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

[User] Why do we have only one heart?

[Assistant] From an evolutionary standpoint, anything likely to damage the heart will cause sufficient blood loss to render a backup heart useless. Thus having a second heart wouldn't increase survival, and humans with two hearts wouldn't out-reproduce one-hearted humans.


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

[User]
[Mulan] Would Mulan's father really have been in great danger had he answered the call to serve?

Yes he had a bad limp, which would have doomed him in battle, but even high-ranking Imperial bureacrats and sons of famous generals spoke in awe of "*the* Fa Zhou." The man was a war hero, almost a living legend. Would the Army command really have wasted him by sending him off to die? Would they not have put him in some valuable non-combat post, such as training men?

[Assistant] There were no non-combat posts. Even the highest ranking general died along with his army, and even the high-ranking bureaucrat was present in battle. The captian that was in charge of training? He was also right there in the thick of battle. If Mulan's father went to war he would be expected to go to battle along with the rest of his troops.


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

[User]
Why is the absorbtion spectra from stars not cancelled out by re-emission?

I have done some googling on this topic but I haven't found a definite answer. I know that atoms in stars can absorb photons of certain wavelengths and that these atoms can re-emit these photons. So the answer I usually read on this particular question is that while the light from the sun has to travel in a certain direction to reach the earth, the photons of a particular wavelength can be absorbed and re-emitted in every possible direction so that the amount of photons from that particular wavelength that reaches the earth is less than the other wavelengths. So here's my question: While the above is true for light traveling through a small region of a star, there have to be other regions in the sun that would send their light to a different part of the universe than our earth but their absorbed and re-emitted light can also be scattered in all directions so some of that light could be re-emitted in our direction when it otherwise wouldn't (without absorption and emission). So wouldn't all these regions cancel each other out? We receive less light from a particular wavelength  from a certain region from the sun, but we also receive some light of that wavelength from other regions of the sun that don't send their light of "normal wavelengths" to us? If this wasn't true, where would these photons go? They can't just dissapear right? What am I missing here?

[Assistant]
A bunch of photons of a certain wavelength come out of the sun directly toward us, but they hit some atoms, get absorbed and emitted again in all directions. 40% of them go back into the sun and the others get shot off in other directions. Often into other atoms.

As they bounce around they change energy until they aren't in that part of the spectrum anymore.


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

[User]
[Halo] What is the gravitational pull of Requiem's gravity well, and does this make Master Chief's fall from orbit on this planet less, equally, or more of an impressive feat?

Edit: Whoops. More of an impressive feat than his fall from orbit on Earth, that is.

I'm just trying to figure out a benchmark for his durability.

[Assistant]
The construct's AI probably recognized him as a Reclaimer and tractored him in.

Anyways, he was probably falling slower than when he fell to Earth, since he fell into the interior layers which have an atmosphere 20% thicker than Earth's. Armored spartans are known to reliably survive atmospheric re-entry with minor to moderate injury. This was probably an *easy* landing for him.


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

[User] [Star Wars] I'm a Jedi who has just passed the trials. However I'm hardly Obi Wan if you get me. I'm low on force power and lightsaber skill. I'm basically poor to average relatively speaking. What's my career path. Surely not every jedi gets a padawan?

[Assistant]
What really makes the Jedi unique is that their loyalty is to the Force and to the saving of lives before anything else. As far as most of the galaxy is concerned, since they have no ability to interact with the Force, this essentially means that the Jedi are perfectly neutral. Add to this the fact that Jedi are taught to analyze situations without emotion. Thus, everyone trusts that a Jedi will resolve any dispute in an objective manner. And it's easy to mediate a situation when you're wearing a lightsaber; you may not be capable of killing a hundred armed men, but they don't know that.

Therefore, most Jedi are mediators, negotiators, diplomats, advisors: people trusted to give dispassionate analysis and ensure an optimal outcome for all involved parties. A Jedi's lightsaber is more a proof of who he is than a weapon; combat is not part of a typical Jedi's daily life. Your Force potential and combative skill are relatively minor aspects of your training, as compared to your **way of thinking**.

Education and, of course, security are both possible career paths as well, but most Jedi are simply trusted experts in nonviolent conflict resolution.


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

[User]
I don't believe that the Army/Navy/Marines/Air Force should be in my high school every other week attempting to recruit students for future service. CMV

Two or three of these recruiters show up in uniform periodically during our lunches, handing out free stuff (pencils, pamphlets, key chains, etc.)

They'll go around the tables & ask kids what they want to do after high school. If the answer's not the military (or 'I don't know') it's usually followed up with "oh, you will be so much more better off by joining [insert military branch here]. There's all these financial plans and whatnot"

I believe this is absolutely egregious behavior, especially to the younger crowd - claiming that their military branch is the better one and how awesome their lives can be if they joined.. Of course you have the ones who will accept whatever your decision may be and move on, but to me it's almost like the fact that these recruiters are at my school in the first place is baffling - especially now that it's the near the end of the school year and each branch has been here about 4 times, and are still coming.

I basically view these situations the same as I would if McDonald's managers were to show up and attempt to hire students to work there.

[Assistant]
Well, look at it from their perspective. They are people who probably believe that the kids who go to your school may want to join the Army/Navy/Marines/Air Force. They are allowed to come in because they have permission from your principal to do that. You don't have to go join any of those four branches if they come up to you. They're just trying to encourage you to join. They can't force you to join unless there is a draft (which hasn't happened since Vietnam). The reason there hasn't been a draft is because people are willing to join the Army/Navy/Marines/Air Force.

If they don't keep pulling people in by encouraging them to join, then come war time (hopefully not soon), they'll have enough people in their reserves to call out to be deployed. If they don't have enough people to deploy, they'll issue a draft and maybe you'll be caught up in it. Just let them be and they'll do their jobs and keep expanding America's Army/Navy/Marines/Air Force.

You don't have to listen to them anyway, so just let them do their thing and if one comes over to you, treat them with respect and politely decline.


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

[User]
Does saying "lol" to indicate amusement when you aren't actually laughing violate the categorical imperative?

My question is in the title.

[Assistant]
Probably not!

There is no foolproof abstract way, out of context, to determine whether a given speech act is an assertion; if it is an assertion, what it asserts; etc. A significant amount of speech depends on the context in which speech is uttered, the presumed intentions of the speaker, the presumed understanding of the listener, and so on.

So, does saying lol constitute a violation of the categorical imperative if you arent laughing? Maybeif you really want to convince the other person that you are laughing! But most of the time, lol functions more as punctuation, and there is not even an expected assertion connected with it.

Obviously different philosophers will go to different extremes with this line of thoughtI am actually pretty conservative when it comes to retaining assertion as a robust category, and not merely a totally subjective pragmatic speech act kind of thingbut most would agree with the general point.

For more read Wittgensteins philosophical investigations, Grice on conversational implicature, etc.


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

[User]
We get more daylight during summer and less during winter. Does the amount of moonlight change depending on year?

Say comparing an equal phase moon from June and December.

[Assistant]
The other answers here are incorrect, because they're not considering the combination of 1) the importance of different phases to the amount of moonlight received by Earth 2) where in the sky those phases would appear at various seasons.

When the Moon is close to full, it will appear on the opposite side of the sky as the Sun. That means that in summer when the Sun passes high in the sky and is above the horizon for a greater number of hours, that night the full Moon will pass low in the sky and be above the horizon for a fewer number of hours. Similarly, in winter, when the Sun passes low in the sky and is above the horizon for a fewer number of hours, that night the Moon will pass high in the sky and be above the horizon for a greater number of hours.

When the Moon is close to new, it will appear on the same side of the sky as the Sun. The means that in summer, both the Sun and New Moon will be above the horizon longer and pass closer to overhead. In winter, the Sun and New Moon will both be above the horizon for fewer hours and pass lower in the sky.

At first glance, it looks like that should all balance out over a one month set of complete moon phases. However, what's important here is that the the Moon is much, *much* brighter when it's near full than near new. As a result, we get much more moonlight during winter, since that's when the Full Moon will be above the horizon much longer and pass much closer to overhead.

**TL;DR**: We get more moonlight during winter.


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

[User] [Ghost Rider/Star Wars] Following the destruction of Alderaan, who would suffer the greatest under Ghost Rider's Penance Stare? Tarkin or the engineer who operated the actual weapon?

[Assistant] Tarkin, easily. He's the one who made all the calls that led up to it. While the engineer would likely have some culpability, he's likely been browbeaten or otherwise brainwashed into loyalty and obedience. Tarkin's the sick fuck who decided to blow up a planet just to make a point, with full knowledge of exactly what he was doing and the consequences, and showed no hesitation or remorse.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly is it about winning a championship that gives the owner of a professional sports team a proper return on his/her investment?

For some context: Im a NY Mets fan (US Major League Baseball) and our new owner (Steve Cohen) is known for being a hedge-fund billionaire who shells out 8 and 9-figure contracts on a whim, such that the luxury tax in MLB is now colloquially known as the Cohen Tax. The teams payroll is estimated to be north of $350M next year, breaking previous MLB records. Hes doing this because hes a fan, and he wants to see them win a world championship just as much as I do, and hes got the fun coupons to blow.

