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

[User]
ELI5: Why there is only one minimum wage, rather than some sort of "tiered" system?

One common argument I hear against the $15 minimum wage is the whole "why should fast food workers make $15 an hour when EMTs only make $12 an hour" anecdote.

Have any countries or states taken a "tiered" approach to minimum wage, organized by job function or something? To continue the previous example: fast food workers would have a minimum wage of $12, emergency medical workers would have a minimum wage of $15, etc. Would it just be that this would be difficult/impossible to enforce (given grey area positions), or is there some other reason why this is a bad idea?

[Assistant]
Well that would defeat the point of the minimum wage. The minimum wage isn't "this is how much this job is worth", it's "this is how much a person is worth, and how much a person needs to *live*." The closest thing to job-based minimum wages is unions, which individually mandate minimum wages for different jobs within them, if the work is unionized.

There also isn't a single minimum wage. There's a federal minimum wage, but then states have their own minimum wages, as do some counties and cities. Their wages can't be lower than any of the larger bodies they're in, but they can make them higher.

Some states also have tipped minimum wages, where employers can pay less, as long as the employee makes enough in tips to bring their pay up to the regular minimum wage.

Sidenote: The "why should fast food workers make $15 an hour when EMTs only make $12 an hour" argument never made sense to me, since it pretends that EMTs wouldn't also be affected by the minimum wage increase.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] If Yoda knew about Anakin and the Tusken Raiders, why wasn't he ever even confronted about it?

If I remember correctly, Yoda meditated and heard Qui-Gon Jinn's Force Ghost trying to stop Anakin from killing the Tuskens. If Yoda could tell all that was happening, with the fact that Mace Windu and some of the other Jedi Masters didn't trust him, why wasn't he confronted or punished for it? I might be wrong, but he was never even so much as verbally reprimanded for it by the Jedi.

Had they dealt with that then, he might not have fallen.

[Assistant]
There was no time. After the Tatooine freak out, Anakin and Padme head off to the that planet with Dooku and the robot army to save Obi Wan. Then Anakin, Kenobi and Padme all get captured and have to fight in the arena. At that point the jedi's and the clone troops arrive they fight Dooku's robot army. Begun the Clone War had.

After that they were all leaders in an intergalactic war. Realistically at that point, killing people was part of their job description. No time to reprimand anyone, they had a war to wage.


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

[User]
[Avatar the last airbender] Why didnt the avatar spirit just break out of the iceberg by itself?

Your gonna tell me that the avatar can bring balance and order to the entire world, fight the most powerful fire bender in the world, but cant break out of an iceberg????

[Assistant]
"The Avatar Spirit" isn't really a thing that has motivations or makes decisions like that. There's a lot of memes about past Avatars "taking the wheel" when the Avatar State is triggered, but that's a very rare occurrence, and as far as we know it only happens when the current Avatar is open to it.

In spite of the awesome and apparently infinite power that he possesses, Aang is still a twelve year old. That's why he ran away in the first place, it seemed like a reasonable plan to him.


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

[User]
What do post docs get paid at your university?

There was a post in another thread about a postdoc getting paid $28k, which I thought was pretty low!

In London postdocs will start on around 32-33k, and will earn up to around 50k (for certain fellowships). Typical is in the 35-40k range.

Northern Europe tends to have better pay than we do, while unsurprisingly in Southern Europe they're paid less (stating the obvious here). I know that in Switzerland they can earn the equivalent of around 70k.

Just curious, what do they earn where you are?

[Assistant] French postdocs get (net) about 2000 per month.  There's a raise to 2500 after three years, but after 6 years of postdocing in France, they are required to give you a full-time position.  In practice this means that one is let go after 5 years.


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

[User]
CMV: Heavily taxing inheritance is only fair and may be the best way to reduce the class divide.

In modern democracies, there are necessary safety nets in place to help those in need - it would be draconian to take this safety net away and literally let people starve out on the street.

However, this safety net is incredibly expensive, and so tax rates have generally been going up in recent decades. I get why many are very hesitant about such changes - especially libertarians see their salary as hard-earned and want as little government interference as possible. I think there's merit to that argument.

But again, the money needs to come from somewhere, and I'm of the opinion that inheritances are the place to look. While income is hard-earned, inheritance isn't - what can little Jimmy change about his parentage and their (lack of) wealth? How is anyone entitled to money they didn't earn?

A few additional arguments:

* Because wealth cannot be amassed, it will either be spent during the earner's lifetime or enter circulation in the form of welfare payments.

* It's not like the kids of rich parents would not benefit more than enough anyway during the former's lifetime (special consideration would be given to orphans and the like)

* This would create a more level playing field, as no one would be able to just live off of revenue from interest. People like Bill Gates - they worked hard for their wealth, and I respect them immensely. But someone who's a billionaire by default? I'm honestly having a hard time to justify why they should be so lucky when others are literally starving.

* Initially, there would be a lot of suspicion about this idea - people tend to be very defensive of money being taken away from them *that they don't even have* (it's the American Dream mentality), but after just a few generations anything *but* wealth redistribution would be seen as completely ludicrous.

In your replies, you can presume that all reasonable steps would be taken to ensure inheritance wouldn't be illegally transferred.

EDIT: Polished this a little bit, I'm on mobile.

[Assistant] A person's estate has already been taxed. They had to pay taxes on it when they earned it, it seems unfair to tax it again. It also violates the person's wishes. The estate has been amassed to pass on to their kids. Why should the person who earned the money, and already paid taxes on it, not get to decide where it goes?


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

[User] eli5: Is there a point in outer-space where as you get close enough to earth, gravity will pull you as if you entered free fall or is it more gradual?

[Assistant]
There is no point where anything suddenly changes. The gravitational pull between any two objects (like you and the Earth) decreases continuously as they get farther apart. It just slowly gets weaker and weaker the farther apart the things are, but it's never exactly zero, and it never jumps suddenly.

So even if you started from way out by the moon, you would still BE in free fall towards Earth, it's just that the free-fall acceleration is quite low at that distance compared to what you're used to feeling on Earth.

And even on Earth we can see the difference. You weigh slightly less on a mountain top or in an airplane than you do on the ground, because you're a little farther away from the center of Earth's mass that's pulling you down. As you go higher than that, up into space, the gravitational pull just keeps getting less and less.

But even if you went to another whole galaxy, the Earth would still be pulling you towards it a tiny bit. Just like every object in every galaxy is currently pulling on you as you sit here on Earth. Just too weakly to do anything compared to Earth's gravity keeping you on the ground.


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

[User]
How do you 'Choose a Model?'

I'm taking an economics course where we're to write an empirical paper.

So as an example, I'm thinking about studying the effects of the ASEAN free trade agreement on the 'standards of living' on the general population. I know some of the data I want: GDP/capita pre&post agreement, unemployment rates pre&post agreement, gini coefficients p&p, and purchasing parity: how much could a unit of currency purchase pre& post agreement.

But how do social scientists know where to go? What do I do with all this data? If I want to look at the changes in Malaysia's GDP/capita over through 20 years, do I compare that against a neighboring non-ASEAN country? Do I compare changes between other ASEAN countries? Should I just feed my data through a pre-existing model (like the Solow model)? I'm lost where to go from here. Any help is appreciated.

[Assistant]
Maybe this isn't saying much, but generally you want it to be:

* parsimonious (just the main variables, keep the frilly crap to a minimum)

* supported by theory (or better yet, have rival models that are supported by different theories, that way you'll be able to chose which one tells the best story)

* answering the main questions you want to look at (every model is actually telling a story... so...what story do you intend to tell)

* econometrically sound. This part can get very detailed if you let it. make sure to quote your textbook as faithfully as possible.


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

[User]
[Futurama] Why didn't anyone do anything about that one extra frozen guy who showed up on New Years Day, 2001?

Just seems odd for nobody to have messed with his stasis pod even once over the thousand years...

[Assistant] Let's not dismiss the possibility that the Niblonians purchased the freezer unit ahead of time and forged a little paperwork to show he had been frozen via normal procedures. The company may have thought he was legit.


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

[User]
Does taking a vitamin D supplement stop natural vitamin D production?

 If I would for example take 1000 IU of oral vitamin D every day, does my natural vitamin D production in the sun stop due to the supplement taking?

[Assistant]
Probably not. Consider that vitamin D3 comes from 7-dehydrocholesterol. The sun turns 7-dehydrocholesterol into vitamin D3, but 7-dehydrocholesterol is also converted into cholesterol. All cells must produce cholesterol, as it is an integral part of the cell membrane. Any feedback regulation that would inhibit 7-dehydrocholesterol would also inhibit cholesterol formation in the cell.

However, vitamin D3 is not the active form of vitamin D. There are two more hydroxylation steps, one in the liver and one predominantly in the kidneys. The active form activates an enzyme that deactivates the active form molecule, essentially creating a negative feedback loop.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do our eyes sting when we are really tired?

[Assistant] When you get tired, your body tries to put you to sleep by reducing the fluids secreted by the tear/lacrimal gland that keeps your eyeballs moist (hehe. moist.). It's closer to a burning sensation than stinging, though.


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

[User] Why do dogs pant and hang their tongues out such a lot when wolves (and most animals) do not? Is it a trait that somehow selected for during domestication?

