her mind, some to him pretty primitive tools and a strong dose of determination, something which is probably pretty novel to him. She is representative of the best qualities of humankind, who he admittedly has a soft spot for.

It's really pretty much opposites attracting.


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

[User]
ELI5: Steam trading cards, gems, mystery cards, etc...

I'm so clueless.  I don't know what to do.  Turn them into gems before the end of the sale?  It's so weird and makes me uncomfortable...

[Assistant]
**Steam Trading Cards are virtual cards earned by playing games on Steam. Sets of cards can be turned into game badges and tradable Steam community items.**

**Once youve collected a set of cards you can craft them into a game badge. Like the current badges, they are tied to your account and are shown on your profile. Unlike the current badges, crafting game badges earns you marketable items like emoticons, profile backgrounds, and coupons.**

**Level up your badge by collecting the set again and earning more items.**

**All badges now have XP which contributes to your Steam Level, a summary of your badge collection. You can view someones Steam Level by hovering over their avatar. Leveling up earns you non-tradable items like profile showcases, extra friends list slots, and more.**


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

[User]
[Overwatch] Former Overwatch operative. My life has taken a weird turn. What's going on?

As far as I remember, it started when I got a video from Winston talking about how we're still needed and can make a positive difference in the world. Now I'm with some other ex-Overwatch operatives, some apparently clones, fighting against a bunch of other ex-Overwatch operatives. What's going on?

I don't understand. I got onto a team with two clones of Winston himself, and asked them if they knew why we were fighting each other, or what that video from Winston (the original?) was about, but they didn't know any more than I did about what was happening.

I want to believe that Overwatch has been re-activated, and I'm in a simulated VR training exercise getting ready to fight the new Omnic uprising in Russia, but I don't get why I don't remember being briefed about anything or entering a VR simulator or anything. Did they block our memories of entering a simulator to see our reactions under stress and confusion more realistically? Or is it not a VR training exercise at all?

[Assistant] Simulations of older Overwatch missions, we're assuming your a bit rusty seeing how it's been a while since Overwatch was actually active, and practice never hurt anyone. They're just war games to get you back in the routine of things, get you used to who you might be fighting and on the weaknesses of your allies as well, so you better understand how you can help them in the field.


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

[User]
How is "Death is the possibility of impossibility for Dasein" not a paradox?

For Heidegger death is the possibility of impossibility. Then apparently someone (Mauss?) said that this should be understood as the impossibility of possibility.

I just don't understand this. If something is impossible then surely it's not possible. And vice-versa.

So does this mean there is temporality to the possibility of death? Death is impossible for me *as of now* and it becomes possible at a certain point in time by god knows what way?

Also in regards to Being-Toward-Death... Is there anyone who counter-argued that death is not intuitive and that we learn about death by observing it happening to other people? I don't recall knowing about death until I learned someone died.

[Assistant]
>So does this mean there is temporality to the possibility of death? Death is impossible for me as of now and it becomes possible at a certain point in time by god knows what way?

Possibility, for Heidegger, is always *futural*. Death is the possibility of there being no more possibilities because after death, you have no future (thus nothing is possible).


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

[User]
CMV: Comunism is an unreacheable utopia

I have been interested in the topic for years and I have disscuss and debated it with several activist and members of various socialists organizations, through all of it and their different perspectives one thing remain for me and that is the fact that the society they are claiming to be aiming for is not possible so long as we remain human.

So far such talks express an ideal society without any ruling class or any goberment that is self sufficient, able to manage itself, provide necesities and comodities for all its members, have everyone work for the good of them all, and progress in arts and science. The problem is that it is presented as the reachable end point without taking into account how to realistically you would get there or how such a society would deal with greed, selfishness, envy, and any other deffects humans have; most of the time it's presented the idea that somehow just "following their philosophy" is how you get there  which considering the centuries of history that show how ideas fail or are corrupted when apply to the real world just begs for another failed system if attempted as is.

Don't get me wrong I can see many failings in our current system that need to be work on and improve, but simply thinking that just replacing it with another one that has considerable less revisions based on it's application and proven exploits won't work.

EDIT: After responding to several comments I noticed that I didn't make clear what view I wanted to change, in short is the fact that since so far anyone that has presented a communist society to me has only displayed the ideal version currently can't see how a pure communist society would work on any level.

[Assistant]
The various -isms are too vague, with too many different interpretations and variations, to make statements like this. It doesnt really mean anything in particular.

How would goods be allocated? How would trade occur? How would capitalism be prevented from cropping up in communes? How would crimes be enforced without a state? What does common ownership mean? What would this society actually look like, how would it work when you got there?

So there is no particular utopia that is unattainable, but a great many, and youll rarely know which one someone is talking about. Seems like most of the time it doesnt refer to any particular utopia at all.


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

[User]
[Halo] Why doesn't the Covenant create it's own version of the Spartan Program?

Also why don't the have a MJOLNIR equivilant?

[Assistant]
By copying their program they would be admitting they were inferior to humans in some way. This goes against their belief that they are superior beings and it would be seen as an insult. It wouldn't be allowed in their society. The closest they had was the arbiter, but that was less of a program and more of a ritual.

Also there was no real need to - The spartan program made humans about as strong as an elite - which the covenant had plenty of. The spartans were also relatively few in number, and while tough, were killable with enough effort.

Also MJOLNIR armor is roughly the equivalent to elite armor, which covenant had plenty of as well.


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

[User]
Why do axons with a larger circumferences transmit action potentials faster?

Explanations that I've had from profs use resistivity differences in electrical wires to compare, but I don't see how a action potential (localized at the membrane) can compare to an electrical wire. Action potential currents and electrical currents don't seem to follow the same physics to me.

Do any of the neuroscientists or biophysicists have a better explanation for this?

(3rd year undergrad in biochem, currently in physiology and upper year neuroscience.... don't be afraid to use technical terms)

[Assistant]
Background/Setup:

The progression of an action potential is driven by the diffusion of charged ions axially down the length of the nerve. After ions from a section of nerve reach the next section down, they travel across the membrane. This results in a flow of charge across the membrane which has small conductance (1/resistance) in its initial resting state. Following ohms lab, the flow of charge results in a large voltage change, kicking off the AP.

Answer to question:

Cross-section for the progressing ions to flow axially through the nerve is dependent on the square of the radius, therefore the time needed for one section of nerve to build up enough charged ions stimulate the next section scales with the inverse square of radius (This is the resistance of the nerve to the axial conduction of ions that your professors have been mentioning)

The conductance of the membrane (mentioned in the first paragraph) scales with the radius, this is the conductance of the membrane to the flow of ions through it.  Therefore the amount of ions needed in the next section of nerve to result in an AP scales with the radius due ohms law.

The speed with which an AP can travel the nerve axially is dependent both on how quickly the ions can build up in the next section of nerve and also how great the conductance of the section of nerve is. This results in a relation where speed= r^2 *  1/r = r, so speed of the conduction scales with r.

Sorry if that was confusing, its hard to put concepts like this in words.

Source: Various physiology courses and a bioelectric phenomenon course.


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

[User] [Naruto] If Madara and Hashirama were rivals Why in the 4th ninja war was Madara so OP and reincarnated Hashirama unable to feel pain so inconsequential?

[Assistant] Undead Madara was even stronger than he had ever been while alive, because he was reincarnated into his peak physical form while still having the Rinnegan and Senju chakra that he gained at the end of his life. The power of the Rinnegan, and the Senju chakra he stole from Hashirama giving him Wood Style and a boost to all stats, put him over the edge against Hashirama when they both fought as Edo Tensei.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What does the Emperor do in his free time?

Like does he have a hobby? Does he do anything besides sit in his chair and look evil?

[Assistant]
When you're the ultimate ruler of, and administrator to, thousands of planets - you don't get free time. The Emperor had spent over 20 years ruling the Galaxy before building his first vacation home (Death Star 1), which was blown up by those wampahole rebels. Took almost 5 years to build the next one, and they blew that up with him on it!

Why did he need a vehicle that size and with that much firepower? Well the first time he even got on one, an entire fleet tried to kill him. So that's why.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly is George Lucas' role in creating Star Wars? Is he equal to an author like Tolkein, Rowling, or George RR Martin?

Was Star Wars like a single-man creation by Lucas like Lord of the Rings was of Tolkien? Or are there unsung heroes that really brought Star Wars to life, and Lucas just gets the credit?

Edit: F. Sorry J.R.R... spelled name wrong in title.

[Assistant]
Well, it was his idea, and he brought it to life. He wrote it, directed it and produced it.

I give directors nearly full credit for what we see on screen.

That being said, movies and books have different set of standards. GRRM, JRRT and Rowling all wrote literally every single word in those books, whereas every movie has over 100 people working on it.

I think George deserves as much credit as any movie writer and director can receive.

