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

[User]
CMV: the entire humans werent meant to be monogamous argument falls apart when you take children into account.

I often come across discussions that center around the fact that now humans live such a long lifetime, monogamy is unrealistic and out-dated. But every study I have ever read on the topic of childhood seems to prove children have the best outcomes in a two parent home with parents who have a good relationship.

I dont see how this is compatible with the idea that marriage and long term commitment are pass.

If, as a species, we thrive best when raised by a couple, there must be SOMETHING to the idea of marriage.

[Assistant] The idea of children needing a home with two parents is more of a cultural aspect of western society than something inherent.  There are other arrangements.  Some cultures take a more community rearing approach where the individual parents aren't so important and children will be raised as children of the whole village.  Another approach is to have stable polygamous relationships.  They will be similar to monogamous marriages but will have more people involved so the children have several stable parents rather than just the two.


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

[User] ELI5:What makes your stomach hurt when you are hungry and what causes your stomach to growl?

[Assistant]
The growling is called borborygmi and it's caused by fluids and gasses moving through the intestine, not the stomach. The stomach sits left orientated, partially in the ribcage, wedged just below the diaphragm and part of the liver.

The stomach itself is pretty thick and relatively deep in comparison to the coils of intestine found in the soft, superficial portion of your gut. You shouldn't be hearing much of anything from there when it is empty. Usually borborygmi is more specifically sounds in the large intestine. If you put your ear to someone's stomach area you're more likely to hear the exact stomach noises.

So why noises when your stomach feels empty? Food sits in your stomach for about 2 hours on average, getting churned around and broken down into a more fluid state called chyme. Then it passes to your small intestine, emptying the stomach. This is where things have the potential to become noisy! Everything moves down the line at this point- chyme from stomach to small intestine, undigested remains from small intestine to large. As well, both stages of intestine spend several hours digesting- peristalsis (more churning) of the food mass in the small intestine where additional digestive enzymes are mixed in and the majority of nutrient absorbtion takes place, then mostly reabsorbtion of water (not churning) in the large intestine as the leftovers are slowly made into poop that go into the rectum for storage and expulsion.

Once all the food moves down, stomach is ready for a new job and feels left out from all the action the intestine gets to have! Also realize your stomach contracts a lot for its digestive process and you don't feel it so much then, but you might feel it as it expells food to the small intestine. The body isn't particularly good at identifying where the stomach is. Most of your guts don't cause pain directly at their site, the body doesn't quite know where they are, this is why we feel heart attacks down the left arm with some chest tightness and not stabbing heart pains.


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

[User]
How are spacesuits sealed from the vacuum of space when assembled?

I understand that the space suit provides air pressure to keep the fluids in your body in a liquid state, and that the suits are assembled in different pieces for the limbs and such. But how are these separate pieces sealed from the vacuum of space when assembled? (i.e. where the separate pieces connect)

[Assistant]
The same way as docking. Joints lock tightly so air can't escape. It's like putting your finger over the neck of a bottle and flip it upside down. The liquid inside won't come out because your finger is in the way.

Basically, a space suit is an upside-down water bottle with a finger on the neck.


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

[User] [FMA:B] If alchemy is so insanely powerful and can be learned from books, why are there so few alchemists?

[Assistant]
Investing can be learnt from books, why isn't everyone Warren Buffet?

It takes a special kind of person to pursue Alchemy, same as any other profession.  Its hard, requires endless hours of study/practice and not everyone has the drive to become an alchemist.


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

[User] ELI5:Why can't flies get out of open windows as soon as you open them?

[Assistant]
Imagine being in a very large room, and you can only see a small part of the room at any time. Someone makes a small opening (door, window) in one part of the room.

You can't leave immediately since you don't know it's open until you explore it.

On top of that, flies are very bad at figuring out transparent obstacles. A window might look open, but is actually closed.


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

[User] ELI5: How are people able to think themselves sick? (somatoform disorder)

[Assistant]
We don't feel sick because we are sick: we feel sick because certain patterns of neurons in the brain fire. Most of the time, they are firing because we are sick, but not always; and doctors aren't sure why they fire when we aren't sick.

And the real answer is "we don't know". In many ways, somatoform disorders are the evil twin of placebo effects; and we really don't understand *how* or *why* either work, we just know that they *do*.


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

[User] [X-Men] On Krakoa, the mutant nation is now performing mass resurrections on dead mutants, thru the efforts of the Five. Are there any moral implication of them bringing back the dead and on such a massive level?

[Assistant] The just-started Way of X series is going to be dealing with this. Nightcrawler has had a long history of being a devout Catholic, and the ritualistic deaths and rebirths for depowered mutants, and other mutants being nonchalant about death, is really freaking him out.


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

[User]
[Mad Max] Why are there a disproportionately high number of people with American or English accents in post-apocalyptic Australia?

From the comments of Furiosa who only vaguely seems to remember what power lines look like, we can pretty safely assume we are at least 25 years post-apocalypse. If this is the case why does she (and a few other characters) possess non-Aussie accents? I mean surely their accents should have assimilated by now.

[Assistant]
Those ain't English accents, it's the Cultivated Australian dialect, similar pronunciation but more inclined to call you a cunt in general discourse.

Can't explain the seppo though - might be she grew up around another seppo and kept her accent to retain a sense of indiviuality and separation from those around her.


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

[User] ELI5: How is a new video game sometimes "ready to play" when less than half the game is downloaded?

[Assistant]
Some games are packaged in a way that gives you what you need to start the game first.

The game is a bunch of separate files. Theres sound, music, levels, character models etc. if the game is set up for it, you can download the title screen and the first level, and start playing before the final boss is downloaded.


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

[User] What are the first specialized cells created in an human embryo, and what is the mechanism for proper relative positioning of different types of specialized cells?

[Assistant]
This explanation may a bit too general. Anyways, Cells start to specialize during gastrulation when the blastula (hollow ball of cells) gets this dent. This divides the embryo into 3 germ layers. Each of which will specialize into specific body parts.

One mechanism for cell positioning is as simple as cell migration. Cells migrate toward some chemoattractent to get into the correct anatomical position. For example; cells of the peripheral nervous system migrate outward to eventually innervate the various organs and tissues of the body.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that i need to crack my back and i don't feel normal until i do?

[Assistant]
Bubbles! Bubbles always make people happy, right? In this case, there's oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in your joints that escape when you crack your back. These bubbles float away and relieve a bit of pressure build up, which also relaxes the things that hold your muscles in place, the ligaments, and the tight feeling, tension.

Most of it comes from the release of the body's natural little painkillers, endorphins, though. Your back might *actually* feel somewhat better, due to relief of pressure and loosening of the ligaments, but mostly it's the release of endorphins that block the pain signal to the brain. So you partially *really* feel better, and partially just *think* that you feel a bit better. Combined, you feel "normal" afterwards, but the effect will be temporary. Once it wears off, and some of the tension and pressure builds back up, you feel the need to pop it again.


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

[User]
[Home Alone] Would Kevin be charged for what he did to Harry and Marv?

Me and my family were watching both Home Alone movies (Yes I know there is a third and what not but come on) when I realized something. Kevin in both movies had info about Harry and Marv's plan and rather than reporting it, Kevin makes his traps, and the two men suffer. Well if the police knew about this would Kevin be charged? I know it sounds silly but Kevin put the two of them through a lot and in some instances they were both lucky that they lived so what would happen?

[Assistant]
As a minor, Kevin isn't responsible for his actions and it can be argued that he was simply defending his home from two known criminals. Being a young person left literally alone over the holidays he can also argue he didn't know to contact the authorities, or how to contact them. He's likely not face any criminal charges.

I think two other outcomes are more likely. One, the kid is a psycho and is in need of counseling (some of the things he contrived for the wet bandits are pretty savage). Two, his parents will be rightfully vilified for not only leaving him alone like that but how the heck does he not know to call any of his neighbors? (I've not watched the movie in a long time so this second point may be covered in it someplace).


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

[User] Why are we colder when wet?

[Assistant]
Our sensation of being cold (or hot) is strongly affected by the rate at which we exchange heat with the environment. When we're wet, the water is almost always colder than the 37 C of our body. That means that heat flows from our body into the water on our skin. And since water has a considerably higher heat conductivity than air, the body loses heat more rapidly when it's covered in water.

Next, the water will evaporate, which lowers the average temperature of the water that remains, causing further heat flow from the body to the water on the skin. Essentially, this is the same as sweating, except that sweating is a beneficial process that the body initiates when it is too hot.

So when we're wet, we lose heat more rapidly than when we're dry. This causes a stronger sensation of feeling cold, even though the water on our skin may be warmer than the air.


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

[User]
ELI5: SD. SS. SA. Gestapo. Wehrmacht. Sipo. Kripo. What were they all and how do they relate to each other?

It's a broad question, but Nazi Germany had so many intelligence/military apparatuses it is hard to keep them straight. I especially don't know how they all relate to each other. Who was subordinate to whom? Did they interact with each other?

[Assistant]
the Wehrmacht was Nazi Germany's military

The SS (=Schutzstaffel) was a paramilitary group founded to protect Hitler, but it quickly turned into one of the Nazi's most important instruments. The Waffen SS, which was under the Wehrmacht's command was a special unit that fought on the frontlines along with the Wehrmacht.