[Assistant]
Nearly every warm-blooded animal has some method of thermal regulation, and wolves do indeed pant to stay cool. In fact, wolves are more efficient at panting than most domestic dog breeds because their snout shape and long tongue are the result of evolution rather than selective breeding by humans.

The reason that wolves are not often seen panting is that unlike domestic dogs, wolves tend to find cool spots and relax during the hotter parts of the day. Domestic dogs have developed relationships with humans, and thus they are active whenever humans are active and have more of need to cool themselves.


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

[User]
Is there evidence of a moon orbiting a moon orbiting a planet?

Has there ever been evidence of a smaller object orbiting the moon of a planet?

[Assistant]
No, but there is a moon that has smaller Trojan moons, that orbit 60 degrees ahead or behind its orbit due to the mutual influence of Saturn and the big moon. The big moon is Tethys, the small moons are Telesto and Calypso.

There are smaller objects orbiting our moon, but these are man-made.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] how tough is Boba Fett's armor?

How much of a pounding can he take? Is it mostly energy absorbion to handle blaster bolts, or can he take being rammed by a speeder too? Would a light saber slice right through the toughest parts or only chinks like where the neck meets the helmet, or did he upgrade that part after he watched Jango die?

[Assistant]
A lightsaber would slice right through it, unless we're talking Legends at which point it basically becomes ZOMG best armor ever and essentially invincible.

As for what else it can take, he could get rammed by a speeder and survive, yes, but it wouldn't be pleasant. The pockmark of damage on the helmet is actually from a blaster bolt.


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

[User] [Marvel] How did Logan's life influence history (possible war outcomes, politics, economy etc.)?

[Assistant]
There was once an episode of X-men that featured Wolverine fighting alongside Captain America in WW2. Their mission was to shut down a HYDRA base that was using Concentration Camp occupants as test subjects.

Wolverine and Cap didn't catch the Red Skull that day as he set an explosive to take out the Base and all the prisoners. However, they shutdown the HYDRA facility, stopped the bomb and released all the prisoners from the camp. One little boy from the camp personally thanked Logan... his name was Erik Lehnsherr (he grew up to become Magneto).


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

[User] ELI5: If I throw my dress shirt on the floor overnight, it wrinkles. Why then if I hang it up the next day, doesn't it unwrinkle?

[Assistant]
When you throw it on the floor, you've just taken it off. The fabric has absorbed a lot of humidity from your body, and is warm, both of which make the cotton more likely to hold a new shape as it dries and cools.

This is why ironing works - the heat and damp soften cotton slightly allowing it to set into a new (hopefully flat) shape.


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

[User]
[G.I Joe] What does COBRA want? What is the organization's motivations?

I know they're supposed to be a bunch of terrorists who want to take over the world, but does the group have any motive or reasoning for why they should be in charge or why they use such extreme methods when it'd be far easier to just run a normal megacorporation and ~~bribe~~ lobby politicians?

Do the members of COBRA genuinely think the world would be better under their control or are they just a bunch of crazy power hungry fascists?

[Assistant]
TL;DR Money, power, personal gain.

The 80's cartoon revealed that Cobra is a front for a 40,000 year old civilization of snake people who want to reconquer the surface. Cobra Commander is the only one who actually knows this until the end of the series.

Other members join for their own reasons. Destro and The Baronesse joined because they want power while the Dreadnaughts are just a band of mercenaries who love getting paid to cause chaos. There is also Stormshadow who doesn't care about money or power but he's being manipulated by Cobra Commander through his vendetta against Snake Eyes .

IIRC Cobra's recruits its main forces from low-income/downtrodden people from inner city environments.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why Does Cold Air Hold Less Moisture than Warm Air?

With the big drop in air temps in the northern US, I got to wondering about this.  Ive read that people get itchy dry skin in the winter because cold air doesnt hold as much moisture as warm air does. Assuming thats true, whats the reason for it?

[Assistant]
The temperatures we like are very close to the temperatures where water condenses from a vapor (gas) to a liquid.  Colder temperatures, like the ones outside now, are below the temperature where water condenses and even below the temperature where it freezes.  When the water freezes, it falls out of the air.

When that air with no water is drawn into out homes and offices (so we have fresh air to breathe) we warm it up.  While warming it up would allow it to hold more water in the vapor state, that doesn't make water appear spontaneously in the air.  So we have warm, but very dry air, unless we have special machines that add water to the air as they warm it.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What is the difference between the Emperor's Hands and the Inquisitors? Don't they kind of do the same thing?

[Assistant]
The Inquisitors were an organization whose primary focus was location and elimination of surviving Jedi, with a secondary focus in intelligence-gathering and interrogation. Although they had fingers in other pies, these were their foremost objectives.

Emperor's Hands, on the other... er, hand, were general-use operatives to carry out widely-varying objectives under Palpatine's rule. They also generally avoided using strong dark-side powers, perhaps to avoid being noticed or developing independent streaks dark side users often did. This stood in stark contrast to the Inquisitors, who actively encouraged their members (many former Jedi) to fall to the dark side.

That last bit is also important, as the Emperor's Hands' greatest asset to Palpatine was their loyalty. While the Inquisition was numerous and powerful, the Hands' loyalty was unshakable as long as Palpatine was alive.


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

[User]
ELI5: The difference between mass and weight

Edit: Thanks for the answers, everyone!

[Assistant] Your mass is a given quantity regardless of where you are. Its how much "stuff" you are made of. Weight is how gravity acts on your mass so you weigh less on the moon because there is less gravity but your mass is the same anywhere you go in the universe.


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

[User]
CMV: politicians should be required to wear NASCAR-style jumpsuits showing all their major sponsors.

In recent days some have decried the POTUS and FDOTUS brazenly ignoring federal ethics laws by posing with a certain company's bean products.

But I welcome it. The ethics rules really just obscure behind a thin veneer the truth of American politics: namely, many politicians are just in it for their friends and donors.

We shouldn't hide it anymore. Make these allegiances visible, front-and-center.

We should make it mandatory for politicians appearing in public to wear NASCAR-style jumpsuits with their major sponsors emblazoned across their bodies. Then we'll more readily know who they're beholden to and which companies we may want to boycott or patronize.

Change my view.

[Assistant] Some politicians receive support from hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of individuals and organizations. Even if it's limited to major sponsors, there will still be thousands of them. There's just not enough room on the jumpsuit.


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

[User] [40K] How does Mag Uruk Thraka remain War Boss if he keeps losing wars?

[Assistant]
Orks does not care about winning, loosing or even dying. What they care about is a big, good fight (good fight for Orks usually means a big one).

Uruk Thraka provide HUGE WAAAGS!!!!! with HUGE FIGHTS! The Orks Love it!

And to quote some random ork:
"If we runs for it, it don't count as losing, cuz we can also come back for anuvver go, see?"


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

[User]
Why can't the Great Barrier Reef be repopulated?

I am not discounting the problem of coal bleaching and I've seen the pictures.

I realize evolution takes a while, so the natural corals in place can't keep up to their environments' changing, but if coral grow in all different environments and depths through the world, why can't marine biologists engineer new, more heat-hardy algae and coral then stimulate them to grow in the dead reefs?

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, so what's standing in the way? Why is there this upper limit on temperature when there doesn't seem to be a lower limit, since corals can grow deeper?

[Assistant]
This is actually being experimented with right now. Designing new coral and zoozanthellae is still in the realm of science fiction. However, there are numerous labs working on artificially selecting heat and co2 tolerant genotypes of important reef building corals. The hope being, that we can accelerate the process of natural selection to keep pace with our changing environment.

This is contingent on numerous factors, however, that are difficult to overcome.

1) Sexual reproduction in corals is a tricky thing to get right in a lab setting, although we are getting better at it.

2) this is a new field and it's just getting off the ground

3) It's very expensive and there is still very limited funding

4) we don't know if it is going to work. It's possible that the species we are losing are simply not going to be able to survive the conditions they are facing.

5) our government is not willing to accept the magnitude of the problem

There is still hope that coral reefs can be saved world wide. They won't be the same ecosystems that have evolved over hundreds of millions of years, but they may hopefully still exist.


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

[User] ELI5: How does "moisturizing" soap moisturize if the point of soap is to strip oil and dirt from you body?

[Assistant]
It's a trap...

No literally, moisturizing soaps generally use glycerine (also called glycerol) as the moisturizing agent and it leaves a film on your skin which both traps moisture evaporating from your skin and attracts moisture from the air being an hygroscopic chemical.

Further simplifying, in the soap formulation there is a chemical that both keeps moisture in and pulls moisture from air so your skin remains moist.

(It's the same reason why sanitizing gel has it, if you used only 70% alcohol your skin would dry really fast but the glycerine that remains on your skin combats that effect and protects your skin)


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

[User] [TES] Is the Sheogorath we see in Skyrim actually the Champion of Cyrodiil? If yes, then is this an in-game canonical confirmation of how he looked like, and we can be sure that he wasn't an argonian or something?

[Assistant] No, the form you see in skyrim is identical to all the other depictions and appearances of Sheogorath in Tes. The motivations may vary, but that's how Sheogorath (aka the champion of cyrodiil) decides to appear to others.


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

[User]
[Halo] Why was Master Chief cryogenically stored with his armor on? Wouldn't that be a terrible idea?