Even with all that, yes, George had a bunch of successful buddies help him out (eg. Spielburg).


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

[User] [Bob's Burgers] How does the restaurant stay afloat? Surely, the Belchers are heavy in debt?

[Assistant]
Bob is pretty much skimming by; he can keep a roof over his head and food on the table, but even minor emergencies are sources of great stress, and he's had to push it with Mr. Fischoeder on the rent more than once. They do have a bit of an emergency fund, but it tends to get tapped out a lot due to circumstances (like damage to kitchen equipment that then requires repair) or questionable investments (like the food truck or the soft serve machine). It's highly questionable if they can afford to send the kids to college.

As for the restaurant itself, presumably there's a pretty solid lunch/dinner rush that mostly goes unseen, since most of the family antics occur during the slower hours outside those times. The place looks dead, because it's only during those slow times that Bob can get out from behind the grill, chat with Mort and Teddy, get distracted by whatever the kids are getting up to now, or other shenanigans.


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

[User] eli5: What is multimodal distribution? With examples, please :)

[Assistant]
Consider height. Adult women are about five inches shorter than adult men. If you look at just the distribution of women's height, it's a normal distribution - many clustered around the mean, few at the extremes. Likewise, if you look at just the distribution of men's height, it's a normal distribution.

But if you look at the distribution of all human height, you end up with a bimodal distribution. The mode (most common value) of female height is about five inches less than the mode of male height while the variance is roughly the same. Adding them together preserves these two modes, thus 'bimodal' or 'multimodal'.

In general, when you see multimodal distributions in real world data, it implies that you're combining two or more distributions that have different characteristics.


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

[User] [Home Alone] Would Harry and Marv have murdered Kevin if they caught him?

[Assistant]
Probably.

One of the psychological elements that comes up in self-defense scenarios is that if a victim escalates the level of violence, if the attacker doesn't immediately retreat they will match or exceed the new level and is unlikely to back down even if the victim attempts to surrender or placate later; if someone demands your wallet and you pull a weapon instead, there's no going back to just giving them the wallet if you can't close the deal with the weapon, you are getting your ass kicked or worse.

When the Wet/Sticky Bandits lay siege to Kevin McCallister, they face the threat of massive violence. Kevin's traps are quite brutal in terms of potential harm, and the Bandits demonstrate an insane commitment to pushing on through them; most right thinking folk would quit when they got a nail through the foot or 3rd degree scalp burns. Further, the Bandits display a very high background level of petty viciousness in their MO in the first film, as the amount of damage they're doing to people's homes with the sink flooding probably outstrips the financial loss of the burglary by a large margin, and that's to folks who haven't tried to put them in the hospital.

Twice, Kevin has fallen into their clutches, and was only saved by the intervention of outsiders. Had that intervention not arrived in time, Kevin most likely would have ended up either dead or with extreme, life-altering injuries.


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

[User]
Someone told me it was "too cold to snow".  How?

This was only at about -2C.  How then does the Earth have so much snowfall in extremely cold places?

[Assistant]
The amount of moisture in the air is dependent upon its temperature, below a certain point there is too little moisture for precipitation.

There are various large stretches of the Antarctic that qualify as deserts because they have so little precipitation due to this principle. But -2 is certainly warm enough to snow.

Can anyone put a name to this principle?


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

[User]
ELI5: How does trash produce methane?

What are the specifics in how trash and landfills are able to produce a lot of methane?

[Assistant] Organic trash is decomposed by microbes.  The microbes produce methane in their farts, as a waste produce of their metabolism.  A landfill constructed to keep organics together and collect this methane can collect a lot if there is a lot of organic trash.


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

[User] ELi5: How does options trading work?

[Assistant]
You have 100 as pocket money. A new toy comes out in August and by Christmas it will either be the best thing ever or so uncool your dad will want it.

You can either buy it now for 100 or buy an option for 5 now. If you buy the option now you can buy the toy for 75 at Christmas if it becomes cool or if it is uncool you do not use the option and your cost to date is 5. You now have either a cool toy for 80 or have spent 5 avoiding getting an uncool toy.


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

[User]
Is philosophy dead?

In 2009 Stephan Hawking said "fundamental questions about the nature of the universe could not be resolved without hard data such as that currently being derived from the Large Hadron Collider and space research. Most of us dont worry about these questions most of the time. But almost all of us must sometimes wonder: Why are we here? Where do we come from? Traditionally, these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead, he said. Philosophers have not kept up with modern developments in science. Particularly physics."

In the given context, is metaphysics still relevant? Also, would it not be better if philosophers tried to explore epistemology more - considering we live in information epidemic and it is of immense importance - to know what is knowledge and what is not?

[Assistant] Philosophy and sciences are interrelated, and Hawking fails to recognize that (many) scientists take for granted many basic assumptions (epistemology/ontology) that actually are the result of philosophical development. Mario Bunge has great texts about this, and illustrates well how bad philosophy leads to bad science.


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

[User]
What is it that you are seeing when you close your eyes and press your fingers into your eyelids?

What is it that creates the patterns and moving segments of light you see when doing so?

[Assistant]
When you press on your eye, the image its called a "pressure phosphene".
Pressing on your eye stimulates your retinal nerves to interpret the pressure as light.  Besides rubbing your eyes you can "see stars" after a head bump or even a strong sneeze if these events cause the retinal receptors to fire.

Another common reason for seeing something weird when pressing your eye is floaters. the little bits of protein floating in the vitreous humor (clear liquid) inside the eye.  Floaters are ignored by your visual system if they don't move.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does soda taste much more flavorful when carbonated vs when flat?

[Assistant] Uncarbonated soda is basically just syrup. Like, liquid sugar with food coloring. The carbonation gives it a sour taste. (Or rather, soda is loaded with sugar because without it the carbon dioxide is TOO sour).


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Darth Sidious often punished his apprentice with force lightening. How did this kill Vader?

We see it in the Clone Wars series that he frequently punishes Savage and Darth Maul.

[Assistant] The lightning ruined the electronics in his suit, crippling the life support systems built into Vader's armor. Combined with the damage from having the lightning coursing through his body, it gave Vader hours to live at best and minutes at worst. With Vader, Palpatine went for more of a mental punishment than anything else. Forcing him to report to Tagge rather than allowing him to work on his own after the Death Star's destruction, for example.


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

[User]
[Batman/Nolan Series] How did Bruce lose all of his money in "bad bets" when the stock market had literally just been invaded and said trades happened during that time?

Like legally there is no way those were valid right? And couldn't he have easily proven it or just said he refused to honor those trades?

[Assistant] Bane went to the exchange and ran a special computer program that took like 10 minutes to run at least.  What it was likely doing is placing those trades and faking the fact they were made months ago while at the same time doing some more obvious crime as a cover.  Fox says they will figure out the trades aren't real but it will take time.  Likely they will pull backup tapes and compare those to the live data and see the trades didn't exist a week ago or whenever the last tapes were done.  It's not that Bruce loses his money forever, it's that his accounts are frozen until it's all straightened out.


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

[User] [DOOM] Why does the rocket launcher harm Doomguy in the 1993 game, but the BFG9000 doesn't?

[Assistant]
The BFG9000 fires a huge blob of plasma that will detonate on a target to cause damage, and then the plasma will "spread" outwards to also damage targets within a wide radius.  So, yes, you raise an interesting question, namely why the exploding ball of plasma doesn't hurt the wielder of the BFG even when the plasma projectile detonates at point-blank range.  And the answer to this lies in a secondary property of the BFG gun itself: it projects an electromagnetic field that prevents the hot plasma from splashing back and hurting the user.  Ever notice how the BFG's blast also doesn't hurt anyone standing behind the user?  It's because the electromagnetic field prevents the plasma from hurting anyone that's not standing forward of the gun's muzzle.

In contrast, the rocket launcher is a much more primitive weapon, and it has no protective measures against the blast hurting the user.  The idea is that if you're choosing to fire the rocket launcher at close ranges, you are 1) stupidly dying in a Darwinian incident, 2) in desperate straits due to being surrounded by hostiles, or 3) crazy enough to use the rocket blast to propel yourself somewhere.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is silicone both a lubricant and a non-slip/sticky thing?

Edit: please explain like I am actually five.

[Assistant]
Think Silicone as sand. It helps you glide things over easily if it isnt glued down. If it is glued down, it act as a friction substance.

Silicone in liquid is lubricant and silicone in solid is non-slip.


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

[User]
[Marvel] What hero could I blatantly insult and roast before I was lethally attacked. Are there any heroes that would kill me for mouthing off?

If I called Wolverine a manlet enough times would he behead me?

[Assistant]
Well... if you insulted Bruce Banner thoroughly enough, he might get angry. And then your life would definitely be in danger.

