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

[User]
[WH40K] Does everything feed the chaos gods?

The chaos gods cover the most of the emotional spectrum. Does the mere act of killing someone feed Khorne, or do i need to do it for him? Does someone being born and someone dying nautally feed nurgle, or a common cold? Does regular sex or a simple kill feed slaneesh?

The emperor wanted to starve the chaos gods by creating a sciency utopia. Would that mean that passive stuff dont feed them at all? or is is just that extreme excess and active devotion feed them so much more that the passive stuff dont matter? Was it that the Emperor just wanted them weaken so much he could take them out, or would he just starve them so much they would be come virutally powerless?

[Assistant]
All war, all conflict, all rage and murder fuels Khorne - whether it is in his name or his enemies'. Of course, Khorne worshipers will fuel Khorne more because they **only** do war, conflict, rage and murder.

And anyway the Emperor wanted everyone to worship him because he's the one true god, surely?


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

[User]
[Pokemon] How are there still dense forests and tall grass everywhere when a good portion of the animals living in them can either breathe fire or have parts of their bodies literally made out of flames?

It seems like a even just a herd of wild Ponyta/Rapidash running through a field would cause a lot of wildfires.

[Assistant]
Three reasons:

* Ever tried setting fire to a living plant? Unless you have a flame hot enough to rapidly evaporate the water, the most you'll do is smoke damage.

* They can control their powers. Heck in your example, Ponytas have a literal mane and tail made of fire yet can explicitly choose who or what they burn.

* Flora and fauna in the Pokemon world have evolved ad adapted to the unique circumstances of their world. Consider this, cows eat grass. Yet wherever there's cows, there's still lush green grass. Why? Because they don't eat to the point it doesn't grow back. Smiliar reasoning applies to Pokemon.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Force Suppression is a recognized phenomenon, if a third party could weaponise this on a Galactic scale what impact would it have on the status quo?

[Assistant]
Of course, it depends on if it happens before or after the Clone Wars, but regardless, it would probably have less effect than you think.

Force users have never been very common. compared to the population the the galaxy, Jedi and other groups of force-users have always been a tiny minority.

There would probably be some disturbances initially, but the Jedis role in the Republic could easily be replaced with a dedicated, neutral peacekeeping force, and neutral diplomats. That was the biggest role of the Jedi in the later years of the republic, anyway.


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

[User]
[DC] Why exactly is John Constantine so dangerous ?

Simply curious if he is dangerous because of luck meeting meticulous preparation or if he has innate magical talent like scarlet witch. Overall just curious to hear your thoughts.

[Assistant] Cunning. John Constantine isn't the DC universe's most potent mage but he's absolutely the one you least want to mess with. That's because he improvises on par with the Batman and has the morals of Amanda Waller. If Johnny-boy decides he wants to screw you over, you're going to get screwed over.


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

[User]
[Tolkien] If the Balrogs are warped Maiar, and Sauron is a Maiar, why did Sauron keep his form?

From what I understand, he kept his fair-looking form even after turning his allegiance to the Dark Lord. Why is this? Also, was he turned to Melkor's cause before or after the Balrogs? Was he always on Melkor's side?

[Assistant]
Not all Maiar are equal, just as not all Valar are equal.  The most powerful Maia is probably Eonwe, but Sauron is pretty high up on the list, even though he is just a servant of Aule and not Manwe.

Also one of his earliest and inherent abilities was shape shifting, which makes sense as he is a servant of Aule the Smith, no doubt that just as he can manipulate and change the materials of the earth, he can manipulate and change the appearance of himself.

Edit:

As for 'sides'.  The Balrogs may just be native maia of Melkor.  All Valar have maia who are affiliated with them.  Being as Melkor is being of immense shadowy darkness made of ice and fire, it would make sense for his maia to be similar in nature.

Sauron was not originally on Melkor's side, he was a servant of Aule, but the power and majesty of Melkor is tempting and Sauron fell to this temptation.  But he was not always evil and even repented for a time when Melkor was overthrown.  But ultimately he was too far gone for any lasting change.


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

[User]
Why do electric motors have maximum torque at low rpms, while combustion engines have to be at high rpms to get maximum torque?

I know that combustion engines get their torque from piston firings, and at low rpms, there simply isn't enough firings to get any torque. Why are electric motors able to have torque at very low rpms?

[Assistant]
Not all electric motors have maximum torque at low RPM's.  Some AC induction motors don't, for example.  But let's assume we are talking about a permanent magnet DC motor.

In a DC motor, when the armature rotates it causes a back-EMF (coils in the armature rotating in the magnetic field of the field magnets causes the back-EMF).  Essentially this just means that a voltage is generated that is opposite in polarity to the supply voltage.  This voltage is proportional to speed, so at high speeds the voltage is big and at low speeds, the voltage is small.

What this means is that when you are at your highest speed your voltage from your back-EMF is going to be almost as big as your supply voltage.  Because the 2 voltages are opposite in sign this means the effective voltage across the coils in the motor's armature is going to be the difference between the two and that means it will be small.  And because the effective voltage is small, this means that the current in the armature is going to be small (I = V/R).  And because torque in a DC motor is directly proportional to current in the armature, the torque is also going to be small.

Now, as the speed decreases, the voltage due to the back-EMF is going to decrease and the effective voltage across the armature coil is going to increase.  This means the current in the armature will increase and the torque will increase.  Therefore, the lower the speed the higher the torque.


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

[User] ELI5: How come its nearly impossible to get vitamine D overdose from the sun, but you can from supplements?

[Assistant] The sun is used to convert a vitamin D precursor to the next metabolite in the process. The body doesnt store enough of the vitamin D precursor to cause an overdose. It also isnt the final activation step for vitamin D.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are food allergies so common in kids but not common in adults over 30?

[Assistant]
No one really knows for sure.  According to a study released in 2013 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies among children increased approximately 50% between 1997 and 2011.

Also some allergies can be outgrown, like milk, eggs, and soy.  Meaning there would be more children with these allergies than adults.


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

[User] [Doctor Who] In adventures with multiple Doctors, why doesn't the Doctor's later incarnation remember the adventure's outcome, having already experienced it one or more times?

[Assistant]
It is part of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect.

In almost all cases like this only the latest version of the Doctor (or any other Timelord) can recall the event at all.

The Third Doctor first commented on it and it has been fairly consistent since then.


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

[User] [No Country For Old Men] What exactly happened at the drug deal? What was Anton's involvement?

[Assistant]
(From the movie): The drug deal went bad. The details don't really matter - maybe there wasn't enough money, maybe there wasn't enough smack, maybe someone made a yo mama joke.

Anton was not involved with the deal, he was just known to one of the gang bosses as the guy to call when some product or cash went missing.

(Is it different in the book?)


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

[User]
ELI5: Pleading not guilty and then being found guilty.

If someone's pleads not guilty to a crime (trial-worthy) and then through the court proceedings they're found guilty (no plea deal), shouldn't they also then be convicted of obstruction of justice or Perjury, or some other serious offense....? Assuredly this can then be overturned if the ruling is repealed...

Let's assume this is a clear-cut, non-circumstantial case. e.g. They're caught on tape + DNA evidence + credible eye witness.

[Assistant] A guilty plea is not under oath and is not testimony. It's also not a factual claim; in the context of a trial, it's really a statement that you're going to require the government to meet its obligation to convict you. So it's not perjury, which is false testimony.


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

[User]
[Comic Books] Due to the frequency of resurrection in comic book universes, why not just patiently wait for the individual(s) to come back to life?

Coming back from the dead is commonplace in comic book universes, especially if you are a superhero/supervillain.

After several resurrections, why do other characters still urge those that grieve to 'move on', when waiting patiently will usually result in the deceased coming back?

[Assistant]
It's commonplace from the perspective of the reader, scores of people die without returning because they weren't important to the narrative and even if it's happened before unless you have a power like medium awareness how could you ever be certain you're important enough to warrant it happening again?

I don't know about waiting "patiently" but I'd expect someone like Deadpool to behave in the way you're suggesting to the great annoyance of all the people around him who don't think they're in a comic book.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] The Jedi have dominated the galaxy for generations. What exactly did Qui-Gon think was going to happen to bring balance to the force?

How could bringing balance possibly be good for anyone other than the Sith?

[Assistant]
Because the Sith are imbalance.

The whole 2 equally valid sides is old EU stuff, a misconception due to the lack of oversight.

George Lucas, back in Empire Strikes Back commentary, had the Force as Light Side or doing it wrong. The Dark Side was a sickness, something wrong, disruption. Balance was restoring peace and harmony.

Rather than the Yin/Yang version most people thought of, it was discord vs harmony. To be balanced is to remove discord, not to have as much discord as harmony.

Note that the Jedi are fully aware of this. Anakin was destined to bring balance but he failed and instead made everything worse. Which is what the rest of the council was worried about, prophecy wasnt particularly well regarded due to it being unreliable in the extreme.


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

[User]
[DC/Lantern] What makes the Orange light so powerful?

Larfleeze is typically seen as the most powerful single lantern of any corps. Why is the orange light able to vastly overcharge and do so much? Is it because Larfleeze doesn't share the power or is there something special about avarice?

