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

[User]
[How I Met Your Mother] When Ted is telling his kids stories, is he actually going through them in excruciating detail?

If he is, why would he include every woman that he banged in his twenties and thirties?

[Assistant]
He actually stops himself when he tells the story about the threesome. So yeah, much more detail than needed.

...anyways, the story is about how he met their mother. From his perspective, the way he's telling the story, all of his romantic relationships were part of an epic arc leading up to that one true love. It's the story of how he was young and idealistic, lost that idealism piece by piece, became disillusioned from seeing his friends' relationships decay, and then re-discovered love all over again.


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

[User]
[Doctor Strange MOM] Spoilers

Why doesnt Kamar-Taj already have defensive spells in place to stop intruders? It seems like a big security flaw, especially after Kaecilius so easily attacked the Sanctums.

[Assistant]
There were protections, but those protections were nothing in the face of the powers of The Scarlet Witch so they rushed out everyone possible to augment the defenses.

It would be like wondering why an Army Base didn't have any protections when we see them forming up everyone against an alien battleship.


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

[User] ELI5:How come the /70's/80's/90's seem so distinctive yet the 2000's and 2010's don't seem to have distinct personalities?

[Assistant] Because they're still too close to view with much objectivity, and are blending together in your perception. While decades in close proximity to each other will have a lot of common influences, they do have distinct characteristics--and you'll start to notice them more as more time passes. We're only halfway through the 2010s and the early part of one decade will tend to blend into the late part of the previous.


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

[User]
[MCU] Im an average Asgardian, on Earth. Can I become a "superhero"?

Greetings. After accursed Hela destroyed our homeland, me and my folk had found refuge in the land of Norwegians, on Midgard.

However, I feal weary of the peace and quiet. My home cannot be avanged, but there surely are evildoers on Midgard to slay! To be truthful, I am no warrior, I was a janitor back on Asgard. But still, im an Asgardian man in the prime of my years and virility, and willing to take a mantle of a hero, like our prince Thor once did. Is it a fool's dream, or can I be useful?

[Assistant]
Heck yes! The key is the figure out your weight class and stay in it. Notice how you don't usually see, say, Daredevil fighting the same guys as Thor or Captain Marvel? That's the key. Square off with unpowered and minimally-powered bad guys and you can carve out a nice little niche for yourself. Move away from New Asgard (obviously you don't want to run into hardened Asgardian gangbangers or anything like that) and just wail on normal human thugs.

But please do get a little training first. Don't want you accidentally sticking your fist through a guy's skull or anything like that.

And lean into the humble origins thing. Good marketing hook. Get you some sponsors.


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

[User] ELI5: why does light skin burn faster than dark skin? Shouldn't it reflect more light?

[Assistant] Light skin can reflect more *visible* light, sure. But for sunburn, that is caused by UV rays, in which the bigger factor is melanin count. Darker skin has more melanin and is thus more protected against UV radiation damage.


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

[User]
Are there any fusion reactions using plain hydrogen?

I've looked around and found ones using the isotopes deuterium and tritium and even a helium isotope  helium 3.  However all of those would require a refining process to isolate those isotopes from the much more abundant regular versions of those elements.

Is there a fusion reaction that uses just plain hydrogen?

[Assistant] Sure, you can fuse anything with anything. Although only certain fusion reactions are exothermic, and only certain exothermic fusion reactions actually release a decent amount of energy. DD and DT are ideal for power generation.


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

[User] Why are reflections (especially in liquid) clearer when viewed at an angle, as opposed to straight-on?

[Assistant] In the simplest of terms, photons are more prone to bounce off a surface as the angle the impact decreases. Think about throwing a ball at a window, if you hit it straight on, it has a good chance of penetrating the window. If you hit the window with a glancing blow, the ball is more prone to bounce.


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

[User]
ELI5 - Why do medicines from plants like the poppy "fit" humans so perfectly?

I've curious as to why certain plans such as the poppy have parts such as morphine,  codeine etc that affect humans so specifically.

Why do we possess such a specific ability to be be receptive to these plants?

[Assistant]
Many of these chemicals have a purpose to the plants.  Usually to keep certain animals or pest away so they don't eat them.

Caffeine is a mild pesticide, but since we are so much larger than insects it doesn't kill us.  Nicotine is along similar lines.

Capsaicin in spicy peppers really only effects ~~manuals~~ mammals.  So it stops many ~~manuals~~ mammals from eating those fruits.  Instead birds eat them and spread the seeds farther.


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

[User]
[MCU] Aether extraction question (Endgame spoilers)

A major plot point of Thor: The Dark World is that the Aether is trapped in Natalie Portman, slowly killing her. Asgardian scientists and healers are shown to be unable to remove the substance safely. When Rocket and Thor arrive from 2023 they have a Wii remote sized device that can extract the Aether (presumably) without killing her and then store it. Is this implying that Rocket has an understanding of science and/or infinity stone magic that exceeds that of the Asgardians from a decade prior? Given how relatively powerful Asgard is supposed to be in this universe that seems unlikely.

Also did Steve stick the Aether back in her afterwards? How exactly did that go down?

[Assistant] In all likelihood, Rocket collaborated on his Aether-gun with Tony and Bruce. Both learned a lot about the Infinity Stones from reading Dr. Selvig's notes on the Tesseract and HYDRA's files on Loki's scepter. Plus, the Stones primarily consist of gamma radiation, which Bruce Banner knows better than anyone in the universe. There's no Asgardian that's shown the depth of knowledge about the Stones that Bruce has. By comparison, the Asgardians have proven quite ignorant about the Infinity Stones. Thor was unable to recognize Loki's scepters contained the Mind Stone for three years, Hela failed to realize the Space Stone could teleport her and her army off Asgard without the Heimdall's Bifrost key, and no one on Asgard even knew the Time Stone was being used on Midgard during the thousands of years Agamotto's successors had it. It's quite possible that for all their knowledge, they remained largely ignorant of the nature of the Infinity Stones, which might be why they outsourced Gauntlet-making to the dwarves of Nidavellir.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can people passionately hate entire races?

I find it so puzzling, and the answer has to be much more complex than simply ignorance, right?

[Assistant] Humans at their deepest psychological roots are tribal animals. For hundreds of thousands of years we have been evolving within some of the harshest environments and competing for resources against (you guessed it) other tribes. Now going past a simple and often misguided sense of race as something strictly biological; there is more symbolism and culture to it then meets the eye. ANY group that differs from another group (be it skin color, clothes, background, culture, religion) will automatically and subconsciously create an in-group/out-group situation. "They aren't like us at all, so they must be a threat to us and our resources" - That's what your subconscious, namely your amygdala is screaming to your prefrontal cortex. This is why even sports teams and military branches get so competitive and antagonistic towards each other (pseudo-tribalism). So how does "racism" happen: through nature and nurture. There is already a latent psychological predisposition towards hating strangers and others, now, get born into a family, society, religion or culture where "authorities" practice prejudice and discrimination = full blown hatred of other races. Trump and his advisors and strategists played on this to get elected (and it worked). And naturally if you feel unworthy or insecure you will scapegoat and hate almost anybody with different markings.


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

[User]
ELI5: what's the difference between a dead body and a live body?

can't seem to find a solid answer that doesn't flirt with spirituality or the idea of a soul, but for sake of argument: you have a cadaver and a live person next to each other. the live person has every organ, muscle, etc. as the cadaver, but one's dead. what's missing from the cadaver that the live person has? electricity?

[Assistant]
This is a tricky question, because there are different kinds of "dead".  For instance, someone can be brain-dead, but the rest of their body can still be alive.  But for simplicity's sake, let's say that you have an unambiguous cadaver being compared to a live person.

In that case, the live person has a fully-functional metabolism.  All of their individual cells are alive and engaging in constant chemical reactions to convert sugars into energy.  In a cadaver, that process has stopped.  The lungs are no longer oxygenating blood, and the heart is no longer pumping blood, so all the person's cells are dead or dying.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] What's a mouse?

I was browsing my Pokedex, and it said Pikachu is the "Electric Mouse" pokemon. I know about electricity, but what's that other word?

[Assistant]
Mouse is the common name of a genus of pokemon including: rattata; raticate; pikachu; raichu; sandshrew; sandslash; cyndaquil; pichu; marill; bidoof.

This is part of an old taxonomy in which the mouse genus was defined to include species that scientists believed were closely related to Rattata.


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

[User]
[General fantasy] Why are the undead such assholes?

You look at the undead, and they're all monsters. They kill people, and eat people, and haunt people, and so forth. Someone says there's undead coming, and you know you need to get a weapon and fight.

But why?

Taking the spontaneous undead rather then mindless zombies, they're just people- *dead* people, sure, but still just people. They generally keep the memories and personality of their living selves, at least roughly, and seem to identify as the same person. So where are all the nice dead people?
Where are all the kindly grandmothers come back from the grave to make sure people are wrapped up warm for the winter? Where's the mummified bodies who are happy to have company in their ancient tombs? Where's your pal Steve who, sure, is a desiccated corpse now but, you know. It's still Steve. He was your best man at your wedding, so let's have him over for dinner and not point out his eyes are rotting?

What is about dying and coming back that makes people such *utter pricks*?