But my question is this: if they win the World Series next year (something definitely NOT guaranteed by payroll size), whats the difference? Say, as opposed to losing in the semi-final round (NLCS). Whats the difference, other than a few more games played (gate receipts, concessions, merchandise). Or is that the difference, and its worth that much? Or maybe owners arent in this to make a profit either way?

[Assistant] Increased merch sales, more sellout games, and slightly higher ticket prices. Plus if your franchise gets a reputation for contending consistently, you'll find it easier to retain talent, because talented athletes want a chance to vie for championships. When the time comes for your team to negotiate with city officials on a new stadium deal, winning teams will fare better at the ballot box.


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

[User] Why is coffee turbid when cooled down but clear when freshly made?

[Assistant]
What is coffee, exactly? A Solution? Suspension?

Turns out, hot black coffee is a solution, meaning that the coffee itself is dissolved in the hot water.

Perhaps you remember that solubility increases with heat (generally speaking). So when the water is hot, it will take in all the coffee it can while brewing. When it cools, the solubility decreases and the coffee precipitates out to become a suspension, and then cause that turbidity you are talking about.


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

[User] ELI5 - Why does untreated diabetes cause parts of limbs to die?

[Assistant]
Your cells need blood/oxygen to survive.

Uncontrolled diabetes/ high blood sugar causes blood vessels to thicken.

Big blood vessels can still have blood going through them. But the problem arises when smaller blood vessels thicken because there won't be blood flowing through. When no blood reaches a said organ, it dies

If the blood vessels in your feet thickens, your feet dies. When blood vessels in your heart thickens, you get a heart attack. When the blood vessels in your brain thickens, you get a stroke. So on and so forth.

That's why diabetes increases mortality because it affects literally every organ.


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

[User]
[My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic] How do names work?

How do names work in this world?  Does a pony take a name of their spouse when they get married, or do the Cake and Pie parents just coincidentally happen to have similar names?  What happens when your name and cutie mark contradict? Such as, what if your pony parents named you Cuddle Bunny and yet your talent and cutie mark have to do with fighting? Do ponies ever change their names based on their cutie mark?

[Assistant]
I sort of assume it's simply like real life- that is, you are given a name at birth, and then you can change it at a later point if you want. Apparently, lots of people change their names to suit their cutie marks, but not all do.

I don't think there's much more of a complex rule here then "pony culture is more accepting of name changing then ours", maybe.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why are there so many Martial Arts in Asia?

TaiChi, Taikwondo, Karate, Kung Fu, Kendo, Muay Thai, and others. Why did Asia generate so many martial arts?

[Assistant]
Asian cultures did not necessarily produce more martial arts. They just preserved them better.

However, it's true that in China's case, education in militarized martial arts was more prolific than in other cultures. Folk fighting styles were commonly practiced by all people everywhere, but a high proportion of commoners in China also knew how to wield proper weapons of war. This can be attributed to the difference between Chinese and European monasteries.

Chinese monasteries were huge landed estates, filled with a lot of wealth and resources. At many points of its history, the Chinese states were consumed in war with one another, forcing the monks to institutionalize martial arts in order to defend themselves. The Northern and Southern Shaolin Temples were destroyed multiple times, and many monks went into hiding among the general populace to escape persecution, spreading their teachings among the locals. Eventually, many of the folk martial arts they practiced declined in popularity and styles derived from Shaolin kung fu became the norm.

The European situation was different, but martial arts still became wildly popular. Wrestling and later fencing was practiced extensively by all nobility, producing dozens of different schools and styles.

Some of those martial arts you named are modern. Kendo, Tae Kwon Do, and arguably Muay Thai were all made in the 20th century, though they were derived from older martial arts.


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

[User] [MCU] What would be the consequences if the heart-shaped herb were mass-produced and made available cheaply over the counter?

[Assistant] Everyone starts taking it to be able to talk to their deceased parents or grandparents for a bit.  The Heart-shaped Herb becomes known as a recreational drug that allows users to communicate with the deceased.  The Ancestral Plane gets really crowded with visitors.  This is a problem, because the Heart-shaped Herb appears to only give the user a brief amount of time in the Ancestral Plane.  Sometimes users don't actually get to meet their ancestor(s) because of the crowd, so they take the herb again, which only exacerbates the problem.  The dead ancestors do their best to figure out how to manage the logistics of all these visitors, which is tough because a lot of them come from different time periods and backgrounds, and speak different languages.  It's all a massive clusterfark until a dead guy who was responsible for planning the layouts of amusement parks (let's say it's someone who helped build the first Disney theme park) redesigns the layout of the Ancestral Plane so that visitors can be processed more efficiently.  People start to work specialized service-based jobs on the Ancestral Plane, with ancestors working as greeters, ushers, security, guides, etc.


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

[User]
How well read are famous philosophers?

This has been a question lingering in my mind for a little over a year now and I thought I should ask.

Whether it be a poet, novelist, or philosopher, how well read are they when it comes to the canonical works of their profession as well as the criticism/theory aspect of the profession.

The important question for me that comes along with this is, what depth of reading within their field constitutes a philosopher or poet to start writing?

[Assistant] Speaking for two French philosophers I've attended courses, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Guiomar, the men were basically walking libraries. They could literally quote 100 references in context in a two hour lecture with no written notes.


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

[User]
ELI5: why does drinking something hot after eating something really spicy feel like youve added spices in to the drink

When I eat something spicy, and drink coffee or something warm immediately after, why does it feel like Ive added some spice in it?

[Assistant]
Capsaicin, the chemical that gives the spicy feeling, is not soluble in water. That means when you drink water or something like water, rather than diluting or breaking down the capsaicin it spreads it everywhere the fluid goes, making it feel like the drink is spicy because it literally is.

If you want to reduce the effects of capsaicin you need something like milk, because it is fat soluble, meaning it will be broken down by the fats in the milk. Strong alcohol like vodka will have the same effect.


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

[User]
[Marvel Comics] Why are some superheroes with super-strength bouncy (Spider-Man, Hulk) and some not (Colossus, Thing)?

Could the Thing leap like the Hulk, but he chooses not to?

[Assistant] Spider-Man and Hulk are made of flesh, which is relatively light and soft. Colossus and Thing are made of metal and stone, which are denser and harder. It takes more strength for them to leap the same distance, and they'll damage whatever they land on.


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

[User]
[Percy Jackson The Titan's Curse] How did Annabeth's father get his hands on fully functioning WW1 machine guns?

In the book, Percy and his companions are saved from a monster army by Annabeth's father, who is a historian. He has a WWI style warplane, as well as fully operational machine guns loaded with celestial bronze bullets.

What interests me is how he got his hands on the guns, managed to restore them to working order, and get them attached to a plane without anyone noticing. The last part of the book takes place in California, which is known for having strict laws when it comes to firearms. It's also stated that he got the bullets by melting down some on Annabeth's weapons when she ran away from home.

Reloading ammo isn't illegal, but takes a decent amount of equipment. Shouldn't the ATF be tracking him, especially after he used a warplane on American soil?

[Assistant]
In the US, citizens are allowed to own fully operational machine guns if they were made before 1986.  The Firearm Owners' Protection Act basically banned the ownership of fully automatic weapons made after 1986.

In California, they have strict laws but you can apply for a permit to own them if you show good cause. Her father is a historian and these being historical weapons would be considered good cause.

The ATF doesn't really track this stuff unless they believe there is some kind of criminality. Matters of ancient gods and monsters are kind of out of their jurisdiction.


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

[User]
In light of recent events in North Korea, how do you set off a nuclear bomb underground without causing substantial damage above the blast site?

Reports saying that this was a hydrogen bomb and 10 times more powerful than anything ever previously tested and 5 times more powerful than the Nagasaki bomb which killed 70000 people almost instantly. How is there not like, y'know, a massive crater in the ground where it was or something?

[Assistant]
Ground is really dense and very little is actually vaporized. Most of that energy is effectively absorbed by the ground, which doesn't really move very much so much as it continues to transfer that energy into the surrounding Earth and down to the Rock bed and so forth. If the ground in the area you're testing in is solid and stable, that is.

If you want to cause the most Devastation, you actually want your nuke to explode in the air above the target.


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

[User] [Iron Man] How are a careless, rich, and arrogant billionaire like Tony and a disciplined army man Rhodes good friends?

[Assistant] In the first movie it showed it. Rhodes likes to party and have fun just as much as Tony. The big difference is that Rhodes knows how to pack it in and say enough is enough. While Tony is far more carefree and willing to do things he probably shouldn't for the sake of a goodtime. That being said it makes them perfect for one another as Rhodes is able to play with Tony and be a genuine friend to him and yet reign him in a little bit as he is also more disciplined.


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

[User] [DC] It's shown, and hinted at, several times that Wonder Woman has dated both Batman and Superman. Which one was the better boyfriend? The better lover? (as a side note, how was this even possible for Bruce Wayne?)

