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

[User]
[MCU] How would Benjamin Poindexter (Bullseye) have turned out if Stick had trained him from childhood? What would have changed?

Now, Dex was a very peculiar child. He demonstrated extraordinary throwing accuracy, lacked empathy, and demonstrated qualities of someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill.

Imagine , Stick managed to find him after his parents passed. He is able to get a read on who he was as a person,and noticed his throwing ability. He decides to train him as a child soldier for the Chaste.

Personally, I think Stick would have a field day with Dex, as he would find what he couldn't look for in Matty.

What changes from here on out? How would Dex have turned out with proper training at a young age? How would he get along with Elektra? How will this change his character , and the MCU?

[Assistant]
Stick is kind of shit at training kids.

I mean he can turn them into excellent fighters, but they all end up with an entire airport worth of emotional baggage, and tend to either desert (Matt) or turn evil (Elektra).

And you want this guy to train a kid who has sociopathic personality disorder? Poindexter would be joining the Hand faster than you can say "daddy issues."


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

[User] ELI5: Why are some physics equations like F = ma so clean and simple? Is it inherent to the universe, a result of how we do math, or something else?

[Assistant]
Some relationships are just more complicated than others. Usually when you're dealing with simple rates, and assuming a simple scenario, you get "clean"-looking equations. F = ma. V = IR. d = vt.

It's hard to answer any kind of "why" question in science. You could say that some of these things are basically just definitions - e.g. newtonian/euclidean velocity can be *defined* as distance over time, so v = d/t by definition, so d = vt is just one step away from that definition.


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

[User] How would our understanding of physics (or more specifically E&M) change if we found a magnetic monopole?

[Assistant]
EM, not much. EM is already prepared to accommodate for magnetic charges - the fact that there are none around is just a fact that electromagnetism cannot explain, neither at the classical nor the quantum level. In fact if you take a look at any electrodynamics textbook, chances are it has a section on magnetic charges, dyons, and their dynamics - that's because the *theory* in itself, as an abstract mathematical structure, has no intrinsic reason to restrict itself to purely electric currents - it's just an empirical fact.

Monopoles in the real world instead would come from a theory of grand unification, a theory of a single unified interaction above the scale of 10^(16) GeV (much, much, much higher than LHC) which under that scale is broken to the three standard model forces: colour, weak isospin and weak hypercharge, a combination of which is electromagnetism. Monopoles are produced during the symmetry breaking as the Universe cools from above that temperature to below through a process known as the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.

There's many different GUTs, which have different predictions for the existence and properties of monopoles. Finding one would give very useful information on what GUT best describes the real world.

Now essentially all GUTs predict monopoles (of some kind) and the KZ mechanism predicts they should be produced in abundance. So why are none observed? Well, either there is a flaw in the above reasoning, or something diluted them immensely after their production, so there's few enough of them right now that we have no hope of finding one soon. The latter view seems to be the most popular with the diluter being cosmic inflation.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k/30 Years War] What would have happened if the Chaos Gods had emerged earlier in human history, in the midst of the Reformation.

In the midst of the disastrous and fragmentary Thirty Years War the Protestant League fights against the Catholic Emperor and his allies. Unbeknownst to the warring powers, in the darkest recesses of the Warp the dark Gods of Chaos have awake millenia earlier than expected. In their wake comes the Damnation of Mankind.

Innumerable sects of Christianity flourish throughout Europe, and in their wake come the cults of Chaos. The newly awaken Gods feed on the energies of this bloody European war: Khorne flourishes in the endless death and destruction of the Thirty Years War. Tzeentch is powered by the now-constant desire by Christians to reform and change their Holy Mother Church. And finally Nurgle offers the ever-sought eternal life for the one bargaining chip all Christians have: their very souls.

So, how does this play out?

[Assistant]
This uh, was actually how it used to happen.  The Medieval Ages, and time after, were when the Gods of Chaos woke up in Lore, and still do.  They, instead of dealing with Humanity, dealt with the greater Galactic scene, because there was more war, change, and life out there than Human lands.

But if you must know, the Emperor would reveal himself at this point, most likely rally the Catholic peoples and their relators, and fight Chaos directly.  Khorne would feed the greatest but not eternally.  Aided by the great Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and the locals, driving Chaos from the Terran lands would be, truly, child's play.  The faith was strongest at this point, and would only grow stronger, become more ingrained in Human thought.

Think of the time - the Inquisition was around.  Teutonic Orders existed and aided.  Jerusalem was under Ottoman control, Christians angered by this.  A Christian War was raging, it was the perfect time for a common enemy to arrive and threaten all.  Without the advanced technologies of the 41st Millennia, Chaos would be severely limited to Human Technology.

Truly, it would be a great battle that would begin the Emperor's work earlier.

**EDIT: You're asking for Warhammer Fantasy, actually.  This is literally Warhammer Fantasy.**


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

[User]
Any young adult philosophy book recommendations? I work in an adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit and often certain themes arise in my groups with them. I'd love to set up a group dedicated to introducing them to philosophy and critical thinking.

All of the young people I work with have experienced significant adversity, trauma and deprivation. The psychiatric system in turn hampers them in additional ways. I'm a psychologist with limited philosophy study in my undergrad days and I think a philosophy group in addition could help them cope with the system they are in. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

[Assistant] If youre thinking about a novel, Sophies World is a great suggestion. If you want something less objective then you have to keep in mind that youre conditioning their beliefs at that age. Nonetheless, there is The Myth Of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.


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

[User] ELI5: How are bar codes regulated and standardized? How do they prevent two items having the same barcode?

[Assistant] Bar codes, conceptually, don't have any system to prevent duplication, but there are systems that use bar codes that enforce uniqueness.  The UPC codes you see on grocery store items are one of them.  In that system the first half of the digits are a manufacturer code (and some other data), unique to each manufacture.  The second half is up to the manufacture to control to assign to each of their products uniquely.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do fast food places sell burgers, but not hot dogs? Burgers and hot dogs always go together outside of fast food places.

Hey thanks for the explanations! Also, to everyone who keeps saying "Sonic sells them" or "this place or that place seeks them", that is not an answer to my question.

[Assistant]
In the simplest terms, hot dogs take longer to cook, and fast food wants to move as much food as it can in as little time as possible.

There are ways around the hot dog cooking problem, historically known as 'systems'. The 'Coney Island System' uses a hot water bath to keep dogs hot and ready to serve. Rhode Islanders will be familiar with the related 'New York System' which involves keeping dogs (more specifically, hot wieners) hot and ready on a low-temperature grille. (There is more to the NYS than this, but this is the part specific to hot dogs.)

Both the above prepare food even if it won't be sold, and any that isn't sold will be wasted. Modern fast food does not tolerate that, not on the scale of the major operators we're familiar with.

A related factor is taste. Americans are just more into hamburgers than hot dogs, in contexts other than tailgaters and cookouts. The potential sales volume doesn't justify the potential waste, especially on a large scale.

Countless smaller operators still do both, but most of the big ones don't. Some do, though.

In the case of McDonald's, the brothers' original barbecue-centred menu was replaced in 1948 with a much more streamlined one focusing only on bestsellers, which did not include hot dogs.


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

[User]
ELI5: How come some pictures from the 1920/30s have what looks like higher resolution than pictures from the 1950/60s?

ELI5: How come some pictures from the 1920/30s have what looks like higher resolution than pictures from the 1950/60s?

I've seen pictures from all of the decades and it just confuses me why there would be a better picture quality 40 years prior to the low res photo.

I know there's obvious explanations like the people in the later photo were moving or they had a worse camera than the one used in decades prior but that doesn't make sense to me.

[Assistant]
The Kodak Instamatic.

Released in 1963, the Kodak Instamatic was a series of cheap, easy to use cameras. They generally had a fixed focus, minimal controls for aperture and shutter speed, and used very small negatives that were generally very "fast" (i.e. ISO 200 or 400). It was possible to take good pictures with an Instamatic, but just like older cameras you had to take the time to do it right: you had to have the right light, be exactly the right distance from the subject, stand still, etc. If any of those elements were off (especially the distance one) your photo would be blurry.

Prior to the Instamatic (and other easy to use cameras, like the Polaroid Land camera) taking a photo was a complicated process, and expensive. If you were going to take a picture, you took the time to set it up and do it right.


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

[User]
I'm reading conflicting statements. What's best for a laptop's battery? Leaving it plugged in, constantly draining the battery, taking the battery out while plugged in, etc. There has to be a scientific answer instead of all this guesswork.

It's an "8 Cell Smart Lithium Ion Battery Pack, 76.96Wh"

[Assistant] A general answer: Li-ion batteries lose capacity depending on temperature. So keep your battery cool (and dry) to preserve its life. If your battery is 100% charged, the loss of capacity is larger than at 50% charge, so in general, don't store your battery at 100%, and don't leave it charging while at 100% and in use.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do Americans celebrate Columbus Day despite Columbus never setting foot in their country?

[Assistant]
Columbus is often credited with establishing European contact with the Americas as a whole, even though he didn't discover the region or set foot in what is now the USA.

Columbus Day was largely pushed on Americans by Catholics (and some protestants) who recognize Columbus as a key figure in the worldwide spread of Christianity.  He is also celebrated by Italian-Americans of which there are many.

