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[Star Trek] Why are the Klingons so comfortable with cloaking technology?
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The Klingon demeanor seems to emphasize a direct approach to the threats and disdain for anything perceived as cowardice. How does this reconcile with hit and run tactics often seen with a bird of prey or even when they cloak to flat out hide frequently. The stealthy nature of Klingon ships doesn't seem to sync with the people operating them.
| 74 |
*"In space, all warriors are cold warriors."*
Klingons treat space-bound combat differently than other forms of combat and indeed avoid it when they can, instead desiring to disable the opponent's shields and subdue the enemy crew with boarding parties, engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
There is no universal code of honor. Honor is little more than a set of behaviors some culture has deemed admirable. For Klingons, using cloaking devices hasn't been ruled as dishonorable, even if it is inconsistent with other aspects of their behavior (e.g. attacking from behind, using poison, etc.)
| 87 |
[Superhero] What is....The Tick?
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Human? Alien? Experiment gone wrong? What?
| 19 |
Destiny's powerful hand has made the bed of his future, and it's up to him to lie in it. He is destined to be a superhero. To right wrongs, and to pound two-fisted justice into the hearts of evildoers everywhere. And you don't fight destiny. No sir. And, you don't eat crackers in the bed of your future, or you get all... scratchy.
| 57 |
ELI5: if the earth moves at over 60k MPH, why does it appear slow to astronauts? Is everything relative to the universe moving? And if so, how fast are you really going when floating in space at a standstill?
| 28 |
Because the astronauts are also moving at roughly the same speed in the same direction, they only notice the speed difference.
There is no telling how fast you are absolutely moving in space, as we can only measure it relative to something else. The only truly set speed is the speed of light. But due to special relativity even that can't be used to measure absolute speed.
| 42 |
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[MCU] Carol Danvers was powered up by the Space Stone. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were powered by the Mind Stone. following this trend what might an individual be capable of if they were powered up by all six stones separately?
| 30 |
Most likely? They would die. Why? Because that's what happens to most people that you try this on. Wanda and Pietro were at the end of a long list of "volunteers" who died and Carol Danvers immediately received Kree medical attention after her exposure.
The exact powers gained don't seem to have any relation to the specific stone used. While Wanda does have some level of mental powers, her telekinesis and Pietro's speed are more space stone oriented while Carol Danvers seems more power stone oriented. It seems that the powers created are random.
It's also an open question as to whether the stones are granting powers or unlocking powers. If the former, and the patient survives, then either their own powers will be enhanced or they will gain some new set of random powers. If the latter, then nothing happens as their powers are already "unlocked."
| 36 |
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How do you keep track of conferences?
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There are literally thousands of conferences going on across the world spanning a variety of fields. How do you keep track of them all or even the ones in your field?
| 16 |
Most people only attend one or two a year. Attending conferences is expensive, and generally you want to have research to present.
It looks bad to recycle research from conference to conference. Hence, one or two conferences...
| 18 |
Why do people invest so much into hedge funds when so few of them are beating the market?
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?
| 113 |
Hedge funds hold a very different place to equities in investors asset allocations, and therefore the target return that people expect from hedge fund investing is different.
For instance, some hedge funds offer absolute return funds, whereby the goal isnt to beat the market, the goal is to price positive returns no matter what the market is doing.
Alternatively, some hedge funds are aiming to beat a specific benchmark, and the benchmark isnt solely made up 100%, equities, but some proportion of equities vs bonds vs alternative investments.
Another point is that some hedge funds try not to have there returns correlated with the market. So the idea here is that if the market goes down, then the hedge funds returns will go up, or retain value.
| 151 |
[Star Wars]How does armor inhibit Force powers?
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In the video games (at least in KOTOR) wearing armor reduces the effectiveness of force powers. Why does that happen? Obviously, if armor can be any good vs blasters and such it has to be of a very strong material or involve some sort of force fields. Can these affect the Force? As far as I know (and its not much) there is no material that can disrupt the Force. Also, if non-Jedi wore armor would it protect them form Force powers?
| 60 |
There are several reasons why heavier and heavier armors hamper use of the Force.
First is that the armor weighs down the user, slightly slowing their movements. This has an effect on Force use, since most Force powers are usually accompanied by a movement of some sort.
Another reason is that the armor would slightly hamper the wielders perception. The armor, especially if it has a helmet, would obscure the wearer's view and their ability to(for lack of a better word) *feel* their surroundings. Since many Force powers revolve around being connected with their surroundings, having armor that decreased their perception and connection would decrease the power of their Force abilities.
So this would not protect a non-Jedi from Force powers, as they don't actually dampen the Force itself, just a Jedi's abilities to use it.
| 49 |
[MCU] Why wasn't recreating Spiderman's origin spider a bigger priority?
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As I recall the spider was created accidentally. So given the ridiculous potential power it has to give an average human, on par or superior to the SSS, wouldn't it be a much bigger deal? There's been so much conflict around recreating the SSS, but I haven't really seen anything about recreating the circumstances that developed the radioactive spider. With all the geniuses in the Avengers I wouldn't think it would be that difficult.
Side note/bonus question- Would spiders from Carl King/Thousand contain the same genetic structure as the OG spider?
| 44 |
As far as MCU goes, spiderman just joined the ranks real recently. But as far as marvel in general goes, the race to recreate that special radioactive spider is about the same results as creating another SSS, Hulk, etc. It's not that it hasn't been tried, but that the results aren't consistent, so instead of having an army of Captain americas, Hulks and Spidermans, you have other super heroes that have similar powers but not exactly the same, or worse, super villains. Which bring the real big reason why things like this isn't replicated for the masses, it doesn't take much for a couple of bad apples to fuck everything up and once again that tech is lost.
| 52 |
CMV: History can never truly be "objective". It is flawed storytelling and should be focused strictly on the facts of what happened.
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History can be compromised of recorded facts, but ultimately, history is storytelling. It is the construction of a point of view and a narrative rather than an objective retelling of the facts. Many parts of history are missing or other narratives are purposefully rewritten or glossed over to conform the majority narrative. Sometimes this can be a good thing (such as fighting Lost Cause mythology) or a bad thing (the perspectives of the Native Americans and the genocide committed against them). So, in reality, instead of history being more like a science, it is more like literature. Sometimes, history can be completely fabricated and faked. To the public, the story that is created from the historical facts strung together is more important than the facts themselves.
I hold this view because this method of flawed storytelling has tremendous influence on the ways people view the world and interact with other people. This is expressed through politics and culture wars. The way history is told can firmly cement people's views on everything from politics, society, religion, so on and so forth. This has led to some of the worst crimes, wars, genocides, and other atrocities.
When we focus on the why, rather than the what, this method of history comes into play, leading these potentially horrible things to happen. Unless reasons are explicitly given, focusing on the "why" of history is an exercise in futility since there are many different views of the "why". They become entrenched if taught at a young age or if it confirms a previously held bias.
Edit: This topic is about how history is taught. Particularly in public schools but often times at the university level depending on where it is and who is teaching. My apologies if I wasn't clear on that.
| 36 |
>instead of being more like a science, history is more like literature... this method of flawed storytelling has tremendous influence
this kind of sounds like you think literature is “flawed” and science is “good.” is something bad simply because it’s not a science?
one of the most valuable things about the humanities — like history and literature — is that these disciplines teach us to compare and critique narratives, and understand how they are shaped by biases, rather than simply dividing everything into a simplistic binary of “true” and “false”
| 16 |
Why is it when a speck of something gets on my glasses (dandruff, dust, etc), blowing on it, no matter how hard, doesn't dislodge it from the presumably smooth surface?
| 780 |
Static forces that are commonplace between small particles and smooth plastic/glass surfaces are greater than the force you can generate by blowing across the surface. Small particles mean low surface area, which means low Reynold's number => means low Stokes number => means difficult to overcome the static forces by just blowing on it.
| 266 |
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ELI5: How does our bodies regulate the amount of blood it needs to produce in order to compensate blood lost or donated?
| 19 |
The magic of the kidney! The kidney is a really cool organ that does more than just filter your blood. It also has an endocrine (hormones that control what your body does) function. Specifically, it produces erythropoeitin, which causes your bone marrow to make red blood cells.
The kidney also has cells that act like little oxygen sensors, and when they detect persistent decreases in oxygenation (such as if you're missing blood) they will cause more erythropoetin to be produced, so your bone marrow increases red blood cell production.
| 16 |
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[Brooklyn 99] When wunch demotes Capt Holt to beat cop how much would his salary be affected? Also how does the union not get involved?
| 288 |
Between Wunch having a lot of pull and her technically being right (his promotion technically was against regulations) she was able to keep the union at bay. His salary probably wasn't affected, which was one of the things she pointed out to any union rep who tried to give her trouble. She also had bureaucracy working in her favor. She was demoting a captain (are they even part of a union?) to a uniformed officer (they have a separate union from detectives) they may not have been able to agree who gets "custody" of the case.
| 271 |
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What is the healthcare system like in countries like America, Canada, Sweeden, Denmark, Austrailia, etc? And how does ObamaCare compare?
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Living in America, our healthcare system is (from what I've read about) is vastly different from other countries (in the sense where it is strictly a ploy for money). Can somebody explain the similarities/differences? Why can't America have more affordable healthcare, especially when other countries have more affordable healthcare and delegate less money towards healthcare? What is ObamaCare aiming to do, and is it similar to the healthcare system of other countries?
| 126 |
Denmark has a public health care system. We pay through our taxes and everyone can use ambulances, hospitals and doctors without paying anything but taxes.
Everyone is entitled to help, not only the rich.
| 55 |
ELI5: Why is Occam's Razor a thing?
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I see it used a lot on Reddit. I've done some looking around but I must not be fully comprehending what it means and entails. What I'm getting is that "the simplest explanation is best". Why?
| 146 |
one of the more famous examples, often used in medical stuff is "if you hear hooves, don't think zebras."
So let's say you're in Kansas and suddenly you hear what appears to be a stampede of animals coming towards you. Now, being an inquisitive type of person you start wondering what kind of animal it is.
Now, it could be a bunch of horses. You do know theres a horse farm in the area and the owner is kind of old and isn't keeping up on the fence.
*or*
maybe it's zebras. But you're in Kansas and there aren't a lot of zebras around. But maybe there is a shipment of zebras getting sent from one zoo over on the east coast to another one over on the west coast. Of course, for travel time it's probably likely that they'd try and fly them if they had a plane that could, but maybe they couldn't get one so they put them on a train. but there isn't a train stop anywhere nearby, so that means the zebras would have been jumping off the train at full speed which is just crazy, so the train must have derailed. Of course that would probably have killed the zebras so the car in front of the zebras must have been carrying down pillows and they all spilled out ahead of the zebras and then the zebras got thrown into the pillows and now they're running away from the train wreck.
Or, it's just horses from Old Man Johnson's horse farm.
the simple answer that explains everything is more likely to be right than the very complicated one.
EDIT: Multiple people have told me that there is at least one good sized zebra farm in Kansas, though so far it seems the zebras haven't escaped so it's probably still horses.
| 253 |
Would it be difficult to create computer vision that could distinguish between an open and closed soda can?
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Hello. I am quite new to computer vision, but am planning on taking on a fairly ambitious project this summer. I am willing to put all of my time an effort in and am ready to learn, but I just wanted to get some more experienced opinions on whether this was a feasible project.
Essentially, I am trying to use computer vision to distinguish between two nearly identical objects. My primary question is: would it be possible to have computer vision distinguish between an open or a closed soda can (the only different being that the tab is open and you can see inside?). It would probably take a lot of training, but is it feasible?
If this is not possible, would it be possible for a CV program to distinguish between a white, paper cup that is empty versus filled with a colored liquid?
Thanks so much!
| 17 |
These would both be possible, as long as the differences are visible and you have ~thousands of training images or more.
The number of training images needed is kind of dependant on what kind of images you will be classifying later, in the product. If the product always sees the same kind of can from the same angle with the same lighting, you will get ok results with a few thousand training images. If your product must work on many kinds of cans and lighting and angles, you will need many more training images.
| 15 |
[Anything really] Examples of druids that aren't named as druids?
| 15 |
Ancient Druids were the educated elite of the Celtic people, like doctors and poets, and were responsible for the religious aspect of Celtic society.
The more common interpretation of the druid is generally of someone who communes and lives in harmony with nature, often gaining magical abilities in the process, such as spells and the ability to shapeshift into various animal forms. They might worship nature itself directly, or a nature god/goddess, or they might simply strive to keep the 'balance' of the world between civilisation and the wilderness.