[Assistant]
Both. The power of the orange lantern is focused and magnified by the greed of the wielder, just as the green light is focused by willpower.

Furthermore, the light of the emotional spectrum is generated by the collective consciousness of every living being in the DC universe, from the bestial animal instincts of anger and greed to the more 'civilised' emotions of hope and love. The emotions at the 'hot' end of the spectrum are thus FAR more intense than those at the 'cool' end of the spectrum, they are far more present in the universe and require less focused thought to cultivate, such as with willpower, hope and love.

Coupled with this vast resources at his disposal, Larfleeze's Orange energy is not diluted by having to share it with any other sentient beings - he has the full power of the Orange energy to wild - focused by his unmatched, dedicated greed.

The Orange energy of avarice is a fierce and powerful force, but as with all of the 'base' emotions, it can be overwhelming for the one who lets it consume them.


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

[User]
Why does a Green Screen need to be green?

Why isn't it a red screen or maybe an orange screen?

[Assistant] It doesn't necessarily have to be green. The important thing is that it contrasts with the objects in the foreground. Since the foreground objects on screen tend to include people, and human skin tone lies in the reddish part of the spectrum, green is usually chosen since it lies opposite of red on the color wheel.


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball Super] What are the best/most broken wishes you can make with each set of Dragon Balls? (The Earth Dragon Balls, the Namekian Dragon Balls, and Super Dragon Balls.)

[Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball Super] What are the best/most broken wishes you can make with each set of Dragon Balls? (The Earth Dragon Balls, the Namekian Dragon Balls, and Super Dragon Balls.)

Please format your post like this if possible:

Earth - (the best wish you can make with these balls, and why)

Namekian - (the best wish you can make with these balls, and why)

Super - (the best wish you can make with these balls, and why)

[Assistant]
Earth - panties. Oolong started the series with the best wish. Those things are probably the most comfortable clothing _ever._

Namekian - You can bring every single thing that's ever died back to life. The standard restrictions on resurrections (no natural deaths, can't be dead for more than a year, only one respawn) are removed. Go nuts.

Super - Wish to be the King of the King of All.


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

[User] [Game of Thrones] how do Valerian swords withstand the white walkers?

[Assistant]
AFAIK, the Valyrian swords were forged with Valyrian magic, which is magic based on blood and, more importantly, fire.

The Others and their zombie minions are practitioners of ice magic, which is diametrically opposed to the Valyrian fire magic. Thus the two cancel out.


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

[User] Why don't children or get BO the same as adults until after puberty?

[Assistant]
The human body has two types of sweat glands. The eccrine glands excrete sweat that's made mostly of water and salt. This sweat is part of the body's air conditioning system -- as it evaporates, it keeps the body cool. Babies need to stay cool, too, so the eccrine glands start doing their work long before you reach puberty.

It's sweat from your other sweat glands, the apocrine glands, that can cause a smell. Apocrine glands are located in the hair follicles. The sweat released from the apocrine glands contains fatty acids and proteins and is thicker than sweat from the eccrine glands. Sweat from apocrine glands isn't released to help us cool down, but rather it's secreted when we're under stress (emotional stress, physical stress and also physical and sexual excitement).

Bacteria are attracted to the fatty acids and proteins in sweat from the apocrine glands. As they process these substances, the bacteria emit byproducts that cause body odor.

While you're born with them, your apocrine glands don't turn on until you reach puberty. The age of onset for puberty differs between boys and girls, and according to race. For girls, puberty normally begins between ages nine and 13, while for boys it happens between ages 10 and 14.


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

[User] Is the polar vortex a natural thing or is it also caused by climate change? If so, how does it occur?

[Assistant]
The polar vortex is natural, it happens every year as the pole points away from the sun. The rotation of the earth and the Jetstream naturally feed circular winds around the pole, creating this yearly vortex over the North Pole.

..however it was destabilized and broken up into 3 smaller vorticies by unseasonably warm air masses migrating north and disturbing it. This is a pretty rare occurrence, but it seems to be becoming more common as temperatures rise.

One of the displaced remnants of the vortex was pulled South by a large low pressure system and boom, now we have this.

So.....

....both. the polar vortex is a natural thing to have over the poles. The fact that a piece of it has broken off and moved so far south is probably our fault.


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

[User] I burned my finger on a hot pan on my stove. What is the liquid that is inside the blister? If I don't pop the blister, where does that liquid go?

[Assistant]
It's filled with, get this, "blister fluid", which is mostly similar in chemical composition to serum/plasma.  If the blister doesn't pop, the fluid just get reabsorbed.

Blister fluid is *probably* serum that's lost some of its verve through the heat of the burn.  It contains very low amounts of immunoglobulins, and about half the complement you'd normally see in tissue where fluid has migrated.  As complement at least shows a lot of heat lability, the biologically extreme temps within the burned tissue is thought to denature some of these proteins.  It's assumed to get to the burned spot through normal diapedesis, which is the migration of non-red-blood-cell-blood components through the gaps between vascular cells.


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

[User]
Eli5: Seattle was home to the Grunge music scene, Nashville home to Country, Los Angeles to Surf Rock, etc. Why does there not seem to be a city now that has a big new music scene?

Tons of new emerging bands?

[Assistant] physical proximity matters a lot less about sharing music than it did it the 60s/70s/80s/90s. You used to have to live near a guy to hear him play. Now you really don't. If someone has a good sound people all over the world can listen and get in on it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the area around train tracks always have rocks scattered around it?

[Assistant] The ground that is underneath is not straight enough to just put rails on, they would get bent over time, so we have to make some kind of a foundation for the rails that is both sturdy and cheap. And here we are.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] Why aren't subjects like English, maths, Latin, etc. taught at Hogwarts? You'd think it's important to a proper education, even in the Wizarding world.

[Assistant]
It's a great question and possibly why the wizarding world is so messed up. They're not grounded in the Classics.

History, logic, rhetoric, and ethics would be particularly important for people with so much power.


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

[User]
[Resident Evil 3] What were the umbrella teams doing near the beginning of the outbreak?

It shows several teams wearing umbrella patches being inserted by helicopters into the town. What was their mission?

[Assistant]
The Umbrella Corp. was divided regarding the Racoon City infestation.

* Virologists within the city limits spent their time researching a cure.

* Weapons researchers had experimental Bio Organic Weapons (B.O.W.s) sent in, in order to gain data on their effectiveness at killing civilians.

* And the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) was sent in to evacuate civilians.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why RNA based viruses mutate faster than DNA based virus ?

Notice i have a vague "very vague" understanding of how a cell replicates using DNA ! i also have no idea what is the difference between RNA and DNA. I am sure it's a super complex thing to explain so Super thanks in advance !

[Assistant]
Poor quality control.

DNA has mechanisms to prevent copying errors and/or destroy defective copies.  RNA, particularly in a virus which isn't completely "alive" just doesn't have the complexity to support these mechanisms.


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

[User]
[Star Trek/Predator] Predators discover and start hunting Klingons. How does each species react to this new development?

Would Predators be happy at the discovery of Klingons (like would they consider them ultimate prey)? Would Klingons be happy about Predators? I mean they love war and fighting. Seems like both Predators and Klingons are very honor bound so they should get along and both enjoy killing each other, no?

[Assistant] There's an arrangement here where they just each send warriors every year or so to fight each other to the death in a super murder-y Olympics, and both species would have a blast with it. Probably they'd wind up fighting each other on and off in scattered battles for years until they realize that they both like it.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are some words in English considered "rude" or "obscene" but their synonyms are not?

ie. Poop vs Shit or Crap

I know it varies by region/culture but that's about it.

[Assistant]
One theory is that it boils down to prejudice against vulgar language.

Notice that the rude words are mostly of old English origin, words like shit, cunt and dick, whereas the polite terms are of French or Latin origin, such as faeces, vagina and penis.

England's elites used to speak French or Latin.  They were deemed the "polite" society.  The poor were deemed to be vulgar, hence "rude" or impolite.


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

[User]
Should I pursue a college degree or stop after high school and study programming by myself?

It's just a year left before I graduate in high school and I've been thinking about just not continuing to college for a CS degree and instead just study the essentials in it via my own. Would this decision really affect my chances for a job? If yes, then how much?

I'm planning to get a CS degree to get a job around Game Development.

[Assistant]
Yes, it will affect your chances at getting jobs. Regardless of what people on this sub think, a college degree in cs is worth much more than a resume full of self-taught topics and personal projects alone especially when starting out.

It is true there are self tough coders who have great programming jobs now, but it's more true that with a college cs degree you'll have more opportunities starting out and fewer companies will just delete your resume finding no higher education.


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

[User]
Is it possible to fill a football with just enough helium to match the density of air, making it float in place?

It just came across my mind, throwing a football that does not come down. Would it be possible?

[Assistant]
A regulation football has a weight of 410-450 gram and a circumference of 68-70 cm. Lets assume a ball of 410 gram (as light as possible) with a circumference of 70 cm (as large as possible). Furthermore, lets assume that the skin of the ball has negligible thickness.