[Assistant]
Let me put it this way. "Billionaire socialite couple slain in mugging gone wrong" is a front page headline. "Rich doctor and wife take son for fun night out at the movies, absolutely nothing bad happens" is going to be reserved for the bottom left hand corner of the gossip pages.

Similarly, "Legion of the undead descends upon humanity like a plague" is probably going to lead the news, depending on what the Kardashians are up to. "Yet another revenant rises from the grave, goes for a beer with buddies, is mildly upset about the Bruins but doesn't, like, make a thing of it or eat anybody's brains over it"... that's not even worth reporting on.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] So, what exactly is Gandalf's deal with Hobbits? Furthermore, why does he seem to more close to the Baggins family of all Hobbit families?

I'm just now realizing that, isn't it kind of weird that Gandalf just showed up at the Shire sometimes? Why? Doesn't he have work to do? How did his little visits to the Shire start?

Furthermore, why does Gandalf appear to be closer to the Baggins family than all of the other Hobbit families in the Shire? It is said that Gandalf knew Bilbo during his childhood, which implies that he spent some time with Bilbo's parents, no? Why did Gandalf hang out with the Baggins so much?

[Assistant]
Gandalf knew all sorts of people all over the world - from the greatest to the smallest. He believed, as Saruman did not, that the goodness of ordinary people (and who could be more ordinary than the hobbits of The Shire?) was more valuable than the great deeds of mighty heroes.

As for the Baggins family - he didn't spend time with them, in particular, until Bilbo himself. Bilbo knew him as a friend of Gerontius Took - The Old Took - Bilbo's grandfather, by way of his mother Belladonna Took. And the Tooks were quite adventurous, for hobbits. And as the oldest hobbit ever to live (until Bilbo broke his record), The Old Took had plenty of time to get to know Gandalf, and invited him frequently to his midsummer parties, where Gandalf's fireworks became widely known throughout The Shire.

Bilbo, of course, he became friends with after his simple heroism during the events of *The Hobbit*, and he was always welcome and well-fed at Bag End from that day on.


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

[User]
ELI5: why hasn't Google fibre just expanded across the U.S.

I get why a company uses a slow roll but this seems super slow, especially for a company like Google.

[Assistant] Google doesn't want to be an ISP. They are showing people what a good ISP can do, so that they will demand that their ISPs (Comcast and what have you) do better. Google's trying to shock the market into changing.


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

[User] ELI5: When a video is lagging/internet cutting out, why does the audio keep playing for a while after the video has stopped?

[Assistant] Because the audio and video are not entirely connected. You can load audio data from a video file without loading the video, and you can load video data from a video file without loading the audio. It's also not necessarily a 1-for-1 ratio - one MB of audio data in a file might cover 30 seconds of audio, whereas one MB of video data in a file might cover half a second of video.


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

[User] [Stargate Universe] We know that Destiny was built using less advanced Ancient technology. Could we catch up with it and rescue the crew using the more advanced Ancient and Asgard technology we have access to?

[Assistant]
The thing about Destiny is how long it can continuously travel without stopping. It has a fuel system that will never run out and has a massive head start. Could we catch up by building a faster ship with similar fuel technology, possibly. But we needed a planet sized battery and a 9 shevron code just to reach Destiny. In context we just recently managed to fly a ship to an 8 shevron location, that only required the power of a single Zero Point Module.

So yes we could catch up, but we have a large hurdle in regards to power and distance.


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

[User]
CMV - I don't see what's wrong with "morally unethical" human experimentation if all parties are consenting.

This is a bit of a strange CMV because I can *kinda* see the other side, but not quite enough.

In discussing "unethical", I mean the medieval crazy stuff that people did to other people in the name of science. I recently learnt that the doctor considered to be the grandfather of the study of digestion derived most of his learnings from some poor dude he didn't patch up properly. The man had a permanent hole in his stomach which allowed the doctor to peer in and throw all sorts of items inside to study the digestive process. The human subject attempted escape a couple times and was ultimately caught and brought back.

Now using that example, I don't think I would ever want society to regress to that extent. What I propose is that human experimentation be vindicated of its terrible reputation, so that further leaps and bounds in science and technology can be made. If all parties were willing to consent participating in some more of these crazy experiments, I don't see why it should be looked down on. If a man determined to be sound of mind agrees to say, have his lower torso removed for whatever reason, and signs a binding agreement, then I say it should be allowed.

I realize that my puny brain probably missed out some really obvious explanation as to why my proposition is ultimately flawed, and I ask that someone enlighten me.

[Assistant] One of the biggest problems here is that researchers will offer money for subjects to undergo these unethical experiments ... and desperate people will accept money and agree to be mutilated or risk death etc, so that they can afford to feed their starving children or whatever ... it's doubly unethical.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why doesn't anyone make a reasonably sized truck anymore?

All the small trucks are either discontinued or gigantic. Why on earth does no one make a reasonably sized truck?

[Assistant]
This is a real easy answer: Because people weren't buying them.

There's a lot of sunk cost in making cars.  Buying up a factory, tooling it to build the car you want, etc., etc., so before you even build the first car (unless you're building a one-off) you have to spend millions of dollars.  The Tesla factory cost $42 million to get started.

On top of that, there are costs to running the factory -- paying the people, the light bill, the mortgage and all that costs real money too.

Because of those sunk costs, cars need to make a certain profit per car, as well as a certain profit overall to merit its continuation.

In the case of the Dodge Dakota, it was clearly worth it to make them when they were introduced, as their first year sales were good, at 144,000 units sold in 1999.  From 2000 onward though, their sales declined every year, until 2012, when they sold only 12,000 units.  12,000 units is probably running at a loss, or closer to breakeven than the execs at Chrysler were happy with, so they opted to end the line altogether.


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

[User] For senior developers , what career advice do you have for being successful in this field for 10,20,30+ years? Is it something worth pursing for the long term in light of the changing economics (outsourcing,automation,cloud services)?

[Assistant] I've been at this for 37 years.  It is very much like surfing.  Pick a good wave and ride it as far as you can.  If it seems to be fading, bail out and paddle out to catch a better one.  It will take some effort and time to pick correctly.  It will take some hard work to get back out to catch the next one.  The analogy goes further.  A good beach is important, but there are lots of them.  Seek advice from your fellow surfers to find the best beaches and how to ride the best waves.


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

[User] [Elder Scrolls] I'm an incredibly rich merchant. What stops me from making a chainmail of enchanted rings and rule Nirn with an iron fist?

[Assistant]
for starters, it would be a pretty shitty suit of armour.
following that,you only get the magic effect from a few items at the same time.

Finally, unless you are omnipotent, you can't be everywehere at the same time. If you ARE omnipotent, you clearly don't need a suit made of rings.

you need people to enforce your rule. you don't need a shitty suit of rings, but navies and armies to conquer those parts of Nirn who resist you. You need supplies and the logicstics to keep your forces supplied, and enough loyal men who can rule in your place when you are absent.

You can't conquer the world singlehandedly. Read a book.


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

[User]
ELI5: how do diuretics work?

ELI5: how is it that a liquid like coffee gives you the urge to pee much faster than water, for example?

[Assistant]
There's a hormone in your body called ADH, or anti-diuretic hormone. As you know, diuresis means "to pee". So an anti-diuretic hormone causes your body to pee less - specifically by making your pee less watery, but leaving all the bad stuff in there.

Some substances (like caffeine and alcohol) cause your body to produce less ADH. When there is less ADH in your blood, that's a signal telling your kidneys to leave more water in your pee, causing it to build up faster. This is why you may notice your pee being more clear after drinking these drinks. Your body isn't producing more urea (the main poison your urine is designed to get rid of), but it's just getting rid of more water in the process. (edit: see below, the urea isn't what colors your urine)

This is one reason why staying hydrated is important to prevent hangovers - even small imbalances in your body's water levels can cause your brain to shrink slightly and cause headaches.

Source: studying to take the MCAT next week.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is gambling so restricted in the US?

In Britain, placing bets on football on a weekend is a huge part of sporting culture. Why is it not legal to do so in the USA? What is the legal status of other types of betting (casinos, for example)?

[Assistant]
TLDR:  Religion in the past, corruption in the present.

Originally gambling was restricted on religious grounds.

Then it was restricted because of inertia (restrictions already on the books and nobody cared enough to have them repealed).  Sometime in the second half of the 20th century, states discovered how much money they could make by having a monopoly on gambling through the state lottery.

Recently many states have opened casinos, but typically licensing is rigged so a few businesses with good political connections are decently shielded from competition.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why do so many movie stars openly associate with/fund scientology?

I'm wondering what part of Scientology is so appealing to big names in hollywood.

[Assistant] Scientology has a pretty robust recruiting process. Their current population of big name celebrities helps them bring in new lesser known individuals. Leaving the church is also tricky, especially for people already in the public eye.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens internally when someone gets shot? What really kills someone?

I've been watching Westerns all day, and I've become curious about what happens when a bullet enters the body. Do organs rupture? Is there massive internal bleeding? What makes the difference between someone living and dying?

Thanks ELI5!

