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

[User]
What gives light it's velocity?

Bullets need an explosive force; cars need fuel. Any object that i can think of requires an external force to make it move, yet light instantly has a velocity of 186 thousand miles a second without any intervention or apparent force acting upon it.

[Assistant]
Light is made of photons, which have no rest mass.  One of the consequences of relativity is that a particle with no rest mass *must* move at the speed of light, so once the photon is created, it moves at that speed.

Particles with non-zero mass behave differently; they can, in principle, be brought to rest.  Thus a massive particle can exist in a stationary state and in a moving state.

One way to think about this is in terms of energy.  Let's ignore potential energy.  A photon with any amount of energy travels at speed *c*.  Because photons are massless, any amount of energy, no matter how small, can in principle be used to make a photon.  A massive particle will have total energy equal to mc^2 + its kinetic energy.  Thus making such a particle requires a minimum energy of mc^(2), but that energy is not enough to get it to move as well.  Any excess energy above that minimum value, however, will cause that massive particle to have a non-zero speed.  The situation with the photon is limiting case that that rest mass is zero.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is with the whole once removed, Xth, ect. thing with cousins?

I've heard people say Oh were 3rd cousins once removed or 9th cousins thrice removed. What exactly does it mean and how did that come to be with those terms?

[Assistant] 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc is the fewest steps to your shared relative. So for a first cousin, your shared relative is either of your parents, one step away. The child of your first cousin would still be your first cousin, because the fewest steps is 1, between you and your parent, but they're once removed because there's a difference of one generation (they're 2 steps away while you're one step away, 2-1=1, once removed).


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Why wasn't Voldemort the master of the Elder Wand in the end?

Alright, so in the 7th book Harry disarms Draco who had previously disarmed Dumbledore, unknowingly making himself the owner of the Elder Wand... But then later on he goes off into the woods to meet Voldemort and gets Avada Kedavra'd for his trouble. Regardless of whether or not he came back using the Resurrection Stone, shouldn't Voldemort killing Harry there have transferred ownership of the Elder Wand to him rather than having it backfire because it still belonged to Harry in that final duel?

[Assistant]
Harry did not come back because of the Stone.  That's not how it works.  The Stone only brings back ghosts, like Harry's parents.

Voldemort's curse killed the horcrux inside Harry, but Harry survived.  Voldemort never defeated or disarmed Harry with the Wand, so Harry is still its master, which he proved by using it to repair his old wand.


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

[User]
Do big companies face the same calculation problem as planned economies?

Considering there are many huge companies (Walmart, Amazon) that manage an amount of resources comparable with many small countries or states, do this companies face the same calculation problem that Mises and Hayek proposed, as planned economies?

I know that this big companies work within the context of a market, but so do countries who do (or did) central planning. I'm guessing that big companies with big supply chain ought to do the same. How do they solve this problem?

Thanks!

[Assistant]
Yes they do. Equally there are big costs in going to a market. This includes the mechanical process of going to a market like having a money float, giving receipts and so on, but also things like advertising, legal for contracts and so on. So it is best to think of the boundaries of the firm as being where the diseconomies of a firm outweigh the diseconomies of a market. Beyond it you are best going though a market, below it you are best through organisation. Differences are particularly noticeable between industries - for example oil has many large vertically integrated firms and very few if any one man firms, in other industries it can be the other way round.

This is sometimes referred to as the Theory of the Firm in economics and economists such as Coase contributed to it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do hitboxes exist in video games? Why can't it just be "if object A hits 3D model B, it hits"?

[Assistant]
Brumisator is completely wrong, networking is not why we use hitboxes. As evidenced by hitboxes are always used in non-networked games.

Determining if something hits a 3d model with full accuracy is computationally expensive. To determine if something "hits" a 3d model, you need to draw a line between two points and determine if it runs into any of its polygons. In Crysis 3 the characted models have 60,000 polygons. Imagine having 20 of them on screen. Without hitboxes, that's 1.2m calculations (Simplfying it as 1 per polygon when in reality it's actually a group of 30 or so individual calculations) every "simulation tick". There may be 60 ticks in a second. This gets out of control fast.

Enter the world of the hitboxes. Turns out that for games "good enough" is really good enough. They don't need 100% accuracy cause it actually doesnt matter in all situations. Hotboxes allow developers to define a region of space where if you detect a hit, you hit the character. This is typically a literal box in space, 6 polygons for a region of space to test instead of each polygon. Depending on what they're hitting, it might actually be a circle which is even easier. You do 1 calculation to detect a hit on a spherical region of space.


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

[User]
Why do new facilities have Vespene and minerals breaking through the floor?

i was recently deployed to fight the zerg on our newest orbital platform.

Midway through the fight i found that they were harvesting both vespene and minerals to fund their war efforts... in the middle of our brand new platform!

I have seen similar things on other campaigns, minerals breaking through the top of sky scrapers, inside our most secure facilities.... what gives? Why are we paying the zerg to fight us?

[Assistant]
Most of those structures are actually infrastructure built around existing mineral and vespene deposits. It's a pain to fly an SCV halfway across orbit just to deliver a single load of minerals, so decades ago Terran terraforming ships went all across the sector building roads and platforms so that colony ships would have easy access to resources later. A lot of those structures were actually built decades ago, back before we made first contact with the Zerg, and the colonies that were supposed to be built near those deposits were either delayed due to a lack of volunteers, high murder rates depleting the indentured convict population, political infighting delaying the consturction of colony ships, and (most recently) colony programs being cancelled in favor of military development to fight the Zerg, Protoss, and Dominion.

The bad news is that it's your parents' taxpayer dollars being wasted due to poor planning. The good news is that if a military engagement takes place anywhere in this sector, you won't have to look far to find a great place to drop a command center and start field-production of materiel.

The few mineral piles and vespene geysers you've seen indoors *(like in the tutorial mission of Heart of the Swarm)* are usually simulated test environments for testing new extractor tech for SCVs and MULEs.


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

[User]
CMV: high school students shouldn't be required to put in more than 40 hours a week.

This isn't of any immediate personal relevance (that was a while ago), but I know a few people who are currently in high school so it comes up occasionally.  It seems strange to me that the high school students I know are apparently working longer hours than I do as a grad student.  (I know their program is more work than average; I'm not claiming that your average high school student is putting in 60-hour weeks.)

I don't have that much of an in-depth argument thought out for this, but it seems fairly straightforward.  In short, it seems odd to me that what's considered overtime for an adult is considered entirely acceptable for an adolescent.  Workloads that result in homework eating a substantial portion of one's free time can't be healthy (for a teenager), and I don't see a benefit to a "stress test" approach for high school students.  They're there mostly to learn how to learn and function, and I don't think that should require more than 40 hours a week of total commitment.  Even when adults voluntarily take on heavier workloads, it's often a source of significant strain and not too good for their health--and that for someone who made the choice for themselves, is considered fit to do so, and probably has better time management skills.

There's plainly a cost (stress, less time for exercise/hobbies/friends/family, lost sleep, etc), and I don't see what the benefit is, unless someone wants to argue that people couldn't plausibly prepare for the more rigorous university programs in a 40-hour week.

I don't think the implementation details are all that important, but presumably it'd be something to the effect of a hard cap on homework volume or similar.

I think there would be three major ways to change my view on this:

1. Demonstrate that there is no plausible way to implement such a limit.  (Unlikely.)
2. Demonstrate that at least some reasonably-common trajectories unavoidably require more than 40 hours' a week worth of preparation.
3. Demonstrate that the costs I've assumed are actually negligible.

[Assistant]
>Demonstrate that there is no plausible way to implement such a limit. (Unlikely.)

Motivated students would easily break it. Even if you reduced class time, there's no guarantee that students wouldn't just fill the time with more extracurriculars or even take dual credit classes at a local community college to gain an edge on college admissions.


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

[User] ELI5: How come soda foams up differently when poured on ice cream?

[Assistant] Soda by itself has no proteins in it so the bubbles pop almost as soon as they are made.  When you pour the soda on ice cream it melts some of it and mixes with the cream.  The proteins in the cream increase the strength of each bubble causing them to last longer and so creating the "foam" that sticks around longer.


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

[User] [Toy Story] Why do only Buzz Lightyear toys think they are actual space rangers? Why do they freeze when humans come?

[Assistant] Because they're the only ones imbued with a factory "personality" rather than just naturally having a magical one. Remember, Buzz Lightyear is the only toy that speaks naturally and has a *ton* of recorded phrases and functional gimmicks even without being animated.


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

[User]
[Batman] Would Batman mercy kill someone infected with a zombie virus if requested?

Batman's no-kill rule is one of the strictest -if not *the* strictest- in fictional history. The only time I've seen him attack with the intention to kill was when he shot Darkseid, and that was only because the stakes were *way* too high to adhere to his no-kill rule because the entire world was at risk.

So with all that in mind how would he react to being asked by someone infected with a zombie virus to mercy kill them. To add to the situation the infected individual is minutes away from turning and they're both stranded in the middle of nowhere with their comms busted and no equipment to create a cure. There's absolutely no way this guy is going to make it, and so he desperately begs Batman to end it all because he's terrified of turning and can't muster the courage to do it himself.