[Assistant]
Superman has superior strength and stamina, but he's hindered by his Boy Scout complex. He's a little too tender and gentle, like he's worried that he's going to hurt the woman he's with. At the moment of orgasm, he's still holding back and restraining himself, still not fully giving in to the moment. Even with Wonder Woman's superior strength and durability, he doesn't trust himself to cut loose. This chivalry makes him a poor lover for her.

Batman on the other hand approaches sex like he approaches he approaches everything else - careful study, optimum impact for minimal effort, iron will, and when all else fails, the intelligence to improvise a good solution. He's no match for Superman when it comes to strength or stamina, but his superior training and thoughtful analysis means that he doesn't really need them. More than that, he's willing to give himself completely over to the sex in order to get things done. And where Superman would never show an ounce of kink, Batman is fully willing to tie up and debase Wonder Woman if that's what she wants. (His psychological problems make him somewhat inadequate as a boyfriend though.)


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

[User] What had caused the interest rates to go up and the housing prices to go down at the burst of the housing bubble? What was the trigger?

[Assistant]
Banks were giving out lots of lots of subprime mortgages to people who couldn't realistically pay for them. Then, the banks just packaged those mortgages into securities which were sold to investors, so the banks didn't even have to deal with any of the risk. It was a total perverse incentive because the banks were making commission on risky mortgages left and right but then passing their risk onto others.

Because there was so much mortgage money floating around, housing prices went up rapidly, and developers built lots of houses to satisfy demand. This just wasn't sustainable over the long run. There are only so many potential home owners out there. Sooner or later you reach a point where supply of homes is greater than demand, and housing prices start to drop. The subprime mortgages were okay as long as housing prices keep going up because it was possible to refinance, but once housing prices start to drop it's a problem. People begin to foreclose on houses, and then it's a vicious cycle where as foreclosures increase, housing prices get even lower, and then the whole house of cards collapses.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How is the Jedi's use of clones as soldiers morally justifiable?

How can the Jedi make any claim to moral superiority when they use clones in warfare?

Not only are they clones, but they have been tampered with in order to render them more complacent and obedient and to ensure that they happily march into the Separatist meat grinder.

Furthermore, the clones clearly demonstrate individuality, personality, and independent motives and desires. Yoda even went so far as to clearly state that clones each have a distinct presence in the Force, thereby proving from a Jedi's perspective that the clones are more than flesh-and-blood robots; they are individual beings.

Frankly, the use of clones, as well as the forced conscription and indoctrination of child soldiers for their cause, leaves the Jedi with very little moral legitimacy. The use of clones in warfare clearly demonstrates that the Jedi and the Republic as a whole are perfectly content to create a second-tier citizenry that exist only to fight and die without choice so that the galactic status quo can be upheld.

I think it's time for a change.

(Working my way through the Clone Wars series on Netflix. Deep into Season 2 right now -- what a fantastic series!)

[Assistant] The Republic is under attack by a secessionist government whose leader is a known rogue Force-user. The Separatists also have an expendable army that outnumbers the few standing forces the Republic has on hand and the entire Jedi Order. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The clone army discovered on Kamino is a boon to the Republican cause. It may not be morally justifiable, but allowing a known dark-side force user to take over the Republic is even worse.


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

[User]
ELI5: If most water is absorbed in the colon, then why does thirst resolve immediately after drinking?

I've been taught that most water in the human GI tract is absorbed in the colon, which is pretty far down the tract from the mouth. So why is it that thirst almost immediately resolves upon having a drink?

[Assistant]
Yes, but it's your brain and not your colon that makes the decision of whether you feel thirsty or not. There are  whole lot of times there will be a disconnect.

Consider the experiments with infinite soup bowls. People will eat more when offered bigger portions, regardless of hunger, and if you covertly keep filling up their soup bowl, they will very rarely stop.


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

[User]
[Mod Post] Clarifications on rule E

Hi everyone, a few months back we implemented rule E to ensure that OPs participate in their CMV threads. However, we were unsure how to best enforce the rule and have been working on a case-by-case basis. While this mostly works it has caused some confusion among users who are reporting threads. We discussed making some guidelines for rule E and we've worked out the following to update the rule:

1) If there are < 10 comments, we won't hold it against OP for not responding. The reason for this is because there may not be enough substantive counter arguments to OP to warrant a rebuttal.

2) If the OP's responses are negligible (i.e., quick one-liners not in response to something like a simple question), it won't be enough to "preserve" the post.  OPs need to actually engage commenters.

3) Similarly, if OP knows about rule E but comments in the thread that "I'll respond in the morning" or something similar we will remove the thread. We would prefer a PM letting us know that OP will return.

4) OPs who appeal their removal and promise to participate can have their posts reinstated.  Rule E is not a death notice.

5) OPs who exclusively respond to people agreeing with them doesn't really count as a strong reply. You need to actually engage with people who are countering your argument, not look for people who agree with you and bolster your own.

6) Rule E is suspended during Fresh Topic Friday. This is because the moderators must manually approve each thread during this time, meaning some posts may not be approved until 2-3 hours after they're posted. Now, if 12-24 hours pass after we approve OP's thread and OP's thread has a decent amount of comments, it may qualify for rule E.

---

We've updated the rules page on the wiki to reflect these changes.

[Assistant]
>If there are < 10 comments, we won't hold it against OP for not responding. The reason for this is because there may not be enough substantive counter arguments to OP to warrant a rebuttal.

I think this should be modified to 4 or 5 substantial top level comments.  Total comment count for the thread is a bit misleading, if two people get into a back and forth that can run the number up even if only one point/counterpoint is really at issue.  But if 4 or 5 top level comments have come up, then there's more stabs at it to the point where I'd expect a response from OP to at least one of them.


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

[User]
CMV: America is so far behind on bipartisanship, and it feels like its on purpose.

In countries like Argentina, New Zealand, Austria, Croatia, Greece, Spain, and many more, we have seen leading coalitions wherein the left and right work together hand in hand, this seems like an absolute anomaly to an American mind. In America, the left and right are at each others throats, and their respective politicians egg it on. It makes me think the politicians dont want to work bipartisan deals out.

But those right wing parties are actually more progressive than Americas! This only works if you are talking healthcare, many of the RW parties that make coalitions with green/Labour parties in other countries are FAR right parties with leaders that would make Donald Trump blush.

So, where is the disconnect? I think it is INCREDIBLY embarrassing that we cant even get bipartisan work between milquetoast liberals and conservatives, but other countries have had literal horseshoe theory governments.

[Assistant]
The govt is incredibly bipartisan, on all the terrible things it does that matter. Patriot Act, endless wars, *massive* spending on everything under the sun, growing the size and scope of govt...
Rhetoric aside (which is vastly different between them all) there is almost no daylight between the two major parties on anything of substance. The duopoly exists, in fact, thrives, off of making them appear at odds while actually colluding, in order to keep out actual competition.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why metal gets glowing red when it's extremely hot ?

Title says it all, also, some elements that aren't metal like salts get glowing red.

[Assistant]
Everything is emitting light all the time.  Most objects around us are cold, and only emit very low energy infrared light that we can't see but can sometimes feel as heat.

When objects get hotter, they start emitting higher energy light.  When they get hot enough they start emitting visible light, starting in the dull red and moving towards white and eventually vivid blue as they reach thousands of degrees.

The color of the light is directly related to the surface temperature of the material, and this is called "blackbody" radiation.  It doesn't matter if it's molten metal, a ceramic plate, or the churning surface of a star, they all emit the same light at the same temperature.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do computers slow down, but then you restart them and they work again?

Could you explain in the form of an analogy?  Also, has this improved over time?  Does it have anything to do with registry and defrag?  Is it different for Mac vs PC?  Thank you :)

[Assistant]
* Think about a computer like this:
   * You are sitting at a large desk next to a huge set of bookshelves.
   * You are the CPU
   * The table is the system memory (RAM)
   * The bookshelves are the system storage (Hard Drive, SSD, external drives etc)
   * In order to do something, you need to take the related stuff off the shelf and put it on the table.
* Now think about what this table will look like as you start to do your tasks.
* Computers appear to do many things all at the same time.
* The truth is they only do one thing at a time but very very quickly switch between tasks.
* So the table gets filled with things you're working on very quickly.
* Switching between these things starts to get time consuming.
* Restarting the computer is the same as putting everything back on the shelf and totally clearing off the table.
* Those first few tasks you do will be quick because you aren't searching through a table full of stuff to get what you need.


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

[User] [Marvel] What will happen if I shoot the dark magic bifrost through a sling ring portal?

[Assistant] Probably nothing special, other than it going through the portal. The Sling Ring Portal just opens a door to another location, and firing the bifrost through it would be the same as driving a car through the portal.


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

[User]
[General Sci-Fi] I'm your run-of-the-mill immortal human being. If I were ever encased in a block of solid steel, what would be the most efficient means of escape?

Everyone's favorite means of subduing an immortal is imprisonment. As such, I'm worried about one day waking up in the middle of a block of molten steel. Once it solidifies, I'd be trapped for a *very* long time. Is there some optimal pose I should assume before I'm totally immobile? Is there some other way I could wiggle out in under a few hundred years?

Immortality rules: I can't die or be injured in any way. No destroyed tissue followed by rapid regeneration. I'm entirely indestructible. I can feel pain, however.