[Assistant]
1) entrance wound, source of blood loss

2) permanent bullet path, a corridor of destroyed tissue usually a little wider than the bullet

3) temporary wound cavity, splash effect expands an area for a split second (banana to football sized) the organs in this area rupture, the blood vessels thrombose (clot up and stop working)

4) Hydrostatic shock may occur, where the wound channel sends a shockwave of pressurized blood through the system causing immediate loss of cosciousness or death.

5) bones are broken and parts of these bones fly througout your body creating many smaller wound paths

6) exit wound, a source of blood loss

7) material such as clothing and dirt is sucked into the collapsing wound path leading to infection.

roughly 80% of people shot in the torso with a handgun live

roughly 20% of people shot in the head with a handgun live

People rarely die quickly or quietly.


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

[User] [General] The price of superpowers?

[Assistant] It's also a statistical thing. Most people don't have billions of dollars lying around, neither do most superheroes. You might get connected with Moneybags McGee (your Tony Starks and what have you) because of your general do gooding, but Spider-man sure as hell didn't get the proportional bank account of a spider when he got his powers.


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

[User]
CMV: university shouldnt be free

In the United States, theres a push to make universities free in order to make education more available to the masses. While I do think education should be readily available to all interested parties, free university is going to take things down the wrong path.

Going to university after high school has become the primary path for a large portion of young Americans. I think this used to be good as those who wanted to pursue higher education were previously barred by financial constraints. Through student loans and scholarships, those students were able to chase their dreams to help create a better society.

Things I feel are different now: kids feel like its another stepping stone to securing a higher paying job thatll keep them more safe from poverty than any other option. As more students go to university, I just feel as though the value of the diploma decreases, the wallets of the universities get fatter, and job market saturation makes for lower salaries thus making maintaining the quality of life experienced in college educated lives in decades previous more difficult. In addition, these kids are now competing in a global market where companies outsource to just as qualified candidates who get paid small hourly wages rather than a high paying salary.

Dont get it twisted: university in America is too expensive and the quality of education is top tier but its also not for everyone. Funding trade schools to increase manual labor jobs, funding STEM programs, or making the military seems like a more enticing options than making universities free.

[Assistant]
The more educated your society is, the more chances of having people that make your country better. More education can be a reason for better civilians and less violent crimes. Even if free education where to be poor level compare to others, it still is something better than no education at all.

Would you consider a system where there is free universities and private universities at the same time? Would it bother you than with more people with degrees, you will have to evaluate who to hire base on skills instead of what uni they graduated from?


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

[User]
[Zelda] Why are so many heroes, born centuries apart from each other and belonging to three separate timelines, pointy-eared blond men who wear green tunics with droopy hats?

*Most* are also left-handed to boot.

[Assistant]
Reincarnation. When Ganon, or another great evil, grows strong, the three Goddesses choose another vessel for the Spirit of the Hero. As a result, the new Hero has all of the common characteristics shared by his predecessors.

It isn't clear if being chosen *gives* the Hero these characteristics, or if the Goddesses choose someone that fits the mold; either is possible.

Zelda, on the other hand, is a direct lineage; each Crown Princess of Hyrule is a daughter of the previous Zelda, and often inherits the Triforce of Wisdom, as well. The original Zelda was mortal incarnation of the Goddess Hylia, and her spirit lives on in each generation.


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

[User]
What do we know about pheromones these days and does it really cause attraction between two individuals?

So the title pretty much says it. How much do we know about pheromones and is it responsible for finding a partner? Also a specific note is what does a mate look for in pheromones, as in is it compatible genetics, diversity, similarity, or just some sort of ranking.

[Assistant]
I know that most humans have pheromone receptors in there noses (or nasal passage), but it is vestigial and doesn't work.

I am pretty sure that pheromones, as they pertain to humans, at this point, are just pseudo-science, in that there is no proof that humans can detect and react to them.

The last 3 references in the Pheromone wikipedia article back this up.


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

[User]
How important is it for Web Developers to learn Data Structures and Algorithms?

First of all, sorry if my English is not on point. I'm from Mexico, currently trying to learn web development on my own. I started out with HTML, CSS and now I'm 2 hours into a javascript course. Right after finishing it my initial plan was to learn version control with Github, but I have never taken a course specifically on DSA and I hear a lot about this topic, mostly on how important it is on job interviews. Should I learn about DSA? Is it really  necessary or does it depend whether I want to go into front-end or back-end?

[Assistant] It will be more important for getting past the interview stage than anything else. On the job I've never used much more than arrays, hash tables (javascript objects), and built in functions or libraries.


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

[User]
[DC] How does Gotham view the Wayne kids?

I'm not talking about Bruce here, just the people he's adopted. Like in the same way that his alter ego is an arrogant playboy, do any of his kids have their own 'public image'?

[Assistant]
It seems they mostly keep out the public eye- the public knows they exist, but as far as they know Bruce chooses to shield them from the limelight (reasonably enough).

They're on his wikipedia page and have photos and so forth, but they're not household names like their father is.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Im a crime boss based in New York City. With the rise of so many heroes and villains possibly giving me difficulties, are there any that I can hire?

Like I said, Im a crime boss in New York City. Theres been a lot of superheroes and other criminal enterprises popping up. The Avengers (who apparently have a Norse god and a wizard on their side), SHIELD, Hydra, AIM, Spider-Man, mutants. Ive even heard talk about some sort of Devil in Hells Kitchen giving Kingpin trouble, and even vampires. A lot of competition or people that would want to put an end to my enterprises. With so many people like this popping up, are there any that would be willing to work for me to make sure jobs get done? Even if its just to put my other employees at ease. I know there are people like Bullseye and Taskmaster, and sometimes Deadpool (although he can be a bit unpredictable). Who would be willing to be hired by crime bosses?

[Assistant]
Besides the ones you already mentioned you could always hire the Enforcers. They're usually being hired by some aspiring New York crime lord or another.

Or you could hire the Serpent Society if you want a more gimmicky group. They'll work for crime bosses and they're basically a supervillain union with a snake theme.

Taskmaster also runs an academy if you want better trained "employees".


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

[User]
ELI5 Why do we cringe?

Whenever we see someone doing something bad or embarrassing we personally feel some sensation a sort of embarrassment even though we clearly did not do anything. What is the science behind this ?

[Assistant] I believe it's more along the lines of psychology rather than biology. Your body isn't functioning because it saw something--your body is reacting due to the signals sent by your brain observing something.


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

[User]
[LotR] Would the Rank-and-File Dunedain/Ranger of the North know that Gandalf worked with their head honcho, or would they just see Gandalf as that odd wizard with a knack for fireworks?

It seems obvious that Gandalf and Aragorn go a ways back if Gandalf calls on Aragorn to rendezvous with Frodo (I forget when they actually met), and given how Gandalf did a good job of keeping track of things in Middle Earth, I don't find it hard to believe that he had prior dealings with the rangers before that. Would the rank-and-file of the Rangers be aware that Aragorn/their Chieftain would be in contact with Gandalf, or would they just see Gandalf as that odd wizard who shows up in the Shire every now and then with some fireworks?

Unrelated Bonus Question: Did Gandalf have a house?

EDIT: The answers so far have been pretty helpful, though I've realized in retrospect it'd be helpful to mention that the context of my question is me trying to iron out backstory for an RP character I rolled. I guess some (semi-)hypothetical example scenarios might illustrate what I'm asking about:

1. Suppose I'm a ranger and Gandalf comes up to me asking "Hello, I can't find Aragorn- would you happen to know where he is?" - would I be more likely to go "Oh, you're on the level, he's at XYZ", or "Hmm, I know he's just a harmless old wizard, but this is kinda suspicious"
2. Suppose something Ranger-related goes completely pear-shaped, I'm isolated from the rest of the "command chain" and I run into Gandalf. Would it be more likely to go "This guy talks with my boss a lot and is trustworthy, I can ask him for advice", "This guy's trustworthy but this deal is below his paygrade, I don't need to bother him about this", or "This guy's kinda sketchy".

[Assistant] I think they would, Gandalf has been making the rounds for thousands of years. Add into it the Denedain are long lived people and Im willing to bet they would at least know of him if not recognize him on sight.


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

[User]
ELI5: The Green Lumber Fallacy

I ran into it on Wikipedia, and I can't for the life of me understand it. Halp.

[Assistant]
Its basically the idea that what looks like important knowledge about something may not be important to doing it well, and what looks unimportant might actually be really important.

The name comes from a story about a guy who was very successful trading (making investments) in green lumber. He was objectively good at it, he makes lots of successful trades over a long period of time. It turns out he thinks that green lumber is wood that is literally the color green. Its actually lumber-speak for freshly cut and its brown like any other wood. This guy was incredibly ignorant about something as basic as the substance he was actually trading. *But that didnt matter because it wasnt important to what he was doing.*

You do not need to be an expert on everything about a subject to be good at it...you only need to be an expert in those things that matter for how good you are.


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

[User] If conventional current, is opposite of the electron flow, then is it true that ground doesn't necessarily dissipate charge, but is an unlimited source of electrons?

[Assistant]
Ground is an infinite source or sink of charge carriers.

For example if you have a resistor with one node held at a potential +V and the other node grounded, the conventional current flows from the +V node to the ground node. If the free charge carriers are electrons (as would typically be the case), this means that your ground is acting as an electron source.