That leaves us with a sphere with a circumference of 70 cm of helium that has to lift up 410 grams of mass. A circumference of 70 cm means a radius of 11.14 cm and therefore a volume of 5792 cm^(3) or 5.792 l.

The lifting capacity of helium-filled objects is based on the principle of buoyancy and is determined by the difference in mass between an amount of helium and the same volume of air. Note that footballs are pressurized, so they contain more air than normal outside air. A typical football will have about twice the mass of air per liter as its outside environment (meaning it's inflated to 1 atmosphere). The density of air is about 1.225 gr/l at standard atmospheric temperature and pressure. So double that for the inside of a football and you get 2.25 gr/l. Or about 13 gr of air inside a football.

You can take that all out and replace it with helium (0.18 gr / l), hydrogen (0.09 gr / l) or even a vacuum (somehow constructing a ball that doesn't implode) (0 gr / l). However, the most you'll gain is a buoyancy force capable of lifting 13 gr (when using vacuum), which is the amount of air displaced. This is very small compared to the 410 gr that the ball is allowed to weigh.

In fact, the difference in mass is smaller than the total mass range that such a ball is allowed to have according to the regulations. So while the ball will be a bit lighter, the difference will be small enough that it's likely that only advanced players will notice the difference.


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

[User]
Why can estrogen be delivered orally via a pill but testosterone cannot?

(Im a transgender man, and it seems rather odd that trans women can just take a pill and I have to have a shot once a week.)

[Assistant]
It can be, its just has extremely poor bioavailability in its raw form, so it would have to be alkylated which would make it liver toxic. Hence why most people advise against oral steroids - they have to pass through the liver twice before they reach the bloodstream, which causes cumulative liver damage over time.

Progesterone (the pill) And esteogen are entirely different hormones.


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

[User]
When you feel "full" or "satisfied" after a meal, is this due to the quantity of food eaten or the energy/nutritional value the meal gave?

For example can I eat a few energy bars and feel as satisfied as I would be with a larger meal with lower nutritional value?

[Assistant]
Both!

When the stomach is physically full, stretch receptors in the wall are activated, sending signals along parasympathetic (rest and digest) nerves to suppress the hunger centres in the brain.

In addition, the composition of the food - its carbohydrate, protein and fat make up - will play an important role. Glucose levels are closely linked to hunger, as it is the main fuel used by most cells in the body. When glucose is high, insulin is released and glucose is driven into the cells; when it is low hormones like glucagon are released to drive glucose out of its stores in the liver.

A hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) is also released in response to amino acid and fat presence in the duodenum (first part of small intestine) and this delays the emptying of the stomach, resulting in you feeling fuller for longer. CCK also has effects on the central nervous system to reduce the feeling of hunger.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Could Mystique fool Jarvis and wear the Iron Man suit?

EDIT: Jarvis, the AI from MCU, not the human butler.  Confusing with the whole licensing issue for the films.  Tag should read [MCU/X-Men].

[Assistant]
Can she pass the biometric locks? Probably.

Can she fool Jarvis for long? probably not. Tony is a physics and engineering genius. Mystique is not, few science and engineering problems and questions later she's exposed.


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

[User] [Pokmon] How can the technology used in the Master Ball ensure that it catches a Pokmon EVERY time it's used? No human technology is that accurate. Is there magic involved? And also: how come they didn't just implement the Master Ball technology in all Pokballs after it was invented?

[Assistant]
The Master Ball is basically the Swiss Clock equivalent to a regular Pokball. It's made with so much care and masterful craftsmanship that it works perfectly.

However this precision comes with the limitation that it's simply to complex to be made in large quantities and takes years of trial and error to be built. That's why we only ever find one pro region and why we often get it from the regional Pokball craftsman themselves, they made this one as their magnum opus and only give it to us because we helped them and showed us to be worthy of it.


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

[User]
Does dark matter and dark energy also exist on Earth or only in space?

Is there dark matter in our atmosphere surrounding us right now? If not, where is it found? As close as our orbit or way farther out in space?

[Assistant]
Dark energy is associated with space itself, so it is literally everywhere, with the same amount being found at each point. However, within galaxies there is enough matter that gravity wins out over the expansion caused by dark energy, so while it's still there, we don't notice its effects.

Dark matter is instead composed of discrete particles, which have some density distribution that varies with position in the galaxy. So there is dark matter anywhere within the solar system, but the particles are just passing through on their own orbits around the galaxy. Because dark matter doesn't interact with normal matter, if any happen to actually "collide" with the Earth, they just pass straight through. Depending on what the mass of the dark matter particles is, there could be thousands or even millions passing through you each second.

The solar system is so small on galactic scales that the dark matter density is basically constant everywhere within it, so again, again, we don't see any local effects due to dark matter. There's one exception to this, which is that it might possible for dark matter particles to get "trapped" at the bottom of deep gravitational wells i.e. at the core of the Earth or Sun, or more realistically, around the black hole at the centre of the galaxy. If this happens often enough, its density could build up enough that we might be able to detect it, via a specific type of gamma ray signal. There's been various attempts to look for this, but none have had any success yet.


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

[User]
[GoT/ASoIaF] How come Samwell Tarly is still fat after over 2 years in the Night's Watch?

It seems like either the Night's Watch feed their brothers very well, our he has some hormone disorder.

[Assistant] He mentioned that he's lost a lot of weight during his time North of the Wall.  Unfortunately, when you start out as the fattest boy Jon Snow's ever seen, even losing a lot of weight leaves you with a lot of leftover weight.


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

[User] [Titanfall] Why don't they ever use Tanks?

[Assistant]
Tanks do exist, but a Titan's sheer flexibility cannot be discounted in combat. Pilot engagements are quick and dirty affairs, where battlefield deployment must be as sleek and low drag as possible. A Titan can be dropped directly into action with little more than an ablative shield, while a tank requires a full scale vehicle dropship that is vulnerable to the fighters that inevitably find themselves over the battle.

A Titan brings with it the advantages of infantry while still having the durability and firepower of more conventional vehicles. They can dodge fire and directly support infantry units more effectively than a tank can. While a tank will have thicker armour and bigger guns, they can only be brought in during protracted engagements, and they can't just simply sidle into an alleyway for cover when under fire.


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

[User]
[40K] How is Terra still a habitable planet when there are hundreds of billions of humans living on it?

At that point, shouldn't the planet be suffering from overpopulation, complete drainage of resources, etc? If not, how does the Imperium work around this problem?

[Assistant] Holy Terra is completely and utterly supported by the rest of the Imperium. The oceans have long evaporated, its surface is covered in a single sprawling cathedral dedicated to the birthplace of Man and the God-Emperor. All food and material are imported from dedicated agri-worlds or from dedicated manufactorium/forge/hive worlds. It is a world of only religion and bureaucracy.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why Greece are upset at the IMF and why the IMF apparently hates Merkel.

I've seen a lot of pieces on the IMF and Greece over the last few days but I still don't understand what is going on. Seem to be a lot of small facts but don't seem to add up to an overall picture.

- EDIT - Are the recent Tax Evasion leaks linked to this at all? Either something to distract us from this or a part of the "event" to cause more financial meltdowns?

[Assistant]
There are three sides to this: Greece, Germany, and the IMF.

To run their goverment and economy, Greece offers loans which pay an interest rate (just like most other countries). Despite Greece being a total mess of an economy (poor tax collection, too many services and pensions), German banks decided loans from Greece (as an EU member) were safe and bought them.

But now it's been found that Greece lied about their finances (to get into the EU) and it has so much debt, that they won't be able to pay back the loans or the interest to those German banks.

So those loans are worthless and German banks stand to lose alot of money. Germany wants Greece to pay their banks back even though there's no money.

In comes the IMF. The IMF believes that the debt Greece owes German banks has to be written off but Germany refuses to consider it. So every few months, the three agree to this charade:

The IMF agrees to bailout Greece every few months with a few conditions to let everyone save face. They give Greece money to keep operating. As a condition of that bailout, they demand Greece make changes to their economy (pension cutbacks, austerity, etc.). Greece does not writeoff their debt, but there's no payback date and the interest they owe is set to zero so German banks can still claim they are owed money even though noone believes they'll get the full value. So Greece gets money to operate while criticizing the Germans for not cutting them a break, Germany gets to scold the lazy Greeks while not telling the voters that they've lost a ton of money.

Now, as you can imagine, this would mean the IMF would bailout Greece forever.

So this recent Wikileaks article suggests that the IMF wanted to force Germany to accept a writeoff of Greece debt by causing a financial crisis by not bailing out Greece the next time. The Greek economy would grind to a halt without a bailout right around the time that Great Britain is voting on whether to stay in the EU or not (Brexit).


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why didn't the Rebels deploy the Tantive IV at the battle of Scarif? An additional ship would have been useful.

Was it because the ship was known to be Princess Leia's and identification would jeopardize her political and diplomatic standing?

[Assistant] The CR90 corvette is one of the weakest in the rebel fleet, but it's one of the fastest.  It was a contingency plan on the off chance something went horribly wrong. If anything was going to outrun the tractor beams and star destroyers it'd be that ship.  When something horribly wrong did happen they rushed the plans to the Tantive IV and launched it, hoping that at least that escapes alive.