Once I get used to the sensation of oxygen starvation, how would I  best go about escaping from a solid metal prison?

[Assistant] While the steel hardens, increase your volume as much as possible. Puff out your chest, flex your muscles, do whatever you can to give yourself space. Then, start scratching. Slowly create a tunnel out using your nails. This will take centuries if the steel is high-grade, but there's not much else you can do, though if they're indestructible and roughly textured, you may be done within a few decades. That empty space should fill up with steel, so you won't have much room to move, though the best way of getting rid of dust would probably be eating it. That may cause problems later down the line if it causes discomfort since it can't be surgically removed, though.


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

[User]
If a photon doesn't experience time or distance, why isn't everywhere constantly light?

That is to say, how come we can observe light as something that changes?

[Assistant] A photon doesn't experience time (or anything, really). This doesn't mean photons don't move or anything. It just means there's no sense in which they have *experience*. But we do experience those things, and we see photons moving at the speed of light, as normal.


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

[User]
Why do dogs smell so bad when they get wet?

.

[Assistant]
Dogs, among many other animals, produce an oil called Sebum from Sebaceous Glands attached to hair / furfollicles. This oil protects the animals skin from cold and dehydration, among other things. It saturates the skin and fur within 48 hours after cleaning (Even using Shampoo designed to stifle 'Wet Dog' smell) and will collect bacteria that breaks it down.
It typically does not emit a strong odor until it comes in contact with water, which activates it.
This "Wet Dog Smell" is more common in hunting and cold-weather breeds, and less common in other breeds.

Even more five year old friendly: Basically they get Body Odor just like we do but only when they get wet cause dogs don't sweat.


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

[User]
ELI5: why do schools teach a really proper version of foriegn languages thats too proper for a real native speaker to understand you?

The native speakers of the language dont understand a lot of it.
Why would you teach it this way if we cant really use it that effectively? Wouldnt it be better to teach real life conversational versions of the foreign language to be able to use it?

[Assistant]
Fundamental of language are taught which are how proper form is based.
Everyday speech is usually full of slang and colloquialisms which you will pick up quiet fast once you know the basics, even before you hit that damn wall.


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

[User] ELI5: If inflammation is supposed to help the healing process, why does inflammation sometimes stay longer and not heal the damaged area?

[Assistant] Sometimes your body can get a bit overzealous about its defense (see: allergic reactions and autoimmune disorders) and your immune system will kill healthy cells in its quest to keep you safe. Injured cells release chemicals that cause inflammation, summoning more immune cells, creating a feedback loop. Eventually things calm down though.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is happening to my body/brain when I'm trying to wake up and I'm groggy?

My blood is flowing, my eyes are open, so what isn't working properly during those first few minutes after waking up that makes a person groggy?

[Assistant] Your brain is filled with cells called neurons. In between these neurons are fluid channels that carry nutrients to the cells and carries waste out. During sleep your neurons shrink to about half their normal size. This allows these fluid channels to work much more efficiently. Unfortunately, it also makes your neurons function less efficiently until they regain their normal size in the morning.


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

[User] ELI5 When we experience that tip of your tongue feeling, how do we know we know the answer when we cant name it?

[Assistant] When we remember things we don't recall the original experience, rather we remember the last time we remembered it. This can mean that sometimes we remember the experience of remembering without getting to the actual data required. It also means that our memories of things drift out of shape with time, like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.


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

[User] [DC Comics] Why does Batman appear so young despite having 3 fully grown sidekicks and a teenage son? Shouldn't he be at minimum 60?

[Assistant] Thomas and Marthas genes go together like chocolate and peanut butter.  Bruce just has a non-meta but useful genetic quirk.  Gotham City social media accounts have a running joke about Bruce being a vampire, the same way people joke about Keanu Reeves in real life.


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

[User] [James Bond]Why does Bond have a disdain for tea to the point he calls it a cup of mud?

[Assistant] Bond is not really the suave, sophisticated gentleman that he pretends to be. That is merely a face he wears to mask the ugly things he does. Sometimes we get a glimpse behind this facade though, and see a picture of Bond as something of a crude and unrefined person. His disdain for tea, and his preference for shaken martinis are nods to the fact that he isn't actually a sophisticated socialite, but instead a low-class hired killer, albeit an impressively skilled one.


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

[User] [Star Trek] If transporters can turn adults into children like in TNG's Rascals, why don't they use them to make the elderly young again or resurrect the dead?

[Assistant]
Earthicans were so traumatized by the eugenics wars that they reject any form of transhumanism.  This also extends to not creating transporter clones, not using the Genesis device to resurrect people, not using Khan's superblood in the new canon, etc.

There are plenty of examples of the main characters in various shows using and abusing all of these things, and no good reason for why it's okay to make an exception for them, but not for the common Federation citizen is ever given.


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

[User] ELI5: Does it make a difference when you cough up phlegm whether you swallow it or spit it out?

[Assistant]
Not really. Phlegm is mucus and crud from your breathing parts. By coughing up the phlegm you are "taking out the trash" in your lungs. If you swallow it, the stomach acid will kill everything that was in the phlegm that your body wanted to get rid of.

I think, for most people, it's a matter of the consistency of the phlegm that makes it difficult/nasty to swallow.


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

[User]
ELI5: Is HIV actually "cured" or not?

There have been a lot of posts in News and Science and stuff like that about new cases of HIV being "functionally cured." What does this mean? Is it a solution, or just a first step towards a solution? Does the treatment work all the time, or occasionally? Do we know yet?

[Assistant]
Essentially, with modern treatments, doctors can make sure that if you catch it early and can afford the treatment, they can prevent it from turning into AIDS for a very long time. The "functional cure" stuff is typical media exaggeration, though it does hold some promise for future treatments. What a "functional cure" means is that the severity of the infection stays low even after the treatment is stopped, which is different how the current treatments we use work. What they've found only works for some people, though.

Basically, what doctors can do is keep the amount of HIV in your system low enough that it's very unlikely to turn into AIDS, which is what kills you. HIV used to be a death sentence, but now people who are HIV+ can live long and relatively healthy lives as long as it's detected early and treated. However, the treatments do not get rid of the HIV, so it can still be transferred, and it will come back if you stop taking your medicine.


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

[User]
If Potential always equals Kinetic, how do space probes use planets to gain speed?

Wouldn't all of the kinetic energy and speed it gains from getting close to (or "falling" into) the object be lost by trying to escape the gravitational field as well?

[Assistant]
No, the total potential energy of a single object at its apex only equals the total kinetic energy of that object at it's low point *if* the rest of the system remains unchanged. But if the rest of the system absorbs some energy, then its the total energy of the whole system, and not just of the object, that remains constant.

With respect to space probes near planets, this means that the total potential energy of the probe at its apex only equals the total kinetic energy of that object at the low point, if the planet is approximated to be infinitely heavy so that the planet experiences zero acceleration and absorbs and looses zero kinetic energy. This approximation is useful because planets are so heavy compared to space probes, but is not strictly true. In reality, a planet has finite mass and therefore is affected by the space probe in addition to space probe being affected by the planet. It is really a two-body problem. It is the total energy of planet+space probe that stays constant, and not just the total energy of the probe. In short, the space probe gains net energy because the planet looses that same energy. A planet has so much energy that this little loss of energy has a very small effect on its overall orbital motion.


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

[User]
Do you think reality consists of sequences of complex but deterministic events which we currently cannot assess, or do you think there is true randomness? Why?

Just for fun, had this conversation with a friend earlier. I think Im in the deterministic boat.

[Assistant]
Another philosophical puzzle in Stats is whether, by probability, we mean subjective uncertainty or objective frequencies.  This is the Bayesian versus frequentist debate.

Also, how do you know the right way to model the probabilities of events?  Say you are trying to predict the life expectancy of an individual.  You could just take the human average.  But you could factor in race, gender, diet, ... could you factor in height?  It probably doesn't tell you much but it would also be surprising if every height group had exactly the same life expectancy.  Factor in religion?  How do you even decide who's which religion--lots of people are easy cases, but lots aren't--how do you even decide what a race is when the boundaries between races are very ill-defined and not the ones that current society operates on.  If you had infinite data (so that every factor's level has a large representation in the data) would you count every possible description of a person as a predictor?


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

[User] ELI5: Why can my heartbeats sometimes shake my entire body with each throb at 110bpm but not feel the same when my heart rate is 150bpm or higher?

[Assistant] Except at extremes, heart rate plays into pulse strength less than blood pressure does. While higher blood pressures can cause more noticeable heartbeats, the strength of a heartbeat/pulse is also largely dependent on something called the pulse pressure - the difference between the top blood pressure number (pressure while the heart beats) and the bottom blood pressure (pressure between beats).  If the arterial pressure while the heart contracts is close to the pressure while its at rest, the heart beat (pulse) will be less obvious. Think for example, 105/85. But if each heart beat raises the pressure a lot relative to the resting/diastolic pressure, then the pulse is stronger, ie. 140/60.


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

[User] ELI5: The ratings of engine oil, i.e. 5w10, 5w30, etc.

