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AskHistorians/c4vdksn | uh9pn | Why did the Sumerians find this fart joke funny? | Layman speculation here: I've heard this joke before and I always assumed that the way it was phrased in the original language was similar to formal or ceremonial religious sayings, but unexpectedly ends up being a fart joke. I picture it like a modern American walking up to someone and saying "We hold these truths to be self-evident: whoever smelt it dealt it." | 238 |
AskReddit/efshu6o | andkoc | What’s the most physical pain you’ve ever been in (bonus points for emotional too)? | I tried to jump off a hurdle onto another lower hurdle. It didn’t work and I ended up landing on my side on the smaller hurdle. It left a massive goose egg bruise on the side of my stomach just above my waist for weeks. It was every colour of the rainbow. Do I qualify for bonus points if my entire grade saw it happen and all laughed? | 3 |
AskHistorians/cb9vku7 | 1j0kpq | What first-hand accounts do we have from the Roman Republic? | For the Punic Wars, Polybius, while Greek, was a fairly Roman-centric contemporary historian who lived during the Second and Third Punic wars, writing about all three of them. His accounts are hands down the most detailed and reliable accounts of the wars with Carthage. The reason I call him Roman-centric is his close ties with the Scipio family. As for the fall of the Republic, Cicero's letters to his friend Atticus go well with Caesar's commentaries on the Gallic Wars (De bello gallico) and the Civil War (De bello civili). | 10 |
AskReddit/d16zp6b | 4b8rby | What old fashioned word or phrase do you still like to use? | I read quite a few old fashioned and fantasy books. I have been since my early years of reading and it seems to me that a lot of the dialogue has rubbed off on me. Now when I speak I will subconsciously fit in old speech patterns and terms long out of use. It's great when role playing and such, but sometimes I have people that don't get what I just said, then I have to clarify. It's nettlesome. I'm not about to quit, though. | 7 |
AskReddit/ejab9nj | b50dol | How do you relax? | I can't. I'm always tightening muscles in all parts of my body (unknowingly) I've only been relaxed 3 days in my life (that I remember) and that was the 3 days after smoking weed | 2 |
AskReddit/c3u0j6k | q1tsa | What is the most overused and misunderstood quote? | Not the most overused, but "where art thou, Romeo" is often both mis-written, and misunderstood. The original is "wherefore art thou Romeo" and means "why are you Romeo", not "where are you, Romeo". | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/cwv3tm3 | 3s8txt | Why do depressed/suicidal people cut themselves? | Short version: depressed individuals experience a great deal of emotional pain. Whether real or imagined, genuine or fabricated, they experience a psychological pain. It is difficult to experience quick "relief" from this pain, since psychological trauma has its own healing process. Individuals will then cut themselves, experiencing a physical pain and physical trauma that the body knows EXACTLY how to deal with. Endorphins to release pain are released, blood clots, scabs form, and the body's natural healing chemicals soothe the brain from the physical pain AND ALSO eliminate some level of that pre-existing emotional trauma. Individuals begin to realize that the negative emotions seem to lessen after a session of cutting and get fixated on the physical release, seeking the relief by cutting. Source: psychologist, hypnotist, managed RTFs, dated a former cutter in college. | 6 |
askscience/c9ksxuk | 1cx43e | Are reactions to smells socially constructed? | If all reactions to smells were socially programmed, then how would animals such as a skunk, which rely on foul-smelling compounds as defenses survive? It's clear that at least some negative smells have a biological basis. This makes sense evolutionarily, as there is a pressure to avoid disease-causing agents, or else suffer the disease. We don't eat rotten flesh because it smells bad, which protects us from all kinds of nasty diseases. However, where biology doesn't predispose us to instant disgust or pleasure, there's room for interpretation. If you have really bad fish one night, then the smell of fish will put you off for weeks. However if you enjoyed your meal, then the smell of fish could be neutral or positive. The olfactory system is closely connected to memory, so if you have a good memory, it probably becomes a good smell, and vice-versa. Even so, it probably won't resonate on the visceral level of rotting flesh. | 7 |
AskReddit/c10jy2q | dixrc | If you're up for it, could some of you share some PTSD experiences? | I don't have PTSD, but I have been through some stressful situations. I have been robbed at gun point in a park. I have seen my friends die right next to me as they were shot. I luckily didn't get hit though. So yeah, life goes on. Eventually life will end and that will be it. I'm not really living in the past because I don't have much of a future so I'll just hope for the best. | 2 |
AskReddit/d0vpdv6 | 49xhb0 | What's something your spouse would get wrong when planning your funeral? | The fact they're planning a funeral for me. I don't even want one, I just want to be cremated and give my loved ones some of my ashes or if they don't want them, sprinkle them somewhere in my honor. I can't stand funerals and how people look in caskets. I don't want to be remembered like that. | 3 |