What does Batman do? Does he kill him or let him turn?

[Assistant]
Batmans no kill rule is actually fairly loose. He just doesnt *execute* people, his actions have definitely resulted in the deaths of many people.

I dont think Batman would do it. He would do everything in his power to mcguffin his way to a solution, then if he failed he might just incapacitate the person and we get a fade out when the threat is over of him handing the zombiefied dude to a Wayne Corp biotech division lab.

Then a few issues later we learn that lab was run by a clone of The Scarecrow and he has created a mutated version of the zombie fellow that hates batman for not killing him and blames him for his current state.

Then he might get killed by Batman.


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

[User]
[28 months later] if the virus hadn't made it off the british isles after reappearing, what was the plan?

What it says on the tin.

[Assistant] To reconnect with the remaining survivors and slowly rebuild the UK, albeit in a much reduced state, giving that most of the population were wiped out and quite a few of the survivors probably would never want to see the UK again.


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

[User]
Dark matter has mass and is effected by gravity. Does this mean that dark matter coalesces into planet and star-like masses?

If that is the case it blows my mind that there is matter like this in the universe and we have no way of directly observing it. Would a normal matter object fall straight through a planet-like mass made of dark matter?

[Assistant] It probably doesn't, based on searches for gravitational microlensing in the Milky Way caused by massive compact halo objects (MaCHOs). Experiments like OGLE have been running for almost 30 years now and have delivered a great amount of science - but haven't seen anything like enough microlensing events to explain dark matter through compact objects. The current best guess is that dark matter is composed of WIMPs instead of MaCHOs (that's Weakly Interacting Massive Particles - these are the real names, yes). The LHC has experiments trying to detect dark matter candidate particles, which may or may not exist.


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

[User]
[ELI5] Stanley Kubricks "The Shining".

 There are a lot of things I don't understand about this film. I do understand the kid had a psychic ability, and sort of predicted what was going to happen.

I don't get the scenes where Jack is at the bar, the last scene of the film where it shows him as head guy of the hotel and the hallucinations  Wendy was having during the end of the film.

Thanks a lot.

[Assistant]
Kubrick used the book as a jumping off point. There was a lot of things that he changed to make the kind of movie Kubrick is known for making. The novel does a better job at answering your questions.

The Hotel wanted the power to get people to do what it wanted. The Hotel had a little power over most people. It could plant thoughts in people's heads. The last one the Hotel had got to was Delbert Grady's daughters. They had  a small amount of psychic ability, or "The Shine." Because of this, and because the girls were killed in the hotel, their Shine could be used by the hotel to get in the Torrence family's head. Jack was the easiest one, because he was an alcoholic. All the hotel had to do was make him think he could get drunk and he would do what the Hotel wanted. Jack was only trying to get drunk and still have a way to support his family. So the hotel made the bar seem like it was a fun place to be. The Hotel also offered him the caretaker position forever. Jack, when he was drunk, thought that was a great deal.

It was a lie, but Jack didn't know that. The Hotel only wanted Danny, because Danny was the strongest Shine that had ever been in the hotel. When Jack is in the bathroom with Grady, Jack agrees to get Danny to work for the Hotel, he says that he can take charge of his family. He fails, because Wendy is stronger than he is.

So, the Hotel uses Wendy and her love of Danny to get her to work for the hotel. If the hotel can get her to kill Jack, the Hotel may get her to kill Danny. At the end, that is why the hotel is showing her all these things. It is only to scare her enough to make her want to kill her husband.

Jack becomes the caretaker in the final photograph because he did what the Hotel asked him to do. The hotel gave him that part of the promise.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does plastics make so much noise when you wrap it even though it is so soft?

[Assistant]
Plastic wrappers make noise when crumpled because of those creases and ridges you see on it. Unlike very elastic materials like rubber sheets, when you stretch a plastic sheet, the stress doesn't get distributed evenly. Treated plastics have metastable energy minima.

When you apply more force after the first crumple, these facets release some elastic potential energy they were storing, (Ridges store 4/5 of the total energy in your plastic wrapper), they buckle and form a new facet with a new orientation. The energy is released in the form of sound clicks, heat and vibrations.


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

[User] Is there a major difference between steam and fog? At a basic understanding, theyre both just water in a gaseous state right?

[Assistant]
Actually, not quite. Steam is gaseous water, kept in vapor form thanks to its temperature. If allowed to cool, some would condense back into liquid.

Fog is actually liquid water as well, but in tiny enough droplets that it doesn't fall to the ground. Steam and water vapor are both invisible, while clouds and fog are materially the same thing.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse] What if Blonde Peter Parker had..

lived?

**SCENARIO:** After the explosion,  Miles grabs Peter , puts him on his back, and gets the hell out of there. The drive still gets destroyed, but they still manage to get away from Prowler. Peter receives medical attention and makes a full recovery. He then begins to train Miles. Until , Peter B. Parker shows up and other spider people show up.

How will the movie change with a prime Peter Parker still alive to fight with everyone else?

Would Blonde Peter be a better teacher than older Peter? What will he teach Miles instead? How will Miles change when he has this Peter as his mentor instead? How will he interact with the older Peter, Gwen, and the others?

What changes?

[Assistant]
Pretty sure the Chris Pine Peter Parker had his act together and would've been a good teacher and planner.  He wouldn't have needed to make a new goober, so they could go back and fix it all pretty quickly.

Plus he would've known things, like that Liv was Doc Ock, and not made as many mistakes out of ignorance of the situation.


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

[User] Has any animal evolved in a way to adapt to the modern human?

[Assistant]
Dogs Decoded is a really good documentary that talks about evolution of dogs. And dogs have adapted to the modern human. One interesting example that i don't see anyone talking about is that dogs read human faces like humans read other humans' faces. They look at the left eye and then to the right and at the nose/mouth area. They do this every time and this is exactly how humans read faces. This is why dogs always seem to know what you are thinking or feeling. They can read your emotions. AND they only do this with humans. They don't do this with other dogs at all. Wolves don't do this to other wolves or to humans either.

Dogs Decoded, watch it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it almost impossible to decompile executable (.exe) files to reveal the package contents?

[Assistant]
Executable files are made of machine code, which is translated (assembled) from a family of programming languages called assembly. It is (usually) possible to reverse the process (disassembling) and get the same assembly code back, because the assembling process is (usually) lossless. Assembly code and machine code are very simple (relatively speaking) - there are no variables beyond a set of registers that are used and reused throughout the program for various purposes, and access to main memory.

Most programs are not written in assembly code. Instead, they are written in higher-level languages that have fancy things like variables, flow control, loops, comments, and multiple files. When these programs are compiled to assembly, a lot of information in the original program is lost, like variable names, because assembly doesn't have a way of representing that information. If you want to reverse the process, you need to output that lost information elsewhere (like a file of debugging information that maps generated assembly code to the original source code), or deal with a translation with generated variable names and a very simple representation of the program logic.

It's like trying to translate a sentence through a series of languages and back to the original - information is going to get lost because of differences between the languages. However, a decompiled program should still have the same function as the compiled executable, since programming languages aren't subject to as many nuances as human languages.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Is the reason why Vader stopped Boba from shooting Chewbacca was to protect C3PO?

[Assistant]
No. It was to stop collateral damage.

He needed Han alive to test the carbon freeze. He needed Leia alive as a political prisoner. He needed Lando alive because it's easier to deal with Cloud City without the place rioting. And he didn't want the freeze chamber equipment damaged.

He stopped Fett because he might have missed.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does salt water naturally exist on Earth and why is there so much more of it than regular fresh water?

[Assistant]
Salts are really common chemical compounds.

Water is a very good solvent.

It's not really surprising that large amounts of minerals end up in solution in large scale water reservoirs. It's just in lakes and rivers, the water moves on before it has a chance to get too salty.

Except when the lake doesn't flow anywhere and you get the dead sea.


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

[User] Is it plausible that black holes orbit something the same as how stars orbit black holes and planets to stars?

[Assistant] Absolutely. Black holes have a mass, and they can orbit around something with a comparable or greater mass to them (more specifically, they'll orbit around their common center of mass, which is what happens with planets, stars, etc. too). For example, if a binary star system (two stars orbiting each other) contains two stars which are massive enough to become black holes, then eventually that system might become two black holes orbiting each other. If they're close enough, they'll lose orbital energy to gravitational radiation, causing them to spiral inwards until they collide and form a larger black hole, releasing a flurry of gravitational waves.


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

[User]
[General Fantasy] Do humans ever breed with dwarves or halflings?

No fetish here, don't worry. Just a random thought after listening to a Critical Role podcast. Half-elves and half-orcs are pretty common in fantasy, but I have never come across half-dwarves and half-halflings (hobbits/gnomes etc.). Has anyone got examples?

[Assistant]
In D&D, the Dark Sun setting had people called "mul" who were crossbreeds of humans and dwarves (they tended to be hairless, shorter than humans but not that much, and very stocky).

There are a bunch of supplements that created half-everything across them, there's even half hellhounds and half treants (living trees, like ents).


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What effective power output is expected of a small-arms blaster?

