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

[User] Why does X^0=1?

[Assistant]
Exponentiation is repeated multiplication. This only makes sense when the exponent is a positive integer. You can't multiply something by itself -3/4 times, that doesn't make sense. However, after defining exponentiation to be repeated multiplication, we find that that doesn't really matter. The only important thing about exponentiation is the additive rule. That is, if N and M are positive integers, then

* x^(N+M)=x^(N)\*x^(M)

This is literally the only reason why we care about exponentiation: it satisfies this property.

As it stands, we only know how to do things like x^(1), x^(2), x^(3) and so on. How can we make sense of x^(0)? Right now it means nothing, we could just say that x^(0)=-32 and be done with it. But if we did that then the additive rule, the only thing that makes exponentiation meaningful, will be lose.

So we want to make x^(0) be "Whatever number it takes to preserve the additive rule". That's what it *actually* is. But we can be more specific. For instance, we have x^(1+0) = x^(1)=x. But on the other hand, we want the additive rule to still be true even if we include zero and what we get is x^(1+0)=x^(1)\*x^(0)=x\*x^(0). What this means is that we have both

* x^(1+0)=x

* x^(1+0)=x\*x^(0)

So *if* x^(0) is whatever value it needs to be to preserve the additive rule, *then* it must satisfy

* x\*x^(0)=x

So, *if x is not zero*, we can divide both side by x to get

* x^(0)=1

This means that if we say that x^(0) is whatever value it takes to preserve the additive rule, then that value must be 1 whenever x is not zero.

If x is zero, then the equation x=x\*x^(0) is satisfied for *any* value for x^(0). In real life, there are different situations where 0^(0) seems to take on different values, in fact it can take on *any* value. There may even be situations where 0^(0) seems to equal -32. But this is okay, because the additive rule is still satisfied for x=0, so 0^(0) does not have to be any specific value. For this reason, unless context forces you to choose a value, we say that 0^(0) is an undefined quantity. It has no value. Not zero, not 1, not -32. It has the same value as (Balloons)^(Iridium), which is nothing because it is nonsense.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] will the Borg take over the galaxy / universe?

I haven't watched too many of the episodes, but it seems if they just adapt to every opposition, surely they will end up assimilating the entire universe? Or do they end up getting defeated, and how, because can't they just adapt to any threat?

[Assistant] They won't take over everywhere. If they did there'd be no one to assimilate tech from. If the take over the universe and still aren't perfect, then they could never achieve their goal. It's why they only sent out one cube to assimilate the Fed. They didn't want to really wipe them out, just motivate them to create new tech that they can then assimilate. When the Borg want you gone, they send hundreds of cubes, not one.


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

[User]
[The Matrix] Words from The Architect

Please help me understand the meaning of the metaphor your life is a sum total of the remainder of an unbalanced equation. These words were spoke by The Architect in the second matrix movie.

[Assistant]
The purpose of the Matrix was to keep humanity dumb and happy, allowing the machines to use them as batteries forever.

The first Matrix, according to Smith, was a paradis, essentially heaven. It was a catastrophic failure; humanity, apparently, is hardwired to struggle, and couldn't accept the perfect world the machines created.

So they tried again, this time building a simulation of earth in the 1990s. This was much more successful, but there were still flaws. Certain people still realized that there was something wrong with the world around them, and some of these people kept waking up, kept trying to escape the Matrix.

This is the "unbalanced equation". Something about the human mind, something that the machines can't understand, just doesn't work with the Matrix.

The machines' goal is to keep the Matrix running, so the needed to do something about these people. Their answer was Zion; the machines created a place for awakened humans to go, and gave them a story to live out: they were the Resistance, trying to save their fellow humans from the tyranny of the machines.

They also created a Messiah figure for the humans to search for and follow: The One. When the instability of the Matrix becomes too great, when too many people are seeing through the machine's illusions and are threatening the continued function of the Matrix itself, the machines choose a person at random and install `The One` program in them.

This program is the "sum" of all the instabilities that the machines don't know how to account for. He or she is the ultimate awakened human being, the ultimate leader for those people who cannot accept the world of the Matrix. The One's powers, like telekinesis and flights, are given to him just to make his role as messiah more believable.

But the One's real purpose is to balance the machines' equation. He is meant to gather all of the awakened humans together, unite them under a common cause, and bring them to a common place ... so that the machines can destroy them, which will reset and rebalance the Matrix.

Neo, and the other Ones that came before him, exist only because the machines couldn't perfect the algorithm, or equation, that makes the Matrix run. Their sole purpose, as far as the machines are concerned, are to allow humans to *believe* they are rebelling, in order to better keep them slaves.


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

[User] ELI5: Allergy medicine. Since it is an anti-histemine, does it not suppress the immune system? Is it easier to catch things like influenza or the cold while on allergy medicine?

[Assistant]
Your immune system is kind of like a highway. There are all sorts of things on the highway to prevent cars from driving recklessly. There are two ways to enforce traffic laws on the highway, physical ~~barriers~~ deterrents and cops. The physical ~~barriers~~ deterrents are your innate immune response, the cops are the adaptive immune response. Histamine is a physical ~~barriers~~ deterrents, in our analogy, let's call it a speed bump. Speed bumps affect all traffic on the highway. If you have speed bumps engaged when you don't need them, like if you are exposed to an allergen such as pollen, it's a hassle for everyone involved. Allergy medicine turns off the speed bumps, but the cops are still around, and there are other physical ~~barriers~~ deterrents still present.

EDIT: Changed barriers to deterrents to prevent confusion with the physical barriers used by the human body.


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

[User] [Shazam] Why is Solomon randomly mixed in with a bunch of greco-roman gods and heroes?

[Assistant]
There's power in names. For wisdom they could have used Athena (Greek) or Minerva (Roman) but then the acronym (**S**olomon, **H**ercules, **A**tlas, **Z**eus, **A**chilles, **M**ercury) wouldn't have worked. MHAZAM! and AHAZAM! are much harder to say quickly when you need to. (I assume HAMZAM! might have worked, if he wanted the wisdom of Minerva instead.)

Anatopism aside, Solomon was no slouch--he is said to be (1 Kings 3:12) the wisest being in all of history, past or future so he's certainly in good company.


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

[User] [The Boys] What could Homelander have done to save The Plane?

[Assistant]
Radio A-Train to collect every parachute he could find and put them in a container of some sort. Return to shore, then take the parachutes and A-Train (instead of Maeve) to the plane, have him dress the passengers in the chutes and toss them out- pulling the ripcords as they go.

The Deep, bless his otherwise useless heart, can get some dolphins or something to keep everyone safe until they're rescued from the sea.

His problem was not using the team he had. He just brought his wannabe girlfriend and she wasn't too useful in this situation.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does it seem like soap operas are filmed with different cameras than regular shows?

[Assistant] Soap operas tend to be filmed on video with no post-processing to speak of, so the feeling is similar to news shows, reality shows, etc. They are also filmed in higher frame rates which, as it turns out, makes them seem less cinematic.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Against all odds, Maul does the impossible, defeating and killing Darth Sidious on Mandalore. How does the rest of the war play out?

After Sidious kills Savage, Maul attacks the Emperor with renewed ferocity. His former master quickly takes the upper hand, until Maul feels a moment of extreme clarity with the Force, spotting a miniscule opening in Sidious's defense and landing a clean, fatal blow with the Darksaber. Sidious's eyes widen in disbelief at the hidden potential in his former apprentice, but he dies before any last words can be exchanged. Maul is now the true Dark Lord of the Sith.

How does the rest of the war play out? Does he consolidate his rule over Mandalore? How does he deal with the Repulic invasion? How does he deal with Count Dooku?

[Assistant]
Short term:

Maul consolidates his rule over Death Watch, who consolidate their rule over Mandalore. Under their leadership they reject Republic interference; the Republic begrudgingly agree to respect their wishes as the change in regime was a result of "local politics" and none of their business.

As de facto ruler of Mandalore Maul leaves the day to day shit up to Death Watch, he has other things to worry about. Like Dooku. With Sidious out of the picture, he's also vying for the position of being the *true* Sith Master. Needing to both eliminate the competition and find a new apprentice, Maul kills two birds with one stone by courting the only dark side user powerful enough to challenge Dooku that also has a major vendetta against him: Ventress.

Ventress however is done with the Sith bullshit; Maul recruits her on the premise of revenge on Dooku for the deaths of the Nightsisters, with the plan of convincing her into becoming his apprentice down the line. Ventress agrees to take up her vendetta once again because she sees that Maul is powerful enough to challenge Dooku, after all he killed Dooku's master. He eventually wins her over by giving restoring her sense of belonging not only in the Master/Apprentice relationship, but as fellow Dathomirians.

After extensive preparation and training, the pair, aided by Death Watch, eventually assault Dooku's forces: Death Watch takes on Grievous and his forces, while Maul and Ventress go for Dooku.

The Sith pair win, but at great cost: Death Watch manage to repel and critically wound Grievous, forcing a retreat, but are wiped out in the process. Dooku is killed, but not before critically wounding the pair: Maul loses his arms and his robot legs get destroyed, Ventress loses a hand.