Generally, Americans "celebrating Columbus Day" just means they take the day off.  People don't really celebrate Columbus outside of specific communities which are largely Catholic and/or Italian.  Some states don't even officially recognize Columbus day.


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

[User]
How do we know for certain that the observable universe is almost entirely matter, and not partially antimatter?

I've heard that one of the puzzling thing about antimatter is why it wasn't favored in the creation of our universe, and that mostly matter was produced in the Big Bang.

I've also heard that antimatter can form anti-planets, anti-stars and pretty much any other object that matter can.

So then, the obvious question follows: since the universe is so very spread out, and most objects never come into contact with each other, why are we so sure that all the stars and galaxies we're looking at in a particular part of the sky are made entirely of matter and not antimatter? How could one know the difference at that distance?

**In short, how can we prove that every star and planet in the observable universe is, in fact, matter and not antimatter?**

It seems like a pretty big assumption that we're making to me.

[Assistant]
Intergalactic space isn't exactly empty. It's filled with incredibly sparse gas and dust etc. At the boundaries between matter and antimatter galaxies (or galaxy clusters or even bigger structures) there should be enough annihilation events to produce a tell-tale gamma-ray signal, which is not observed.

In addition, galaxies collide with eachother, and there's no evidence of an antimatter galaxy ever colliding with a matter one.

Lastly, going from the Big Bang to an incredibly inhomogeneous distribution of matter and antimatter to the point where whole antimatter galaxies could form requires a rather exotic mechanism. It really raises more questions than it answers.


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

[User] ELI5: How do workers get the last crane off the top of a skyscraper when they finish building it?

[Assistant]
The cranes that actually sit on the building itself? Well, there are two kinds of those.

So-called "skycranes" are actually lifted in via helicopter. Those will be removed in the same way.

But "internal climbers," which are located in the center of the building and "climb" up a few floors at a time on a hydraulic lift as the building is constructed? Well, when the final floor is finished, the crane will raise components to build a temporary scaffolding to support itself. This permits the removal of some of the very large components on which the crane usually rests, e.g., the hydraulic lift, steel beam supports, etc., which the crane lowers down to the ground out the outside of the building. Once that is finished, the rest of it is then disassembled and sent down the construction/freight elevator.


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

[User] ELI5 - Why does putting the top on a pot of boiling pasta make it frothy and boil over?

[Assistant] The starch released into the cooking water stabilizes the froth that you get if you boil it too vigorously. Putting the lid on keeps more heat in so effectively it's like turning up the electricity or gas too high.


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

[User]
CMV: Transgenders only enforce gender stereotypes.

I try not to be bigoted, and I'd really like to open my mind to this, especially as my cousin begins his HRT. I'm a strong liberal, but I believe the concept of transgender individuals is tied strongly to the concept of gender roles. Why bother changing your gender, or identifying as a different one, if they are equal? Dysphoria is a real issue, but that's purely psychological. If someone truly believed man = woman, then why would they feel the need to be one or the other. Men can wear make up, nail polish, dresses, suits, high heels, and be nurturing. Women can do the same. When I was little, they called me a tomboy. I prefer video games and basketball to shopping. I don't doubt I'm a woman, because I've seen myself in the mirror. Gender isn't real, sex is. You were born male or female (or the medical anomaly of intersex), and it doesn't change a thing, and neither will changing what's in your pants.
With that said, I know this is a touchy subject, and I genuinely don't mean to offend, only to educate myself.

EDIT: I'd say my view has been successfully changed, though I'm still interested in learning more about the non-cis thought processes and what it's like being trans in today's society.

[Assistant]
Gender identity =/= gender roles.

**Gender roles** are OBVIOUSLY cultural and changeable, we know for a fact about historical male clothing styles that are feminine by modern standards, there is nothing inherently masculine or feminine about calling yourself "Andrea", (masculine name in Italy, feminine in most of Europe), and there are stereotypical emotions, skills, or behaviors that changed gender associations over time.

**Gender identity** is based on a neurological basis, with your brain attempting to map your body, and most of the time matching your biological sex. When it's not, people tend to signal that to the outside world from a young age, by changing gender roled first.

There are transwomen gamers, tomboys, transwomen lesbians, and the reverse applies for transmen. If these appear rare, that might be because:

1. You would be hard-pressed to recognize one: a trans woman who happens to be short-haired, flat-chested, into masculine hobbies, and into women, might appear to be your average bro, whether or not they decided to go through sex-reassignment surgery.

2. If they want to go through with it, they might be expected to signal being transgender by their doctor, by their family, and surroundings. If by all appearances you are a long-haired woman in makeup a dress who suddenly declares that actually he is an effeminate gay man in makeup and a dress, and would feel more comfortable with some dangly bits, the required screenings as well as your social acceptance, would be a lot harder, with more accusations of frivolity.

For better or worse, traditional gender roles signal our identity to the rest of the world. For a long time this meant signaling our assigned sex. Recently, we have started understanding gender dysphoria, so it's used to signal gender identity regardless of assigned sex. Maybe on a long term we would be better off with no gender roles at all, but for now, they are a fact of life.


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

[User]
[Batman] Does Gotham have a suburban sprawl? We only ever see dense city or wilderness.

Hi, urban planning major at Jump City State College here. In other cities fears of rising crime in urban areas motivated a trend of suburban development. Additional upsides were more green space and less concentrated population in case of a Cold War/supervillain strike. Now of course we're looking at more sustainable development, so I'm wondering why Gotham never seems to have built suburbs in the first place despite not having the best quality of life. Whenever I look at videos from there it's dense skyscrapers, apartment blocks, factories, and rowhomes or it's thick forests like that state park near Wayne Manor.

Is it a land-use thing with the City vs County? Maybe that's an East Coast thing. Were they just very forward-thinking with their urban renewal attempts? I know the Wayne Foundation has been pouring money into the city, but that's only been going on maybe 10-20 years?

[Assistant]
In the animated series, there were a couple of instances of normal looking neighborhoods.

Poison Ivy once took on the role of loving partner and mother in one, claiming she turned a new leaf (if you'll pardon the pun), but it turns out they were plant clones and she was using them as cover.

Theres also the time Batman was injured by the Penguin and was saved by a bunch of kids dragging him into their basement.


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

[User]
CMV: I'm all for police reform, but defunding the police isn't gonna do jack

 A degenerate cop that can't afford a riot suit **is still** a degenerate cop. Defunding the police doesn't address the **real, core problem** of police brutality. The root issue is **accountability.**

I present to you-

**The surface problem-** Individual cops are killing people, brutalizing people, and breaking their vow to serve and protect.

**The core problem-** It's too easy to become a cop, it's too hard to get fired as a cop, and it's too easy to cover yourself up if you accidentally/purposely kill/brutalize a innocent person.

**The real solution-** Increased accountability and transparency to the public. Harder and longer training, a thorough background check for prejudiced behavior, and a intensive monthly character evaluation.

IMO, defunding the police isn't going to do jack. A improperly equipped cop can be just as violent as a properly equipped cop.

How could defunding the police have prevented the death of George Floyd?

[Assistant]
The goal isn't to have the same number of cops, but have them be paid less or be underequipped. The goal is for there to be less police period.

It's supposed to be an opportunity for departments to purge their ranks of those that they know to be trouble, but for various reasons have felt compelled to leave on payroll.

Fire the shit cops, retain the decent cops, which ultimately results in less payroll (since the bad cops got fired).


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

[User]
[Marvel / DC] How would things play out if a normal person suddenly developed superpowers due to being a mutant/lab accident/some sort of unaware hybrid and... didn't want to be a superhero?

What if they wanted to just have a normal life working in an office or in a labor trade?

[Assistant]
That comes up frequently.

The Hulk is one of the original reluctant superheroes. Bruce Banner never wanted powers and spends a lot of his life trying to get rid of the Hulk, but the nature of his power makes it impossible for him to hide from it for long.

Various mutants have wished they werent mutants.


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

[User]
[Enders Game x Harry Potter] How would the wizards of Harry Potter respond to the formic invasion of Earth?

Considering the lack of technological innovation in the wizarding world, how would they fair to an alien invasion? There's only so much a culture can avoid detection when faced with a superior aggressive force. What would happen?

[Assistant]
They would be incinerated by the bugger forces just like everyone else was who was in their path when they got to Earth. Wizards wouldn't be able to respond to a gun, much less the firepower the Formics carry.

The best they could try to do is transfigure a few ships, which only skilled wizards would be able to do. Considering how few of those there are, out of the already extremely small wizarding population, and they would be overwhelmed quickly.


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

[User]
CMV: In women's basketball, the hoop should be lowered.

It's a matter of fact, that, on average, men are taller and stronger than women. This is perhaps the main reason that most sports are divided into men's and women's leagues.

The WNBA has been around for almost 20 years now, and for its entire existence it has been sadly, comically unpopular. While there may be many reasons for this, I think the biggest one is that women's games are much less exciting than men's games. While both divisions have a heavy focus on fundamentals and smart playmaking, men have the added bonus of being able to execute ridiculous, awesome slam dunks. Women, on the other hand, have layups. So. Many. Layups.

An easy fix, I think, would be to lower the hoop for women's games. With a lower hoop, women could enjoy the same hoop height to player height ratio as men, enabling them to pull off sick dunks. In my opinion, this would make women's games more exciting, making it more fun for the average viewer to watch and increasing the popularity of the sport.