I'm trying to compare the effectiveness of blaster technology compared to the slug throwers of yore. Energy of their solid projectiles is trivial to calculate, but I'm having an issue figuring out the effective power output of a comparable blaster, say the E-11 for instance. Does anyone have solid data on joules per shot?

[Assistant]
Ceteris paribus, the driving factor behind the power of a blaster is the amount of gas used per shot. That said, many blaster models had variable power settings, allowing for the user to make the decision on power vs. shots between reloads, as the situation dictates. Take, for example, the E-11 blaster rifle. It included a stun setting, a low-power/rapid-fire setting for suppressive fire, a full power "kill" setting capable to blowing fist-sized chunks out of hardened duracrete, and many smaller gradiations in between.

Figured the actual joules of energy delivered for an individual shot is a difficult task. Going by the duracrete blasting power of an E-11 or some of the heavier blaster pistols (General Solo's customized DL-44, for example), I'd put it up there with thr power of the larger, man-portable anti-materiel slug-throwing rifles (assuming they are using non-explosive rounds).


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

[User]
What is a programming language that has limited use case, but is interesting nonetheless?

So are there any programming languages that interest you, but have a very limited use case?

In my case, it's a grey area, but I think it counts.

Music has always been a hobby of mine, and so is programming now, so the crossover language, Lilypond is what I'm saying. It's a markup language that allows someone to make sheet music with coding rather than a GUI. And frankly, I really like this language, even though I'd never use it for anything practical.

Any similar cases out there?

[Assistant]
Pretty much any of the esoteric languages. They stretch the idea of code by a lot while still staying turing complete (most of them).

Of course they are pointless in productive terms, but very interesting if you're into DSL development.


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

[User]
Smoking and/or drinking alcohol while pregnant should be illegal. CMV

I know the biggest argument against this is infringing on the woman's rights, but these are activities which have no benefit to the mother and so being now responsbile for another life within her, she should not particpate in these activities since they are proven detrimental to the health of the fetus. Now it may be asked where we draw the line, should we restrict certain fatty foods, etc. I'm not advocating for those, only specifically for smoking and drinking. Obviously jailtime is not a suitable punishment so I think a fine would be perfectly acceptable. Can you CMV?

Edit: I should mention I mean excessive alcohol, not a glass of wine.

[Assistant] Well, first of all, social taboo aside, mild amounts of drinking (1-2 drinks a week) has not been shown to impede or have negative effects on fetal development. On top of that, where would you draw the line? How would you enforce it? Would you require pregnant women to have to submit to a brethalyzer upon exiting their homes?


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

[User] Question: If you were to bring up some of the lifeforms that exist down in the depths of the ocean, how large would they be at atmospheric pressure?

[Assistant]
From Wikipedia: "At 0 C, in the limit of zero pressure, the compressibility [of water] is 5.110^10 Pa^1."

Since they're made up mostly of water, and water compresses only a very little, there's a very small change in size when you put lifeforms under pressure.


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

[User] How do computer mice work?

[Assistant] So basically, optical mice have a little camera in them that constantly takes pictures and compares them to the previous picture. Using these comparisons, the mouse can then determine speed and direction of travel for the mouse which it then relays to the computer.


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

[User]
[MCU] How strong is the MCU's Spiderman?

In the MCU, we see a young Peter Parker perform some pretty spectacular feats. Just how strong is he?

[Assistant]
An exact strength is hard to note because we don't really have any indication of a true maximum lifting capacity, but we have two pretty good high end strength feats for him.

First, stopping a car (weighing 3000 lbs, ~1360kg) going 40mph (65kph). Someone else will have to do the math on that one.

Second, holding up the jetway during the fight in Civil War. A quick google search lead me to a post saying those weight somewhere between 7 and 11 tons - now, granted, he wasn't holding *all* of that weight, but he was holding a not-insignificant amount of it.


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

[User] ELI5: How do doctors determine what stage cancer is in and how long a patient has to live?

[Assistant]
Stage one- cancer is small and localized.
Two- has grown but still localized
Three-  grown more and possibly spread to lymph nodes
Four- has spread to other organs and areas of the body
The time is always an estimate. Likely an average just based on other people at that stage, and how healthy they are otherwise.


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

[User]
How does one market a philosophy major?

My 'primary' major is biomedical engineering. I'm 2 courses short of a double major with philosophy, but I have a minor in philosophy pretty well secured. I'm trying to justify taking the two extra courses I need in order to get the major. If I didn't take these 2 philosophy courses, I could instead take two graduate level BME courses. On the surface, it feels hard to justify taking some philosophy classes over the tangible skills that I could gain from the graduate level BME classes. My BME advisor has strong opinion in favor of BME (unsurprisingly).

I want to get the major, but its mostly because it feels personally important to me. I feel like the double major with philosophy and BME really accurately reflects my identity, in that I am passionate about both topics and I am able to sort of bridge the gap between humanities and engineering. But, it feels hard to justify on that basis alone. If I had a clear way of marketing degree, I would feel a lot better. I'm doing my concentration in ethics, which is good because that's probably most relevant to medicine. I also do genuinely think that the degree is valuable, in that it has improved my critical thinking skills. The problem that this advantage feels to vague to be able to really sell - if an interviewer asked me why that will be useful in my role as an engineer, I have a hard time coming up with any really clear examples of how philosophy could give me better critical thinking examples in this setting.

So, how do you market your philosophy major?

[Assistant] IN your position, you could argue that your double degree gave you 1) analytical skills not typically learned by engineering majors, that would be very useful when interacting or leading a team, and when interacting with clients, and 2) gave you insights into ethics unmatched by most other engineers.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are water mains buried beneath streets?

It seems like having water mains and other infrastructure under roads creates more work and costs more money when repairs/changes need to be done.  Why not have these structures in a spot that is easier to access, like under the grass between the sidewalks and the road (i.e. terraces)? Are there any advantages to having them under the streets? Any history?

[Assistant]
Engineer for the Highway Dept. here:

Since public utilities are installed to benefit...well...the public, they are installed along the road which is also known as the public right-of-way and owned and maintained by the municipality. Installing these big public water/gas/telecom/electric etc. lines through private property means tons of paperwork, easements, and legal agreements between the utility and who knows how many property owners.

Regarding your specific example of installing them along the "grass strip" yes that is usually also in the public right-of-way and sometimes yes, the lines are installed there. You have to remember though, that the water lines have to share space with all the other stuff in the ground, sewer mains, gas mains, buried fiber optics or electric, storm drainage pipes, there's a ton of shit buried under our roads. Sometimes it just comes down to using whatever little strip of land is left in the ROW for installing the main.


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

[User]
How do modern nuclear reactors avoid service interruptions due to slagging/poisoning?

Was reminded of a discussion I had with my grandfather (~WW2 era nuclear science engineer) about how problematic reactor poisoning was in the past and especially slagging.

I believe more than a few of the US fleet of commercial reactors are at or are already surpassing 60 year total runtime licenses, was it just better designs or something else?

[Assistant]
There are two cases a reactor or core designer has to deal with, steady state operation and transient operation.

In general, poisoning is dealt with by having a large amount of hot excess reactivity so that you have xenon overrode capability. This means having sufficient hot excess reactivity to overcome any poisoning effects. Large light water power reactors are designed to run for up to 2 years continuously so they are loaded with a large amount of excess fuel to support that.

In steady state, the whole poison process balances out with excess reactivity and isnt an issue. For transient conditions, like sudden drops in power or a scram, units have xenon override capability based on their design.

For bwr plants, at full power you have a large amount of voids in the core producing negative reactivity. After a scram these steam voids collapse as the reactor shuts down, returning that reactivity and making it available for restart. Xenon may complicate ramping the unit back to 100% after the restart due to thermal limits, however bwrs always have xenon override capability and can start up in peak xenon at virtually any point in the cycle.

PWRs have xenon override until they are in the end of their cycle in coastdown with most of all of their boron diluted. For a pwr, you reclaim a small amount of reactivity as the reactor cools down to hot standby after a trip, but you rely on the hot excess reactivity to overcome peak xenon.

For CANDU plants, these units have very little hot excess reactivity, and can easily be poisoned out. The plant is designed to only do a full reactor trip when absolutely necessary, and in other cases runback to 60% or 2% based on he situation. At 60%, you have enough neutron production to prevent poisoning from shutting the core down. At 2% you have a time window where if the problem condition clears you can ramp back up to 60% before xenon catches up to prevent a xenon peak from poisoning the core out.

Hope this helps.


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

[User] ELI5: How come the EPA says glyphosate is harmless yet at the same time a $10 billion lawsuit on glyphosate causing cancer has been reached?

[Assistant]
As is the case with nearly every poison, it isn't the substance - it is the dose.

Nearly everything in the world is bad for you in the right amounts and there are a million and one things that will give you cancer if consumed in the right amounts.  The question is whether or not you are consuming amounts high enough to be problematic.

The EPA sets minimum levels for a host of chemicals because they argue that amounts lower than that are not harmful (they are wrong from time to time, but that is the logic).  Since it is neary impossible to get levels to zero, the goal is to keep them low enough as to not be harmful.