But repeat the exact same analysis with the +V node held at -V instead. Now the conventional current flows *from* ground *to* the -V node. Now your ground is acting as an electron sink.


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

[User]
ELI5: Even with all of our current technology, why do women in developed countries still die in childbirth?

I understand that access to current medical technology has decreased deaths of mothers during childbirth significantly, but they still happen. It's not like we've completely eradicated it. But why? Why do mothers still sometimes die in childbirth even when we have our current technology at our disposal?

[Assistant]
Because childbirth is an extremely traumatic event for the human body. Complications can and do arise regularly.

While we are pretty good at performing them nowadays a caesarean section is major abdominal surgery.


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

[User]
CMV: If your hamburger/cheeseburger can't fit in my mouth, it's poorly designed.

Listen, if I can't just take a bite of the burger you made me without needing to learn origami to get it down to a manageable size, it's not well crafted, defeats the point of the burger, and detracts from the overall dining experience.

I don't care if you put Excalibur sticking out the top of it, I shouldn't have to cut it or press it down with the flat of the knife to eat it. I shouldn't have to smoosh the ingredients and juices to hell and back to get it to fit.

As a side note, if you need a toothpick or some such device to hold your toppings in the burger, it's also poorly designed. I didn't come to your restaurant to finish preparing my own meal. Make your food edible as presented or change the recipe.

A burger doesn't need to be big to be flavorful. I should be able to enjoy it as is without a hydraulic press.

Edit: I'll clarify that if advertised as such, a massive burger is perfectly acceptable, but if your default "cheeseburger," as ordered, comes out on a forklift, you're just wrong.

[Assistant]
Different people need different amounts of food to feel full. Why can't you buy a smaller burger, and people who want a larger one, buy the larger one? There seems to be a market for large burgers, so why shouldn't buying one be an opportunity?

Sure, people could buy more burgers if they need to, to feel full, but that would ultimately increase the amount of bread, which isn't everyone's favorite part of the burger.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Why couldn't Harry see the Thestrals after his first year?

And maybe even sooner form the beginning?

He saw his mother die as a baby, and at the end of the first year he saw Quirrell die right in front of him!

This are at least two deaths he witnessed, one when he was a fully conscious functioning human, I can accept that seeing death as a baby doesn't trigger Thestral-vision but surely seeing the guy you just hugged to death, die should count?

[Assistant]
In the books Harry was unconscious when Quirrel died so he wasn't able to witness it.

In the movies it could be that the death has to be traumatic to a certain degree to enable someone being able to see Thestrals. It's possible that Quirrel's death didn't impact Harry enough to enable him seeing the Thestrals. Alternatively, maybe because of the circumstances Harry wasn't able to fully process the death as he passed out mere moments later.


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

[User] ELI5: Why I see a glorious and massive moon sometimes, with my eyes, but when I go to take a picture, it just looks like a tiny minuscule dissapointment?

[Assistant]
One's perception of the size of the moon is heavily influenced by 'context clues', or other nearby structures. It's a bit of an optical illusion to say that the moon ever looks significantly larger or smaller.

When you take a picture, you lose many of these context clues and your brain interprets the picture differently than looking out over the horizon, so the effect is different inside your brain.


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

[User]
[Doom] What's so special about the Doom Slayer?

He is supposed to be every demon's nightmare, but basically all he has is some guns and a lot of ammo?

(Doom Eternal not included, where he gets the cool sword).

What makes him so different than let's say the Punisher from Marvel comics?

[Assistant]
> In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. **He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels,** and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... the Doom Slayer.

-- *The Slayer's Testament I*

> And in his conquest against the blackened souls of the doomed, his prowess was shown. In his crusade, **the seraphim bestowed upon him terrible power and speed,** and with his might he crushed the obsidian pillars of the Blood Temples. He set forth without pity upon the beasts of the nine circles. Unbreakable, incorruptible, unyielding, the Doom Slayer sought to end the dominion of the dark realm.

-- *The Slayer's Testament III*

> The age of his reckoning was uncounted. The scribes carved his name deep in the tablets of Hell across eons, and each battle etched terror in the hearts of the demons. They knew he would come, as he always had, as he always will, to feast on the blood of the wicked. **For he alone could draw strength from his fallen foes, and ever his power grew, swift and unrelenting.**

-- *The Slayer's Testament IV*

Summary: he's a fallen knight/angel who used to belong a group of holy protectors, who can absorb power from the demons he kills.


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

[User] ELI5: Why when I use my electric toothbrush do the numbers on the alarm clock dance around, but nothing else I look at moves similarly?

[Assistant] Because everything else isn't a blinking light. If you take a string with an LED on it, and spin it really fast you can see if it is blinking or constantly on, because it effectively spreads out the "framerate" in space.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does a developed country like Canada have poor (mobile phone) reception(/network/signal) problem even in their major cities while a developing country like India has excellent cellphone reception even in small villages!?

I know too many cell phone towers cause health issues but Canada has only like 10-20 major cities where most of its population live, why cant Canadian companies provide a good network to these few cities (I don't even get good reception at my university!)whereas Indian companies can reach out to a billion people even in the remotest villages!
(The internet speed in India sucks though!)

[Assistant]
India isn't even a third of the size (by land) of Canada, for one thing, so they need a lot less equipment to cover all of it.

India also has a much denser/less spread out population, so they need *way* less equipment to reach the same percentage of their population.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do different countries still use different electrical sockets? Is any one of them "the best"?

Bonus Question: Let's say I was building a secret underwater base in the middle of the.. erm some Ocean, and that I had equal access to each and every different socket type. Which would be the best choice considering I would have limited power generation capacities?

[Assistant]
Well, there are several major categories of electrical sockets. It sounds like you're thinking of ordinary AC residential sockets, which range from about 100-240V. Higher voltages mean a higher risk of shorts (which can translate into more insulation required), but less current is needed to supply the same power, which lessens resistive heating. For most applications, it doesn't make a lot of difference; for especially high-power devices, you might want a higher voltage, which is why we Americans plug our stoves and dryers into special 220V outlets while the rest of our appliances take ordinary 110V power. As to which you should pick, use whatever the "local" standard is — whatever will be the least hassle to find appliances for.

However, a proper secret underwater base might have significantly larger "appliances", such as elevators, water pumps, or death rays. You would use different voltages and connections for such devices, such as 230/400V three-phase. Or, if you have a large number of machines requiring direct current (such as servers), you might want to supply them with that directly, rather than relying on individual power supplies per component.

What sort of activities do you expect that you will need to perform in this secret underwater base.


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

[User]
How exactly do Lagrange-4 and Lagrange-5 work?

I feel like I understand L-1 through L-3 pretty well. L-1 is just where gravitational "forces" subtract perfectly to slow down orbits to geosynchronous, L-2 is where they add perfectly to speed up orbits to geosynchronous, and L-3 is on the opposite side of the sun as L-2 but has the same effect. However, no matter how many explanations I hear or how many diagrams I see, I still can't figure out what is so special about +/-60 degrees in the orbit, or why these are actually stable instead of metastable.

[Assistant] Using L4 and the Earth/ Moon system to be specific. At L4, the distances to Earth and Moon are equal. So the gravitation force from them adds up to point toward the barycenter of the system, and also has the correct magnitude for stability. The barycenter is the center of mass AND the center of rotation for the 3-body system, so any object at L4 is in 3-body equilibrium as it orbits. If the object moves away from L4, there is a Coriolis effect that brings it back.


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

[User] ELI5: Why did the US founding fathers make the house of representatives a 2 year election but the Senate 6 years?

[Assistant]
Representatives were intended to be regular citizens, who were expected to go back to their careers. Senators were more like career politicians, professional legislators.

Of course, once someone gets into congress and feels the power and sees what a gravy train it is, they tend to never leave.


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

[User]
What did dinosaur genitals look like?

Every cgi T Rex or Triceratops that I've ever seen just looks like a Ken doll. They had to be absolutely hung, right?

[Assistant]
The truth is we dont really know, unfortunately soft tissues are not usually well preserved during fossilization. Having no direct evidence we are left more to the imagination of how it would look like by analyzing other similar related modern species like crocodiles and some type of birds.

The Smithsonian has a very comprehensive series about dinosaurs and their gonads check it out its an interesting read.


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

[User]
ELI5:How do companies determine how many shares their company is made up of?

My knowledge of this rusty at best, so please feel free to correct any mistakes on my part. I've often heard the term 'X owns 10 shares in company Y'. How do companies determine how many shares their company is made up of? Is this something the company agrees on, or is this something standardized by governments? Like, if I own a company, can I decide to have just as many or as little shares I want my company to have?

[Assistant]
Shares are a simple percentage of ownership.  The number of shares owned out of the total number of shares;  so the number of shares alone is not relevant information until it is compared to the total shares and you calculate a percentage of ownership.

Also, the number of shares can be changed by a vote of the Board... Stock splits and reverse stock splits, for example.