AskHistorians/c9td3n2 | 1ds9ax | What conspiracy theories turned out to be true? | Interestingly, almost none of the responses in those threads seem to really hit the nail on the head. They are more along the lines of "what crazy secret things did we eventually find out happened" as opposed to what I would have assumed the question was, which was "what sorts of things were initially dismissed as conspiracy theories but actually turned out to be true?" That is, "what sorts of events were there conspiracy rumors that actually were shown to be accurate?" Because that's a much harder, and much more interesting question, in many ways, because the relatively low number of such events shows how much "conspiracy theorizing" misses, in terms of actual events. | 16 |
AskReddit/emvph0s | bmd890 | Why do you think people align themselves with a political party? | Tbh I really Don't know, you can say you align with those standards( agendas) but all of it is bullshit and one sided, I prefer to stay unafiliated, I Don't align with any party. Now my parents are republicsn because they agree with rhe agenda( they are, in fact, very traditional conservatives) I for one, do not agree with " just one" agenda, why close yourselves off when You can just live and let learn. | 3 |
AskReddit/ehlpnp0 | awd0i9 | What dreams made you question it for the rest of the day? | I fell asleep in my grandmother’s sweatshirt last night. She passed in the summer, so I am still mourning and coping with my first real loss. This dream was more like real life than actual reality, she was hugging and kissing me and making me laugh until my stomach hurt. Everything was ultra colorful and she looked healthy so happy. I woke up in her sweatshirt and just felt warm, I had to really remind myself it was a dream all day. | 2 |
AskReddit/eiid61l | b10kc8 | How do you force yourself to take care of yourself (eating healthy, hygiene, getting active) when you're depressed? | You know the thing about when you are in a hole, stop digging. This is one of those situations. Depression has a self perpetuating element. You don't feel like doing stuff because you are depressed, then you use the depression as an excuse not to do stuff and you get more depressed because stuff isn't getting done. One the keys to surviving depression is to accept that even though you feel horrible you still have to do stuff. | 4 |
AskReddit/em4jcfm | bj115c | What’s something simple that 90% of people don’t seem to understand? | that it isnt weird or stupid if someone else doesnt live life by your rules, there are so many people saying that someone is living his life in the ''wrong'' way. just because they dont follow the same rules as they do. example: wow that dude is ruining his life, he isnt going to university, only to community college. and starting his own company pfffff does he even think hes going to make money that way? thats stupid. | 279 |
explainlikeimfive/ct1pbat | 3d4l65 | Why is heating for homes standard but cooling isn't? | That depends on the climate you live in. Where I live both are standard on homes. In places where it never gets very hot then there's no point in installing an AC unit on a house, and the same goes for heating systems on homes in year-round not climates. | 3 |
askscience/c377r8t | n8y47 | How can you blow out a candle flame? | Many of the answers seem to have to do with cooling down the heat source, but I would also submit for consideration that, in a candle, what's actually on fire is vaporized paraffin, not liquid or solid wax, and by blowing on the flame, you disrupt the vapor, moving the paraffin molecules away from each other, which will end the self-propagation of the combustion reaction. | 16 |
AskReddit/dcs99rc | 5pkrjo | What discovery or invention do you want to see in your lifetime? | All of them. If Kurzweil is correct, soon we'll be living in a post scarcity society with our infinite lifespans being pampered by our AI servants hand and foot. From there, we could live to see just about any conceivable invention in our lifetimes. | 2 |
askscience/c3tbbq0 | pyumh | If tides are caused by the moons gravity pulling on the water, are we lighter when the moon is above us? | In short, yes, but the difference is so minor that only the most advanced instruments would detect the difference. The tides are actually a good example of just how minor the Moon's influence is compared to the Earth's. Out of roughly 139 million square miles of ocean (half of which is influenced by either of the two high tides each day because there is a high tide on the side of the Earth closest to the moon, and one on the furthest as well), the water only rises by roughly 2-3 feet on average, ~40 feet at the absolute most, where geography and other factors maximize the effects of the tides. | 14 |
askscience/cc038l8 | 1lk68d | Why are the stars in focus? | If you're nearsighted (myopic), stars will not be in focus. Stars look like pinpoints for people with corrected vision or naturally sharp vision, because only an extremely narrow ray of light has traveled from that star to hit your eye. Try drawing it out on a sheet of paper, and you'll soon realize that stars can only ever look like points. | 2 |