The two retreat and recover. Maul gets new robot arms and legs, Ventress gets a robot hand. One day Ventress slips away: With Dooku dead and the Night Sisters avenged, she realizes she doesn't have the same ambitions for power as Maul does. Maul is pissed when he finds out.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]In a galaxy far far away people know that the force is real. So how widespread are scam products to grow the size of your genitals with the Force, Force seduce women, cure your cancer, give you winning lottery numbers and so on?

Force Crystals to harness your chakras and get rid of toxins?

[Assistant]
The first scams after the fall of the Republic were heavily infiltrated by the Empire's Secret Police as part of their project to find and eliminate force sensitives. Not only would you lose a lot of cash but storm troopers, or worse Vader, might come and visit. Coupled with the anti-Jedi propaganda campaign this led to a wholesale abandonment of belief in the Force and even pretending to have or use it. Hence Solo's statement about Obi Wan's hokey religion.

Even with the rise of the New Republic it will be some time before this sort of thing is viable. The older generation just doesn't believe.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] NSFW What does pornography look like in the wizarding world?

[Assistant] Oil-painted camgirls and nsfw gifs.  Consider the preponderance of naked classical paintings IRL, and apply that to the magic world.  Pensieve copies of particularly notable sex sessions, so you could relive somebody else's bangin' good time.  Celebrity Polyjuice prostitutes.  Stayin' up all night to Felixis Felicidae.


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

[User]
[MCU] What would a minimally competent military response to the Chitauri invasion of New York look like?

Nowadays we all know, thanks to the Romanov leak, that the military did not respond well to the battle of New York because SHIELD was compromised by HYDRA. Despite several hours of forewarning, the city was not evacuated nor were shelter-in-place orders issued, and only a few units of National Guard arrived in time to fight. The air force was a no-show.

Supposing HYDRA is out of the picture, how would the military respond, with several hours warning, to an impending alien invasion of New York? what forces could be mobilized to the city, and would they make a meaningful difference against the Chitauri?

[Assistant]
Several hours?  No, NYC had **zero** warning.  No one knew where Loki was going to strike until the last minute when Tony figured it out.  All they knew was that there was an army called the Chitauri who were supposedly coming through a portal.

They also had no idea of the timeline.  He could've been planning for days or weeks in the future.

And they had no idea of the nature of the threat.  It's problematic deploying units and equipment without knowing that.  In the end, not much would have been helpful against the Leviathan and rocket sleds.  They were too fast and mobile and too well armored for conventional weapons to do much good.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is weight loss a symptom of many deadly illnesses?

Things like HIV and Cancer often have extreme weight loss as a symptom, but what about these illnesses make your body actively lose weight so quickly?

[Assistant] For cancer at least, the "cancer" are essentially the robbers. They rob your body of nutrients, especially carbohydrates such as glucose. Normal cells can utilize glucose efficiently, compared to cancer cells. Cancer cells can only utilize glucose by glycolysis, which is far more inefficient than aerobic metabolism by healthy cells, therefore requiring more glucose to make the same energy to sustain itself. As a result, a cancer patients body will have less glucose, thus pulling resources like your fat. (Fats can be converted into energy to use for cancer cells).


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

[User] [Popeye] How strong is the average human in Popeyes universe? I mean, the man himself is capable of crushing a tin can with enough force to eject the contents clear into the air *before* he gains his super strength.

[Assistant] Look at Popeye's forearms. Those horrifyingly misshapen meat cudgels allow him insane grip strength. The average man is probably no different in his universe or ours, but good lord, with forearms like that who needs spinach?


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

[User]
[WH40K] An ork kommando just showed up outside the gates to our outpost and asked to parley. Will they keep their word?

Necrons, tyranids, chaos marines, eldar fighting eldar, and now we've got this impeccably-dressed sixteen-foot-tall monster at the gate saying we should join forces to retreat to a joint defensive point.  We're pretty desperate here, and we can use any protection the Emperor provides.

[Assistant]
The Ork probably really does want to talk; however, an Ork's idea of "talking" still involves enough fists or wrenches so as to be fatal to non-Astartes humans.

The Ork concept of "ally" is not incredibly different from "opponent." To them, it's more of an arrangement of fighting opponents in a particular order instead of all at once; the purpose of such an arrangement is to make the fighting last longer by balancing sides. This only applies to open-field battle. Their encampments still have drunken brawls in the evening, warm-up fistfights in the morning, fighting over food at brunch, fighting with food at lunch, and the pre-drunken-brawl dust-ups near sundown.


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

[User] How does Herpes work? Why are there so many forms? Why can't it be cured?

[Assistant]
Herpes viruses have a latent phase and an active phase. As double stranded DNA viruses they incubate (can't think of a better word) in the host cell nucleus, particularly the nerve cells. As these cells stay alive for your entire life, once you get the virus in them it's very hard to get rid of and is out of view of the immune system

When the virus enters its active stage the dsDNA is transcribed to mRNA by the host cell machinery and the viral proteins produced and more virus particles are assembled in the cell, resulting in the blisters and sores associated with many types of herpes.

We have no treatment for viral infections, we merely manage symptoms and try to aid the immune system in tracking down and killing the virus-infected cells, which is difficult with herpes viruses as they go through extended periods of latency in the host.

There are so many forms because herpes viruses is a term which encompases all members of the herpesvirales order. There are lots of viruses in this order: '3 families, 3 subfamilies plus 1 unassigned, 17 genera, 90 species and plus 48 as yet unassigned viruses'


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

[User] [General video games] I just dropped my chest plate and sword off at the blacksmith to be upgraded but what is he actually doing to make them better.

[Assistant]
Having a professional clean, hone and fit your blade could result in a notable change in performance, especially if it's seen a lot of wear and tear, or survived multiple owners; the sword you inherited from an old adventurer or found in a dungeon probably is in dire need of sharpening and tightening of the pommel. In extreme cases, a swordsmith can rework the entire blade geometry for superior performance. Laying in fullers can reduce the overall weight or shift the point of balance without compromising the structure. The bevel of the cutting edge can be altered for superior performance in specific situations (like a deep hollow grind for superior slashing performance on unarmored flesh, or a broader 'axe' grind to penetrate armor and bone without sticking in the target). Retempering can be very useful for ensuring a proper hardness/ductility ratio, and the original temper can wind up f'd if the user abuses the sword (excessive sharpening, sticking it in a campfire, etc). If the fittings are beat up, worked loose, or damaged, swapping them out can result in a *massive* change in handling characteristics (if your sword makes rattling sounds when you swing it around, find a swordsmith *now*).

For armor, the best resource to return ratio is from upgrading the underlying padding and supplemental materials, as opposed to dinking around with the plate itself. A fresh set of quilted padding (or more exotic/advanced materials, if available) can notably reduce the felt impact of strikes on the plate, and swapping out a pressed-ring chain mesh at the joints for pinned rings (which take longer to make, but have vastly superior performance against piercing weapons) can up your overall chances of avoiding major injury. If there is something inherently defective/damaged about the plate, a good smith can stop any forming cracks or correct any tempering flaws. For "munitions grade" armor (stuff that was mass produced, instead of being fit specifically to you), or worse, stuff you just found on a body, a smith can get it resized to your specific measurements, improving general feel and mobility without compromising protection.

And that's all mundane changes. Once magic gets involved, the sky is the limits. Runes can be inlaid, elementals can be bound, and all sorts of other shenanigans can be brought into play.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why does Ant Man lose speed and maneuverability when he's giant but doesn't gain any when he becomes smaller.

When Ant Man was huge during the Airport scene he practically was moving in Slo Mo.

[Assistant] He is moving just as fast. In ant size he can move 3 feet per second, in human size he can move 3 feet per second, and in giant size he can move 3 feet per second. Ants moving 3fps are fucking fast, humans at 3fps are pretty normal, giants look pretty slow at 3fps. Just a matter of visual perspective despite the speed being the same.


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

[User] How and when do trees decide where they will start "branching" off?

[Assistant] There are two main hormones involved. Terminal buds produce auxin, which inhibits the growth of other buds. Roots produce cytokinins, which counteract auxin. As long as there is enough auxin present and little cytokinins, the lateral buds stay dormant. Once the roots are strong enough and the terminal bud is far enough, the balance tips in the opposite direction and the buds wake up and start growing into branches.


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

[User] ELI5: Greece is on the brink of leaving the Euro so why is everyone withdrawing their money from ATMs?

[Assistant]
To understand this you need to understand how a Greek exit from the Euro ("grexit") would work.

Greece would order all its banks to close, and to turn off all their ATMs.  They would stay closed for a few days, maybe a long weekend.

During that time, everyone with a bank account would be informed that any balance they had in Euros will now be an equal balance in Drachmas.  The Greek government will keep the Euros (what few there are; there are not enough to pay everyone anyway), and they can print as many Drachmas as they need.   They may also try to go after Greek citizens with foreign bank accounts.

As soon as the banks reopen, people will begin trading Euros for Drachmas and vice versa, just like people trade any two currencies, and the market will establish an exchange rate, as it does for other currencies.

However, even though the government gave everyone 1 Drachma per Euro, once the exchange rate stabilizes, 1 Drachma is going to be worth much less than one Euro.

If you take your money out of the bank and keep it in cash, it will be sheltered from that massive loss of value.


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

[User]
[DCEU Movies] Just how fast is Superman?

I have went through so many forums from Google and I can't seem to find a definitive answer. All the answers are between Mach 7 and Mach 900. How fast is he?