Some companies want wide share availability, so they adjust total shares to make the individual share price "reachable" for all investors (Apple is currently in the $120/share range because they have many, many total shares now) whereas other companies prefer not to deal with millions of investors -- which is why Berkshire Hathaway A shares are about $203,000 per share.  As you can see, BH share price is much higher than Apple, yet Apple is a more valuable company because it has many more shares at that lower share price.

Each share of Apple is a tiny, tiny fraction of ownership, each share of Berkshire Hathaway is a much larger percentage of ownership.

If Apple had kept its original number of shares fixed, each share would now be very high, like Berkshire Hathaway.

Another way to think of it is this:  If Apple was owned by just ten people equally, they could have all the ownership in one share each; each of those 10 shares would be worth about $67 Billion.  But that would make it very hard for any of them to sell any portion of their ownership.


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

[User]
CMV: ethical breeders ARE contributing to the problem of dogs ending up in shelters.

Ill preface this by saying Im very open to changing my mind on this. I know its possible my current viewpoint is failing to see the big picture. With that being said, my top priority is the well-being of dogs who are being born and not the value they can provide to the humans who care for them. I understand that working dogs can provide important services and they are happy, fulfilled, and (ideally) well cared for while doing their jobs.

I believe most people agree that, in a lot of cases, we have done dogs as a species a disservice by domesticating them. We have breeds like pugs, bulldogs, and dachshunds who have a lot of health problems (breathing issues, eye conditions, back problems, etc) resulting from us breeding into them the parts we like but it not being great for their overall health.

There are also other breeds that are generally healthy and are happy doing their jobs, like border collies for herding, labs (and other breeds) as service animals, and German shepherds for search and rescue. I dont see anything wrong with ethically bred dogs doing jobs they like doing and having healthy, happy lives. This isnt what my post is about.

My post is more about people who dont need a working dog who want to have a pet for companionship. Im gonna use poodles as a specific example. People like poodles because they dont shed and are hypoallergenic. As far as I know, poodles dont have a lot of health issues resulting from selective breeding. They make good pets and people love them. In most cases, theyre not really serving a purpose other than being good and very cute companions to us.

Are there poodles and all sorts of other dogs who provide a much needed service to their humans? Absolutely. This post isnt about them. This post is about people who want dogs just to have a dog. Even if a breeder is responsible in their breeding and very selective about who those dogs go to, peoples life circumstances can change. Someone might get a dog and have all of the means to care for them properly at the time, but a relocation for a job, or a disruption in finances, or a breakup, or just a change in priorities can make it so that the person who adopted their dog cant continue to give them the life they deserve.

I believe that if we want a dog just to have a dog, we shouldnt get one that was intentionally bred. I understand that people want non-reactive dogs and dogs they can raise from puppies so they can control (in some ways) and fully understand their temperament. And if you need a seeing eye dog and there are children in the home, I completely get wanting to get that dog from a responsible breeder. Again, this post is not about them. But if someone wants a dog for a companion animal and theyre worried about if theyll be safe for their children or for their cat, just dont get a dog. If you really want a companion animal, do some responsible shelter shopping. There will be no shortage of those dogs in the near future. If youre worried an adoptive dog wont fit as your companion animal, do not get one. We cant continue to breed these dogs into existence just for us to love on, no matter how much we want that.

I have a dog who means the absolute world to me. He is a jack russel-beagle mix that I got from an ex boyfriend who wanted to kill him cause he chased the chickens. Hes the best boy ever and I would love to get another jack russel or beagle one day because I love him and he brings joy to my life. But if theres not one in a shelter, I shouldnt seek out that dog from a breeder just because I want them. Dogs are mistreated or kenneled or not properly exercised so frequently and we shouldnt continue to breed them just because we like them.

Ultimately, dogs are wonderful but humans arent always wonderful back and we shouldnt continue to breed them because we love how they make us feel. I dont think breeders, even the ethical ones, are raising dogs where the majority are going to serve a purpose other than a show dog or a companion animal. Id love to hear your thoughts!

[Assistant]
Does your view basically boil down to this?

Ethical breeders are breeding too many dogs that people want, so people arent adopting dogs they dont want. The solution is for people to not adopt dogs unless they get one from a shelter


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball Z] In Future Trunks's timeline, why were the androids destroying everything?

Did they want revenge against a world that wronged them? Did they just enjoy killing, Krombopulos Michael style? Or did they have some larger goal like world domination?

[Assistant]
In his timeline the androids were programmed to kill Goku, and like in main timeline they seemed to revolt against Doctor Wily on basis of him telling them what to do. However there's no stated reason for their different personality, other than it being a different timeline. Maybe Trunks is like Flash, and made his own Flashpoint by saving Goku.

It's possible that since Goku died from a heart disease prior to their activation, they caused destruction by being unable to fulfill their primary objective. But it seemed that Future Androids had a depraved kind of fun by destroying civilization. They clearly didn't have any plans to take over the world, and just relished in their power and destruction.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why has there been, seemingly all of a sudden, a big push to block pornography on the internet?

Is there some other reason besides 'think of the children' appeals to conservative voters, or is it just pandering?

[Assistant]
It's the thin end of the censorship wedge; once censorship of porn "for the safety of children" is accepted as the norm, it will be so much easier to bring in more censorship of other types of speech/expression that someone wants to suppress.

Porn was chosen as a type of literiture that enough people disapprove of to get a groundswell of support - it's difficult to argue that children should be exposed to more porn, without people assuming you're a paedophile, but most people would be outraged if they thought that Cosmoplitan or The Sun's Page 3 was going to be banned.

Fast-forward a decade or so, and Cosmo and Page 3 (or things like them) could well be the next target.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why does getting hit in the shin hurt far more than say your forearm?

I would put getting hit in the shin on the same level as getting hit in the berries. I understand the advantage to making your balls extremely sensitive (they are important, so it's your brain telling you to avoid any trauma to that area AT ALL COSTS) but why the shins?

[Assistant] The "sharp" edge of the shin is the part which hurts the most. This is because there is almost no muscle over the bone, just a thin layer of skin and fat which makes any hit go directly against the periostium, the tissue covering the bones, which has A LOT of nervous endings. Also, as it is a sharp area, most of the strenght of the impact falls on one small point.


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

[User]
[Star wars] How old is galactic civilization?

Are there written records, ancient data pads? Rock carvings cause it seems even when you back only a few thousand years before the battle of Yavin you have old the republic which apparently is 10k years old. Do we know anything of what happened before then.

[Assistant]
Well, we know the Jedi have policed the Republic for "a thousand generations." Assuming they mean something like a human generation here on modern-day Earth, that's 25,000-30,000 years.

A few centuries before that it was Xim's Empire (Xim the Despot is basically this galaxy's version of Alexander the Great). Hyperspace travel existed as much as 30k years BBY. Coruscant has been industrialized for at least 100k years BBY.

Obviously that's a long time, longer than anatomically modern humanity has even existed. It's hard to get into all the stuff that happened in that time.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does packaging tape adhere so well to cardboard but terribly to almost everything else?

[Assistant] Because it's developed specifically to bond well with the fibers of the cardboard. If you try to stick another type of tape, say duct tape to a cardboard box it wont stick very well because it doesn't entangle the box fibers very well. Because packaging tape essentially relies on those fibers to form a good bond, it doesn't bond well to surfaces that can't provide something similar to the fibers.


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

[User]
ELI5: What was it about Navajo Code talkers that made their signals so hard to decrypt in WWII?

I hear about how cool these guys were and how much of a help they were in WWII, but what is it about the Navajo language that makes it such a good code?

[Assistant]
English is related to German, Italian, and most European languages that were relevant in WWII, and plenty of them knew English anyway.

Navajo, on the other hand, has been separated from other world languages for so long that any sort of pattern that could be derived from being a related language wasn't present. Even most other Native American languages are so distantly related that they aren't a great guide. It also wasn't well documented, so there were no resources for the enemy to turn to, even if they suspected Navajo. On top of that, the code talkers didn't use plain Navajo, but a code based on Navajo, so that it'd still be difficult to decipher if a random Navajo speaker were captured. So it was basically a difficult code on top of a difficult code.


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

[User]
Is there a common origin of the Islamist insurgencies of North Africa?

Mali, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Somalia have all recently had significant internal conflict related to Islamic movements in the north. Is there any commonality in these struggles?

Do all the 'Islamist' conflicts of the world derive from a single movement? Or is Islamism just a label for all the violent movements seeking religious government?

[Assistant] Yes and no. Every group of Islamic extremists in the Maghreb/Sahel is unique and has different beliefs, goals, methods, etc. That being said, a lot of them are, in a sense, "offspring" of either each other or Arab organizations. Al Qaeda is perhaps the biggest common ancestor of African militant groups, and some, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, are still considered close Al Qaeda affiliates.


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

[User] ELI5: How does the human body differentiate between abrasions and cuts or stretch marks? And if the body sees them similarly, why do they heal differently?

[Assistant]
Not sure what you mean? It depends on the depth/extent of the injury. If the damage reaches to the basement membrane separating the skin from the underlying tissue, the skin can't repair itself properly so it "paves it over" with a bunch of collagen fibers, forming a scar.

A stretch mark is essentially the skin tearing itself from the underlying tissue growing too quickly.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does ISIS keep finding Westerners to hold hostage? Why do Westerners keep going to areas where they know there is a risk of capture?