askscience/c590pce | vzjby | In reference to a car's internal combustion engine, how are Petrol/Gasoline and Diesel different? | This is slightly unrelated, but the different engine configurations described by odichthys have a big effect on the performance. A big problem with gasoline engines is knock - this is when the premixed fuel/air in the cylinder ignites from the heat of compression before the spark plug tries to ignite it. This limits the maximum compression that can be used for an engine. Diesel engines don't have this issue because the fuel is injected later. This allows diesel engines to use much higher compression, which gives them a better efficiency. The other issue is emissions. A gasoline engine's fuel and air are mixed prior to ignition. This reduces pockets of excess fuel which would lead to soot. This also dilutes the flame with excess air, decreasing the highest temperature in the engine, which significantly reduces NOx emissions (these are the emissions that cause smog). However, in a diesel engine, the flame exists at the interface of the liquid fuel spray and the air. Because the fuel/air are not well mixed, there are pockets where there is excess fuel, leading to soot, and the flame is not diluted with excess air, increasing the maximum temperature, which then increases NOx. So, diesel is more efficient in terms of energy usage (leading to lower CO2 emission and fuel use) but it releases more soot and NOx, causing smog, asthma, and other health problems. | 3 |
AskReddit/dz5x10r | 8k9ft2 | How do you get an "adult" job if you're under-qualified? | Try getting a job you're more qualified for at a smaller company, that has the position you want. My company has about 200 employees, and you get a ton of visibility and mobility that way. Most of the execs started in entry-level positions with the company and moved up, sometimes to roles that are completely unrelated to the job they were first hired into. Customer service and inside sales jobs are easier to find, and once you get in and prove yourself you can move around toward better roles. | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/df83pyo | 60oyli | When you buy or sell stocks/shares, is there ALWAYS someone willing to sell/buy? | Almost always. If you are willing to pay a high enough price, or sell at a low enough price, you can almost always strike a deal. Occasionally, when there is some earthshaking event that moves the stock, sellers outnumber buyers (or vice versa) be so much it can be hard to find a trading partner. Also, off the major exchanges, you have penny stocks. They are usually very small companies that are thinly traded. With those you can sometimes have trouble finding a partner. | 3 |
AskReddit/c7roh0p | 1610ld | What's your least favorite movie adaptation from a book? | Blade Runner. To clarify: it's probably my all-time favorite movie, but it bears almost NO relation to "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". tl;dr - great film, horrible adaptation. | 2 |
askscience/ebsaoky | a650pq | How do water molecules on opposite spokes of a particular flake "know" to reproduce a specific pattern? | It has to do with the crystalline structure. Water molecules have a specific shape, and they like to align together in specific ways. That leads to a hexagonal pattern in the crystal (and six-sided symmetry). But like tiling a floor, once you start the pattern, only certain alignments will then be allowed. And because it started symmetrical, it continues in that symmetry. So each 'arm' of the flake looks like each of the others because it started from the same pattern. | 18 |
AskReddit/c69k9wk | 101hn6 | When is long hair too long? | I don't think it's creepy at all. Usually I am impressed with long hair [past their bums] that's very well kept. There must be a lot of time, effort, and patience into growing hair that long and keeping it clean and well kept. | 3 |
AskReddit/ce2m1mg | 1sytlo | If you have an infinite pool of money to start your dream business, what would it be? | I would start a Halloween mid to high range decoration/ make up effects and animatronic manfacturing business. That way I can design things and also mess with 3D printing and hire a bunch of other artists who otherwise have trouble getting decent work. | 2 |
AskReddit/e7nd128 | 9nmh62 | What's the best way to quit your office without getting into any legal problem? | Are you serious? It's not complicated. You write up a short letter saying that you'll be resigning your position effective two weeks from now. Hand it to your supervisor. They'll either say "ok", or let you go on the spot. If they terminate you before the two weeks is up, you may be entitled to unemployment benefits, but maybe not. ​ What "legal problems" are you expecting by just quitting a job? | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/cxgtvq8 | 3upkxk | What are the insurance laws regarding being an Uber driver? | Pertinent story: I tried to become an Uber driver several weeks ago. I called my insurance to obtain some records that were required for registration, and my agent explained to me that I wouldn't be covered in an accident. He also explained how its becoming very common for people like myself to become drivers, then wind up completely uncovered because they didn't check with their insurance. In order to be covered, you'd require a "for-hire" endorsement on your insurance. | 2 |