The Gestapo (Geheime Staats Polizei = Secret State Police) was a secret police. Their task was to eliminate political enemies. Many enemies were put into concentration camps and they used torture to get information out of their victims

The SD (Sicherheitsdienst) was an intelligence agency that acted alongside the Gestapo

Sipo (Sicherheitspolizei) is a collective term for The Gestapo and the Krip

The Kripo (Kriminalpolizei) still exists and has existed before the Nazis. It's the part of the police that is tasked with fighting crime and preventing it.


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

[User]
[The Witcher 3] What exactly is The White Frost? Is it something artificial? Magical? Or a natural process like entropy?

Haven't been able to work this one out. It seems like an unstoppable force akin to entropy where eventually all worlds lose heat and energy becoming icy and lifeless. Perhaps it's more to do with each planet's star going supernova, and the worlds losing heat from their sun? Either way, it appears that The White Frost is the result of extremely powerful magic or unchangeable laws of physics due to the notion that only someone with Elder Blood (a rather notable trait and insanely powerful in magic that tends to bend the laws of physics) can actually stop it.

So what is it? And how exactly does someone with Elder Blood stop it?

[Assistant]
A (presumed) magical WMD that caused an unsurvivable ice age in one dimension or "sphere", before eventually making its way to another.

As to how it's stopped, there's unfortunately no canon answer to give other than "magic".


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

[User] Would Helen Keller be immune to the madness induced by Cthulu?

[Assistant]
Absolutely not. Cthulu's very existence defies human comprehension, regardless of the senses it is perceived by. Just FEELING its presence is enough to drive someone mad.

She may last a little longer, because of limited input, but she would succumb like everyone else.

In fact, because of he limited referential experience, her attempts to rationalise what she experiences may be weaker, so she may even fall faster.


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

[User] [Star Wars] If a huge fleet can orbitally bombard a planet's surface to dust, even back in the old republic days, isn't the concept of the Death Star massive overkill? It's not like you need all that power to kill people living in the core of the planet.

[Assistant]
In addition to Tarkin wanting to scare everyone, the other advantage of the Death Star is its Nigh-invulnerability.

A huge fleet can be met by another huge fleet in combat. It can be harried, disrupted, blasted by surface weapons, etc...

The Death Star was effectively beyond these concerns. It's planet killing capabilities were merely the mirror of its (expected) invincibility.

As they say in IV, the death star is designed to repel large scale assaults, and could really only even be approached -- even absent a fleet escort -- by smaller fighters that should not have been able to hurt it.

An invincible terror weapon, that no fleet can hurt, that can destroy any target. A worthy crown jewel for the arsenal of any Galactic Tyrant.


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

[User]
[Kill Bill] Why didn't Bill kill Vernita Green?

In the movie we see that Bill tries to murder Kiddo for trying to start a new life away from him. We also see that Vernita did the same thing, had a child, etc. So why didn't Bill murdered her as well?

[Assistant]
Because he didn't love Vernita. Kiddo didn't walk out on the Vipers, she walked out on *Bill*. She slipped out the back door, dumped him without a word, and when he finally finds her he finds out that not only was he dumped, but she's already shacked up with some nothing hick in Bumfuck, Nowhere.

He valued Vernita and O-Ren as employees, but it didn't go anywhere near as far. When they left the squad, it wasn't his lover running off, it was trusted subordinates moving on to other things.


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

[User]
Why aren't certain endangered species that are now limited to a single site, such as the large mason bee, just reintroduced to areas where they used to be common, when they've been limited to a single site for years. Is there some scientific reason for this?

You can buy mason bee cocoons and keep them in your garden, so I'm just wondering why nobody's done this with that species. If they had, it'd no longer be limited to a single site, so its population, distribution and genetic diversity would increase, reducing its risk of extinction. Is there some good reason this can't be done, or has it just not happened because nobody's bothered doing it yet? Surely the population can't be so unstable that at least one or two cocoons can't be safely taken to another site and raised there?

[Assistant] In many cases they are trying to reintroduce them but either the climate is no longer suitable, their particular food source is no longer sufficient, the area has somehow changed in possibly an imperceptible way that we have yet to grasp that it doesnt like, a new predator has moved in, a competing species is consuming its resources, pollution or a mix. Sometimes species just reproduce at too slow a rate to get their numbers back up to spread out again.


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

[User] ELI5: Why's there still a "share" button for internet porn videos despite there being zero demand for it?

[Assistant]
Three possibilities:

1) Someone out there actually uses the porn sharing function, so websites continue to use it.

2) Its a default option in the web video program that porn sites use, and removing it would cause some issues with the playback.

3) Web developers have a weird sense of humor, and have programmed it in the hopes that people click it on accident.


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

[User]
Is petrified and fossilized the same thing?

If not how do they differ?

[Assistant]
Petrified objects are fossils, but not all fossils are petrified.

While a fossil can be the indication that an organism was present, or is present, it doesnt denote petrification which is a very specific fossilization processes that retains are large amount of detail and internal structures of the fossilized material.

Its most common in wood, but can be seen in species such as ammonites and trilobites, but has been seen in some dinosaur species that partially petrified showing bown marrow or other tissue structures.

Anything can be replaced by a mineral and show the shape of what it was, but petrification shows a lot of the internal details that were accurately replaced.


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

[User] [The Jetsons]The Jetsons take place in 2062. That is uh, really close to now. What happens between then and now to cause the surface of the Earth become uninhabitable?

[Assistant]
In 2022, a zombie virus breaks out.  By 2025, most of the un-infected have fled to stilted buildings in the clouds.  They carpet-bombed the surface to try and sanitize the threat.  The surface is considered uninhabitable by the cloud-dwellers.

Meanwhile, on the surface, once the zombie virus ran its course, the remnants of humanity on the surface were left with no infrastructure and reverted to a stone-age tech level.  They still posses the knowledge of a more advanced society, and thus try to recreate it however they can using stone-age tools.


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

[User] [Warhammer 40K] A ton of Ork Mekboys bang on the shiny yellow chair with hammers, and think "shiny chair work now." Is the Emperor's Golden Throne restored to full function?

[Assistant]
No.

The ork gestalt field still required technology to run, its a common trope that ork shit either breaks the laws of physics or is just a gun shaped stick that shoots plasma because of belief.

In reality its far more nuanced, the gestalt allows mechboyz to built better more advanced technology but it doesnt allow them to just magic up shit.

If this were the case their desire for a fight would be manifesting enemies left and right out of thin air.


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

[User] [MCU] How does Star Lord's helmet work, and what would happen if Tony Stark got his hands on it?

[Assistant]
One of two things.  Either it would catapult mankind forward in technological development, or it would be so advanced that it was literally useless.

The way we know this is the miniaturization technology.  It's not just that the mask can just pack itself into a space it can't fit into... it's that they used it in what's a pretty ordinary space mask.  It's basically an emergency mask for life support if you lose pressurization.

Let me compare.  Imagine you took a modern car back to the 1950s or something and explained "well, it's more or less like your cars... but it can parallel park itself by pressing a button."

That one fact indicates a revolution in technology that's obscene.  Miniaturized cameras.  Transistors.  Computing.  All these things needed, to make a button do what any kid just passing their driver's test can do.  But seeing that one feature casually tossed on a car indicates that the technology not only exists, it's trivial.

In the same way, Star Lord's mask is going to contain components that are simply high tech beyond Stark's wildest dreams.  Not just technology that's experimental, but technology beyond his, mass produced and distributed in these fairly ordinary masks.

How does it work?  Nanotechnology?  Spacial anomalies?  Who knows.  But the tech is wildly beyond what Tony knows, and in the hands of Tony Stark would be... something.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Is there any thickness of adamantium that I, a mere human, could physically bend bare handed?

Is adamantium always rigid? Could I flex adamantium wire or would it be a case of eventually going thin enough that I'd just be cutting my hands?

[Assistant] Yes and no. Adamantium, once set, is impossible to reshape even after exposed to a significant amount of heat. But adamantium is not an element but an alloy, meaning it's the combination of various materials and gone through a very expensive procedure to get just right. Once the adamantium gets thin enough, it's literally just several elements kinda mashed together that you can probably bend.


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

[User] ELI5 what Tor is, and why everyone praises it as the king of proxies.

[Assistant]
Imagine the internet as a phone system.

When you make a regular call, it's easy to see who is calling who (caller ID) and what they're saying (phone taps and the like). What TOR does is splits everything up and encrypts it. So instead of calling the person you want to talk to directly, you call a designated stranger, and give him your message in code. Then he calls another person, and re-encodes your message. Then that person sends it along again, each of them decoding and encoding parts of the message, but never the whole thing at once. Eventually, the message gets to where it was intended to go, and then the reply is sent back the same way.

Now imagine that this is happening at the speed of light, millions of times a second, and instead of talking you're looking at a screen. That's TOR.


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

[User]
Where does all the debt go?

So me and my friends were discussing economics and the recession and trying to figure out how it all works and we think we've figured it all out except for one thing.