Comfort and Discomfort aside, wouldn't Spartan Armor be damaged if you Cryogenically froze it?

[Assistant]
No. When Spartan-117 was defrosted on *The Pillar of Autumn*, his armor functioned perfectly.

The reason his armor was left on during cryo freeze is that charging, equipping, and arming a Mjolnir suit is a time-consuming process. In the event of a Covenant attack, Spartan-117 would need to be quickly activated to defend the ship.


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

[User]
[Doctor Who] How did Prisoner Zero escape through a crack if cracks erase things from existence?

I've seen it suggested that there were two kinds of cracks and only one erased things but Amelia's crack was definitely shown to erase things so this doesn't seem accurate.

[Assistant]
What you perceive as "cracks" are actually two pieces of time and space that should never have touched. Something like a wormhole. Sometimes they're connecting two places that are both inhabitable. Sometimes they connected to the TARDIS explosion that created them, or to the void of space.

>There were cracks. Some were tiny, some were as big as the sky. Through some, we saw worlds and people, and through others, we saw Silence... and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours. - Rosanna, *The Vampires of Venice*

But as time unravelled and the cracks spread, more and more of the universe was taken up by the TARDIS, until eventually there was nothing left but the explosion and a gutted Earth orbiting it.

Then the Doctor fixed everything before that could decay as well.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to your body if you don't exercise?

Like your organs, tissues etc. if you don't workout for long periods of time at all.

[Assistant]
Your body wants to be as energy efficient as possible.

If you don't exercise, your body has no reason to expend effort, resources and energy on maintaining bigger muscles and a highly capable cardiovascular system - so it doesn't.

Your muscles will slowly atrophy down to the minimum needed to your activity level. Your cardiovascular system will lose peak performance capacity until it hits the level you require. Your daily calorific requirements will drop, meaning you're likely to put on weight without an associated diet change. This fat can put stress on organs depending on how much and where.

Combining the muscle loss with degradation in ligaments and tendons - and whether any weight is gained - your body can begin to struggle to support you even doing almost nothing. You'll start getting neck, back, hip and knee pain and disorders.


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

[User]
[MCU, What if...?] In the Dr Strange episode, how is Christine's death a constant inevitable fate when we know he could still end up as sorcerer supreme through the loss of his hands?

The ancient one explains that her death is something that has to happen, but why? He had the same results of becoming sorcerer supreme by just damaging his hands in the main universe. Why in this specific universe is it something that HAS to happen? What would happen if this version found out about the main universe version's backstory?

[Assistant] Because that specific Dr Strange came to be through that event. He could alter time to where Christine would live and he still became Sorcerer Supreme, but that wouldn't lead to him becoming the Dr Strange that goes back to save her. He needs her to die in order for him to go back and save her, so by saving her he creates a paradox where he never goes back to save her.


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

[User] Physicists sometimes talk about symmetry or "supersymmetry", but they seem to use it in a different way than in normal conversation. What does it mean in this context?

[Assistant]
Symmetry in physics is in general invariance under a certain mathematical operation. For example, a cube is symmetric under rotations by 90. When you put both the cube and the rotations in a vector space where you just perform an abstract math operation, you see that the operation simply maps the cube to the cube. In the same way, equations have symmetries. The Maxwell equations are invariant under Lorentz transformations, for example. Then you have CPT symmetry, where all of quantum mechanics is the same when you turn charge, parity (left<->right) and time around.

Supersymmetry is a hypothetical invariance under a transformation that turns fermions (half integer spin particles) into particular bosons (integer spins).


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What if Palpatine's clone army failed to materialize?

Okay so Palpatine's whole plan was to stage a war between the Republic and the Trade Federation so he could claim emergency powers and then be in charge.

But what if say, the cloning facility was destroyed in an accident, or there was a problem with Jango's DNA and the clones suffered some catastrophic failure where they would turn inside out and explode or something?

Basically, if the Trade Federation was allowed to run around unchecked and actually won the war, what the hell would Palpatine do then? He couldn't exactly tell the Trade Federation to stall while he popped a brand new bunch of clones in the microwave.

So what was his contingency plan for his fake war not actually working out?

[Assistant]
Well, what you seem to be forgetting is that Palpatine was basically playing both sides of the war. If he did not have the clone army, he could basically surrender the Republic to the Confederacy. The main goal of the Clone Army wasn't just to establish emergency powers to take over the Republic, it was also to eliminate the Jedi Order and any legitimate claim they could make against him should they discover his true identity. ~~Don't forget, Palpatine still had a Chiss army in his pocket if anything truly went wrong.~~

EDIT: MY BAD. Forgotten that Thrawn was an exile.


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

[User]
How to bombs actually cause damage?

I understand there is some form of chemical reaction inside that causes the explosion but how do they cause so much damage? Bombs are so small relative to the mass destruction they can cause it just doesn't physically seem possible. I hope this question makes sense!

[Assistant] There is actually quite a bit of engineering put into bombs' destruction. There are many kinds of bombs and explosives meant to deal damage in various ways. Typically, these can be broken down into concussive damage and shrapnel damage. Shrapnel damage is done by bits of solid material that are propelled at great speeds (comparable to the speed of bullets), while concussive damage is done by the violent expansion of gas coming from the explosive itself. Things like grenades and breaching charges usually work around shrapnel, as this allows a relatively small amount of explosive to deal a lot of damage to soft targets such as flesh (breaching targets are a unique case where a single piece of shrapnel is fired like a super-fast bullet). Meanwhile, torpedoes and mining explosives (think dynamite) deal concussive damage. It actually takes a very large explosion to deal concussive damage through air, which is why most examples of concussive damage are found in solid or liquid mediums (mining charges and torpedoes respectively), as these mediums transmit the force much more violently. Concussive damage is basically just smushing your target, for instance torpedoes deal damage by forcing water outwards, which then crushes nearby boat hulls.


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

[User] ELI5: How does information pass through the air? (ie, Wifi, television, phone calls, etc.) How did someone learn to do that? What? Science and technology literally blow my mind.

[Assistant]
Wireless communication usually uses radio waves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation just like visible light is. While visible light is blocked by most solid materials, radio waves can pass through most substances to some extent, which is why you can use a cell phone from inside your house (but probably not in a tunnel underground).

The radio waves are created by passing an electric current through an antenna. When the radio waves hit another antenna, they then create another electric current. The electric current used to make the radio waves is varied to send specific signals, and the electric current on the other end is measured to decode those signals.


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

[User]
[Bioshock] Where does Rapture get it's food?

Where does a city under the sea get enough food to support it's population? I don't think they could just import it or it would give away the city's location.

[Assistant] Fish.  Plankton.  Human remains that no one was using anymore.  Poorly-supervised pets.  Workers who "*accidentally*" fell in a vat.  Orphans.  Remember, it's a libertarian paradise, so there are no food safety or labeling regulations!


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

[User]
How do governments and insurgent/terrorist groups justify and rationalise atrocities like genocide and terrorism?

I have trouble understanding how people could support and participate in a genocide like they did in Rwanda or Islamic terrorists could kill innocent civilians and think that they are the good guys. What do these people tell themselves when they sleep at night? how much must have they dehumanised their victims?

[Assistant]
Genocide continues because of warped ideologies, political circumstances and economic power. These ideologies are formed through social movements, mass media and propaganda. Furthermore, the ideologies are tied in with historical conflicts. For example, the Nazis used scientific racism, anti-Semitism and propaganda to blame Jews for Germanys economic collapse after WWI. Genocide has two phases: one, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor (Jones, 10). Essentially, maintaining economic power is one motive for perpetrators of ethnocide. For instance, the Nazi party believed that German land was for German natives. Consequently, Hitler used the concept of Lebensraum [living space] as justification for German expansion and Jewish extermination.

In his essay, Perpetrators of Genocide, James Waller asks the question of why people commit extraordinary evil. As a result of propaganda, the brainwashed individual becomes the catalyst for systematic genocide. For example, during the Rwandan genocide, the mass killing of Tutsi civilians was propagated by the Hutu government. Thus, the process of brutalization . . . includes a gradual desensitization or habituation to atrocities in which initial, relatively inconsequential, evil actions make later evildoing easier (Waller, 20). Essentially, this is a slippery slope because it makes killing easier. Since the individual is following orders, the authority becomes responsible for the action. Logically speaking, since the first kill is immoral, all future kills will still be immoral. Thus, this paradox is a trap.

Regarding genocide, general intent implies that individuals did not plan to exterminate native populations. In this case, genocide resulted as a consequence of other factors, such as greed and power. (ex. Removal of the Native Americans from their lands by colonialists). On the other hand, specific intent implies that genocide is meticulously planned and executed. In this case, individuals that engage in genocidal crimes do so willingly, intentionally and with a particular goal in mind. The result is a planned genocide against an ethnic, racial, or religious group. The distinction between specific intent and general intent is important because the former is accidental, or the result of other factors and the latter is systematically planned and organized by state bureaucracies.