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

[User] [Naruto]Why are all the villages referred to as "Hidden" if they are massive cities where everyone knows where they are?

[Assistant] Thats the just what it translates to the English dub, the name is closer to The Village Hidden in -blank- blank being: Leaves, Mists, Cloud etc. so while youre right that the villages are not literally hidden villages, if you look at the terrain youll see that the villages are situated in very remote and strategic positions in there respective Lands (read:countries) and effectively Hidden away from the surrounding population. They have this specific Hidden name system because thats where the power and knowledge base for the Lands respective ninja forces are located.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do diesel locomotives use their Diesel engines to produce electric to drive electric motors rather than just use the power from the diesel engine to move the train?

[Assistant]
So, the alternative you're talking about is a direct drive or mechanical drive locomotive. There's a few problems:

- the power being transmitted would require ridiculously large transmissions and gearing which would be breaking all the time.

- torque. Combustion engines deliver peak torque at a specific designed rpm range. Outside of that range the torque is not optimal... pulling heavy trains requires massive torque. Whereas: the torque provided by an electric motor is constant regardless of RPM. So the ability of the motor to turn the wheels is the same no matter how fast the motor is turning. To deliver a comparable torque curve from a combustion engine you'd need an overly complex and contrived transmission which would, again, be breaking all the time.


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

[User]
is it possible that an ancestor of a species has more or less chromosomes?

I was wondering about how the amount of chromosomes were affected by evolution. Like is it possible that one ancestor has more chromosomes or less chromosomes?

So basically: how does the amount of chromosomes correlate to evolution?

[Assistant] Yes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes while apes have 24. Researchers examining the gene sequence of each types have determined that at some point during the course of evolution, two pairs from our common ancestors have fused into one in the human lineage. The gene sequences of one human chromosome appears to match the sequences found in separate pairs for the ape genome.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people habitually shake/bounce their legs repetitively while sitting?

[Assistant] Sitting compresses the blood vessels in your legs, so they don't get enough oxygen (this causes the tingly feeling when your legs "fall asleep"). So your brain tries to improve circulation by telling the legs to move. This is why people with iron deficiency usually have restless legs.


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

[User]
Eli5 - Can seedless fruit plants only be grown by propagation?

How do you continue to grow fruit that has been modified to no longer contain seeds, such as seedless grapes?

I understand you could maybe propogate from existing plants but without seeds it could seemingly never be planted from a seed?

[Assistant]
The seedless characteristic isnt always *genetic*... well not exactly. It doesnt evolve over time and get passed through generations, it pops up so the offspring of a plant with seeds is a plant without seeds. Plants are supposed to have 2 sets of chromosomes so they can pass on exactly half their DNA (which is exactly 1 set) to the next generation. The other parent provides 1 more set of chromosomes, and the other half of the DNA the child will inherit. Not too different from humans. Unlike humans, plants can survive with 3 sets of chromosomes and the only problem they have is inability to reproduce (no seeds).

If you can find or make another defective seed with 3 sets of chromosomes, you can make another seedless plant from a plant with seeds. This is where they came from in the first place.

In practice, yes, they are usually propagated, and this is can be an issue. Bananas are all so similar to each other that massive amounts of bananas are frequently wiped out by one disease they are all equally vulnerable to.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why did the lone TIE fighter the Millennium Falcon encountered at Alderaan's debris field not react to the Millennium Falcon?

Why would a fighter pilot ignore a possible enemy craft approaching a high value military asset, especially since the TIE fighter was in an extremely vulnerable position with the Millennium Falcon directly behind it? Why did the TIE fighter continue to travel in a straight line?

[Assistant]
It *did* react to the Millennium Falcon. It put its thrusters on full blast and ran for the Death Star. Luke even comments on how fast they're going.

It also wasn't a lone TIE Fighter. There were thousands more waiting in the wings if things went south.

Best odds on the sequence of events: TIE fighter is out on a routine patrol, out of sensor range (so probably radio range, too) of the Death Star (if it was within range of the Death Star's Sensors, there would have been little reason to have the fighter out there prior to the Falcon's arrival).

TIE fighter spots the Falcon leaving hyperspace,  and immediately sets a course for the Death Star to report the arrival of an unrecognized Ship. This path happens to take it directly over the Falcon, making it appear as though they are simply travelling in a straight line.

The Falcon Gives Chase, and manages to Jam it's communications before the TIE fighter gets within hailing distance of the Death Star, but fails to recognize the Death Star as a threat before they are within range of both its sensors, and its tractor beam.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why is it the USA doesn't have a national gun license?

I thought this to my self and looked, but didn't find an awnser on reddit. Anyway, there wouldn't be any state laws on the matter but instead, we could have congress conduct laws on this.

Other than that would it work or not?

[Assistant]
One legal answer among many:  The Constitution only empowers to federal government to act in specific ways.  Any power the federal government is not specifically granted by the constitution is delegated to the states.  A national gun license is not one of those powers, so the federal government cannot create one.

There exist various legal loopholes the federal government has used to expand its powers beyond what you would expect, but that is an altogether different discussion.

The political answer is:  The NRA is a very powerful and wealthy lobby, and it is opposed to any increase in restrictions on gun ownership.  Especially the idea of a national gun license.

The Ideological answer is:  If you have a national license, you now have a national registration.  If you have a national registration, you now know exactly whose doors to break down in the event the government wants to confiscate all the guns in the nation.  While no-one believes it is possible *for the current government* to do this, they are afraid of what might happen 10, 20, or 50 years down the line, in a vastly different political climate.  It was only a about 70 years ago that we were locking up people of Japanese ancestry en masse, for example.


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

[User]
Why does boiling oil make food crispy yet boiling
water softens the food?

My curiosity is killing me with this. I noticed this when one time I deep fried my fies and they got crispy. Meanwhile I boiled potatoes and they got soft. Does the thickness of the 2 liquids have anything to do with how it effects the food? Is it a chemical reaction? Does the tempurature effect it?

[Assistant]
Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius which means that when you poach the food (or use a bain-marie), the food can only reach that temperature but no more.  This temperature is not high enough to cause any browning reactions and will take a long time to dry out the food.

Oil and fat can reach a much higher temperature and therefore will rapidly dry out and crisp anything in direct contact with it.  It will also brown the food which is a result of either a Maillard reaction or caremalisation.  Note that these browning reactions can be caused by air, steam, (e.g. in an oven), radiation (broiler/grill) or direct contact with hot metal (flame grill, or making caramel directly in pan) as well.


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

[User]
[Diners, Drive ins and Dives] What *is* Flavortown?

Is it like Asgard, full of Godly beings with technology we don't understand? Like Hogwarts, unable to be found and a cultivator of the culinary craft? Or is it an entirely different dimension, incomprehensible by our tiny human minds, only fathomed by our Lord Guy Fieri?

[Assistant] Flavortown is a spiritual thing, a sense of personal perfection found within foods, a powerful feeling achieved only by consuming the finest foods in the world. Flavortown is within all of us, it only needs to be discovered with the help of the choicest meals in the universe, RIGHT HERE on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives!


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

[User] ELI5: Why are instruments chambered to different keys? For instance, a clarinet is chambered Bb, whereas a flute is C, or concert pitch.

[Assistant]
This is interesting and complicated, and involves a lot of history for each of the instruments. Here are some simple explanations for why you see this today.

\- Historically, instruments such as the clarinet did not have as much sophistication in their design, and were not able to play as wide a range of notes. Instruments had to be tuned to a small set of keys, and and you would select the one you needed for a given piece of music. Think of a "C" vs "B" penny-whistle.

\- Different instruments of the same family (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone) have different ranges - higher vs lower. But those differences aren't exactly 1 octave apart, often they are less than that, so they will all be tuned differently in order to accomodate. It is convenient, then for a given note ("C") to be played with the same hand position on each instrument, even though the pitch that is emitted is different. That way wind players don't have to learn new fingerings for every version of that instrument.


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

[User] ELI5: Why aren't there bigger pushes to abandon the political party system?

[Assistant]
Originally there were no parties. Like- minded individuals formed parties organically.

If they got rid of the current parties the only thing that would happen is new ones would form, officially or othrwise it doesn't matter.


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

[User]
[Shrek] Why is Robin Hood French?

Hes an English legendary hero from the Midlands. Why is he going by Monsieur Hood?

[Assistant]
Sir Robert Locksley *aka Robin Hood* was an Anglo-Norman nobleman who when on the Third Crusade with King Richard the Lionheart.

Anglo-Normans were French speakers from Normandy on the northern coast of France.

Even the Kings of England spoke French, especially the Kings. It wouldnt be until King Henry IV that a king would speak English as their first language.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] If the Sith were so selfish and evil, why would they bother with the rule of two? Why set yourself up to be killed? I get that it's all to make a more powerful Sith in the long run but that doesn't seem selfish, it seems nice and selfless.

Is it so you can have your power until you die and then pass the dark side torch to another person, cause that's what I think. Still, why would Palpatine not stay on his own and just live forever or whatever? He doesn't have to share and why would he help some future asshole get more power, that's not the Sith way.