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

[User]
[GTA 5] Questions about the prologue heist

Did Michael and the FIB preplan the heist to fail? Or was the heist legit with the FIB offering Michael the deal after he was wounded?

If it was the first one, why would they let Michael murder dozens of police officers,traumatize the civilians and cause massive property damage(blowing the safe, crashing the cars)?Couldn't they do it in a more efficient way like have Michael tell the crew to bunker inside while the FIB pump knockout gas inside?

If it is the second option, why would they offer Michael this deal?He's just after murdering dozens of innocent North Yankton police officers aswell as property damage and robbery. He should be getting the electric chair. Half of the robbery crew are dead, one captured and they know who Trevor is and can hunt him. What reason would they put Michael in protection instead of just arresting him?

[Assistant] Michael wasn't in witness protection at least not the fib's version. He was paying off Davey to keep him hidden that is mentioned in the set-up for the first heist. In Bury the Hatchet, we see that Michael met Davey before the depot job in North Yankton and they set that up together. Trevor was supposed to be killed (being the most dangerous) and Brad was supposed to go to jail with the FIB but because Michael fucked up and the security Guard was killed then the police were sent in. Due to that Davey relocated Michael to SA with all his money which is taken from witnesses in witsec in exchange for a pay off.


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

[User]
ELI5: Where did the age requirement of 21 come from as opposed to 20 (or any other number above 18) in order to legally drink?

What caused it to be set at precisely 21?

[Assistant]
In Sweden you can drink alcohol when you're 18, but you need to be 20 to buy it over the counter.

The reasoning is that people who are 18 are still in high school and are therefore likely to have good contact with people as young as 16 who then would have easy access to alcohol. Where as if you're 20 you typically don't hang out with 16-17 year olds to the same extent.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly does "cash" mean?

For example when you win the lottery in all cash. Or on flipping house shows where they buy houses all cash. When i think cash i think of real physical cash.

[Assistant]
>For example when you win the lottery in all cash

Lotteries generally have two ways you can accept your winnings.

1. An annuity for X years.  Basically, the lottery commission invests the money, and pays you a yearly amount that, when added up over X years, equals the size of the jackpot.

2. Cash.  You're not getting actual, physical notes and coins.  You're getting a check that you can deposit at the bank.  This amount is less than the total jackpot size, because they don't actually have the full amount of the jackpot, which is calculated based on what they can pay you over X years while investing the money.

>Or on flipping house shows where they buy houses all cash.

They write you a check.

In situations like these, "cash" means "you get all of the money right now in some form".


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

[User]
why does time, as a dimension, move "forward" while other dimensions don't have a particular direction?

So, I understand that changes in time have a negative sign in Minkowski space and that the proper metric for spacetime is dS^2 = -dt^2 + dx^2 + dy^2 + dz^2. But, it also seems like that fact, and many of the consequences in special relativity, only have measurable effects when looking at things travelling close to the speed of light relative to one another.

Is this the reason time seems to "move forward"?

[Assistant]
Well, let's take it as a given that an object *can* move forward in time. If we work in flat Minkowski space and pick an arbitrary stationary reference frame, an object that does this is traveling directly along the time axis.

Now, to get an object to move backwards along the time axis, you need to rotate it over to there, because in Minkowski space four-velocity shifts are represented by rotations. The problem is that Minkowski space is hyperbolic. So rotating from the time axis to a spatial axis isn't just a rotation through a circular angle of pi/2, it's rotation through a hyperbolic angle of *infinity*. To end up with your four-velocity pointing backwards in time, you have to rotate *more than infinity*.


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

[User] ELI5:Why do intense emotional responses leave us feeling distinctly un-hungry/ unable to eat?

[Assistant] IIRC from another post, intense emotion gives a sort of fight-or-flight reaction, putting your energy into vital organs, like heart, lungs, and brain. Digestion takes energy, so the body directs that energy into other more important functions.


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

[User]
ELI5:We can power an aircraft carrier for 25 years on nuclear reactors - why not spacecrafts?

So we have these ships that can run for 25 years without refueling through the use of nuclear reactors.. Why can't we use these to power space ships?

[Assistant]
We can and have done so.

There are a few problems. Nuclear reactors tend to be big, and produce lots of heat. At sea, you can use water. In space, you need radiators.

In addition, people tend to be upset when you tell them you're going to shoot nuclear reactors into space.

In general preference is for RTG's(Radiothermal generator. Basically a bit of radioactive material) as those are simpler and can be smaller.


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

[User] [DC Comics / Green Lantern] Does it matter which hand a power ring goes on? Why do humans and other hand-having creatures wear them on their right?

[Assistant] It doesn't matter at all. A number of Lanterns have been species that don't even *have* hands, and some don't even have *limbs*. There's been a sapient smallpox virus as a Green Lantern, and even a Lantern that was a living math equation.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do almost all ready meals have to be cooked at 180C? What's so special about that temperature?

[Assistant] It's because it will allow the Maillard reaction to happen. That's a reaction between sugar and protein, which creates a lot of flavor and brown color - it's what makes bread crust and grilled meat so tasty. If the oven is much colder than that, the surface will not reach a high enough temperature and the food will start drying out before becoming brown, whereas a much higher temperature will quickly burn the food.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do we still have car lighters instead of regular electricity plugs

It seems like no one uses car lighters for there intended purpose anymore but we still use the same plug for charging. Why haven't we switched to plug outlets it seems the most logical thing to do.

[Assistant]
Household electricity is AC, your car's electrical system is DC.  It takes addition equipment to convert it to DC, and you lose some efficiency in the process.

Also, a car battery only produces about 500 watts, which is not enough for some high power uses.  Your car's electrical wiring and fuses are not designed to deliver more power than that.  So it is better to have low power DC devices that use one plug, and higher power AC devices that use a different plug.


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

[User] ELI5: I often hear about new planets being discovered with water beneath the surface, but rarely about planets with large oceans. Is subterranean water easier to detect or more likely to occur, and why?

[Assistant]
Water only exist in a liquid state at a narrow range if atmospheric conditions.

Many planets have surface temps far too hot due to proximity to s star or lack of protective atmosphere.  On these planets beneath a protective layer of crust is the only place liquid water can exist.

 Flip that logic and there are planets with icey surfaces due to extreme low surface temps and atmospheric pressure conditions.  Those planets with an active core such as ours may allow liquid water deeper under the surface where the temperature is above freezing point.


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

[User] [Men in Black] In first movie we've seen that alien battleships can fly by Earth with impunity. MiB alone can't afford space fleet, so if they care about planet safety shouldn't they cooperate with national governments and create one?

[Assistant] Earth is like a rural or old wild west town compared to everything out there. Towns don't have militaries, they have a police force. As long as Earth doesn't try to turn itself into a country and plays ball with the local powers, they can rely on the local powers to protect Earth as part of their Turf from the other more aggressive powers. MiB only needs to be strong enough to make invading Earth unprofitable for Corporations and Criminal Cartels compared to simply engaging in diplomacy and barter.


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

[User] ELI5 why we have body odour, generally only in the armpit area, and why it would have been useful, in evolutionary terms. Thank you.

[Assistant] Body odor comes from the bacteria that feed on our sweat and grease (yuck!) not the sweat itself. The smell itself isn't useful in evolutionary terms, but the bacteria are. They are mostly harmless and out-compete bacteria that could be harmful...A symbiotic relationship because the bacteria get free food and we get protected too!


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why can't Gandalf fight at full power?

He tries to stop Sauron, but not with his full power. This seems a little bit strange to me, because he is clearly for the "good" side.

[Assistant]
He is forbidden to use his full power to fight Sauron or his forces. The wizards were sent to Middle-earth to help the people fight against Sauron, not win their battles for them.

Edit: Gandalf however, can and does, fight all out against the Balrog since he does not serve Sauron. They fight for 10 days nonstop.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do you smile when you feel happy?

Like, why when we feel happy or good the edges of our lips go up and when we're sad they go down? Why isn't it the other way around?

[Assistant]
Primatologist Signe Preuschoft traces the smile back over 30 million years of evolution to a "fear grin" stemming from monkeys and apes who often used barely clenched teeth to portray to predators that they were harmless, or to signal submission to more dominant group members.

It's basically a less threatening version of showing your teeth aggressively. A confirmation to others that you are *not* showing your teeth aggressively, because it's gentler.  It shows self-restraint, theoretically, that you're keeping yourself from showing signs of conflict or dominance.


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

[User] [The Dark Knight] What would the Joker see if he was sprayed with Scarecrows fear gas?

[Assistant]
One time Joker huffed a bunch of it, commented that it smelled exquisite, and then beat Scarecrow half to death with a chair.

Either he's immune, or seeing his worst nightmares didn't really affect him in a meaningful way.


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

[User]
Are modern encryption techniques (like 256-bit SSL encryption) more complicated than ciphers used in WWII (e.g. Enigma)? By how much?

I understand the *basics* behind encryption of messages, and thanks to a recent analogy posted (I think) on reddit, also understand the basics behind how one-way hashes are created (but cannot easily be reversed).