[Assistant]
Supes' travel speed, when he's really high in the atmosphere and when there's significantly less friction, is some big number, it's impossible to tell.

For "combat speed" or what would be relevant to a fight, around the speed of sound, maybe a little more. You can frame calc how fast Supes moves in combat and it's not mach 5 fuckbillion or anything. Even Flash who moves around as fast as Supes if not faster usually acts within the 100 m/s-Mach range throughout Justice League.


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

[User]
As a former believer, I often wonder why faith in a higher power is not considered delusion. has anything been written about this? what is your take on this?

Why is Faith in a higher power not considered to be delusion?

[Assistant] Psychologist here. Delusions are typically stand alone beliefs. By definition if there is a group of people who share similar beliefs, even if those beliefs are incorrect and disproven, it is not delusional in a psychotic sense. This is why conspiracy theorists and the beliefs of sovereign citizens are not considered to be delusional.


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

[User] eli5: Why do different countries have different power outlets? Is it on purpose?

[Assistant]
Countries didnt all develop their electric grids together, they were slapped together independently in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Eventually the entire developed world was electrified, but you had a problem at the borders - they hadnt all selected the same voltage and frequency for their grids.  Some had picked 50Hz, others 60.  Some were at 200V, others were at 110V.

Plug in a device thats expecting the wrong flavor of electricity and it might explode.

Rather than tear down their entire grid and start over, countries just made sure their plugs were unique so you cant plug in a Russian toaster in Boston and burn the house down.


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

[User] ELI5 Why are radio stations identified by their exact frequency, such as 103.1Mhz, whereas TV stations were traditionally identified by a generalized channel number, such as 7?

[Assistant]
Radio signals are a single frequency.

TV signals contain(ed) multiple frequencies (for the video, RGB colors, and separately for the audio), so they made a dial with "channels" instead of having multiple frequency dials and forcing people to "tune" the image and then "tune" the audio separately.  That way you tune into the "channel" and the TV tunes into the sets of frequencies required to receive the video AND audio for that station.


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

[User]
Can someone explain this Cyprus debacle to me like I'm five years old?

Just as the title states. I'm genuinely interested and at this point, the research pool is so diluted with updates and follow up articles, it's hard to find the initial events that led to the current situation.

[Assistant]
Okay, you should know that unlike cyprus's other brothers greece, italy, france, and spain.  Doesn't have a debt crisis, but their economy has been in a year of recession and thats the 2nd recession they had in five years if you include the 2008-2009 recession.  Because southern europe is in austerity mode their economies are contracting and cyprus who does a lot of business with them suddenly finds himself in recession as well, also the cypriot banks have been in the shitter since they took a haircut(they gave up their ownership of greek debt/loans/bonds)  so that was a lot of money lost and the cypriot banks aren't doing so well now. So recession+Bank failure = bad.

They went to the EU for a bailout and merkel and the EU said no dice, and wary of more bailouts that if they bail out cyprus. But tells cyprus if they can come up with some billions of their own then they will give some billions for cyprus.  The prime minister of cyprus announces a plan to tax bank deposits , yes it hurts people but cyprus for years have been the equivalent of the caymans but for rich russians so thats where they think they can find some money.  People go apeshit and now their trying to prevent a bank run by limiting deposits & transfers and maybe even capital controls. Bank runs are bad because that means the banks collapses and the whole economy will collapse.Today the plan was rejected again and they are trying to find alternative solutions to the deposit tax.

Heres the options
  >   Go to russia for a bailout, sell rights to drill natural gas to a russian company, and let them build a base in cyprus.

 >   Go back to the deposit tax idea and get billions from the EU. But risk a bank run.

 >  Do nothing and collapse

Stocks all over the world and people are nervous because this crisis has the power to cause bank runs in southern europe or even to break up the euro and cause another 2008-ish global economic crisis.


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

[User]
ELI5: If tonal languages use different pitches of the same phoneme to mean different words, how does that affect emotion or other forms of context in speech?

English speakers often use a rising intonation at the end of a sentence to indicate that they're asking a question. In English, tone is also used to convey other emotions or contexts, like sarcasm.

But in tonal languages like Mandarin, tone/pitch often changes the dictionary meaning of a word. Given that, how do speakers of a tonal language indicate emotions in speech if using a different pitch or tone drastically changes what they say?

[Assistant] The term tone is a little misleading- theres still very much a different tone of voice no matter what youre saying- watch a movie in Chinese and youll be able to tell their emotions based on the tone of their voice.


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

[User]
[Dawn of the Dead 2004] Why don't the zombies eat dogs?

They ate animals in the original Romero movies, I mean, they ate bugs and such in NOTLD, and in other movies.

I would think these crazed zombies would eat dogs. Why do they just ignore it?

[Assistant] They retain one of the most important pieces of themselves deep down in their rotten zombie brain. The piece that knows that every pupper is a good boy. That's something not even death and zombification and general evil tendencies can take away from them.


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

[User] ELI5: How does RAM work?

[Assistant]
Imagine you have to do research in a library.  So you (the CPU) go to the library (the computer) and walk though the ailes (the hard drive) collecting books (data) on the topic (the computing task).  You take your books and sit down at a desk and stack all your books in a pile on the corner (RAM).  As you read through the books you end up keeping some of them open in front of you as you reference them frequently  (cache).  As you read them and process the data, you are writing your report (the processes result).

Note the relationship between your types of storage space and how fast you can reference them.  You can only have a couple books open at a time in front of you as you are skipping around reading them, but it is really fast to do so.  You can always reach over, grab a different book from the stack on the table, and replace one of the currently open books.  It takes a little bit of time to flip through the pages and find what it is you are looking for but the process is still relatively fast.  If you realize you don't have a required book on the table (the data isn't loaded into RAM) you then have to get up and wander around the library to find the book (like when your computer is taking its time turning on or opening a program for the first time).  There is one slower method of data retrieval-  when the library doesn't have the book and you have to request it from another library (pulling data over a network, aka the Internet).

A multi-core processor is when there are multiple people at the same desk doing research.  The desk space fills up pretty fast you you definitely want a big desk (lots of RAM) or it will slow everyone down because they don't have much space to store their books.

Dynamic RAM, like what you hear when you say your computer as 4 or 8 or 16GB of ram, is temporary - meaning that every night the librarian comes through and clears off your desk.  You have to start fresh every time you leave. These are the sticks of RAM that are sticking out of motherboards that you can upgrade if needed.

Static RAM, like the Flash memory of your phone or a solid state drive, is kinda like being allowed to keep your books on the a special table overnight an no one touches them.

Lots of RAM is expensive in a system (you can only put so may tables in a library) but it definatly speeds things up.  If you have "too much" RAM it doesn't really help you (how may books will you ever realistically need on any topic to find the answer?) in most cases unless you are doing some pretty high end stuff (NOT surfing the Internet or writing an email).

Cache is RAM that is built into the CPU, where space is at an extreme premium.   It's fast as hell, but very expensive.


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

[User]
What happens when a charged black hole evaporates?

BG: Black holes emit Hawking radiation, as photons, and the smaller the black hole the more it radiates until it finally disappears.

What would happen if you fed a micro black hole electrons to give it a charge, then allowed it to evaporate?  Photons can't carry a charge...  Would some particles be left behind?

[Assistant]
Hawking evaporation is not limited to photons.  If a black hole's temperature becomes of order the rest mass of an electron, the black hole can radiate electrons as well, which can carry away the black hole's charge.

More realistically, however, a highly charged black hole would attract and swallow particles of the opposite charge until it became nearly neutral.


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

[User] What is the difference between GDP (Nominal), GDP (PPP), and Real GDP ?

[Assistant]
GDP, or "Gross Domestic Product" , is a measure of how much a country produces. "Gross" because we do not measure anything but raw output; "Domestic" because we measure only what happens within the country; and "Product" because we measure how much is being produced. The value of all goods and services, minus the value of the goods and services that were consumed to to produce them, is the GDP.

We measure the value of goods by their market price. If the baker buys flour for 1$, turns it into bread, and sells it for 2$, he has added 1$ to the GDP - remembering that we need to subtract the value of the ingredients. Do this for all products, and you have the simplest measure of GDP: the nominal GDP.

Now, if we are comparing GDP's for different years, we run into a problem. The prices are not directly comparable, because the value of money can change through inflation or deflation. Lets say that inflation increases all prices and wages by 2x. The flour costs twice as much (2$), the bread sells for twice as much (4$), and thus the value added to the GDP is also twice as high (2$). However, this does not really reflect any increase in the productivity of the baker (or how much the bread is worth to the buyer), but is just a measure of inflation - consider that the person buying the bread is also paid twice as much for the same work, now. Without accounting for this inflation, GDP will appear to grow much faster than it actually has, which is a problem. When we account for it, we get "real" GDP: GDP without inflation (or deflation).

PPP-adjusted GDP is a bit different. PPP means "Purchasing Power Parity" and refers to the fact that the same amount of international money can buy different amount of goods in different countries. 100$ can get you maybe 100 cheeseburgers in the US, but maybe 300 in India, because prices are lower. Sometimes, it can make sense to take this difference in consumer prices into account when comparing the GDP of countries. If you do this, you can more easily compare the standard of living between countries - this is especially relevant when comparing rich and poor countries, as consumer prices tend to be lower in poorer countries, so they might be able to do more than you would think with a low GDP. When you correct for this, you get GDP (PPP).