What's wrong with my thinking here? Change my view!

EDIT: If any female basketball players read this, I'd love to hear what you think!

[Assistant]
Would gyms and playgrounds need to be equipped with baskets of two different heights?  Although this change could be made at the Olympic and professional level, one of the big reasons for basketball's popularity is how easy it is to put up the same size and same height basket in cities around the world - whether you are in a fancy gym or a remote schoolyard, a basketball hoop is the same.  Players learn to shoot at a 10-foot basket, and it would be extremely awkward to have women play with a shorter basket in organized competition while having to playing with a taller basket on the playground.

Women's soccer goals are the same size as men's.  Women's tennis courts are the same as men's.  Having one universal standard makes a sport much more accessible to everyone.


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

[User] How do smartphones that run multi-core cpus stay cool with such a compact design and zero airflow?

[Assistant]
Most smartphone CPUs are ARM based, which are designed to run cool and use a small amount of energy.

Per Mhz, those ARM cpus will provide less computational than an x86 CPU of the same speed.  But the power consumption and heat generation will be much lower.


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

[User]
What do old insects die of?

If humans who die of old age generally die of heart failure or cancer, what do old insects die of? I know the mayfly is supposed to live for a day, and that some spiders can live for years- but what actually kills them?

[Assistant] Many species of mayflies, and other insects, don't eat as adults but only as larvae.  Once they become adults they have the brief life span to reproduce before dying from being unable to fuel their bodies/hunger.  A lot don't even have mouth parts once they become adults because their purpose at that point is only to reproduce.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can't we just fall asleep whenever we want?

I want to sleep, I tell my brain I want to sleep, my body needs sleep to function properly, and yet I'm lying awake at night frustrated that I can't fall asleep when I need to get up for work in a few hours. Why don't we just flip a switch in our heads and fall asleep?

[Assistant]
Our sleepyness depends on several factors:

- Sleep homeostasis: In layman terms, it means internal 'sleep pressure' - depends on how much sleep you have had recently, the quality of sleep etc. e.g. you're likely to feel more sleepy when you're sleep deprived.

- Circadian rhythm: The internal rhythm of the body, also known as the 'Biological clock'. Depends on things such as what your body is used to, levels of Melatonin (a hormone in our brain that regulates sleep), Core body temperature (lower help sleepiness) etc.

- External stimulants: Most common reason for not being able to fall asleep in our times. Things such as Caffeine, other stimulant drugs, too much excitement about something, worries etc prevent the sleep from setting in.

- External depressants: Such as sleeping pills, alcohol etc which act to stop/slowdown certain brain functions.

The combination of all these factors decide how easily you can sleep. So, it varies for different people at different times.

Also important to know that sleep is still not fully understood, so we can look forward to more details as scientists' understanding of sleep improves.

EDIT: Added a bit more details.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do bugs seem to fly in circles around one when out hiking, particularly around the head?

[Assistant] Generally, they are either attracted to the carbon dioxide you are exhaling or the body heat you are giving off. For flies, it's the CO2, mosquitoes seek body heat. And the head is usually the hottest part of your body, and it's usually exposed, especially in the type of weather that mosquitoes are an issue.


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

[User]
Why isn't Schrdinger's cat considered an observer?

Serious question. Assuming the cat has some conscious experience, his reality would either continue or end before the box is opened. Would a human in the box be an observer? Likewise, what if the scientists were in a second box. They could open the cat's box within this second box, but according to the outside world, would the scientists both know the cat's fate and not know it? I understand that the thought experiment is more of an analogy, but the mere fact that I have these questions means I'm missing the point! Thanks!

[Assistant]
Observation in quantum mechanics has, at least in the mainstream interpretations, nothing to do with human observers or indeed consciousness.

An observation is merely any kind of information (e.g. a photon which leaves the box, telling us about what's going on inside) which can in principle obtained about a system.

The idea behind the observer in the Schrdinger cat Gedankenexperiment is that you can (again, in principle) always treat the observer as part of the quantum system, which should then again be capable of exhibiting superposition. The cat is an observer for the atomic decay process, but once it's in a black box, we have no idea what it observes, so an observer outside the box can treat the whole thing as one quantum system and it should be possible that the cat is indeed in a superposition of being alive and dead.

It should be noted that no one thought that this is what would actually happen (superposition of a living macro-organism), and that the Gedankenexperiment was devised to illustrate that there must be some boundaries of the quantum world. Whether or not such boundaries really exist is however still an open question even today.


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

[User] [Blade Runner 2049] Why did K even consider the possibility that he was the unique replicant in question if the birthdate was 2019 and Nexus 9's didn't even start being grown until 2036?

[Assistant] If he was the unique replicant, then he wouldn't have been a Nexus 9, just "undercover" as a Nexus 9 to stay hidden from the authorities. As a nexus 9, he believed the memories to be implants. But upon learning that he could be the unique replicant, he believed the implanted memories to be real.


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

[User] Eli5: how do scientists know how old the sun is?

[Assistant]
There are two main ways in which scientists have dated the Sun.

The first way uses the fact that the entire solar system formed around the same time. So, if scientists can determine the age of some really old meteorites, moon rocks, or earth rocks, it should correspond to the age of the sun. The age of these rocks is determined by radiometric dating (basically, they measure how much the nuclear isotopes inside them have decayed since they were created).

The second way uses computer models of how our sun (and similar stars) evolve over billions of years. Over that time, things like its size, brightness and colour change slightly. Basically, you can run such a model from the birth of our Sun until the moment that all these measurable quantities correspond nicely to what we actually observe.

Luckily, both of these methods give exactly the same result of around 4.5 billion years, so they really reinforce each other :).


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

[User]
What should I expect learning CS in university?

Recent high school graduate here. I'm starting CS in my university in a couple of days, and I was just curious on a ~~couple~~ lot of things:

1. What kind of workload should I expect? I know that it depends on how rigorous my university program is, but I was wondering how much general time I should plan to commit in order to have that golden balance between school and social life.

2. Would a chromebook be sufficient for my studies? I already have a dedicated desktop for (possibly) heavy work, but I imagined a chromebook with crouton should be enough for basic work to do on campus.

3. Are careers based on a CS degree as big of a nightmare that people insist to be? I expected the field to only be growing in the digital age, but there may be a catch to this expectation...

4. Any practical tips for learning CS, or just university life in general would be greatly appreciated!

[Assistant] Kind of obvious but a lot people fail on this: expect to come out of it as a computer scientist, not a programmer or software engineer. Computer Science is about learning the nature of computability i.e. knowing what is computable through the proper use of algorithms and data structures. Focus on this and you'll be a valuable asset at any decent software company. Programming and software engineering skills are things better developed through professional experience.


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

[User] ELI5: is there a limit to the amount of physical pain our brains can process?

[Assistant] Yes.  There is a point at which the nervous system is overloaded and just stops processing input.  That's pretty much why people who are self-immolating can just sit there in a completely calm state or even walk around like a normal person.  The only people completely on fire that run around screaming are the ones that actually don't want to die.


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

[User]
Lost in depression and grad school

I'm a super lost grad student and any advice, wisdom, solidarity anything of that sort is appreciated.

I started my PhD on fall 2019, right after finishing my bachelor's. I worked so hard for it and was incredibly happy and enthusiastic about starting grad school. I've changed continents, leaving everything behind to start a new chapter in the States. A semester later, my mental health crashed completely. Pandemic started around the same time my long term relationship ended, and I was already struggling before then. Moving from a metropolis to a small midwestern town or being pretty much the only non-native English speaker in an incredibly homogenous white-American program (to my surprise), was harder than I thought. Coming from a (almost) failing country, the constant stress and worry about the people and things I've left behind was also hard. And the cherry on top, I'm not the resilient type, I've struggled with mental health all my adult life. I  guess all of these things and the regular stress of the PhD was just too much for me to handle.

In my second semester, soon after the lockdown, my mental health just crashed. I dropped everything in the last three weeks of the semester and just took incompletes. I spent the summer just trying to get better and failing miserably. I ended up getting hospitalized in fall 2020. I couldn't do anything that semester, except for completing some of the incompletes I had. I'm still trying to pick up the pieces without actually feeling that much better. This semester, I was able to attend to classes, just doing the bare minimum with pretty much no research done and thank god I didn't have to teach.

I'm seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist at my uni's health center and I'm on medication. Obviously I'd be worse without those things, but I feel like it is much less than what I need. Unfortunately accessing specialized/intensive health care I need is incredibly hard and pretty much financially impossible right now (I'm still in debt from my hospitalization).  I have almost no friends where I live. I couldn't really click with my cohort (cultural differences, clique culture etc.) and I didn't really have much time to socialize anyways due to pandemic. I have good friends though, and they are my main support. But all of them are scattered around the world, living in different time zones. I thought about going back to my own country and maybe take a break, just eating homemade food, chilling with the fam. But losing my visa was a risk and too much fam time is just not good for my mental health anyways, so I just decided against it.

My advisor has been really understanding during all of this but I know his (and the faculty's) patience is running.  I was told to get back on track asap or there would be consequences (possibly getting kicked out).