So as far as we can tell, the big problem is that everyone's in debt and owes money that basically doesn't exist. As in there's more money owed than there exists. The analogy we were using to wrap our heads around this is if each of the three of us are our own closed economic system and we each had 1 but each of us owed 10 to each other than although only 3 exists in total in the system, 30 is owed which means there is 27 that just doesn't exist so the question we have is, if this is the state of the current economy, where does this 27 go? Does someone always end up with this fake debt forever or is it gotten rid of somehow or have we just completely misunderstood everything?

[Assistant] There is actually 33 Euros in your system; there are the 3 Euros of cash, and 30 Euros of assets in the form of debts that other people owe to you. In your closed economy, there is also 30 Euros of liabilities, so on the net, the 3 of you hold 3 Euros.


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

[User]
[Samurai Jack] Why didnt Aku just nuke whatever location Jack was at?

He came up with all these hair brained schemes and sent God knows how many assassins but he never went the Nuclear option. Its not like Aku would care what people thought of him afterwards since hes the Shogun of Sorrow. As a matter of fact he would probably revel in the newfound fear of everyone knowing he could just eradicate any location he wants in an instant.
Jack may be able to fight off assassins and otherworldly beings but he cant really survive an island sized explosion with a follow up of nuclear fallout.

[Assistant]
He did once. In the Spartan episode a city sized robot exploded next to Jack, and he was fine and suffered no ill consequences.

Ranged weapons are just much less effective in the Jackverse for some reason, as are explosives. A sword or spear is vastly superior at killing people.


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

[User]
How much formal education is necessary to become a philosopher?

I am currently pursuing philosophy at the undergraduate level. If I do not go to graduate school, then would I still be taken seriously if I were to pursue a career as an academic philosopher? If not, then are there any philosophy careers for non-academics?

Are there any renowned (academic or not) philosophers who havent had formal education in the field?

Thanks in advance for any answers. This is my first post in the community. Ive read the rules, but please let me know if theres anything I can clarify.

[Assistant] There have been many famous autodidact philosophers throughout history. But that is no longer likely feasible. You can still publish in journals if you are a BA student. But not going to graduate school is not going to get you into the academic philosophy world.


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

[User] ELI5: How the human brain can go years without hearing a song, and still remember every single lyric of it when it forgets other things like the names of old friends or coworkers.

[Assistant] Memory that is stored with multiple sensorial associations is more likely to be unique and thus easier to recall.  A song lyric is associated with rhymes, instruments, vocalists and personal experiences while listening, creating a very unique data point.  On the contrary, a person's name is likely not very unique and a brief, ordinary encounter with someone will leave the cortex unimpressed and less likely to store it.


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

[User]
[Futurama]Why did the Professor hire Bender?

Fry had his delivery boy career chip, so that made him a natural. But why hire a defective bending robot to work on an intergalactic delivery company? Is it simply his durability? Is he a diversity hire? Or just the Professor being the Professor?

[Assistant]
To bend things.

But it's more likely Hermes made the hiring decision. Remember, he's Inspector #5, and he's the one who overrode Bender's "defective" designation in the first place. He probably felt some responsibility for Bender and gave him a job out of pity, and the Professor was too out of it to notice.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is sound recorded?

I do have somewhat of an understanding of how the ear perceives sound, and how speakers work. But I am just lost on understanding how something can record the exact sound it receives. Please help..

[Assistant]
Sound is just waves in the air. Inside a microphone is a membrane that vibrates back and forth with the waves. Attached to this membrane is a coil of wires, this coil of wires moves back and forth across a magnet as it moves back and for with the membrane (and therefore, with the waves.) The coil of wire moving back and forth across the magnet generates an electric current in the wire, precisely the same pattern as the pattern of waves.

Does that help? Any questions?


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

[User]
[90s Kids Movies] I am a card-carrying villain, but my local college shut down, so my dreams of being a scientist have been crushed. Should i become a stepmother or a dogcatcher?

I was really looking forward to using a bunch of gadgets to take over the world, but ether abusing a tiny orphan girl in rags OR putting a bunch of stray puppies in the pound so they can be put down when their time is up will have to do. Which one do you think is more evil and nasty? I want to be the best villain i can be.

[Assistant] You are not thinking big enough. Take a lesson from some iconic baddies from the 80s and become a real estate developer. There is nothing more villainous than becoming rich by dashing local kids hopes and dreams  by closing down their local community centre to build another soulless mall.


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

[User]
[John Wick] How does John Wick have money?

The gold coins John has, while probably valuable because of their gold content, always seemed to represent something more like a favor trading system than an frankly unnecessary secondary currency that would just ultimately be exchanged for dollars, euros, or whatever; and I assume given how valuable they are within the continental's organization that you can't just take a handful of them and pawn them off for a few thousand bucks to put down money on a fancy California home, a classic American muscle car, or dog food. So is John's entire retirement taken care of by the continental's organization? Was he earning coins on the side? Is it like the big boys at the top of the high table pay their assassins in money and Winston is paying out coins or something for optional assignments? John never seemed like the kind of guy to go out of his way to kill people so it doesn't strike me like he'd hungrily be chasing people down for Winston so 5 years later he can afford to pay for a new suit, new guns, and intel on the Roman catacombs.

[Assistant] The coins are only used for high table and continental services. Cash is still traded for other goods and services by lower members. Working for the Russian mob pays US dollars, working for the camora pays gold coins. There's likely some way to exchange cash and coins for their opposite through the continental. We do see all continental services using gold coins despite assassinations being described in cash values. Likely the gold coins are merely a way for assassins to safely store their money with a neutral third party in the continental than trusting a bank or the mattress when handling large dollar amounts. John only had a few coins stashed and probably converted the rest to cash after retiring.


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

[User]
Why can't we get to Mars easier by placing intermittent satellites (space stations) along the way?

If planets can orbit the Sun, then surely man-made space stations could be placed into orbits to mimic planets.  We could place many of these into orbits between Earth and Mars.  Then shuttle things back and forth between the shorter distances.

[Assistant]
The distance won't necessarily be that much shorter. Mars and Earth orbit the Sun with a different period, so the position of Mars with respect to Earth changes continuously. Sometimes Mars is rather close to Earth, but other times it is on the opposite side of the sun.

The proposed space stations that are placed in intermediate orbits would show the same effects, depending on when you'd look, they might be anywhere in their orbit and going from one space station to the next in the sequence may require a greater distance to travel than simply going directly to the final destination.

An additional problem is that for every intermediate stop you're going to have to expend fuel to slow down and stop at the station and afterwards again to fly away. If you do the journey in one go, you'll only have to do this once. By stopping multiple times along the way, you will need much more fuel that you'll somehow have to carry with you (which would increase fuel consumption even further) or send out in ahead of you, which would require complicated refueling logistics.


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

[User]
[Sofia the First] As King Roland's step-daughter, and a commoner no less, does Princess Sofia have a place in the ascension order to the throne of Enchancia? Is she even a princess?

In our world, it would appear her status would be analogous to Tom Parker Bowles, who apparently doesn't have a royal title.

[Assistant]
No. She's not the daughter of the king and she's a commoner, *plus* she's the youngest child. Her chances of inheriting the throne without a **major** catastrophe happening are null.

If the kingdom practices agnatic-cognatic primogeniture then Amber is next in the line of succession. If not then their brother is next on the line.

Sofia *is* technically a princess, though, being the daughter of the Queen. Her title is given by family ties not by bloodline.

It is possible her sons and daughters might not have a legitimate claim on the throne, though. Unless she marries into the family proper.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it healthy to strain your heart through exercise, but unhealthy to strain it through stress, caffeine, nicotine etc? What is the difference between these kinds of cardiac strain?

[Assistant]
Exercise causes natural vascular dialation allowing the increase in heart rate to provide your circulatory system with more oxygen.

Caffeine and nicotine cause vascular constriction along with the increase in heart rate. This puts more stress on your heart since it has to work even harder to achieve the same level of blood oxygenation.


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

[User] ELI5: The probe sent to Pluto is about to come out of hibernation, giving us the best glimpse of Pluto since it's discovery. Why can't we just point the Hubble at it and get crystal clear photos of Pluto when we can use the same telescope for peering into the edges of the visible universe?

[Assistant]
Your phone can take a picture of Mt Rushmore from 1,000 feet away but can't take a picture of an ant from 20 feet away.

Hubble is looking at supermassive things far away that generate a lot of light but Pluto is very small and doesn't reflect a lot of light.


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

[User]
If you drop your a phone or something else with a glass screen and the screen doesn't crack, does it have a higher chance of shattering the next time you drop it?

If you drop glass and it doesn't crack, are there invisible changes to the glass that make it weaker?

[Assistant]
TL;DR: Yes.

Materials Engineer here...Your brand new phone screen has billions of cracks in it.  They're just really really really small.  Now, anytime you do something to the phone (drop it, sit on it, bump your keys against it, whatever) you're putting stress on those cracks.

If the stress is over a certain threshold, it can cause the crack to grow.  The longer the crack, the less stress needed for it to grow.  So every time you drop your phone, you're effectively lowering what's called the critical stress - the amount of force it can take before catastrophic failure - aka a shattered screen.