[Assistant]
Much easier to control one pawn, than having hundreds of other competing Sith lords, who are constantly backstabbing each other. History proves Sith end up doing this, again and again. Sith lords are painfully aware of it.

Having an apprenice is practical. They are a tool who does the shitjobs while you can carry on scheming.
Like you say, it is a matter of holding back information, and making sure the apprenice needs you at least as much as you need the apprenice.

All sith are full of themselves. It is in their very nature. All of them believe they will be the one to break the cycle, and stay Master forever.


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

[User]
CMV: NBA commentators and analysts spend too much time speculating about the personal lives of the players

I get that its the playoffs and that the off season is approaching, but there is quite a bit of coverage in the NBA that spends a significant chunk of time speculating about the psyche or psychological state of the players with little legitimacy. I noticed this most with the reactions to Kyrie Irving after the Celtics recent loss to the Bucks. Kyrie had probably the worse 3 games of his career at the worst possible time and the Buck played exceptionally but the main topic of conversation on espn is about Kyries presumably flawed character. The Lakers negotiations with Ty Lue fall flat and the speculation is about how this is an indication of Lebron James supposedly self evident desire to force his coach into the organization. The Sixers loose and we talk about Embiids maturity levels.

I cant exactly remember or imagine what commentary was like in the 80s and 90s but I want to say that commentator spent less time making claims about players psychological states than they do now. I understand that players have more of a voice and are more visible than previous eras and that this has contributed to more of an interest in their personal lives but I feel like espn in particular is more similar to something like TMZ than traditional sports analysis.

I get that ratings are a factor and sensationalism has the potential to increase these numbers, but considering the advanced metrics available there could easily be more interesting and in-depth commentary and analysis of the game and the players performances.

Im not sure if this is a current trend with all sports but It feels like commentary is becoming too psychoanalytical and getting farther away from the game itself.

[Assistant]
> Kyrie had probably the worse 3 games of his career at the worst possible time and the Buck played exceptionally but the main topic of conversation on espn is about Kyries presumably flawed character.

He literally declared himself as a "Basketball genius", kept playing like shit, and after the game during interviews he said "Who cares?". Well, yea people are going to talk about his flawed character. There's nothing to talk about his basketball at this point.  It's not his basketball but his attitude is hurting Celtics.

> speculation is about how this is an indication of Lebron James supposedly self evident desire to force his coach into the organization

Player with the most exposure is on the team with the most exposure. Every small thing is a breaking news. And it's not really a secret that Lebron is happier when the headcoach doesn't coach him. Ty Lue is that guy.

> but considering the advanced metrics available there could easily be more interesting and in-depth commentary and analysis of the game and the players performances.

To be honest, this "let's make former players commentators" and "players only baby!" idea is what's causing this. Almost none of hte player's can really make these in-depth analysis, the one's that can do are coaches at various levels, sometimes in the NBA sometimes in colleges.


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

[User] ELI5: What's so bad about scalping tickets? You own the tickets, why shouldn't you be able to sell them for what people are willing to pay?

[Assistant]
In your title, nothing.

What's wrong with the practice is that you buy multiple tickets that you don't intend to use (taking the opportunity away from those who took the time to go there hoping for a seat), and then resell them at a **RIDICULOUS** price.

This will then leave the arena/stadium with empty seats which could've been potential customers of food vendors, merchandise vendors, attires and what not. You're hurting the actual business as much as you're hurting their fans.

All for a measly buck.


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

[User]
How are billions of transistors put on a microchip the size of your thumbnail? With what tools are humans able to arrange materials with this (nearly atom specific) level of precision?

We find it impressive when an artist can carve a sculpture on the tip of a pencil or on a grain of rice, but a transistor is hundreds of times smaller than the tip of a pencil...

[Assistant] There are two main ways. You start by coating silicon wafer with a special chemical called resist. Then you either use light or electrons to burn the resist. If you use light, it's done by exposing it through a mask so that the right patterns are transferred to the resist. If you use electrons, it's basically like an electron microscope, where the beam moves around and burns the resist. Electron has higher resolution but takes longer. After the resist has been exposed, you can put the wafer in acid to etch the silicon where the resist was burned, or deposit other materials that stick to the silicon only where the resist was burned. When you're done, you remove all the resist and you have a finely etched silicon wafer.


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

[User] ELI5 Why do so many bands put bonus songs on Japanese releases?

[Assistant] Because of studio collusion, CDs in Japan are sold for around twice the price they are in, say, the United States. Bands often put exclusive tracks on the Japanese version as a way to encourage Japanese consumers to buy the Japanese version over a cheaper parallel import from overseas. CDs sold in Japan also often contain other extras like mini photo books in the liner, as well as of course translations of the lyrics. It should also be noted that the Japanese market still remains very much physical media-focused, with the majority of music sales still coming from CDs instead of digital downloads.


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

[User]
eli5: What is a copay and what is a deductible?

I have no idea how the US health insurance industry works other than that it is kinda wack. Please inform me.

[Assistant]
A co pay is the portion of the appointment or procedure that you pay every time you use it.  For example, you might have a $20 copay for a doctors office visit.  That means every time you go, you pay $20.

A deductible is the portion of everything above that you have to pay until it's met.  So lets say you have a $1000 deductible, then you go to the doctor and you pay your $20 but the doctor bills the insurance for a $200 visit.  If your deductible is not met, you will have to pay the $200.  Well, there is usually a discount, but to make it simple.  Once you reach the deductible then the insurance starts paying.

It gets a bit more complicated in that some appointment types do not have the deductible applied.  Like most insurance companies give you 1 "well being" visit with your doctor for a physical a year and the deductible doesn't apply.  So you don't have to pay for it except maybe your copay.


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

[User] [Avengers Endgame] Instead of going back and getting all the Stones, couldnt they just go back and get the Time Stone, then use that to bring the OTHER Infinity Stones from their timeline back?

[Assistant]
The standard answer is that since the time heist is planned after Strange looked to the future: No, it would not work.  It's one of the 14 million chances that didn't play out correctly and where they lose.

As for why that might be, which is the real core of the question:  The time stone is very dangerous to use.  Strange almost created serious problems moving a simple apple back and forth in time.  To manipulate something as core to reality as the Infinity Stones with the Time Stone would be even more fraught with peril.   Frankly, it's lucky Thanos didn't destroy the universe rewinding Vision just a few seconds and he had all of the other five stones at that point.

To rewind years, covering a wide range of time periods and locations, would be impossible to safely do with only the Time stone in your possession.


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

[User] ELI5:Why does Roman architecture endure for so many centuries yet modern architecture seems out-of-date after just a few decades?

[Assistant]
A big reason is that we have lost the discerning eye of the asesthetics of Roman art and instead view it as a classic archetype which extends far beyond just a style.

Let me put it this way: Roman architecture at its golden age was considered by artists and historians of the day as a poor copy of the Greek and Kemet style. The Greek orders of Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian were all seperate styles, all existing at around the same era, and all meant many different things as relgious and philosophical indicators. In Egypt you had high and low as well as a smattering of archtectual styles. Each of these forms were never mixed and different regions of Greece and Egypt ascribed to differnt styles.

The Roman style, much like the way they conquered, simply absorbed other peoples art and orders and then combined them. The Coliseum uses all three Greek orders in a single building. This was considered gaudy and ignorant by Greek art critics at the time but of course is quite impressive now. Same was true of the Pantheon which uses high and low Kemet orders in the plan and facade and many experts at the time considered this a huge mistake.

But Roman art and architecture turned out to be perfect for those who came after. The heirs of Roman history in Europe did not know the original Greek and Egyptian orders or styles. The originals were destroyed or lost so instead Medival kings saw ornate hodgepodges of Rome and began to associate that with the classical style. As a king of some barren stretch of land or a future emperor of all Germans, you wanted people to see in you the legacy of Rome and it's golden age might. The symbols of the ornate column and the high arch became associated with majesty and power as the original philosophical underpinnings of the Greek and Egyptian orders were stripped away. The Roman style became the classic style which became the international neo-classical archetype that carried the feelings and emotions of Rome and all the positive things Rome came to represent into the modern age.

Now a reasonable art historian today can point out the flaws in the Roman style. Mainly that it does not mean much more then the modern idealization of Rome. However the Roman Style as a form of  neo-classical architecture is still very powerful and nearly ubiquitous around the globe.

The Neo-classic style survives so readily because it is not an artistic style, it does not have aesthetic value, rather it is timeless because it has only emotional power, it dominates the viewer in monumentalism, it frames the society that builds it in legacy. The Neo-classical style is a political style not an artistic one, as the artistic framework it once belonged to has been torn away like ripping a child from the womb and now we raise that child to ascribe to our modern views and to legitimize our modern politics and nations.


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

[User]
ELI5 why everything is funny when I'm tired.

When I am tired, everything is funny. Not 10:30 tired, 3:00 tired.

[Assistant] When you're that tired, part of your brain goes on vacation. Specifically, your frontal lobe (the part in charge of keeping you calm and making you think through things) is just plain tired of keeping you in line. Therefore, you get fewer signals inhibiting laughter or humor.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] Why are Reapers so... dramatic?