How do modern encryption techniques compare to those used by the English/German militaries in WWII? Are new encryption techniques simply iterations on existing methods (linear improvement), or completely disruptive changes that alter the fundamentals of encryption?

[Assistant]
SSL relies on a mathematical technique that was unknown to militaries until the seventies.

That specific technique was public key encryption, and the first (known, declassified) instance of a military using PKI was in the 70s in the UK, at the GCHQ in 1972. Diffie and Hellman also discovered the same technique as the GCHQ in 1976, but their work was out in the public domain, so it was used in a non military context immediately after.

What's interesting is that the idea of "easy to compute, hard to invert" had been thought of in the context of cryptography and number factoring sometime in the late 1800s, but it was never theorized that the two could be logically combined.

SSL relies on the RSA algorithm, which was invented in 1977 and again, in private by a mathematician in the employ of the GCHQ in 1973.

At the very minimum the public key infrastructure of SSL would've been something unknown to militaries in the 40s, whose keying systems were essentially just moving the keying information down from location to location. With Diffie Hellman key exchange, you can generate a shared secret over an insecure channel, and with RSA, you can encrypt messages with public keys that are distributed beforehand (in practice, you just encrypt the session key with RSA, and then use a standard block cipher). Being able to not have to physically move your key around is a sea change from the 40s: captured key books were a common source of Enigma cracks.

Block ciphers would've probably been more familiar to mathematicians of the 40s, but the first known (unclassified) example of a modern block cipher was with IBM's Lucifer in 1971. As you can see, almost all modern cryptography is now based on math that was developed in the 70s. That's not very surprising given that all modern crypto now relies on computers instead of electromechanical devices and scramblers which were de rigeur during the 40s, 50s and 60s.


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

[User] Would a denser atmosphere increase the power of a nuclear explosion by any significant amount?

[Assistant]
A denser atmosphere would result in a weaker nuclear explosion.

The atmosphere is the thing the explosion is expanding into. The explosion spends a significant fraction of its energy pushing the atmosphere around it out of the way, producing the shockwave. In denser environments you get less 'push' for the same amount of energy. For example, nuclear weapons detonated under water have significantly smaller blast radius than an equivalent device detonated in air because water is so much denser than air.


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

[User]
CMV: It's inevitable that the US loses the AI race to China.

One of the major realms in which the US and China compete now is in the R&D of new technologies, with the most researched and hyped up being AI, specifically in the form of deep learning neural networks - a complex bunch of algorithms that essentially "learn" by being fed enormous quantities of data.

The logic is simple. The better your data is, the better your system's performance is. There are entire subfields of Software Engineering such as Data Engineering that deal specifically in extracting "good" data from a messy dataset. But the problem is that our civilization hasn't exactly developed the internet with creation of clean data as a goal. Enter China.

China is currently at a unique point in history - they're simultaneously undergoing both an industrial revolution and a digital revolution. Vast numbers of people are being brought from poverty straight into a futuristic world of computers. And the Chinese, realizing the strategic potential of this reality, has been able to design their entire digital communications infrastructure around one purpose: the maximization of data collection about individuals, all for the purpose of becoming a world leader in AI by 2025-2030.

This isn't conjecture. All the details of this plan are public as part of the well known Chinese "Made in China 2025" policy.

The Chinese aim to become the world leader in AI. They have demonstrated that they aren't afraid to use digital technology in dystopian ways to maximize data collection about individuals. And they've been able to design their entire internet infrastructure around this purpose.

I just don't see how the West can compete. We simply aren't willing to sacrifice further privacy - the new post-Snowden environment has seen to that. How can an individualistic democracy that values privacy possibly compete in a race that, by definition, demands sacrificing privacy to win? Even if we decided to make data collection a national priority in the US, we're outnumbered by the Chinese 5 to 1.

And with one of the major uses of AI turning out to be subversion of the truth and the spreading of lies, I'm a little pessimistic about the future of Western Democracy. Please, change my view.

[Assistant]
The major advances in AI are going to come in the form of novel new forms of AI not just inflated versions of the ones we currently know. Neural Nets have been around since the 80s-90s and the computational science describing them have been around since at least the 60s-70s. The big reason they've taken off now is because of the digitization of data, but if you're expecting these nets to start doing some next level shit - there needs to be a seachanging technological advancement beyond them.

That new technology might not be as predicated on bulk data as current AI.


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

[User]
Why do batteries take minutes/hours to recharge? What is in the way for them to recharge instantly?

When I plug in my phone, laptop, or other electronic device in to recharge, why does it take 30+ minutes? Shouldn't it be able to draw more power from the outlet and recharge instantly?

[Assistant]
There is a chemical process behind battery charging. When charging your standard lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) cell phone battery lithium ions move from the graphite anode (where they form LiC6) through an electrolyte (a fluid or gel which allows lithium ions to pass through) to the cobalt oxide cathode. This electrolyte has a very low but very significant resistance to these ions. Try to force them through it too hard and there will be a lot of lithium in the electrolyte and not a lot on the electrodes. This causes chemical changes on the electrodes which makes it harder for the lithium to move back and forth in the future. Picture a crush of people leaving a stadium vs a calm and orderly exit.

There's also the issue of heat. Charging isn't 100% efficient so if you try to charge it instantly it will heat up and potentially catch fire or damage sensitive electronic bits of your phone.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens in our brain when we "stand up to quick" causing our vision to go semi black and feel like were going to pass out?

This just happened to me, my vision went to the usual dotted blackness, just curious what is happening in my brain area during this.

[Assistant]
Two words: Orthostatic Hypotension

OH happens when your blood pressure takes a dive. Usually, your body compensates when you go from sitting to standing by prompting your heart to beat a little faster (about an extra 10 beats per minute) and constricting your blood vessels, which force more blood back to your head and keep your brain on the up-and-up.

Many reasons, such as Dehydration, can cause OH and thus, Dizziness when you stand up too fast.

I hope that was thorough enough, feel free to ask any more!


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

[User]
Do Everest climbers carry water, if so how do they stop it freezing?

Maybe they take vodka?

[Assistant]
First, they only carry as much water as they will need to make it to their next camp. More water is acquired by melting snow with stoves at each camp, so it's not like they are carrying the same water for days on end. Secondly, water bottles are typically kept inside the jacket closer to the body, where temperatures are above freezing, and typically the bottles themselves are insulated. Even if the bottles are exposed to extreme temperatures, water has a very high heat capacity and it requires losing quite a lot of energy to actually freeze.

Fun trivia/useful trick: An effective but counter-intuitive way to keep water from freezing overnight is to bury it in snow. Snow, particularly un-compacted snow, is actually a pretty good insulator because there is so much empty space between grains. It also tends to have relatively poor surface contact with the water bottle, so heat loss through conduction is much lower than you would expect. Because the water bottle is buried, it is protected from both convective and radiation heat loss. A water bottle left out sitting on an insulating surface will easily freeze overnight, while a buried bottle will stay liquid for quite some time!


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

[User] What will be registered to the brain first? A sound, or a sight?

[Assistant]
It depends on how far away the object is. But if something happens to you close, the sound is processed first. This is because visual transduction, i.e. the process by which photons are converted to bioelectrical signals, is really very slow, and takes some ~70 milliseconds, while the process in your ears is almost instance.

Sound travels at about a foot in a millisecond, so if something is more than about 70 feet away, then the light will be processed first.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does mold get into the fridge/my house if it wasn't already there?

I know mold spores can travel through the air, but what about when I put food in my fridge with nothing moldy in there, no mold in the house... Eventually it is going to turn moldy. How?

[Assistant] There *is* mold there, you just can't see it. You said yourself that you know that mold spores spread through the air - that's your answer. Mold spores are absolutely everywhere. It *was* already there.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are school shooters always young males? Is there a media bias in reporting or is there something to it?

I don't ever recall hearing about a girl from any country going on a shooting rampage at a school.

[Assistant]
Females are more likely to take angst out on themselves.

However, the song "I don't like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats was about a female who shot up a school, and the title was her answer as to why she did it.

Also, here in Colorado, a school shooting by a female who intended to follow the Columbine example was thwarted just last month.

It's just statistically higher that males resort to violence against others.


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

[User]
[MCU] How was Ultron suppose to protect the world?

So in the movie Tony Stark creates Ultron to protect the world and says "What if the next time aliens roll up to the club they couldn't get past the bouncer." My question is how? How is a more intelligent jarvis going to make a difference? Tony already has the Iron Legion which Jarvis and Him do a pretty good job of controlling, no need for Ultron. Even if Tony was going to put him in a buffed up iron man suit why couldn't he put on the suit himself? In conclusion I really don't see what Tony saw in Ultron for protecting the Earth. He offers nothing substantial to World protection that he doesn't have already.

[Assistant]
In one word: Retirement.

In a few more words, Tony wanted to create an era of peace that didn't rely on the Avengers. Tony wanted an army of Automated Soldiers, who never got tired, never lost control, and never had to go back to Asgard. Who could stand between Earth and any threat that came after it. His hope was that Ultron would assume command of the Iron Legion and render the Avengers obsolete. Unlike Jarvis, Ultron could upgrade himself each time he faced a new threat. Adapt and overcome, without human oversight. The problem arose when Ultron took Tony's plan a step too far.