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

[User] ELI5 When I plug my nose and blow air really hard, my ears "pop". What is actually happening?

[Assistant] When you do that you force air up your eustacion tube which goes from your throat to your ear behind your ear drum. It equalizes the pressure on both sides of your ear drum. When you go to higher altitudes the air pressure gets lower so the air on the inside of your eardrum is higher and pushes out on your eardrum so if you plug your nose and suck in it will pop your eardrum back to normal. If you go underwater far enough the water pressure will push in your eardrum so by plugging and blowing you pop your eardrum back out.


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

[User]
If there was another planet with the same orbit time as Earth, would we know?

Hey all,

If there was another planet with the same amount of time to orbit the Sun as Earth, but was on the far-side of the Sun, would we know?

Dan O.

[Assistant] Yeah, because Earth's orbit is elliptical and not circular we would still see it at times. Also, the probes we've sent to Mars and Venus and other planets would not have reached their destination if there was another planet on the other side.


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

[User]
[The Martian-book] What long term health effect can Mark Watney expect?

I have only read the book, not seen the documentary. Watney lived off of MRE's, space potatoes and vitamins, he also spent alot of time around that radioactive thing he dug up plus whatever solar radiation he would have gotten just being on Mars. Would he get cancer? Radiation poisoning? Malnutrition? Would his muscles and bones atrophied due to lower gravity? Any other health concerns he would have? Would he survive the trip home? What about the rest of his crew that had now spent a lot longer in space than planned?

[Assistant]
Long-term, Watney will have a much higher chance of developing cancer. The reactor actually didn't contribute to that very much; it's heavily shielded and never breached. The massive exposure to solar radiation did it. The Hab and the EVA suits are radiation-shielded, but they weren't designed to hold up over so long.

He'll also be suffering from severe muscle atrophy. It's not as bad as it would be if he spent the entire time weightless, but it'll be a while before he's able to walk in Earth gravity again. His bones will be weakened as well from a combination of malnutrition and low gravity. He'll have the trip home to begin physical therapy, which will help.

His crewmates will be dealing with more of the same, but less severe. The Hermes is better shielded than the Hab, which cuts down on radiation exposure. They also had the luxury of more-than-adequate nutrition and access to an actual gym during the flight, which is better for retaining muscle and bone mass than Watney's daily routine.

Long-term, they'll all be fine. Besides the cancer.


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

[User] Anyone like Heidegger but who writes like a normal person?

[Assistant] No, but he has a ton of lecture notes published as books which are much clearer than Being and Time (I presume that's what you're struggling with), and most of his essays are also reasonably lucid. His writing is also much nicer to read when you understand the terminology he's using, and there's lots of approachable secondaries you can use like Dreyfus, Polt, and King for that.


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

[User] ELI5: Metal Gear Solid (The whole darn story)

[Assistant]
Added a tl;dr at the bottom...

The Boss was a hero during WWII. Naked Snake (later Big Boss) was one of millions inspired by the Boss. The Boss became an undercover agent (essentially) in Russia, but her gift to Volgin (an American rocket launcher) that he fired started political tension between America and Russia. The Boss was told to scapegoat by the government and did so. Big Boss killed her because that was his mission (and, as it turns out, hers).

Big Boss found out the government threw the Boss under the bus and became disillusioned. About the country and about a soldier's place in it. Eventually, he defected to erect his own soldier state... all while still masquerading as a loyal American.

Big Boss saw all the problems after that stint in Russia and started a group with the other members of the operation in MGS3 called the Patriots, funded by a collection of money pooled between China, the US, and Russia after WW2. Part of the Patriots activities included cloning Big Boss (the perfect soldier), which resulted in two things: the new Snakes (Solid, Liquid, Solidus), which was the final straw for Big Boss. He quit the Patriots, while Zero assumed command, eventually began running the US by his whims, and once he became too old, had AIs run the country in his place. Think of the Patriots AI as the ultimate Big Brother; an all seeing eye that watches everything but also controls it.

Liquid's mission, ultimately, in MGS1 is simply to obtain Big Boss's genetic information, because, as a side effect of being clones, Liquid knew he'd eventually deteriorate (much like Snake did in MGS4).

Solidus, as the president, was well aware of the Patriots, however, and wanted to put an end to them. Solidus was an antihero in a way, as while his methods were extreme, he wanted to restore freedom to the world by destroying the Patriots. He failed.

Ocelot, acting as a triple agent (spying on the government spying on the Snakes spying on the Patriots, basically) took up the cause of eliminating the Patriots, acting as a resurrection of Liquid Snake to throw off the Patriots from his ultimate goal, allowing him to take control of the system of AIs. They recovered the AI from MGS2 and used it as their gateway into the main AI as a means to destroy it. Snake destroyed the AIs.

TL:DR; In a nutshell... Big Boss becomes disillusioned with the government and helps start the Patriots. The Patriots clone him (Liquid, Solid and Solidus Snake) and he becomes disillusioned with the Patriots and quits. He does a bunch of shit that on the surface makes it look like he's defected but is ultimately trying to destroy the Patriots, who have grown so immense in power since he left that they rule the entire world. From there, more or less everything in the Metal Gear Solid series has the ultimate goal of ending the Patriots, whether the participants know it (Ocelot) or not (Snake).

Hope that somewhat helps. But it's hard to accurately boil down such a rich yet convoluted story down to a few paragraphs.

And thanks for the gold!


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

[User]
What happens to a persons oral hygiene while being in a coma?

Like does someone come brush their teeth once in a while?

[Assistant] Yes.  It's actually very important that Nurses brush the patient's teeth twice a day.  Patients in a coma don't have a gag reflex because they have an airway in their trachea. Brushing their teeth reduces the amount of bacteria in the patient's mouth that can travel down into their lungs and cause a pneumonia.


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

[User] [Star Trek TNG] In "Darmok" how could a civilisation communicate only through metaphor without first having a language in order to write and speak the stories?

[Assistant]
They did have a more "normal" language. But languages evolve.

Similar to how trying to listen to someone from England 1000 years ago isn't going to work for a modern English speaker. Or similar to how people today can have entire conversations with just emoji and understand it fine.


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

[User]
[MCU] Stark wears the Mk 47 in Homecoming, 50 in Infinity War, and 85 in Endgame; what does the progression look like for the armors in between?

And do Iron Spider and Rescue count?  I personally doubt those two count since War Machine got his own line.

[Assistant] Iron Spider and Rescue definitely dont count, theyre separate projects. As far as what they look like, probably not very different. After the Mark 50 when he used nanobots the suit upgrades were probably mostly software, just uploading plans for new weapons and features mostly. Like the energy shield he used when Hulk did the snap compared to the physical shield he used on Titan when fighting Thanos. The look of the suit definitely changed a bit, but that could be aesthetic preference, in general its the same hot rod red and gold he normally uses though.


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

[User]
[MCU] Is Bruce Banner/The Hulk still a fugitive?

In 2008, he destroyed half of Harlem and was on the run until 2012 when he joined thee Avengers. Since then, he's mostly kept to himself and traveled the world. Assuming he didn't leave earth in Age of Ultron and the events of Civil War took place, what would his legal status be?

[Assistant] Hulk wasn't a fugitive or traveling after the Avengers, he was pretty obviously hanging around with Tony in Stark Tower. Likely SHIELD and Stark Industries leveraged whatever they could to get his name fully cleared after the Battle of New York.


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

[User]
Are academic conferences open to the public?

Im a new grad student with a flexible schedule and Im embarrassed to ask my advisor such a silly question.

Are academic conferences usually open to the public? I have interests outside of my field and would love to find some conferences so I can listen to people talk about their work.

Is there a database of upcoming conferences? How would I find out about these?

Thank you in advance!

Edit: thanks again for the help! Navigating higher ed as a first gen student is exhausting, Im glad there are kind people out there willing to take time out of their day

[Assistant] If you mean open, as in free, then most likely No.most scientific conferences require registration fees. There are some conferences that you may not be able to attend; these are typically smaller & more intimate, so you need to be presenting or get in touch with organizers to get permission. Youll still have to pay fees if you are allowed, & this can get very expensive. Larger conferences (like for societies) are generally more permissive but you still pay $$$$$$. In any case, you should just reach out to the organizers and ask.


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

[User] How do they figure out how many calories are in my food?

[Assistant]
Calories are a measure of energy contained in the food.

To calculate the amount of energy in the food we need to release it. This is done by burning it completely in an oxygen atmosphere.

To measure how much energy is released they may use something called a "bomb calorimeter." Basically it is a chamber (in which a known weight of food is burned) surrounded by a known amount of water. They measure how much the temperature of the water increases. By knowing some properties of the water, how much water there is and how much the temperature of the water increases, they can calculate how much energy was released by burning the food. One calorie is the amount of energy needed to heat 1L of water from 14.5C to 15.5C.


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

[User] Eli5: Why are we told to wash our hands for 20 seconds to kill all the bacteria etc, but not told anything similar for dishwashing? What makes dishwashing different, if anything?

[Assistant] The 20 seconds hand washing is to encourage you to wash all areas of your hand, you can do it quicker or slower but as long as you wash all over, it achieves the same results. Similar to the dishes, you wipe all areas until it's clean. Hands are a more complex shape than a dish hence why it takes longer.