Sovereign speaks in what sounds like prose. They're giant cuttlefish that make loud noises and have red death beams, destroying cities as they fall from the sky.

Are they being intentionally theatric?

[Assistant]
Spoilers for the Mass Effect series, obviously:

Each individual reaper represents the collective consciousness of an entire species. Their prose is formal because their relationship to the listener cannot be familiar.

Also, they kind of are being intentionally theatric, because they want to inspire awe so that they might more easily harvest you.


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

[User] [Avengers: Endgame] After Hulk brought everyone back, Did the world experience any difficulties dealing with the instant repopulation? Going from 3.9 billion people to 7.8 billion in an instant seems like it would cause issues around the planet.

[Assistant]
So far, the only glimpse weve had into a post-Blip world is in the most recent Spider-Man movie, which takes us to several countries across the world. Its a few months after the Blip and there is no indication that any of them appear to be suffering from massive famines, unemployment, or any of the other issues you might expect from a sudden doubling of the worlds population.

It really seems like the only negative side effects of Hulk returning everyone to life were a few awkward situations here and there. Unless other movies indicate that some sort of chaos resulted from the Blip, we have to assume that Banner used the Infinity Stones to ensure that most of the major problems that you would expect to occur from a sudden repopulation did not happen.


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

[User]
[Superheros] Do the big superhero teams have therapists?

Your average superhero has been tortured, mind controlled, nearly killed, *actually* killed, had loved ones die as a result of their actions, seen innocents die, had to seriously harm if not kill others, seen massacres and atrocities, and countless other events that could easily independently cause severe PTSD .

Do the Justice Leauge/Avengers have any way of dealing with the effects of these events on the superhero's mental health? I can't remember it coming up but it seems pretty important.

[Assistant]
The Justice League had Sanctuary, a top secret and classified psychiatric facility for every superhero in the Justice League.

Not sure about the Avengers, but psychiatrists in the Marvel Universe tend to turn out to be supervillains or in it to sell their secrets.


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

[User] ELI5: Dear homebrew developers why the original Xbox was able to emulate N64 games flawlessly and a twice faster CPU on a Raspberry Pi 3B/3B+/4 (and far more RAM) still can't?

[Assistant]
It's not just CPU & ram, it's the graphics card and software infrastructure.

A video card is basically a second CPU, but specifically designed to do graphical calculations. They are especially important for doing full 3d graphics, which become amazingly slow without them. The Xbox has one while the rasberry pi doesn't.

Software infrastructure referrers to all the code and resources required to do the stuff that you want the system to do. Historically, consoles provided almost no infrastructure to the developers. Their code almost directly access the hardware. Most rasberry pis are running a full linux distribution, both allowing it to more easily do more things, but consumes a relatively high amount of resources.


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

[User] [Dracula] can dracula throw things through windows if not invited in?

[Assistant]
Dracula is able to hypnotize people through the windows, in order to lure them out or invite him in.

To me, this indicates that Dracula is only barred from entrance, but other forms of interhome commerce are permissible, such as throwing a rock.

I would also assume he could shoot a gun into someone's house, if he so chose.


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

[User] [DND] Im the duke of an overworld province with arable farmland and a new trade route to the underdark. What cash crops should I have my peasants grow?

[Assistant] You should either collapse the cave or build a fortress on top of it. Don't worry about any crops, the most valuable thing you own that they want are your peasants. Either tightly regulate the sale of slaves to anyone coming up through the tunnels, or expect raiders to steal your peasants from you in the dark of night.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do calculators work out complex mathematics essentially instantaneously?

It's always baffled me how even a "simple" hand held calculator can do so much. How exactly do they process the information and give you an answer so quickly?

[Assistant]
All modern digital computers can only perform simple manipulations on binary numbers. However, because those simple operations are done in the hardware, they are blazingly fast, micro- or nano-seconds.

So if you want to do more complex mathematical operations, you have to write programs to do it by running lots of simple operations, and that's what's going on inside a calculator or a supercomputer. But because modern digital chips are very, very fast, those programs take only a very short time to run, maybe a millisecond or less.

Humans can essentially not differentiate time scales like that, we don't begin to notice a delay until the time gets up into the tens or hundreds of milliseconds. So something that happens in 2-3 milliseconds seems instantaneous to us.


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

[User]
I don't believe Linux will ever be a widespread used OS. CMV.

I am a huge computer geek. Id say I'm in your 98 percentile of PC users. I game, I do a lot of media work on computers, and I run a business via my computer. I also have a fair amount if experience with macs. Both OS are pretty user friendly and offer a lot of functionality. I've heard often how Linux is on the rise. I have a Linux tablet and frankly, I find it extremely hard to use. Being as technology literate as I am, and still having problems. The fact you have to use the terminal for half of the functions is crazy to me. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, but I can't even imagine my technology illiterate family or friends picking up Linux. Change my mind, and show me how it'll get big.

EDIT: I think I need to clarify a few things. The first time I made this post, I was in the car on my phone, wanted to get the post out while it was fresh on my mind.
-I feel I need to clarify my linux experience. I used Ubuntu on my tablet for about 2 months. Honestly, I enjoyed my experience, though it certainly had a different feel than Windows/Mac. I had to use the terminal for a great deal of tasks, probably because I was using a 'non standard' processor (ARM7 instead of something like an Intel), so there was a ton of compatibility issues. With Mac and PCs, I could download a program, install via GUI, and if a compatibility issue arose it would alert and redirect me. With Ubuntu, I was running into needing to use the terminal to have to compile and install many applications. As I said, I only had 2 months with linux (my tablets digitizer busted, waiting on the part ATM to replace it); but I couldnt imagine someone like my mother having to  use the terminal

-I feel like my question needs to be retitled to "... used OS for personal and professional computing by an individual user". I understand many servers, security, networking, etc is based off unix, but I dont think my father will ever go to work and sitdown at his Linux computer and begin to put in data. I understand that he could, but I just dont see it getting that big.

-Those saying Android is Linux. Yes, I recognize and understand this. But in its current standing, its not really a plausible OS to do a lot of multifunctioning tasks, more high end stuff, etc. Dont get me wrong, I love android, huge fan boy in that regards. Have and android phone, 2 tablets, a rooted OUYA, and a few other devices. Its an amazing OS, but in terms of full blown personal computing, I just feel like its not there yet. It cant run flash/java items as properly as something like a mac or pc, android's internal task killers have cost me valuable data when 'minimizing an application', and multiviewing applications is nearly impossible. Something like Cornerstone could have fixed this, but that was squashed. As a college student, I need to be able to view two programs at once. Heck on my PC, most the time Im using all 3 monitors, 2 applications each. This is why I installed Ubuntu, was so that I could get some more functionality out of my android tablet. Note, it multiboots, and it has a keyboard.

[Assistant]
Linux already is a widespread, mainstream OS in the form of Android. It's likely that this is how it will spread in the consumer space, since it provides all the basics of a modern OS without any licensing costs.

Now that "desktop"--as a category--is quickly diminishing in favor of other form factors, Linux is likely to be the go-to OS for a broad range of experiments from phones, tablets, entertainment boxes (things hooked up to TVs), Occulus Rift-type platforms and others.

Although a bit disconnected from the user, Linux is also driving the majority of web applications with consumer front-ends, and thanks to the rise of virtualization may become yet more common in the form of "OS-in-a-box" to provide stable APIs that can run on a variety of hardware and devices.


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

[User]
Extending copyright holders' control to derivative works that are based on theirs, stiffles creativity and is counterproductive CMV

There are two possible attitudes to justifying why even though copyright is supposed to protect a specific expression of an idea, in the past century it has been expanded to controlling whole "franchises" and "universes".

One is, to talk not just about the expression, but about the whole idea, as the creator's moral "property".  George Lucas created not just six Star Wars movies, but the general "idea of Star Wars", therefore he should own "the idea of Star Wars" (Or Disney should, as it is now). But this just highlights the problem of talking about ownership regarding information: apparently the act of writing a new story can also be an act of theft, because Disney owns not just a thing that they possess, but the authority to limit other people's speech. This gives a disproportional authority to a few early movers, so by now a great amount of our basic pop-cultural ideas are entirely controlled by a handful of corporations.

 The second common point is, that such works are not really creative anyways, there is no new story at all, *only* an act of copying. Copyright's purpose is to promote the progress of *useful* arts, and it's doing so by banning such copying. However, in practice, it leads to the exact opposite, it encourages IP holders to exploit the franchises that gain a market value due to their exclusivity.

Plenty of our classic works of art are derivative based on a puublic domain previous work, and plenty of our most highly valued pop culture works are sequels (prequels, spinoffs, adaptations, reimaginations, etc). If telling these have a value, that value is being unduely witheld from the artists wishing to utilize them.

[Assistant]
>  But this just highlights the problem of talking about ownership regarding information: apparently the act of writing a new story can also be an act of theft, because Disney owns not just a thing that they possess, but the authority to limit other people's speech.

First, you may be using a poor example because LucasFilm gives broad leeway to Star Wars fanfilms as long as they're not for-profit.  But let's ignore that.