I honestly don't know if I'm just sick or if I'm just not cut out for this.  Whenever I check online PhD circles I see that most of the people are  worried about not being productive for a week or answering emails late, while just attending an 30 min zoom lecture is a great challenge for me. I know each to their own, but I can't help feeling like an utter failure compared to my peers. I feel like I fucked this PhD up, ruined any potential I had in my uni and in my field. I feel like I've created a reputation of problem-person and it's irreparable.  I know some of it is me over-catastrophizing, but I also think there is some truth to it and academia is not all-forgiving.  I have overcome rough patches before and turned things around but I can't seem to find a light with this one yet.

Apart from my mental health, I just feel disillusioned with grad school, academia and myself. I guess the past year made me realize how unsatisfying it is to produce research on some theoretical stem stuff that has 0 effect on people's lives. How hard it is to establish non-superficial, supportive relationships in grad school. All my close friends (whom I met way before grad school) are in grad school and we're all on antidepressants, we all struggle with similar stuff . This makes me think, okay, this shit is hard and everyone is struggling. But despite this shared struggle, the disconnection in grad school, or at least at where I am, is incredibly isolating. I used to have some level of confidence in myself not only about academic stuff, but also when it comes to surviving and picking myself up. This past year made me lose all of that.

And yes, I know that the world out there is so much bigger than grad school and maybe this is simply not my thing. I thought I loved science but maybe I'm not a person to make a career out of it. But realistically speaking, I have no other professional aspirations and grad school may be my only chance (at least in the foreseeable future) at living in a (relatively) stable and free country.

I guess I just want to hear from people who are experiencing or have experienced similar things. If you have overcome it,  what helped you, what do you think about those times when you look back? If you are experiencing similar things, I'm sorry. But maybe we need to know that we are not alone.

[Assistant]
You deserve some kudos, friend. You moved continents, got out of a relationship, started a PhD program, and now you are depressed? Give yourself a break!

Here is what has helped me: make a list of crap you want done tomorrow. Think about how you feel, and what you think is reasonable for you to accomplish tomorrow. If you are too depressed - leave it blank! Take the day off! You are caring for yourself that day. It's a "me" day.

Start adding to the list when you can, but make sure you don't push too hard. If you find that you can't complete your daily list, reel it back a bit. At the end of each day, cross off all of the things you did, and congratulate yourself for each one. If you cross off everything on your list - crumple up that thing and throw it in the garbage like the champion you are.

Notice that your "peers" are not on that list. What they do on their time is their (and unfortunately everyone's) business. Comparison is the thief of joy - focus on your list.

When it comes time to be evaluated in whatever way your program has planned, think about your list. If you have been completing all of your list-tasks, you are in good shape! You have pushed yourself as much as you feel comfortable - and what will be, will be.


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

[User]
[R&M] Why can't Rick cure death?

We saw Jerry get revived from what are almost certainly fatal gunshot injuries in the hospital.

Plus, if Rusty Venture can create an army of Venturesteins, why would Rick have such difficulty? Does he just not care enough about Ruben?

[Assistant]
Rick is limited to what he has in his garage.  He doesn't have access to the same equipment that the best hospital in the galaxy does.

Besides, what would Rick do with a device that could bring back the dead?  Save *other* people?  Not likely.


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

[User] ELI5: How do our bodies decide where to burn fat from after exercise?

[Assistant]
They don't really decide.  The fat on the surface of each deposit is metabolized with fairly equal preference.  This means that deposits with a higher amount of surface area will lose the most mass.

Edit - In other words, it comes off in layers like peeling an onion.  The top layer is burned   wherever it is located on your body.


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

[User] ELI5: How did Mars lose most of its water? Considering the water cycle that I learned in school shows that the same water is used and reused over and over again. I'm curious as to what could cause most of the water in a planet to just disappear.

[Assistant]
The solar wind stripped it of its hydrogen because Mars lacks the magnetic field that the Earth does.

Oxygen, being the skank-ass hoe of elements, found something else to bond to to form a solid oxide.


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

[User] ELI5:What happen if i put a rock in a soda can and put in in the recycle bin? In other word, how do they filter stuff when i'ts being recycle?

[Assistant] Well, once the paint is removed. The metel is melted down and the rock with it. Then it put into a mold. While it cools the rock (melted) floats to the top as it is less dense. Now fully hardened (~ladies) the melted rock (on top) is broked off. Now you have a mostly pure thing of metel now can be remelted and shaped to make you another can.


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

[User]
[MCU/Wandavision] (spoilers) About Wanda's powers...

How does Chaos Magic compare to the Infinity Stones? Is it more or less powerful?

[Assistant]
So far, in Earth-199999, the Infinity Stones seem to be more powerful, due to the fact that they can do whatever the wielder can imagine, if they can take the shock using them all at once.

As individual stones, chaos magic seems more powerful, but we haven't seen the full range of what Wanda can do yet. The stones seem to be able to control a certain aspect. They are made to do different and certain things individually.

The key aspect that sets both apart is right now, Wanda can't make chaos magic permanent in large quantities, while together, the Infinity stones CAN make permanent changes.


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

[User]
Is it possible for a planet to have a gas giant as a moon?

Presumably, the planet would need to be incredibly huge and the moon would be relatively small for a gas giant. Has this been observed or speculated before?

[Assistant]
Okay, some of the answers in here are seriously making me facepalm. As someone who studies gas giants, please let me set the record straight.

As far as we know there are no super-gas giants that have smaller gas giants as moons. One of Saturn's moons - Titan - has an appreciable atmosphere that is actually about 50% thicker than Earth's...but that's still a very long way from being a gas giant.

So far as we understand planetary formation, it is *extremely* unlikely to form a gas giant moon. As our solar system formed from the primordial disc of gas and dust orbiting our proto-Sun, dust particles started coalescing to form protoplanets (think of these as asteroid-sized). Certain protoplanets that had a slight edge on size began to dominate their gravitational neighborhood, pulling in ever more dust and eventually gas, as well, to become gas giants.

This created its own gravitational well in the protoplanetary disc, causing material near the newly formed gas giant to form its own little disc orbiting the planet. It's from this material that the largest gas giant moons are formed. However, the mass in the disc is very small mass compared to the planet itself, just as the sum total of all the planets' mass is roughly 1000 times less than the mass of our Sun. As an example, Ganymede, the solar system's most massive moon, has roughly 8000 times less mass than Jupiter (and is still about 25 times less massive than the Earth).

In other words, after a gas giant forms, there's simply not enough material left over to make an appreciably large moon. "Aha!" you say, "but what if the planet were many times larger than Jupiter?" Well, the problem is there's a limit to the size of gas giants.

If Jupiter were only 13 times more massive - still likely below the mass needed to even have an Earth-sized moon - it would no longer be a planet, but a "brown dwarf". It would begin undergoing fusion of deuterium (a form of heavy hydrogen) near its core. Eventually this gets used up, and the brown dwarf is left to cool as a failed star.

If Jupiter were 80 times more massive - large enough to start to getting Earth-sized moons or even a little larger - then not only will deuterium fuse, but regular hydrogen, as well. At this point, it no longer a brown dwarf, but a full-fledged star that will burn for billions of years.

**TL;DR**: Extremely unlikely. Based on how they're formed, gas giant moons can only be a very small fraction of the host planet's size. If gas giants get too big, they're no longer planets.


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

[User] [Warhammer 40k] If the Space Marines were still in Legions lead by Primarchs, would they be more effective against the Tyranids?

[Assistant]
Yes.

The concentrated power of a Legion would open up a range of aggressive strategic options closed to Chapter Astartes.

Further, the more psychically gifted Primarchs would have unpredictable effects on the local Hive Mind.

Lastly, a Legion would have superior and more diverse armaments to bring to bear, under the guidance of highly experienced leadership.

The design of the Chapter system is predicated on the threat they represent to the Imperium, not to Xenos. The cruel irony of the 42nd millennium is that if an organization lacks the power to threaten something, they probably also lack the power to save it.


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

[User]
PhD interview

Hi everyone, just looking for some advice please! I have an interview via Skype next Thursday for a potential PhD in the social sciences.
Does anyone have any advice? I have no idea what to expect!

[Assistant]
They already know your credentials, background, and goals.

What they're looking for here is ease of command. Be easy to talk to, friendly, respectful. Be able to talk easily (but passionately!) about your topic. Practice the 'elevator pitch' of your work.

They're interviewing people that they're going to be hanging out with for the next 5+ years. Show them you're that person.

I knew a guy who made it to the interview round at the top Anthro departments in the country. This was a dude who, while *incredibly* accomplished, was also condescending and patronizing. He bombed ALL of his interviews. Don't be that guy.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why exactly were humans forbidden from setting foot on Valinor?

Simply landing of the Undying Lands doesn't change the inherent trait of human mortality, so why were the Valar so intent on keeping them away from the landmass?

[Assistant]
It's threefold.

In one way, they are the Undying Lands, for all who dwell within are undying. If humans (who die) went there, it wouldn't be the Undying Lands. They are the lands FOR and OF the Elves. The Elves make the land, and the land is for the Elves.

Another is that death is a gift to Men. Elves grow old, weary and tired of life. Men do not, they live briefly and brightly. The elves are trapped, bound to Arda. Men have freedom in death, and that's a gift even Sauron is jealous of.

And finally, because Eru said so. Remember when Men tried? Eru sank their homeland, and removed the Undying Lands from Arda altogether.