If you spent a couple of hours telling the 50s Captain America how awesome you thought communism was, and maybe burned a couple of flags in front of him, he'd probably snap your neck like a twig.


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

[User] [GotG2/MCU] What was the death toll of Ego's attempted expansion?

[Assistant] The mcu wiki says he planted his spores on thousands of planets (in not sure if this was explicitly stated in the movie). So if that's true, it could be anywhere from thousands, to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands depending on how populated the planets were and how many beings happened to be around it at the time.


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

[User]
Why are things generally cheaper in poorer countries?

For example I got restaurant meals in Cambodia for like $5. I thought the reason that these countries are poor is that they are less productive meaning there are fewer goods and services to go around so wouldnt that mean everything should be more expensive?

Also I understand that the $5 restaurant meal is probably a higher % of the average cambodian income than a $15 meal is for an average american, but that still raises the question of why my income can go farther in a country like Cambodia than in America even though America is more productive.

[Assistant]
terms to look up: purchasing power parity

i think you touched a bit upon it in your second paragraph, $5 for a cambodian is a higher % of their income than what $15 would be for an american. part of it is straight up currency exchange rate, and the differences in those (for floating regimes or semi-floating) are due to supply and demand for that currency. the USD will be more in demand than whatever the currency in cambodia is, simply for obvious reasons like more people travel to the US and exchange goods in that currency than they would in whatever the cambodian currency happens to be.

but another difference then is purchasing power parity, which is an index to measure how much a certain basket of goods costs within any market. this basket contains non-tradeable services alongside goods, and reflects the cost of living in a particular area. with goods that you can sell across borders, you are likely to have similar prices, simply because any attempt at a lower price by one country will be met with increased demand for that country, less demand in the others with the subsequent lowering of prices (the typical supply and demand forces you see in micro environments, in a hypothetical ideal world).

but then when you consider non-tradeable services and goods, these can't be traded, because by definition many of them are services provided locally by the local labor force. of course, with globalization you are starting to see more transfer of services between borders, especially with online education or tutoring. but things like haircuts, or restaurant meals, that require local labor? those are non-tradeable.

a meal then in cambodia is $5 because the cost of its labor is much less than in the united states. why is it that in the united states you have to pay a worker $12 an hour, and in cambodia only a $1? this is where difference in productivity come in. because america is more productive, the opportunity cost of one hour of labor is worth more simply because you have more productive alternatives. you can work in a factory and produce more value to your employer in one hour than what a worker in cambodia could do. furthermore in america you have so many options to be productive, you can enter and exit the labor force with high liquidity. there are minimum wages as a price floor for labor. an american laborer is coveted because they have the choice in working at another chain, or do something else entirely with their hour of labor. as you said, they are more productive, so they can produce more in the same amount of time. it's not just about pure labor skills (though in this case, yes, an educated and literate work force), but also technology and capital.

meanwhile in cambodia, it is less productive. they produce less in that same hour. it is not about some pure intrinsic "lesser value" but simply their work force might not have the same basic general education as the US (do they have universal K-12?) their labor might not be literate, they cant just read and follow directions to handle machinery or procedures one would use in a more advanced work force like the US. they might not have the same level of productive technologies and capital to be productive. so one cambodian worker might make much less in one hour than one in the US would. that is reflected in the wage.

why would a cambodian accept $1 per hour? (and btw im just using the $1/hour as an example, i dont know the actual number) well if there are less opportunities, as there would be in a less productive society, then you might settle for that little. when there is less capital flow in that country, less opportunities arise, and with a large workforce? they will simply be paid less because overall they will be less productive.

ultimately, when you think about a country being "more productive" than another, that goes for its factors of production, which include labor. and that labor is also subject to market forces, and that will differ between countries because the level of productivity differs.


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

[User] ELI5: How do radioactive materials (radon, uranium, plutonium, etc) cause diseases like cancer?

[Assistant] When a radioactive particle decays it emits waves of radiation. These rays are highly reactive and can interact with many things inside the human body. The main problem with this is these particles can interact with the molecules that make up DNA. This will then cause errors within the DNA sequence. If these errors are within key genes that code for DNA repair mechanisms or replications control mechanisms it will cause the cell to reproduce uncontrollably causing a tumour to develop.


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

[User] [Final Fight] I know getting your daughter kidnapped messes with you but I just saw our mayor, shirtless, pile driving crooks into the street. Where are the cops? Are they shirtless too?

[Assistant] Haggar is out to send a message.  He wants to clean up the city and take care of Mad Gear.  He cant' do that alone he needs the citizens to rise up from their apathy and fear and fight the systemic corruption that allowed a gang to take over.  The cops are nowhere to be seen because they are on the take or afraid of Mad Gear.


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

[User]
[Ghostbusters] Why did Gozer leave Earth the previous times it was summoned?

If it likes coming here so much, why not stick around?

[Assistant]
When Gozer returns to earth, it's known as a "rectification". This indicates that Gozer - the Destroyer - is coming to earth to set something right, and when that task is accomplished, it will return to its native dimension.

Some Mesopotamians worshipped Gozer, and saw it as the ruler of the afterlife. They also believed that it consumed the souls of those sacrificed to it. We also know, from the Keymaster's dialog in the first movie, that Gozer destroyed the civilizations of those worshippers when it visited.

Ivo Shandor, who designed the apartment building Dana Barrett and Louis Tully lived in, was a Gozer cultist, and believed, based on the horrors he saw in World War I, that humanity was to corrupt to continue; he build the 550 Central Park West building as a metaphysical conduit to empower and summon Gozer, with the hopes of cleansing, or "reconciling," the world.

Based on all of that, we can assume that Gozer appears when a group worshipping it grants it enough power, and when the society in which it is being worshipped has become corrupt enough to deserve culling. Once the cull is complete, Gozer returns to its underworld dimension, fat and happy for the next few millenia.


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

[User]
[Doctor Who] What if a Weeping Angel hid under a blanket?

If the angel were completely covered, then technically, you wouldn't see it, you'd see the blanket.  Would it then be able to move freely even if you were staring.  (It'd have to stick its hand out a little to get you, but that wouldn't be too hard to do, would it?)

[Assistant]
Probably nothing. Remember the stone thing is a defense mechanism, which now scares me.  That must mean there is a predator that eats Angels.  What must that thing be like....

Anywho, if anything a blanket would draw more attention to them.  Maybe a Count Magpyr of Angels could force themselves to make it work since there seems some control over the power, but that would be extremely rare if not impossible.


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

[User]
CMV: Gender based quotas for some jobs (specifically where you let in people with lower qualifications just because they help fill that quota) seems dumb.

Now- What I'm specifically talking about is jobs like firefighting and other jobs where lives are on the line, or jobs where less women in general apply and the reason there's less women is because of that fact- not because  of bias, or anything like that.

I should elaborate- I remember hearing about the one project where they were gonna get more women into firefighting, and the way they were going to do that was to lower the requirements for women (I don't remember the exact %'s but for example say 90% marks in relevant subjects for men and 70% marks in relevant subjects for women) Now- if this was a male dominated field where your qualifications don't really affect lives like plumbing, then yeah, this would make sense, but for stuff like firefighting- It's not worth risking lives just to fulfill a quota.

That being said, I'm willing to CMV, so have at it.

[Assistant]
Lowering the required marks is not the same thing as a quota. It doesn't impose a certain number of females among the force, it increases the percentage of applicant that are hired, that's different. Instead of just hiring everyone to fill the quota you take the best 15% instead of the best 10% - that's still generally the same level of qualification, some of them might just have done better at the one exam than others.

And having women firefighters is useful. They might not have the same physical strength than men, but they have other advantages, they're more flexible, can fit in tighter spaces and generally have a higher pain tolerance. Having a few women in a firefighting unit makes it more versatile and better equipped to deal with some challenges.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Do we know much of anything about the New Republic in Episode VII?

Once the Alliance to Restore the Republic was successful, did they include any safeguards to prevent or combat the corruption and inefficiencies of the Old Republic?  Was there a Chancellor, and if so, were their powers more limited in the aftermath of the dictatorial Empire? Were there any systems that were in either the Old Republic or Empire that said "no thanks" to the New Republic?  If the Old Republic has a Constitution, did the New Republic just use that, or did they re-draft, start from scratch?

If there is no information yet on any of this, what seems likely?

Thanks!

[Assistant]
There are novels dedicated to between the films.

IIRC Empire mostly gave up tamely. New Republic was formed but with a rotating capital and drastically curtailed powers for the Chancellor. First Order formed from parts of the Imperial military that fled to the Outer Rim.


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

[User]
ELI5 If time is a dimension, why can you only go in one direction?

I get that there are 3 dimensions of space and only one dimension of time, but it still seems like you should be able to go both forward and backward. It's like if you had a 1-dimensional space (which I assume would be an infinitely thin line, correct me if I'm wrong) you could still go both left and right.