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

[User]
ELI5: How have sheep existed in the wild without someone to shear them?

I saw a post about a sheep that escaped owners/shearing for years and its wool was out of control. Have sheep ever existed in the wild without someone to shear them?

[Assistant]
They dont.

Domesticated sheep have been bred to never shed their seasonal coat and continue growing wool all year.

In the wild theyd shed this regularly to avoid overheating in the summer months.

Domesticated sheep that do escape will eventually overgrown and die.


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

[User] ELI5: How is it that if you eat something that disagrees with you, it seems to go "straight through you" even though it takes several hours to digest?

[Assistant]
But that's the thing, if you have diarrhea, it doesn't take several hours. Your body wants to get rid of whatever the offensive thing is, as fast as it can. So it takes liquids FROM your body, to flush out the contents of your stomach and intestines, so you poop it out as fast as possible.

In a regular poop, your body is taking the liquids from what you ate and using those in your body for good things. That takes more time to digest but it means you're getting all the nutrients and your body is happy.


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

[User] ELI5: How does truth serum work?

[Assistant]
Well, there are a bunch of things that are known as "truth serum."  Sodium Pentathol and Amobarbital are probably the most widely used ones, but there are many others.

The thing about truth serums, Timmy, is that they're not like what you see on TV.  Truth serums don't actually "make" you tell the truth.  Some cause what's called "dissassociation," which means your brain can't tell if the question you just got asked is coming from another person, or from inside your own brain (weird, huhn?)  What they DO do, however, is make you talk a lot more than normal, so you're more likely to contradict yourself or accidentally tell the truth.

It should also be said that the US Supeme Court ruled that use of chemicals to extact a confession is inadmissable in court, and that it's banned from use in interrogation by international law.  However, it is used in psychiatric treatments, specifically in people who are psychotic, manic, or in a catatonic trance.


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

[User]
Why would an all-knowing and all powerful god want to be worshipped?

I wanted some philosophy of religion perspectives on such a question. Worship is often taken for granted, I.e. if there is a God, then surely we must worship it. Has anyone put forth an argument to why God would command worship?

[Assistant] I won't put forward a serious explanation here, but just to put your question into context, if you listen to actual religious people or read either the Gita, the Quran or the Bible you must face the possibility as it's usually explained that it is us who need the grace or presence of God, not the other way around. The destiny of the religious depends on their relationship with the God, so even if it would seem to be a command, it is a pillar of faith and only an imperative as in building your own future - like saying "you must connect this device to the outlet if you want to use it" would seem to be a command but you should not forget about the conditional part.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do towels and wash-cloths lose the ability to absorb water over time?

There are a few ELI5s about new towels needing to be washed a few times before they become absorbent. Ive observed the opposite too - my old dish towels and other cloths just dont soak up water very well over time.

[Assistant]
The ability to absorb water is that, when it touches water, the tiny water molecules get scooped into air pockets between the fibers of the towel.

However, it's not picking up only water. It's also picking up whatever is in the water. This could be dirt, soap, hair, dust, etc.

When the towel dries, the water evaporates, but the non-water stuff doesn't. Over time, these pieces stay clogged in the fibers and build up. The more stuff is clogged in the fibers, the less water it can absorb.

Also just wear and tear. If you scrub the towel against a surface, the fibers will come off. They'll also come off from being cleaned. Less fibers means less scoops to catch water, so it absorbs less.


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

[User] Why is it not yet possible to use plant-based plastics for all of the things we currently use petroleum-based plastics for?

[Assistant]
The shortest version is that it is possible, it just results in more costly starting materials. The entire chemical industry is oriented around the cheap carbon starting materials from petroleum, and it will take *decades* to change that. Entire plants costing hundreds of millions of dollars will become obsolete and useless.

It is actually more promising to start by developing niche technologies based on easily available plant feedstocks. They could then compete in the markets and take up some of the slack as petroleum becomes more costly and rare. But the most recent example of that was that Sun Chip bag based on polylactic acid derivatives, and we know how that went.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does salt bring out favors in any dish?

[Assistant]
In a high school chemistry class, you'll see that saltwater is actually capable of conducting electricity. Na gives an electron to Cl and becomes positive, while Cl becomes negative. And this facilitates the electron movement and in turn, electricity. In a microscopic level, 'tasting' food just depends on tiny electric interactions. The salt helps the 'taste' from the food connect to your tongue more easily and it is dependent on it.

Another analogy: Salt is one of the most essential components our body needs to function. Therefore, our brain makes it look tasty so we consume it more. Same reason fat is more tasty, because it is more important.


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

[User] ELI5: How Bill Cosby is not in jail?

[Assistant] Because he has not been convicted of a crime in court. If a crime is not prosecuted within a certain time period, in can't be prosecuted. This is called statute of limitation. His victims are suing him in civil court. Civil courts can asses monetary damage only.


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

[User]
What does not emit electromagnetic radiation?

My remote sensing textbook states "With the exception of objects at absolute zero, all objects emit electromagnetic radiation."

I understand that an object doesn't have to emit it's own radiation, it can reflect another objects radiation.

So what are the processes that cause electromagnetic radiation to be emitted?
Wha are objects that do not emit their own radiation?

[Assistant]
Objects are made of atoms and atoms are made of charged particles (nuclei and electrons). Charged particles emit EM radiation when they are accelerated. All objects at a nonzero temperature T undergo some form of thermal motion and these random vibrations involve varying velocity and thus accelerations. Therefore all objects will emit a "baseline" spectrum due to thermal motion called a blackbody spectrum.

A blackbody (body that doesn't emit or reflect anything else other than the blackbody radiation) has a spectrum described by the Planck distribution, which is universal, depending only on the temperature and not on the details of the body or the material.

For temperatures above a few hundred degrees C, the Planckian spectrum is significant in the visible range of wavelength and so bodies hotter than that glow with a specific colour and intensity, this is just incandescence.

At room temperature, most of the blackbody radiation is emitted in the far infrared region, therefore named thermal infrared, and this radiation is visible only through (relatively expensive) thermal cameras.


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

[User]
[Mortal Kombat] How come the top of Kung Lao's hat can go clean through bodies and things?

And related question: wouldn't the blades of Kitana's fans have to be in the same plane to cut cleanly? Or at least it seems to be and should be.

[Assistant]
When Kung Lao throws his hat, he spins it like a frisbee. Whats less noticeable is that the blade is mounted in a separate spinning rim. When the blade makes contact, it slows down compared to the inner rim due to the extra resistance. This triggers a reverse spring mechanism connected to the top of the hat causing it to collapse like a magicians hat. When the hat passes through completely, the blade part no longer has a resistance greater to the inner plate which releases the hat collapsing mechanism causing it to pop up again.

It happens very fast. Im not surprised you missed it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do Diesel engines have that distinctive sound to them when compared to gasoline engines?

[Assistant]
Yet another question for an engineer

Diesel engines don't use a spark plug, instead igniting their air-fuel mixture via pressure and heat.

With a gasoline engine, the mixture is well mixed before the ignition happens. If it gets too hot, you get pre-ignition, or knock. (The technical term for that mixture is that it's homogenous, meaning it's the same throughout)

Diesel engines are NOT well mixed (meaning their air-fuel is heterogeneous, or not the same throughout). In the spots that are mixing early combust (explode) before the actual power stroke. The clicking and clacking is the SAME pre-ignition/knock you hear from a gas engine, but in small pockets as the pressure is raised to combust the main body of the mix.

Those early, smaller combustions travel back through the engine mounts and drivetrain and we hear them.

On older diesels, you could also hear the mechanical fuel injectors clacking away.


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

[User]
Firefly : Does Shepherd Book have to keep paying to stay on Serenity throughout the series...

... while watching Out of Gas I noticed Mal tell Inara she was paid up until the end of the month, understandable, she runs a business out of the shuttle.

But those not in the crew (River, Simon, Book), would they still have to pay? I think Simon's medical skills cover him and River... does that mean Book is the only one having to pay to stay on Serenity? He steers clear of all their jobs (bar rescuing Mal from Niska, arguably not a "job"), so do you think he's given the benefit of the doubt as he's a Shepherd? Thoughts?

Answers on a post card....

[Assistant]
Inara pays because she is a customer. She's not paying for passage aboard Serenity, she's paying to rent out the shuttle. Everyone else is more like an employee, they work for room, board, and a cut of the loot.

Simon and Shepherd started out as paying passengers, but ended up part of the crew. Like the rest of the crew, they don't pay to stay, they offer whatever services they can.


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

[User]
(ELI5) Why is old war footage (ww2) always sped up

I've always wondered this whenever in history class or even just watching a ww2 documentary all of the clips of soldiers moving or running are sped up and it makes them look like there running in 4x the speed, is there a reason for this or do they do it to make the clip go by quicker?

[Assistant]
First, let's understand how cameras work. As a general rule, video cameras are just taking a lot of still pictures in a row. When we play these in order, they give the illusion of movement.

In WWII times, cameras often took videos where they took 18 pictures per second (or 18 frames per second as a film person would call it). Cameras were also often hand-cranked, which meant that the frames per second could vary. Sometimes this was on purpose, and sometimes it was accidental.