The Syria-Iraq region has been a hotbed of kidnappings of Westerners for a few years already. Why do people from Western countries keep going to the region while they know that there is an extremely high chance they will be captured by one of the radical islamist groups there?

EDIT: Thanks for all the answers guys. From what I understood, journalists from the major networks (US) don't generally go to ISIS controlled areas, but military and intelligence units do make sense.

[Assistant]
They are usually journalists, documenting wars, coups, and disasters. The only way first world nations get involved in these issues is if someone makes people give a shit about the people there. The only way to do that is to print stories in the media until people notice and complain, which makes politicians give a shit.

The journalists go over and report the stories that make people give a shit about the awful things that happen there, in the hopes of forcing politicians to give a shit which might make a difference.

They are often subjected to the awful things they are documenting.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Why didn't Matt Murdock tell everyone about his powers when they first developed as a child?

Young Matt Murdock is exposed to radio active waste which gives him radar powers.  Why didn't he immediately tell everyone about this?  Its a miracle of medical science.  It should have been in the news.

Did he know he was going to need a secret identity, even as a child?  Did he really not tell his close friends and family?  What kind of person would do that?

[Assistant] He did.  The Nuns didn't know what he was talking about or how to help him, so they called in Stick.  By the time his training with Stick was done, he had an appreciation for how special his powers were, and how important it was to keep them secret.


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

[User] [Deadpool] Fox Deadpool's mutant power is healing so how is it possible for him to have superhuman strength and speed?

[Assistant] The human body is more capable than people think. The reason why the average person doesn't do Superhuman strength and speed is because those acts will damage the human body to point of fatality. With a healing factor, Deadpool can heal from any injury and therefore can lift the human body limitor any time he wants.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly were they doing that was illegal in The Wolf of Wall Street?

[Assistant]
The illegal thing they were doing is referred to as a "pump and dump" scheme.

There were these things called penny stocks. When the average person could not afford a stock selling at $30-$1,000 a share, there were these stocks which sold from $.01- $15 a share.

What they were doing was buying up all or most of the shares of the penny stocks, thus increasing demand and price. Jordan was selling his clients these penny stock by telling them the price was going up, but failing to tell them it was going up because he was buying the shares. To get Jordan Belfort to buy their shares for them, as their trusted broker, Jordan would charge them a fee. When the client wanted to cash out, they could'nt because there was no one to buy the shares of penny stocks from them.

Whats illegal about this is that Jordan Belfort committed fraud by charging a fee to trade shares which he was inflating and getting money by being the one who is selling the shares.


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

[User]
[Marvel] How would the TSA respond to mutants?

If you've got powers with tremendous potential for mayhem, would the TSA allow you anywhere near an airplane? Would there be some mutants who are, and others who aren't allowed to fly? It seems like mutants would be a potential security nightmare.

[Assistant]
The TSA issue is but a very small subset of the total mutant-control dilemma that the government has been dealing with for many decades.  The U.S. even had a civil war amongst its super-powered beings about control of mutants.  Mutant registration, Sentinels...all symptoms of the government attempting to control the super-powered beings.

The TSA specifically is not, currently, allowed to detain a person based on their super-powers alone.  It is considered a civil-rights infraction to do so.  However, since public opinion and legislation on the issue is always up in the air (pardon the pun), this could change at any time, denying all super-powered beings access to airplane travel.


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

[User]
[Avengers: Endgame] One shower thought I had; Did the heroes who returned 5 years later think they were fighting present Thanos?

I mean, maybe they didn't even find out about time travel until after the battle was over.

[Assistant] Wanda's *"You took everything from me"* line may or may not have been an indication of this. Like others mentioned, I'd assume Strange quickly explained the basics of "Thanos and his army are attacking, so gear up and let's finish this" without going over which Thanos, how much time has passed, etc.


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

[User]
[Alien Universe] Why haven't the Engineers Wiped out the Predator race? *Spoilers for Covenant and Prometheus*

Clearly the Engineer species is still around before David wipes out one of their worlds, so why haven't destroyed the Predators? Unless its an issue of resources it seems silly to let a race of space cavemen run around with super advanced weapons that could pose a serious threat to your survival.

[Assistant]
The Engineers' entire thing seems to be based around creating biological organisms as weapons of mass destruction.

Predators, as an entire civilisation, have devoted themselves to becoming the best hunters and killers of living, biological organisms in the galaxy.

Even if the Engineers have tried, and there's no way to be certain they haven't, it probably wouldn't be easy. It's like us trying to use nukes on a species that's based their entire culture around hunting and dismantling nukes.


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

[User]
ELI5 - How is it that both Fusion and Fission create energy?

My mind immediately tries to use a magnetism analogy (which I recognize is incorrect and not comparable to the strong/weak nuclear force) so I think about the energy it takes to push magnesia together or pull magnets apart.

Furthermore, how do both separating and combining manage to create energy?

[Assistant]
Because fusion is taking two very small atoms, and merging them into a bigger one.

While fission is taking a VERY LARGE atom, and breaking it into smaller ones.

There is a point on the atomic scale where fusion actually starts to take more energy than it produces, its actually around iron, which is why really heavy elements are only created as a star is dying and then a super nova, when there is lots of extra energy being expended.

This actually is why stars die, because they start trying to fuse heavier and heavier elements and it stops producing enough energy for the chain reaction to continue.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter]I was raised among Muggles and recently graduated Hogwarts. To what degree can I use my God like magical powers to gain wealth and power in the Muggle world before the ministry steps in, if I prevent Muggles from finding out about magic and are not flaying or mind controlling people?

The Ministry seems to have a terrible understanding of the Muggle world.  If you don't flay people with magic or mind control or mug them, would the Ministry notice or care? There are countless ways you could use magic to seemingly make an "honest" dollar without actually robbing or hurting anyone.

**BONUS QUESTION!** What are some great ways to use magic to accrue create wealth without robbing anyone or getting caught?

[Assistant]
The Ministry doesn't understand the Muggle world because they don't give a rat's ass about it\*. You can pretty much do what you like, provided you don't break the masquerade. Hell, you could probably get away with Imperiusing a few of them if you really want to - in the unlikely event of you getting caught, just claim they were coming at you with some of those mechanical wands the Muggles use, and you felt threatened.

I'd say you can lie, cheat, steal, obliviate, find some clever way to cheat at high-stakes poker, use a Time Turner to give yourself the winners of a horse race or other sporting event (note: Do not get caught in possession of a Time Turner. They will put you in a box, and then put that box in a box, and then stick that box up a Dementor's butt).

One thing you **don't** want to do, though, is sell them illusory or transfigured goods to turn a profit. That's technically placing magical artefacts in Muggle hands, and that's one of the few intersections between Them and Us that the Ministry does care about.

\*I mean, a rat's ass can be used in several different alchemical recipes. Would you give up a potentially useful potion ingredient just to find out more about this "electrickery" nonsense?


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What did Vader do with Obi Wans lightsaber after he killed him?

Did he keep it? Did he destroy it? It was the weapon of his old Master, and the weapon that took three of his limbs and led to him burning, it must have had some significance to him.

[Assistant]
In canon, it was presumably destroyed along with the Death Star. Vader either kept it in his chambers until the station blew up, or might have disposed of it given that all Jedi artifacts were illegal and ordered to be destroyed.

In legends, Vader had it sent to his personal fortress, where it remained undisturbed for many years. It was ultimately found and given to Luke after the Empire's fall, who kept it in a place of honor in the Jedi Academy on Yavin. Anakin Solo briefly used it, but it was eventually returned to Luke.

In both continuities, Luke based his lightsaber design on Obi Wan's, keeping it alive in spirit and memory.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is Armenian Genocide recognition so controversial at the political level?

While academics and historians almost universally agree that the Armenian Genocide took place, few countries around the world officially recognize it. Why is this?

[Assistant]
Turkey denies the Armenian genocide occurred.

Turkey has historically been a very important ally to the west, controlling the strategically important access to the Black Sea, and being a more moderate liaison to the Middle East.  Armenia, on the other hand, is not of particular strategic importance.

So politically, even if the historical evidence supports an Armenian genocide, there is little upside and quite a bit of downside in harm relations with Turkey by proclaiming in occurred.

In Turkey's defense, genocides were not terribly uncommon in the 19th Century.  They just happened to have one a little later, in an era of photography and mass media.  It by no means excuses it, but it is a little unfair to single Turkey out when just decades before the US was killing off Native Americans, the Russians elimated the Circassians, and even back a little further to the the Potato Famine (UK/Ireland)  and War in the Vende (France).


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

[User]
[The Andy Griffith Show] If Ted Bundy was arrested in Mayberry, how would Andy deal with it?

Let's say Bundy was caught in Mayberry.

How would he react to Bundy's brutal murders?

Would he be able to contain him?

[Assistant]
Despite Andy's smiling exterior, he's a seasoned law man who's seen quite a lot.  As a routine matter he would've had to deal with a lot of dead bodies, including the occasional murder.  He's also a WW2 veteran having served in France.  A serial killer would be unnerving, but Andy would probably have some words of wisdom to help everyone else through the trying times.