[Assistant]
We have yet to find a solid, physical explanation for it. All of the laws of physics we know work equally well in either direction so as far as we can tell nothing prevents it. It just... doesn't happen in any way we've observed.

The closest we can come is the observation that entropy in a closed system always increases. If you went backwards in time then the entropy would decrease, which violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics. There's a big gap between that and really understanding why you can't go backwards in time though (or even being entirely certain that you can't).


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

[User] [Star Wars] Who came with the idea of the Padawan braid?

[Assistant]
Gotta keep those teenage padawans from breaking their vows and having sex, so they make the boys get that stupid rat-tail haircut.

Theres probably an equivalent lame head-tails wrapping that is lost on us.


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

[User] ELI5: How does an avocado pit keep an avocado green even when removed and stored loosely in a container. What's the pit doing?

[Assistant]
It doesn't. The only way to keep an avocado from going brown is to cut it off from oxygen. Or purge your fridge and fill it with nitrogen.

The pit helps when left in the cut half because it's keeping a percentage of the surface area sealed away from oxygen. The concept of it doing anything to help when left loose nearby is nonsense. You'd be just as well off picking a rock out of your garden, scrawling "Avocado Preserver" on it, and keeping that in the container instead.


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

[User] How do snails survive freezing in winter?

[Assistant] Snails use a variety of strategies to survive freezing winters. Some are able to burrow into the ground, insulating themselves from the cold. Some species can excrete some of their water and break down proteins to increase the osmolarity (the concentration of dissolved solutes in their bodily fluid) which reduces the freezing point. Some species trap pockets of air inside their shells which serves as insulation. Others do not need to hibernate at all can crawl on snow without freezing.


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

[User] ELI5: How does double bouncing on a trampoline work?

[Assistant] When two people jump down onto a trampoline normally, the trampoline stretches with enough energy to launch 2 people back up. This is conservation of energy. To do a double bounce, one person makes their legs limp just when they reach the bottom of the stretch. The limp person suddenly does not provide resistance to the trampoline, which now has the energy of 2 people. As a result, the remaining person who doesn't go limp (ie: does a regular jump on the trampoline) absorbs the total energy. This total energy = two people's energy = bounces twice as high.


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

[User]
[Superman] What's Superman fucking problem with Gotham?

I mean its nice to have Batman but you'd think that if some lunatic threatens to gas the entire city or blow up a nuclear reactor or some plant lady turning people into tulips he would bother to come over from Metropolis and beating up robbers just to help a tiny little bit? Are the citizen of Gotham not good enough to help them?

[Assistant] Superman visits occasionally, but Gotham is generally accepted as Batman's territory, with problems best handled by Batman himself. Supes is also at a slight disadvantage in Gotham, what with all the lead-lined buildings. In any case he's got his hands full with Metropolis and the Justice League.


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

[User]
ELI5 why you can instantly watch HD movies and shows through cable television without buffering or latency, but it takes time to simply load a picture on the internet.

I'm assuming it has something to do with having to download internet files temporarily on your computer. But why can't the information on a website be viewed like I view a cable television connection?

[Assistant]
Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe it is the difference between broadcast and ~~pier to pier~~ peer to peer.

On the web, you request a specific hamburger. And some server goes and gets you one wanted that is stored somewhere.

A television/radio station will simply throw hamburgers to everyone all the time. If you want one, you can catch it.

In the digital world it is a bit more complicated. There are a few handshakes going on. But the premise is the same. It is still basically a broadcast. Any errors in communication will be displayed as static or simply a lost of signal or lack of refresh. There is very little pinging back. The data mostly flows one way. Whereas your computer is constantly checking data for errors and communication.


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

[User]
CMV: Congress needs term limits and age limits.

The Term limit amendment has already been proposed by the GOP and for some reason the Democrats (I am a Democrat) won't vote for it.

The Recent amendment allowed for 2 terms in the senate and 3 in the house.

The Amendment I would propose would be

*No person shall serve more than 6 terms in the house of representatives, or 2 terms in the senate and no person shall serve more than 12 years in the United States Legislature.*

Edit- The reason for Term limits is to prevent career politicians which reduce corruption.

For age limit I would simply set the age limit to 65 years old. It's retirement age and thus the legislature should be forced to retire.

*No person shall be eligible to run for office in the federal government after their sixty fifth birthday*

Edit- Term limits because people older then the working class can't represent them as well as people in that age group.

[Assistant] The term limits in Congress you proposed would mean that as much as half the senate and 1/3 of the house would not be accountable to their constituents at all. Representative democracy is a good system because to stay in power, you have to keep your constituents happy. With term limits, a lot of congresspeople would have no incentive to do anything that isnt in their personal self interest, because they are going to loose their job anyway.


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

[User]
ELI5: What would actually happen if you changed gear from 6 to reverse?

We all know the jokes about changing to R for racing on a highway, but what would actually happen if someone was to do that? Would the car break, explode, or nothing would happen because cars are idiotproof in this regard?

[Assistant]
I used to work for an orchard and while a new person was learning the big sprayer they messed up.

This tractor had a lever that was forward-reverse and a lever that was for gears 1-4 also had A-D gears. So when spraying you might be in B-4 with the throttle wide open. When crossing a gravel path/roads in the orchard we would have them pull the lever from B4 to B1 slowing down and being less bouncy. This was an electronic shifter that didn't need the clutch like A-D and Forward-Reverse needed.

Instead of going from B4 to B1 he pulled the reverse lever. B4 forward to B4 reverse at 90% max RPMs. The seat broke the adjustment notches off and slid forward. Guy hit head on front window. Tractor didn't miss a beat instantly going from forward to reverse. We couldn't believe it. Nothing engine wise broke. It's been 5 ish years and still everything works.

Should have demolished some shaft or broken a keyway pin on a gear -something.


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

[User]
Just how on earth does a transistor physically work? How is the direction of an electric current changed without moving parts, and how is this signaled?

Despite the extraordinary prevalence and use of computers and of the relative ease with which one can learn basic programming skills, I don't think I have ever seem a decent description of just how in the hell the most basic part of modern computers actually operates. Every explanation I've been given seems to miss the point of what I was asking. I know a transistor works a bit like a switch without moving parts, but how does it do that? How do you signal it to do that without moving parts? Isn't this turtles all the way down?

[Assistant]
Imagine three layers. Current wants to flow from 1 to 2 and from 3 to 2, but not the reverse direction for either, like two waterfalls that flow down into the same river. To be "on," you need it to flow from 1 to 3. Applying a voltage to layer 2 raises the metaphorical river to the point that the waterfalls disappear and the current can now flow easily from layers 1 to 3.

From a materials perspective, layers 1 and 3 have a built in positive voltage, with layer 3 having a slightly lower voltage than layer 1. Layer 2 has a built in negative voltage. Applying a positive voltage to layer 2 overcomes the built-in diodes created by these junctions.


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

[User]
[Marvel]What is the most effective way to persuade any celestial beings that "Human is an valuable asset to the universe"?

If by some chance I've been abducted by any of them.

Your answer may save our world.

[Assistant]
Tell them the earth is protected. Tell them we have more superpowered beings per capita than any other planet. Tell them we have the protection of the Avengers, of the sorcerer supreme, of the x-men, of the fantastic four as well as countless others.

Tell them to pick an easier target.


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

[User]
Does having dilated pupils increase your field of vision?

What does having dilated pupils imply for your vision?

[Assistant] No. Field of vision is determined by the placement of your eyes (if they were back further on the side of your head, you'd have a larger field of vision, but a smaller area of binocular vision). Pupil dilation increases the amount of light hitting the retina, but it doesn't increase field of vision, magnification, etc. It's akin to turning up the brightness of the light source on a microscope.


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

[User]
What's "real" programming in a day to day job like?

I'm going to assume it's VERY different from the scope of school assignment programming but how different is it? What's an average "project" and how long do they take and what makes it so much harder/more complex than a school assignment would be?

[Assistant]
School assignments usually come very well specified. They tell you EXACTLY what your code is supposed to do in all cases. In the industry, a lot of times we get assignments that are at least a bit underspecified. Say you're tasked with implementing a new feature. In a well-structured organization, a UX team gives you UI mockups and a PM has refined the ticket enough to include most of the obvious use cases, but it's usually not bulletproof. Part of your job involves figuring out all of the little details.

There's also the architecture of the whole codebase to consider. There might be some "quick and easy" way to hack together some new feature, but if it's violating the architecture then that's no good. You often have to do things in a slightly more verbose way that respects abstraction boundaries.

And if you're working on a serious product that you hope to sell worldwide, there are all sorts of extra layers you have to work with. You can't just throw text on the screen, you have to get translations made for every language you support. You can't just throw components on the screen, you have to make sure it works on all screen sizes, and that it's properly structured and tagged so that it works with screen readers, oh and also make sure you're not using color as the only indicator of something. You can't just throw data in a database, you have to think about security. You might have to make the application behave differently in different regions due to legal issues.