Now, once you have the video, you can play it at a different speed than it was filmed at. If you recorded 18 frames every second, but play the film with 36 frames going by every second, you're getting two second's worth of the film for every second that you play the video. You can think of it like flipping a flipbook really fast.

The issue is that the industry eventually standardized the frames per second at 24. That means that most projectors run at 24 frames per second. If you run an 18 frames per second film at that speed, it will necessarily be sped up. The issue is that nobody really cared to create projectors where you can adjust the speed. There really wasn't any point, because every recent film is filmed at the 24 frames per second speed.

As mentioned above though, sometimes that speed was done on purpose.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are certain people ticklish?

[Assistant] Because as humans evolved, the body need to be aware of something when it was crawling on the body. The reaction we have is to defend against bugs or snakes or other shit from crawling on our bodies and hurting us.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is mass different from weight?

Somebody said they are different because of gravity.

[Assistant]
Weight is dependent on gravitational force. It's a measure of that gravitational force, usually on Earth. Mass, which measures the amount of matter in an object, exists whether gravity acts on it or not. The same object has the same mass on Earth, the Moon, or in the middle of space, but has different weights at each of those locations.

However, on Earth weight can be used to measure mass. Since the same gravitational force acts on all objects in the same place on Earth, comparing their weights will reveal their mass. On Earth, mass equals weight divided by the acceleration of gravity.


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

[User]
CMV: People need to stop and think before arguing about terminology/semantics

I think its a flaw of CMV and also logic in general. This train of though started by reading a lot of the online debates about the term concentration camps. I think the debate is relatively absurd for a variety of reasons on both sides. First of all, no matter what you call them the realities within them are the same.  Secondly, I think its severely intellectually disingenuous to argue about terminology when you hold a strong underlying belief that you are trying to prove by using certain terminology. More than this we often lose sight of reality when arguing terminology.

For a relatively absurd example, lets say you(a liberal) and me (a conservative) watch a video of ISIS beheading someone. I say wow thats really what radical Islam has done to the Middle East and you say wow thats a disgusting example of what religion does to people. We then go on to debate whether or not calling ISIS radical Islamists is really the appropriate term and whether or not I am a bigot or something else. Despite this, I clearly felt empathy for the people who were killed and these people were likely Muslim.

Lost in this is someone just had there fucking head chopped off and I the conservative felt empathy toward them. This is a huge point in my opinion. Yet, if someone corrects my terminology I might feel far less empathy.

Now thats how I feel looking at American politics. When you break it down, people often agree on many things. Its horrible that nearly a murder a day happens in Chicago or Baltimore. We want the kids to have better opportunities. Yet, we let terminology override our common sensibility and if a conservative calls something ghetto we get in a froth. We use words that we know the other side will hate and the reject words that they use for various reasons.  Now words are powerful and are the root of meaning and they do have historical context. Yet sometimes to change someones mind I firmly believe that you need to accept some of how they define the terms in question and look for common ground. Im not rejecting debates of semantics, meaning or definition but merely saying that they can be counterproductive when people have heavily ingrained definitions.

I will give out a delta for someone who gives examples where appreciable good has been done in changing a persons opinions by question the definition of a word that they were using. Thanks in advance for your responses.

Edit: Im speaking about American politics, and polarizing issues in general where the mere usage of word might trigger such a negative reaction by one side that will result in the conversation not being resolved. A better example is the term privilege.  In America, conservatives hate his word when it is used to describe advantages based on unchangeable factors such as parent money, race, etc. I have personally convinced conservatives to acknowledge advantages that are not a result of individual hard work and based on race, class, sexuality by never mentioning the word privilege. Im not arguing semantics arent important, so maybe my title is disingenuous but merely we need to consider whether or not arguing over a specific word is the best way to find common ground and change opinions.

Edit p2: Seems like some people construe my post as condoning hate speech. Again Im taking an intentionally vague stance on this. Im saying people need to think about arguments about semantics instead of people should never.  When conversing with an individual you need to decide if its best to use certain words that may offend them or whether or not its possible to change the definitions they use. In some cases it may be possible to get them to see the point without changing the definition. This is a separate instance, imo, from the use of retard or faggot because the individual using that word has a clear negative intent. The term radical Islamist probably has some negative intent behind it in my example, yet Im stating that the conservatives empathy toward the individual killed may be the more relevant starting point for the discussing that the terminology.

Edit p3: My view has changed fam. I think its very important to be careful when discussing generalization like this because in some instances the speech itself can be indirectly or directly very harmful to a certain group.  Arguing about words may be beneficial even if views are shared if the words used are extremely offensive and or negative.  Thanks for the responses.

[Assistant]
Okay  so when two people fundamentally disagree over whether a term is appropriate how should they resolve their dispute?

I think rational discourse is exactly the right way to resolve disputes like this. It's how you find out what exactly people mean by the terms they use. It's a peaceful resolution that gives both sides a chance to get at the underlying issues present yet hidden by semantics. And in general, is the only productive way to resolve disagreement.


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

[User] ELI5: How come Pakistan, a nation with the world's 6th largest army and nuclear weapons, hasn't defeated the Taliban in 12 years and needs the US' help.

[Assistant] Why does the USA have a problem still with organized crime? No matter what they try, there are always people willing to do the bad things for money. If not for money, then for religion. Plus people from other countries give the bad guys money too , and weapons, and even send more bad people there JUST to cause mayhem!


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

[User] [Dungeons & Dragons] 8 Hours ago my intestines were falling out and I was nearly dead from traumatic injuries, now I'm perfectly fine. How?

[Assistant] You might have taken a hit to the head, since you seem to have forgotten our cleric friend here can channel the power of his god. Indeed that is what he did, and he healed you. You will still need to rest for about a week in a comfortable bed to recover completely.


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

[User]
Eli5: How do icebreaker ships work?

How are they different from regular ships?
What makes them be able to plow through ice where others arent?

[Assistant]
Normal ships is made with a more or less straight wedge bow which is designed to push the water to the side out of the way of the ship. And that is fine because water will just rise up in a bow wave and get out of the way. However if you take such a ship into ice it will encounter problems. Ice is quite hard and when you try to push it aside it will just crash into more ice and be prevented from moving.

So icebreaker bows are not straight wedges but angled forward. So it does not push the ice outwards but rather down and out. When an icebreaker hits the ice it will climb up onto the ice forcing it down into the sea breaking it apart and then the wedge will force the ice flakes under the surrounding ice. It works kind of like an inverted snow plow.

In addition to this the bow is heavily reinforced with lots of internal structures distribute from the bow through the ship and into the propeller as well as thick hull plates to avoid any damage from ramming into the ice.


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

[User]
Ordinary vs Honours Degree

Ive failed four exams in college and they will all be capped at 40% if I pass the repeats. However, my results from my ordinary degree are quite good.

Anyone know if many business companies require a honours degree over an ordinary?

[Assistant] An honours degree is mostly needed for graduate schools.  Outside of academia the difference between a regular and honours is insignificant (but in some professions you can get more money with more advanced degrees).  It all depends on what your goals are!


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

[User] ELI5: Why do digital distribution video games cost the same as physical disc versions of games?

[Assistant] Because they are made by for-profit companies, that don't want to sell for less than the market will bear, because that reduces their profits. People will pay 60 euro for a game. They don't have a big incentive to sell it for 30. If it costs less for them to distribute, so much the better, more profit.


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

[User]
Why, if we get a new set of skin every 80 days or so, does skin ever become wrinkled and old?

Cells replace each other, so why does skin age if they are new cells?

[Assistant] Collagen and elastase degradation in the skin matrix.  These proteins give skin its flexible nature.  Over time the protein is no longer secreted as readily by fibroblasts and the existing matrix begin to degrade, resulting in looser skin.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] So can EVERY astromech droid open ANY door ANYWHERE in the galaxy, or is R2D2 special?

I was watching the Star Wars marathon this weekend for the billionth time and it really strikes me as odd that a droid built to help fly X-wings can break into any door on any planet, or any door on the Death Star. Why do they even HAVE doors in Star Wars if any $20 droid can just open them?

[Assistant]
R2-D2 is special, sort-of.

Astromechs - in fact most droids -  routinely have their memories wiped, rendering them back to factory default. They are 100% artificially intelligent and can learn and grow beyond their programming. Artoo never had his memory wiped, and has decades of knowledge and experience. He's quite gifted at hacking computer systems.

You see this with some other droids that have avoided memory wipes: Chopper, K-2SO, LOM-4, IG-88...


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

[User]
CMV: The US should declare war on the cartels, end the domestic war on drugs, and help stabilize/invest in Mexico.

The single greatest form of external-terrorism in the United States is the introduction of heroine, coke, meth, and opiates like fentanyl to communities. People who take these are more likely to commit violent crimes, become homeless, have children that go to orphanages or grow up hungry. These drugs tear apart families, ruin lives, and the money spent on them goes to terrorists who basically own Mexico now.