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

[User]
Where do photons come from?

For example, if you were in a dark room and you lit a match, where do the photons come from? Were they dormant in the room, or stored somehow in the chemicals of the match?

[Assistant]
Photons are created/emitted when charged particles lose some energy. In the case of visible photons, the charged particle is usually an electron.

When you light a match, an exothermic chemical reaction takes place. Through multiple mechanisms, some of this energy leads to electrons in molecular orbitals being placed into excited states. As the electrons relax back down to their lowest energy state, they emit photons.

The photons were not dormant - they didn't exist at all until the match was lit. Eventually they are absorbed by another electron - probably one attached to a molecule on the wall of the room. This electron gets excited. Now, this could lead to another photon being emitted through reflection (think of the sunlight that reflects off of the moon to reach you at night), but the energy from the excited electron can also be transferred into vibrational or rotational motion of the molecules nearby and be dissipated as heat.


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

[User]
Are there any way to use self implemented data structures and algorithms?

Right now I learn data structures and algorithms for interview and myself. And I have bad feeling that my work is useless.
I mean I wrote Linked List full featured with add, delete, replace, find, sort.
And this Linked List just sits inside its folder and doing nothing :) I want use it in my projects or in my work.
But because we have very good builtin structures (i use python) using own implementations looks stupid.

Are there any online/offline chalenges (or projects) where you need to create all standard data structures (stacks, queues, linkedlists, hashmap) and all standard algorithms (sorts, searches)? Where you begin from simple data structures and algorithms and move forward using previously self created implementations. Maybe some kind of hacker/programmer game?
Maybe there is some new/modern/popular language where you need to make all by yourself?

[Assistant]
Is there a way? Absolutely, nothing is preventing you from it.

Is there a need? 99% of the time, no. Actually it would generally work strongly against your business or project goals.

I am sure there are communities where this type of work is valued, out of personal interest. Things similar to code ~~gold~~ golf, brainfuck, etc..


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

[User] Eli5 what is article 5 and should I be worried?

[Assistant] Article 5 provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked.


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

[User]
Does the portal of entry for a pathogen affect the symptoms that develop?

For example, if my eyes are exposed to a pathogen that causes respiratory symptoms would there be any effect to them?

[Assistant]
Yes, that is how people get pink eye. It really depend on the virus or bacteria, but most pathogens can plant themselves in a variety of tissues and the symptoms will depend on the specific virus.

The eyes are actually connected to the nose via lacrimal ducts, that is why people sniffle when they cry. So even if the virus is not a kind that causes pink eye, it will drain to the nose and then throat and infect what it may be best suited to infect.


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

[User]
I believe you're a bad parent if you let your child play rated M video games.CMV.

A lot of parents believe childhood violence is caused by violent video games and I believe that's not entirely true.  Violent children comes from bad parenting so instead of blaming the video game companies try doing your job as a parent and pay attention to what they are playing.  You don't have to be a genius to understand the rating system it's rather self explanatory.  What really get's under my skin are parents who **let** their kids play these games knowing the games are violent and then blames everyone but themselves.  Be the adult and take responsibility for your own actions.  Normally kids can't afford a $60-$70 game so it's not like you have no control over what your kids are exposed to.

[Assistant]
I believe that parents who intentionally stunt their child's development by sheltering them from fearful stimuli prevent their children from developing the ability to manage fear and therefore the resulting aggression.

They create children who will be both more avoidant as well are more vulnerable to fear-based mass hysteria. It is these people, who feel entitled to never have to feel fear, who support things like the war on drugs and the war on privacy because they feel entitled to have everything in the world under control, and they are unwilling, and perhaps incapable of facing the irrationality of their fears.

Such extreme sheltering sacrifices a rich and exciting life, full of the honesty and openness that can only come from a mastery of fear, for a debatable reduction in destructively aggressive behavior, shallowness, anhedonia, and the psychological quality that comes with a "domesticated" human being. Drugs, alcohol, and ideologies are a common avenue for children who were never taught how to confront their fears and insecurities.

This is more about your overall mentality towards what makes a good or bad parent than a specific criticism about video games.


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

[User]
[The Truman Show] I was just offered a job on The Truman Show. Should I take it?

Hey guys. So I've had a few minor acting gigs so far, and after one of them a producer pretty high up in the TS said he really liked me and offered me a chance to audition for the show. I obviously said yes and everyone there seemed to really like me. I even got a chance to audition in front of Christof himself. I finally heard back from them today and they said they wanted me on the show! They offered me a part as one of Truman's co-workers, which is way more than I expected. I didn't think I'd be talking to Truman every day. So obviously I'm excited and want to do it, but I don't want to make any hasty decisions, because this could effect the rest of my life. They haven't gotten back to me with an exact contract yet, but I have a few questions. Will I need to live in the Dome 24/7? Will I need to do any actual insurance work, or just pretend? Am I guaranteed housing on the island indefinitely? Will my friends and family be able to visit me on the island? What do you guys think?

[Assistant]
You lucky bastard.  Co-worker is the golden gig.  You get an easy 9-to-5 schedule and so can commute in from the greater L.A. area.  You'll be able to hang out with your friends after work, though you might have the occasional weekend "office picnic" or after work "happy hour" on set.

Don't worry about understanding anything about actual insurance work, you'll get all your lines fed to you with some awesome opportunities for improv (and a chance to steal the spotlight!)

A word of caution: some bit actors have tried to make a few side bucks by stealing props from the set and selling them on the outside to fans.  Don't do it!!  Security is keyed to watch new people for this kind of thing.  Why do you think they have new openings all the time?

But otherwise, good luck...or "break a leg"...on your new gig and prepare for worldwide fame (for at least 15 minutes of it).


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

[User] ELI5: How can a phone apply complex filters in real time through apps like snapchat, when similar effects applied through a compositor (tweaking colors, blurring, warping, etc.) can't render in real time even on a mid-range PC?

[Assistant]
There's a huge difference in quality between what Snapchat filters do and what professional image editing programs do.

PC's can do Snapchat level filters no problem, you can find streamers who do it live.


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

[User] ELI5 Why are nutrition facts and ingredients included on bottled water, but not on alcohol?

[Assistant]
Because Foods are regulated by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), which requires nutrition information on the packaging; and Alcohol is regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF*), which does not require the products to be labeled for nutritional information.

*edit. commerce of legitimate alcohol was regulated by the ATF up to 2003, where the job was handed over to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).


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

[User] [Iron Man 2] If Ivan Vanko is such a hot engineer that he can make his own Whiplash suit, then why does his dad die in squalor? Why didn't he get rich on his own merits?

[Assistant]
Dad was a turncoat SHIELD scientist who defected to the USSR by stealing the Arc reactor plans Howard Stark reverse-engineered from studying the Tesseract. Vanko Sr. promised the Soviets that they would be able to use arc reactor to power their weapon systems similar to what Hydra did with the Tessarract in WWII. Unfortunately, like Howard Stark discovered, the smallest Vanko Sr. able to go for the Arc reactor is the size of a large warehouse, larger than the Akula submarine's own nuclear reactor and a smaller energy output to boot.

Soviet command was furious. In addition to Soviet politics, Vanko was charged as an enemy of the State and sent off to the Siberian Gulags until the fall of the Soviet Union. Vanko came out a broken bitter alcoholic, and directed most of his anger and frustration on his wife and son.


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

[User]
How to reach out to a professor I haven't talked to in a year?

So I graduated from undergrad a little over a year ago and am now finishing up a master's degree in the next few months. I have a couple professors from undergrad who wrote me letters of recommendation and I meant to email them to update them on how grad school is going and stuff within the first few months of being there. My program is a one year, research-intensive program and I just got so caught up in all the work that I haven't emailed either of them and thus haven't spoken to them in an entire year. We're friends on Facebook, but I don't really go on too often (and neither do they, as far as I can tell).

It feels really weird to randomly email them at this point, but I want them to know how much their guidance in undergrad helped me get through grad school. I just can't figure out a good way to begin the email or how to phrase it so it doesn't feel so random and they're like "why is she emailing me? This is weird."

In the next month or so, I will also probably be asking one of these professors to be a reference for me in the job search, since they were my advisor all through undergrad and I also worked in their lab. I definitely don't want them to think this is the only reason I'm reaching out now to finally contact them, because it's definitely not.

I would appreciate any advice as to how to phrase things in the email (particularly how to begin it) so that it doesn't seem so weird/awkward and out of place.

[Assistant] maybe you're overthinking it. Most professors love to know about past students and they'll undrtstand that you're busy. You can write them to tell them the good news that you're graduating and use that as a pretext.


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

[User]
[Fallout] NCR questions.

My name is Sylvester Platt, I work for a small newspaper in Boston. My interest in the other side of the country has been eating away at me for a few weeks, ever since I bought a two-headed bear flag from a courier passing through with the words "New California Republic" on it.

I'm curious- How much of the New California Republic is honest-to-goodness land with laws? What is the government system like? How much more livable is it there than it is in Boston? How dangerous would it be to travel across the nation to live there?