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

[User]
How could we protect ourselves in the case of a gamma-ray burst?

In the case we detected a gamma-ray burst coming to us from the explosion of an hypernova.
How much time would we have from the moment we detect it?
What would be enough to protect ourselves from the massive amount of radiation? (from the particular small scale point of view and from the government point of view)

[Assistant]
Unfortunately the gamma rays, being just an electromagnetic wave, travel at the speed of light. We wouldn't detect it until they arrived and killed us.

Possibly at some intermediate distance, ie not too close for everyone to die not too far away for everyone to live, you might survive by being on the opposite side of the earth to the burst.


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

[User] ELI5: Why the Moon is covered in craters, but not the earth? Do we get hit by big meteors very often?

[Assistant]
The Moon has little atmosphere and no geologic activity.  The vast majority of impacts on the Moon were very early in the Moon's life, since the early Solar System had *a lot* more crap flying around, and most of that crap that ever *will* collide with the Earth or Moon already has.

Same deal with the Earth.  It's covered in craters.  However, we have all this geologic activity, forestation, wind, erosion, etc. and after billions of years the craters kind of get flattened out.  On the Moon, they basically stay forever since it doesn't have any of these things.


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

[User] ELI5 How does lightning makes mushrooms multiply?

[Assistant]
It can place stress on them that signals they should hurry up and get into their reproductive phase before they die.

If mushrooms were directly hit by the lightning that would be too much for them to handle. However, mushrooms in the wild tend to grow on wood, and the structure of wood is such that it can be hit by lightning and absorb most of the punishment.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why most of the games show posion as in green colour? Is it true?

Whenever i played lara croft, assassin creed, far cry etc. i've seen examples of it. I wonder if it is relevant or random stuff?

[Assistant]
As mentioned before, the colour green is associated with sickness. Many people may also think about Chlorine when they hear "poison" - which was used for its poisonous properties during World War 1, and is a green gas. The substances used as rat poisons ages ago were also green.

Modern poisons aren't necessarily green at all, they are usually colourless (poisons aren't very effective if they look obvious).


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

[User]
[Book of Job] Why'd God take the bet?

Context:

Book of Job, in the Old Testament, the Devil tells God "I bet a pious dude would loose faith if everything went to shit. I bet they're only faithful when it seems to be paying off for them to believe."

God drops a series of horrendous events on Job, until he's utterly fucked with a dead family, and then turns up and spouts beautiful poetry about being inscrutible.... even as we the reader know it was a bet.

Now my question is very specific, why did God take the bet? My theory he was worried the Devil might call him chicken, Marty McFly style. But that's not very God like is it?

I'm also hoping the answer is a bit better than "so a book of the bible could be written about it."

(Pls not too much evengelicisim or christian bashing)

[Assistant]
From what I've heard, in some Jewish traditions Satan is not a rebel against God, rather his role is like that of a prosecuting attorney.  His job is to argue against the worthiness of any given person.  Justice depends on a vigorous debate, to paraphrase SMBC.  The "test" was just part of the process, so that all parties present could be confident in Job's faith.

From a meta perspective, it was an early attempt to solve the problem of evil, telling readers that they won't always know why bad things happen to them but there is a reason.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do MRI machines work?

I've tried reading the Wikipedia article and get lost having to read a separate article on _every_ term used in the info.

[Assistant]
Really oversimplified explanation:

1. suspend body in really strong magnetic field, forces water molecules to line themselves up in specific direction
2. at same time, zap water molecules in body with a radio wave, causes them to wiggle against magnetic field direction
3. wiggling water molecules give off their own radio waves, slightly different for each kind of tissue. Record it all & use computer to reconstruct 3D picture of it.


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

[User] [halo 4] Why did the covenant join forces with the prometheans ?

[Assistant] It was a splinter faction called The Storm led by Jul 'Mdana.  'Mdana hates Humanity for causing the death of his wife and sees them as a threat that will grow too-powerful if not stopped.  He uses the fanaticism of the normal Covenant to find Requiem and release the Didact, who also hates the Humans for his own reasons.


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

[User]
CMV: 'Quiet Quitting' is not revolutionary.

This is not me arguing about whether or not 'quiet quitting' is ethical.  This is me arguing that it's not a revolutionary movement.  It's always existed.  We just created a label for it.

Quiet quitting in concept is not new.  It's very odd to me how it's getting portrayed as this workplace revolution.

Throughout history around the world,  there have always been people who don't do extra at work.  I'm actually one of them!

 I show up and do the job that I'm paid to do at a high level.  I don't work overtime. But I take my job very seriously.  I've been told several times that my numbers are higher than those of my fellow teammates. I'm happy to hear that.

But I very rarely do anything out of my job description.  Why?  Because I believe that if my employer is going to ask me for more than what my job entails, then I deserve compensation for that.  I signed a contract for what I have agreed to do. I refuse to get manipulated into doing more than that.
I don't get stressed at work this way. I put my mental health above that.

I understand that what I have described above is not exactly quiet quitting. But I'm trying to illustrate that none of this is new. It's not a revolution.  Every office or workplace has a person who does it.

[Assistant] Many people in isolation performing a behaviour is common. A new word which defines and explains that behaviour can represent a connection, a new mutual understanding. Where previously everyone was moving in different directions suddenly they are doing this things "together" but still apart. The presence of terminology shapes that reality. It helps something mundane transcend.


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

[User]
Eli5: Why does Helium have a lower melting point than Hydrogen?

Pure hydrogen is less dense than pure helium. Why does it have a higher melting point?

[Assistant] Because density doesn't really change anything - it's about how much the molecules are attracted to each other. Helium is a noble gas, with its whole outer electron shell full, and so it has very little intermolecular attraction - less than hydrogen.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does it take so long for mood stabilizing drugs such as antidepressants to work?

[Assistant]
In the case of antidepressants, it's because their mechanism of action is neurogenesis in the hippocampus. This process takes roughly two weeks to have an effect on serotonin levels.

The fact that antidepressants act via hippocampal neurogenesis is relatively recently discovered by science - within about the last ten years.


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

[User] [MCU] Did Hawkeye continue to pay for his wife's phone service and keep her phone charged up for five years or was that part of the Hulk's snap?

[Assistant] Hawkeye said that Fury helped him keep his family and home a secret.  That probably included phones that did not operate on the normal cell network to keep them from being taced.  Something like that probably doesn't have a monthly bill.


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

[User] ELI5: What's the difference between OLED, AMOLED and Super AMOLED displays?

[Assistant]
Short answer: It's complicated.

OLED is display technology that involves the use of pixels made of organic material.

AMOLED display technology combines the properties of OLED technology with a pixel-modulating matrix and thin-film transistors, essentially providing a transistor and capacitor to each pixel in the display. This makes AMOLED displays more expensive but also more flexible and energy efficient, able to provide more vivid picture quality and render faster motion response.

Super AMOLED is a marketing term created by Samsung for an AMOLED display with an integrated digitizer. It is a more advanced version of AMOLED and it integrates touch-sensors and the actual screen in a single layer. Samsung claims it provides a 20% brighter screen, 20% lower power consumption and 80% less sunlight reflection.

Edit: Added the information that Super AMOLED is marketing term.


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

[User] ELI5: How are roads named officially? Is it picked by the government or the people?

[Assistant] Usually there is a government that approves it, after casual checking to make sure the name won't be mixed up with another road nearby.  If people want something, they can usually get the government to go along.  If not, some intern picks names from whatever book their Literature class is reading.


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

[User] ELI5: How are different types of cheese made? What creates the difference between swiss and cheddar?

[Assistant]
Swiss cheese is inoculated with a culture that chows down on the cheese as it cures and it gives off little bits of gas as it does so. This sharpens the cheese and develops flavor, complexity, and bubbles which give swiss cheese it's famous holes.

Cheddar cheese is made by a process called cheddaring where the still wet curds are separated from their whey by the cheese maker. Curds are very soft like cottage cheese and very watery. So they scoop the curds to the side and let them dry. They heavily salt the curds and then turn them several times helping them dry even more. When dry enough they will pack them into wheel shaped molds wrapped in cheese cloth and stack them one on top of the other so the weight helps squeeze even more water out. They continue flipping or cheddaring the wheels until most of the moisture has been removed and you end up with a solid block of newly pressed cheese. It has none of the flavor it will as it ages so off to the aging racks it goes where the salt, enzymes left over from the cheese making process continue to break down and re-arrange bits of the milk proteins forming new sharper flavors and a more developed taste. The longer it's aged the better the flavor.


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

[User]
ELI5: why can people drink coffee at the same temperature that can cause burns to the skin?

I know everyone has a different preferred temperature...

If I spill coffee on myself, itll hurt like hell, but I drink that very same coffee with no issues. Why?

[Assistant]
Your mouth makes saliva, which is mostly water (which takes a lot of energy to heat) and at your body's temperature.  Mixing 10 mL (2 tsp) of very hot liquid and perhaps 20 mL of saliva, means that the very hot liquid is quickly cooled.

Your skin has no saliva, so the heat from your coffee transfers to a small part of your body, dramatically raising the temperature of the affected area and giving you a burn.


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

[User] [King of the Hill] How's Rainey Street doing these days?