Radaghast the Brown from Middle Earth, while technically a wizard, is very similar to many of the more popular interpretations of what druids were like. He lives in the wild and is a little odd from being alone so long, can communicate with animals, etc. He just lacks the shapeshifting.
Malfurion Stormrage from Warcraft is another one, and he can shapeshift as well as use a whole host of other magical powers.
An argument could be made for Merlin being a druid in certain interpretations, though he's more commonly viewed as a wizard.
There are a bunch of D&D characters that are druids. First one to come to mind is Pikel Bouldershoulder, who's a *dwarf* druid.
| 24 |
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ELI5: Why do headphones have lower frequency responses than speakers?
| 128 |
Small drivers, like those in your headphones can reproduce low frequencies but they can't do it with enough power to be heard at any real distance.
Typical home speakers overcome this issue by using large drivers just for the low frequencies and using a cross-over circuit that routes more power to those drivers.
The lower the frequency the more power and larger driver you need. In a set of speakers this requires more materials and engineering to accomplish. While great sounding low frequency response can be achieved, most consumers choose a less expensive system.
It's much easier to engineer headphones that can accomplish the same thing because the drivers are so close to your ears.
| 30 |
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(Eli5) Is it true that people with joint diseases like arthritis can “feel” the weather? If so, what mechanisms are at work to cause that?
| 60 |
When you watch the weather reports with the map, you can see the high/low pressure areas moving around. These can be measured locally with a device called a barometer. Very broadly speaking, low pressure areas bring in "bad" weather.
Now, if your body were a little on the sensitive side, your aches might make you something of a human barometer. Certainly not as good as the machine, but if it sets in relatively quickly, you'll notice it in ways other people might not unless they check the barometer a lot, and notice the needle moving.
| 74 |
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[DC] In the continuities that his intelligence is a power, Would Superman get dumber under a red sun?
| 28 |
A lot of Superman’s intelligence (at least his super-intelligence) has to do with speed, raw number-crunching ability, and memorization. That stuff probably wouldn’t be available.
Even without his powers, Clark is a really smart guy. He’s a college graduate with a demanding job in a competitive field. His natural intelligence is on the level of a main character in a tv drama with good writers, where they have to catch the murderer or figure out what disease a person has. He’d fit right in on The West Wing or Grey’s Anatomy. He doesn’t lose that.
So in a red sun system, he won’t be able to speed-memorize a set of encyclopedias in 5 seconds, or compute pi to 100,000 places, but he won’t come across as *dumb*. He’ll just seem like a normal very smart person.
| 33 |
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CMV: Patriotism is stupid and evil.
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I believe patriotism is stupid and evil. Why? A few reasons:
\- Patriotism is rarely ever grounded in any logic or reason, but is rather rooted in a blind and strong sense of attachment/love for the country. People who claim to be patriots rarely base their view on actual good aspects and qualities of a country, they often ignore and don't admit the negative aspects and can't take criticism of their country.
\- Patriots are not willing to admit the flaws and negative aspects of their country which means that these flaws will remain and progress, because people are not willing to protest against issues in the country, which prevents the country and nation from any advancement altogether.
\- Patriotism encourages and reinforces social division. The belief that your country is the best simply because you were born/raised in it is not only extremely close-minded, but also leads to separation and alienation from other nations.
\- Patriotism is dangerous and evil as it encourages and reinforces fascist and nationalist ideologies. The belief that your country or nation is the best leads to division as these people separate and portray themselves or their country/nation as superior, which is discriminative in nature. There is evidence throughout history that highly conservative and patriotic beliefs lead to development of extreme ideologies (e.g. Nazi Germany).
EDIT: A lot of people say I confuse patriotism with nationalism - that's not true. I know the difference, but what I mean is that the line between the two is very thin and can be crossed very quickly. There is a direct relationship between patriotism and nationalism, in fact you can say that nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism, which isn't entirely false. In addition to that, patriotic culture is extremely silly and just cringeworthy. You can love your country, but you don't have to hang a flag on your bedroom wall or put a bunch of stickers and decals on your car. Which leads to my next new point: in addition to all of that, patriotism also promotes consumer culture. What I’m trying to say is that the entire label and concept of patriotism is dumb and unnecessary, and you can still love your country without putting this label onto yourself.
Change my view.
| 78 |
I think you’re confusing patriotism with nationalism.
Patriotism is loving your country, and wanting the best for it. A patriot will also not shy away from criticizing their country when it has fallen from the ideals that it claims to support.
A nationalist will believe their country is doing right no matter what, as long as they’re doing “better” than the other side. How “better” is defined will vary wildly, as long as there’s someone they can point to and say “at least I’m not that person.”
| 138 |
I don’t think it’s fair to refer to the recent “news” story about Oprah being turned away from a luxury boutique as being racially motivated. CMV.
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Any 21st century world-class luxury boutique likely has a large Arab and Asian clientele, and are assuredly well aware that the ultra-rich come in many shades. I would also assume that such businesses are happy to serve anyone who can pay their prices, no matter what race, color, or creed. Such businesses that cater to the ultra rich also likely must be forced to turn away browsers as a matter of routine. Racism should not be the default assumption, and the reason it’s be presented that ways is because such claims garner headlines.
Here's the story: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/oprah-winfrey-victim-of-racism-in-switzerland-billionaire-told-she-cant-afford-expensive-handbag-8753660.html
| 19 |
According to the article, the shop assistant made a determination about Oprah's ability to afford the bag. Clearly this was not based on actual foreknowledge of Oprah's net worth, so it must have been based on some other factor that the shop assistant had information about. Most likely something in Oprah's appearance.
Now, it's possible that Oprah's "little Donna Karan skirt and [her] little sandals" were simply not fashionable enough in the clerk's eyes, but this seems unlikely. It's also possible that there was something about Oprah's mannerisms that indicated to the clerk that she was likely not wealthy. Asking to inspect a piece of merchandise is no guarantee, but it is a fair indicator that a person has some intention of purchasing it, so this is also unlikely. The most likely factor is that the clerk's assumption was based on the fact that Oprah was black. We don't have a quote in the article from the clerk saying this explicitly, and we likely never will.
The shop assistant's actions weren't racist because she didn't want to accept money from a black person. They were racist because she assumed that a black person didn't have enough money in the first place.
| 20 |
Why are some viruses only transmitted by blood/sex and some only by saliva
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Reading about HIV I got wondering *why* it's not transmitted by spit? What's special about blood and sex fluids that saliva lacks?
And then I realised that the cold & flu are transmitted by coughing/sneezing (presumably saliva) and I've never heard anyone get the flu from sex.
Why do some viruses get transferred by some methods while others get transferred by others?
| 52 |
Viruses rely on receptors on the outside of cells to recognize cells (and gain entry into them). Different cells have different receptors, and so different viruses recognize different types of cells.
The same way that a lock pick will not get you into a door with a digital keypad, and a circuit analyzer will not get you into a door with a regular key lock.
| 11 |
[General] So I used my first wish to make entropy easily reversed...
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I asked a Genie to make entropy easily reversed. How does this affect the universe at a human level? Can the Genie even pull this off and how spectacularly will this backfired on me?
| 57 |
Congratulations, you just broke/changed one of the fundamental laws of the universe. If the Genie does have the power to do that (which it seems to, since it's happened), he's clearly the kind of Genie that doesn't care about you or humanity in general. Being able to reverse Entropy means that closed systems don't act like they're supposed to anymore. Power plants, computers, cars, even coffee machines all now function differently.
Think you know how you like to make coffee? think again, water doesn't boil right anymore. Want to turn on your lights? Maybe not, since the steam generators in the powerplants probably aren't actually putting out power anymore.
The Genie is going to laugh, lots of people probably die, and the universe spins on into a new and weirder form.
Some say this has already happened multiple times.
| 52 |
Do NASA scientists and engineers have to take into account the rotation and movement of the entire Milky Way when planning and maintaining trips into space?
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The trips can be anything from simplying sending supplies to the ISS, all the way to sending rovers to Mars or probes to other planets.
| 37 |
No, because everything is moving, so from our point of view nothing moves. Any object in our solar system is moving pretty much at the same speed relative to center of out galaxy.
For the same reason if you are launching a satellite for earth orbit you don't really care about the fact that earth is orbiting around the sun (this is not entirely true because of gravity of the sun).
| 13 |
I contested the breach of free-speech claimed by J.B. Peterson, in return my former supervisor writes me unsolicited messages doubting my credentials and logic
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*Context:*
Well, you may think I am crazy by putting myself out there in such rows. I entered it in a very local manner. My former university in eastern Europe was one of those that invited Peterson in support of his free-speech claim after Cambridge's School of Divinity rescinded the visitor's fellowship. I expressed in a very clear way, how Peterson has not proved the claim and if anything it is questionable how his application was initially considered as he never published academic material in the field of theology. (there are other arguments as well) My former uni wants to bring this figure and presents him as a suppressed voice--a true irony as our post-communist block is not known for having well-developed discourse on questions like PC, gender, and other subjects he addressed in his non-academic work. I am hurt that my small uni that is otherwise such a lively place of scholarship decided to invest money into this person instead of other brilliant scholars, who could address the problems of our post-communist society.
*This is the issue I need help with*:
Now I am, however, receiving emails and messages from my former supervisor that acts rather compulsively. It seems that me not answering makes it even worst. I have read some of the messages, and the later ones call me inapt, not making sense, failing the basic principals of logic, ready to call everyone a misogynist just because they are better than me, judgemental, damaging academic freedoms and principles of human conversation, etc. These words are (of course) written in a form of a well-meant, begging me not to join "the dark side." Now this bridge is burned obviously and it seems it will have some impact on my career in future. but what the hell am I supposed to write to end it in a civilized way, because I do not think he will listen to arguments (as I made them clear already). And i am so drained, all i want is not to see another new message.
| 76 |
If this person is putting you on blast like this while you're not responding, its hard to imagine how responding is going to help. Either this person will get tired of hitting send or they won't. If the relationship can be (or is even worth) repairing, do it later when they aren't rage-mailing. (There's always the small possibility that they'll feel stupid later for their reaction and you'll have done them a kindness by setting it aside.)
Set up a little inbox rule to safely deposit these messages in the trash.
| 53 |
[Star Trek] How does the "stardate" calendar work? In the captain's logbooks, it really seems like they just rattle off random numbers for their entries.
| 52 |
Originally a stardate was a random selection of numbers, plus a percentage point. This has now been changed to a working and useful system, which is the year followed by the day. Today's stardate (in AEST) would be 2015.343.
| 37 |
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[DC] What would happen if The Flash went back in time to fix something that went wrong, then ensured things couldn't go wrong ever from that point onward by almost constantly moving at top speed and fixing anything that started going wrong, even if he ha-
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-d to take breaks and timetravel to maintain this?
| 46 |
You are seriously underestimating the Flash's power to fuck up a timestream.
The number one rule of time travel is: don't.
Let's say the Flash goes back and prevents someone from dying. It turns out that this death was the lynchpin that forced Batman to build the McGuffin that stops Lex Luthor from wiping Superman's memory.
So the Flash goes back and tells Batman to build the thing. But because that one guy isn't dead in this timeline, Batman secures a faulty anti-mindwipe gem, and his machine turns Superman into a madman.
The Flash can't figure out that it was a faulty whatsit that caused this disaster, so instead he goes back to stop Luthor from building his brainrapeatron 9,000. In doing so he leaves a door open in the Lexcorp tower.
A janitor trips on a banana peel, falls through the open door, and tumbles down the 37 floors to the Lexcorp floor. She's paralyzed from the waist down.
Luthor agrees to provide her with a suit of power armor that allows her to walk again, knowing that her hatred of the Flash will turn her into the latest opponent of the Justice League.
Flash goes back and removes the banana from the building. This piece of fruit was needed by a diabetic to control her blood sugar. She dies. Her son flies into a rage and vows revenge.
The Flash ...
| 66 |
ELI5: Eric Garner [OFFICIAL THREAD]
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This thead is for all question's relating to the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
Please browse the comments the same as you would search content before asking a question, as many comments are repeats of topics already brought up.
| 96 |
An important note for everyone to remember, the legal definition homicide is just the taking of a life by another. It isn't the unlawful taking of a life by another. The coroner labeled it homicide because the actions of those officers directly lead to Garner's death, not because he determined the officer did anything illegal.
| 58 |
ELI5: Why is fear such an effective motivator?
| 102 |
Its not an effective motivator in terms of long term performance. Creating an environment where people are always afraid doesn't produce particularly strong results. So if you're running an office, leading a team, doing anything where you're trying to motivate people, fear tends not to be effective in terms of psychology.