I'm asking for a friend who may or may not have worn out his welcome after printing a few less-than-kind things about the Institute here in Boston in the newspaper he works for.

A side note, time *may* be a factor.

[Assistant]
NCR citizen here!

Depends on where you are. In California the NCR has effectively wiped out raiders, hostile mutants, and rougue settlements and is a solid democracy, if a little oligarchic. The economy could also use improvement, as the NCR dollar is still fairly worthless compared to caps.

If you lived in Nevada you would see them as busy body soldiers trying to reduce your independence and maybe even drive you off the land, especially if your a tribal. Still, better than the guys across the canyon...


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

[User]
What's John gender?

There's a case I'm thinking about in vein of gender ontology. It's inspired and loosely based on Parfit's split-brain case.
Imagine this case scenario:
John is cisgender male, he suffers from specific disease and can be only saved by having his brain transferred to another, brainless body. There's one problem, only reamining body is a (biological) female body and this transfer needs to be urgent. John agrees. He kept his personality and memories intact.
The question, is John still cisgender male, having biological female body? Is he transgender male now? Or maybe the answer is different?

[Assistant] Well, most philosophers think gender is a social phenomenon, so the answer is probably going to depend on how John is socialized. Is he still going by "John" and masculine pronouns afterwards? Or is she going to choose otherwise? We don't know enough about neurology right now to predict how John's self-identity will be affected by the transplant. Presumably this will determine much of John's socialization, and therefore gender.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do deodorant cans get cold as you spray them?

[Assistant]
A deodorant can is filled with deodorant and a bunch of pressurized gas so that when you open a small hole by pushing the button, the deodorant will come flying out, like if you're letting air out of a balloon.

The gas is under so much pressure that it becomes a liquid, but as soon as it's under less pressure, it'll stop being a liquid and become a gas again.

Here's where it's weird: when a thing goes from being a liquid to being a gas, it gains energy. That energy has to come from somewhere, so as the liquid becomes a gas, it makes everything around it colder. So as the gas flies out, everything is getting colder and colder as more heat is sucked out of the system.

A heat pack is the opposite of this. It's a bag full of a liquid that becomes a solid. Becoming a solid releases energy, so everything around it gets hotter. That's also why boiling the heat pad "recharges" it. Boiling the solid gives it so much energy that it's forced back into a liquid state, ready to give off heat by becoming a solid again later.


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

[User] [Pacific Rim] So... How's life out in the Atlantic?

[Assistant]
Like... Sea life?  Not to bad. Plenty of fish... Most of the toxic materials from Kaiju float, so you can skim them up easy enough if you get there fast and clean. It's probably no worse than a small oil spill.

Otherwise, the Kaiju don't really target the ocean life for extermination. That's not what they're designed or programmed to do. They are weapons to be used against the dominant species, Humans, not against fish.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why dont we give babies water?

I dont have kids, I'm just curious. And this may seem silly but I've never heard this being asked and I was just confused, we as humans need water, as it makes up 70-ish% of us... what about babies though?

[Assistant]
Newborns being breast fed only need mom. Its a system with feedback that works very well.

Later on, babies are given boiled water to cook and annihilate microorganisms which are dangerous to them.

And much later we give them beer because every human has a right to enjoy the accumulated knowledge of their ancestors hard work.


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

[User]
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race - Influences?

I began reading the book this morning and... it's a bit verbose for me. I'm very curious as to what works Ligotti may have picked his ideas up from in hopes that they may be easier to digest.

[Assistant]
Id advise patience. Ligotti isnt an academic philosopher, but he is a fine prose stylist.

He also highlights a number of different philosophers and philosophical works in the footnotes as you proceed through the books pages. The most important source for him is a relatively obscure essay called The Last Messiah by Peter Wessel Zapffe, a pessimistic Norwegian philosopher. You can find a copy of that essay online.


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

[User] The imaginary unit "i" satisfies i^2 = -1, are there any other numbers invented to satisfy otherwise impossible criteria?

[Assistant]
Sometimes, you start with a number system and see what you can do in that number system.  Sometimes there are things that can't be done (they are impossible *with respect to that number system*), and so you define a new extended number system for which that operation is possible.

Suppose you start with the whole numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

Addition and multiplication of whole numbers always produce whole numbers.  Subtraction sometimes does (5-2) but sometimes it is not defined (4-5).  However, we can define the number -1, so that 4-5 is defined.  And now, if we see what addition and multiplication lead to with this number added, we wind up with the integers (..., -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...).  So by adding negative numbers, we can now solve any subtraction problem among the whole numbers and, in fact, among the integers.

Fractions appear similarly.  12/4 is defined if you're just using integers, but not 2/7.  So we add the rational numbers so that division becomes possible for any integers *a* and *b* (except for dividing by 0).

But still some equations don't have solutions when you have the rational numbers.  For example, we can't solve x^(2)=2 just using the rational numbers.  So add sqrt(2), and now, if we allow addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division, we'll have to include numbers of the form *p*+*q* sqrt(2), where *p* and *q* are rational numbers.  We can similarly add roots of other numbers to make other equations soluble.

Real numbers are introduced so that a certain class of limiting operations always produces a value.  Other limiting processes lead us to define objects called the p-adic numbers.

In short, notions of what can and cannot be done depend on your number system, and we have regularly extended our number systems to make more things possible (that is, to make it so that a given operation always yields a result in the number system in which you started).


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

[User]
Why do/should researchers (not pundits) care about marital delay?

In all honesty, it's often framed as a social problem that men and women are marrying at later ages. Leaving ideological stakeholders aside, why do social scientists care?

Problems linked to late pregnancy are obvious.  But it's not clear to me that marital delay and age at first childbirth are that linked since more than half of American children born today are to unwed mothers. So let's just pretend for now that marital delay and later pregnancy aren't the same thing.

So aside from baby-making problems, why do social scientists research marital delay as a social problem? What reasons have researchers given to make other researchers see that it's a topic worthy of inquiry? What is the interest around it as a social phenomenon?

[Assistant]
Well the late pregnancy is a big issue - the increased amount of disabled children are an issue both on personal and social levels.

Another big issue is women marrying too late and not being able to have children in time before menopause at all. Sad if it was part of their life plan, significant welfare implications for the people affected.

Most importantly from an economist's point of view, a stretching of the gap between generations from 20-25 to 35 years will create an inverted population pyramid until the generation gap stabilises again. (I.e. the 40-year old parents now support both their 5-year-old child and their retired 65 year-old parents and 85-year old grandparents.) On a macro scale, the increased dependency ration that results from this is part of the reasons for the fiscal problems with most developed countries' welfare state systems -- US medicare, for instance.


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

[User]
Why is the pound normally worth more than the dollar if the UK economy is almost eight times smaller than the US?

Has the UK just been living beyond it's means and now economics and history are finally catching up to them?

In late 2007 a pound was worth an incredible $2.04, how can that happen? Do people just have more faith in the UK generally than the US?

[Assistant]
The absolute value of a currency doesn't mean anything. Imagine we called 5 usd a fiver. Now imagine we all talked about fivers, and the news referred to all US currency in terms of fivers, and in effect the entire US currency became fivers. World this change anything? Not really. The value of 1 fiver isn't going to decrease to what 1 dollar used to be,  since there's nothing about the economy that guides the absolute value of a currency.

We can explain the change in relative exchange rates using economics, but the original absolute values are generally just historical. A pound started out as the cost of a pound of silver. The dollar started as the price of some amount of gold. Once the currencies were unlinked from these assets the original price was effectively arbitrary from an economic point of view.


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

[User] Why is it that when people suffer through amnesia or alzheimers, they still retain their memory of language?

[Assistant]
Actually, in advanced stages of demetia, the centers of the brain responsible for speech and language do degenerate, making communication more and more difficult for patients with dementia. Dementia involves a degeneration of neurons in the cortex, so loss of function depends on what areas degenerate first.

As for amnesia, its simply a matter of where the trauma occurs. Memory is handled by a collection of brain tissue known as the limbic system, which is located more in the central regions of the brain. Language is handled predominately by two separate areas called the Broca's and Wernicke's area, both of which are typically located on the left hemisphere. Amnesia typically involves either the interruption of the formation of memories, or temporary disruption in the neural pathways, in both instances these don't involve the regions involved with speech.


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

[User] ELI5: As a Englishman who sees universal healthcare as a basic human right, why are such a large proportion of Americans so opposed to free healthcare, even those who would benefit hugely from it?

[Assistant]
HISTORY LESSON KIDS!

During WWII, the US put in a wage freeze.  Where companies couldn't increase the amount they paid their workers.  Their European allies didn't do that.

In order to attract better talent employers got creative and started the practice of offering "benefits" like healthcare insurance.  This was wildly popular and by the end of the generation it was cemented into the minds of americans that healthcare is provided by employers, not the government.

NEXT

The US gets involved in the Cold War with the USSR.  The US government puts out a truly **massive** amount of propaganda (some true, a lot exaggerated) about the harms of socialism and communism.

The outright fear of anything approaching socialism, and the well understood philosophy that employers provide healthcare, not the government, have brought us where we are today.

This also doesn't take into account the real issue that people think it's not a good financial decision (You said elsewhere people oppose "free healthcare" which is a sign of ignorance of the actual costs for healthcare), that it's not the federal governments place to infringe on the states in this way, and that the government is not equipped to provide this service.