[Assistant]
These oils with 2 numbers, like 5W-30 are called "multiweight" oils and protect the engine under a wide range of operating temperatures.

This rating indicates the engine oil thickness when cold (the first number) and when hot, at an engine's normal  operating temperature (the second number). The higher the number, the thicker the oil.

Thin oil flows better, but does not protect the engine as well as thick oil, under heavy loads.

So we want an oil that is thin when cold, so it flows into all the tight spots in an engine on a cold day start up, to lubricate the engine better.

But we also want an oil that behaves like a thicker oil when its hot, to protect the oil under heavy operating loads.

These multi-weight oils provide such a wide range of operation. Engines are usually designed to use a specific thickness of oil. So look to the owners manual to see the type of oil suitable for your car.


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

[User] [Moana] What would it have meant for Maui to have succeeded in bringing the power to create life to humanity? How would that manifest?

[Assistant] It would be at least as significant as Prometheus giving fire to humanity (which Maui did in this setting). At the very least it would turn everybody into mini-nature-gods. But given humanity's tendencies we'd probably turn into the Zerg.


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

[User]
ELI5: How the hell do the companies making all those free (and generally shitty) apps afford prime time television commercial slots?

Actually, Tribal Wars 2 was pretty cool for a few days, but that Battleship one got boring as fuck quick.

[Assistant]
Freemium games. They are free to download, and essentially are built to frustrate the user, unless they are willing to pay money. Candy crush is an example, you get X amount of attempts every 24 hours to finish a level. If you fail, you either way, or pay 2 bucks and get to go again.

Now spread that to 10 million people, because fuck it, its free. Not all of them will pay the 2 bucks, but those who do, might also pay more than once, and fairly regularly. Now you have a shit ton of money.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] If the killing curse is unblockable, why are wizard duels a thing at all?

Especially with death eaters involved. Why should they care if a spell is illegal or whatever?

[Assistant]
Even for a totally unscrupulous rogue wizard, the Killing Curse is not an ideal weapon in most duels. It is slow, for one thing, compared to most hexes and charms that an accomplished wizard can cast without even using an incantation. One takes concentration, force of will, and no small amount of unfiltered hatred, and the other is a quick flick of the wrist. Against a ready and capable opponent, you would need to be lucky or supremely powerful to complete the spell.

While it cannot be countered or shielded against using conventional defensive spells, a trained Auror is able to dodge and use cover. This is the type of combat training that isn't learned by the majority of wizards and witches, since protective magic is usually more than sufficient. This makes the Killing Curse a terrifying weapon of fear against the general public, but against a resolute defense dark wizards generally resort to more straightforward tactics to incapacitate their opponents.

Not to mention that the Unforgivable Curses are a high class of magical crime that many low level criminals are reluctant to take on. Robbery and assault earn the offender a stint in Azkaban. The Killing Curse often means the Dementor's Kiss.


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

[User]
ELI5 How does sleep differ from being unconscious?

Do you still rest? Assuming I can avoid a concussion or injury, should I knock myself out every night that I cant sleep?

Is being blacked out (from alcohol, etc) being unconscious in the same sense as being knocked out?

[Assistant]
Going to sleep is like putting a computer on standby mode. The lights aren't on but everything is working and ready to turn back on. Infact some processes are probably running in the background.

Getting knocked out is like pulling the computer's power cable out of the wall. Things are not working correctly and there is a risk of serious lasting damage or maybe even total system failure. Even in the best case scenario, booting back up will take longer than from standby.

Blacking out from alcohol is a state of still being conscious but no longer forming memories. Alcohol suppresses the nervous system so losing consciousness after drinking sits on a spectrum between falling asleep regularely and passing out depending on how intoxicated one gets.


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

[User]
Are there any theists that solve the problem of evil by simply rejecting moral realism, opting for some "morally neutral" god, that isn like the abrahamic god?

Are there any theists that solve the problem of evil by simply rejecting moral realism or opting for some "morally neutral" god, that isnt like the abrahamic god? I know this would probably be an unpopular position since most religions ascribe to moral realism, but i just dont see why its necessary to concieve of god as being omnibenevolent.

[Assistant] Spinoza was a pantheist but believed that good and evil are just a way to categorize objects and events that are beneficial or harmful to us. Thus his God is not really good or evil. Whatever happens, happens by necessity.


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

[User]
[DC] [Marvel] If Thanos' snap equivalent happened in the DC universe, would Superman be considered as part of Krypton or Earth ?

If he is considered to be of Krypton, then as the sole remaining member of his planet, he is guaranteed to survive. But if he is considered to be of Earth (which he considers his home), then he only stands a 50% chance of survival, the same as everyone else on Earth. How would the Infinity stones interpret this ?

[Assistant]
Thanos without the stones was going planet by planet, murdering half of their populations. In this case, Superman would be considered against the population of Earth, as he currently resides there.

The Snap did not take such distinctions into account. It did not look at each planet individually - it rather simply took the number of living beings in the universe and divided them in half; one removed, one remained.


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

[User]
Do virgin photons exist? Photons that travel from other stars without touching matter?

Or do all photons eventually bounce off some form of matter on their travel?

[Assistant] this isn't really well defined. in quantum field theory we think of interactions as destruction of the initial photon and creation of a new one. and between these interactions they would all be "virgin" by your definition.


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

[User]
CMV: Cashless cards for welfare recipients that limit payments to necessary items like food, rent and bills means more honesty in welfare.

Australia is currently rolling out a drug testing policy whereby welfare recipients can be randomly selected for drug tests. If they are found positive, they will have 80% of their welfare payments moved to a cashless debit card that only allows purchase/payment of food, rent, and bills. The remaining 20% will remain cash payments for anything.

In my mind, this ensures honesty in welfare. It means people on welfare can't "waste" majority of their money on things like cigarettes (which are extremely expensive in Australia) or illegal drugs. I recently read a book that talked about the issues with SNAP payments, but the issue largely seemed to be that SNAP could only be used for food and nothing else. This system in Australia would leave money for clothes, school supplies, entertainment, miscellaneous household needs, while leaving food, rent, and bills available for payment through the cards.

Now, I don't like the idea that tax dollars are funding welfare recipients who use drugs, so to me, this seems like a fair system. But it's been very controversial in Australia.

One of the biggest criticisms has been the cost of the programs - I understand this, but still think that the cost of drug testing and cashless card system would be worth it to ensure people are fairly spending their welfare money.

Looking forward to hearing some points. Thanks everyone!

[Assistant]
If someone's an addict, they're going to spend their money on drugs. This system is too easy to get around, either with unscrupulous stores taking payments on the cards and handing the users cash (minus a discount), by buying food and selling it on at a loss, or whatever. For a system like this to work it has to be robust; this expensive initiative will not stop people from spending their welfare money on drugs.

Offering them treatment programs would be a much more effective plan, helping them get off drugs and hopefully back into employment.


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

[User]
What would happen if the Ad-Revenue Model were to suddenly be banned from political news media?

Let's say it is no longer legal for FoxNews, CNN, MSNBS, or even Facebook to profit from selling advertising space to the highest bidder seeking to influence their consumer base. (Only direct consumer supported models allowed, like subscriptions or donations). What would this do to the media and political economies? What about the rest of economy?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts/reply.

To clarify: In the above scenario, outside of political news media, companies can still profit from ad-revenue model. They just can't if they are operating (either formally or functionally) as a political news media organization (and since it's my scenario, let's assume no workarounds to keep the adrevenue model alive but at an advantage for emerging media competitors)

[Assistant] This is probably a better question for a media sub or perhaps a politics sub. Because you're asking about how the economics of broadcasting would change the content, its kinda outside the scope of this sub's discussion.


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

[User]
How exactly is the second based on the hyperfine structure of the Caesium atom?

I know its based on the electromagnetic transitions in its hyperfine structure, but I have no idea what that means. I've clicked through the different wiki article explaining both, and I just can't quite model it out in my head. Any help would be appreciated!

I would also have to think it would be possible to base our second on something else (a comparable vibration/transition of the Hydrogen atom maybe?), and I don't know why we wouldn't outside of it being impractical or incompatible with our current conception of the traditional second. Not sure about any of that, but intensely interested in any responses.

[Assistant]
Hyperfine structure is really simple to understand. You have a nucleus, which has charge and spin. It therefore acts like a little bar magnet aligned along the spin axis.  Similarly, the electron has a charge and spin. It also then has a magnetic field. These two magnetic dipole moments are in a lower energy state when the two spins are anti-aligned rather than aligned, just like two bar magnets will stick together one way but repel the other way.

To define the second based on this standard, you say "the second is the length of time corresponding to X periods of the radiation from this transition". You then implement this definition by measuring the frequency of the transition very very precisely. When the second is properly calibrated in whatever timing divice is involved in your frequency measurement, 1 second/X = f. If you get too large or two small an answer you adjust the calibration accordingly.

>I would also have to think it would be possible to base our second on something else (a comparable vibration/transition of the Hydrogen atom maybe?)

Sure. It just turns out that this particular hyperfine splitting in Cs is in the microwave (wavelength ~ 3cm) which makes it really good to work with in human scale experiments. It's also easier to find, trap and cool than hydrogen. It's just a choice of convenience really.