Fear is good for running away from bears, it does more harm than good for anything longer term.
| 59 |
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[Star Trek] Why are Star Fleet computers so complex to operate?
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Every time a crew member uses a Starfleet computer to do anything it takes a lot of button presses, sometimes striking the same button several times. Why so complex? It just seems inefficient
| 29 |
Remember that Starfleet computers need to be operated by multiple species, sometimes with very different bodies or manipulating digits. They need to be as universal as possible and as comprehensive as possible while still being functional.
Often, when you see someone press multiple buttons, they're actually inputting calculations for specific systems so the computer can automatically follow through. On navigation consoles, the pilot will put in spatial coordinates, ordered speed and any known obstacles for the ship to avoid. A weapons officer will put in weapon types, yield and targeting information. Doctors need to look up appropriate medicines in a menu, create a dosage and a safe delivery method. (I doubt hyposprays "spray" at the same velocity for every species and individual) Engineers... put in a lot of things.
Pressing the same button could be multiple "confirm" commands. Or maybe going back to a menu to open up another set of options to fill out the desired comands.
| 75 |
"Dwell with yourself, and you will know how short your household stuff is."
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Came across this in the beginning of Kant's *Critique of Pure Reason* and I'm totally at a loss for the meaning of the statement, let alone it's implications in the context of the preface.
Original Latin:
Tecum habita, et noris quam sit tibi curta supellex
What does this mean and why does he say it?
| 21 |
He's talking about how we can solve questions of metaphysics by looking within ourselves/examining the necessary structure of our experience of the world. The metaphor is that if you live in your house, you'll end up familiar with what's available to you, in such a way as to make it clear that you had less than you thought you did. Kant's point is that when it comes to metaphysics, we can resolve all of our classical questions by realizing that the answers depend on ourselves in a crucial way. So "dwelling with yourself" here is the idea of reflecting on oneself/using one's own reasoning capacities.
| 14 |
ELI5: How did nations pick which side of the road to drive on? Why don't we all use the same side?
| 358 |
I remember reading somewhere that people originally starting riding horses/carriages on the left side of the road was to make it easier for them to use their swords against others on the road. by being on the left side of the road they could hold the reins in their left hand and a sword in their right.
This switched in America because more wagons with multiple horses were used. To control all the horses they'd use a whip, which would be held in the right hand. If you're holding a whip in your right hand you want to be sat on the left side of the wagon so you can best reach all the horses with it, and if you're sat on the left side of the wagon you want to be driving on the right side of the road.
| 196 |
|
[Star Wars] And, well, a lot of space sci-fi: why are laser/photon/plasma/ion blasters the standard for projectile weaponry? What was wrong with good ol' -fashioned bullets?
|
are they not cost effective enough? i would imagine that, with the large amount of metallic materials required for, well, any starship, metals for bullets shouldn't be an issue.
(and for a out-of-character follow-up: is it mostly because blasters are cool and futuristic, while bullets are archaic and something we have today?)
| 59 |
The Blaster held several advantages over archaic slugthrowers, ammunition and performance wise. A single power-cell from the E-11 used by the Stormtroopers can fire up to 500 rounds without reloading. The weight from carrying 500 rounds of metal slugs for a single weapon is ridiculously heavy. Furthermore, a blaster bolt only dissipates at maximum range, making shots more accurate and easier to hit. On the other hand, slug ballistics ensure that the gunner constantly need to compensate for the parabolic arc of the slug as well as a reasonably long training to hit accurately.
EDIT: Grammar and words. Don't drink and post, kids!
| 66 |
[Marvel Comics] How much of Norse mythology actually happened in the literal sense? Did Loki really give birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir? Was Burí, Odin's grandfather, really born from a cow licking a glacier?
| 67 |
>Did Loki really give birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir?
In comics - yes, in MCU - no. And humans already know about Loki being bad and Ragnarok because of weird timeloop related to Ragnarok(like Kalpas in TES).
| 51 |
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When I see a blurry gas above a bonfire or charcoal grill, what is causing the blurriness? It is colorless and transparent, but makes whatever I see behind it appear blurry in a wavy way. Is it carbon dioxide? Carbon monoxide? H? O? HO?
| 4,956 |
The blurry air near a source of heat is just that: Air. Air has different optical properties at different temperatures and near a heat source there are often large difference in temperature within the air, as hot air rises, cold air flows in and all of it mixes in a turbulent way. These zones of different temperature that shift rapidly cause light to be refracted in different, constantly changing ways, generating the blurring effect that you see.
This phenomenon, often called "heat haze", can also be seen just above a road on a hot, sunny day (when the hot asphalt heats the air) or near active aircraft engines (for example on a jet about to take off).
It's not caused by a specific gas, but rather by large temperature fluctuations in the air.
| 6,303 |
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[Marvel] How respected of a superhero is Spider Man?
|
Spidey seems like a superhero veteran now, so how is he viewed among the wider superhero community? Is the revered on the same level as Iron Man and Captain America?
| 398 |
Spider-Man has extraordinary potential, even among metahumans. Mr Fantastic sees it, Tony Stark sees it, and Captain America sees it. The only thing holding Spider-Man back is a massive inferiority complex and a lifetime of acting alone. Spider-Man is in many ways Marvel's Nightwing, without the leadership ability.
In New York, Spidey is beloved. Outside of New York, if you know about him you are more likely to dislike him, thanks to JJJ's campaign against Spider-Man.
Among heroes, Spider-Man has great relations with almost every major player. He has connections to SHIELD, multiple Avengers teams, the X-Men, Black Panther, the FF, etc. Carol Danvers has a sort of exasperated respect for him, which is a fairly typical reaction. Peter could be the next Mr. Fantastic -- he has the brains to cobble together powered armor and he deals with more science villains than anyone short of the FF. Peter could use some Parker Particles and become the next Blue Marvel. But Spider-Man is so used to operating alone and thinking of himself as a screw-up that he is essentially allergic to leadership. So while he may come on in and help any team out, he is unlikely to get the level of respect natural leaders like Tony and Cap get.
There's also the fact that Peter combines the "smartest kid in teh class" mentality with "biggest smart ass on the block." He is sometimes painfully hard to deal with because of his motormouth tendencies. So while everybody knows he is a stand-up guy, some folks hate dealing with him regularly (Wolverine).
| 597 |
CMV: In current state, my first world style living means suffering of others.
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_____
Me and my dad had a conversation in a car concerning this problem. I thought in order for me to enjoy this way of living, it required other people in some place else to suffer in some way. Just like one organism cannot sustain itself alone(even plants require others to produce CO2), society cannot sustain easy and comfortable way of living without others' sacrifice. Well, my dad was trying to convince me otherwise, but I found it unconvincing. I hope to understand my father's argument more, see if it is really viable to have a society that is great on its own. Thanks in advance!
| 417 |
> in order for me to enjoy this way of living, it required other people in some place else to suffer
If suffering is defined as not living at the same standard of life as you then yes. However having the opportunity to make the shirt you're wearing most likely decreases the suffering of the factory worker who makes it. If that factory didn't come to their village that worker would likely have to do an even more remedial job (maybe farming rice?).
This is how societies advance. They don't just jump from subsistence farming to engineering. It's a slow growth from substance farming to commercial farming to manufacturing to...
Just think about the jump from subsistence farming to commercial farming. Farmer Wei has a few seasons of successful crops. So successful he is able to sell some of his surplus to his neighbors in the village. With this extra unexpected money he sees an opportunity to improve his life. Next season he won't need to provide his own food; he can buy it. And since he can buy it he might be able to farm commercially.
Monoculture is much more profitable so now that Farmer Wei is only growing rice he has to lean on all of his neighbors to supplement his and his family's diet. Wei has an opportunity to make more money and be more comfortable bit he relies on others to make this possible.
This is a gross oversimplification and you are separated by many more degrees from he Chinese factory worker who made your shirt. But the same principal applies.
| 107 |
What are some of the critiques of Kant's universalisability principle?
|
Has anyone seriously challenged the moral precept that people should only act when they wish the corresponding maxim to become general law?
I am especially interested in radical answers, perhaps even attempts at exposing the _immorality_ of this precept, and answers which refuse to adopt a utilitarian framework.
Thanks!
| 41 |
Hegel makes what's called the "empty formalism" objection against the CI.
Take, for example, the law against theft. If everyone were to steal, there would be no such thing as property, and then no one would be stealing. Accordingly, Kant claims, theft is contradictory if made a universal law.
Hegel argues that this only works if we already presuppose the existence of property. In a world without property (like the kind imagined by Rousseau), theft wouldn't exist in the first place.
Likewise, take the distinction between private property and public property. Trespassing on land, if everyone where allowed to do this, would be contradictory, because then there would be no such thing as private property. Yet one cannot trespass on public property, and so we're presupposing the ground (private property) that makes the contradiction possible.
| 24 |
ELI5:Why do older television sets emit a brief flash of white light when being turned off?
| 262 |
The older CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TV's and monitors work by using an electron gun to shoot differently charged electrons at a phosphorescent material, which is then screened to make pixels. Depending on the charge of the electron, it makes either a red, green or blue pixel, or any combination of the three. This beam of electrons is controlled by a strong magnetic field, which "scans" the beam across the surface of the screen in horizontal lines. When you turn the TV on, the magnetic field is created immediately, but the ray gun takes a few seconds to warm up and start firing, hence the slow buildup. When the set is then turned off, the magnetic field collapses instantly, but the ray gun still emits particles for about a second. Without the magnetic field to guide them, they all hit in one focused beam instead of diffused lines, causing all the phosphorescent material to fire at once, hence the white flash.
| 161 |
|
[Pacific Rim]What did the rest of the world look like?
|
We were never told what other parts of the world look like. I'm assuming that resources were scarce because of the Kaiju, but what did things look like in parts of the world not touching the Pacific Ocean?
| 35 |
Global economy would have taken a huge hit.
Top 15 GDP countries in 2014 - bold are on the Pacific Rim
**1 United States**
**2 China**
**3 Japan**
4 Germany
5 United Kingdom
6 France
7 Brazil
8 Italy
9 India
**10 Russian Federation**
**11 Canada**
**12 Australia**
**13 South Korea**
14 Spain
**15 Mexico**
Further more, the US would (among others) would have been very vulnerable. A Kaiju hits the Bay Area? - Then Apple, Google, Intel, NASA, the US Navy are all hit pretty hard as is one of the largest cargo ports in the US.
Kaiju bleeds out off Alaska...then major fisheries are hit, not just for the US, but for Canada, Japan, Russia and China. A fishery stops producing and food prices spike and then people go without protein in their diet.
Shipping gets much more expensive...factories close, people are laid off...not just in that country or region...but globally.
The 1995 Kobe Earthquake cost $100 billion just to replace the structures...what would the cost be of a Kaiju hitting any major city now? $250...500...700 billion?
| 30 |
ELI5: How a battery is able to charge wirelessly
| 15 |
To simplify things, let's think of electricity as movement, say, waves. Waves carry a certain energy, which is why a boat will rock if the sea is wavy.
Now, imagine our boat. Imagine you have on the boat a bathtub full of water. What will happen to the water in the bathtub, if the boat is rocking about on a wavy sea?
If you said the water in the bathtub will be bouncing around, you guessed it right! But how? The bathtub isn't touching the sea!
Easy: the movement of the waves goes through the boat, and shakes everything, including the water in the tub.
The same thing with the wireless charger - it creates a sea of electric waves that rock about everything in a small area around the charger, but only the battery contains material that can become wavey (like the water in the tub), so these electric waves only manifest in the battery as charge, and not in the plastic around it (the boat).
| 45 |
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ELI5:Why is a bra just called a bra when it covers two things, but a pair of panties is called a pair when it only covers one thing?
| 45 |
We don't call them a pair of shirts either. Panties came from pants, and pants originally came from hosiery, which came as two separate pieces. We kept the "pair" nomenclature even after we starting joining the two leg pieces together in the middle.
| 144 |
|
ELI5: How do actors cry on command?
| 25 |
Professionally trained actor here.