In short, you're almost never doing these little well-specified tricky algorithm things, you're doing things that are much simpler logically, but having to navigate the architecture of a large codebase.


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

[User]
Why is there the giant red storm on Jupiter, and will it ever stop?

I know that the giant red spot on Jupiter is a storm, but why is it a storm and will it ever stop?

[Assistant]
Jupiter is riddled with storm cells, with most of the larger ones - including the Great Red Spot and its smaller partner, Oval BA - being anticyclones, which are high-pressure storms (i.e. the atmospheric pressure is significantly higher than the planet's average) that rotate in the opposite direction to that predicted by the Coriolis effect for normal low-pressure storms/cyclones.  These anticyclones form in a similar manner to how they do on Earth, but because Jupiter is a fluid object (excluding its core) that rotates very rapidly, produces a fair amount of internal heat (3x what it receives from the Sun), and doesn't have landmasses to disrupt storms, they can last for a very long time.  Storms also tend to merge together, which might explain how big the GRS is - this is also how Oval BA formed.

It's not known when the GRS will disappear, but it's currently reducing in size, which may indicate that it will become circular by as early as 2040.  It doesn't seem to show any signs of breaking up, but it fades every now and then, most likely due to changes in its chemical composition over time (like the other red and brown clouds on Jupiter, its colour is caused by ammonium hydrosulphide, but it's possible that it sometimes becomes dominated by an upwelling of ammonia, which tends to look white or yellow-white in the atmospheres of planets).


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40K] How was the Emperor as a person? Was he likeable? Could I have a beer with him?

Say I met the Emperor at the height of his rule (before he was interred in the Golden Throne) would he be nice to me? What are some of his hobbies?

[Assistant]
I mean, he wouldn't be MEAN to you, but you barely register on his radar. He isn't like the Abrahamic Gods of old that "love everyone despite their faults". He is the protector of Humanity, as a whole, and the types of things he cares about are mostly only accessible at that scale.

Could you have a beer with him? Sure. Leman Russ challenged Him to three contests: Eating, Drinking, and Fighting. Russ was able to out-glutton our Emperor, could out-drink our Emperor, but could not beat Him in a fight. The fact that this even happened shows that The Emperor had some level of what you might call "playfulness". He clearly has some sense of humor.

That being said, this is a guy that really only thinks in grand scales, broad strokes, and in the long term. His "hobbies" include purging Xenos, burning heretics, playing with the Human genome, building inter-dimensional highways, fucking with elder Gods, and, of course, waging glorious war against any enemies of His Imperium.


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

[User]
ELI5: why my two week disposable contacts need to be disposed of after two weeks?

I take them out every night clean them and put them in solution, and when I have been broke in the past I have used them for up to two months without any discomfort or seeming issues..

[Assistant]
A few different reasons, actually. One, the most prominent, is that your eyes will build up protein deposits on the contacts. The solution you clean them in helps with this, but any solution powerful enough to clean the lens completely is going to be powerful enough to physically break down the lens itself.

Also, soft lenses will begin to change shape over time to fit your eye, which means their ability to adjust your vision degrades. Hard contact lenses do not have this problem, they will actually slightly reshape your eye, but you lose a lot of the comfort and ease of soft lenses.

Contacts are a lot like motor oil in a car. Even if you don't use it, the material that makes it up will eventually just break down and deteriorate over time, but having them in your eye accelerates this process.


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

[User] ELI5: why do many people frown upon folks who order steaks well done?

[Assistant]
Imagine an apple. Large and juicy, full of flavour and nutrients growing on the branch.

Think of it ripening, at some point it's at it's perfect levels of sweetness, crunch, and juiciness.

Delicious right?

Same with a rare steak.  If you let it go too long, it loses the flavour. Loses the moisture content, loses it's texture until it's a uniform piece of dry and bland meat.

I work in a kitchen. Almost every well done steak goes out with a request for ketchup.


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

[User]
[General Fantasy] How does a Golem move?

Should I make my golem out of a malleable material such as clay so that it can bend its knees? Would firing it in a kiln be a big mistake?

[Assistant]
Generally speaking, the magical or divine force that animates a Golem also allows it to move, regardless of the material it is made out of. Make it out of kiln-fired clay, solid granite, forged steel - it'll still be able to lurch around smashing stuff.

That said, some wizards and priests of a more practical bent have experimented with making properly articulated golems. Giving your creation actual flexible joints (ideally ball-and-socket, but even a simple hinge can make a difference) will improve its agility and coordination by a noticeable margin.

Full tests on how this affects their durability have not yet been performed, but it seems likely that there's a trade-off - a golem that can actually run, jump, and juggle will be far easier to damage than one that can merely lurch and smash.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do taxpayers front the bill for sports stadiums ?

 Shouldn't that be a business's (NFL) responsibility ?

[Assistant] That's the bargaining chip that team owners use to keep them from moving to another city: build/improve our stadium or we walk. While the math is pretty fuzzy on what kind of economic benefit a sports team can provide, few mayors want to be the person who lost the local sports team.


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

[User]
CMV: First Contact, while an exciting film, ruined the Borg by introducing the queen

The claim I am making is the one stated in the title. I believe that Star Trek: First Contact is a thrilling and exciting film with one of the best Patrick Stewart performances of the entire series. It's fun, it's just long enough, it has some drama and is overall a great film, however its introduction of the Borg queen is simply a bad idea both for the movie and for the series in general.

--------------------

To explain, let's examine the Borg as an enemy pre-First-Contact. They are a collective semi-robotic meta-organism consisting of several (thousands, probably) species from all over the galaxy. Their creation is unknown, but it is clear that their goal is "perfection". They believe they can achieve their goal by "assimilating" species into their collective, a process in which the individuals of the assimilated species are joined into the existing hive-mind consciousness of the collective.

In my opinion, this is an absolutely brilliant setup for a villain for a number of reasons.

  1. It is clear that in their mind, the Borg are not the bad guys. Their goal is perfection - how can that be bad? Clearly, any species standing in their way stands in the way of perfection, and that's bad, right?
  2. Their ability of assimilation and adaptation makes them a formidable enemy as they are ready for anything we can throw at them - after a couple of tries.
  3. Defeat against the Borg presents a fate that, to most people, sounds worse than death - total loss of identity and a hellish existence as one slave voice in a cacophony of slave voices, all driven toward an overarching idea of "perfection"
  4. The Borg represent a non-centralized villain that is incredibly hard to defeat. The only way we can ever defeat them is by killing every last one of them. This is because the Borg can be seen as a single organism of which each individual "being" is only a component. All components are equal, meaning that no matter which Borg we kill, we only destroyed one billionth of the threat (an insignificant amount).

Now examine the Borg after First Contact. They are now a collective *lead* by their queen. Her mind represents the aggregation of the entire Borg community, which makes them little more than a glorified ant colony. They become a villain with a clear head which the good guys can aim to chop off (see Voyager)

I think the best part about the Borg is their decentralization. They are, at their core, closer to a force of nature than an evil entity. They are a mindless threat with a single intent, and their pursuit of that single intent got way way out of hand. I think a lot of that is lost when you introduce the queen. They are no longer a force of nature, they are a centralized colony working to appease their queen. Sure, the queen is misguided, but she is a single entity, so not that much more different from any other Star Trek villain.

--------------------

TL;DR: one of the best parts of the Borg is their facelessness, and putting a face on them diminishes them as a threat.

EDIT: just fixed some typos.

[Assistant]
Star Trek has always put story over realism. For example, everyone speaks English. You can say Universal Translator this and that, but it's really just having everyone speak English because that is easier and better for the story.

Same with everyone being humanoid and all the worlds having Earth-gravity and oxygen environments. It isn't about the details, it is about the ability to tell stories.

In the TNG episodes with the Borg, they were meant to be a scary, faceless villain. They were a force of nature, like Nazis in most WWII movies. But in First Contact, we needed to personify the Borg. We needed to give them a voice to be a villain with its own motivations.

The Queen created that. Maybe it'd have been better if she was named the Ambassador. But we needed a personification of the Borg because they aren't the monster of the week anymore, they are more complicated than that.

The scenes between Data and the Queen are some of the best in the film. Data has always been a crowd favorite and his Pinochio-esque desire to be human is in direct confrontation with the Borg's desire to wipe out all the flaws of organic matter.

He embraces the Personality Chip in the beginning of the film and that newfound individuality comes in direct conflict with the cold logic of the Borg. But Data can't talk to "the Borg." He has to talk to someone, preferably sexy. So the Queen is a storytelling device.