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

[User]
Does every cloud represent an area of lower air pressure than the air that surrounds it?

I did some googling but couldn't find an answer to this specific question - if I see a cloud can I assume that that location in the atmosphere has a measurably lower pressure than the air surrounding it?

[Assistant] Not necessarily pressure, but temperature. Clouds form when the ambient air temperature reaches the dew point, this is the temperature at which water condenses at to form a cloud. Low pressure systems tend to bring clouds with them but are not the direct cause.


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

[User]
[Alien] My species is non-biological. Will the Xenomorphs pose any threat?

My species was developed by some earlier biological lifeform.  We are entirely mechanical in nature but nonetheless we have sapience. Do we have any reason to fear the lifeform known by humans as the Xenomorphes?

[Assistant] As long as you don't intrude on their territory or otherwise threaten them, no. They won't see you as an opportunity for breeding, apart from some cursory killing to see just what the hell you are. Once its determined that chestbursters cannot be implanted inside your species, they just lose all interest. You are no longer a potential resource to their expansion.


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

[User] ELI5: I have a debit card, but every time I use it i'm asked "credit or debit", what's the difference and why do they ask me if it's specifically a debit card?

[Assistant]
For the love of god, ignore the other answers.

"Credit" and "debit" transactions are processed via different networks with different fees to the merchant.

"Credit" transactions are processed using either the Visa or MasterCard network, just like credit cards. Merchants need to pay fees on these transactions, typically starting around $1. This is why many merchants have a minimum transaction amount. Unlike what other people posted here, signatures are not required, even for in-person purchases. A portion of the fee is actually paid to the issuing bank.

"Debit" transactions are processed via the same network as ATM withdrawals. For this reason, you can generally use any ATM card at a merchant that allows debit purchases, as long as the card is attached to a checking account. These transactions require a PIN, just like ATM withdrawals and the fees to merchants are lower. Also, because it uses the ATM network, many merchants will allow you to get cash back on purchases. Issuing banks are not paid a portion of these fees, which is why some banks will charge a small fee, typically $0.25 to $0.50 when purchases are processed this way.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is it that gyfcat .gifs can be super long, but load instantly, whereas any .gifs I view on imgur stutter while loading?

[Assistant]
gfycat doesn't show gifs, it shows HTML5 video. It essentially takes the gif files, and converts them to mp4 video, and shows it using HTML5's video tag. GIF is an obsolete image format. Here's how GIF works: It first reduces the image to 256 colors. This is called a palette. It essentially choses the 24-bit 256 colors that best represent the image's colors, and renders each pixel using only those, then it compresses the image using LZW compression to reduce the file size. Understand that LZW is a loss-less compression algorithm, which is not the best suited for images. Then it stores each frame of the animation on its own.
The codecs used in HTML5 video (h.264, for example), on the other hand, use lossy compression (best suited for images, as it gracefully degrades quality achieving higher compression ratios), and can display true 24-bit color (though in this case it's not an improvement since it's restricted by the original gif quality), it also uses inter-frame compression. In ELI5 terms, if from one frame to the next, only a small part of the image changed, it only stores the change, instead of the entire image, having a full frame (keyframe) every once in a while, usually once per second.


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

[User]
ELI5: If you lose one of your five senses, do the others actually grow stronger, and if they do how is that possible?

If it is possible, could a human who has not lost one of their senses train a sense to be stronger?

[Assistant] It's not that the senses get stronger in an absolute sense. Someone who is blind doesn't gain the ability to hear sounds that would be too soft for a sighted person. It's a matter of attention and processing in the brain. A blind person may notice the soft sound that a sighted person would ignore because of how soft it is, not because their sense of hearing is stronger, but because more of their brain is focused on processing the information being gathered by their sense of hearing.


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

[User]
Is it possible for any electric generator to have an efficiency that approaches 100%?

I know that different types of generators have a maximum theoretical efficiency (such as wind power) that's determined by the way the energy is physically derived. I also know that it's practically impossible for any generator to have an efficiency of 100% due to energy being given off as heat and whatnot. So, are there any kinds of generators where the efficiency at least approaches 100% rather than a lower value?

[Assistant] It depends what you are considering an electric generator. The turbines used in hydroelectric power stations can have efficiencies of up to 95%. The generators they are attached to are typically around 98% efficient. However, overall system efficiency is around 85-90% due to losses in the penstocks, etc.


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

[User]
ELI5: Catholic religious orders (e.g. Jesuits)

Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope. What differentiates the Jesuits from other orders, such as the Benedictines?

[Assistant]
Well, think of the religious orders as factions within the church, all dedicated to certain goals that are shared within the order, and compatible with the goals of the church as a whole.

The easiest way to distinguish the Jesuits from the Benedictines is that the Jesuits are an apostolic ministry...They go out in the world and build schools and hospitals, and preach to people. They're loosely organized, and mobile.

On the other hand, the Benedictines are a monastic order (monks), tied hierarchically to their various abbeys and monasteries. The Benedictines have traditionally had a lot of the more influential thinkers in the church (which may seem odd since the Jesuits are known for education), but the Jesuits are much more worldly.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] In the unlikely, but not implausible event that a magical incident indirectly resulted in the death of a Muggle does the Ministry have a policy of somehow compensating or showing a duty of care towards the family of the affected individual?

Whether the cause be an unfortunate case of a child's accidental magic or the deliberate act of a dark wizard what responsibility does the wizarding world acknowledge towards any Muggle "innocent bystanders" that are indirectly caught up and killed as consequence of wizard activities? While I understand the Ministry take great pains to cover up magical activities for it's own protection, what of the families of Muggle victims who have a right to justice and closure at the loss of their loved ones? Are families somehow compensated or given some form of support or assistance to get back on their feet in the face of a traumatic loss?

[Assistant]
Muggle victims has just as much a right to justice as wizard victims, and their murderers will be treated the same. The Ministry doesn't go around giving money to the family of victims of murder or accidents, regardless of whether they're wizards or muggles.

I suppose the real question is about lawsuits. If a rich Death Eater is convicted of killing someone, relatives could sue them for wrongful death. The system isn't really set up so that muggles could feasibly sue wizards. Perhaps they're sent to wizard courts and obliviated after.


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

[User] ELI5:Why did display resolutions jump from 1080p to suddenly 4K? Why weren't any devices or monitors produced with 2K or 3K displays in-between?

[Assistant]
4K is a bit misleading when you compare it to 1080p

1080p was using the number of vertical pixels (1080 comes from 1920 x 1080 pixels).

4k is using the horizontal number.

So you went from 1920 x 1080 to 4096 x 2160, so basically, it was "doubled" which amounts to about 4x the number of pixels since both numbers were doubled.


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

[User]
[Muppets] How exactly do Muppets fit within their universe?

Like, are Muppets born to human parents and it's just some type of genetic mutation? Are they their own race of people? How do the different Muppet species work? What about Muppet / human relations throughout history? Was there a Muppet civil rights movement? Can Muppets breed with humans?

Please explain, I'm scared.

[Assistant]
Muppets are a type of sentient toy which came into existence when a pocket magic dimension opened in New York City. Few people can find the entrance to this "Sesame Street" but there are some humans who have managed to discover it, and have even made their homes there.

Rather than live in secrecy, and to acclimate humanity to their existence, they decided to create their own children's TV show. While humans believe this show is for childhood education, its true purpose is into indoctrinate people into not being afraid when they encounter a Muppet. It definitely has worked, as several Muppets have created other shows which features human guest stars.

There's apparently also a race of smaller Muppets who live in underground caverns, but even the Muppets of Sesame Street feel this is an urban legend.


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

[User]
Why is it that in certain areas my mobile phones Internet will be extremely slow, despite having full bars, and sometimes the speed will be fine even with one bar?

This bugs me a lot.

[Assistant]
There's three main reasons, and unfortunately none of them will be fixed any time soon.

The first is that there's no universal standard for what bars of signal actually mean. Every manufacturer has a slightly different way of working out what it shows on your screen, and some will even vary it from phone to phone. They're not trying to fib you into thinking you have great signal when you don't (usually), they're just trying their best to come up with a solution that actually makes sense. Which is hard, because there is no single number that can express how good your reception is at any given time. So full bars might not actually be the best signal, and one bar might not necessarily be the worst.

Secondly, the world wide web runs on a system called TCP/IP. It basically tells two devices how to send a message between themselves in such a way that they both understand it. Now, TCP/IP was designed before wireless data transmission of that kind was really a thing, so it was designed on the basis that you'd have a solid, reliable connection like a network cable between the two devices. Now wireless is less reliable than that. Not unusable, but a bit shaky. There's all kinds of things that can interfere with the signal, and because TCP/IP was never really built to work around that, it just tries it's best. It does pretty darned well, too, but it's just not as good as a wired connection. A lot of very smart people are trying to make it work better, but that could be a while off yet.