Legally, you can't own an idea.  You can own a particular execution of an idea.  There's nothing keeping you from making your own space fantasy, complete with laser swords and tyrannical space empires.  But if it's similar enough to the specific story and characters of *Star Wars*, you're borrowing from their execution.

*Star Wars* is a brand with immense value.  Much of that value comes from the reputation of the licensed entries in the series and its established situations and characters.  If director McG decides he wants to make a *Star Wars* film, and it's worse than Episode I, there's not even any lightsabers in it, and Luke Skywalker dies of autoerotic asphyxiation, that is damaging to the *Star Wars* brand, damaging not only to the value of future films by LucasFilm but damaging to the value of the films they have already made.

Now LucasFilm will need to distance itself not only from McG's film but from all the other *Star Wars* films flooding the marketplace.  The *Star Wars* storyline will become incoherent because there's no authority controlling the canon.

This would be bad for the original artists and the consumers, and also a disincentive to artists everywhere.  Especially smaller filmmakers.  How could any indie filmmaker hope to become successful with a low-budget film if it could be instantly remade-- for free-- by a studio with a much larger budget?


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

[User] ELI5:If white reflects all light and black absorbs all light, why does a white sheet over my window let in more light than a black sheet?

[Assistant]
The white sheet does reflect more light - into the room. It's not a completely solid barrier (like putting a mirror up over the window, which would reflect *all* light). The light hits the fibers and bounces around and through the sheet, because it's not completely opaque. This happens with the black material, too, but to a much lesser extent, and so there is less light entering the room.

Absorption is what makes the black sheet block more light from the room.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Is there a reason why the Empire is so evil around the time of Alderaan?

I mean, I understand Sith philosophy, I also understand that States (governments) in general are pretty evil from different perspectives.

But like... The First Order? Kidnapping kids and recruiting them is no-where near as efficient as just recruiting volunteer soldiers after inspiring patriotism.

It's just severely inefficient and willingly incompetent.

[Assistant] The First Order doesn't HAVE any volunteer soldiers. They're a government in exile, with no taxpayers, no citizens, no nothing, and really bad PR, basically a terrorist organization like ISIS or Joseph Kony's militia group. It's taken them 30 years to build up enough power to wipe out Hosnian Prime and that's because they were financing themselves through various illicit means.


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

[User]
[Dune] What do the still suits do with feces?

Presumably the still suits turn all of a persons urine and sweat into drinkable water, and I imagine it would also extract water from feces, but what does it do to the rest of the waste matter?

[Assistant] The suit does "process" feces (and thankfully Herbert doesn't go into details) to extract the water. What it does with the desiccated remains is left as an exercise of imagination. Most likely it is possible to access wherever it is stored to empty and clean it out.


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

[User]
An honest to goodness Immortal human is born tomorrow. How does society handle this?

How does the government view him? Surely in a hundred and sixty years or so it would be difficult to get someone to view his identification as anything other than fake. Doctors? I would imagine there would be a thousand of them lining up to do tests and research him. Would he be a celebrity? A leader? What would happen?

[Assistant]
I don't think they would find out immediatly.

It would be years before they did. Some anonymous child gets born and passes through life like all the others.

Then, 25 years old working an office job downtown, he gets hit by a car. The damage is massive- and would have been fatal.

There would be a moment of silence on the ER table- They had hooked him up to a heart monitor. There he is, looking around trying to ask what is wrong with lungs that won't inflate while the monitor holds a tone. Eventually someone turns it off. The ER doctor gets everyone out- sighs- makes a phone call.

The kid is never seen again.

two years later cancer is cured.

ten years later they prolong someone's life indefinitely.

twenty years later a pale husk of a 25 year old man wakes up in a nursing home. THe monitor beside him beeps, his chest rises and falls. He remembers being taken apart and put back together by a hundred different specialists. What he does now is anybody's guess.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do some men gain weight all over while others gain it only on their belly?

I've always had a little extra weight on my belly. In the last 3 years, I've gained 20lbs and it has gone entirely to my belly with no noticeable gain on my limbs, neck or face. My extra weight is far more noticeable than it should be as it's all in one place. Why do I gain like this?

[Assistant] It's genetic. Your genes determine where your body places fat. There's other factors that get involved, mainly age and hormone levels, but beyond that, some folks just get fat all over, others just get fat in specific areas.


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

[User] Is it okay if the interviewer asks me a question and I say I don't know, rather than trying to guess?

[Assistant]
It kind of depends on the question. It may be better to say you do not know off hand, but then say how you would go about finding out.

If they are asking about a specific technology or design pattern you are not aware of that may be the case.


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

[User] ELI5: Can you really not catch a cold from being cold?

[Assistant] You catch a cold by getting a virus. Cold can suppress your immune system and make you more susceptible to getting sick, but cold by itself cannot directly make you sick. You have to be exposed to the cold virus to get a cold.


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

[User]
[Dungeons and Dragons] How conscious are most people of the alignment system?

Like, would a paladin consciously think of themselves as being Lawful Good? Would an anarchist specify that people wanting to join their revolution must be Chaotic?

[Assistant] Unlike a lot of abstract mechanics, alignment is something that can be reliably measured by characters in the world using Detect [Law/Chaos/Good/Evil].  While there's no guarantee that your average peasant would have any knowledge of such things, anyone with some magical aptitude -- Paladins, clerics, any arcane caster -- would at least be vaguely aware of the alignment grid as a concept.


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

[User] [Fallout] how functional of a weapon is a pipegun and what are the dangers of using one?

[Assistant] Pipe guns arent that effective, and are also fairly inaccurate. This is likely due to the lack of rifling in the barrel and the crude construction. Itd be like firing a very poorly made musket. This is why they are the favorite weapon of raiders. They are cheap and easy to make, and most raiders attack in groups, thus mitigating the damage and accuracy reduction.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does WD40 pop balloons! Ive seen in a few videos when sprayed onto a balloon it will pop almost immediately

Second attempt at having this question posted, it was auto-removed for something not even similar.

[Assistant] WD40 is an oil-based product and many balloons are made out of latex. Oil will dissolve through natural latex products, and a balloon which is already under pressure doesn't need much damage to the latex to create a weak spot where the air will push through. It's the same reason why you never want to use oil-based lubes with latex condoms.


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

[User]
ELI5: Is taking a 3 hour nap during the day and sleeping 5 hours at night equivalent to getting a full 8 hour sleep at night?

Would the advantages of getting a full 8 hour sleep at night still apply if one was to break their sleep up into 2 or even 3 sleep sessions that accumulated to 8 hours total? Is one of these options significantly more advantageous/healthy than the other?

[Assistant]
I don't think anyone has given you a real answer to your question, so here it goes: We all need sleep, some more than others (this is typically broken down by age). If you fell asleep for one minute 60 separate times, your body wouldn't gain the same value as if you slept for a straight hour. This happens because there are different physiological responses to the chemicals released by your body and brain when you sleep for a certain amount of time.

There are four levels of sleep depending upon the length and quality. Deep sleep, which almost always happens if you sleep for 2+ hours is what enables a full REM cycle, and is healthiest for you with more of "long-term benefits". The other standard is D2, which can occur as early as 20 minutes. This is why the power nap is effective. While you do not get a full REM cycle, your body and brain feel rejuvenated after D2 sleep.

To directly answer your question, the most effective way to sleep is to maximize REM cycles. If you break your sleep into shorter segments, the chances of completing REM cycles is smaller, but still possible. In this case power naps can get you through the day, but you may not be as healthy long term as someone consistently getting deep sleep.


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

[User]
Are there any similarities between stoicism and Buddhism or asian philosophy in general?

Been reading Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and I'm pretty ignorant about asian philosophy in general but somehow stoicism seems to resemble something Buddha would say, although I can't quite put my finger on it. One thing that comes to mind is accepting your circumstances and being content with how things are, although the flavor of it is very different, with Buddhism having the idea of reincarnation and stoicism believen in predestination.

Also been reading Confucius. At least Aurelius is also about doing your best and serving your society without aiming for glory and riches, Confucius has something similar but while stoicism is about finding content for yourself, Cofucius is more about being humble and honorable so other citizens can trust you and see that you are a good person, so society works more efficiently.

Probably saying things out of my ass, not very deep into my studies yet but what do you guys think?

[Assistant]
I think the Buddhist idea of limiting your attachment and unnecessary desires works well with the Stoics focus on spheres of control. Both have a theme of 'letting some things go'. High, unrealistic expectations of control and high, unrealistic or unnecessary desires for comfort or affluence both lead to unhappiness.

I can't lay it all out academically, but there are some very similar themes/complementary tools laid out between Nietzsche, Buddhism, Stoicism, and CBT/DBT/Logotherapy. It's a fun ride.


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

[User]
[X-Men] How does Professor X (Charles Xavier) pay for the mutant academy?

Sorry, I dont remember its actual name.

Im presuming hes not secretly a billionaire, but he does have a massive mansion, the ability to feed several students and teachers, a simulation-capable room, a damn stealth jet, a hover-chair, as well as costumes for people who are constantly getting uno fights, not to mention the mutant-detecting super-computer. He also doesnt appear to have any income, so what gives? Massive inheritance?