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

[User]
I don't understand how some Americans reconcile that the U.S. constitution - a document on civil liberties - was in large part authored and approved by slave owners, and continue to consider it the gospel with regard to freedoms etc. CMV

Like the title says, I can't see how many U.S. citizens can continue to regard the constitution as a reliable authority on civil liberties, when large parts of it were authored and approved by slave owners. It seems to be enough, to many Americans, to simply say of something: "It is my constitutional right" without considering whether that is actually a reasonable explanation at all.

Of course, I don't argue that other countries do not have documents on liberties that were authored in times of repression that are still considered important today. For instance, the Magna Carta, which was issued during a time when serfdom - a form of "land slavery" - was common, and indeed, these serfs were generally exempt from the freedoms offered by the charter. What IS unique, however, is the place the U.S. constitution holds in the minds and hearts of many U.S. citizens. You don't hear of English people quoting the Magna Carta during civil rights protests, yet the constitution is often the first thing to be mentioned during a civil rights issue in the U.S.

I can't help but feel that a document on freedom largely authored by slave owners has little merit in a modern society. CMV.

Edit: To those calling Ad Hominem, I hear ya, but I don't think that's fair. As Buoie said, framer's intent cannot be ignored simply because a law seems like a good idea. I'm not saying "It's wrong because they were slave owners". I'm saying "Shouldn't we take a critical approach to a civil liberties document written by those who clearly had a pretty shite idea of what freedom means". To claim that we could really divorce the fact that these men treated others like human cattle with the fact that they wrote a document which is considered by many to be integral to American freedom is morose. I'm not saying that they were wrong about one thing -> ergo they are wrong about this other thing.

[Assistant]
for what it's worth, even the constitution implicitly understood the contradictions inherent in its values and the institution of slavery. this is most notable in the infamous 3/5 compromise, but in the fact that the constitution gave congress the power to ban slavery but not for 20 years after its enactment.

additionally, your viewpoint says nothing about the living nature of the constitution. the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments substantially change the nature of the constitution and - in a sense - eliminate the inconsistencies you're talking about.


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

[User]
Why does spicy food make hot seem hotter and mint make cold seem colder?

For example, I'm eating a big spicy bowl of curry.  15 min into my meal, the bowl has physically cooled but even the touch of it burns.

Or say I'm having an altoid and decide to drink some water.  Now in this case a water fountain is unbearably cold, and I have to sip from it slowly.

Is it the same thing happening in both cases? Have the nerves in my mouth become super sensitive?

[Assistant] The reason mint seems cold is because of the chemical called Menthol. Menthol makes the nerve receptors in your mouth much more sensitive to cold, so that's why it makes your mouth feel cold. Menthol also has topical, local anaestheic (numbing) properties. Often times when you're at the dentist about to get a numbing shot, they'll put some minty gel (which has menthol) on the area inside your mouth where you'll get the shot to make the needle hurt less.


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

[User] ELI5: How do people make high quality GIFs of live sporting events on TV only minutes after the action occurs?

[Assistant] The same way all gifs are made, just quickly. They probably have a capture card connected to their TV that they set to record the whole game, so after something "gifworthy" happens they just need to trim that part of the footage and convert it using any number of programs available online.


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

[User]
ELI5: Since I live in a country, state, and city with modern waste water treatment facilities, how is running water while shaving, brushing teeth, showering, ect. wasting water?

Isn't water reclaimed, treated and reused? Since it is not destroyed (by changing states) can it truly be wasted?

[Assistant]
More accurately it's about the resources (energy, chemicals, facilities, etc.) needed to obtain water from the environment, treat it to make it potable (IE safe for you to drink), and then distribute it to everyone in the area.  Then, after the water has run from your tap down into your drain, more energy, chemicals, and facilities are needed to move all the wastewater to wherever it's being treated, remediate it (make it safe to release into the environment or back into the drinking water system), and then push it out to wherever it's going, either into waterway of some sort, or back into your drinking water.
All of those steps cost materials, time, and energy to happen, so that's what's really being "wasted."


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

[User] If an object is "blue" because it only reflects blue light, then why isn't it invisible or at least colorless if we shine red light on it?

[Assistant]
Most materials aren't perfect absorbers of light outside the range that makes up the main color. A blue object will still reflect a small amount of red light.

If an object would absorb 100% of the light falling onto it, it would not appear to be invisible, but instead would appear perfectly black.


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

[User]
ELI5: Airplane Windows

So I was on a plane and the steward asked to open all windows during takeoff and landing. Why do they need to be open?

[Assistant] Statistically, takeoff and landing are the most dangerous times during a flight. If there were to be an emergency, it is important for first responders to be able to see into the plane to judge conditions and locate victims.


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

[User] ELI5: why is it generally taboo to ask someone how much they get paid even when you guys are friends?

[Assistant] Generally because it can cause tension, if you work with that friend on they work in similar roles and you earn considerably more - while you might expect them to be happy for you - many people are simply annoyed by it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are some country names prefaced with "the" such as "the Netherlands" or "the Philippines" or "the United Kingdom" when others are not?

[Assistant]
All those examples are in the plural form. Netherlands means "the low lands", the Philippines are an archipelagic (many islands), The United Kingdom is a kingdom of many different countries, The United States are many states under the same national govern but semi-indepedent in their laws.

Countries such as France, Brasil, German, all are just "one thing", at least in their chosen name.


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

[User] Does logic exist independent of minds?

[Assistant]
In one sense, a 'logic' is a language. It's a set of rules for manipulating formulas. If you have a certain formula on one line, then you can write another formula on a new line, etc. In the standard logic you learn in college, for example, something like this will be permitted:

    1    (1)  p & q   (assumption)
    1    (2)  p       (from 1, &-elimination)

But of course we could perfectly permissibly create a language in which

    p & q

*doesn't* allow you to write

    p

on a new line.

Why didn't we create *that* language instead? Because we think that that inference is special: it actually corresponds to a *real-life property of the world*. That is, metaphysically necessarily, *in real life*, whenever a conjunction is true, each of its conjuncts is true. What we say is that the language we created doesn't just have a *syntax* (rules for manipulating symbols); it has a *semantics*. We define the vocabulary of the language and we say that the symbol '&' corresponds to the real-life phenomenon of conjunction: something *and* something else being true.

In real life, if you have a conjunction, both of its conjuncts will be true. (This fact seems to be mind-independent: before humans, when Mercury and Venus were closer to the Sun than Earth, it was also true that Mercury was closer to the Sun than Earth.) Our language of logic captures that. That's a good thing; it helps our language be *complete*. In addition, our language of logic doesn't allow us, from 'p or q,' to "infer" (scare-quotes because languages of logic, syntactically, don't really claim anyone infers anything) p. We didn't decide to do that because *in real life*, a disjunction doesn't entail each of its disjuncts. If our language had allowed us to do that, then the language would have been *unsound*.

**In sum**: Languages of logic are mind-*dependent*, but standard, sound-and-complete languages of logic correspond to *real, metaphysical rules* that (apparently, arguably) *do* exist independently of minds.

(Edit: Typos.)


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

[User]
CMV: Arguments against men and women using the same bathroom don't make sense because of gay people

Why shouldn't men and women use the same bathroom? It would be a better, more efficient use of space to only have one bathroom for everyone.

The main argument against this seems to be that men would be predatory towards women or there would be other issues with people being attracted to each other.

But this makes no sense. I'm a lesbian and I've been using bathrooms with the gender I'm attracted to for decades now. It's never been an issue. Why should it be? The bathroom is designed for relieving yourself and isn't great for anything else. It would be the same for men and women in the same bathroom.

[Assistant]
1) Its not actually more efficient because then you cant fast track men through the urinals (unless you have separate lines, in which case, why not separate bathrooms?)

2) It would make a lot of people uncomfortable.

That seems like two really strong reasons against changing the status quo. Is there some particular reason you *want* to share a restroom?


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

[User]
ELI5:How are people trained to withstand torture?

I've heard of various government agents being trained to withstand torture so they don't give away classified information. Is it possible they can make you so strong willed that you can go through the most excruciating painful torture and still keep your mouth shut?

[Assistant]
There are certain traps and techniques interrogators use. Once a technique is discovered, it loses much of its potency.

Training gives recruits a chance to practice detecting and avoiding those techniques.


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

[User]
Can someone PLEASE explain the P = NP logic problem.

I have come across this a number of times but don't fully understand what is being asked. Can someone help out?

[Assistant]
I wouldn't call it a "logic problem", it's an unsolved problem in Computer Science, with relevance to such things as cryptography.

Different problems are categorised into "Classes", based on the minimum complexity (ie rate of growth of the time taken to solve as a function of the size of the input).

For example, P is the class of problems that can be solved in polynomial time (ie for a problem size N, as N grows, the problem will get closer to the shape of N^x where x is a constant).