[Assistant]
Dale got sucked into the modern conspiracy theories like Qanon and had a true mental break. He was admitted to a mental institute for a few months where they heavily medicated him before releasing him home to Nancy. He's now very boring and not himself, though stable, but Nancy starts to wander again without her true Dale around anymore.

Bill couldn't pass his next Army physical and was discharged. He had just enough Army retirement built up to keep his house while also working at the local 3rd tier run down barber shop. He eventually discovers World of Warcraft now that it's come out and it has consumed him at many times. He has a romantic relationship with a female orc who lives in Canada, or so he says.

Boomhauer is involved in a car wreck while he was street racing in his sports car and received a head injury. Now he speaks incredibly slowly and the occasional phrase is spoken in French.

Lucky has moved up in the world from slipping on peepee to slipping on vomit in bars he frequents.

Hank continues his very strict routine and personality. After Ladybird dies and Bobby has graduated high school, he and Peggy get another puppy to keep them company. Once the stress of Bobby is gone and a new puppy is around again, Peggy defies the laws of biology and has another unplanned child late in life. She is fulfilled by having a second child and Hank does mellow out some the second time around.

Bobby went to college in New York City before being discovered at a hole in the wall comedy club. He climbs those ranks, has a rabid Twitter and YouTube following, and eventually gets his own Netflix special. Once Hank has mellowed out and seen the career success Bobby achieves, he accepts him more and even laughs at Bobby's jokes more frequently.


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

[User]
[star trek] Why is the bridge right on top of the saucer section (the most vulnerable part of the ship) ?

So if the shields go down, there's the bridge sticking up from the top of the saucer, where a single hit could take out almost every senior officer on the ship. It doesn't serve any practical function, I've only heard of one instance of a bridge officer needing to look out a window during a high alert situation.

On larger ships, there is a "battle bridge" but this gets used so infrequently that it may as well not be there. Why isn't the full time bridge where the battle bridge is? Apart from anything else, it would make it quicker to get to other parts of the ship, such as engineering.

[Assistant]
Here's the thing: Starships deal in extremely high-power weaponry. When the shields are down, for whatever reason, the center of the ship is only vaguely more protected than the outer hull. A blast that can get through those shields will absolutely be able to pierce the hull, and so by having the bridge in an outer region, the crew gains the additional utility in case of power loss.

It's all a part of Starfleet's ethic, too. We are a force of science and exploration, not war and efficiency. It's a sort of olive branch to any potential aggressor, saying "We are peaceful" through our ship designs, and backed up by our outstanding personnel. We reach out into the stars, not to conquer, but to *see.*

There's a reason our eyes aren't kept in our chest cavity.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is wheat bread considered more healthy than white, especially to those dieting.

[Assistant] white bread is made from white flour, which is flour *without* pretty much everything that naturally makes flour a good thing for us. nutrients, vitamins and especially fibres. they get shifted out of it to make white bread. brown bread flour has had no such treatment.


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

[User] ELI5: What causes the itchiness of a healing cut/scrape/burn etc.?

[Assistant]
Special cells in your body known as fibroblasts throw up a mesh fiber net over wounds to help protect them from the outside and act as a scaffold to help other cells repair the area.

As these wounds heal, the fibers will tighten and pull together to help close the wound. However, the tugging of these fibers on the wound triggers certain nerves in your skin. These nerves are designed to detect the extremely light touch a bug on your body and warn you that its there by the feeling of "itchiness." Your typical response to an itch is to scratch it and hopefully remove the bug. The pull of the mesh will accidentally stimulate these nerves and you end up getting the feeling of itchiness around the wound.

You should avoid scratching it as breaking open the wound and/or scab too early can cause additional damage or infection which can lead to additional scaring. Try rubbing or scratching around the wound to get rid of the feeling.


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

[User]
ELI5: The "Paris Agreement" on climate change

What is this?

What countries participated?

What agreements were made?

How will this effect Climate Change?

[Assistant]
> What is this?

A agreement to collectively take action against human-caused climate change and reduce the negative impacts of global warming and climate change in future years.

> What countries participated?

Nearly every country, 196 to be exact. The largest agreement ever of its kind.

> What agreements were made?

A commitment to limit global temperature rise well below 2C (relative to pre-industrial levels), with countries also agreeing to try and limit the rise to 1.5C. For reference, it is thought that any rise in temperature beyond 2C may have catastrophic climate effects and very serious consequences for many countries down the road.

The agreement also involves helping poorer / less developed nations combat climate change by providing these countries 100 Billion dollars of funding each year to help with the development of sustainable and renewable energy and greener industrial practices in these regions.

As part of the agreement, countries will also have to be more transparent with their greenhouse gas reduction targets and their performance (whether they are actually meeting these targets).

The ideal is to be carbon-neutral by 2050 (where humans aren't adding any more greenhouse gasses than trees etc. can naturally absorb)... but unless we dramatically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, this may be a tough target to reach.

> How will this effect Climate Change?

Hopefully it will prevent catastrophic climate disasters in the future (e.g. 2050 onward), and perhaps even have a modest impact on reducing extreme climate/weather phenomena in the short-term as well.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people snore more after they've been drinking?

[Assistant] Alcohol causes most muscles in your body to relax. Including the muscles in your mouth, throat and upper airway. When you go to sleep in that state - drunk - the airway collapses a bit (the supporting muscles are weak now) and that is why you snore.


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

[User] ELI5: Why people are arguing that gun manufacturers be held liable for shootings, when we don't have this standard for anything else.

[Assistant] They'll do anything they can to blame anything but the individual.  If the individual is responsible, and there are so many individuals doing this kind of thing, then society's fucked up.  But if society's fucked up, then there's a huge insurmountable problem.  Why not just make a scapegoat out of something else that's easier.  They want to take away the guns. But they can't take away the guns, so they'll get back at the scapegoats by suing them.  They think a lawsuit will bring mental health back to a mentally ill society.


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

[User]
I believe "non-binary genders" are a nonscientific concept and societal acknowledgement of them is premature. CMV

The idea of a "non-binary gender" is that some individuals carry a gender identity that is neither male nor female. Usually this is framed within the context of them identifying as alternating male/female, having no gender, or having a mix of the two. This idea is appearing more and more in public policy, social debate, and political discourse, and on the surface it's quite unsettling to see.

As someone with an extensive background in scientific education, this idea makes no sense and smells of people inventing arbitrary identities on no rational basis. Gender identity as defined by most psychologists and biologists is a "mapping" of sex characteristics onto the brain; numerous studies have highlighted areas of the brain that are congruent in size to an individual's gender identity (whether cis or trans). As nature has only two evolutionarily-defined sexes (setting aside intersex conditions, which are more of a birth defect much like cleft-lip), it doesn't make any sense for there to be more than two *real* gender identities. It doesn't make much sense to desire both a penis and a vagina, when no biological organism naturally possesses this combination to begin with.

In addition, many of the claims "non-binary" people make sound much more like gender variance, an accepted, non-pathological, psychological phenomenon where your preferences and behaviors are incongruent with your gender identity *and* sex. For example:

* Individuals who "alternate" between male and female are in all likelihood expressing varying preferences for things that are artificially gendered to begin with (clothing, style, etc.), and that claiming this is an integral part of your identity makes no more sense than claiming your desire to play Sega one day and Nintendo the next means you're a "non-binary gamer" by brain design.
* Individuals who claim "not to fit in either category" are in all likelihood feeling this way because society (American society in particular) is rigid on gender roles, and does not take too kindly to males in dresses or short-haired females. Similarly, people who claim to be "agender" may not feel constrained by these roles. Both cases would better (and more rationally) explained as "masculine female/feminine male", rather than forcing the awkward construction of non-standard identities.
* Many other cases are simply people with bona-fide GID who are unwilling or unable to seek help and transition normally.
* Edge cases trick themselves into feeling dysphoria that would not otherwise exist, or actually suffer from a different psychological disorder unrelated to gender identity. For this example, I would cite the case of the "trans-abled", or people who identify as disabled despite being able-bodied. Despite having utterly *no* grounding in biology and science, these people exhibit dysphoria better explained under the umbrella of clinical depression, bodily integrity identity disorders, and other existing classifications. You can't help an individual with BIID by simply cutting off their arms; why would you help someone who claims to be "non-binary" by cutting off their breasts?

This is not to say future research will not reveal any evidence for varying gender identites, but to say there's a pressing need to have eight boxes on the census and for me to learn made-up pronouns sounds both immature and premature.

[Assistant]
Ok; what gender is an xxy chromosomed person?

edit//

> It doesn't make much sense to desire both a penis and a vagina, when no biological organism naturally possesses this combination to begin with.

Thats just false; there are several exceptions to the rule of gender; tree's being one of the better known examples.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do boat sails work if the wind is going the wrong way?

If the wind is going towards you, how are you going forward? It doesnt seem like a very reliable system, same if there is no wind.

[Assistant]
If there is no wind you're going nowhere. When there is wind your sailboat can move. Let's sneak up on the answer to your question by answering a few related questions first.

Let's assume the wind is blowing from the North at 10 knots (about 10mph).

How fast can you sail South? The fastest your sailboat can travel directly downwind is the current wind speed, in this case 10 knots. The fraction of this speed will vary greatly depending on your boat. Sailing directly downwind will make the wind feel very calm on the deck of the boat since the boat travels at the same speed and direction as the wind.