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

[User] ELI5: A classic argument is: the universe can't come from nothingness, because something can't come from nothingness; Stephen Hawking says yes it can; Brian Greene says current theory states that nothingness is actually a type potential; doesn't that make nothingness something after all?

[Assistant]
So the problem here is that you're dancing around the semantic problem of defining "nothingness".  In physics, nothing is *nothing*: even empty space is a frothing sea of quantum foam with particles spontaneously popping in and out of existence constantly.  Inside the universe, there is no such thing as "nothing".  In that context, from what we think we might possibly know about "before" the universe, it's possible that our universe spontaneously sprang from "nothing" in the same way that particles out in empty space spring up from "nothing".  There might be a potential for universes to exist, and our universe is the result of that potential.

But that brings up another semantic point: what was "before" the universe?  Well, there is no "before", because time is a function of the universe.  You can't say "before" the universe because that requires a dimension of time that's moving in one direction.  Imagine a line starting at one point and going infinitely off in one direction.  What's on the line before it starts?  There *is no line* before the line starts.

We're using words and concepts that necessarily must exist within our universe and according to its rules to try to describe something that exists outside of those boundaries.  So there's going to be some places where the semantics just don't fit how we normally think of them.


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

[User]
[Alien/Predator] Given the lore of the combined continuity, are humans one of the most dangerous species in the Galaxy?

From watching a lot of media in both franchises and AVP it seems to me that, in spite of your average unarmed human getting slaughtered by most life in the Galaxy, humans as a whole are in fact incredibly adept and fearsome. Predators already consider hunting soft meaty humans to be a high honor because of how easily a hunt could go wrong, meanwhile the *Aliens* franchise shows humans are easily as much a threat to the xenomorphs as the other way around. Especially in the Alien series are humans dangerous, as theyve access to futuristic technology and a few interstellar colonies. Really only the Engineers seem to be definitely completely beyond even the future humans of the Alien franchise.

Are puny humans some of the most dangerous things in this horror universe?

[Assistant]
It seems like a matter of preparedness. Once humans know generally what you are and what you're about, you're going to have trouble. As we've seen, this doesn't even come down to technology or athletic prowess... We are a cunning species and seem to have a nigh unmatched ability to outmanoeuvre most other species just as soon as we realise they're there.

Catch us unawares though and we are cattle to the slaughter.


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

[User]
[DC] What if the person who gets a Green Lantern Ring doesn't have fingers?

Or anything to put that ring on.

[Assistant]
There are countless different alien species within the Green Lantern Corps, from beings such as a whole planet, to little bacteria. Not all members of the GLC have fingers. The ring is able to adapt to the biological aspect of their wielder.The ring is able to change its size depending on the wielder and their form. Because of the various species of GLC members, not all rings are the same size.

If a person wouldn't have a single finger, the ring could appear as an armband. If they had no arms then the ring could appear around their neck or waist.

If a person is worthy of wielding the ring, then the ring will be wieldable by them.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are 4K videos more crisp that 1080p videos even when the native screen resolution is 1080p?

I notice this a lot when watching YouTube videos on my pc.

[Assistant] This mainly has to do with how 4k gives you more bitrate (in the context of youtube), or how much less compressed the video gets when it arrives for you to watch. You know how you can compress a jpeg image to shrink the file size but make it less detailed even though the physical dimensions of the image stays the same? Youtube does mostly the same thing, but to the video instead. When you chose 4k instead of 1080p youtube doesn't compress the files as much when it gives it to you to watch, thus leading into a better video even though the physical dimensions of the video for you is the same (at 1080p)


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

[User]
Why is gluten so unique an ingredient in cooking? Are there no other edible proteins which serve a similar function?

**Edit:**

To clarify, I mean that gluten found in wheat and other glutenous grains serves to give food a somewhat more spongy texture, as well as acting as a binding ingredient.

Specifically, gluten-free baked goods are notoriously dry, dense and distasteful. Why is this? Are there no common ingredients that can fill the niche of gluten?

[Assistant]
There are two proteins glutenin and gliadin. When combined with water and mixed they uncoil and attach to each other to form gluten. During the mixing the chains stretch and intertwine to produce the gluten structure. When heated the gluten structure coagulates and solidifies. During the coagulation most of the water is released, some of the water evaporates some gets absorbed by the starches (most of flour is starch).

The thing is gluten is fairly unique. You can simulate it but it's extremely dependent on the type or recipe. Some recipes you can use eggs to simulate it. Pectin can work, cornstarch can partially compensate. Gums are popular to use, like xanthan gum.


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

[User]
Has domesticating livestock influenced micro biome in animals?

Changes in diet and even chemical control with the use of antibiotics has surely had an effect on the gut flora of so many animals no?

If so has there been new species evolve - possibly like the plastic eating variety mentioned in a recent post - entirely made possible due to the changed biochemistry of the domestication history?

Lastly could some of those have migrated to wild animals, or crossed species ?

[Assistant] I think there's no answer because it's a really good question. Microbiome research in humans really only got popular (funding) in the past 10 years. So if anyone's working on it, it's probably a shady global agriculture corporation or some struggling PhD student who's your soulmate.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is Northern Ireland/Belfast so proud of the Titanic? Should it not be seen as an embarrassment, saying it failed pretty badly?

I'm from Northern Ireland, and I still don't get it.
There are even places named after it here in Belfast, "The Titanic Quarter" etc etc.

[Assistant]
Here is a quote from a tour guide at a visitor attraction in honor of the Titantic in Belfast:

"We handed our ship over to an English captain, a Scottish navigator and a Canadian iceberg. The Irish will take the blame for nothing!"

So in their minds, they see it as an issue with the operator, not the machine.


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

[User]
CMV: all social media and search engine algorithms should be required by law to be open-source.

There is no doubt in the year 2020 that the algorithms used by social media and search giants like Facebook and Google affect the way we think, feel, and behave. However, these entities have no reason to build these algorithms in the best interest of their users, but they are built in the best interest of their business. It is well known that social media algorithms try to keep you engaged on the platform by whatever means necessary. In my personal experience, this engagement is often achieved by manipulating my emotions to make me angry and therefore more likely to respond to posts. This type of engagement doesnt make my life better though, in fact it makes it worse. I believe this is true for society at large as well.

I know that part of the solution lies on the users like me being mindful and aware of ourselves, but obviously we see that this is not working very well. While these businesses do have a right to profit off their own products, the effects these algorithms have on society at large are too big to allow them to stay under the secrecy of propriety.

Personally, Id like to take this a step further and say that third-party developers should be given access to write additional algorithms to replace the canonical ones provided by the business, so Im down to discuss this as well, but I think simply making the algorithms open-source would be a good start. This would allow scientific testing and simulations to be performed to actually measure meaningful, controlled data to better understand how the particular algorithm influences human thought and behavior. This type of knowledge *needs* to be publicly available.

CMV: for the betterment of humanity, all social media and search engine algorithms should be open-source.

[Assistant] Thing is that algorithm alone doesn't tell much. You need the data that algorithm works with to be able to reproduce the results. If you don't have all data you cannot tell why algorithm gives results it does. And companies will not release all data from all of it users. Not only because that's stuff is valuable for them but also because we don't want all our data to be public.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why would a baseball pitcher use pine tar?

In light of the Yankees pitcher being ejected from the game for having pine tar on his neck, what's the advantage of it?

[Assistant] A lot of pitchers do this to get a firm grip on the ball, especially on windy days. When a pitcher is singled out and thrown from a game, it's usually because he's being obvious and obnoxious about doing so; such was the case in yesterday's game. Pineda was caught using tar in a game against the Red Sox on April 10th and shrugged off allegations, though he knew that the Sox let him off with a warning. Blatantly running his hand across his neck less than a month later was a middle finger towards his opponents ... So they called him out on it.


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

[User] [The Culture] What are the Idirans doing after their defeat by the Culture?

[Assistant]
Some commit suicide, others join the Culture, others just work for it. They are all Watched.

Individual Idirans are able to do what they like. Some commit suicide, some join the Culture, others just work for it.

The ability of the Iridians to wage war is removed when their AIs are upgraded to super-intelligence. Now that their technology gets a say in what happens, it would need to consent to any further aggressive actions.

So the Culture has done what it does, or at least wants to do, to all civilizations it meets: Turn them into a version of itself.


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

[User] ELI5: what is the difference between borrowing a dvd my friend owns or pirating the content myself?

[Assistant]
Your friend has been deprived of the ability to watch the DVD himself.  There is only one watchable copy that's getting passed around.  If your friend wants to see the movie, he needs it back.  There can be only one person viewing the DVD at a time.

This creates scarcity.  If the two of you want to see the movie at the same time, a second copy must be purchased.  That's different than pirating the content.  When you pirate, the number of views is limitless.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do I sometimes run out of breath and get tired while walking slowly up stairs, but I feel fine after running at a good pace for 10km?

I don't smoke nor do I have any health issues.

[Assistant]
walking up stairs your body is quickly thrown out of homeostasis (simply put, a steady state where it is supplying organs and muscles with the blood it needs). Because you're only thrown out of homeostasis for a few seconds, the body starts to adapt, raising blood pressure and opening more blood vessels - which the action of your moving legs helps drive the blood around the body. Your body is still attempting to adapt and then you stop, but your blood vessels are still wide open and are now struggling to push blood back to the brain and lungs.