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

[User]
Does the earth expand and contract?

OK this may sound dumb but here's my reasoning. I work in construction and one of the common misunderstandings most people have is that everything in their house expands and contracts as the weather changes. This causes a lot of cracks and why there is usually a tolerance with materials.

But I was wondering does the earth expand and contract as it revolves the sun since it's not a perfect circle around the sun and gets closer and farther?

[Assistant]
Not in any appreciable sense, no. Earths radius remains quite unchanged over the course of a year, although its shape is slightly altered as a consequence of the gravitational force exerted on the Earth from the moon, as well as Earths rotation. This results in Earth being very slightly Pear-shaped, with a minor bulge extending outward toward the Moon. Although, the bulge is obscenely small, you could never recognize the difference with your eyes.

That being said, the dominant geometric shape the Earth most accurately fits is whats known as an oblate spheroid (Imagine squishing a flexible ball between two surfaces, flattening it a little bit). Bear in mind that this deviation from a sphere is minimal, only about one part in three hundred. It comes from the equatorial regions experiencing a greater centripetal acceleration than locations at other latitudes.

But as you mentioned, Earths orbit is not perfectly circular. It is indeed an ellipse, but not in an extreme sense. The orbital eccentricity of the Earth (How far the Earths orbital path deviates from a perfect circle) is minimal, measured to only about 0.017. So the amount of solar radiation that Earth absorbs barely changes at all throughout the year. On top of that, solar radiation doesnt really penetrate the surface and wouldnt contribute to any significant internal heating, anyway. So we dont see any Breathing of expansion and contraction.


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

[User] Are online, anonymous surveys (qualtrics etc.) considered a valid method for collecting data in the social sciences? What are the problems with this method and, assuming these problems are glaring, why is it so common in academic institutions?

[Assistant] It's a valid way to collect data, but it might not be a way to collect 'valid' data.  The people taking these surveys are self-selecting into the survey, so it's not random.  Randomness is needed if someone plans on generalizing the findings to a larger population (anything larger than the people actually taking the survey).


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

[User]
Can human brains actually "multi-task" or is our brain just capable of swapping back and forth between tasks quickly?

When I'm brushing my teeth and doing something else at the same time with my other hand, like folding a pair of pants, I find myself involuntarily stopping brushing my teeth and only focus on the folding. I don't even realize I stopped brushing my teeth. What's the science behind this?

[Assistant]
The brain has a multitude of interconnected systems and modules specialized for different tasks, and these operate in parallel at all times - so yes, to some degree, multitasking is possible.  If you think about it, one part of your brain is processing visual information, another processing audio information, another keeping you breathing, etc etc etc, nonstop - so your brain is always doing many, many tasks at once.

Where this breaks down is if you want to do two tasks that use the *same parts* of the brain at once - this is something we can't really do.  For instance, we can't typically split our conscious attention - we can switch it back and forth fairly quickly, and we can automate tasks through extended practice so they don't take much conscious attention (like driving) - but generally you won't be able to use those parts of your brain to do two things simultaneously, because in order for the brain to accomplish a given task, it has to inhibit any activity associated with other tasks to avoid crossed wires and failures.


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

[User] ELI5: How come that in american media, sexual content of any kind is a strict taboo, but extreme violence is not a problem at all, while in most other parts of the world it is exactly the other way around?

[Assistant]
The U.S., though secular by construction, is still a very religious nation on the level of its people.  There has always been a strong religious pushback against sexual activity and pornography, which remains in religious communities to this day.

On the other hand, Americans tend to be pretty pro-military compared to the rest of the West, and such a position makes being strongly anti-violence quite difficult.  Additionally, in the early-to-mid 20th century, some of the most famous works of fantasy violence (such as superhero comics, and Tom & Jerry) got their start.  Works like these were gradually able to raise the stakes, until we ended up with works like Gears of War.


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

[User]
Are satellites sending data back to earth affected by the Doppler effect?

Are the data signals satellites send back to earth affected at all by the Doppler effect, since the data is in a wave form, and if so, does the satellite have to change the signal slightly to prevent data loss or corruption?

[Assistant]
Yes, it's not small enough to interfere with communications, but it's large enough to be able to measure the speed of the spacecraft. If Rosetta is traveling at 15 km/s relative to Earth, then the change in wavelength will be 0.005%, from the formula:

lambda^obs = lambda^emit \* (1 + v/c)

(sucks that markdown can't do subscripts)


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What happened to the Lars homestead and moisture farm following their death and Luke's disappearance?

Did anyone inherit it? Would the Bank of Tatooine have taken over if they missed some payments? Did Jawas just strip the place clean?

[Assistant] In the EU, Luke originally grants the homestead to an alien named Throgg. He in turn ran afoul of the local influential land baron Huff Darklighter - father of Biggs Darklighter, Luke's deceased friend - who proceeded to attempt to run Throgg out. Huff's more reasonable brother Jula intervened, taking the title but allowing Throgg to remain on the property. The two would maintain the property for some time after that; the next time we see it, over 130 years after the battle of Yavin, it's apparently fallen into disuse and partial ruin.


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

[User] [Marvel] How serious does a mutation have to be to count as a mutant? Would someone with something like Heterochromia be allowed in the Brotherhood or X-men, or get harassed by Sentinels?

[Assistant]
Conveniently all mutations that "count" in this world are tied to the very specifically identified X-gene (and considering how many different ways it manifests I'd argue it has to be more than one single gene but nobody asked me)

You won't see albinos or people with syndactyly at Xavier's school... at least not ones without other powers. We do occasionally meet mutants with purely cosmetic mutations and maybe a handful of accompanying adaptations (Squidboy, this gargoyle named Alistair... etc.)


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

[User] ELI5: Why can certain muscles in human bodies (like in our arms, legs, etc.) be built-up through workouts while others (like our fingers, jaw, etc.) remain the same size despite working out almost constantly?

[Assistant]
A lot of misinformation in here. Fast twitch / slow twitch has nothing to do with this these particular examples. Every muscle can be worked out and every muscle will grow if worked out more.

You say those muscles stay the same despite being used a lot. Your muscles are the size they need to be for their usage.

The muscles which are moving your fingers are in your forearm. If you do grip exercises they will definitely grow in size and you will get bigger forearms. (The muscles that are actually in your hand are mostly for moving your fingers laterally and are very small in size but even they can be worked out)

If you use or exercise your jaw beyond normal eating then those muscles will definitely grow larger as well.


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

[User]
ELI5: what makes stainless steel stainless

Just that. Why is some steel stainless and some is not, whats the difference actually?

[Assistant]
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron with a lot of chromium and nickel added in.

The chromium corrodes quickly in air, to form a layer of chromium oxide. The chromium oxide is very tough and a thin, invisible layer seals the surface of the metal off, so no more air can get in.

Regular iron corrodes to form iron oxide, which is rust. However, rust doesn't seal the surface, so air and water can get penetrate the rust and get to the metal underneath causing further corrosion and more rusting.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a compass on your phone work?

[Assistant] A pretty common method is to use magnetoresistance. Some materials change their electrical resistance depending on the direction of the magnetic field they're exposed to. So they put little slivers of those materials on a chip, at specific angles, along with circuitry to put a specific amount of current or voltage through the materials, and measure the how well electricity flows through them. Once they know that, the chip does the math to determine the precise 3D angle the magnetic field is pointing. The phone's CPU asks the chip for the compass data several times a second and averages it out to give you a smooth reading.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is that when you touch an open wound (or the white meat) under your skin with your finger, it burns?

[Assistant]
Because the nerves that bring sensations like pressure, heat and cold to your brain get the info from special structures around nerve endings that are deep in your skin. If you touch an open wound you stimulate directly your nerves and give them a much greater stress. The other case where this happens is when your skin is removed by fire and the nerve endings are exposed to the air so the sensation is similar.
Think of it like a short circuit.


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

[User] ELI5: How do modern dishwashers take way longer to run and clean better yet use less energy and water?

[Assistant]
The vast majority of the energy that a dishwasher uses goes towards heating the water. The sprayer pumps use very little power in comparison.

So the best way to reduce the overall energy consumption is to lower the water temperature, which makes the cleaning cycle take longer, but that's fine because only the low power pumps are running during that time.

edit: The same idea applies to washing machines, by the way.


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

[User]
ELI5: If two countries go to war, how can the opposing army know which army is theirs without accidently shooting their own teammates?

Does every army in every country have a different uniform? Or do they all wear camouflaged suits or something.

[Assistant]
Different uniforms, identifying colors in helmets/on person, passwords/codewords and just generally if you're being shot at it's likely it's the enemy firing. Also officers are briefed which direction enemy is at and they brief their people.

Comms, comms, comms. Very important.


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

[User] If 128 people pick a number between 1 and 64, what's the probability each number gets picked at least once?

[Assistant]
The # of ways to pick should be equal to the # of onto functions from the set of people to the set of integers 1 to 64. This requires applying inclusion-exclusion.

The prob. is then that # divided by the total # of functions 64^128.