How fast can you sail East or West? Counter intuitively you could sail East or West much faster than the wind speed. Why isn't the wind still blowing our boat South while we face East or West? It is because all sailboats have a keel. The keel is the big fin on the bottom of the sailboat. The keel allows the boat to slide forward on the water easily, but the boat is difficult to push sideways. The keel looks narrow from the front and wide from the side. How does this make us faster? When we were sailing downwind we could move as fast as the wind but no faster because we would run out of wind. When we're going sideways to the wind our sail collects the wind and pushes us. The keel keeps us from pushing sideways, so we push forwards instead. As that wind spills out of our sails there is new wind from the North replacing it, so we keep getting more and more power. We're not running away from the wind, so we don't run out. A good sailboat will fly when the wind is from the side.

So, finally, how fast can you sail North? Well, you can't, not directly, but we can sneak up on it. We already learned that our boat is faster going East/West than South. What if we went a little tiny bit North of East? Well, our speed doesn't instantly drop to zero just because we're pointing a little bit towards the wind, we're still mostly going East where we're fast. We're not going as fast pointing a little North, but we are moving a little North (and a lot East). So, let's point a little more North. Now we're moving slower, but we're going a bit more North and a bit less East. We can keep on pointing more and more North until we lose so much speed that we stop moving. Somewhere before that point, often about halfway between North and East you'll find the spot where you're still moving well and you're getting equal amounts of North and East. All of the North travel is good. All of the East travel is wasted. At some point your sailboat gets too far off to the east. You'll turn your boat to the North West and do it in that direction. Your North travel is still good, and your West Travel is undoing all of the wasted East travel that you did before. This is why sailboats Zig Zag when traveling towards the wind.


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

[User] [Green Lantern] How big is a space sector?

[Assistant]
1/3600^th of the Universe, divided into a pie chart like chunks originating at the planet Oa at the center of the universe, with two lanterns per sector for a total of 7,200 Green Lanterns, not counting things like the Alpha Lanterns or the Lost Lanterns or other groups like that.

Also, this makes no sense, because that makes a sector a few miles wide near Oa, and literally infinitely wide if you go far away from the planet, and this is assuming that there exists a "planet at the center of the universe," which there isn't. Also, a pie chart? Space isn't flat. It would need to be something more akin to a "ball chart," and still the sectors would cover an increasingly infinite amount of space as you traveled further from Oa.


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

[User]
[LOTR] How did Saruman become knowledgeable in Ringlore? It's not like there were textbooks or scientific papers on the subject.

Was his knowledge mostly gained by experimentation?

[Assistant]
The first thing to note is that Saruman was one a maiar of Aule, just like Sauron was. They were "apprentices" to the vala of smithing and crafting. Just by existing, Saruman has more knowledge and skill in the realms of forging/smithing/creating/building than almost any other being in creation. He has the same fundamental knowledge and power-base as Sauron. He is one of the few beings actually capable of doing it in the third age.

Also:

> It's not like there were textbooks or scientific papers on the subject.

Well, there kind of were. With the exception of Sauron's One Ring, all the others were made by elves, Celebrimbor in particular. They had been given the knowledge on how to do this by Sauron himself in his grand plan to mind control all of Middle Earth's leadership. The elves had centuries to reflect, ruminate, study, and write about what they knew of these rings. And of the dangers posed by Sauron's trap.

Granted, it's doubtful that these ancient writings contained many technical details in the fear that a future elf might come along and restart the trap. But Saruman being the genius that he is, he'd be able to extrapolate certain details and apply them to his own ring-making.


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

[User] [Transformers] Regardless of which incarnation, why does Megatron tolerate such a deceitful and conniving underling such as Starscream in his ranks? Why did it take his transformation into Galvatron for him to finally take action to rid himself of him?

[Assistant]
Starscream has quite a bit of value to the Decepticons.

First of all, he's one of their most feared warriors. Even Optimus Prime prefers not to face Starscream if he can avoid doing so.

Second, his constant attempts at betrayal keep Megatron sharp.

Third, if something *does* happen to Megatron, Starscream is one of the few potential leaders who might *actually* be able to rally most of the Decepticons precisely because he is so feared. Without either of them, Soundwave, Shockwave, and half a dozen other lieutenants would divide loyalties between themselves.


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

[User]
Can a recession occur in a city or state while the rest of the country has a booming economy?

I know that a recession can be specific to a particular industry/sector in a country. But can it be specific to a particular region in a country?

[Assistant] We have been watching this play out in the US of all places. The entire country has posted great growth, if you walk around New York or San Francisco you'll think we're better than we've ever been. Then you take a trip down to Detroit or St Louis, and people are there reminiscing about the 80s when people actually had jobs.


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

[User]
CMV: There is no point in trying to change someone's mind on anonymous message boards

Let me start by saying I do not want reddit to change. I also acknowledge that reddit is good for ideas in which the reader has little passion or knowledge (hence this post) of the topic or there is no opposition. I also recognize the desire and sometimes the need for anonymity in the exchange of ideas.

I posit that in order for minds to be changed when they already have an opinion on something, there must be good faith that the opposition is trying to be reasonable, and that if not, some type of consequences, whether big or small, will happen to the opposition. This is more possible when the opposition can be held accountable by knowing who or what they are.

When the arguer is anonymous,  the argument only serves to strengthen people who agree with it, or convince someone who has not thought a lot about it. This then leads to many people also thinking any good-faith arguments are not and then they misrepresent the original argument.

My definition of good-faith arguing: not knowingly manipulating, misrepresenting, or omitting key facts to prove a point.

[Assistant]
I mean - you might not end up changing peoples mind, but its still a useful way to tease out the nuances of your own perspective by seeing where you disagree, or where the error is.

Changing peoples minds isnt like, activism, though. Its not a good praxis - but most of us dont use it for that. Theres a personal benefit in trying to get people to understand what youre saying - how to keep peoples minds open to what you have to say.

The benefit is abstract, but its there.


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

[User] [DC] What is jokers day to day like? What does he do when he's not trying to cause chaos over Gotham? Does he even give himself a break?

[Assistant]
He spends most of his time either planning ways to kill batman or working on plans to kill batman, tbh. It looks like things like groceries are mostly done via goons and minions. He doesn't really have hobbies.

He does apparently gamble with other villains, but even then he mostly talks about batman.


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

[User]
[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice] **Spoiler Question Inside**

Is being present at Superman's funeral procession worth the risk? It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pay respects, but maybe some crazy alien will attack or something else horrible will happen . . .

[Assistant]
If someone on the same level as Zod came back, it wouldn't matter where on Earth you were, the funeral, Metropolis, Gotham, Smallville, you'd be toast.

You should go. This is the guy who's basically prevented the extinction of the human race TWICE already. You could skip the funeral cuz you're scared of getting attacked, but then again Superman could've easily skipped the fight against Doomsday and flown to safety but he didn't, now did he?

Besides, on the off chance that something bad happens, we've still got that Bat vigilante and that Greek chick right?


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

[User] eli5 why is burning calories such a slow process compared to accumulating them?

[Assistant] Because our bodys are meant to live for a while when no/ little new calories are available. And if there is food available, it has to be used efficiently, saved as fat for the next famine. It's not like our metabolism knows that the probability of that happening is rather slim and that the dangers of being overweight are a more pressing issue.


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

[User] ELI5:Why do people fret guitars with their non-dominant hands when fretting is harder than picking?

[Assistant]
The important thing about the dominant hand, is that it allows you to do very small movements very exact. And that's what you do with the picking hand. Pressing the frets isn't complicated it's like pressing buttons, just put your fingers at about the right place and press down. So i guess it's just simpler to begin with, put your non dominant hand down and just let it rest there while you try to pick some cool notes with your dominant hand.

But there are some left handed guitar players that play with "normal" guitars and do it just as good as everyone else. At the end it comes down to what your used to and your preference. And as soon as you go to fret less guitars/instruments you need to be very accurate with both hands. And the only thing that will make you good is intensive practice of both of your hands. If you have a non-dominant hand while playing an instrument you just haven't practiced enough.


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

[User]
ELI5: how can you have double vacuum pressure to test a space suit?

Elon Musk just instagrammed the new SpaceX suit - it looks fresh!  He said "Already tested to double vacuum pressure" - my head is having trouble understanding how a "double vacuum" is possible.  Is it not just "no atoms are in that space" - how can you have "double no atoms in that space"?  Thanks!

[Assistant]
All that really matters is pressure differential.

If you have a pressure of 1 atm inside the suit, and vacuum outside the suit (0 atm, or close to it), you can make sure the suit will be able to hold up and not pop like a balloon.

However, if you didn't want to put it in a vacuum chamber, you could just pressurize the inside of the suit to 2 atm, so the internal pressure is 1 atm greater than the surrounding environment. The forces experienced by the suit are essentially the same.

So "double vacuum pressure" just means they tested a 2 atm pressure difference between the suit and the environment. That could be pressurizing the inside of the suit to 2 atm in a vacuum chamber, pressurizing it to 3 atm in normal air, or some other combination. This allows them to be extra sure that the suit won't rupture if it is exposed to vacuum.


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

[User]
[General superheroes] I have high-level teleportation powers. How can I stop this crashing plane?