Ted Bundy, for his part, was well spoken and mild mannered.  He wouldn't give Andy any problems he hadn't faced before.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why didnt Palpatine get Anakin to take the youngest of the Younglings? They probably could have easily moulded them into lethal Dark Jedi assassins, inquisitors and such, seems like a senseless waste of life and talent.

[Assistant]
To manipulate him.

A lot of the answers below go into the logistics of grabbing jedi/force sensitive kids, or the hurdles they must go through to be converted into inquisitors.  All of this misses the core point of *why* Palpatine did it.

To manipulate him.  Which is what he'd been doing for almost the entirety of his life.

He didn't 'need' Anakin to go back to the temple and start slaughtering his fellows in the sense that he needed the manpower, or Anakin's abilities, to get it done.  What he did need was a guilt and rage fueled monster by his side who would do whatever he said, whenever he said it, without hesitation or compunction.

So he manipulated him.  Appealing to his sense of 'duty to the Republic,' Palpatine sent him there to baptize his new apprentice *in blood.*

Up to that point, Anakin had only committed one truly unforgivable sin in his life - the slaughter of the sand people that tortured and murdered his mother.  It was something he did in the heat of rage, and something that haunted him for the rest of his life.  It was something he specifically spoke about to Palpatine, and which Papa Palps *reminded* him about while they were at the opera.  To really get his new apprentice off to a running start, Palpatine needed him to face the same situation without hesitation, and without even the hint of valid justification.   He needed Anakin to become a *murderer.*  Because, once he did, serving Palpatine would be the only path left for him, and it would fill him with rage enough for a lifetime.

It worked quite well.


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

[User]
What determines the frequency of lightning in a storm?

I know this is probably a dumb question but some storms have lightning every two seconds while others can have a minute between strikes. Im just curious as to why.

[Assistant]
A storm will have a higher frequency of lightning with greater energy available to the storm. This energy is referred to as CAPE, or convective available potential energy. CAPE is determined by the vertical temperature gradient through the atmosphere of the storm. CAPE has units of Joules per kilogram (of air); any value over 0 indicates instability of the atmosphere conducive to producing thunderstorms, hence lightning, though typically a value of 1000 or greater is required for persistent thunderstorm, and in extreme cases this value will exceed 5000.

Other factors include the age of the storm, the abundance of hail and ice particles, the circulation of which results in negatively-charged and positively-charged regions in the storm, and the thickness of the atmosphere between the cloud base and the ground/sea, as the atmosphere impedes the electrostatic discharge, though this only applies to cloud-to-ground lightning.


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

[User]
[Avatar: The Last Airbender, Korra] Why did technology stay so slow, then suddenly advance?

If the previous harmonic convergence was ten thousand years ago, why is it that technology stayed at a medieval level (or just beyond), then suddenly advanced to industrial revolution-ish level after just 60 years after the end of Sozin's war? There must have been some reason that technology didn't advance, but that reason must not have prevented the advancement between ATLA and TLOK.

edit: To be clear, I want an explanation of both parts. Why did tech advance between the series, and why didn't it advance before the first one?

[Assistant]
A unity between all nations meant open trading of technologies and techniques. Newly discovered metal bending, coupled with fire nation technology and widespread use of lightning bending techniqies gave rise to the industrial age.

Keep in mind, these advancements are most prominent in Republic City, the capital of the world. It can be expected most manwork would be put into that relarively small section of the world. The rest of the world is still catching up a little.


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

[User]
I believe if society were to devolve, it would devolve according the democracy portrayed in Brave New World and not the fascism portrayed in 1984. Democracy is more dangerous than Tyranny. CMV.

In 1984 a Fascist government bans things, changes the language to prevent deep thought, and tortures people so severely they see things the government's way.

In Brave New World, people opt to act a certain way.  They collectively emote in approved zones, change their language voluntarily, remove intimacy...

Humans are pack animals.  We behave according to the group.  An everyday sane person is more likely to commit acts of atrocities in a group, genocide and the like, than 'snap' and shoot up a mall.

I think of Reddit.  Reddit does have a hive mind.  Individuals are ego driven.  So in a thread about cop hate, a counter will end up downvoted to oblivion.  People are more willing to confirm their assertion via group think than be wrong, and change their opinion.  So if some random dictator decided to 'change the status quo', the US would sound like a Rage Against the Machine song.

Tyranny of the majority is more dangerous than tyranny of the minority.

[Assistant] I've always seen Brave New World as a more technologically advanced society where the equivalent of the Party (1984) has long since won, altering everyone's thought patterns to the point where an actual governing body isn't nearly as necessary.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the appeal in carbonation in drinks? Why do uncarbonated beverages taste fine, but flat soda tastes disgusting?

[Assistant] Soda water by itself is quite bitter.  In a pop this bitter is contrasted by the large amount of sugar (sweetness) they have.  When a pop looses its carbonation, the CO2 has left the beverage.  This means that the sweet no longer has the bitter to balance it out, leaving a disgustingly sweet liquid behind.


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

[User]
How did scientists during the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic know what a virus was?

Medical science had come a long way throughout the latter half of the 19th century, let alone up to WWI. The germ theory was generally accepted, and scientists were mostly on the same page about how disease outbreaks started with microorganisms. They could even observe and describe the shape of certain bacteria with microscopes. But how did they know what viruses were? Theyre too small to physically observe with early 20th century technology, and you cant culture them in the same manner as bacteria. A lot of work was done during the Influenza Pandemic around finding the causative agent. However, much of this work mistakenly focused on bacteria that colonize the lungs as a consequence of the initial influenza infection. They clearly knew that viruses existed (IIRC scientists had attributed polio to a viral, rather than bacteria, infection at that point) but how did they know this given the limits of scientific methods at the time?

[Assistant]
In the late 19th century they produced a filter, called the Chamberland filter, able to filter out bacteria.  This led to the discovery of both viruses and bacterial toxins in the late 19th century.  Scientists had determined that viruses (like tobacco mosaic virus) could remain infectious even when filtered through a filter that removed all bacteria.  So they knew there was something smaller than bacteria that was capable of causing disease.  "Virus" was the name given, but they still didn't know much about these new very-small particles.

Influenza was believed to be a virus, but it was not discovered to be a virus until the 1930s.

But scientists in 1917 were **far from certain** about the cause of "The Spanish flu."  Many at the time believed the causative agent was the gram-negative bacterium now called H. influenzae but back then known as "Pfeiffer's bacillus."  Others, however, found that secretions from people with Spanish influenza were still infectious after passing through a Chamberland filter.  But other scientists had difficulty reproducing their results.

Influenza was diagnosed clinically, without the term indicating a particular infectious agent.  They didn't know how many agents might be involved.

It wasn't until experiments 10 years later that flu would be *proven* to be a virus.  A doctor, Shope, was looking into epidemic outbreaks among pigs that appeared identical to influenza.  They took samples from infected pigs and isolated Pfeiffer's bacterium - but the bacterium failed to transmit the infection.  But when they filtered the samples, the filtrate *did cause infection*.  It was thus a virus.  He also demonstrated that sera from humans infected with the 1918 pandemic flu could neutralize the pig virus - and thus, the Spanish flu agent was likely the same virus.

This research allowed for the isolation of influenza a few years later.


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

[User]
"You" are not the atoms in your body but the pattern of atoms. Your consciousness is an emergent feature of that pattern. So, if a person was cloned, arrangement of atoms exact to its predecessor, is it the same person?

I guess this question boils down to what makes a body a 'person' as most would consider consciousness (inc. memories, thoughts etc.) to define individuals, rather than the exact atoms of the body (as 98% of these are replaced yearly anyway). However, this defies our perception of what makes a solitary entity- you wouldn't regard two trees to be the same tree just because the arrangement of atoms are identical to each other.

[Assistant] Saul Kripke argued that an essential feature of "you" is your history, i.e. who your mother and father were, which sperm entered which egg to produce you, etc.  A replication of you would not meet these conditions and would not therefore be you.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] What are the long term, tangible effects of drinking unicorn blood?

[Assistant]
Weight loss and dental issues are the most apparent, along with a host of psychological problems. The withdrawal symptoms are pretty horrific; if you didn't kill a unicorn to obtain the blood in the first place, you'll be more than willing to once addicted. Once you've slayed a unicorn you'll also be cursed for life.

Unicorn Blood.

Not even once.


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

[User]
ELI5: Facebook privacy and does that disclaimer I'm seeing actually do anything?

I've been seeing a lot of people put up a disclaimer (skeptical that it even does anything) but why exactly are people flipping out? What's the worst possible outcome and are my kittens in danger?

[Assistant]
The disclaimer is a good way of discovering who in your friends list has a high school level understanding of contracts and End-User License Agreements, Terms of Service, etc.

Legally it holds as much ground as going outside and saying, "I declare bankruptcy" does to ease your debts.


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

[User] Lotr: If sauron loved order so much, why did he use orcs, who are barabarian and brutish?

[Assistant]
Orcs are not all barbarians.  They are cruel, but clever and incredibly industrious.  It's implied in the Hobbit book that they have some type of machine-based industries (and torture devices) in their mountain caverns, which is very advanced compared to the feudal-agricultural lifestyle enjoyed by most men, elves and hobbits in Middle Earth.