Denying the evidence of genocide is the first step in the denial process. Usually, the perpetrators of genocide destroy evidence and silence witnesses in order to cover up the genocide. Furthermore, questioning the validity of evidence and attacking the truth tellers allows the perpetrators to manipulate historical events. For example, they are able to accuse the truth tellers of committing atrocities themselves. (ex. Ukrainian Partisan Army (UPA) during WWII). In addition, the perpetrators of genocide can also blame the victims by claiming that they were insurgents and infidels. Denying genocide for current interests is another strategy which reinforces relations with the perpetrators of genocide. The alliance is based on benefits such as oil, military bases and free trade. Finally, denying genocidal intent and denying facts that fit the definition of genocide are clever ways to exploit the ambiguities of the legal terminologies regarding genocide. Overall, denial is important because it deflects blame from the perpetrators of genocide.

Jones, A. (2010). *Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction*; Ch. 1: The Origins of Genocide

Waller, J. (2009). Perpetrators of genocide: An explanatory model of extraordinary human evil. *Journal of Hate Studies*, 1(1), 5 -22.


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

[User] [Star Wars] We all know what Bothans died for, but what do Bothans live for?

[Assistant] Political intrigue. Stirring shit in the senate chamber. Getting in the heroes' way. Making Leia seriously understand where her dad was coming from with all the force-choking and the bypassing of the structures of government to wield absolute authority in the name of a higher ideal.


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

[User]
[DC/Wonder Woman] Why didnt the gods make Diana bulletproof?

So, in DC rebirth, we see that Wonder Woman was granted gifts by the various gods of the Greek pantheon. They made her super strong, super fast, and invulnerability that is comparable to supermans, but for some silly reason, they just decided to make her vulnerable to bullets.

And its not like its inconsistent either. Post crisis Wonder Woman always deflected bullets , and in rebirth, she got shot once and was fatally wounded when she got hit by a bullet that ricocheted off superman. The only times she is bulletproof is when she  is wearing an armour of some sort or some non canon story.

Its just incredibly amusing to me how can one person survive lightspeed punches and supermans strongest hits and then get almost killed by a bullet.

[Assistant]
Strength and toughness are generic gifts, but *bullets specifically* belong to Ares, as god of war.

For obvious reasons, Ares doesn't particularly want to give Wonder Woman immunity to his domain, and indeed good reasons to make her specifically vulnerable to it.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Chewbacca was flying spaceships over a century before Han Solo was even born. Why is he the copilot?

His number of flight hours must be insane. His experience is so incredibly vast due to his long lifespan that it probably makes him one of the best pilots in the galaxy. (On that note, Yoda is probably the best, with over 800 years of flight experience.) Shouldn't Chewie, the grizzled veteran, be the pilot-in-command rather than the fresh-out-of-the-military rookie?

[Assistant]
Han owns the Falcon, he gets to pick who's the pilot and who's the co-pilot, and well, you know Han.

Also, there's more to piloting skill than raw flight hours.  It's entirely possible that Han is actually the better pilot.


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

[User] Eli5: What happens in the brain when we feel guilt-tripped?

[Assistant]
Your brain lets loose some angry juice up there. Because you feel the social contract has been broken and you've been abused. You cause a mess and that encourages others to not do that.

Or, did you mean, when you feel guilt?

Your brain lets loose the sad juice. Because humans are social animals and we do something that harms our society, a normal healthy brain will disincentivize that action.   Offer not available for psychopaths.


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

[User] [Game of Thrones] Do Valyrian steel weapons require more force when fighting to offset the lighter weight in comparison to conventional weapons?

[Assistant]
All else being equal, yes, light Valyrian steel would require its wielder to swing at a higher velocity in order to impart the same amount of force to the target.

However, all else is *not* equal, because Valyrian steel is also much sharper than ordinary steel.  In fact, Valyrian steel weapons are most valued not for their weight, but for their almost supernaturally sharp edge.  If you wanted to bash someone's brains out through a platemail helmet, you'd want ordinary iron or steel, but for most uses, the increased cutting power is considered a fair tradeoff for the lack of heft.


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

[User]
[Fallout New Vegas] The Courier goes for the Wild Card ending. How long could Vegas last?

Let's say that:

* The Courier had mostly positive relations with the NCR before betraying them.

* The Courier's killed Caesar.

* The Courier has gotten the Boomers, Enclave Remnants, and the FotA on their side, isolated the BoS, convinced the Great Khans to exile themselves, and has gained the loyalty of all the Strip Factions.

* Most towns love the Courier, and most raider factions have been exterminated.

* Zion was defended and Salt-Upon-Wounds was spared.

* Old World Blues was completed with good karma.

* Dead Money was completed with all companions alive. Dog and God are merged.

* Lonesome Road ended with Ulysses surviving and no Nukes firing.

Would Vegas Republic last long, or would it just survive until the Courier dies? Would they expand much and, if so, in what direction, and how successfully?

[Assistant]
A generation, maybe two if the Courier is particularly good about setting up a power structure to survive their death post-game.

Ultimately, a wildcard New Vegas has the same problem the Legion did.  It depends on a single phenomenally talented individual who is able to resolve all issues plaguing the region.  The disparate factions will band together so long as the Courier is still alive out of their respect for him, but they're all far too self-interested to remain together after he dies.  They don't share common values or a common culture, and none of them are individually powerful enough to dominate all the others.

The NCR *is* powerful enough to do that, impose its culture and system of government on the Mojave, and absorb it into the ever-growing blob that is the NCR.  It's probably not going to try to do that while the Courier is still alive, but it will be continually working behind the scenes to sabotage any attempt the Courier makes at building an enduring government that would be able to remain indefinitely independent.


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

[User] Why does Moderna require two 100 microgram doses while Pfizer only requires two 30 microgram dose to produce a slightly better effectiveness?

[Assistant]
Each company made an educated guess as to what they thought the right size of the dose should be before widespread testing was done for this specific vaccine.  They each tried to pick an effective dose size.  With more testing, it might turn out the Moderna vaccine would work as well with a smaller dose.

The same educated guess scheme went into the scheduling of the 2nd dose.  They each picked a different time (3 weeks vs 4 weeks).  Neither is sure that is the optimal timing, but its what they picked and it worked.

The compressed testing schedule did not permit much dose/timing variance in their testing, so they delivered what was tested.


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

[User] ELI5: Why was there no big Nazi insurgency/partisan activity after Geramy was occupied?

[Assistant]
There was *very* briefly, the regular German army helped defeat some rogue SS units in the weeks after the war ended.

For the most part the population wasn't terribly interested in reviving the ideology that just got them bombed to rubble and killed off an entire generation.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it better to brush your teeth before breakfast rather than after? And why do we need to brush our teeth in the morning if we brushed them at night and didnt eat anything in between?

[Assistant]
It's actually debatable about when is best to brush your teeth throughout the day, but twice a day is considered ideal.

If you choose to brush your teeth after a meal, you should wait at least 30 minutes, to give your mouth time to naturally clean your teeth off.

Why?

Because, all foods have sugar, some are acidic, some foods are harder and rough, and all that brushing right after a meal is doing is taking all of that stuff that can scratch and damage your teeth, and spreading it around. Lets take sugar. It's a sharp crystal that can damage teeth. Imagine that it's sand and your teeth are glass. If you rub that sand around the glass, it will scratch it. Teeth can repair this damage over time, but those scratches can lead to all sorts of things getting stuck in. Acids can also make the teeth softer, which means that if you're brushing softer teeth, you're doing some damage.

On the other side, some dentists believe that brushing before you eat is better. But here's two catches. One: You can not eat anything for at least 30 minutes after brushing. and Two: You should not be rinsing your mouth out, just spit out the paste and swallow whatever is left.

Why?

Because the fluoride in toothpaste takes time to bind to teeth. If you just rinse your mouth out, it washes away the fluoride without giving it time to bind. The fluoride in the toothpaste creates a protective barrier over and around your teeth, preventing damage from sugars, acids, and other things.

So why brush if you don't eat anything?

Have you ever experienced morning breath? This occurs because when you are sleeping, plaque-causing bacteria in your mouth multiply and leave an unpleasant taste and odor for you to encounter when you wake up. Brushing your teeth right away when you wake up helps to rid your teeth of this harmful plaque and bacteria.

Now there are some dentists that say it's best to chew gum before flossing and brushing your teeth. The gum does two things: it activates your salivary glands, cleaning off your teeth naturally, and it can pick out particles that might damage teeth.

If you want the cleanest teeth, do not rinse your mouth out after brushing (it actually specifies on almost all toothpaste labels that only children 2-6 should rinse). Spit out the excess and the amount of fluoride you swallow  after is harmless and it will keep your teeth healthier for longer than if you rinse after.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are computer chips still going faster and faster every year as we are reaching the smallest size of transistors in them?

For example, the new Apple M2 Chip. I know the old M1 chip was already fast and efficient compared to other chips out there. M1 also had around 114 billion transistors. The new M2 probably has more than that. How are they able to do it for the same size of chip? And what makes it more efficient and faster?

[Assistant]
Imagine that the computer's cpu is like a baker. They're handed recipes, and their job is to bake them as fast as possible.

For decades, the solution was just to make the baker work more quickly.

Eventually, we hit a limit. It's going as fast as possible.

So how do we make it faster? We make it more efficient and smarter!

We started packing multiple complete kitchens into one (multi-core cpus). Now in the same kitchen-on-a-chip, you can have 4 or 8 bakers all working independently and not interfering with each other.