Lastly is a thing called "contention". In the context of mobile internet, that means "how many people are trying to use the same connection". Because your internet connection is only wireless until it gets to your carrier's transmitter (the thing that throws out a mobile signal), and then after that it goes along a broadband connection not unlike the one you'd have at home. But it might end up serving dozens of different people, depending on how many are in the area. So even if you're sat on top of the transmitter with a perfect connection to it, there might be lots of people using that same internet connection and slowing it down. Your mobile phone only shows bars to indicate how well it's connected to the transmitter, not the internet beyond, so you have no way of knowing how bad the contention is.

The same problem does exist to a degree with wired broadband - some providers might give you 50:1 contention, meaning fifty people using one connection - but a busy street might have a hundred people walking down it with phone downloading something as they walk, plus another few hundred in the surrounding houses. The line gets busy. At a concert in the sticks you might suddenly have five thousand people on one transmitter. This used to be a really big deal, because a lot of mobile networks never really thought this mobile internet thing would be as big a deal as it's turned out to be, so their infrastructure was pretty shoddy. They're working on it, but not all networks are as good at getting it right.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How old is Palpatine? Is he definitively beyond turning back from the Dark Side?

I know only that he killed his master Darth Plaguis (sp), and then somehow used an alternate identity as Palpatine to gain power in the Senate. I don't know how old he is, how long he has been turned, whether he started out on the Dark Side, and how long he has been a part of the Sith.

It's actually a multi part question. I reason that the Jedi obviously didn't know about Palpatine being on the Dark Side from ROTS. They might have known his former identity, as DP might have been famous?, but I don't know as I am not sure what his reveal of the story actually implies then. However during this time I'm also wondering, basically, if there were practices to try and turn a Sith back. I mean Han Solo says fatherly things to Kylo Ren but that doesn't work. Is that a practice or if somebody's turned then what to do? Is there nothing but basic remedial options before dueling somebody? Then say they are an explicit doer of great evil like Palpatine. Can they be restrained or retrained? If not, the consequentialist might say you'd have to kill them, as they would intentionally only exist to gain power through harm.

However, one could see why a Jedi might be compelled to get angry towards such a person. To feel anger during the action might compromise their Force 'goodness,' might it not?

Are some Dark Side users so turned that they are basically empty shells of persons? Is there just no crying baby or something still living in the shell that is Palpatine?

[Assistant]
Palpatine was born in 84 BBY, rendering him 52 years old in TPM, 65 in ROTS, and then 88 in ROTJ (canon is two years older). He joined the Sith at age 19 after murdering his family at the encouraging of Darth Plagueis, who was known to the galaxy at large as successful Munn financer Hego Damask before his death the night Palpatine became Chancellor. When Palpatine tells his legend to Anakin, hes BSing the kid by framing it as an extremely old legend he discovered in his time studying the Force and its users in the galaxy, while in reality hes recalling his greatest-soon to be second, once Darth Vader is converted-triumph from thirteen years ago.

Anyway, to answer your question: at times there have been Jedi who tried to turn Sith back, chiefly Luke to Vader, Yoda to Dooku in Dark Rendezvous, and others throughout the EU. However, the only surefire way we see works is either those words and gestures reaching to the good still in those Sith orwell, either wiping their memory (Revan), or cutting them off from the Force (Ulic Quel-Droma), which required the former to be unconscious from his apprentice betraying him by firing on his ship and the latters consent. Sith can be restrained, but its extremely hard and as Mace Windu saw with Palpatine, often too dangerous to take the chance for multiple reasons. Not all Dark Siders are empty shells, they still have vesitges of who they once were, but Palpatine was wholly and utterly evil from birth, only amplified by his abusive family and Sith Master.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do our bodies require such variety of vitamins and minerals when we (as a species) have never had sufficient resources until recently?

[Assistant]
A lot of humans **did** die off. Before the advent of stable agriculture and farming, humans had to resort to hunting and gathering, which meant that their diet was highly dependent on the local flora and fauna.

In most cases, fruits and animals were usually sufficient in an amount to ensure survival. The ones who were not able to get enough nutrition would get sick and die off, and with infections, predators, difficult child birth and a lack of a steady supply of food the average age was about 30 to 40 years. Just enough time to survive, have children and raise them up to live on their own.

The vitamins and minerals that we do generally rely on are derived from several sources, leafy green vegetables, animal meat and other items. These sources of food in the omnivorous diet have their own cellular machinery, which depends on the same vitamins that we have in our body as well.

To summarily answer your question, almost all complex life requires these vitamins and minerals in order to grow and function, because they work on a cellular level. The presence of an omnivorous diet made getting these nutrients easier for humans, but without a steady source of balanced food, they would depend on what they could find and get, which sometimes ended well, and sometimes didn't.

It would take a lot of generations for a body to stop requiring a nutrient that is too hard to find, and these things are so well coded into cellular life, that it's unlikely to happen.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does Solar Energy production work? Exactly what are we harnessing from the sun?

Last year we got solar panels installed on our house, and I'm just curious how it all works. Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
It's something called the *photovoltaic effect,* where the energy from a photon of light gets absorbed by the atoms that make up the solar panel.

This absorption energizes the electrons in the outer shell of the atom, making them jump up into a higher energy state, ejecting them from the atom and causing them to flow through the panel, creating an electric current.


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

[User]
What would happen if you were to play the "negative" of a record?

My understanding is that the sounds from records come from little grooves in the record itself.  If you were to take a mold of these grooves to create a "negative" of the record, what would it sound like?

[Assistant] The negative would presumably produce a waveform which has the opposite sign as the original. A sign flip is equivalent to a phase shift by pi for the whole signal. Our ears are not sensitive to absolute phase, so the waveform would sound the same. There may be some technicalities associated with the specific medium (e.g. nonlinearity in the transduction from grooves to sound) which might make the situation different for a real record.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why didn't Mace Wendu tell anyone else apart from the Jedi that went with him about Palpatine being Darth Sidious before confronting him?

Seems like it would be a good idea even if they were confident that they could defeat Palpatine.

[Assistant]
When he was informed, he was already getting set to head out and arrest Palpatine for misuse of power. He took with him three of the highest-ranking Jedi who were still on Coruscant.

So, who could he have told? The majority of the surviving members of the Jedi Council were off-world, and the Senate was basically eating out of Palpatine's hand.

Bringing an army of Jedi youth and elders to arrest Palpatine would damage their already pretty wrecked public image. They didn't have time or the means to withdraw the Council members back to Coruscant, and given how quickly the three Mace *did* take with him met their deaths, anyone else would have gone down just as quickly.

No one outside of the Jedi and a few scholars knew what the Sith were, anyway, so that's not a valid excuse to give for arresting him, either.


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

[User]
(40k) How would the Imperium react if one of there abandoned Human settlements caught up to them technologically?

There are plenty of Human planets in the Galaxy that have not been reclaimed by the Imperium. Some are at a Medieval level of Technology, some are at roughly Caveman level, and some are at a Tech level of around 2013.

What would the Imperium do if one of those Isolated planets caught up with them (roughly) technologically and started there own little Empire?

[Assistant] If they pay their determined tithe willingly, no one anywhere bats an eye. If the tithe is not paid, the Imperial Guard is sent in to install a more pliant governor. The Ecclesiarchy will make sure that the world is, more or less, worshipping the God-Emperor, there is a wide amount of leeway for what form that worship takes across the galaxy.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are emergency services numbers still contactable by phone in areas with no signal?

In some areas you can't get a signal to call a normal landline/mobile number but there is the option for "emergency calls only". Are they on a different signal band?

[Assistant]
All cell phones are required to always allow emergency calls if possible. If your normal network provider has no coverage but some other provider does then it will use the other network for the call.

This requirement to always allow emergency calls also means that you can call 911 on a locked phone or one that is out of credit. If the phone is physically able to make the call it will.

You can even call 911 in many countries where 911 isn't the emergency number. The same goes for 999 and 112 too. That is done so a tourist in a panic can still dial the number they are used to calling rather than trying to remember the local one.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] why doesnt the Rebel Alliance just pay off Hans debt?

The clearly see his value and note as much in ESB. Rather than losing him as he tries to settle up with Jabba, why not pay Jabba and be done with it?

[Assistant]
1. Han was already on his way to repay Jabba, he just got caught up with the Rebels running from the Empire and never had the chance to leave until Hoth. The Rebels were being doggedly pursued after destroying the Death Star and Han couldn't get away safely.

2. By the time of ESB Jabba had already decided to make an example of Han. Not only had he seemingly been dodging Jabba for years, but he also brought on a lot of a heat by joining up with the Rebels. There wasn't really a price Jabba would be interested in from Han because it would make him look weak to forgive and forget at that point. Jabba realized he could get revenge on Han and solidify his underworld safety amongst the Empire by letting Boba work with Vader to trap the gang.


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

[User]
[Shaun of the Dead] After the outbreak was contained, what were the legalities involving owning a zombified human?

Is their a sort of custody or permit required to own your friend similar to how Shaun did? And what about using them for entertainment like it showed on TV? Do networks own them or do they have owners who get their paychecks similar to monkeys and other animals used on television?

[Assistant]
You cannot own a once-human without adhering to a strict licensing scheme regulated and dispensed by the crown.