---

It seems that the # of onto functions can be calculated with the help of the Stirling numbers of the second kind: 64! * S(128,64)


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

[User] [LoTR] If Gandalf had not been restricted in the usage of his powers, could he have seriously messed up Saurons plans? What could he have done if the Powers that Be just said "f*ck shit up?"

[Assistant]
Yes, he could have. But it wouldn't just fuck up Sauron, it would destroy Middle-Earth.

When Gandalf keeps a door closed, he's not casting a magical door-locking spell. He's bending reality using divine power taken from God. And anything that bends, can break.

Magic is inherently an attempt to subjugate reality. When the Valar fought Morgoth way back in the First Age, they ended up destroying a continent. Not because of mere collateral damage, but because using magic damages the fundamental structure of the world.

The same thing would happen if Gandalf fought Sauron using his full power.


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

[User] Why do mosquito bites itch?

[Assistant] When a mosquito bites you, it releases an anti coagulant. Your immune system releases histamines to combat the foreign substance. The histamines are what is responsible for the itching. You can stop the itching by either a cream, or taking an antihistamine tablet, such as benadryl.


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

[User] ELI5: How can the Greek government have spent so much that they are still broke? What was all this money spent on?

[Assistant]
In a single word: corruption. Not only the politicians (almost all of them), also the population. Since the Ottoman times, the Greek culture holds the idea that the government is an enemy and everything should be done to avoid giving money to it. So tax evasion is rampant and socially acceptable, in all layers of the society. It's helped by corrupt officials who cover others who cover others etc.

Family member wanted to get documents and permits in order for a house (actual house didn't match the permit). Nobody there (including the mayor) understood that he would do something that cost money just to be legal.

There's a society problem and it will take at least one generation to get fixed.


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

[User]
Would electronics last longer if left on all the time, or switched on/off as needed?

I've heard it both ways:

Some claim that as long as all components are well below thermal limits, electronics left on 24/7 will last longer because they're not subject to the stresses caused by the components expanding and contracting due to warming up/cooling down.

But a lot of people think that electronics last longer the less they're on because they spend less time in the "stresses of being on"... but these people never elaborate on what, exactly those stresses are.

So, who's right? And why? What are the most significant forces at work here?

[Assistant]
Product Development Engineer here - it varies by product. It's a very interesting question, because thermal cycling (on/off) is a very stressful condition for electronics that causes a lot of catastrophic failures. On the other hand most devices are rated in hours useful life, so leaving a device on is generally not the best choice if it will spend a lot of hours without anyone using it.

For lifetime rating, products are generally subjected to three main categories of abuse (others if it will be an outdoor or waterproof product): Elevated temp. operating tests, thermal cycling tests, and vibration testing. Generally the weak point of any given product is due to a particular design choice, and thus could be any one of those tests. If you're trying to decide about how best to use a particular device, you probably need to look up how it tests. I've been looking for test standards for you to read, but none are free. In LED lighting, we adhere to IES LM-80, which describes mostly elevated temperature testing. For UL compliance we'll need to pass some ASTM vibration testing (maybe D3580), and for customer certification we'll need to have data on storage life and cycling.

I know it seems like a cop out, but the best way to ensure long life of your device is to operate it in a cool environment where it won't get any extra thermal stress, and to use it as infrequently as possible. The maximum stress from cycling would be if you turned it on just long enough to get hot, then left it off just long enough to get cool before turning it back on, so if you're turning on a TV 20 times a day, you're probably doing it wrong.


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

[User]
CMV: The FAA needs to impose harsher penalties for passengers who act up on planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in 2021 they had over 6000 reported incidents of unruly passengers due to mask mandates up to and including assaulting flight attendants. Note this is after all previous years had so few incidents that they didn't even bother keeping track.

These "Adults" need to learn the difference between a right and privilege. They need to lay down the law and start making examples of these clowns.

This is my proposal.

1. Use the security cameras already on planes to record the whole flights, and make it known to people they are on camera and that this footage can and will be used against them for both civil and criminal penalties including to put them on a list that will expel them banning them for life from American Airports.

2. Have 3 levels of punishments for passengers who misbehave and let flight attendants and pilots submit filing for punishment that will be looked over by a specific part of the FAA to get the identity of the individual.

3. Level 3 penalties- Fines up to $1000 before being able to board another plane, this would be for refusing to follow instructions nonviolently. Basically an adult acting like a child and holding up oppertations. Failure to follow the mask mandate nonviolently would be under this. Becoming unruly drunk.

4. Level 2- Suspension for up to a year but starting at like a month, such action would include being removed from an airplane but refraining from being violent towards the flight attendants/cabin crew. Fight other passengers, (this was an actual incident reported by the NYT) Throwing a used fucking diaper into the drink bin ewww. Basically any physical, health, or having to be removed action that doesn't rise to the level of attacking crew. Also being removed from a store/restaurant in the airport.

5. Level 1- Expulsion/Life Time Ban nationally- Assault or Battery against any airplane or airport employees as in employed by the airport or airline. Attempting to or successfully bringing a weapon into the airport or plane. If the police have to be called in because they refuse to leave the plane after being told.

6. People who enter an airport after being informed they are not allowed to face arrest. Simple.

I know the FAA and Congress are thinking about doing more, this is the simplest way, stop pretending people acting out is okay, 75% of FA are women as someone why is trying to become a flight attendant, I know these cowards wouldn't mess with my since I'm 6fT 200 pounds male, but yeah when  75% of your cabin crew nation wide is physically vulnerable to attack you should act.

Edit- The footage would be reviewed to see who hit first.

Delta Edit- Verbal assault would fall under suspension.

Edit 2- Deleted a part that came off wrong and offensive.

[Assistant]
You had me until the last paragraph. Flight attendants being women or homosexual men has nothing to do with it. And the assumption that all homosexual men are effeminate weaklings... woah dude.

Penalties should be laid out and enforced because disruptions cost the airline and passengers time and money. And violent disruptions are dangerous for everyone nearby, whatever their gender or sexuality. Even as a 6ft, 200 lb straight dude, you can still get hurt by a drunken asshole.


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

[User] Are household appliances perfectly efficient in winter (because all waste heat just heats the house anyway)?

[Assistant]
In a lot of places, heating with gas (by furnace) is cheaper than heating electrically, so it might not be perfectly efficient from a cost perspective.

Also, a lot of work goes into designing a heating system for a home so that heat is distributed somewhat evenly. Heat coming from appliances probably isn't going to be as evenly dissipated. To give an extreme example, having one source of heat in a corner of your home will require more energy to maintain your home's climate than having a whole system of ducts which aim to evenly heat your home, because an uneven climate loses more heat to the outside environment.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] Explain every type weakness/resistance

Some are obvious, like water putting out fire. But how is Bug strong against Dark?

[Assistant]
Normal is mundane animal life- easy prey to trained humans and stone tools, and with no ability to interact with the spiritual world.

Fire is straightforwardly extinguished by water, sand and stone. Meanwhile, dragons are the masters of fire and have no fear of burning themselves

Water conducts electricity- a bad idea for a watery being with organs- and are drunk by plants. Dragons are as associated with water as fire, and seem to hold dominion here too.

Fighting is purely physical. They've got no counter for the esoteric powers of faeries, psychics or ghosts and on a simpler level, birds and bugs are too fast to hit. Meanwhile, their dependence on physical perfection makes anything that ruined their health a devastating blow.

Flying creatures have thin bones, easily broken by rocks and metal.  Also being in the sky among the clouds, things that can influence icy winds or lightning find them easy targets.

Grass is plant matter- it burns and is eaten by bugs or birds all the time, and easily dies in the cold. The same thirst that makes it so potent against water betrays it here, hungrily absorbing poison.

Poison depends on poisoning its enemies, obviously. Psychics and ghosts have transcended their physical bodies while dirt, rocks and metal simply have no biological functions to disrupt

Electricity is grounded easily- the charge simply dissipates too far, which also protects plants. Meanwhile, electrical enemies constantly have strong current running through them- a few hundred volts more is barely noticeable.

Psychics require focus to use their powers- primal fears like insects, ghosts and the dark shatter that concentration. While their mind powers are potent a fellow psychic can resist them, and a machine's mind cannot be swayed.

Ground is hard to change on a large scale but water, icecaps and forests alike can reshape it on even the scales it works on. Bugs are the opposite- simply too small for the ground to notice meaningfully. Birds are move obvious- they're in the air and it can't reach them.

Rock is not as tough as it seems. Breaking rocks with their bare hands is a party trick for fighters, and ice, grass and water break them down quickly. Meanwhile, metal is simply stronger- in a brute force contest, steel wins.

Ice melts, but is also more fragile then rock or steel and easy enough to break with brute strength. Meanwhile, all it can do to water is freeze it, and that's not really harming it, is it?

Dragon is slain by another dragon, or a knights steel, or a fairyland enchantment. More mundanely, magical or not, they're reptiles, and cold-blooded beings do poorly in the cold.

Dark is the "villain" type- it's lies, backstabbing and manipulation, dirty tricks and clever plans. Insects are too stupid to fool while warriors are too blunt to care. Meanwhile, faeries have plenty of experience with lies and manipulation themselves- can't con a con.