So, there are several ways of doing this. There are physical ways, some people have things they can do to their body to induce tears, like pinching a nerve or the such. But most actors who need to generate tears do so through emotional memory. We think very intensely about a memory when we were sad, concentrating on that memory and bringing it to the present. If done intensely enough, it can reliably bring you to tears.
| 55 |
|
How will cleanup crews in NYC fix things like flooded subways?
|
I know nothing about Civil Engineering, so I can't even imagine where someone would begin on a project like that.
| 26 |
The subway has had water pumps since the 1920's, and they regularly pump water out of the system (it's underground and below sea level). However, this is more water then they've ever dealt with so no one is sure how long it will take or what damage was done by the water.
| 20 |
Why do you need to take malaria pills BEFORE you travel?
| 56 |
General rule of pharmacokinetics, start with high dose, probably double what the goal is. This gets the drug passed "first pass" which is removal by liver and kidney, but leaves "target" dose in the blood stream. Then keep dose steady, which takes a little while to reach equilibrium since the bodies natural response is to clean things up. If you have to be exposed, you want it to be in this "steady" state when there is adequate supply in the blood to adequately fight off the invading condition. You don't want a inconsistent amount in the blood leaving yourself susceptible to infection. Once the risk has cleared, the dose is stepped down, for one of two reasons, 1) to fight off any small lingering amounts of whatever the drug is for 2) some drugs cause shock to the system if not stepped down (prednisone and most steroid based drugs) and slowly let the body clear it with little to no repercussions from taking the drug. Hope that helps.
| 24 |
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CMV: Legacy admissions to colleges and any other preferential treatment due to being associated with someone famous or someone that works their is unfair
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I mean this is not a rant.
I feel that legacy admissions are a bit unfair sometimes. Since oftentimes (if not always) the legacy admissions policy gives preferential treatment to the poor 2.0 student that didn't give a shit in high school over a straight A high school valedictorian all because the 2.0 student is a son of a alumni to the institution and the A student isn't. This is especially unfair when the admissions to the college is very competitive.
It's said that 69% of students agree that legacy admissions is not fair, and 58% of legacy students say that legacy admissions are unfair.
I mean I don't see how being the song or daughter of a alumnus makes your more deserving of admittance to top institutions. Also, some people have a higher chance to get admitted all because they have a relative or friend that works at the university. This is also not fair since it's anti-meritocratic in a situation that's supposed to be meritocratic.
| 3,604 |
Legacy admissions are a significant fundraising tool for the school. Many alumni donate to the school knowing that there’s an increased chance that their kids will go there. Without legacy admissions, there would be less money for financial aid, ironically making it *harder* to admit the most deserving students.
If a few legacy admits each year fund a significant amount of financial aid, that seems like a good trade-off.
| 932 |
How is the heat contained of these so-called "mini suns" ?
|
I saw on the news that some laboratory created a mini-sun that was sustained for 5 seconds and could provide an enormous amount of energy during the time it's 'alive'. This was in the context of nuclear power testing.
My question is 2 folded: 1. It was said on the news that the heat this mini-sun produced was like 10 times hotter than the actual sun. What unholy magical material surrounds this heat that can keep it contained? How?
2. Is it pure science fiction to think that if a mini-sun could be created, a mini black hole could be created too? Would this be the worst thing happening to us?
Thanks for your answers! Hope I was clear enough, I couldn't really find the news online
| 133 |
> What unholy magical material surrounds this heat that can keep it contained? How?
None. We don't really have a bottle that we can put this stuff in. That's why we use magnetic fields. The fusion plasma consists of charged particles that are rotating in the reactor which is surrounded by magnets that keep the stuff away from the walls. Between the fusion plasma and the wall, there's a vacuum.
That's also why the technology is called "magnetic confinement fusion".
That said, there are still serious issues with material science to be solved, because the fusion reaction can produce neutrons (depending on exactly what you put in) and neutrons are not affected by magnetic fields, so these will impact the reactor walls and the material needs to be able to handle that.
On top of that, the plasma will give off a lot of thermal radiation that will also heat up the reactor walls. The reactor therefore needs a cooling system to remove the heat. This cooling can be achieved by simply running fresh water across the exterior of the reactor.
> Is it pure science fiction to think that if a mini-sun could be created, a mini black hole could be created too? Would this be the worst thing happening to us?
Not even remotely. The density of matter in the fusion reactors is considerably lower than the density at the core of the Sun. That's why our fusion plasmas need to be quite a bit hotter than the Sun in order to get the same effect, because fusion reactions require a combination of temperature and density is high enough. If one factor is limited (density), you need to increase the other (temperature).
The Sun is not nearly dense enough to become a black hole at the end of its lifespan, so our little experiments aren't either.
| 174 |
Eli5 - why are "old things" seen as more durable and long lasting than stuff that was made in the last 20 years?
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Sorry about the wording but I saw a post about the hunter century fan and got curios as to why stuff today seems to have a more finite life than things made pretty 70s
| 31 |
A couple of reasons:
1) We used to overbuild things because we didn't have the understanding or tools to build them only as strong as they needed to be.
2) Planned obsolescence: why bother building a phone that could last 30 years, when it'll be out of date in 2?
3) Cultural shift: people used to buy nice things that cost a bit more but lasted a long time. Nowadays, you buy things for like a dollar and just replace them when they break.
4) Survivorship bias: all the old awesome stuff you see now is still around BECAUSE it's awesome. All the cheap shitty stuff got thrown out ages ago.
| 162 |
ELI5 the difference between snow and ice
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they are both frozen water yes?
| 18 |
snow is actually a type of ice. the difference is shape. on a really tiny level, snow is a bunch of flakes. they have a complex shape, with a lot of air in it. these flakes don't stack very neatly:
imagine trying to fill a bag with aluminum cans. when you simply toss them in, the bag fills up quite quickly and is very light. if you were to crush those cans first, you break their shape to get rid of extra air and fit them together better: this is like when you walk in the snow and pack it down. if you were to melt all those cans together into a brick first, you'd have no air in it, and you'd be able to fit a LOT more cans in a bag, and that's like "ice"
snow = fluffy, air-filled ice
| 26 |
ELI5: If glass is tightly packed atoms (solid), how can it be completely transparent?
| 55 |
Density of atoms doesn't necessarily relate to the opacity of a material.
Basically, any atom has a cloud of electrons, which has specific energy levels. When light hits these electrons, they can cause these electrons to change energy levels - this means they can absorb specific frequencies. This is called atomic absorption.
When you have bulk material, like in glass, you no longer have specific, discrete energy levels. Instead, energy levels combine to form _bands_, and the energy difference is called a _band gap_. Just like atomic absorption, only photons with enough energy to cross the band gap can be absorbed.
So the answer is that glass has a band gap in the UV range, so visible light passes through fairly easily.
| 52 |
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I feel like I have an obligation to society
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I don't actually agree with this thought, but doing what I want and not caring about being productive to society nonetheless creates a sense of guilt. And I'm not able to justify myself. Hopefully you guys can explain why I shouldn't feel bad?
| 16 |
You need a psychologist or a counselor, not a philosopher.
From a philosophical point of view, however, *obligation* is a loaded word. An obligation arises when you have a duty to act in a certain way, and duties only arise in certain relations. What is it about the /u/BeneficialStorm → society relation that gives rise to a duty for you to perform in some way? Has this obligation accrued because of something society has provided to you?
| 15 |
CMV: There’s nothing wrong with being “ableist” when it comes to John Fetterman running for senate.
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In general, frivolously using someone’s disability(s) as a reason to not vote for someone is shitty and should be frowned upon. In the specific case where someone’s disability(s) negatively impact their ability to perform their duties compared to a non-disabled person, it is absolutely acceptable, especially for a position as important as a US Senator.
This is largely in response to the Oz v Fetterman debate last night and the reactions I’ve seen on Twitter to it. I watched it live beginning to end and came away thinking “wow, how could the Fetterman campaign allow this to happen, they should’ve never accepted a debate, he’s clearly not fit for office.” I thought this of course would be the prevailing view. While I saw a lot of that, there was also a loud minority claiming that not supporting Fetterman because of his continued health issues after his stroke is “ableist”. I completely disagree with that framing.
For context, John Fetterman unfortunately suffered a stroke several months ago. During the debate he repeatedly stumbled, took very long pauses, would repeat himself, and generally looked like he wasn’t always aware of what was asked. This is even with closed captioning being provided for him upon his request.
In my view, someone who cannot properly process what they hear, nor properly debate and form clear coherent sentences is not fit for office. Especially as a senator, where debate is very important. Even if his actual brain function is fine and he’s just unable to properly process audio and speak, that still doesn’t make him competent to hold office. Our elected representatives should not have significant mental/oral impairments. Their mental acuity and ability to articulate themselves is of the utmost importance.
If his disability wouldn’t directly impact and negatively effect his ability to perform his duties as a senator, I would not support this so called “ableism”. If his disability was something like that of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott (wheelchair) or former Democratic US Senator Max Cleland who was missing three limbs, I would stand against any “ableist” comments as these disabilities don’t negatively impact one’s ability to govern. Having a stroke victim with serious speech and auditory processing issues try to be in the senate would be akin to Abbott or Cleland wanting to work for a lawn care company to mow yards. They’re just not qualified based on their disabilities.
I think this is an improper use of the term “ableist” and that this man is unfit to represent the people of Pennsylvania. All the best to him in his continued recovery.
EDIT : Changed wording in paragraph one from “regular” to “non-disabled” as people were getting hung up on language and not substance.
EDIT 2 : Dang y’all, I came back to 80ish comments and in almost getting through all of them I now have 30 more. A lot of comments now are coming across as being very partisan (people who are anti-Oz/republicans) given that my original prompt had nothing to do with this and that I have no interest in bashing one side or the other nor talking about why you hate Oz, I will just be ignoring these to save time. My point is about Fetterman, ableism, and his speech issues, not about the benefits and downsides of Oz. Comments I don’t get to tonight, I’ll get to tomorrow afternoon.
EDIT 3 : Before I go to bed, I’d like to point out I’ve given 3 deltas. 2 on the subject of why it would still be reasonable for some people to vote for him based on partisanship and 1 that brought up that other congressmen are stroke survivors. Although these people made good points ancillary to the issues of Fetterman and disabled people, I’d like the conversation to stick more closely to the ableism point specifically, and so tomorrow when I come back I’ll only be awarding deltas to comments which specifically address the ableism issue.
EDIT 4 : Lol thanks to whoever had the Reddit Cares thing sent to me, I’m good though my guy
FINAL EDIT : Alright y’all I’ve probably responded well over a hundred times today and yesterday. Comments keep flooding in and I can’t keep up plus I have to get back to work. I’m done replying now, thanks for the explanations and conversations
| 738 |
The primary role of a representative is to, well, represent people. What processes and procedures they do to do that is really secondary to that primary function in a democracy.
If you disqualify people with disabilities from being in office, you are excluding those people from having equal representation. They can't have any representatives that truly and personally understands their issues, concerns and problems.
You can have a thousand of the best debaters and slickest public speakers in the world in the senate, but if they don't understand your issues, they're all next to useless to you.
| 1,109 |
Skin cells constantly regenerate. So how/why is it possible to have scars?
| 17 |
The process of wound healing involves more than just the replication of epithelial (skin) cells. Skin is composed of both epithelial cells and an extracellular, collagen-containing, connective tissue that is laid down in a meshwork pattern when skin develops naturally. In a wound, both the cellular and connective tissue components must be regenerated.
Scars form primarily due to the regeneration of the connective tissue. The first reason for this is that the body relies more on the regeneration of connective tissue rather than cells to fill in the hole left by the wound. This is because it is quicker to synthesize a lot of collagen than it is replicate a lot of cells. This makes the healed region more fibrous than cellular. In fact, in larger scars, the central regions may be entirely connective tissue, devoid of actual epithelial cells. Second, unlike your pre-wound connective tissue which is arranged in a meshwork, the collagen in a healing wound is laid down in a single orientation which leads to the tougher feeling, but ultimately weaker scarred tissue.
| 14 |
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[Avengers: Endgame spoilers] how does a certain timeline pan out?
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With Thanos and the entirety of his forces disappearing during the very beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy how does this version of the MCU develop?
| 28 |
Earth will be better protected, because they have both Stark and Strange, but Danvers never comes back to earth in this timeline, which might end badly for them.
Wanda and Vision probably get a happy ending. Banner might never have the incentive to create Professor Hulk. Black Widow might finally cancel out all the red in her ledger.
But really, it's impossible to say. Yes, the Thanos threat is gone, but how many other threats were kept in check by Thanos' mere existence? Maybe Ego picks up the Infinity Stones, or maybe a Celestial wakes up and decides that humanity was a mistake?
| 38 |
I've always been told not to stand in front of a microwave when its on...
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I assumed it was because it emitted microwave radiation being spewed out of the microwave while it was being used, which would cause cancer or other mutations.
I know DNA's absorption spectrum peaks in the UV range (260nm), so it is most prone to mutations then. However, I looked at the electromagnetic spectrum and noticed that microwave radiation has a larger wavelength (less energy) than UV radiation AND visible light.