In a 10k run your body reaches a homeostatic state while running, so you aren't as tired after your run. But after a run you keep moving...If you were to stop dead after a hard 10k though, you would likely faint for the exact same reason.


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

[User]
I did a quick experiment with bathroom scale, help with results?

My scales have been displaying the same weight for weeks, so I did a quick experiment with the three bathroom scales we have at home.

Using a 7.5kg weight plate, I tested all three, two had the correct weight, one had 7.4. I then weighed myself & got three different readings. 71.6, 71.5 & the third scale which was out by 100 grams was 71.2.

My theory is that body weight isn't static quick enough for the scale to correctly record the weight. Is that right? Am I close?

[Assistant]
Without knowing how your scales are constructed, all we can do is guess.

If your scale uses springs, then the springs can get worn out and become more inaccurate over time. If different parts of the spring wear differently, it can return different "bad" readings as you stretch the spring by putting weight on the scale. So, in other words, you're not stretching it out nearly as much with the test-weight as you are with the you-weight.

It may instead use compression strain gauges, in which the weight of whatever you're putting on the scale presses down on a gauge that changes its electrical resistance when it's squeezed. The more you press on it, the more the resistance changes. Measuring that tells the scale how much weight is on it. If the strain gauge isn't working right, it can return spurious readings.

And those two are assuming that your scales were not defective from the factory. You might just have crappy scales that never were accurate in the first place because they weren't designed very well.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What happened to all remaining clone/stormtroopers after the Empire had fallen?

Where did they go? What did they do?

They're all exactly the same, save for a few trained in specifics.

What was life like for a stormtrooper after the war?

[Assistant]
By Endor, most Stormtroopers weren't clones, they were enlisted men and conscripts (maybe).  Also, Endor wasn't the end of the Empire.  It remained as a dominant force for some time, and as a remnant for decades after Endor.

As for those Stormtroopers that left when things started falling apart?  I'd imagine if their homeworld wasn't under Imperial control they could go back there, if they were a career soldier, the Rebellion/New Republic could find a place in their forces for them.


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

[User]
[MCU] The Mind Stone gave Scarlett Witch mind powers, fair enough. Why did it give Quicksilver super speed? [POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

Such a strange choice for an Infinity Stone based around the power and workings of sentient creatures' minds.

And since Quicksilver's powers also originate from the Mind Stone, could he also be uniquely positioned to destroy it, like Wanda is?

[Assistant]
I can only speculate, but perhaps the stone builds off the particulars of that person's mind/personality.

Quicksilver was always running away. His big moment was finally taking a stand and responsibility.

While Quicksilver flees, Wanda has a tendency to retreat into herself in stressful situations. She doubts herself or obsesses over the negative of a scenario. We repeatedly see other people try to pull her out of this. Hawkeye, Cap, and Vision all try to pep talk Wanda out of her "withdrawal from reality" at various moments.


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

[User]
Why isnt the Sun more uniform?

Ive been seeing a lot of Sun photos lately- flares, spots, canyons, etc. After millions of years, why hasnt gravity or diffusion or a similar process made the Sun homogeneous and uniform in appearance? Or is it, but its just at such a large scale that even small variations stand out?

[Assistant]
Mostly because the fluid in the Sun is highly turbulent and this turbulence is constantly driven by the generation of heat through nuclear fusion. It is a very sensible question, given the fluid dynamical problem you are considering, to ask how strong the effects of diffusion are (since it is diffusion that acts to smooth out the small scales) and what timescales they operate on.

Diffusion has not smoothed it simply because the timescales for diffusive processes in the Sun are extremely long (it is fairly straight forward to compute these timescales). The timescale for molecular viscosity is on the order of 10^6 billion years, the timescale for the diffusion of the magnetic field is 10^2 billion years. Both of these are longer than the current age of the universe let alone the age of the Sun. Thermal diffusion operates much faster but even then its timescale is of the order of 10 billion years which is the same timescale as the lifetime of the Sun. As such diffusive effects operate far too slowly to smooth things out which is why you see so much turbulence on the surface (which is driven by thermal convection) and various magnetic features (driven by the Suns internal dynamo which is driven by convection and differential rotation).

The reason why gravity has not smoothed it out is a little more subtle. It is trying to and has done a very good job of it considering how spherical the Sun is. However, it has to compete against the buoyant rise of convective plumes due to the nuclear fusion occurring within the Suns deep interior as well as the buoyant rise of magnetic flux.


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

[User]
Where does Rorty say to avoid metaphysical problems is to stop asking them?

I am reading a dissertation and writer says this:

"For Rorty, the way to avoid metaphysical problems is to stop asking (and thinking about, and obsessing over) metaphysical questions. This will take time and practice, but its primary strategy is simple avoidance. For the pragmatist, nihilism takes essentialist theories of truth too seriously." (Rorty,  Consequences of Pragmatism, 1982, xxxvii, xlii, 192-3 and 206-8.)

But when i check the original text i don't think Rorty says or implies that thought in those pages. I am not well versed about Rorty's pragmatism, does he make that point if so in which book or article? Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
I don't have that book, but those later citations are pointing to parts of "Method, Social Science, and Social Hope" (especially the first few pages) where he says stuff like this:

>  The importance of Kuhn seems to me to be that, like Dewey, he is
 one of these few. Kuhn and Dewey suggest we give up the notion of
 science traveling towards an end called 'correspondence with reality'
 and instead say merely that a given vocabulary works better than
 another for a given purpose. If we accept their suggestion, we shall not
 be inclined to ask 'What method do scientists use?'...We shall not think there is or could be an epistemologically
 pregnant answer to the question 'What did Galileo do right that
 Aristotle did wrong?,' any more than we should expect such an answer
 to the questions 'What did Plato do right that Xenophon did wrong?' or
 'What did Mirabeau do right that Louis XVI did wrong?' We shall just say
 that Galileo had a good idea, and Aristotle a less good idea; Galileo was
 using some terminology which helped, and Aristotle wasn't. Galileo's
 terminology was the only 'secret' he had - he didn't pick that ter-
 minology because it was 'clear' or 'natural,' or 'simple,' or in line with
 the categories of the pure understanding. He just lucked out

That is, Rorty sees Kuhn and Dewey as putting an end to asking certain kinds of questions and, thus, ending the flailing which he describes the tradition as being locked in.


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

[User]
ELI5: "Hydrogen is an odorless colorless gas which, given enough time, will start to think about itself."

I just read this on an askreddit thread.
... what?

[Assistant]
long story short hydrogen is what most main sequence stars are predominantly made of (followed by the heavier elements in decreasing order of probability).

When hydrogen fuses to make heavier elements it gives off light (energy) which we see/feel.  Eventually all (most) of the hydrogen is fused and the star begins to fuse heavier and heavier elements.  Eventually it cannot fuse anymore (Iron) and cannot fight back against gravity.  When this happens the star explodes littering space with all sorts of elements which eventually gather and form other stars, planets, junk, andy dick, etc...

Our Sun for instance is predominantly Hydrogen but actually contains various heavier elements that a "pure hydrogen" star wouldn't have at this point.  Very likely our solar system is the product of other stars going nova.


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

[User] Why is double free() an error? Why couldn't the OS check during freeing memory if it's already free?

[Assistant] Freeing free memory isn't a big deal, but memory isn't just free forever to go live in peace on a farm. It gets reused. If you accidentally free memory that belongs to someone else now, that can cause some issues. Warning you that you double-freed something actually helps you out a lot.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are Spanish, and Portuguese colonies in the Americas so poor in comparison to the English/French ones?

From my knowledge on geography, and natural resources, shouldn't South/Central America have a step up on a country like Canada that is 99% ice (hyperbole). Also wasn't Spain and Portugal fairly rich as well?

[Assistant]
The Spanish and Portuguese were not colonialists. Their intent was never to establish permanent colonies and expand their empires, but to *exploit* the natural resources of these lands, and bring it back to Europe so they could rise above the rest of European countries.

This means Spain and Portugal fought really hard to keep these settlements underdeveloped and dependent on them. This approach is what set those places back.

There are other cultural aspects you could blame here, but this is the main reason.


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

[User] ELI5: How the stock market can "crash."

[Assistant]
A lot of stock trading takes place on the "bigger fool" theory.

It may be true that only a fool would buy a certain stock at a certain price, but if a fool buys it and then sells it to a bigger fool at a higher price, he will still make money. So a lot of people take stupid risks on the assumption that they will always be able to find a bigger fool.

Stock prices crash when it appears that they are running out of fools.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is exactly happening in my brain/body when "I'm zoned out and don't feel like doing absolutely anything"?

Typically on a Sunday afternoon, for instance.

[Assistant]
You're in a safe, undirected, hypnotic trance.

Your subconscious mind is still working in the background, watching out for fire, home invasions, and the like.

Just as it is when you're zoned out driving to work and suddenly realize you have no memory of the ride with its eight stoplights along the way that you *must* have stopped for.

A directed trance is what you see at a comedy hypnosis show where volunteers are told what to do. Your conscious mind is zoned out but your subconscious has fun acting silly.


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

[User]
Could two sheets of aluminum foil insulate a house?