Ghost is a type of victims and tragedy, giving it an inherent weakness to those dark of heart- they already lost to them once. Meanwhile, their intangibility is no protection to those equally spectral.

Steel is hard to destroy with brute force. But fire can soften it, a skilled fighter can see the weak points, and the sheer size of the earth dwarfs it. It also conducts electricity, and how do you hurt an enemy that can hide in your arms?

Fairies weakness to iron is well known, as is their weakness to drink and hedonism making it easy to get them to consume something deadly. Meanwhile, as things of whim and chaos, fire's nature as a representation of order and civilization drives them away.


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

[User] Is it even hypothetically possible to accelerate something to the speed of light? Or is it an asymptote?

[Assistant]
A massive object with a constant acceleration you will only asymptotically approach the speed of light.

Let me give you an analogy:

Imagine we're trying to cross a troll bridge. The troll says that we're allowed to cross half the distance between where we are standing and the other side, but every time we do, we owe the troll a dollar. Getting halfway across the bridge is cheap, as it only costs us a dollar. Getting 75% of the way across is still pretty cheap, and only cost us $2 to get there. And so forth and so forth. Eventually, no matter how close we get to the other side, we'll eventually run out of dollars before we cross the bridge.

Accelerating a particle is sort of like that. At first, you can increase the particle's velocity a lot by dumping energy into it. But eventually, once you're going 99% the speed of light, it starts getting really hard. If you triple the kinetic energy of a particle already going 99% the speed of light, you'll only get it going 99.9% the speed of light. You can keep increasing the energy of this particle, but you'll only succeed in tacking on more 9s to the end of that number.

It's simply impossible. You can accelerate forever, and as you pump more energy into the particle, you'll inch closer and closer to the speed of light, but you'll never actually hit it.


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

[User] [Final Fantasy 6] Where did Kefka get the power to single-handedly kill 20 espers in one blow?

[Assistant]
Kefka had two main advantages:

1. Immediately before that happens, Kefka and the Emperor had *just* figured out that the full power of Espers can be transferred by using Magicite when an Esper dies.  Kefka has the full support of the Empire and all its mad magitech science, so they gathered up all of the Espers they still had access to, turned them into magicite, and sucked all the power out of them.  If game mechanics are to be believed, this would require Kefka killing a shit-ton of things for exp, but he would hardly have an ethical problem with running around murdering things for power.  Hell, they'd probably assembly line that shit, capturing monsters, battering them down to one hp, and then delivering them to Kefka to give the final blow.

2. Kefka has a unique power to nullify Espers magic, making them essentially powerless against him.  This appears to be a more developed version of Celes' Runic ability, and it makes sense that the Empire would keep working on developing a better version after Celes betrayed them.


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

[User] If a black hole is comprised of ferromagnetic material, would it be attracted to magnets?

[Assistant] A material being ferromagnetic depends on how the individual magnetic domains arrange themselves. A black hole exists at densities where it isn't possible for an atom to exist, so it can't really be ferromagnetic.


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

[User] [Marvel] In-universe, is the Punisher classified as a serial killer?

[Assistant] Not really. In universe, the cops and feds recognize he's a whole different animal than a serial killer, and The Punisher (plus his accomplices/apprentices/imitators) is a category onto himself. In terms of objective measurements, his addiction to war isn't really targeted the same way as a serial killer; SKs are compelled to a fairly narrow target list for the most part (sickos killing women who remind them of mom, nurses playing "angel of mercy" to those they decide are too far gone to save, etc.), while Castle was just as at home fighting the NVA in the jungle as he is fighting the Maggia in the city streets. He also doesn't suffer a hardcore compulsion to kill; be can (and does) choose to let valid targets slip away if doing so would lead him to a bigger fish. Finally, a lot of killers experience a "cooling off period" after a kill where they have a diminished urge to kill, wheras Frank Castle will kill all day, every day, non-stop, stacking the bodies up like sandbags *and never cool off*.


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

[User]
Why do forklifts use propane as fuel as oppose to another fuel?

At work, we have multiple forklifts that use propane as the fuel. They run out of fuel quite often and I have only heard of propane being used for cooking. What properties make it ideal for forklifts? Does is burn differently that other fuels?

Thank you.

[Assistant]
Most forklifts are dual fuel(gas or propane) others are diesel & others electric/battery powered, as well.
Using propane allows for the machine to go indoors, and with the low Emissions of gas will not cause people to get sick or carbon monoxide poisoning when using indoors.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does Congo have a near monopoly in Cobalt extraction? Is all the Cobalt in the world really only in Congo? Or is it something else? Congo produces 80% of the global cobalt supply. Why only Congo? Is the entirety of cobalt located ONLY in Congo?

[Assistant]
Cobalt is mostly a by-product of copper and nickel mining.  There are massive copper and nickel deposits in the Congo.  However, another major factor is the lack of much mining and environmental regulation in the Congo.  They can mine a lot of cobalt, cheap, because they pay the workers low wages, to work in dangerous conditions, with little regard to the effects to the local environment.  So, it's simply cheaper for companies to buy Cobalt from the Congo than from many other places.

Thus, it's much like two farms in your town growing apples.  If Farm A can sell its apples for much less than Farm B, then Farm A is going to sell far more apples, even if Farm B can produce just as many apples as Farm A.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is the difference between Chaos Theory and The Butterfly Effect?

I thought I knew what The Butterfly Effect was, then someone (well, Life is Strange did) explained Chaos Theory, and they sound like pretty much the same thing? What is the difference?

[Assistant]
Chaos Theory describes the circumstances in which something like the Butterfly Effect can take place. Chaos Theory is (among other things) a set of highly sensitive conditions which allow the Butterfly Effect (the precipitating dramatic effect of a small change on a sensitive system) to occur.

Chaos Theory is the line of dominoes. Butterfly Effect is you tipping over the first one.


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

[User] [Batman] How come nobody suspects the guy funding Batman just might be Batman himself?

[Assistant]
If you had bat-themed-assault-plane money do you think you'd go out to fight yourself? No, you'd wire some crazy ex Navy SEAL with cameras and send him out. Watch him doing it from the comfort of a big armchair in some ritzy basement.

I tell you, he's got a big old bank of flatscreens and he watches them all. The one with arrows, the Bat, the little bat in Bludhaven, the bird-kid... He's just playing around with them all.

I reckon it's Lex Luthor behind it all. Only guy rich enough and smart enough to go outside the law to get the job done.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] Why does everything in the Pokemon world revolve so heavily around Pokemon?

Seriously, it seems there is no aspect of human society, from culture to commerce to crime that is not centered around Pokemon in some way. Does anyone have hobbies or careers that don't involve Pokemon? Can I go see a movie that isn't about Pokemon? Do criminals ever mug people for their money rather than their Pokemon? Is there a city somewhere with a damn walmart that sells stuff other than pokeballs and revives?

[Assistant]
The games are from the viewpoint of individuals *deep* into the Pokemon lifestyle. People who take it from a hobby/pet situation to a full on professional career/semi-philosophical quest.

Pokemon are a massive part of the world (and most people with outdoorsy hobbies need a Pokemon for self-defence purposes), but there's presumably other facets of life we're not seeing from our perspective as people who are journeying to become Pokemon Masters. Dave the Artisanal Baker probably has a Pokemon or two he keeps for companionship/to help him out around the bakery, but he probably goes to a pottery class on his weekends, and plays Dungeons and Dragon-types every Wednesday, rather than going to train at the Fire Gym.

It's kinda like how if you followed the life story of say, a professional athlete or expert rock climber, you'd get a very different worldview than following an investment banker. We even get the occasional hint of other hobby subcultures, like the cyclists or swimmers; presumably, these people are getting their hobby-gear at some speciality stores that the Player Characters never need to hit up, because we play as hardcore Pokemon trainers.


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

[User] ELI5: If fish in an aquarium will eat until they die, how do fish in the ocean, or those same aquarium fish in the wild ever survive?

[Assistant]
Overeating is not the real problem. The real problem is tha aquariums are small closed systems.

Fish poop, contains ammonia and ammonium both of which are poisonous.

The aquarium has filters and and bacteria that remove the ammonia and ammonium or convert them to nitrate and nitrite and then eventually to nitrogen which escapes as a gas. These systems can only handle so much.

When we increase food in the aquarium, there is more pooping, but there is also food left over to rot. Rotting food releases nitrates and nitrites.

Because aquariums are small, it doesn't take much extra ammonia, ammonium, nitrate or nitrite to overwhelm the system and cause the environment to become poisonous.

This doesn't happen in the ocean as readily because the ocean is a huge system. If you want to know how  the system works, you could Google "the nitrogen cycle".


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

[User]
[Terminator] How is the rest of the world other than America, after the nuclear war?

I mean, some countries have to have been spared from nuclear strikes.

[Assistant] Have you ever watched War Games? The fact that any humans *whatsoever* were spared from nuclear strikes is sort of a miracle. The major world powers still have far more weapons than they need to blanket the Earth's surface in nuclear fire.


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

[User]
ELI5: If we live in a capitalistic country, how come the President intervened to save Apple?

err capitalist...