So my question to you, r/askscience, is why should I not stand in front of a microwave if visible light has more energy than microwave radiation? Wouldn't visible light be more efficient at causing mutations than microwave radiation?
EDIT: Thanks for your answers guys, can we focus on why microwaves seem to be more dangerous than visible light? (microwaves have less energy so shouldn't they be less dangerous?)
| 34 |
There's no reason not to stand in front of the microwave. You'll notice a piece of metal with small holes in it in the window of your microwave, that's there to form a faraday cage around the microwave so that only a negligible amount of radiation leaks out.
| 39 |
I believe that boycotting the "Ender's Game" film because of Orson Scott Card's beliefs is ridiculous. CMV
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I've been seeing recently that many people plan on Boycotting the theatrical version of "Ender's Game" because of Orson Scott Card's personal vendetta against same-sex marriage. I think this is not only ridiculous, but ultimately more damaging than it is helpful.
The first point I raise is that, while the story was penned by Orson Scott Card, religion is mentioned very little in the story, and same-sex marriage has absolutely nothing to do with it. I could understand if this movie explicitly decried same-sex marriage, but that's not what the story is about.
Second, Lionsgate has personally distanced themselves from Card's views, expressing absolute support for the LGBT community. The large cast and crew of this film, many of whom are looking to see this film do well in order to survive in their professions, should not be punished for the creator's views.
I believe that there comes a time in a place to separate a work of art from the opinions or mistakes of the author. For instance, some of my favorite films are Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Pianist. Just because they were directed by Roman Polanski doesn't mean I support statutory rape. He made a beautiful piece of art and I enjoy it. It has nothing to do with his personal choices. I don't feel it's the same as, say, paying money to Micheal Vick to watch a dog-fight. I am not personally supporting the crime.
Third, I believe there are much better ways to protest Card's views. Give donations to charities supporting the LGBT community. Support civil rights legislation.
Ender's Game is a fantastic story that had the misfortune of being written by a man with what are, in my opinion, very skewed beliefs. That doesn't mean the men and women who have worked very hard to bring this work to life share in his sentiments or should be held accountable for them.
| 44 |
You are working on false premises. We are not boycotting because of Orson Scott Card's personal beliefs. We are boycotting because of what OSC does with his money. He donates to organizations that fund anti-gay hate movements, such as the movement in Uganda to make it punishable by death to have gay sex. In addition to funding these organizations, he sits on the board of one of them (National Organization for Marriage, or NOM). The vast majority of us would not be boycotting if it weren't for the first and/or the second.
| 44 |
ELI5: What exactly is glass?
|
How does glass become transparent if it’s made of sand. My lil brainy can’t make sense of small rocks (my knowledge of sand) becoming transparent by any process like melting or pressure.
| 51 |
Think of it like ice cubes. Most ice cubes you see aren't clear, they're white. This has to do with impurities and bubbles while solidifying. But there is a way to make completely clear ice cubes (many companies are in business to provide clear ice), and it's done using a specific process. In this process, when water crystalizes, the water crystals form in such a way that light doesn't diffuse while passing through. The silica crystals that are made into clear glass do the same. the light passes all in the same direction (I don't say pass through, because in both water and glass, the light gets refracted, but all in the same direction).
| 24 |
[Star Trek] What are Federation Credits? Why do they exist?
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I don't know much about this Federation, but for the most part. I like it. However, when I was deciding which incarnation Earth to visit, I always read about how the Federation and Earth as whole had "moved beyond" the need for money. Yet it seems like these credits just act as a place holder for money. Do people earn them, like a wage? Or are people just given them for a certain amount of time? If it's the latter, why have them at all? I'm really quite confused by all this, dimension hopping is quite tiring, though I can tell that this galaxy has some pretty nice things (HERE I COME RISA!)
| 25 |
Federation credits are the currency of the United Federation of Planets. While the Federation internally has moved beyond most uses of currency, like goods (which are now replicated) or services (most of which is free), credits are necessary for some rare goods and services within the Federation and, more importantly, vital to trade outside of the Federation.
Credits outside of the Federation can be used in purchasing goods and services from the Federation. Since the Federation is peaceful, large, and powerful, it stands to reason that it is also a major economic power in the quadrant, with a healthy supply of technology, goods, and services that parties outside of the Federation might be interested in purchasing. While direct trade can be a medium, currency is far superior in trade.
| 14 |
ELI5: What actually happens to our memories when we have Alzheimer's? Do they fully disappear, are they still there but we can't remember them? And how much does a person actually forget?
| 35 |
Memories are a little more complicated than what we imagine, they're not simply like a folder on a pc that can get corrupted, but rather a Mish mash of many different things. For instance, the sights of a certain memory might be "stored" in a different place to the sounds, to oversimplify it.
So for a person with Alzheimer's, the part of their memory that links a name to a person's face may die, so they forget their name, but a familiar smell like that person's perfume might allow them to access that lost memory of their name even if they no longer remember their face. Or any combination.
Sometimes a memory will be gone entirely. Other times, it might simply be one of the "pathways" to retrieving that memory, like a sight clue, a sound clue, a smell clue and such.
| 54 |
|
[Marvel] does Bruce banner age? And if so, does the hulk? Can Bruce die of “old age” along with the hulk?
|
I was wondering if Bruce could die of old age? (organ failure and etc) or does he just continue to live? If Bruce where to die would the hulk also die?
| 36 |
On Earth 2081 (Hulk: The End), Bruce explains that his body continues to age like a normal human, but transforming into the Hulk as well as his regenerative abilities means that this process stretches into several centuries. And in that universe, Bruce does eventually succumb to a heart attack as his human body gives out. But the Hulk manages to emerge at the last moment and preserves Banner's unconscious body for himself. Leaving Hulk at last completely alone. Because if he ever transforms back, he and Bruce will instantly die.
On the other hand, on Earth 807128 (Old Man Logan), as Bruce ages, so does Hulk. And they're both considerably weaker and show all the classic signs of old age by the time Wolverine kills Hulk from the inside out. But this may not be a natural thing, but a consequence of the radiation/madness that overtook Bruce when the world fell apart. Just as his mind snapped, his body and power also started to wear away.
| 57 |
[Star Wars] How do you recharge a blaster? And how many shots before you need to?
| 27 |
Blasters use two consumables: tibanna gas and a power pack. The pack is basically a battery while the gas is what actuality gets fired out of the weapon. Power packs can give a variety of number of shots, depending on the make/ model and how much power your blaster draws per shot. The gas lasts much longer than the packs but still does run out eventually.
| 35 |
|
CMV: The Burger King "Net Neutrality" video is illogical and counterproductive
|
Referencing [this video](https://youtu.be/ltzy5vRmN8Q) that Burger King has produced to advocate for Network Neutrality. My view is that this video is both a horrible way to explain Net Neutrality, and a disaster as an advertisement for the company.
In the ad, Burger King uses the purchase of a Whopper as an analogy for internet traffic. The pricing of the Whopper is now scaled to include priority of service. If you wanted the fastest service, you would pay the most money and if you paid the least you would be given the lowest priority.
My first problem is that as a concept, I really wouldn't mind that plan. In the ad, a fast Whoper costs something like 5 times as much as a low priority Whopper. Putting that number aside as hyperbole, I personally wouldn't mind paying *something* for priority service. If they told me that for $.75 extra I could have my order placed at the top of the queue and delivered to my car so I wouldn't have to wait in a line, I'd be all for it. This is essentially the same as a "fast pass" plan at an amusement park, and those are extremely popular.
The second problem is the fact that there is no "Burger Neutrality" law that currently exists. If Burger King wanted to put the plan from the ad in place right now, there would be nothing to stop them. The reason why they don't is because people wouldn't go to their restaurant anymore. Customers would go to a competitor, or forgo the restaurant altogether. For a real world example, my ISP is specifically advertising that they do not throttle or prioritize traffic. If a competing ISP does decide to throttle traffic, my ISP will hit them hard for it.
And the last problem is that this is just terrible public relations for the Burger King company. I'll entirely put aside the politics of the ad, as it may be a wash with the message alienating about as many people as it attracts. The real problem is it portrays Burger King and its employees as the villains. When you watch the ad, you end up with a bad impression of a company imposing ridiculous rules, and uncaring employees enforcing them. Even someone who was predisposed to be in favor of network neutrality would come away from this video viewing the company negatively, even if you realize that it is satirical.
I can't imagine anyone who watched the video being more likely to go to one of the locations to buy food.
| 23 |
Now think of how you'd like it if *you* didn't have the option to pay for the fast service upgrade. It was just decided for you based on what the supplier to Burger King paid.
You can get fries super fast because the potato company paid BK extra, but if you want a burger, you have to wait, because the beef supplier didn't pay extra.
Now your whole value meal is slower because you wanted a burger instead of just fries.
The outrage isn't that you can pay for faster service if you want it.... Because you can do that now by ordering a higher Mbps package from your ISP. The outrage is that the ISPs can charge the suppliers more to provide fast service and you as the consumer don't have a say in it.
| 17 |
Can you get parasites from eating rare or medium rare steak?
| 53 |
Yes. The protozoan *Sarcocystis hominis* and beef tapeworm (*Taenia saginata*). The former resolves on its own after a few days; the latter sets up home in the colon and sheds a gazillion eggs, but is generally without symptoms unless one is heavily colonized with worms.
| 17 |
|
An ontology of society?
|
Do you know of any resources I can use to get information on what exists within a society and what some necessary processes are. These seem like obvious questions, but I haven't found anything that answers them thoroughly. I'm also not talking about something as fundamental as an ontology of the *social world*. I'm aware of social ontology. I'm asking for an ontology of a society itself. A more empirical, less abstract approach of just 1) What exists within it (people, governments, markets etc.) and 2) What the main processes are
Isn't this supposed to be common knowledge among anyone in the social sciences by now?
| 27 |
Well, this is not going to be very satisfying, but you're going to get very different answers depending on what field you ask, and there is no one resource that anyone can point you to that is going to make them all coalesce into something unified, because there is no unified theory of society, and many of the existing ones are either mutually exclusive, or simply largely ignore one another.
Your intuition is much the same as Auguste Comte's was two centuries ago, when he was writing The Course in Positive Philosophy. "We take a problem, we smash science into it until we figure it out. So why can't we just do the same thing with society? If we haven't figured it out, then it's probably because we haven't smashed enough science into it yet."
But it hasn't quite worked out that way yet. If you ask Berger and Luckmann, their going to give you an answer on how we interact collectively and how our shared meanings form. If you ask Paul Krugman, he's going to give you a very different answer with a focus on macroeconomic forces. If you ask a whole bunch of people *over there* they're going to tell you about how we shape society, *over there* about how society shapes us, *and over there* how evolution has shaped us and collectively shaped society in turn and also shaped the extent to which it can shape us and we can shape it. And in the corner there's a bunch of people mumbling to themselves about how evolutionary psychology isn't really a science.
The short answer is, we don't really know, but a lot of people have very strong opinions on the matter.
| 14 |
[StarWars] Why didn't the rebels simply fly a ship at light speed into the Death Star?
|
Surely a craft at that size and at that speed hitting it would do significant damage to anything really.
| 101 |
Several reasons.
One, the most significant, is the way in which hyperspace allows "faster than light" travel. A vessel enters hyperspace, which has navigable features that mirror realspace, but more compact. A ship in hyperspace doesn't so much have increased *velocity* as it does *reduced travel distance.* The Galaxy in hyperspace is far smaller and denser than the Galaxy in realspace. And those "navigable features" that mirror realspace in hyperspace? Those are realspace hazards to vessels in hyperspace. The reverse is significantly less so. Hypothetically, let's say we have *two* Death Stars. One is stationary in realspace and the other intends to ram it from hyperspace. In the end, the Death Star is realspace might experience some significant turbulence and gravitational distortion, but nothing that would cause anything beyond some sensor weirdness and confusion over how massive things are. Were it a living organism, it might have a "dizzy spell." The Death Star in hyperspace would be obliterated. *This* is why "traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops." What hyperspace giveth in the form of ridiculously fast travel, it taketh in the form of physical durability.
The flip side of this is now simple. A vessel (or projectile) in hyperspace simply won't do the damage you want. As soon as you emerge into realspace, all your crazy FTL velocity (and thus, energy) is now simply *gone.*
| 91 |
CMV: Football is an institution which causes more problems than it solves, and receives far more money than it deserves.
|
First disclaimer: I don't like football; I've never seen the appeal of men kicking a ball around a field while lots of people scream. I'm putting this here so my biases on the issue are clear.