NP is the class of problems that can be solved in polynomial time (like P) **if** you use a hypothetical "Non-deterministic Turing Machine". Practically, that means you can test multiple (or all) possible solutions for each step at once.

NP problems can be verified (you can check whether it is correct) in polynomial time, but cannot be conclusively solved in polynomial time (and are in fact out of range of what is considered reasonable for computation time).

NP problems tend to be of the kind that are easier to work out by hand (by trial and error) than to automate.

The P = NP problem asks whether we can prove whether or not all NP problems can somehow be reduced to P problems, which would obviously make them easier to solve, revolutionising CS. The consensus is the P =/= NP, but a proof either that it is or that it isn't has not yet been found.

The $1000000 Millenium Prize would be awarded to anyone who could provide such proof (one way or the other).


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

[User] [Marvel] Who is Cable and why is he so cool?

[Assistant]
Remember Far Cry:Blood Dragon?

He is basically that. He is everything 80s action heroes wished they could be. A time travelling supersoldier with some of the best toys and skills in the Marvel Universe.


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

[User]
What does the top of a lightning bolt look like?

Since the lightning bolt isn't actually attached to anything and the top of it is hidden in the clouds, I was wondering what the upper edge/boundary of a lightning bolt is shaped like. Is it just a mass of electricity? Does it fade into nothingness near the top? I can't quite picture how the source would appear.

[Assistant]
If the bolt is directed from the cloud to ground, it will fade into nothing.  I'll try to explain why with a simplistic description of lightning.  The lightning bolt is essentially an arc that propagates from cloud to cloud, cloud to ground or ground to cloud.  Let's assume cloud to ground.  You have a build-up of negative charge (electrons) in the cloud and a potential difference between the cloud and the ground.  Because of the potential difference, bound electrons in air particles that come near the cloud can get stripped off and accelerated toward the ground.  If the potential difference is large enough (ionization potential of air), by the time the electron interacts with another atom, it will knock off another electron.  Then both will accelerate.

So essentially there's an avalanche of electrons that starts at the cloud and propagates towards the ground.  Near the cloud there are fewer electrons in the avalanche so there is less to see.

Now, in reality, we actually don't know yet the details of lightning formation and how the charge builds up.  This is still an area of research.


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

[User] ELI5: what exactly is the deal behind when they say  9 out of 10 doctors approve this medication?

[Assistant]
Biased sample fallacy.

The doctors asked most likely had some financial incentive, loyalty of misinformation on the product and/or company.

Also, they may have asked hundreds of sample sets of ten until they got the highest percentage.

Also, if a premium product, they may have asked doctors in wealthy area or practice, whereas they would have got a different result in less wealthy areas.

Its a con trick.


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

[User] [Marvel] Why is the Latverian embassy to America in New York? Wouldn't it make more sense for it to be in Washington?

[Assistant]
The Latverian Ambassadorial Mission to the US would be in Washington DC, whereas the mission to the United Nations would be based in New York.

That the Latverian Embassey to the US is in New York is probably just because newspaper deadlines and poor journalism. Easy mix up to make. Definitely. Totally.


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

[User] Why is it that so many philosophy students tend to be marxists while most economics students seem to not take him seriously?

[Assistant]
A lot of economics students have never read Marx, and if they have, it was probably in a single course on the history of economics in which they rushed Smith, Ricardo, Marx, and Keynes all in one go.

 Also, Marx was doing his work in political economy when it was still largely a discursive discipline--writing essays, telling stories, that kind of thing. It was only around the time of Marx's death that political economy gave way to the modern "science" of economics, with its formulae, charts, and other non-discursive modes of doing work.

And also, as many have mentioned here, a *lot* of philosophy students are not Marxist at all.


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

[User] ELI5: With Greek closing its banks on Monday in fear of a bank runs, what is a bank run, and why do they have the potential to do so much damage?

[Assistant]
It's when everyone decides to withdraw all their money at the same time.

It can bankrupt the bank (make it completely run out of money), because they have loaned out some of the money for mortgages, business loans, etc.


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

[User] Eli5: How come hand sanitizer has an expiration date? What exactly happens once it goes past it?

[Assistant]
Also: the expiration date is set somewhat arbitrarily, and marks the end of the period of time tested. The test period is generally selected to account for storage time required for manufacturing and distribution, in a case like hand sanitizer, there's probably some consideration of the typical "lifespan" of a container in the consumer's possession. It would also assume recommended storage conditions; container closed, at room temperature.

Exceeding the expiration date simply means no data exists to support its continued efficacy, and it's likely to be good well beyond that date.


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

[User] ELI5:How do weapon systems on planes or helicopters register the hits on target?

[Assistant]
They often don't.  If your target stops appearing on your various sensors (often meaning your eyes), you can consider it dead.  To properly assess the damage from an airstrike often requires either boots on the ground or someone else to fly by (perhaps a satellite, perhaps another plane or drone) and perform combat assessment.  It's only in video games where you destroy a target and immediately know that you've done so, for the most part.

edit: and much the same applies to infantry units or submarines or whatever.  If you spend half an hour shooting at some guys in a house and directing artillery on their position, you aren't going to know for sure that they are dead until you actually go over and enter that house.  That's one of the things that makes combat in urban environments so...er...exciting (read: unpleasant and best avoided if possible).  Or if you fire off a torpedo at a submerged contact, you're going to hear a loud explosion if and when that detonates, but you won't necessarily know what happened:  your passive sonar is overwhelmed by all the noise from the explosion for a while, and it will take time to figure out whether that contact still exists.  It's entirely possible in some contexts that you might never know whether you destroyed it, damaged it and let it get away, or missed it entirely.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do computer screen pixels change colour when pressed on?

[Assistant] LCDs are liquid crystal displays. They rely on liquid crystal in order to attain the dimming of pixels with electricity. When you push on them, the liquid is somewhat displaced, and so the area around your finger does not get as dark as it is meant to.


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

[User]
[WH40K] Is it worse to be taken prisoner by a Dark Eldar raiding party or a Chaos Space Marine warband?

There are different warbands to, of course, so what do you think would be the worst of these? Word Bearers? Emperor's Children? Night Lords? How would they compare to the Dark Eldar?

[Assistant]
In general, I'd suspect that being taken by a Dark Eldar raiding party would be worse. CSMs - well, they're an ugly bunch, but there's at least a chance of a way out: Khornates might just slaughter you, others might let you become a devotee initiate of their preferred brand of chaos, or if you're lucky even let you stick around in something like your old position as a supporter. Sure, a lot of them are capricious and hostile towards 'lessers', and when you die there's a fair chance your soul is going to be consumed by daemons - but, that's par for the course, really.

Dark Eldar, though? You will live a long, long time - and you will live every second of it in unimaginable agony both mental and physical. You will never ascend to anything more than a resource - whether as flesh or a soul to experience agony. And when your soul finally does slip away? Congratulations - you're still daemon-food.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Where do new spells come from?

I remember in one of the books it said that you had to get a new spell approved through the ministry or something but I dont remember the details.

When a new spell is made, is there a memo that goes out to all wizards/witches? Do they have to update their wands somehow or does it just work on all wands after approval?

[Assistant]
Wizards experiment through trial and error to form new spells often using Latin root words related to their desired effects to produce a result. It's a dangerous practice that can end in death e.g. Mrs.Lovegood.

Wizards may publish their new spells in periodicals or via their own published spellbook. Some, such as Snape, may keep them a secret just for themselves.

Wands don't need to be programmed. If you know the words, wave and have the skill you can cast it.


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

[User]
CMV: Given a choice between being born a random person in Our World vs in Brave New World, i would choose the latter easily.

In BMW everybody is happy, well fed, and and lives a fulfilling life, regardless of sexuality, gender, race or socioeconomic status. This is clearly not the case in our current world, where 62 people have more wealth than half the population, there's war, disease, poverty and depression.

Even if you're born a delta, you wouldn't know that you had reason to be unhappy, while if you're born in a lower economic group in our world, you can compare your life to that of others.

In almost all factors, it has our world solidly beat.

[Assistant] That's kind of the question that Brave New World poses though. What is actually "better" in terms of how a society is run? Sure, on one hand the luxuries and stress free life the citizens of BNW enjoy probably keep the happiness per capita higher than say, our society. However, their happiness comes from their senses being bombarded with pleasure until they are generally vacuous. They are also conditioned to feel certain ways from a young age. The government controls their behavior by smothering them with brain-candy. Of course, you could philosophically argue that a society with an absence of suffering, is better than a society with suffering present. But a focal point of BNW is the question of humanity, of higher thinking, of art (specifically), but basically, what makes humans "special"? Things like introspection, critical thought, creativity...these are things unique to humans, and these virtually do not exist in BNW.