Luckily, Ed was not only from East London, he was Welsh. This means that in the eyes of the authorities, he didn't count as people to begin with.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why Anakin didn't just quit the Jedi Order?

He could simply say "All right, I'm out" at any point, even during the Clone Wars, right? He wasn't a real soldier, even though Jedi were made generals. Or he could quit the Order, but not the army. There were others who left the Order before, like Dooku. And no one really believed in the prophecy, not really. He could have some normal job (or an exciting one, like a racer), plus Padme was probably wealthy. His friends would be still there, like Obi-wan or... umm... Palpatine? Damn, he could've become a leader of the Rebellion against a "Vaderless" Empire.

[Assistant]
Because *he didn't want to.* He wanted to have his cake and eat it, too, be a big damn Jedi War Hero and also secretly a rulebreaker.

Anakin was basically never going to turn against Palpatine. That's the whole reason that Palpatine took him under his wing basically right after TPM.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does defrosting a windscreen with both hot and cold air work?

Shouldnt only one work and the other make it worse?

[Assistant]
Blowing plain vent air will work, but it will take a long time.

Blowing air-conditioned vent air will work better, because one of the effects of air conditioning is that it removes moisture from the air.  So you're blowing cool, dry air.

Blowing warmed-up air-conditioned air works best.  The air conditioning dries it out, and the heat warms it up without adding any more moisture, so now you're blowing warm dry air.


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

[User] ELI5: Why cant airlines pay to keep their airplane slots, without having to fly empty planes?

[Assistant]
The intend of the rule is to prevent wealthy airlines from just buying all the slots of an airport and then not actually using them.
Preventing smaller airlines from competing and passengers from actually flying.
Ofcourse the rule has problems when demand drops way below capacity, but chaning rules in big organizations is often very slow, so in the meantime airlines have to do empty flights.


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

[User] eli5 How does gravity work? Where does it come from?

[Assistant]
as far as we understand now, it's just a fundamental property of the universe. It doesn't come from anywhere else, it just is. If you can find out what causes gravity to exist, cone collect your nobel prize.

More specifically, what's fundamental is that mass warps spacetime. Gravity isn't a *force* so much as the natural consequence of objects moving in curved space. No one has any answer why mass curves spacetime beyond "it juat does".


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

[User] ELI5: How were video games in the late 80s/early 90s animated before huge digital advances were made? Additionally, how was music added?

[Assistant] they had very little resources to use, so the resources were used sparingly.  Mush was 8bit and limited to the notes they could use.  Graphics were re-used (for example, in Super Mario Brothers on the original NES, the clouds and the bushes were the same graphic, just some were green and some were white.


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

[User]
[Raiders of the Lost Ark] How did the Nazis not realize how dangerous the Ark was?

This *really* bugs me. The Nazis, who searched for the Ark of the Covenant, an artifact that is stated *several times* both in the film and in the real-world Torah/Bible to have flattened mountains and incinerated entire armies because some schmuck touched it without God's express permission to do so, (Take this verse from the Bible, Samuel 6:19, KJV: *And He smote the men of Bethshemesh, for they had looked into the Ark of the LORD, even He smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.)* apparently did not consider that if it really was as powerful as the legends say it is, then maybe they should just leave it alone?

[Assistant]
Nazis have a complicated connection to Catholicism, bit opposing it and endorsing it depending on what fits their goals at the moment. Nobody ever accused Nazis of being too rational.

That said, a Nazi occultist with delusions of grandeur most likely decided that they _are_ god's chosen. Of course, in the movie we see His opinion on the matter.


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

[User]
How do Significant Digits and Standard of Error work in other Bases?

I have a pretty solid understanding of significant digits in base 10. What are the repercussions of using significant digits in a small base (eg base 2) or a large base (eg base 60)? Bonus: how to keep the same significant digits (in meaning) when switching bases.

[Assistant]
Significant figures are a quick way of displaying uncertainty, which is more accurately stated using the  sign:

5.4 (2 significant figures) means 5.4 0.1 or 5.4  0.05.

In base 2 (approximately):

5.3= 101.0100

5.4=101.0110

5.5=101.1000

So your number is about
101.011  .001, or just 101.011 (6 significant figures)

You can't translate the number of significant digits directly between bases, but you can do a rough estimate (which will often be off by 1). If s_a and s_b are the number of significant figures in  base a and b:

s_a=s_b (log b/ log a)

For a=2 and b=10, (log b/log a)= 3.33, while for our number 5.4:
s_a/s_b=3

So this formula is roughly but not exactly correct.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do baby car seats expire after 5 years?

If it's due to the plastic deteriorating over time, I would think that someone would have created an affordable replacement part by now.

[Assistant]
Plastic does deteriorate over time, especially when exposed to heat or cold, which a vehicle can easily reach 100+ degrees or below freezing.

Also, when a vehicle is in an accident, the impact can create stress on the plastic that creates small fractures that aren't noticeable but the integrity is compromised.

For manufacturers, that's just a lot of reliability so by limiting it to a certain time period, it reduces that liability.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is "home field advantage" so important in professional sports?

I guess it depends on the sport, but aren't playing fields standardized?  Is it just psychological?

[Assistant]
Well, in baseball, the field isn't standardized, so there's an actual advantage there for some players (it's why some parks are hitters' parks and some are pitchers' parks).

For everything else, it's mostly a psychological advantage that comes from having your own crowd cheering you on.  But there are other factors:  if you're on your home field, you might be more well-rested, because you didn't have to travel.  You're probably more used to the weather, especially in areas like Denver (thin air) or Florida (humid) or Minnesota (cold).  They're small advantages, but possibly important ones.


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

[User] [Archer] Other then saving the Pope from assassination, has Archer and his colleagues ever done anything decent or good?

[Assistant]
They took down an Irish gang that was stealing cancer drugs.

They prevented an oil pipeline from being bombed.

They helped take down a corrupt Central American dictator, and prevented his scientists from bombing NYC with nerve gas.


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

[User]
Why do panic attacks cause disorientation?

So I've suffered panic attacks for over a decade and I'm kind of used to them but recently noticed there is one effect of panic that I don't understand the physiological basis for.

When I get a panic attack or am under extreme stress, I get a strange delirious feeling like my proprioception is getting confused - for instance, it may feel like my head is floating above my body, or sometimes it feels like my arms are where my legs are and my legs are where my arms are, or sometimes it feels like I have no torso. It is like my mind 'forgets' where my body parts are and my internal model of them gets jumbled up. This stops, of course, if I look down at my body or touch something almost to 'remind' my brain where my body parts are, but if there is no reference point, they get mixed up and I get a bizarre feeling of disorientation.

I assume this isn't actually useful in a crisis situation and is more of a byproduct of fight/flight? How does adrenaline work to cause disorientation of this kind?

EDIT: I just double checked to make sure I had used the word proprioception correctly....still not sure I have...but while doing so discovered there has been some kind of link made between vestibular/proprioception difficulty and agoraphobia. If anyone can explain that link that would be really interesting - I have agoraphobia and also have a history of inner ear problems leading to perforated eardrums, difficulty balancing, and the habit of falling over if there isn't enough of a light source for me to orientate myself to (i.e. I think I over-use vision for balance) - all of which I had assumed was down to my history of ear problems. How the hell do these things link to agoraphobia?

[Assistant] Panic attacks have been shown to cause pretty strong dissociative symptoms such as depersonalization or derealization. The dissociation is the brains defense mechanism against the feeling of a panic attack. This would explain the feeling with your body, which to me sounds a lot like depersonalization.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] So what exactly does the empire actually want?

All I hear about them is how much they hate the rebels. What kind of effect would their reign have on your average citizen like me?

[Assistant]
The Empire is not a person and wants nothing. The Emperor wants to rule the galaxy. What he says goes. You can't do that in a Republic. You can in an Empire. Therefore, Palpatine goes about creating one.

For the average person there is no difference. You live your life and pay your taxes.


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

[User] How are photons created? If I am in a dark room and turn on a light, where do the photons come from?

[Assistant] Photons are generally created/destroyed when the energy of an electron changes. In general, electron+photon=more energetic electron. So if you hit an electron with a photon, you would "excite" the electron and make it more energetic. Likewise, an energetic electron might be unstable and become non energetic by releasing a photon. You have to keep in mind that photons are not some sort of conserved quantity and don't have mass, they are simply a particle that only transfers energy and momentum.


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

[User] [Altered Carbon] How is Kovacss envoy training still applicable in the world 250 years later? At that point tech would have advanced so much itd be impossible for him to have previous knowledge of its workings.

[Assistant]
This is a good question.  It seems like technological advancement has plateaued, at least judging by how familiar many things are to him.  This could be explained by how humanity seems to have taken some of its greatest advances from a forerunner race without fully understanding the technology.  As such, humanity may have reached a cap on how far it can advance, at least for the time being.  Heck, (guessing as someone who's partway through the storyline) maybe the Meths are actively repressing change so as to maintain their power.

There's also the fact that his envoy training is good for precisely what he's doing: entering a foreign society and adapting to it quickly.  He may be easily taking in stride what is new to him rather than being a fish out of water, like Philip J. Fry.