When Orcs are given a powerful central leader who knows how to delegate command, they can be a very ordered and efficient military, economic and industrial people.  Unfortunately, devoid of a strong leader they scatter like leaves and break into smaller warbands.

The single most advanced civilization the world of Arda has seen was Numenor, they also had machines and industry that dwarfed that of the later realms Middle Earth, but they too ended up turning their tools toward evil.  Tolkien seemed to blame industrialization for the collapse and defilement of the traditional English countryside, which is a fair assessment when you consider how much pollution industry put out before being regulated in western countries.  The Shire was a prefer state of simple agriculture and local artisans, but even the Shire was not free from the ravages of the war, just as they traditional villages and countrysides of Europe were not spared the horror of the 1st World War.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How large is the Rebel Alliance?

[Assistant] Nobody really knows, and that's the scary thing. How do you fight an enemy that you're unable to determine the number of? Rebels are everywhere and nowhere, and when they strike, it's without warning and too quick to field an adequate response. By the time you've gathered your strength, The Rebels are gone and attacking somewhere else.


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

[User]
[Discworld] Why are citizens of Ankh-Morpork constantly plotting to overthrow the Patrician?

He may rule with a bit of a firm hand but he's not a malevolent dictator like those before him. He allows freedom of the press, enacts policies based on public opinion, and rarely, if ever, stomps out any resistance to his rule.

[Assistant]
>He'd taken all the gangs and squabbling groups and made them see that a small slice of the cake on a regular basis was better by far than a bigger slice with a dagger in it. He'd made them see that it was better to take a small slice but enlarge the cake.

*Feet of Clay*

Unfortunately, some people still want the whole pie rather than seeing that a regular, increasingly large, slice is much less effort. While he lives a relatively austere life, Vetinari *could* live to excess like previous Patricians and that is what the people who wish to overthrow him would do for themselves.

Plus, a lot of those same plotters are classist and racist. They don't want dwarfs, trolls, undead, etc., "They're not our sort of people" kind of thing. Just look at that inbred streak of piss Ronnie Rust.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that a building with the AC set to 70 degrees on "cool" mode is colder than a building set to 70 degrees on "warm" mode? Shouldn't they be the same temperature?

[Assistant] Upper and lower boundaries. Cooling to 70 activates cold AC when temp goes ABOVE 70. Warming to 70 only activates heat AC if temp goes BELOW 70. If the building is above 70 then heat AC will never turn on because it's waiting for building temp to drop below 70.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How does Vader get rid of all the scuff marks, dirt, and blood that the Rebel scum get on his suit?

Does he change helmets, clothes, and capes often? Does he have spare suits?

[Assistant] droids clean it while he is in his meditation chamber or in a bacta bath, one of the few places he can be without the suit on. he does at least upgrade his suits appearance, during his time on the first Death Star his suit had a matte black finish, but by the time he had tracked the rebels to Hoth it had been upgraded with a gloss finish.


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

[User]
[Star Wars Force Unleashed] How did the Rebel Alliance become such a well organized force so quickly when it was formed only a year before Yavin?

Don't military organizations take a lot more time to become effective?

[Assistant] The key lies in the name. We're talking about the Rebel *Alliance*. Prior to the formation in 1 BBY there were a number of individual cells running around, doing their own thing. There are even scattered reports of one cell working with another when the situation called for it. The founding of the Alliance was merely those aready existing and trained cells coming together.


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

[User]
How does using water irresponsibly remove it from the water cycle?

I keep hearing about how we are wasting water and that it is a limited recourse. How is it possible, given the water cycle will reuse any water we use?

[Assistant]
Technically, it will not. What it might do, however, is limit the amount of water within the tiny subspace of the water cycle which we (and the rest of the wildlife within our part of the ecosystem) can use directly, which is surface fresh water.

The key thing to get here is that water transits from one reservoir to the next at limited rates, and that if your water consumption exceeds the rate at which fresh drinkable water can reach you, you are in trouble.


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

[User]
If one were to learn a language for the sake of reading philosophical works in their original languages, which one would be the best one?

Basically the question in the title. If one were to learn a language for the sake of reading philosophical works in their original languages, which one would be the best option and why? (with best meaning that it would allow you to read not only many works, but also the ones most influential). If I had to guess it would probably be Latin, French, German, or maybe even Ancient Greek, however I want to know which one would be the best option overall.

[Assistant]
Well, when you say "most influential," one might ask "most influential *to whom*?" Works in Ancient Greek and Latin have been very influential to certain groups of people in the global intellectual culture, while works in German, English, Chinese, Sanskrit, French, etc. have been very influential to others.

I think it is best to choose a language to study based on the things you specifically want to read.


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

[User]
ELI5:When you ignite your propane barbecue, why does the flame not travel down the hose and into the tank?

I've never been able to figure this one out. There doesnt seem to be any little valve, just the hose attached onto the burner mechanism. Same with the patio heater. Yet the flame sits where it should and doesnt ignight the rest of the propane in the tank. Why? Is this simple physics or is there a mechanical device in there that I just don't see?

------------------------------------------------
Edit: thank you good people of Reddit, that makes perfect sense to me now. I wish I had asked ages ago.

[Assistant] The propane needs oxygen to be able to burn (burning is just chemically combining with an oxidizer), and there's no oxygen in the hose.  As long as the pressure is such that the propane is constantly pushed out, then oxygen can't get in, and the propane in the hose can't burn.


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

[User] Does the temperature of a spicy food item affect its spicyness? For example, Would freezing a chilli make it more tolerable?

[Assistant] Judging by a chemical standpoint. No. The capsacin stays the same along with most other flavonoids. ALTHOUGH, the low heat constricts the blood vessels in your tongue lowering the sensitivity in your tastebuds and other nerve cells. So if you kept eating cold stuff effectively it would not be as intense.


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

[User]
[The Road Warrior] Is Max aware that he's driving sand while they hide gasoline in the school bus?

He seems a bit surprised when he opens the tank but then he doesn't seem to hold it against them when he goes back to drop off the feral kid.

[Assistant] Most likely he didn't know about the ruse. He understands the position the people are in and how important that fuel was for them.  Probably just mad at himself for trusting them and not checking to see if he was being played.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do so many oven windows have tiny dots all over them?

[Assistant] the tinting is there supposedly to reflect thermal energy back into the oven that would otherwise escape, making ovens more efficient. So otherwise they'd lose a lot of thermal energy and work harder to compensate, requiring more energy.


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

[User]
ELI5: If body fat is stored energy, how come a morbidly obese person would die of starvation before all their fat is used up?

Let's assume here they're still drinking water and taking in basic minerals and vitamins that they need, but are consuming zeroish calories.

[Assistant]
It's not starvation that morbidly obese people will die of when they literally stop eating. Its malnutrition. The body stores any energie it does not use in the form of fat. Energie intake can be done via different sources: carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. Note, we need all of the aforementioned in various degrees, but in western societies, they are heavily over consumed. Vitamins and minerals don't supply us with energy, but are necessary to perform functions, such as potassium is needed to flex a muscle. Vitamins and minerals can't be stored by the body, and an overconsumption of these will leave the body via excretion or fecal matter, or can even poison the body.

Malnutrition is observed in lots of poor third world counties, but also in Western societies. It is because of people are not conscious of what their body needs.

Here is an analogy for your morbidly obese person: an African child gets to eat nothing but a cup of rice each day. The cup of rice gives the cild the energy it needs. Energy alone however, is not enough. It also needs its vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, proteins and others to have all its cells perform its functions. The child does not have a healthy intake of vitamins and minerals, and slowly, its body functions are shutting down.

The morbidly obese person has plenty of fat storage to provide the body with energie, however, the body does not need all this energy, it needs other nutrients, the obese person is not taking in, so it dies.


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

[User]
Why is Greece weighing so heavily on our economy and the world?

All I keep hearing about is how Greece is affecting everything in the stock market both domestic and abroad, why?

[Assistant]
Everyone is afraid of a chain reaction if Greece can't pay back their debts.

There are a few countries in precarious positions within the Euro: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain.

They have all loaned each other money to varying degrees. While Greece is somewhat isolated(most of their money is owed to more stable countries like France and Germany), them defaulting would decrease confidence in the Euro, which would hurt the banks in all the other weak countries.

So the worry is that one defaulting would either directly(via loans they couldn't pay back to an already fragile banking system) or indirectly(via decreased confidence) take out the weaker countries banks.

If enough of the weaker countries default/have insolvent banks, they could (theoretically) take the much stronger banking system in France with them. If France goes down, the Euro in general is fucked.


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

[User]
Why must we imagine Sisyphus happy?

Wasn't Camus being an emotional masochist to find happiness in Sisyphus's burden of absurdity? Even if Sisyphus is really happy with his burden,  why his happiness should be asserted of more values than Capaneus, who chose to continuously rebel against the burden of absurdity imposed upon himself? I think, by affirming the absurdity over suicide, Camus was certainly asserting objective value upon the obligation to exist.

[Assistant] Sisyphus had no other choice than to be happy in order rebel against absurdity. He could either curse every step he took and be miserable or embrace the small fruits of life and be happy inspite of an absurd existence.