Also, much less difficult to answer- given that hes a gifted youngster (in most portrayals, at least), would Spider-Man be accepted into the academy? Or no because hes not a mutant in the way the rest of the X-Men are?

[Assistant]
Why are you presuming Professor X isn't a billionaire?

As for Spidey, Xavier's  is explicitly and exclusively for mutants, to gain an education while helping them learn to control their powers. He would not be allowed to enroll.


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

[User]
What causes a tree to split from its main trunk into multiple branches?

At what point does it do this and what causes it? I noticed that some same species trees were about the same size but their trunks split at different levels (I don't know the correct term for this). I assume it's something to do with spreading itself out but one tree splits twice as high up than the other.

[Assistant]
Most trees that naturally have a single trunk display "apical dominance" where all lateral growth only sprouts from a central shoot (what we think of as a tree's trunk). This phenomenon occurs because the single bud at the very top of the tree or "apex" produces the plant hormone auxin (IAA) that supresses the growth of the lateral buds or "branches."

As the tree grows and gets taller the apical bud gets further away from the branches below, this results in a decreased concentration of auxin which allows those buds to break dormancy and continue to grow out from the central stem. The easiest way to visualize this is to think of a spruce tree or christmas tree and how it naturally forms a sort of triange shape with one shoot sticking out the top and the branches growing out wider as you go down the trunk.

Now, what happens if the apical bud is destroyed? Maybe the wind broke it off, or it was eaten by insects, or it froze during the winter time. What happens then?

Well, if the apical bud is no longer there then it's not producing that hormone anymore. So how all those lateral buds that were supressed now break dormancy and have free reign. They grow very quickly, and many of them even begin to grow upwards. For a time, these branches compete for dominance and eventually one takes over or none of them take over and now you have a tree with two or more apical buds and therefore two or more trunks. Since trees cant control the weather or bugs or the wind, these forces affect the growth of the tree at different stages of growth and fairly randomly. That's why you will see trees splitting at different heights.

It's also important to remember there are other factors that affect a tree's growth- genetics, minor changes in soil, minor changes in nutrient availability, shade relative to nearby buildings or trees... these influences mean that two trees of the same species that are right next to each other are often very different in branching structure.


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

[User]
[DC] What's the worst thing that Penguin has done?

We all know that Mr Freeze, Joker, and Ra's Al Ghul have threatened to destroy the whole planet and frequently tried to destroy multiple cities. Penguin on the other hand is generally more low key, so what's the worst/most evil thing he's done?

[Assistant]
So, one time he utterly destroyed a guy's life. Framed him for serious crimes, got him fired, burnt down his house, killed his parents and injected his girlfriend with what's strongly implied to be AIDs. What did he do? Snitch for the police, stole money from him, didn't stop batman? No, he called penguin fat at a party. And that's probably the *most* justified of these cases- he does a similar level of live ruining to an EMT who was chewing gum while his mother died and a chef who laughed around him. Not even at him. Around him without clarifying it wasn't at him.

Penguin isn't one for *large scale* evil, he's not going to level cities or anything, but he's very much one for *extremely personal* evil- give him even the slightest reason to take offence, and he will *literally* kill every single person you love. He's horrifically vengeful, and simply killing the target of his vengeance is rarely enough for him.


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

[User]
[King of the Hill] Why does Nancy stay with Dale in the first place?

Everyone knows shes having an affair with John Redcorn (at the start of the series). An affair that has gone on for at least 13 years since its known that Joseph is JRs son.

She has no real attraction to Dale in those years. Shed only sleep with him on his birthday. Shes supporting him financially. She has a son with another man who continues to pursue her (with her reciprocation).

It just seems like it would have made more logical sense for Nancy to leave Dale when she found out she was pregnant with JRs son.

[Assistant] It's two sided. On one, Redcorn never really fought to be more to Nancy than just her side act, even when Joseph came onto the scene, nor did he fight to assert any sort of paternal right to Joseph. He was just content to keep climbing in and out of windows and hiding in shadows. Dale, meanwhile, cowboy'd up in a huge way for Joseph, fully embracing the boy even when he expected paternity shenanigans (involving an alien, but still). Redcorn may be Joseph's father, but Dale is 100% his daddy. On the same token, he's always been dead-on loyal to Nancy, even in the face of temptation. Sure, he's not running on all cylinders, nor is he anything to write home about physically, but at heart, he's not a bad guy.


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

[User]
[DC] Why didn't Batman ever attempt to physically cripple his enemies in an attempt to 'loophole' his moral rules?

I mean, if he incapacitated the Joker to the point where he had to be in a full-body cast and was incapable of communication, wouldn't that be considered sparing his life, as well as limiting his ability to create death and destruction through his elaborate schemes.

[Assistant]
He's not looking for a loophole. Batman created the rule himself, and it *matters*. the rule is not an annoyance, it's almost like a religion. Batman believes that, if he becomes a truly incorruptible symbol of order, of ideals higher than pragmatism, he will save billions of lives down the road, by helping to lead humanity to a better place.

Batman's war isn't with criminals, it's with crime as a concept. The problem is that sometimes laws hobble the lawful, and criminals use that. Batman is a symbol of justice beyond law, which he hopes humanity will adopt.


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

[User]
Can people who experience schizophrenia actually see people as clear as reality?

Whenever I watch movies the characters seem to have a vivid counterpart who they have in depth conversations with etc.
Beyond the obvious romanticisation that comes with the territory, is that actually how schizophrenia can be experienced? A person sitting in front of you clear as day?

[Assistant] Yes. Visual hallucinations in schizophrenia are not that common, auditory hallucinations (voices) are more typical. But for someone having a true hallucination there is no difference between their hallucinations and a person actually there with them. Someone having an auditory hallucination will look around confused trying to find the person talking to them. Having full conversations with one's voices can happen, although more often the voices are commentary or commands.


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

[User] [Friends] In order from most to least likely to, who of the friends would one day snap and kill the others?

[Assistant]
Phobe has the skills (she stabbed a cop, lived on the streets) but she is too strong as a character. Her dad left her, her mum killed herself, her real mum left her and her nana died, plus her best friend monica tried to ghost her, her quirkiness and lack of talent make people mock her or downright undervalue her. And she is still a sweet and well adjusted human being.

She aint gonna break.

Joey is the strongest but has many weaknesses (food and women). Plus there are no signs that he can be driven over the edge. People doing their worst at him made him outright laugh in their face (girl took his food and then he ate everything and laughed in her face) or put them in a box (chandler kissing his gf).

Chandler and rachel are equals, insecure people that can snap if the situation is too tough. Luckily they are both very wimpy and feeble, they are phisically incapable of hurting people cause they can snap only in a rage that goest to phisical violence (which they suck at). They could succeed in methodical planning but as soon as they can think, the rage that drives them goes away.

Monica has some things in which her personality borders on ocd and psicopatic. Her clean fetish and competitive side has caused actual hurting of other people. Whats worse is that when she is in that mood, there is no going back. Even hurting others makes her more willing to double down (scrabble incident). Plus she is freakishly strong, maybe the second strongest after joey.

Ross has a dangerous side. We saw how he can rage at high levels even putting his work at risk. He is definitely the easiest to bursts of Rage cause he has some topics that his stubborn personality wont accept ever. (We were on a break/paleontology).


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do primitive animals/species know how to animal/specie by themselves, while us humans have to be taught since birth almost everything?

For example, some animals are hatched/born alone (without their father/mother anymore), and venture out alone until adulthood, without any help from others of their species. Whereas us humans have to almost be spoon-fed stuff in out early stages of life. Just a thought, no shaming/nonsense answers please.

[Assistant]
Actually, humans are born with the innate knowledge and ability to survive as is necessary for a baby. We're born with a suckling instinct, for example, to latch onto nipples and draw food. We also have all the autonomic reflexes already, such as ticklishness, breathing, heart rate regulation, etc. These are common to all mammals, of which we are a member.

This is because primates are social animals; we are born into a group collective (a family unit) and predictably have a social group to learn from. You have to remember that when it comes to survival, humans know everything they need to know right when they're born, because all that is required of them is autonomic in nature (breathing, heart rate, feeding, urinating, defecating, sleeping, waking), and we only require more complicated systems when we've grown.
Humans as a whole are very weak when they're first born, and require a great deal of security for quite a long time, compared to other animals. This is likely because we devote such a great percentage of the nutrients we ingest in order to develop our brains, as opposed to most other animals needing only to develop their bodies. This is likely why parents have an overwhelming emotional bond with their children.

Some animals are not social, and are therefore unable to learn from others of their species, and so they're born with (or learn shortly after birth) more complex instincts.


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

[User]
ELI5:How someone like Marvel can copyright something like Thor and Loki?

These are creations/myths that are centuries old. How can you just lay claim to them?

[Assistant]
They can't. What they can do is copyright their portrayal of them, so if you write a story or draw cartoons about one of them which is so close as to be mistaken by the man in the street for their version, then they'll jump on you.

Of course, they might well try anyway, which is enough to put many people off - which is an abuse of the copyright system, but i suspect it happens all the time.