Second disclaimer: as a Brit, I'm focusing on English football, not handegg. References to the latter are fine where relevant.
I don't think football provides any external benefit to society - by which I mean, it doesn't actually help anyone outside of the football industry. All I see, when I see football supporters, is people trying to assert their dominance over other people by reinforcing the status of "their" team, or putting down the other team. This is usually light-hearted in uni circles, but I know this gets a lot worse.
The 100 hour war, between Honduras and El Salvador, was triggered by a football game. Granted, the game itself was a small block removed from an already very unstable Jenga tower, but it seems to me that all football does it bring out the tribalistic, irrational animal in people that allows the 100 hour war and the Hillsborough disaster to happen. I can't see it as a tool for peace or friendship or discourse or understanding; all I see is anger, rivalry, shouting. It reinforces the same sort of in-group-out-group "You belong to a different tribe therefore you are bad" mentality that leads to xenophobia, and from there, racism and overzealous nationalism (read: UKIP.) This sort of mentality is something we need to keep a lid on, I believe, if we want to have a more peaceful society.
I'm aware, though, that there's likely a lot I'm not taking into consideration, and that my strong dislike for football has coloured my views no small amount. I'd like to gain a rounder perspective on the issue, so please CMV.
| 17 |
It's a form of entertainment, the only problem it was created to solve is boredom. It is no different than pop music or superhero movies.
So long as people find it entertaining, it is working correctly.
| 27 |
ELI5: Why do we need the Moon?
| 44 |
The moon stabilizes Earth's axis so that it doesn't wobble too much. It essentially acts as a weight, pulling on the Earth and keeping it on a fairly uniform rotation. This means that we have regular and consistent seasons and temperatures, which allow for agriculture, modern civilization, and all that fun stuff. Possibly even life itself because it's kind of hard to grow in a region when you can't predict what environment you'll be in within a year.
| 74 |
|
Why do some materials become ashes and other melt?
|
Well that's kind of my question really... like why iron and cheese melt but wood or Doritos melt...I know it sounds silly to ask that but I was thinking about and damm I don't really know and just kinda wanted to ask reddit.
Stay safe and good deeds.
| 26 |
fire is an exothermic chemical reaction. wood (carbon source) is chemically different after burning. melting iron is merely a physical change. it remains iron regardless of it being in a solid or liquid (or gaseous) state.
| 13 |
ELI5: Why is there an absolute zero, but not really an exact maximum temperature?
| 46 |
At Absolute Zero, molecular motion comes to a complete stop.
You can't get lower than that.
A maximum amount of molecular motion has yet to be established, so no maximum temperature has yet been determined..
| 66 |
|
How can you tell if it's Imposter Syndrome or actually real?
|
I figure that Imposter Syndrome is rampant in academia, and so you've likely experienced it at some point (or still do). I understand that Imposter Syndrome leads you to think that you don't belong and aren't good enough for whatever endeavour you're attempting, but how can you know if that feeling is actually correct or not? If I have a gut feeling that I'm just not cut out for something, how do I know if it's Imposter Syndrome or an accurate bit of intuition? Surely since I know how hard I work and how the results scale with that, I should be in the best position to judge how good my work is.
| 15 |
Judge yourself by the same metric everyone else does: publications, citations, and research output.
If a few years go by, you try your hardest, and you still can't manage to publish anything at good venues, maybe it's time to try something else. I'd give it at least a few years though, you can't really expect to do much meaningful work for a while. I'd dig in until then. Comparing yourself too prematurely is likely to just induce unnecessary stress.
| 17 |
ELI5: How does helium end up underground if it's lighter than air?
|
I was surprised to find out that helium is mined like natural gas, and I always wanted to know how on earth they end up trapped underground (like other lighter than air molecules and elements) when they're lighter than air.
| 85 |
Helium is generated underground when heavy radioactive elements deep inside the earth decay. One common decay process is for a helium nucleus the break away from the larger nucleus and decrease the atomic weight by 4.
The gas then has a tendency to accumulate with natural gas deposits over time, although much of it does slowly make its way out into space.
| 86 |
[Star Wars] Why didn't Sith ever carry a blaster pistol?
|
Seems like there are situations where a quick blaster shot (bearing in mind that a force user with a bit of training would likely be sporting 100% accuracy) could deal with an enemy that would otherwise require a lot more time and attention to deal with using the force/ saber.
Granted, Jedi have the whole 'only in defence' thing going on, so it's understandable that they don't carry guns, but Sith seem more about getting the job done, so why don't they carry additional weapons?
Note that I'm talking about the old republic era and prior, when Sith were more numerous, I don't want to know about Palpatine's or Vader's personal compunctions.
| 166 |
What, and degrade themselves down to the level of a typical soldier?
The Sith have the ability to use the *Force*, the ultimate power in the galaxy. Using the weapons of *commoners* is not how you prove, and remind, to everyone how much better you are over them.
| 195 |
How does cling-film (Saran-wrap) stick to itself? Does it leave any residue on the food?
| 125 |
Cling film easily builds up static electricity, the mechanical handling of it causes some electrons to get separated from their atoms, and so there's a charged imbalance causing an electrical force as the negatively charged electrons try to get back to their atoms. Since the cling film is an insulator, they can't just flow through the material. The same static electricity is also responsible for the general 'clingy-ness' of cling film. You may have noticed that cling-film sticks better to insulators like glass and plastic than it does to metal, which is a conductor which allows the static electricity to discharge easily.
Cling film is pure polyethylene (PE) plastic. It doesn't leave any residue (unless you leave the film itself) and PE itself is non-toxic.
| 56 |
|
[Halo] How do Elites, who are big on honor in combat, justify using cloaking?
|
Stabbing someone in the back who can't even see you doesn't seem very honorable to me.
| 26 |
In your definition of honor it isn't, but using superior tech to destroy an inferior species probably isn't dishonorable to them. Also, they bring swords into gunfights and getting shot and dying charging at the enemy isn't honorable but stupid.
| 59 |
CMV: Janet Jackson's exclusion from the Super Bowl LII halftime show has nothing to do with sexism.
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I genuinely think the people putting the show together did not give a shit about her breast being exposed in '04, and they only had Timberlake perform and not Janet Jackson because she's just not a superstar any more. When you look at the history of halftime performers, every single one is either a timeless legend (Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones) or someone who was at the top of the charts at the time they performed (Jessica Simpson, Shania Twain, Black Eyed Peas). Justin Timberlake is still in the prime of his career, and Janet Jackson is in the the end of hers. She's not going to keep people tuned in during the halftime show.
The one caveat, the chink in the armor of my view if you will, is that I do think they could have had her come our for a quick cameo or something (I can't honestly imagine why they didn't do that actually, maybe she declined), but I just don't think her popularity is at a level any more where she could headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
_____
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| 50 |
The argument is not so much that the Super Bowl LII is sexist, but rather that Janet Jackson has suffered from a sexist reaction to her super bowl halftime show. People making this argument argue that Janet was blackballed after the incident which contributed to her decline in fame, while Justin managed to make it through the incident virtually unscathed.
The Super Bowl LII halftime is just a reminder of that reality, not the cause of it.
| 45 |
[LOTR] Why does Gandalf need to search through old, obscure, poorly organized documents to figure out what Frodo's ring is?
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Wouldn't you want to have world-ending lore organized, and ready for inspection? Once he figures out that it's the One Ring suddenly everybody knows all about it, but before then he's sifting through papers for hours on end in some basement. Wouldn't you want information like that easier to find?
| 289 |
Only a handful of people ever saw the ring well enough to write about it. It's a pretty simple gold band that only reveals itself when thrown in a fire (which most people tend to avoid doing with their gold rings). All he knows is that it's magic, it's going to take more than that to figure out that it's the One Ring.
| 270 |
CMV: Political posts like Health Secretary, Education Secretary etc should only be held by academic experts in their field.
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In the UK every few years the government's 'cabinet' has a reshuffle and the minister in charge of, for example, education moves job to become minister in charge of transport.
Surely it would be more sensible if every few years elections were held where academic experts in each relevant field (each nominated by one party) competed for the position?
The current system where a career politician can go from being a local MP, to being in charge of the entire Education system then suddenly switch jobs and be in charge of the nations Healthcare the next week makes absolutely no sense to me - CMV.
edit: By academic I meant something along the lines of 'A recognised subject matter expert with relevant experience' rather than implying only university professors could hold office.
| 188 |
Why would it make more sense for a secretary in the given field to be an academic expert in the area? You are assuming that knowledge of a subject makes someone a more effective political operative for their given position.
The MPs all have academics that they consult when their personal knowledge is inadequate, but the actual office requires little know-how or research experience. Rather, it needs a competent political official who can work with other secretaries and the larger body politic to get funding/achieve objectives.
| 24 |
Could a forced major volcanic eruption be a solution to global warming?
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From my understanding, large volcanic eruptions can throw enough ash into the atmosphere that sunlight is reflected/absorbed and results in lower atmospheric temperatures. Why not find the next 'ready-to-blow' volcano, use a bunch of conventional explosives to set it off, and let the ensuing fallout work to cool the earth? Specific questions I have:
**Location**: How important is the location of the volcano? Would it need to be in a specific area on the Earth taking into account the prevailing winds, bodies of water affected, etc?
**Size**: Is there too fine a line between an eruption being big enough to influence global climate, and being small enough to avoid an extinction level event? Too much guesswork involved?
**Viability**: Is it even possible to force a volcanic eruption in such a way to produced the desired affect?
**Sustained Results**: Assuming all the above issues are resolved and the perfect eruption scenario, would it provide any kind of worth-while results. Would it provide temporary (relative) relief, or a lasting effect?
| 109 |
While the ash from large volcanoes does have a cooling effect on the earth, this is not a viable method to combat global warming because the effects don't last long enough. Ash from a volcano persists in the atmosphere for 1-2 years. In contrast, greenhouse gases such as carbon-dioxide have a atmospheric lifetime of several hundred years. So in order to be effective, you would have to pop off a volcano every few years.
As to the other questions, location doesn't matter too much but the ash from a volcano typically will stay in the hemisphere (northern or southern) where the volcano is located. Additionally, there is a bit of fine-line between getting enough effect but not too much. For volcanic ash to have a large cooling effect, the ash must be injected into the stratosphere, 10+ km high. So the net effect from a volcano has a sensitive dependence on exactly how high the volcanic plumes reach.
There are arguably better methods to seed reflecting aerosols into the stratosphere in order to create a global cooling effect. Stratospheric sulfate aerosol, a much discussed geoengineering proposal, could be created by spraying sulfuric acid or hydrogen sulfide from high altitude aircraft. However, this method would also require continuous renewal.
Speaking as an oceanographer, any geoengineering solution to climate change based on increased aerosols or ash in the atmosphere will doom the oceans. If we continue to emit fossil fuel carbons at the current rate, even if we apply a band-aid to the atmospheric heat budget, the carbon will still be absorbed by the oceans resulting in decreased pH and extinction for many marine organisms including corals and most shellfish.
edit: There is an additional location dependence with lower latitude volcanoes having the potential for more impact than higher-latitude. See comment by /u/mystic1729.
| 58 |
Conservatives have no reason to complain over liberal bias in the news media and Hollywood. CMV
|
Conservatives have long complained about liberal bias in the coverage and content from the news media and Hollywood (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias_in_the_United_States). They say that journalists and celebrities routinely favor the liberal POV and marginalize or shut-out the conservative POV.
It is widely known that most news professionals and Hollywood actors and executives have liberal views. Often the news coverage is sympathetic to the left-leaning stories and opinions. Hollywood is famous for celebrating liberal film makers like Michael Moore and actors like Sean Penn, while portraying conservatives and businesses in a bad or silly light. While these facts are not debatable, that does not mean that liberals have an obligation to satisfy to the whining of conservatives.
If conservatives don't like how their views are portrayed in the news media and entertainment, they have every chance to change the status quo. Most of the major businesses that produce the news and entertainment are publicly-listed companies. Therefore, if you don't like what their selling then either start your own firm or acquire enough stock to change the existing management.
One thing I'll give Rupert Murdoch credit for in creating Fox News is that whatever you think about the conservative bias of the channel, he saw a void in the existing programming and rushed to fill it with his own take on the news. He hired staff that reflected his own conservative views and invested in Fox News such that it is the number one rated cable news channel for ten years running.
If conservatives don't like the fact that Jon Stewart is mocking their POV, then convince your oil baron buddy to acquire Comedy Central and replace Stewart with a conservative comedian. If you decry that MSNBC has become a mouthpiece for the DNC, then tell your billionaire hedge fund to buyout the channel from Comcast.