Both sheets, not touching, in between the exterior walls: one to reflect heat back into the house and the other to reflect the cold outwardly?

[Assistant]
Insulate to what extent?

Insulation generally takes advantage of the fact that air doesn't conduct heat very well. This is why fluffy things are insulating, they trap air within the fluff resulting in a barrier for heat transfer.

The trick here is trapping the air. Eventually heat will conduct through whatever barrier material you have and heat up the air. Hot air want to rise, and if you let it then convection starts. The hot air is replaced with cool, and the transfer proceeds all the quicker. Aluminum is somewhat reflective but it conducts heat well also. After all you don't wrap potatoes in foil to prevent them being cooked.

So if you just had a hollow wall with foil on each sides the foil would conduct heat through and the hollow space would allow a flow of air to start making a terrible insulation.


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

[User]
CMV: A person's opinions should ALWAYS matter more than their demographics (i.e. their race, age, sexual orientation, gender, and religious identification)

You could say that a person's religious identification constitutes his/her opinions, but that isn't always the case.  A person could be BORN into a religion before he can generate opinions on his own.  Therefore, practicing a certain religion could be all that he knows and part of his identity.  Therefore, in some cases, a person's religious identification is something he/she can't always control!

However, that does not change the fact that a person's opinions\-\-something he/she HAS GOT control over\-\-should always matter more than his/her demographics\-\-something he/she cannot control.  Martin Luther King kind of alluded to this when he made his "Dream Speech", saying that the content of a person's character should mean more than the color of his/her skin!

[Assistant]
The two are somewhat inseparable.

Your demographics almost inherently inform your opinion don't they? Your demographics have a role in your lived experiences and it's through those lived experiences you generate your opinions.

This is a big issue with perspective. Some people's demographics allow them a different perspective. So why then shouldn't their demographics be considered as a caveat to their opinion?


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What if palpatine turned obi wan to the dark side instead of anakin?

Let's say the jedi made the sensible decision of keeping a close eye on anakin during the clone wars, what with the whole prophecy thing going on. Palpatine can't get close to him, but he does know a jedi that he believes can be turned in his stead: obi wan Kenobi. It's tough, of course, but eventually he twists kenobi's sense of loyalty and a desire for peace into something far darker.

Anakin, in a rare moment of freedom, is sent to kill grievous on utapua. Kenobi, meanwhile, goes with the other jedi masters to palpatines's office. Someone has tipped off the order that palps be sithing. However, doubt clouds kenobi's mind. At last, his fall to the dark side is complete.

What happens next? Bonus points if you could find a compelling reason for Kenobi to betray the order. Mine's a bit vague.

[Assistant] Darth Maul kills obi-wans love interest in the clone wars. If obi wan had been held prisoner by maul a bit longer, in time for palpatine to turn up, the emperor could have exploited the fear and anger caused by this traumatic event, and force obi wan to kill maul in his anger. As obi-wan, even as a sith would likely be more rational than Anakin, he doesn't make the same mistakes, still beats anakin in a duel so after the fall of the republic the emperor has a more powerful right hand man than Vader. There's also no luke in this universe so the empire doesn't fall to the rebellion probably.


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

[User]
Is the chance of winning the lottery on a ticket with in-order numbers the same as random numbers?

Sorry if the title is confusing, I couldn't find a better way to phrase it.

If 6 balls are pulled out of the lottery, is the chance of winning the same for increasing numbers in order and randomized numbers?

For example:
You pick your numbers in order to be: 1,2,3,4,5,6
or: 11,12,13,14,15,16

Or you pick random numbers to be something like: 24,11,14,3,27,35

Would you have better chances with the random numbers? I couldn't imagine the numbers being picked in order. It seems like the chances are a lot lower for that. But don't all numbers have the same chance of getting pulled?

[Assistant]
Both 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 24,11,14,3,27,35 have precisely the same chance of winning. Your evaluation of your chance of winning with 1,2,3,4,5,6 (extremely unlikely, like almost never) is closer to the correct chance and is how likely you should feel of winning with any combination you pick.

That said, there is a point of truth in what you've asked: the chance of a straight is much less likely than a non-straight. However, this is a lottery not roulette and you don't get to bet on straights against non-straights. You only get to bet on one set of 6 numbers and every set has precisely the same chance of winning.


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

[User]
What is up with the seahorse? It looks like nature hit the random button during critter creation. Where did it evolve from? what other sea critters is it related to?

I was speaking with my son while walking our dog the other day and we agreed that most critters seem to be a variation on other critters, be it a long neck deer or a chompy water rat. When asked about seahorse however neither of us could come up with an answer. So what is up with the seahorse how did it come be? What other animals can we see that it's genetically close to?

[Assistant] The family is called the Sygnathids, which includes seahorses and seadragons and pipefish. If you look up pipefish, you'll see that they look like a stretched-out, less horsey version of a seahorse: similar eyes, jaws, and mouth, but long and slender like, well, a pipe. Seadragons are shaped like a cross between the two, with a more seahorse-shaped body but without the seahorse's characteristic upright body position while swimming. All the Sygnathids do the thing where the male incubates the eggs, either in a pouch or attached to his tail.


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

[User]
When 2 fermions are affected by the Pauli Exclusion Principle, what actually happens to them that causes "repulsion" ?

For example in electron degenerate matter in a white dwarf, there is pressure holding up the mass from further collapse. But which force is producing that pressure?  Two electrons try to get into the same space closer to the core, and they are prevented by Pauli Exclusion, but what "pushed" them back?

[Assistant]
Easier to understand if you think of a large collection of fermions in a small finite volume, rather than just 2.

When you attempt to force multiple fermions into a small space, they cannot all occupy the lowest kinetic-energy state.  Instead, they start to "stack up" in terms of kinetic energy or momentum.  Even if there is a mechanism for them to emit energy and achieve a lower momentum, the ones with high momentum can't because there's no unoccupied state for them to drop into.

If you now attempt to squeeze them into a slightly smaller volume, there are fewer available states within each narrow range of momentum, so you have to add enough energy to push some up into higher momentum states.  This is the equivalent of classical pressure, in that you must do work to reduce the volume.

By analogy, consider a large bin containing incompressible balls.  At very low density (only a few balls rolling around on the floor of the bin), there's no additional work required to compress the bin a bit.  At high density (the bin is partially filled with tightly packed balls) you have to add energy to lift some of the balls higher against gravity.  But that's only the case if there are more balls than can sit side-by-side on the floor of the bin.


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

[User] How do we know that quarks are fundamental particles (dont have a substructure)?

[Assistant] We are not sure and there are searches for hints of compositeness. It is unlikely, however. Typically you expect to see a substructure before the involved energy reaches the rest energy of the particle. You see that an atom has a nucleus and electrons with a few electronvolts of energy (ionization), you see that the nucleus has a substructure (protons/neutrons) with a few million electronvolts, you see that the protons and neutrons have a substructure (quarks/gluons) with ~100 million electronvolts - compared to proton and neutron masses of 940 million electronvolts (and more for larger nuclei and atoms). Now we are at trillions of electronvolts and still no substructure of quarks visible. It would need very strange fine-tuning of their components and their binding to create something relatively light that cannot be split even with so much energy.


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

[User]
What makes definition of a word the "correct" one?

 Greetings everyone. Let me elaborate and give you some context for the question posted above:
Quite some time ago, on another subreddit, one of the users created a post titled "Should we cure aging?", with a video of 40 minutes long attached, where he expressed his thoughts on the matter. Now, what is generally meant by aging in the context of life extention is senescense - gradual detirioration of organism, that leads to loss of ability, reduction in quality of life and general survivability. Curing this basically means reverting that damage, so the person is young and healthy again, and ideally making it so that it stays that way for as long as they want to live. Certain another user did the following: He produced a definition of aging that included EVERY PROCESS that can be expected to happen "naturally" in human body over the course of life, from gestation to senescense and death, including even something as optional as pregnacy. Then he declared that  definition to be "THE CORRECT DEFINITION" and aggressively dismissed anyone who dared to not agree 100%, utterly ignoring what the OP meant. Based on that definition of his, he then proceeded to "prove" that curing aging is impossible "by definition". Which of course says nothing about the practical possibility of achieving what was meant by the OP. So i have these questions to ask:

**1) What can make a given definition the "correct one"? Are there any objective criteria?**

**2) How can one demonstrate, that one definition of a word is better than another to convince someone to accept it?**

3) What is it called, when a person concludes that something about a thing is impossible in practice, based solely on the definition that they gave to the word that denotes it? For example. somebody points at a house, and says "it is a house", then he gives the following definition of "house" - "any construction that can't burn". Let's imagine that this is his house, and suddenly it caught fire. You are pointing that to him, and he dismisses you, saying "That's asinine. My house can not burn BY DEFINITION". It's propably a known and researched fallacy, i just don't know the name of it.

Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
A lot of important philosophical disputes sometimes turn into terminological disputes like this one. One thing that often helps is to clarify all possible definitions someone could mean, explain which you will focus on, and then argue based on that. In the aging example, someone *could* go on to keep using a different definition than yours, but as long as you agree we should stop aging in sense 1 but allow aging in sense 2, then it doesnt really matter which one you *call* aging.

But sometimes, particularly with bedrock normative vocabulary like right and wrong, you cant just concede the term to the opponent and use a new one. Those situations are rare though.