Hi. The Displacer here, calling from JFK Airport, where the air traffic controllers have called me in to help with an awkward problem.

There's a Boeing 747 out somewhere over the Atlantic, with 540 passengers and crew aboard. It's travelling at a speed of Mach 0.8, but all its controls are dead - the crew can't make it change course or height, and it's going to continue in a straight line until it runs out of fuel and crashes, somewhere over the continental United States.

As you know, I can teleport hundreds of miles, and transport hundreds of people or large objects (easily including a 747) with me, with great precision. All I need is a grid reference, and I can land there exactly. However, what I can't do is change the velocity or orientation of anything I teleport - so if I teleport the plane or its passengers anywhere, they'll still be heading westwards at 600 miles per hour.

Is there anything I can do to save the people on this plane?

[Assistant]
I assume line of sight is also suitable for navigation.

Get another plane, match speed. Teleport passengers between the planes. You might need to teleport the commandeered plane to catch up, but that should be possible.

You lose the plane, and may need to shoot it down to force it to crash somewhere safe, but that's for the USAF to deal with.


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

[User] [Blade Runner] Genetically speaking, are replicants human?

[Assistant] Id say not completely, but close enough that their DNA resembles human DNA except under advanced analysis. If a simple cheek swab or hair clipping would reveal their true nature, why would blade runners rely on the long-winded Voight Kampff test?


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

[User]
[MCU] Groot's Real Name?

At the end of Infinity War, we see Thor introduce Groot to Steve as "Tree".  Thor clearly likes Steve and holds the Avengers in high regard, and Thor clearly speaks Groot from what we see in the pod.  Given that Rocket has referred to him as "Groot" for the movies and "Groot" is in the credits... what's his real name?  I'm seeing several potentials, but none of them seem 'right'.  Has there been WoG on this one?

* Rocket met Groot before he could speak the language, and just stuck with the nickname even after he learned it was wrong
* Rocket speaks the language well enough to emulate Groot's real name in his own language, which is what we hear
* "Tree" is a decent approximation of Groot's name in english/translation, and Thor is using it out of respect (or because he doesn't feel confident saying the name natively)
* Thor doesn't actually care what Groot's name is, and decided 'tree' was close enough (doubtful given what we see elsewhere)
* Groot has never actually said his name, and may not have one, so other characters are just saying what they think is most appropriate to refer to him as.

In the end, I think we can all agree that Steve has no idea what's going on, and is just trying to run with it.

[Assistant] I think Thor doesn't care, hes not there to make new friends. In the span of a few days, he has lost everything. He is solely there to kill Thanos, and in the heat of battle probably wasn't too concerned with getting Steve to know Groots name, rather "dont kill that alien, he's with me"


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

[User]
ELI5: Computer illiterate here. Why is my computer so loud when it's loading?

Not very tech savvy. My MacBook will make all kind of weird noises when it's loading multiple things, but my iPad won't make a peep. I understand my computer has a fan but is that the only thing making noise?

Didn't get much help on google.

[Assistant] Your laptop has a mechanical hard drive that swings a metal arm around to access different parts of a spinning disk. Both of those things result in vibration and sound. Your iPad stores data in solid-state memory where accessing requires no moving parts, and so no vibration or sound is produced.


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

[User]
Why don't humans naturally want to eat food that is good for us?

I don't really understand this. I mean, I'd *much* rather eat a big pepperoni pizza with plenty of grease than a broiled chicken breast with fruits and vegetables, yet the latter is much better for me?

Wouldn't it make more sense for me to naturally *want* to eat food that is good for me?

[Assistant] It's not about what's best for you *now*, it's about what was best for us during the majority of our evolution. Before fast food and grocery stores we were much more likely to die of starvation than obesity so calorie dense food *was* better for us.


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

[User]
How can concavity (cardinal property) of instantaneous utility imply preference for smooth consumption sequence?

I know that concavity is a cardinal property since f(x) = x is concave, g(x) = x\^3 is increasing and g(f(x)) = x\^3 is convex.

I also read (e.g., in Per Krussell's Real Macroeconomic Theory) that a concave felicity function implies that the consumer prefers a smoother consumption stream.

This feels like a contradiction - is it? And if it is not, can you help me understand why?

[Assistant]
Consider a two period example where utility of consumption is u(c), and the budget to be split across two periods is I. No savings or work, therefore consumption in the two periods is such that c1 + c2 = I. (Assume the consumer cares about both periods equally so their goal is to maximize u(c1) + u(c2).

The solution is such that u(c1) = u(c2), and so c1=c2. Why? Concavity of u implies diminishing marginal utility for consumption in any period. Say instead you picked c1>c2. Then, because of concavity, u(c1) < u(c2) and so moving a unit of consumption from 1 to 2 will increase utility.

A usual thing thats confusing is that concave utility means convex preferences. With convex preferences you prefer diversity of whats in your bundle (including across time) rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.


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

[User]
Is it necessary to read Plato, Aristotle, Aurelius, and other ancient philosophers before reading Kant and Schopenhauer?

I've just started reading Critique of Pure Reason accompanied with reading from plato.stanford.edu. I've almost completed my math degree and think I haven't had difficulty following Kant's philosophy on math. I'd look up terms that I felt need further clarification, such as intuition, on plato.stanford.edu, and then continue on without problem. When I read up on ''a priori'', ''posteriori'' and ''Synthetic a priori'' I felt they made a lot of sense and almost like equivalents to axioms and other math concepts, they felt almost familiar and further clarified my vague ideas of ''the nature of math''.

I'm still impressionable and not that well read, I saw a suggestion somewhere that it's good to read The world as will and idea when one is still impressionable.

I really don't want to misinterpret. Will the following experience I had with reading excerpts from Fear and Trembling about two years ago give some indication of the likelihood I have with misinterpreting philosophy? I remember reading the binding of Isaac and understood it as--there is no earthly reason that could justify killing Isaac because all reasons given are absolutely horrible (I had encountered people giving reasons of why binding of Isaac and Psalm 137:9 were ok and remember thinking them so immoral, which contributed to my going through a rebellious atheist phase). Trying to justify with reason such action is inherently corrupt and thus reasoning must be discarded entirely and hence the leap of faith.

Sorry for my rambling. I really want to consume a broad range of philosophy properly but want to start with Kant and Schopenhauer because my interest is piqued towards them. I don't want to end up a ''bad philosopher'' and feel could easily become as such if not careful.

[Assistant] I'll never argue against reading the ancients, but to get more out of Kant it is perhaps better to read his more immediate predecessors, who constitute the context in which he was writing (e.g. Hume, Descartes).


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

[User] How is the universe's radius 46 billion light years across but only 13 billion years old?

[Assistant]
This is an excellent question! The reason is that the Universe is expanding.

Think about it like this. In the first million years after the Big Bang, light would have travelled about a million light years. But that distance has since expanded, and today is quite a bit bigger than a million light years. So when you add up all the distances that that light has travelled over 13.8 billion years, it's going to add up to more than 13.8 billion light years, because the distance it's travelled has expanded behind it.


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

[User]
Car-window air-pressure pulsing??

Have you ever been driving down the highway and when you role down one window (half-way or just the right amount) the air in the cabin starts pulsing? It makes a really loud noise almost as if a sub-woofer was fluttering at high speeds, but when you adjust the window a few inches it goes away?  What's up with that?

[Assistant] What is happening is a dynamic air pressure equilibrium. The motion of the car forces air into cabin through the half-open window, increasing the inside air pressure. Eventually the pressure differential is great enough to great enough for the air to rush back out. This process repeats causing the sub-woofer-like pulsating. Blowing air over the top of a bottle creates exactly the same phenomena, albeit at a more pleasantly musical pitch. To resolve the issue you can fully open the window (allowing air in through the top and out through the bottom, or vice versa) or crack the passenger side window (to allow air in one side and out the other). Hope that all made sense!


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

[User]
ELI5 : Why is Kinetic Energy conserved in elastic collisions but not conserved in Inelastic collisions?

Shouldn't both collisions produce the same results?

[Assistant]
Inelastic means something is being deformed and not immediately bouncing back into it's original form. That absorbs some energy in the form of internal friction (I.E. it turns to heat)

Imagine two cars crashing into each other. They both went 20m/s and afterwards they are both standing. The energy all got absorbed by the material.

Overall energy is conserved. It isn't all kinetic energy anymore though.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why does the pain from being stabbed not constantly hurt?

I donate plasma weekly so I get pricked a lot. However within a minute or so after the needle enters my arm I don't feel it there anymore and don't feel any pain until it's removed. Why is that?

Also does that happen with other things? Like being stabbed or having an object pierce your body.

[Assistant]
Pain is a signal from the nerves that run all through your body. These nerves react by sending a signal to the brain when damaged; some react to pressure or temperature, or any of a dozen different stimuli.

That signal doesn't stay at 100% forever however, the signal degrades as the same nerve fires over and over and over; the result is that the pain also tends to be the worst right after the moment of insult/injury.

When you get poked giving plasma, these nerves fire off, then calm down as time passes. When they remove the needle, things move again and nerves re-fire to this new insult; another pain signal.

There are lots of ways this can go awry, and very sharp medical instruments can sever nerves before a signal can reach the brain; and pain in the brain can be adjusted (ie opiates, narcotics, analgesics) but in the body, its all nerves.