Bakers were spending a lot of time running to the pantry and back, so we added an expensive but very fancy "cache" - a place where they can store common ingredients within arm's reach, saving costly trips to the pantry.

Bakers were spending a lot of time waiting for one step to complete before going on to the next step. Now the bakers have really sophisticated logic that enables them to understand when it's safe to skip ahead and do another step while waiting for a previous one to complete.

Every new generation of chips has dozens of ideas like this one. Each one improves performance by a small amount overall, but put together they make a pretty big difference.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does anxiety liquify your bowels

[Assistant] Anxiety is interpreted as a PHYSICAL danger by the body, like being chased by a predator that wants to eat you. Even though you're not in any danger, your body is still kicking into survival mode and switching to flight or fight. Part of that is turning off non essential functions like digestion and diverting power to muscles and parts of your brain that are processing visual and audio information. You can go a day without eating and be fine but if you're muscles aren't working at maximum you might not survive the next 5 minutes is what your body is thinking. Anxiety doesn't last minutes though, it's often hours or longer and your digestive system is running on low power that whole time. So your not processing your food correctly or completely and you get as you described.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are the programmers in big companies like Apple, Microsoft or Google able to all stay on the same page with such large projects?

For instance how are they able to maintain such large code bases and ultimately achieve their goal of finishing super large projects like OS releases and such?

[Assistant] Split it in many pieces that are as independent as possible (and if you do it wrong, you can screw up massively in this step before any line of code is written). There is no way to know everything in detail in a modern operating system, or any other large software project. It is not necessary - most lines of code are for some specific function, and independent of other functions. If you program some user interface in a random system tool, you do not have to know how the operating system handles its files, for example. Even if you have to access files, you do not have to know how those are handled: the code for file handling gives you functions like "list all files in this folder" which you can call - and you don't care about the code that actually produces this list.


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

[User] ELI5 how did the mafia start the trend for Las Vegas and how did they lose the control they had on it compared to how Vegas is today?

[Assistant] When the Hoover dam was being built in the 1930s, a bunch of mostly male labourers migrated to the Vegas area to work on the construction of the dam. Certain legitimate businessmen realized that there was money to be made by building casinos and brothels to entertain the workers. By the 1950s it was well known that the mafia operated most of the casinos but the government wasn't ready/able to do much about it. Howard Hughes actually bought an entire hotel in the 1960s because he refused to leave his room and eventually bought several more, which started to move organized crime out of Vegas. By the 1980s large corporations and Wall Street billionaires were buying land on the Strip to build gigantic, family friendly luxury hotels.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Is there an explanation for why there have been so many geniuses on Earth in such a short time?

If ten people at the same time gain super strength or weird powers, it's usually from some kind of radiation burst or mutations, or some other explanation. When a gaggle of freakishly, impossibly smart people suddenly show up, should it be treated differently? Why or why not?

Within a relatively short period, there's Richards, Pym, Stark, Parker, and Banner, and that's just a shortlist of some of the famous ones (also happening to fall along a fairly narrow demographic line).

Just wondering if this has ever been addressed in-universe.

[Assistant] There are always geniuses, they just haven't been able to reach their potential until the 20th century. In RL the greatest advances have been since universal education was implemented. How many Starks and Pyms and Banners could there have been if they weren't stuck plowing fields, after having that damn curiosity beaten out of them first.


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

[User]
CMV: The sexual aspect of bachelor parties should be considered unfaithful behavior in a traditional, monogamous relationship.

I am perfectly okay with the idea of a potential future fianc going out with close friends to have one last wild weekend and am all for that. What I dont understand is how other women are so accepting and open about the sexual nature of what happens at bachelor parties in the views of a traditionally monogamous relationship. Even if the bachelor doesnt specifically have sex with another woman while away (which I would absolutely consider cheating), it seems like the traditional lap dance should be considered unfaithful behavior as well (within the confines of a monogamy).

I believe most people would say it isnt unfaithful because
A) the dancer is simply doing her job
B) the man usually isnt allowed to touch the dancer himself.
This seems like an awfully thin line to draw between having fun and being unfaithful. The man is certainly still being physically pleasured here. If a guy in a relationship were to go out and have another girl grind on him, it would generally be considered cheating even though there is no emotional involvement. Why is a lap dance any different? I admire women who can be so okay about. Personally however, I would feel hurt thinking about the man I am about to marry receiving such sexual pleasure from another woman especially since sex is so important and special to me in a relationship.

I also want to acknowledge bachelorette parties in this argument. To me, the sexual aspect of bachelorette parties (male strippers) seems more trivial. I imagine its more like entertainment and about the performance. I dont feel that there is nearly as much sexual pleasure derived from watching male strippers or even the bachelorette getting a dance.

Lastly, it seems like people also rationalize the behavior because its the last time to have some fun before youre stuck with one woman forever. To me, this just seems like a terrible and sad mentality to have right before entering married life. Perhaps Im wrong and this isnt really the mentality behind all bachelor parties especially when the engaged man is (hopefully) very happy to be getting married.

Although I have never been engaged (Im in my early 20s), Ive been in several happy and committed relationships and dont generally consider myself to be insecure or the jealous type. Ive never felt irrationally possessive about my significant other. This is just me thinking ahead and imagining my self in the fiance position wondering what it would be like.  Id like to hear your experiences.

[Assistant]
At the end of the day, faithfulness is keeping the trust and agreement of your partner. Unfaithfulness is breaking that trust. If a person's partner doesn't consider a lapdance cheating, then within their relationship, it isn't.

Some couple's consider looking at pornography to be cheating. Some are open to their spouse having sex with other people. Everyone draws their own lines.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why isn't the U.S. Supreme Court required to be politically balanced?

3 liberals, 3 conservatives, 3 moderates? Considering they are appointed with life tenure by the president, shouldn't it be representative of many sides?

[Assistant] Ideally the supreme court should not be political at all. This is part of the reason why congress have to approve the supreme justices. The justices are appointed to make sure the will of the congress is followed and not their own will. If you were to make sure they were aligned politically you would open up another can of worms entirely. How do you make sure they are not extremists in each camp? How do you define the political sides as there are a lot of different opinions?


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

[User] [Hogfather Movie] Are Susan's powers coming from her not-even-really being related to Death? That seems weird enough to me to pose the question: Has she, like every other fantasy creature, just been made up by the kids in her house?

[Assistant]
Susan is literally Death's granddaughter (by adoption) and the daughter of Death's apprentice. She inherited the skeletal hand print on her face, as seen when she blushes, from when her father was slapped by Death.
Her heredity is magical in nature but still there.

Her mother is Death's daughter, even though she was adopted. Susan still inherits from death through her mother because her mother IS Death's daughter.

Mort is Death's apprentice and receives all of Death's powers and even becomes Death for a short time while performing  the Duty. Susan again inherits Death's  powers from her father he IS Death's apprentice.

Finally, Susan inherits Death's powers because Susan IS Death's  granddaughter.

Hope that makes sense even though it shouldn't.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it important for spaceships to be sterilized before going into space?

[Assistant] It's important if the spaceship is going to another planet or anything else that could possibly sustain life of any kind (e.g., Jupiter's moon Europa). This is because we want to make sure we're not dumping some of our own life forms on that celestial body.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that hospitals can charge me an absurd amount without insurance, but with insurance those same numbers come down significantly? Isn't this discriminatory pricing?

I had a $2300 bill recently for blood tests that I wasn't covered for. I had to call the insurance and hospital wondering what the hell was going on. One of these tests, a comprehensive metabolic panel was billed for $999. After I complained to both the hospital and my insurance they talked to each other and billed me a second time. The comprehensive metabolic panel then came back for $36.33. Do they literally just make these prices up?

[Assistant]
There's no law against discriminatory pricing as long as you aren't discriminating based on protected criteria (race, sex, religion, etc.).

Part of the reason insurance companies get lower rates is because hospitals know they'll get paid.  If you don't have insurance, it's sort of a gamble to provide treatment (and they aren't allowed to turn you away under most circumstances). Often they'll have a "charity" office to negotiate payments for those who can't pay (writing off the difference against their taxes).


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people with traumatic injuries often die from shock rather than from their injuries?

[Assistant]
Shock doesnt mean you feel shocked emotionally. In the medical sense, shock means that your organs arent getting enough oxygen. If your brain doesnt get enough oxygen, you die.

There are four main types of shock:

- Hypovolemic ie low blood volume often due to blood loss - this causes low blood pressure and not enough blood getting to important places)

- cardiogenic - ie when your heart goes fucky and it cant pump hard enough to produce a high enough blood pressure to supply blood to your body bits properly

- obstructive - when something physically stops blood from exiting the heart properly

- distributive - when the small blood vessels in your body dilate, so most of your blood stays there, causing a big drop in blood pressure (eg septic shock or anaphylactic shock).

Hope that helps!


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do the skeletons of people that died hundreds of years ago have perfect white teeth but mine will yellow within days without brushing?

I always thought it was strange that photos of ancient corpses or skeletons from (literally) ages ago are dug up by archaeologists and seem to have great teeth! And yet i have to brush twice a day and mouthwash to maintain "kinda" white teeth..

[Assistant]
You are alive. You are constantly exposing your teeth to food and other habits that can stain them, and you are providing a nice, warm, wet environment perfect for bacteria growth which can lead to plaque and cavities.