When you take down low level drug dealers, there will always be more to take their place. Its like trying to shave someone's head by plucking out hairs individually. When you completely destroy the infrastructure and capabilities of these drug running operations, it will take years and years for them to rebuild it. The people with the know-how will be gone.  Those who come after them will live in fear of what might happen if they get caught.

The US military should seek approval from the Mexican president to seek out and destroy the cartels by any means necessary. The cartels are powerful compared to the local police and government, by comparison, but are NOTHING compared to an actual military. I honestly believe you would spend less to destroy them than you would trying to use the DEA to enforce every single drug user in America.

After the Cartels are gone, we should invest in these communities in Mexico to help grow their economies and give young men less incentive to join a cartel. It sounds counterintuitive, but by investing in Mexico. I believe the US would actually save billions in the long term by treating drug use as an addiction, mitigating the DEA's budget, and helping local law enforcement see addicts as just that, addicts, not criminals. Also, if Mexico has a stronger economy, there will be less reason for people to try and immigrate to the United States.

[Assistant]
The US isn't exactly trusted by the Mexican community right now.

The Mexican people aren't going to be rolling out a welcome mat, thanking us for saving them.

Police action in a foreign country is hard.  How many of our armed forces know Spanish?  How would our armed forces identify targets?

When you're frustrated and don't see good options, force feels like the solution.  It is the option that we jump to when we don't see good options and want to force the world to be the way we want it.  But, in the real world, violence isn't as effective as we imagine and has many unintended consequences.


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

[User]
Why doesn't [Batman] just permanently or extensively cripple the Joker?

Even in his Dark Night incarnation, Batman isn't afraid to break bones, so what's stopping him from simply rendering the Joker physically incapable if Batman won't kill?

[Assistant] By definition, villains worthy of Batman's notice are the movers and shakers, capable of achieving very impressive results (even if said results are immoral). If successfully rehabilitated, these people are capable of contributing substantially to the improvement of human society. By the simple act of sending these villains to Arkham instead of letting them rot in prison, the Batman proves that this is a desired outcome- why undercut that possibility by hampering the healing process with added physical trauma?


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

[User] How do scientists determine what a planet core is made of ?

[Assistant]
There are no direct methods, but there are several indirect methods that we can use. First off, it depends on the kind of planet you are studying.

Lets start with gas giants like Jupiter. Our first step would be to look at the moons circling it, from their orbits we can get a really good guess at what the overall mass of Jupiter must be. Next, from regular observations we can estimate its size. This gives us a density estimate which puts us in the ballpark of what kind of materials we can expect.

Additionally, we can get measurements of its magnetic field and surface make-up from probes. Earths own magnetic field is created primarily because our liquid core flows and spins. As magnetic fields can arise from the movement of electrons, a good explanation for the existence of our magnetic field is a hot, liquid core undergoing convection. We can apply the same reasoning to many planets, if it has a strong magnetic field it is possible that it has a very active core and so we might initially expect things to be liquid down there.

For terrestrial planets theres one more trick we can use: seismic activity. Since waves travel differently through solids and liquids we can guess at what kind of materials might be under the surface. This gets more useful if you have many monitoring stations in different areas to all track the same seismic event.

Finally we can begin to play a sort of detective game where we deduce elements and structure from what we know about our solar system, physical properties of the planets, and the principles of physics and chemistry. Building off all of this knowledge, one paper used Density Functional Theory, a result of quantum mechanics, to estimate the behavior of iron inside the Earths core. Using this analysis they concluded the temperature of the core should be within 5300K-5700K and that there is likely between 8%-13% oxygen in the outer core.

Scientists have done an amazing job using basic physical principles to extrapolate what might be happening in labs millions of miles away from their chalkboards.

Sources:

[1] Goldstein, classical mechanics ch. 3

[2] Geophysical Research Letters, Seismic anisotropy in the Earth's innermost inner core: Testing structural models against mineral physics predictions, B. Romanowicz, et al.

[3] Griffiths, introduction to electrodynamics ch. 7

[4] contemporary physics, temperature and composition of the earths core, D. Alf, et al.


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

[User] Why are some contagious diseases terminal? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for it if its host stayed alive?

[Assistant] Not if it manages to spread before killing the host. Perhaps it causes diarrhoea which dehydrates and kills the host, but the diarrhoea causes the infection of many more hosts. It isn't about what the disease thinks is beneficial, it's just what happened to work.


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

[User]
What effect does reccesions have on black markets? illegal drugs, ect

Anyone know?

[Assistant]
Overall the black market suffers, but it could also have varying effects depends upon from which side you look.

From Sellers POV, as there is no fixed price, at a time fo reduced demand they will increase the prices so that they are able to cover up the shortfall in revenues. This leads to an increase in prices, but an addict or one who is hooked will try his/her level best to meet the prices, either borrow or sell assets or even indulge in crime, like theft and burglary with an aim to find resources.

From Buyers POV, for normal goods, the demand falls with income, so it depends on what preferences the buyer has. If you look at those who have high financial debt or use it as a coping mechanism they will need it at all costs so they will definitely buy and they will too hunt for resources either through crime or other means, as their incomes fall in recession.

There will also be varying effects in districts that are hit the most, that is, that have high unemployment.


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

[User]
How do I helpfully interact with undergrads who approach me inquiring about Harris, Petersen, Molyneux, etc.?

This semester alone, Ive had half a dozen or so undergrads approach me before and after lectures/sections to ask whether I listen to their podcasts, what I think about them, and so on. So far Ive expressed an unfamiliarity with them so as to be careful. Is there a better way to approach this?

[Assistant] This seems like a good opportunity to emphasize basic interpretive skills. For example, if you try to *outline* a Molyneux talk, eliminating the snarky rhetoric and simply attempting to show the steps of an argument, accounting for explicit premises and implicit assumptions, things tend to fall apart pretty quickly. Even his book on UPB comes apart almost immediately when you simply try to understand it, rather than allowing yourself to be swept along by all the distractions involved.


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

[User]
Do people have their own philosophy?

I'm saying like do people have their own well constructed moral system and perspectives and stuff . I know this is a stupid question but i jus wanted to know.

[Assistant] I mean some people probably. But the average joe on the street likely doesnt have a well thought out moral system, or view on the ontological status of numbers or a view on most philosophical issues.


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

[User] [The Mist] Are there any intelligent civilizations in the homeworld of the Mist?

[Assistant]
Civilization? Maybe, but most likely not. Sentient and sapient beings? Yes.

The Mist leaks out from the void between worlds. It contains your usual intelligent lovecraftian horrors.

The void between worlds are the remnants of the Prim after Gan arose and spun the innumerable worlds from his navel. Nowdays it's filled with your usual mind-breaking sentient horrors that just want to eat your face. But every now and then you'll find your sapient demon, succubus, or vampire.

Long days and pleasant nights.


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

[User]
[ST:TNG] Why is Picard French?

Not an in-universe question, but something which has always bugged me.

Why, having decided to make the captain French, did they hire an English actor? Having decided to hire Patrick Stewart, why didn't they change the character's background to English? And why, if he is French, does he drink Earl Grey rather than caf and read Shakespeare rather than Balzac?

There was that one episode (*Family*), where he visits his brother (who also has an English accent) and they drink wine and sing French songs, but the rest of the time he is English as fuck.

[Assistant] sometime after WW III, French culture as we know it was destroyed and replaced by the invading Britons. The surviving population was re- educated. They were taught to speak English and drink tea. Several generations later, the descendants while regaining their place in society, retain little to no trace of their french ancestry.


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

[User]
ELI5 : Illegal Activities on Television

May be a dumb question but I've always wondered...How do the people on television who show their faces and names while uncovering their illegal business/activities not get caught and thrown in jail?
Ex. Moonshiners, new series Tickle, multiple series on drugs etc...

[Assistant]
Ok, so you're a cop.  You see Snoop DogLionWhatever smoking a huge joint on tv, right there in your town.  So you decide you're going to arrest that guy.

He shows up in your town again, and you arrest him.  Then his lawyer appears and asks how you know he was smoking an illegal substance on that video.  Do you have any actual evidence as to *what specifically* he was smoking?  No?  Then prepare for a media circus and a lot of expense resulting in a probable acquittal, all over a very minor charge.


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

[User]
Why are workers paid an hourly wage instead of a portion of the value they add to the product?

The question comes to me as a philosophy degree holding line cook.  I watch the raw beef turn into a delicious hamburger, and yet I am compensated for my time rather than the work I put into the food.

I can think of a few bumps in the road, but no real reason why not, besides the fact that businesses profit more by treating labor as a commodity.

One of the minor problems would be figuring out how much work each employee did.  But this would be simple enough considering our ticket system for tracking orders.  You were at work from x to y and did z number of tickets totaling this much profit, and at your pay scale you get so much percentage of the profit.

[Assistant]
I would say a major reason is the desire to keep labor at a relatively fixed cost. Under the current system, your employer knows exactly how long they'll be open and how much that will cost them in payroll. Giving you a percentage of the total product sold is much harder to predict. (Of course, keeping labor's share of the profits low is also a motivation.)

Keep in kind this can benefit the employee as well. You are paid the same regardless of how many customers the restaurant has any given night. That makes it easier for you to establish a household budget.