[Assistant]
We live in a Keynesian system, in which the government intervenes in instances of market failure.

Also, under what libertarians would probably consider pure capitalism, the president would not be able to do this.


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

[User]
CMV: When a card is passed around an office, signing fifth is ideal.

We've been there- someone gets a card and it gets shipped around the office (or class or get-together or whatever) for everyone to sign. Maybe it's a "get well soon" card. Maybe it's a "sorry for your loss" card. Maybe it's a congratulatory card. Maybe it's a...you know what, it really doesn't matter.

In this example and for the purposes of discussion, I'm assuming an office setting of 20ish people and that I am not the purchaser of the card. Once the card is being swapped around, you should try to sign it fifth. Fifth is the ideal place in the card signing order.

First is too stressful. You really have to nail it if you're first. Too much room for error and literally nothing to go off of.

Second has all of the downsides of signing first, assuming the second signer is the first person signing who didn't actually buy the card.

Third doesn't have enough data to establish a signing trend and is left potentially vulnerable if a trend emerges later on.

Fourth is in the similar position as the third signer. Not enough context to recognize signing trends and too much empty space left on the card. White space. So much white space and not enough to guide a comment that doesn't stick out. You're caught in between writing something meaningful but if you take up too much space, you're an asshole.

Fifth. The wonderful fifth position. You have enough information to understand trends that might have emerges, but still have cover to take a new direction within reason that doesn't go too wild. There's plenty of precedent with regard to size of don't, spacing, detail of comments, and amount of genuineness. You maximize your card-writing safety AND amount of viable creativity.

Everything after fifth has the same benefits as fifth with less white space on the card to actually do anything. Diminishing returns after fifth.

Change my mind.

[Assistant]
>First is too stressful. You really have to nail it if you're first.

when you sign cards like this don't people sign in random locations.  Nobody, expect the second person to sign, would know that you signed first.

Where is the stress in that?


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

[User] [Marvel/MCU] How strong are Earth's own heroes and villains compared to the vastness of outer space's collective of heroes and villains?

[Assistant] On Earth-616? The Avengers are strong enough to the point that the Kree, Skrull, Spartoi, & Shi'ar Empires declared Earth a quarantine zone to prevent the Humans, Mutants, and Inhumans from leaving the Sector.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do frogs, toads and other amphibians know how and where to find new bodies of water?

Weve got a new pond which must be half a mile away from the nearest lake/river yet frogs and toads have populated it almost immediately. How do they know where to find these new habitats?

[Assistant]
Amphibians explore and migrate during cool moist weather. They can cover a lot of distance that way, especially if they can find damp places to take shelter in between stages of their journey.

Most animals (including us) are also perfectly capable of smelling water from a good distance. Wind blowing across a body of water will have more moisture in its air than the surrounding air. An exploring frog that smells water on the wind will likely come to check it out.


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

[User] ELI5: What makes bitcoin so valuable if anyone can create a cryptocurrency (Dogecoin for example)

[Assistant]
It's valuable for the same reason anything is valuable.  And any random cyrptocurrency isn't valuable because of that same reason.

Things have value because people are willing to exchange it for other things of value.

If no one anywhere is willing to exchange stuff for your new cryptocurrency then it has no value.

If people are willing to give you dollars for your cryptocurrency or stuff for it, then it has value.

Bitcoin can be exchanged for dollars easily enough, your brand new cryptocurrency can't be exchanged for dollars, so it doesn't have value.


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

[User]
[Half-life ] why was the combine trying to prevent citizens from leaving doomed city 17?

The combine knew the citadel was going to blow, any citizens that stayed would be killed and probably turned into a zombie that would cause the combine issues later. I can't see any reason for them to dedicate valuable troops to stopping them.

[Assistant]
The Combine is a multi-universe empire with vast quantities of disposable assets. At the same time, they KNEW that someone inside the Citadel was responsible for sabotage and its destruction.

Their troops were expendable, containing the threat and the individual who destroyed the Citadel was of far greater priority than a few hundred troops, or a thousand civilians.


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

[User]
What type of energy is released during matter/antimatter interactions?

Would it just be light and heat? What particles would be created in this process?

[Assistant] Matter/antimatter collisions can produce all sorts of particles, but the likelihood depends on which quantum numbers need to be conserved and what sort of momentums the particles bring to the table during annihilation. The simplest annihilation event, say for an electron/positron pair would be two gamma photons.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What was Snoke doing during the galactic civil war? Did Palpatine not sense his presence as a powerful darkside force-user?

[Assistant] We simply don't know enough about Snoke to actually give an answer other than he was around during the Civil War. It could be that he wasn't a powerful force user at the time, potential perhaps but not necessarily strong.


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

[User]
[Attack on Titan] How frequent does the Survey Corps conduct expeditions beyond the Wall?

Im currently rewatching some of the AoT OVAs and when Erwin gave the order for the 48th Expedition beyond the Wall to commence, I just realized;

**In the entire show as a whole, exactly how frequent are Survey Corps expeditions beyond the Walls to garner only (as of Season 1 of AoT) only 57 expeditions?**

I mean, *57* expeditions by the time of Trost within a period of 105 years? Really? This isnt exactly the Apollo space program. How was it that only 57 expeditions outside of the Wall has been conducted? I get that the Survey Corps isnt exactly well liked by senior government officials, but I dont buy that *only* 57 expeditions have been conducted. Id imagine at least 100.

[Assistant]
That's a survey every 1.8 years. That's pretty reasonable for all it entails.

That 2 year period between the expeditions gives them time to train new recruits, smooth out plans for once they're outside the wall, and time to get all the supplies they need.

This seems like a fairly decent turn around for the tech level that they're at.


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

[User] ELI5: Why isnt Braille just raised letters? Wouldnt it make more sense if it was?

[Assistant]
Not for reading it quickly. It's designed so that each letter is distinctive by touch - Braille readers don't have to feel each letter individually, they can just run their fingers over a row and read it all at once.

Another thing is, for someone who's born blind, they might never have learned what "normal" letters looked like - and would not need to.

Also, Braille is easy and cheap to produce. You just have a grid of 3x3 or whatever punches, and for each letter, you only activate part of the needles - actually a lot easier to "type" than a regular typewriter where you need dozens of buttons and individual arms.


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

[User]
What is dialectics?

Ive had trouble pinpointing a definition for Dialectics, from what I grasp (which could be totally off base) is that it deals with how things change and half an effect om each other. But im still unsure of what it is.

Is it a mode of thinking? Is it an analytical method? Is it a form of logic? Is it a form of argument or rhetoric?
Is it something one could put into practice?

Are there any easy to grasp resources that give a good explanation?

[Assistant]
The word "dialectic" comes from the Ancient Greek *dialektikos*. Originally, a dialectic was a conversation between two people. In Plato's dialogues, one person (usually Socrates) would question another person. The answerer would try to provide a definition of some concept (eg, justice, piety, knowledge, moderation, etc). The questioner would try to show that some of the answers contradicted each other. In this way, dialectic became a method of inquiry directed by a question-and-answer process. In his logical works, Aristotle refers to the dialectic as a standardized method that students at the Academy would use to practice their skills in logic.

Plato's and Aristotle's dialectic inspired Hegel's dialectics. However, Hegel thought that that dialectic couldn't provide substantive knowledge. In Plato's dialogues, Socrates may show that some of his interlocutor's propositions are false, but his question-and-answer process doesn't prove that something is true. Hegel wants his dialectic to lead to positive, substantive determinations.

To put it very simply, Hegel maintained that things pass through three moments:

(1) A moment of understanding. In this moment, the determination seems stable.

(2) The "dialectical" moment. A one-sidedness or restrictedness in the determination comes to the fore, and the determination passes into its opposite. The determination is both cancelled and preserved; the determination "sublates" itself.

(3) The "speculative" moment. This is the positive result from the unity of the opposite determinations.

Most people probably know about dialectics through Marx. Marx was a Young Hegelian who applied a version of Hegel's dialectic to his investigations. However, there is controversy over how Hegelian Marx was during different points in his career. Georgi Plekhanov coined the term "dialectical materialism" to refer to the philosophy that Engels drew the outlines of in the *Anti-Duehring*.


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

[User]
At what point can a mass of cells be considered a living being?

Some time ago I was talking to my brother about abortion, and one thing he said is: at what point can we consider a mass of cells a human and living being? Is there an exact point at an exact time where some cells become a living thing? How can we decide whether or not abortion is moral? Is a living being _living_ if it is conscious? And what about people in coma or vegetative state?

[Assistant]
Single cell organisms are a thing. A better question might be: When are these cells considered protected life?

When does consciousness actually occur is another great question. What is consciousness, exactly? Is it a will? Or a lens? Or a complex illusion that looks like one of the aforementioned? Does a sphex have consciousness? A dog? An amoeba?

Is unconsciousness "dead brain", or "sleep state brain"? Hard to tell if you don't have a definitive answer for what is consciousness.

Everything is a moral issue if you frame it as such. How you frame it is pro and con, by definition of morality.

Is abortion right or wrong? Probably depends highly on the circumstances. Beliefs about which life is worth protecting and the definition of, or weight given to consciousness, are also major considerations when examining the morality of abortion.