Skeletons are, well, dead. They are not constantly eating. Their mouth is not a nice warm wet environment. Bacteria cannot really survive long in that environment.


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

[User] ELI5: When flying on a plane the pressure can cause the volume of my music/headphones to be reduced. If I turn it up to a "normal" volume, am I causing higher than normal damage to my ears or is the pressure actually blocking sound and reducing the impact to my eardrums?

[Assistant] Passenger aircraft are usually pressurized to about 8000' equivalent altitude. Three things can be happening here. The first is that the slightly reduced pressure causes your eardrums to flex outward, and if you have a blocked eustachian tube or otherwise do not fully equalize your middle ear space, the increased tension on the eardrum will reduce its sensitivity.  Secondly, sound attenuates with distance to a greater extent when the air pressure is lower. This is probably not an issue with headphones, but could be if you were trying to speak to someone at the far end of the cabin. Finally, the noise floor on a plane is significant, with engine, wind and cabin noises all contributing. As the apparent loudness of your program material is the difference between the signal level and the noise floor, it will seem less loud than if you were listening in a quiet room.


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

[User] ELI5: What do DJ's actually do when preforming?

[Assistant] Depends on the DJ, some will premix a set of tracks at home or a studio, push play, and act the part. What most do, requires quite a bit of skill. DJs get a bad rap but it takes some talent to be good. What you have in front of you is a multi channel mixer. This is ELI5 so let's keep this simple, this is a 2 channel mixer. One song is playing on the first mixer, and the DJ is cueing up the next one on the other side. What he is hearing in his headphones is not what is being played to the audience but either the next song or both tracks at once, and he is trying to match the beat to the current track, find the right time to blend them together for a seamless transition, add pitch, tone, bass, effects, slow one track down, speed one up.. Ect. He/she is working on making sure the beat don't stop because that's what kills the party. Another point to make is he is watching, and playing for the audience, some things work some don't so the DJ has to be reactive to what he is observing with the crowd. Now multiply all that to 4 our even 6 channels and you got work son.


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

[User]
[LOTR] How was a single Balrog able to overwhelm the entire city of Khazad Dum?

This wasn't some random Dwarven mine, it was the birthplace and capital of the entire Dwarven empire. The city had existed since before the First Age,. a grander and more powerful city than anything the Elves had ever built on Middle Earth, it's defenders were probably all decked out in Mithril, yet it took a single Balrog to completely decimate the city and force its evacuation. Even during the First Age, it took several Balrogs and entire armies to take cities ie. The Fall of Gondolin.

[Assistant] Surprise, closed spaces, and a crapton of fire. A mithril shirt will protect you from a spear thrown at your chest, but not from being burned to death. Moria was a mine, not a fortress, and any defenses in place were designed to keep enemies out, not protect from ones on the inside. When they woke up the Balrog, they weren't able to get behind defenses because there were none for them to get behind, the Balrog was already inside them. In the First Age, it took several Balrogs and an army to take a city *that was ready and waiting to fight them*. The Dwarves of Khazad Dum were not prepared in the slightest to wake up an extremely powerful and evil Maiar.


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

[User] [Cookie Clicker] What civilisation type is an end-game bakery? How advanced is it?

[Assistant]
Type 5 if not more- they're drawing on all the power of multiple universes and dimensions. They've colonized their entire universe spatially and temporally, have colonized massive numbers of alternate realities and alter the very laws of physics.

It's silly to think, but the end-game bakery genuinely might be one of the most powerful factions in fiction- easily rivaling groups like the culture or time lords. Let the multiverse tremble, for if you want a vision of the future, imagine a hand dipping a cookie in a glass of milk...forever.


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

[User]
[Batman] How did Batman go from local hero, to leading member of the Justice league?

I've always wondered how a guy who started his superhero career beating up thugs, ended up on a team with people like Superman and Wonder Woman.

[Assistant] Batman was already depicted as regularly tangling with aliens, monsters, and getting involved in sci-fi/fantasy adventures by the 1960s, so it wasn't really that much of a narrative leap to have him join up with Superman (already an established friend and cohort), Wonder Woman, Flash, and other DC characters to beat up an alien starfish for the Justice League's first outing.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Why did Apocalypse choose Archangel to be part of the Four Horsemen?

He's just a dude with wings. Im not just referring to the recent movie, but the comics as well.

[Assistant] Apocalypse is able to provide a big power boost to whoever becomes his horseman.  The thing is, the power boost is additive rather than multiplicative so there isn't as big an advantage to finding the most powerful mutants.  In the comics, he all out mind controls whoever he chooses, so he usually chooses based on taking opponents out of play, or fucking with people by taking their loved ones.  In the movie, they join him willingly, and since he's fresh out a several millennia long slumber he doesn't have time to be picky.  Now yes, there are times in the comics where he's changed his MO to finding the most powerful mutants, but given how powerful he himself is that usually isn't necessary.


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

[User] [DC / Worm] How would Batman plan to deal with the various threats in the Wormverse such as the Endbringers, the members of the Slaughterhouse new and old, Scion, or Skitter?

[Assistant]
Assuming he only has resources that would be present in the Wormverse rather than the full extent of the Justice League working with him:

Skitter's easy, just bring along a device that can kill her bugs en masse and she's effectively powerless. It worked for Dragon, Armsmaster and Mannequin and she needed to be bailed out by allies each time.

The Slaughterhouse Nine is harder, but doable. He'd equip himself with psychic/empathic shielding to avoid Cherish's detection, hermetically sealed suits to avoid anything Bonesaw or Mannequin could cook up, and some heavy weapons to knock Crawler around. He would rely on his own skill and physical ability for the rest.

The Endbringers can't really be 'dealt with' unless he's bringing in equipment from the DC-verse. They're too powerful and too durable to be killed with any practical means (though it's theoretically possible to beat them with the right power combinations and a *lot* of luck). His plans would likely revolve more around mitigating the damage; more effective means of evacuating civilians, relief supplies readied in key locations to repair any damage to affected cities, teams in place to vet anyone that might've been caught by the Simurgh etc.
He'd likely be able to predict their attack patterns better than Armsmaster could, which helps the defenders a lot.

Whatever he prepares for Scion won't be enough.


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

[User] [Back to the Future] Why is Doc so against Marty changing the future if he both lets Marty improve his father's (and his own) life and invests in a bulletproof vest for when the Libyans come?

[Assistant] Marty preventing his parents from getting together was the bigger change. Doc was just trying to get Marty to change things back as much as possible. As for the Libyans, he changed his mind at some point in the intervening thirty years.


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

[User]
Where Should I Start with Philosophy of Art?

Hi, everyone. So, Ive always been intrigued by what Art and aesthetics are. I remember from my Philosophy class (back in High School) that there is a branch of Philosophy that approaches the previous themes - I also remember my teacher saying that it is quite of a neglected area. Now that I have all the time in the World, Id like to invest some time and attention to that. In your opinion, which works are better to start this journey (and why, if youd like to elaborate)? Thank you all for your help. :)

[Assistant]
This is a very broad question so I'll have to give a broad answer: get *Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology* (by Cahn and Meskin) which is a 700-page doorstopper on the topic, but if you finish it, you'll be acquainted with the most important thinkers and movements.

It's also a collection of primary texts but with very good introductions to each time period or thinker, so it's easy to follow along.

I guess you're looking for singular names of authors however, so I'll just say: Schopenhauer.


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

[User] [LOTR] [FOTR MOVIE] Why did Gandalf want Frodo to decide which path they take when they were stuck in the snow storm on the mountain? Didn't he absolutely not want to go through the mines?

[Assistant] Gandalf was a believer in fate (naturally) and believed that the ring came to Frodo as a result of it and, thus, the fate of the future of Middle Earth was *already* in his hands. So this was an indirect way of having fate decide their path.


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

[User]
Eli5: How do amateurs keep long exposure astonomy shots from blurring?

I keep seeing all these posts "I took this 10 hour exposure of the sky and wow look at many stars:O".

How do you do that at home and keep it from getting blurry? I mean, the earth (in this case the sky) moves, how do you keep that at a steade pace in the exact right angle over 10 hours so that the picture doesn't blur? I can easily see how a professional telescope can do this, but all the amateurs posting all the time?

[Assistant] A ten-hour single exposure is difficult, requiring good equipment and experience. These days you can stack a series of shorter exposures in software to reach the same total exposure time. This has the advantage of being able to throw away bad exposures so a single adverse event doesnt ruin everything. The software can also align all the shots, effectively correcting for any long-term drift in the tracking system.


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

[User] ELI5: In the olden days before gyms were a thing how did people gain large amounts of muscle mass?

[Assistant]
Ever wonder where the term "Dumbbell" comes from? People noticed that bell-ringers were pretty ripped, an unusual thing back in the day. Lots of people were strong from manual labor, but the muscles would hardly be bulging. Bell ringers though, were *yoked*.

Someone realized that yanking on ropes connected to a few tons of bell was a pretty sweet workout, but you know... kind of impractical for most people. Even if you had the money, pissing people off by ringing a bell all of the time wouldn't work. So... someone figured out that you could use a system of pulleys, ropes, and counterweights to imitate the workout, but without the sound; this would be a silent (dumb) bell.