Conservatives are often portrayed as the friend of the rich and powerful. If that is the case, why not use that fact to your advantage and make changes as you see fit?
Therefore, conservatives have no substantial complaint when it comes to liberal bias in the news media and Hollywood because they have the ability, just not so far the willingness, to do something about it.
| 41 |
I would argue that trying to overcome the liberal bias in the entertainment industry is far harder than you think, but instead will just focus on the main complain, a liberal bias in the News Media.
The news media is supposed to be the 4th branch of government. Ideally they should be the check and balance on the Judicial, Legislative, and yes, even the Executive branch.
They have been slipping in this regard for some time now. At times it was a matter of "being polite" in not reporting on certain shenanigans. Then it became a matter of not reporting for political reasons.
It isn't the conservatives who should be complaining about the liberal bias. It is the American people who should be crying out, demanding that the media do their job and report the news with as little bias as possible and without the swing that is used now.
| 22 |
Do normal actions feel normal for the Flash/Quicksilver?
|
When they go super fast, can they still do everything normally, except everyone around them is still, or does psychics make stuff they interact with still go slow? Like, would Quicksilver opening a door, turning on a gas stove, and frying an egg feel normal to him even if he's doing it 100x faster than normal?
| 28 |
Quicksilver: unless the action is from Quicksilver's interaction (opening a door, turning a crank) the action will take as long as it does normally and from Quicksilver's perspective it is a very slow process.
Flash: Speedforce.
| 23 |
How can some websites be immune to large DDOS attacks?
|
Large websites like google seem invulnerable to DDOS attacks, but how can they detect and decide if a packet is malicious in time for the next bit of information to arrive?
| 15 |
Its not just a matter of detection it takes a lot of bots or people all attacking at the same time to be effective. It takes even more if your site has a robust network able to handle something like that. Its all about taking bandwidth away with a DDOS so if you have a lot of bandwidth its harder to DDOS you
| 15 |
Why are the values of most major currencies so similar?
|
The US Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Singapore Dollar, and Swiss Franc all occupy a range in value from about $0.70 to $1.40 USD.
Why are the values of these currencies so similar, and why do certain other currencies like the Yen and Rupee have values orders of magnitude less?
| 53 |
It's just history.
For example, the Euro has its roots in the "European Unit of Account", which was just basically an accounting tool to make things easier for inter-european trade, etc. The EUA was defined as 1 EUA = 1 USD. Why? Because that's just easy. And that was carried over to the European Currency Unit and later the Euro. That's why the value of the Euro and the USD are still roughly the same.
Lots of other currencies have similar pegs. The pound for example was pegged at 1 Pound = 4 USD in 1940, after the war the Pound experienced several devaluations and it ended up at 1 Pound = 2 USD. It went up and down in value a bunch more times until it landed at where it is nowadays.
For Japan, the currency used to be worth a lot more, back in the 1870's, but it experienced several episodes of inflation.
But ultimately, none of this is necessarily particularly meaningful. It in of itself doesn't convey information about actual purchasing power and things like that.
I mean, 110 Yen are about the same as 1 USD, but if someone who earns $10 an hour in the US would earn 1100 Yen an hour in Japan given everything else is the same and these 1100 Yen buy the same amount of goods as 10 USD, then it's just a bigger number. Literally that's it. It's like if you would start counting things in cents instead of dollars, that doesn't make you any richer or poorer, it just means you have two extra zeroes.
| 60 |
CMV: Trans sports bans are a solution in search of a problem
|
Various states across the US are pushing new legislation aiming at banning trans kids from participating in sports in schools and colleges. The details of the bills vary, but most of them target the participation of trans kids in one way or another.
I'll be focusing on Mississippi SB 2536, but it is, to my knowledge, very similar to the bills being introduced in more than 20 other states.
An excerpt from Mississippi SB 2536:
>> SECTION 3. Designation of athletic teams. (1) Interscholastic or intramural athletic teams or sports that are sponsored by a public primary or secondary school or any school that is a member of the Mississippi High School Activities Association or public institution of higher education or any higher education institution that is a member of the NCAA, NAIA or NJCCA shall be expressly designated as one of the following based on biological sex:
>> (a) "Males," "men" or "boys;"
>> (b) "Females," "women" or "girls;" or
>> (c) "Coed" or "mixed."
>> (2) Athletic teams or sports designated for "females," "women" or "girls" shall not be open to students of the male sex.
This is a common thread through these laws. The law also specifies its reason for this:
>> (e) The biological differences between females and males, especially as it relates to natural levels of testosterone, explain the male and female secondary sex characteristics which develop during puberty and have lifelong effects, including those most important for success in sport: categorically different strength, speed and endurance.
The purpose of this bill, according to the state legislature, is to ensure that sports remain fair. Because if trans women competed with women, it would be unfair, because they have an inherent advantage.
That said, is "trans athletes dominating women's sports" actually an issue that Mississippi has? The associated press reached out to Lawmakers in Mississippi and numerous other states, [and found](https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7):
>> Legislators in more than 20 states have introduced bills this year that would ban transgender girls from competing on girls’ sports teams in public high schools. **Yet in almost every case, sponsors cannot cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation has caused problems.**
The article is fascinating, and worth a read. Another excerpt:
>> There’s no authoritative count of how many trans athletes have competed recently in high school or college sports. Neither the NCAA nor most state high school athletic associations collect that data; in the states that do collect it, the numbers are minimal: No more than five students currently in Kansas, nine in Ohio over five years.
The lawmakers proposing these bills are not doing so because they see a problem that desperately needs solving. Because that "problem" _doesn't exist_. Just like with the infamous "bathroom bills", the threat is, at best, completely hypothetical. (It is possibly worth noting at this point that the bathroom bills were pushed by a group who [knew they were making it up](https://www.intomore.com/impact/anti-lgbtq-activist-admits-bathroom-predator-myth-was-concocted-as-cover-for-transphobic-hate/).) Trans women are not dominating women's sports. This seriously calls into question the claim in the bill itself, that trans women have significant advantages over cis women, which is its primary justification for existing. And the fact that the people proposing these laws most commonly cannot name a single trans athlete in their state that they would consider mentioning as justification for this bill indicates to me that they _know_ that there isn't a problem worth solving, and are moving forward with these bills anyways.
These bills exist not to combat any actual problem, but rather to further marginalize trans people for the sake of marginalizing trans people.
Change my view.
| 82 |
Is the fact of those officials being unable to name cases of transgender advantages in top tier physical competition in their state because trans athletes don’t have advantages, or because trans athletes in top tier physical competition are incredibly rare if not virtually nonexistent in many states? If it is the latter, that doesn’t seem like compelling reasoning to make the positive assertion that mtf transition does not maintain significant extra muscle mass for however long of a time period after or during transition.
Most lawmakers also could not name a single case of top tier athletes dominating competition by wearing rocket boots either. This does not mean rocket boots wouldn’t be an advantage in the hundred meter dash.
The thing about serious competition is that it’s not a purely social issue. It’s also about the livelihoods of people who have dedicated quite literally their entire lives into honing one specific skillset. As we only have studies trying to predict how much muscle mass mtf athletes retain, and rather limited solid practical data in practice for now, it’s hard to say whether a ban is justified or not.
It is, however, definitely incorrect to attribute wariness of said potential issues purely to some sort of social maliciousness.
| 30 |
ELI5: How do we know a computer is "learning" in a neural network and not just keeping track of certain, very specific inputs to be repeated the same way every time?
| 54 |
Smart question. The latter case is called *overfitting the data* or *overlearning,* and you can test for it by seeing how the computer responds to new test inputs. If it's great at the original training inputs, but useless at the new inputs, that shows overfitting.
| 61 |
|
How will a 'twisted' eyeball affect my vision?
|
So,this might be a stupid question,but it has been in my mind for months...
If one of your eyeballs turned upside down 180 degrees,what would your vision be like?
Would that eye eventually adjust and have normal sight?
Ps: Merry Christmas
| 18 |
They did an experiment where someone (or something) wore a set of glasses that flipped everything upside down for the course of a few weeks. They found that the imagine eventually restored its self to normal - up was up, and down was down.
| 22 |
CMV: Gerrymandering in the name of racial representation is just as wrong as racial or partisan discrimination.
|
I watched John Oliver last night and the topic of republican gerrymandering came up. A long held belief of liberals like Oliver is that Gerrymandering for partisan reasons or racial discrimination reasons is wrong. He then perplexingly noted that it's not always bad like in Illinois 4th district because it gives Latinos representation.
Isn't this just as bad and anti democratic? If you let someone's voice matter more because a similar group of individuals hold the same belief isn't that tyrany of the majority (even if that majority is part of a larger minority).
| 66 |
You misunderstood the episode, the point that was that not all squiggly districts are gerrymandered. The Illinois 4th district is merely drawn to encompass a latino community. *That is not gerrymandering.*
Gerrymandering *can* involve drawing lines around the whole of a community, that is known as "packing", but it only results in gerrymandering in tandem with "cracking", that is diluting a community as a minority in many different districts.
Imagine a state with 1 million people, 500k democrats and 500k republicans, that is to be divided into 10 voting districts.
Gerrymandering is when one district is drawn painstakingly around 100k republicans and no one else, so the other 9 districts can all equally be drawn with a slight but comfortable majority of democrats.
Replace democrat and republican with black and white, and it's the same deal. "Gerrymandering in the name of racial representation" is what republicans have been caught doing in Virginia. The Illinois 4th is not just a pro-latino equivalent of that, it is an entirely separate kind of situation, where there was one big democraticleaning area, and within it, the inter-district lines were drawn in such a way to create one latino and one black district, instead of two half-latino-half-black ones. No group got "cracked", only meaningful communities were defined for representatives to represent.
| 22 |
CMV: Apple Overprices Way Too Many Of Their Products And It Is Not Justified
|
A topic that has been raging for quite a few years now, and the arguments I hear from the people defending Apple are quite weak, so I am now turning to the more Intellectual people of Reddit to see if anybody can change my mind.
​
Before I start, I will state that I am not stating that ALL of their products are overpriced. For example, the reasons one might buy their iPhone are quite obvious. Buying a secondhand iPhone, you can find many for under $300 at this point that are still being supported with updates, but many of their other products are have insane prices without good reason.
​
Now onto the main argument, how their prices are not justified. For the beginners who start to see the truth of Apple, their first argument against the tech giant is most likely going to be the Price. This was the exact case for me, and with good reason.
Although their products are high quality, the competition just offers better for less.
​
There are many examples of this.
And so that I can target the average consumer, I will not be looking at their "Pro" Series.
​
For this, I can give many easy examples of how overpriced their products are.
Their Apple Watch Sleeves are $50 each
Beats Headphones, although doing better in quality, get outperformed by any other headphone manufacturer in the market.
The Macbook Pro has horrible specifications for $1200 (Edit: It seems like the value of the MacBook is very subjective because of the OS it runs on, so I will leave this out of the argument).
And even their repairs can cost upwards for $1000 because of an out of place cable.
| 78 |
A lot of people have already mentioned the "consumers decide what they are willing to pay" aspect.
I would add that the reason apple is so high is not based on quality. **Having the newest generation of Apple products is a status symbol, and that is what people are paying for**. Apple is as much of a designer company as they are a electronics one.
For example: A $10,000 mechanical Rolex watch over the course of years tells time worse than a $10 quartz crystal Casio watch. The $10 Casio also comes with more functions (calendar, time zones, timer, maybe temperature, can set alarms).
So why isnt the Casio watch $10,000? Because people are buying a ROLEX. And they can show their friends they have a Rolex. And those friends can be very impressed they could afford it, and the the buyer feels good about themselves.
THAT is why an Apple product is so expensive. It has nothing to do with the specifications, because the general consumer doesnt give a shit about the specifications.
| 22 |
How did the Jedi fall for the 'clone army' trick?
|
So there's a powerful dark force interfering with their abilities. Then a convenient army, that they didn't commission or request, turns up to fight their battles for them. Hadn't these wise sages heard of the 'too good to be true' principle?
I understand that they may have been desperate enough to use the clone forces anyway, but they started acting like they trusted them implicitly; sending Jedi out alone with large units to act as commanders, etc etc.
| 69 |
The Jedi's powers were being suppressed for years before the Clone Army showed up. It wasn't step one block powers step two giant army. There was no reason to suspect the two were related like that in anyway. Furthermore, the Clone Army had been commissioned in secret by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, who was a widely respected member of the council and particularly gifted with precognition. In fact, Sifo-Dyas commissioned the Army *because* of the growing unease the Jedi had, and the cloud in the Force that was appearing. He didn't have time after that to explain himself to the other Jedi before he was betrayed and killed by Count Dooku, but it's likely that the Jedi found this in their investigation as to the creation of the Clone Army and Sifo-Dyas' death.