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

[User]
[The Matrix] Tank sends the signal to the hardline to bring Neo back to the real world, only a pizza delivery guy walking by happens to answer this mystery ringing phone

Does Kevin the pizza delivery guy wake up in the real world and die as he hasn't had the red pill so can't be found? Does nothing happen? Does Kevin go into Neos real world body?

[Assistant]
Nothing would happen. Part of the process of a redpill picking up the phone involves the operator listening for the person on the other side, confirming their identity, and then inputting a series of commands to pull them out of the simulation. Between a crew of well trained long-term shipmates, this process can take a second or two, but it's vital to ensure the identity of the operatives and prevent incidents exactly like you described. Or worse, agents interfering.

The instant Tank hears Kevin say "uhhh, hello?" he'll shut the line down and find another way to contact Neo.


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

[User]
[DC] I'm a rich new kid and I know Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne and I really wanna be in his "family" of superheroes (Robin, Batgirl etc etc). Will Mr. Wayne let me in?

Will Bruce Wayne just think I'm a crazy superfan or something? I know who he is, he's Batman, and I wanted to be a superhero too, he doesn't have to babysit me since I'm rich myself but damn I wanna be in his "squad". Hell I even came up with a name for myself.

Will I come off as more of a detriment/weak-link or does The Bat have any need for me?

[Assistant]
IIRC that's kind of how Tim Drake (3rd Robin) got himself into the family. He wasn't rich, he was just clever enough to find out the Bat Family's identities and dedicated/skilled enough to prove his worth to Batman as a crime fighter.

As for you, it really depends on how much you bring to the table. Do you have *any* exceptional skills? Batman could probably use a backup Oracle, a mechanic, or a gadgets wiz. You might not be in the "family," per se, but you would still be in a tight circle of people who Batman associates with. If not, you're pretty much out of luck. Your money doesn't matter to Batman - Bats doesn't want to babysit a trust fund baby who just happens to know his identity and wants to play superhero.

Also, it depends on what's going on in Batman's life at the moment. You have to catch him in the right mood, which is hard for someone of his demeanor. If he just lost a sidekick, you can just about forget it unless you're the best damn acrobatic-street-fighting prodigy he's seen since Dick Grayson. Even on a good day, you're looking at pretty slim odds. For fun, we can imagine that your Earth's Batman is a bit more jovial and relaxed than the current iterations - like, say, '60s or '70s Batman. Then you'd probably have a much better chance of wooing the Caped Crusader and finding a place for yourself in the Bat Family.


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

[User] ELI5: How do satellites work if they are just pointed in one direction and the earth is constantly rotating?

[Assistant]
Satellites aren't stationary.  They're orbiting the planet at many thousands of miles an hour.  Gravity is trying to pull them straight back to earth, but since they have so much speed horizontally, they end up making a curved path.

There is a special altitude at around 22 thousand miles up that the speed across the surface of the planet matches the speed the planet is going.  Which results in the satellite just hanging still in the same location above the planet.  We call this geostationary orbit.


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

[User]
ELI5 What's the connection between Knight Templars and Freemasons?

Is it just a conspiracy? Why do people keep making connections between Knight Templars and Freemasons and even Illuminati? What has the Freemasons ever done to deserve this?

[Assistant]
Freemason here with a interest in history.

The Templars were denounced by the Pope in 1312, mostly at the behest of the King of France who was in severe debt to them and viewed the order as a threat to his own authority. To cut a long story short, they were hunted down and killed leaving only a few survivors.

Looking for a safe haven, the knights travelled to Scotland. Why? At the time, King Robert the Bruce was excommunicated by the Pope and had no incentive to follow orders from Rome. As they settled into their new home, the Templars wanted to continue their practices but with some protection of secrecy. At the time, actually stonemasons would use lodges, signs, and passwords to protect their secrets and prove their proficiency in an era of illiteracy. Over time, the two organisations grew closer and closer. Fast forward a few hundred years, these lodges have grown outside of Scotland, particularly in England. During the enlightenment, curious gentlemen and scholars were drawn to the morals and dogma taught in these lodges, often with Templar legacy thrown in, and joined as non-operative masons.

This is a very summarised version but yes, there are connections between the two but it isnt overt and the growth of Masonic ideals in the last 300 years are much stronger than the original Templar influence from the 14th century.


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

[User]
Would a laser that's the thickness of an atom cut through us or is it too small and just pass through?

?

[Assistant]
A laser that's the thickness of an atom would have to be an x-ray, because the size of a light wave is dependent on its energy. X-rays do not interact with materials very strongly due to their high frequency.

If you had enough energy to actually interact with a material, it would just melt the material. Generally speaking thermal conduction is quite fast and you'd end up melting a large area around the spot.

You are thinking about lasers in terms of physical objects. Lasers are light, and light exhibits many more wavelike properties than particle properties. A photon is just a quantization of light energy.


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

[User]
ELI5: How was The Rule of 70 discovered/derived?

So both in population growth and investment, The Rule of 70 is used to calculate the doubling rate (of a population or an investment). While I found out how to apply the calculations, how was the number 70 found to work?

[Assistant]
The natural log of 2 is 0.693.  It's a lot easier to remember 70.  Lots of folks use 72 (because it has more factors), which is often close enough.

The real formula is T = ln(2)/ln(1+r).

The ln(2) is for "doubling", you could use ln(3) for tripling.

If you work in percent you use 9% = 0.09, so rather than do that and have a rule of 0.70, the .693 gets multiplied by 100, so you look at 70/9 .


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

[User]
I believe Capitalism should be abolished for the interest of humanity. If you have any objections to this, I beg of you to CMV

I do not oppose capitalism because:

-it only favors the rich(too vague)

-poor people should be helped(misleading)

-its better to spread the wealth(strawman)

-because of statism or something(libertarian nonsense)

Capitalism is the private ownership of the means of production(whether there is a state or not does not change the marxist critique of private ownership of the means of production, no matter how much markets are skewed by taxation or whatever one might come up with).

Worker owned means of production(/socialism)is advantageous compared to capitalismfor the following reasons:

-all working people have a productive relation to the means of production. All people are actively creating things or providing services, or whatever have you(as opposed to collecting money from workers who work o your property, as in the case of the capitalist).

-as i have said in past comments, when you take an institution whose purpose is to make shoes, it will make shoes, and the quality of its products will not falter, because it exists only to make shoes. But when you give it a profit motive , the purpose becomes to make a profit, shoes being secondary, if relevant at all. Extrapolated, the workers in this institution do not make the shoes for making shoes as a past time, or passion, but for profit too.

-markets are not efficient as a selfmanaged economy where people directly vote for the things they deem they need. "Voting with dollars" is not nearly the same: voting with dollars will make eight unoccupied house for every homeless person, and lump a strong portion of our food in the garbage whilst a vast majority of the population do not eat correctly as it is.

-in a socialist economy, workers actively collaborate with eachother to better the productio process to their liking, instead of having an owner do it for them, making workers invested in their work.

Obviously there are many more reasons, but go ahead and change my view for me.

[Assistant]
>the purpose becomes to make a profit, shoes being secondary

why do you assume that quality falls when profits are involved.  There's two ways to increase profits: cut costs and increase revenue.  You seem to be forgetting that second part.  Give me any category or market and I'll give you a company that prides itself on quality products and people pay them more because of it.


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

[User]
[Hunger Games] Given the hallucinogenic properties of Tracker Jacker venom, have they ever been bred for recreational purposes?

Popped into my head after finally sitting down to watch the crap fest of a movie.

[Assistant]
I believe you're thinking about Tracker Jackers in reverse.

The TJs were developed using already existing pharmaceutical and bio-engineering technologies.

There would be no reason to breed the TJs because the pharmaceuticals that cause the hallucinations are already widely available here in the Capital (with some euphorics thrown in).


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

[User] ELI5: Why do tortoises live so long?

[Assistant]
Tortoises exhibit what's referred to as Negligible Senescence. Theorists consider an organism negligibly senescent if it does not exhibit any measurable decline in survival characteristics such as strength or mobility with age, does not have a gradually increasing death rate with age, and also does not exhibit any measurable reduction in reproductive ability with age. Not much is known about NS, but a major theory suggests that these organisms manage to reduce the effect of damaging free radicals by cell division and dilution.

Essentially, they mitigate/eliminate the ability of free radicals to break down cells.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some plants have poisonous berries if it's in the interest of the plant that the berries are eaten by animals and thus seeds are spread?

[Assistant] Most plants arent poisonous to all species so a plant that is poisonous to humans will still reproduce. Plant poisons are also many times effective on organisms such as microbes or fungi or insects, types of organisms that may eat the fruit but not do anything to spread the seeds. It could also be a defensive mechanism to protect the berries as they will ultimately drop to the ground if not eaten thus ensuring some seeds reach the ground. With evolution, it only matters that enough survive to reproduce. As long as the poison is not entirely detrimental it can/will exist in a plant and may exist because of entirely random chemical reasons.