Over time the workout gear changed, and "dumbbell" came to refer to the weights we're familiar with today.


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

[User]
[Watchmen] Does Dr. Manhattan eat?

If not, how does he obtain energy?

If so, does he poop? And what color would it be?

[Assistant]
>	If not, how does he obtain energy?

His omnipotent powers might let him draw energy from the universe via anomalous means, if they don't alleviate his need to do that altogether. He was able to use them to reconstruct his body one system at a time over a span of weeks, which wouldn't be possible if they needed energy/oxygen, since none of them appeared to be connected to the other at the time.

>	If so, does he poop? And what color would it be?

Probably not, unless he chooses to. His body is probably able to break the matter down completely, and since he doesn't seem to need to eat or breathe, there's no metabolic waste that needs removing. If he did choose to poop, for whatever reason, it's logical that he could also pick the colour he wanted it to come out as.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] I suspect I might be trapped in a holodeck right now. Is there any way I can tell for sure?

I think some other crew members are in here with me, but I can't be sure who's real and who's just being simulated.

[Assistant]
Go to the holodeck on your ship. Order it to create a full-scale version of the ship, fully crewed, all systems functioning.

Go to the holodeck on your ship. Order it to create a full-scale version of the ship, fully crewed, all systems functioning.

Go to the holodeck on your ship. Order it to create a full-scale version of the ship, fully crewed, all systems functioning.

Repeat this as many times as necessary until the holodeck shorts out from the memory/resource drain.

Alternately, ask for a control arch, try to do something theoretically possible but practically impossible, or just roll with it until you're rescued.


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

[User]
[Doctor Who] What kind of threat would it take for the Doctor and the Daleks to work together?

Is there any possible common threat powerful enough that they'd ever make a truce to defeat it?

[Assistant]
They already have in the Asylum of the Daleks. Namely the Dalek Asylum (planet full of the Daleks too insane and dangerous for the Dalek race to put up with) was at risk of opening up and allowing the "patients" to escape, so the Parliament of the Daleks summoned The Doctor and his companions Amy and Rory to infiltrate the planet's forcefield, disable it and allow for the Dalek fleet to orbital bombard the planet to hell before the Insane Daleks could escape confinement and wreak havoc on everyone *including the rest of the Daleks*.

Besides millions of insane Daleks, the Daleks would also agree to a truce against The Master if he was in his end-game portion of one of his *master* plans (although this would depend on the Dalek in charge, as some would stubbornly opt for oblivion rather than ally with The Doctor.

Daleks that are unstable also would ally with The Doctor. The one in Dalek was infused with Rose's DNA and began to experience compassion, and likely would have agreed to aid The Doctor had it not committed suicide. The damaged Dalek in Into the Dalek also showed signs of compassion and recognition of beauty, and assisted the human resistance against the Daleks. But on the whole? Most Daleks would sooner kill The Doctor even if working with him is better long term.

Pretty much anything on par with the Time War Era Timelords, The Master, a gargantuan Cyber fleet (perhaps 100,000x the size of the Dalek fleet) or anything that the Daleks cannot hope to defeat would prompt some Daleks to consider allying with The Doctor to defeat it. It's just down to which Dalek (or possibly Davros) is in control when the threat arises. Of course either way they'll try to kill The Doctor once he's hindered or defeated their mutual enemy, so it won't last long.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why do industrial vehicles use diesel yet cars have a choice of diesel and petrol?

Is there a problem with petrol or is it just that diesel is better. If so how come we have a choice?

[Assistant]
Diesel engines tend to produce more torque and less horsepower for their displacement. Which means they can move heavier loads, but do so more slowly.

Diesels are also generally have better fuel economy, longer lives, and lower maintenance costs than equivalently sized gasoline engines, which make them attractive for heavy-duty uses.

Diesel engines tend to be larger and heavier than similarly powerful gasoline engines, which makes them less desirable in small passenger cars.


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

[User]
CMV: There is no room for (societal) morality in the bedroom between consenting adults

Hi All,

So I'm gonna be honest, this is a pretty new view of mine and I want it to be challenged prior to developing my full feelings on it. This is a sort of off-shoot of the dozens of "not dating a trans person is transphobic" threads we've been seeing on the sub lately. Please forgive me if I have some trouble properly expressing this viewpoint in an understandable way, like i said it's new and I'm not totally sure about it.

Basically, In the various trans threads, a common issue seems to pop up: A cis het person understands themselves to not be transphobic, yet they won't date a trans person (even one who is practically indistinguishable from their preferred birth-sex). The case is then made that if that person refuses to date a trans person on grounds that are not incidental (such as wanting to have children, liking the feel of natural genitals, etc), but rather strictly because they are trans, then they are transphobic. There then proceeds to be a back and forth between the commenters arguing either position. The cis het person might argue that, because sex and dating is exclusionary, they are not obligated to be attracted to a trans person, and the reason why doesnt matter. The opposing view might argue that, by not being inclusive of dating a trans person (who, by all accounts is indistinguishable from a cis het person), they are being transphobic by not actually viewing that person as the sex that they identify as, and as such, they are being immoral and harming the trans community.

I believe that sex and a relationship between two consenting adults has absolutely no obligation to abide by any societal mores. Basically, it's nobody's business to judge someone for who they decide to have sex or not have sex with. To go further, let's say a white person and a black person were in a relationship with each other. Neither of them are racist, but because of the weird way that kinks and fetishes work, let's say they are both into race-play. This attitude is strictly kept between these two individuals and only during sex (i.e the actions they employ during their "kinkier" sessions absolutely do not represent their actual views on race). Similarly, it's not OK to call women sluts in society, but if two consenting adults liked to do that during sex, then neither any individuals nor society at large is harmed.

To bring this back to the trans dating issue, I believe that if a cis het person doesn't want to date a trans person, then their reasoning DOESN'T MATTER, so long as they still respect and accept trans people. Sexuality is weird, and it's unfair to levy criticisms and judgements into the relationship of two consenting adults who may express sexual sentiments that are contrary to what they believe in the context of society.

[Assistant] Your examples are fair, but surely there are some examples that aren't.  Incest, adultery, bug-chasing, and bestiality might be some good examples where all the people in the bedroom are consenting adults yet society can absolutely disapprove.


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

[User]
[Halo]Are UNSC Marines and personnel (not including Spartans) really that incapable of dealing with Alien military threats?

I'm going off the games. I haven't read the books, so I'll gladly welcome that information.

The Covenant and the Flood have some frightening advantages - be they biological, physical, or technological. I can see how humanity is fighting a losing battle. However, at their best, I've seen marines barely manage to survive a coordinated attack with the help of John-117. Additionally, they don't seem to have any actual victories over the Covenant outside of the Halo game canon - certainly none without Spartan help.

The dichotomy between their ineffectiveness as military units and the Spartan's overwhelming power is also strange to me. I know that Spartans are supersoldiers with powerful armor, yet most marines can barely go toe - toe with an Elite while one Spartan almost single-handedly won the human-covenant war.

Side note: Maybe marines are more competent in the books?

[Assistant] The thing to remember here is how much more advance the Covenant are than the UNSC.  Marines aren't Elites, they're Grunts, or Jackals at best.  Elites are equivalent to Spartans.  The one Spartan you speak of was a very good Spartan, more equivalent to a Covenant Ultra, and lucky enough to be in the right places at the right times.


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

[User]
[Superman/general] Why is there so much Kryptonite on Earth?

If Kryptonite only comes from old pieces of the planet Krypton, and Krypton was in a totally different star-system, how did so much end up on Earth? It seems like, logically, the wreckage from the planet would be so diffuse by the time it got to our solar system that we'd be lucky to get one meteorite of the substance on Earth, but there seem to be many chunks of Kryptonite spread across Earth.

[Assistant]
Kryptonite is just a name.  Like Champagne or Gouda.

You can have the authentic thing sourced from Krypton... but the material itself is just a piece of matter which has undergone a process... like bubbly or aged cheese.  It's a process that can be replicated and undoubtedly has within this vast and endless universe which has an improbably high incidents of humanoid life... that additional matter has undergone the same kryptonite process is not particularly shocking.

In fact there have been reserves of "Kryptonite" found in Addis Ababa and other meteor strikes which predate the destruction of Krypton and Superman's arrival on Earth- the results belonging in a museum- and successful efforts at producing synthetic kryptonite proving the point.


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

[User] Why don't dark matter halos around galaxies collapse to form compact structures like stars and "dark matter galaxies" just like baryonic matter does?

[Assistant]
A good question and very related to why we call it *dark* matter.

I will however have to start with some basic astrophysics. It is easy to reason that if you put some matter in space it will be pulled together by gravity. Since there is nothing else there it will just all end up in a point. To believe this is a mistake however. You are forgetting about conservation of energy. When matter gets pulled together potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. At the time the matter reaches the centre it will have a large velocity and get thrown out again.

The question to ask here is: How can we get rid of kinetic energy to collapse this structure. For normal matter the key is electro magnetic interactions. The matter being compacted will interact with it self. The ordered kinetic energy will be converted to heat. The heat is then radiated away as photons. The result is that the matter slowly losses energy and can collapse.