They still didn't trust the Clone Army at first, but they needed their help. The Republic had no army of its own, and here was one on a silver platter. So they took control of the army themselves and became the Jedi Generals once again to mitigate any potential issues. After three years of fighting literally alongside the Clones, the Jedi had absolutely no reason to believe the Clones would betray them like that. Many of the Jedi believed they had made friends with some of the Clones. Order 66 came completely out of nowhere for the Jedi, and that's exactly how Palpatine wanted it to happen.
| 78 |
ELI5:Why is it legal to use adblock and listen to music for free on YouTube but illegal to download the music to your phone?
| 17 |
Youtube is a streaming service. A stream works in much the same way as a radio: A broadcast is made, and you tune in to listen/watch. If someone broadcasts illegally, it is not illegal to listen-- it is illegal to broadcast.
But when you download, you are taking illegal ownership of a song or film, and that is punishable.
| 16 |
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ELI5: Why do you still feel the motion of waves after a long day at the beach?
| 16 |
It is a form of vertigo. Your brain adjusts to the feeling and it becomes normal.
When you are back on land, your brain continues to go through the same process, trying to keep you up right, even though it's not needed anymore.
| 12 |
|
[Star Trek] Okay, so we know that "Holo addiction" is a thing, but...
|
We also know that material needs and wants are a thing of the past, so I don't NEED to have a job or anything.
What is to stop me from getting my own holodeck (after expending the minimum amount of effort required to obtain one, as the Picards have their own Vineyards and the Siskos have... something...), having all my food delivered to the entrance, and spending the rest of my life as a virtual Q, toying with the holo inhabitants at my whim?
Is the population monitored to prevent that kind of thing? Would they have the legal right to break down the door and drag me out, kicking and screaming?
| 45 |
Nothing, really, though Holodecks require quite a bit of maintenance to keep them functioning so you really can't use them anywhere close to 24/7. Though no doubt any friend or loved ones you may have would start stopping by to express their concern, and fairly soon.
And their concern would be warranted. Like with any addiction, holo addicts find they need a stronger and stronger "fix" to keep themselves entertained. At first, one may stay amused through simple adventures or sexual fantasies. Very quickly, though, the lack of any danger and complete control over the virtual inhabitants lead to boredom and loneliness. In cases where holo addiction goes untreated, the ultimate result is the same self-destructive pattern found with any other addict. Whether it is engaging in increasingly perverse sexual fantasies, or neglecting one's health in devising more and more intricate simulations, or turning off the holodeck's safety protocols in order to provide a real sense of danger, the addict will eventually kill themselves in one way or another.
And let me tell you, it's usually a combination of those factors that does it, and the results are the most embarassing death one can imagine. In the decades before World War III, men would occasionally be found having accidentally killed themselves by attempting something called "auto erotic asphyxiation" (you can look it up). As humiliating a way to die as that is, holo addicts can be far worse. It's not uncommon in these cases to be found dead, having died by turning the safeties off, while engaged in sexual practices so deviant that *the safeties were relevant in the first place*.
| 35 |
[Legend of Korra] What were the red Lotus doing during the Equalist rebellion?
|
What were the red lotus doing during the Equalist rebellion? did they have plans to stop it?
| 15 |
There is no larger Red Lotus movement. Zaheer's immediate associates were the only true believers, everyone else who was swayed by his rhetoric abandoned ship, either when he abducted a five year old or after Chief Sokka caught them.
| 35 |
Why doesn't a pregnant womans immmune system attack the baby?
|
Why doesn't a pregnant womans immune system attack the baby? Because it is kind of a foreign object in the body since it's different dna?
| 48 |
It can. If a woman has rH negative blood (such as O-), and has had a prior pregnancy with a child with a rH positive blood type (such as A+), the mother may develop antibodies to the positive rH factor. This doesn't affect the first child, but can affect subsequent pregnancies with children of rH positive blood types. Basically, the mother's immune system would attack the fetus's blood. Immunoglobulin (Rhogam) is given after a pregnancy to rH negative women to counteract the likelihood of issues during subsequent pregnancies.
| 66 |
[Civ V] One nation has total control over the World Congress even if every other nation votes vetos their resolution, why don't the other nations just leave?
| 210 |
The Political points or whatever that the nation earns to takeover the world congress represents two things. One, would be the general respect that nation has in the world, as in everyone's believes that they are looking out for the entire world. The other more interesting thing it represents is how much blackmail and other things that nation has on the other nations leaders or members in congress. Gandhi isn't going to leave congress if Genghis Khan is going to release the information that all of his nukes (he loves to threaten people with) are really just giant 4th of July fireworks his uncle brought back from Mexico.
And, of course, as the other user said they are just waiting to be on top themselves. If they leave then there is no institution to ever be apart of. Some people argue that's why the poor vote for politicians who want to lower taxes on the rich, everyone believes they will someday be rich.
| 145 |
|
[Supernatural] Are there any monsters that don't look like humans?
|
I became a Hunter because I want to fight cool monsters.
So far, it's been pretty disappointing. Pretty much all monsters that we have seen either look like humans or are basically humanoid in shape.
Are there any monsters out there that are clearly inhuman, like giant spiders or reptilian creatures or tentacled abominations? I'm tired of encountering "guy with sharp teeth" or "girl with claws" 100 times a month.
| 16 |
Monsters tend to prey on creatures in public, and ones that can't hide from hunters tend to die off.
There are a number of shapeshifters with inhuman forms- dragons, lamia, angels, kelpie, leviathans. They tend to have a human form and a more inhuman form.
There are some parasites, like khan worms, which hide in humans.
There are hellhounds, which look like devilish hounds.
If you want more inhuman, I'd suggest hunting in remote areas away from humans, or purgatory.
| 17 |
[LOTR] How did Saruman possess Theoden?
| 25 |
In the books - he didn't. The part with Saruman speaking through Theoden's mouth doesn't happen.
Theoden has been lied to and demoralised by Wormtongue. Gandalf cures this by showing Theoden the truth. He shows him the light through window. He gets him to stand and walk. He gives him his sword to hold. He shows him the landscape - its not that dark.
| 41 |
|
ELI5: How do the mental processes of people with Down Syndrome differ from people without it?
|
(serious)
| 26 |
People process their environment using their I.Q. and their emotional intelligence. Language skills are particularly important. If someoneone doesn't have a word for something, they can neither process nor remember it. (This is why you cannot recall your infancy. You did not yet have an active vocabulary to categorize and process the things you were seeing and experiencing.)
Typically, a person with Down Syndrome has an I.Q. aproximating that of a child 8 years of age or younger. This means that they also have the vocabulary and reasoning ability of a very young child. Also, much like young children, Down Syndrome people may not have a clear division between the two hemispheres of the brain (as a normal adult does). This inhibits their ability to distinguish between fantasy an reality, between the truth and a lie. The creative side of their brain and the logic center do not correctly categorize information. Also, the transference of learned information from the short term memory to long term memory is compromised in Down Syndrome people. This is why they have difficulty learning new information and skills, and may not recall things like family vacations or certain birthdays unless something unusual happened that would act as a "place marker" to assist in categorizing the memory.
| 18 |
[Marvel] If Ant-Man shrank down, hid in Luke Cage's drink, waited to be swallowed by Cage, and then expanded to full size inside of him, Would Luke Cage die?
| 94 |
Probably. Ant-Man would be breaking bones and displacing/damaging internal organs. The skin may not, and should that be the case, Ant Man is trapped within a human-shaped prison without air and probably with broken bones and organs as well.
| 54 |
|
CMV: There does not exist a single legitimate reason to strongly support Trump unless you are or will soon be upper class/rich and want a lower tax rate.
|
Now strongly support does not mean vote for. It does not mean they think they have two bad options and will vote for Trump. Strongly support means you are excited that he was nominated and think he will be a good-great President.
He has no issue on which he is strong on:
Abortion.
Probably the best reason for a pro life person to vote for Trump. However, if you are pro life, you can at best view Trump as tolerable. Most of his life he has stated that he is pro choice and has described the Republican party as being crazy far right. And honestly, I'm extremely skeptical that a Trump presidency would decrease abortions more than a Hillary president would. Birth control is the most effective means of reducing abortions. Under Clinton, birth control would be much more widely available than under Trump. Furthermore, even a lot of pro life judges will respect precedent and refuse to overturn Roe v Wade.
Furthermore, given that he has vowed to start killing the babies and wives and siblings of terrorists, I don't think he's the right choice for someone who values human life.
Economic policy
This is outside my area of expertise so I concede that if you have an advanced degree in economics and you truly believe his policies will be beneficial to the country as a whole and not just yourself I would be open to changing my view. However, his tax policy, on its surface, seems absurd. It looks like it will wildly add to the debt. Now, debt isn't inherently bad, but you need to be investing the resources properly to justify taking on that debt. This tax cut won't be one that pays for itself according to virtually every think tank.
He criticizes Obama for TARP and the stimulus yet the overwhelming consensus is that these actions saved us from economic disaster.
Maybe he is dumbing it down for the viewers,but the way he talks about economic policy seems so uninformed and childish. He says the debt increased under Obama and GDP growth has been slow and therefore Obama's policies were bad. That kind of correlation based argument just makes him look wildly uninformed about economic policy.
Immigration
Net immigration has been essentially zero for years. Rapists aren't pouring over the boarder. At least before he said he was going to deport the people who are here illegally but he has since back tracked on that. So he's going to waste tens of billions of dollars on the boarder wall and patrol in order to fight a non-existent problem.
Foreign Policy
Again, he's either a liar or wildly uninformed. He thinks he knows better than all the generals and intelligence officers which is scary. He was told that Putin was behind the hack and just chooses not to believe it. Not listening to people a lot smarter and a lot more knowledgeable than him is perhaps his most dangerous attribute. Which brings me to:
Temperament and overall fitness to be President
He is either stupid or a compulsive liar. He claims he knows more than all the generals. He claims he knows more than all the climate scientists. He claims there does not exist a single person in the world who respects women more. He claims if he loses Pennsylvania it will be because it was rigged despite every poll showing him down. He claims the election is rigged against him even though it hasn't happened yet and he is 7 points down in the polls. He brags about language that either pushes the boundary of what is consent or is actually sexual assault. He can't control himself when other people are talking. He shouts in the middle of Hillary's answers that she is wrong about things there is actual video of him saying.
Here is a brief list of things he has lied about:
His position on the Iraq war
His position on invading Libya
Mocking a disabled New York Times reporter
Obama founded ISIS
Obama supported al Qaeda
Having very credible evidence Obama was born in Kenya
Unemployment is 40%
Japan and others should have nukes
The state dept lost 6 billion dollars
I never told people to check out Ms. Universe's sex tape
David Petraeus did far less than Hillary regarding the emails
There is large scale voter fraud and the election is rigged
Crime is way up and the cities have never been more dangerous
He makes Hillary look like honest Abe. His lies are Bosnian sniper fire level of just objectively false and insane.
_____
> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*
| 94 |
If you have a job that will be moved overseas by TPP, or is getting done cheaper by undocumented workers, that is a legitimate reason to vote Trump.
I don't agree with the man, and won't be voting for him, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons his followers will be.
| 58 |
CMV: It should be illegal to advertise prize money as $1,000,000 if it is paid out over many years.
|
I believe that it should be legally required for companies, lottery organizations and other groups that they accurately advertise the full amount. In other words, it should be illegal for America's Got Talent to declare that they are giving a "million dollar prize" to first place when it is in fact an annuity of $25,000 a year for 40 years. This annuity is really only worth the equivalent less than a third in lump sum.
This basically amounts to what I feel is false advertising. Stretched to the limit, I could advertise a $1,000,000 prize for the winner of a competition and simply put in the fine print that the money is paid out over 1,000 years. Due to inflation and missed investment gains, the prize amount is a very low amount of money in net present value.
Either the company should advertise $25,000 a year for 40 years or simply give the net present value. Anything else is flat out deceptive.
_____
> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*
| 206 |
What you seem to have an issue with is reading the fine print of something, rather than the legality of advertising the pay out of a contest or lottery.
Entering a contest or lottery you are essentially entering into a contract if you win and decide to collect your winnings. It falls on to your shoulders to read the contract in its entirety, "fine print" included and then make an educated choice of accepting a pay out of winnings over X amount of time or one lump sum.
| 51 |
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