Now back to dark matter. Dark in this context mean that it does not interact with light. Since it does not interact with light it has no way to get rid of kinetic energy. This means that the dark matter halos will only collapse to the point where the kinetic energy balances out the potential energy. This size is quite a bit bigger than a typical galaxy.


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

[User] [BladeRunner2049] What is the baseline test for and what does it do?

[Assistant]
Originally it was to determine whether a subject was a human or replicant. In 2049, it was updated to determine whether or not a replicant was emotionally stable.

As the name implies the test first establishes a "baseline" for each replicant, since every replicant is in fact a unique construct. Then the test is given again and again to check up on them. You could argue it was a psychological stress test to see whether or not the replicant will perform its duties, unintentionally fail, or active seek to undermine the mission objective like escaping or consciously disobeying orders.


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

[User]
[Dragonball] How does Picollo become a good guy?

In the original Dragonball, Picollo was literally Kame's evil side; however, after training Gohan to prepare him for the Sayans, he became good. How exactly is that possible?

[Assistant]
A few reasons:

1: The Piccolo that turned good was the evil Piccolo reborn.  As we saw with Buu (and as those educated in the various religions that involve reincarnation would know), while you carry the burden of a previous life's sins, you aren't doomed to follow the same path.

2: As Kami stated, Piccolo was aware of his impending death, and brushes with death have been known to change people.

3: Piccolo actually achieved what he set out to do- kill Goku.  After that, he realized that he felt empty inside rather than elated.  Granted, he had wanted to win in 1v1 combat but he isn't a proud-warrior-race guy, he didn't mind being sneaky or underhanded in order to win, and even flat out stated he'd turn on Goku after they defeated his brother.

4: He was also impressed by Goku's sacrifice

5: He also knew the Saiyans were coming, and were even more powerful than Radditz.

6: In addition to Gohan being pure of heart, it's been scientifically proven that being stuck with someone in a traumatic situation over time can cause bonding.

7: Once he sacrificed himself for Gohan, he was pretty much set on the path to goodness.  Re-discovering his roots on Namek and fighting for the cause of his people was just the icing on the cake.


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

[User]
ELI5 the concept of extra dimensions

I don't understand how it's possible to have a 4th or 9th dimension, like those proposed in string theory. What type of shape would these have and how would we interact with them?

[Assistant]
Think of a large SUV moving on a narrow street. Technically, the SUV is free to move in 2D dimensions: forwards/backwards and left/right. But if the street is very narrow compared to the SUV, it can't, in practical terms, move left/right. Essentially, its movement is constrained to 1D, despite it existing on a 2D surface. If the SUV were a creature, it would've evolved without the ability to sense the second dimension.

For contrast, a motorcycle is small enough to be able to manoeuvre on the narrow street, so it can feel the two dimensions.

Essentially, string theory proposes 3 "large" space dimensions, one time dimension, and extra "small" space dimensions. *We* can't interact with the extra dimensions, but small particles can. If these dimensions exist, we would observe extra particles with different masses but otherwise identical the ones we already know; in truth, these aren't extra new particles but the same old ones moving differently across the small dimensions.

These extra particles have never been observed.


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

[User] [Flash TV] Why doesn't flash just take Captain Cold's gun away from him?

[Assistant] The actual reason can be seen in episode 9 of season 2. In the episode we see Snart break into Barry's home and when Barry threatens to arrest him, Snart, says that he's rigged the cold gun to explode if he lets his finger off the trigger. So that explains why Barry isn't able to take the gun out of Snart's hands otherwise the gun would denote and kill him, Snart, and any innocent bystanders who happened to have been caught in the blast of cryo-energy.


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

[User]
ELI5: Current in a wire flows opposite to the direction of flow of electrons, what exactly is current then, if there is nothing actually flowing?

I know that flow of electrons is not current, it is opposite to the direction of flow of electrons, is it just a convention? why such a convention was chosen if it is one. . Please correct me if you think i have very wrong assumptions.

[Assistant]
* Back when Benjamin Franklin studied electricity, he discovered that current flowed but wasn't sure which way was positive and which way was negative....
* So he guessed.
* Later they found out he had it backwards.
* But they had used his conventions for so long that they kept it.
* So "current" and flowing electrons are the same thing just the signs make it seem otherwise.


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

[User] ELI5: In government, what steps must happen for there to be an official declaration of war? What is the standard procedure?

[Assistant]
There is no standard procedure. In the United States, Congress has the power to declare war, and it exercises that power as it sees fit. Nowadays, Congress usually passes resolutions authorizing the president to deploy the military or use force, rather than use the words "declaration of war," since such formal declarations are no longer common in international diplomacy, but in doing so it exercises the same constitutional power.

Usually, Congress passes a declaration of war or similar resolution at the request of the president. What debate, investigation or evidence should precede the declaration before the resolution is voted on is up to Congress and depends on the particular event.


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

[User]
Does a computer do mistakes sometimes within the billions of operations they do every second?

It sounds insane to me such intricate circuits flawlessly execute all of these operations all the time correctly, but at the same time it also sounds strange to me the computer could function properly with mistakes within operations being a common thing. I don't think Fermi's approximation could work with computers, but I might be wrong.

PS. I don't want a yes or no answer, but an elaboration, please.

[Assistant]
It might sound insane, but it's true.  Modern desktops (built in the past few years) have undetected error rates of less than 1 per month. Detected errors in the CPU get redone. Uncorrected hard disk errors are also rare. Mostly this is all due to the extensive use of parity bits, check-sums and other error-detection.

This is different from round-off errors in the arithmetic units. Those should happen all the time, in a predictable manner.


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

[User]
What does Heidegger mean by Dasein having a "Vorontologischer Begriff des Seins?"

Heidegger frequently argues that dasein has a pre-ontological or pre-phenomenological understanding of being, but what does this mean? Does Dasein already operate with an understanding of das Sein selbst? But how is this possible? And does this have anything to do with dasein's nature as Existenz and it's Existenzialen? Heidegger attempts to search for the apriori conditions of experience and any conception of the subject, and he begins with dasein which is ontologically prior and analyses it's structures of it's being (Sorge etc) which ground any ontic approaches to the world or the subject. These ontological Existenzialen are more primary and closer to being, right? So does he think that from these concepts he'll get to Dasein's pre-ontological understanding?

[Assistant]
Heidegger's method is understood to be "hermeneutical", that means trying to gain understanding of something that has meaning, and it has meaning because someone created it as being meaningful - therefore this someone himself already would have an understanding of this meaning. Therefore you could argue that "hermeneutics" is the art of interpreting not the meaning of something, but the creators understanding of it.

In other words: You can only try to understand what has already been understood. Therefore Heidegger claims that in order to understand the meaning of being, we have to assume that there's already an understanding of being prior to our project of explicitly understanding it. And since we as a particular being are able to ask the question of "what is the meaning of being itself", we already would have this kind of prior understanding, even though we can't express it yet.

And there's the difference between "ontological" and "pre-ontological": The project of "ontology" as a "-logy" is according to Heidegger "to make visible", or to express something explicitly. There's a pre-ontological understanding as in: it is lived, but not expressed explicitly (through language, respectively). The pre-ontological understanding does not have the form of a shared language. The "pre-" in "pre-ontological" therefore refers to the "-logical" part of "ontological".

Therefore the project of ontology is to transform this non-spoken, non-expressive understanding into a spoken, expressive, explicit understanding. Which is according to Heidegger a very hard task because language (as the medium of the being of "Man") tends to distract us, it tends to conceal more than it reveals. Therefore he realizes his "ontology" through the means of what he calls "formal indication": expressing the understanding of being itself in a way that it doesn't fully replace our pre-ontological understanding with a fully developed ontological understanding. Rather, it is being expressed only as far as it helps us to get in touch with our own pre-ontological understanding through experiencing it more vividly and more consciously.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the moon look so much smaller when you try to take a picture?

[Assistant]
Not physics, psychology. And it's not just the Moon, lots of things that people take pictures of look smaller in the photo. Ever shoot pix at an airshow? Those planes that looked so big flying past are just specks.

This happens because when they were looking through the viewfinder, their brain "cropped" the image to the just part they were interested in. Amateur photographers don't look at the *entire* viewfinder, just the part that interests them. Result: pix where the subject looks a lot smaller than they remember, because they didn't notice how little of the frame it occupied when they shot it.

Next time you try this, take a moment and look at the entire viewfinder image, then estimate how much of that the Moon (or whatever) takes up. When you have the photo, you'll find that's exactly how big it turned out.

Professionals train themselves to look at the *entire* viewfinder scene by reflex.

Bona fides: former pro photographer, current serious amateur.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is chicken soup good for you when you're sick?

[Assistant]
When you're sick, even though you feel awful, it's important that you get plenty of fluids and plenty of your body's normal nutritional needs - calories, protein, vitamins, sodium, etc.  And if you're congested (like you would be with lots of common illnesses, say a cold or a flu), then you're not going to have much of a sense of taste or smell, so food won't be all that appetizing to you.

Soup, since it's mostly hot liquid, produces steam to help open up your passageways and allow you to smell and taste your food.  And chicken soup specifically has everything your body needs - plenty of sodium, fat, and protein from the chicken broth and meat itself, and then usually vitamins from the carrots, celery, and whatever else is in there.  So in one bowl you have an appetite enhancer, fluids, and all of the major food requirements that your body needs.