AskReddit/ee6n13q | agjdug | What product or service can you not believe people spend their money on? | The lottery. When a lottery ad says that the chance of winning is 1 to a 100 million it means that you are not going to win. No point in wasting money on it. It doesn't matter if "some people win at lotteries", because that's just survivor bias. 100s of millions of people have also not won at lotteries, so you won't either. | 7 |
AskReddit/c4dmy42 | sfmqv | What is the worst apartment or house you've ever lived in? | I lived in a house that was pretty much falling apart and was located in the ghettos of Salt Lake City. My roommates smoked inside the house and my bathroom had mold growing in it. I paid like $350/month for it. | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/diseq9t | 6gp41e | Why are movie/tv film makers choosing such dark lighting? | If we are in dramas, the darkness adds to the atmosphere tone trying to be made. Now if we are in the realm of cgi, shooting scenes in low light can hide flaws but this can be made into a strength Take the movie Godzilla from 2014. The final battle takes place at night in a destroyed city. The lack of lighting outside of explosions, natural light and fire hides the monsters. We can't make out 100% of their bodies but our brains fill in the blanks. We stay immersed and don't become distracted because we are actively trying to understand what is happening in front of our eyes. CGI is far more obvious when there is a large amount of light, such as day time scenes. We can see everything and as a result we notice what is real and what is fake, which can unfortunately ruin the immersion. Practical effects also need attention to lighting. The film Prometheus has some of the best special effects for a sci fi film in recent memory. To this day I still have trouble distinguishing what was cgi and what was practical. I think the way the director uses lighting really influences this. | 2 |
AskReddit/e2y4ek5 | 91hx4b | Why aren’t there any dinosaur gummy multivitamins for grownups? | If you accidentally give your child an adult multivitamin over time it could be toxic. Parents can be easily confused by adult and children's multivitamins if they are dinosaur shaped. | 9 |
AskReddit/c75zf7h | 13ol5b | What bothers you about Reddit? | It bothers me how one sided this place is in relation to politics, religion(well, atheism), and human rights. Like a lot of other users have said, don't you dare be a conservative or you'll be downvoted to oblivion. I'm a conservative. Oh, and I'm fair. But most people will never know because they'll automatically try to destroy what I say. I'm not allowed to have an opinion unless it's mainstream. That is why I mostly lurk. | 2 |
AskReddit/c61w3i7 | z6kpg | Are US citizens allowed to have overseas (tax exempt, private) bank accounts? | You can have foreign bank accounts, but they are not tax exempt. If the balance in all foreign accounts totaled exceeds $10,000 you must file form TD F 90-22.1 - Report of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts with the Department of the Treasury by June 30th of the following year. Very large fines for not complying. | 3 |
explainlikeimfive/dd4vpik | 5r6myd | Why do you need a GFCI receptacle in wet places when it provides the same function as a circuit breaker? | A circuit breaker trips when too much current is detected. Here "too much" is on the order of 15 amps. By the time the breaker trips it's far too late for the person being shocked. GCFI trips if the current imbalance exceeds a much lower value, around 0.006 amp. | 6 |
AskReddit/duoxf2n | 7zl9hk | How much is capitalism to blame for inequality and if not significant, what other larger factors are at play? | I always find these types of questions strange, people post from their smart phones about inequality, not realizing that they live better then kings of previous generations, and capitalism played a big role in that. | 3 |
AskReddit/eknq1bm | bc45nb | Why is the black hole called like that when the photo is orange? | The orange you see is the accretion disk that is revolving around that black hole. The black hole basically feeds on it. And the black you see in the middle of the orange is Event Horizon , the point at which nothing could ever return except Hawking's radiation (still under debate). | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/e2vtaxb | 9162px | Why does thinking about certain things make me sneeze? | I don’t have an answer, but I am fascinated because the exact same thing has happened to me since I was a kid. If I so much as thought about something I considered sexually unconventional I’d sneeze. Interestingly, once I tried it or stopped thinking of it as unusual I’d stop sneezing. It got to the point where if I sneezed in bed my wife would jokingly asked what I wanted to try next. | 9 |
explainlikeimfive/ccolxl3 | 1o41u0 | Why are sketch artists allowed in some court rooms when photographers are not? | it is a lot harder for a sketch artist to accidentally draw someone who wanted to remain anonymous, like a juror or an underaged witness it is a lot easier for the court to review a few sketch than several hours of video sketching is less intrusive and less likely to make court participants nervous | 3 |
AskReddit/c4rwtxt | u33f5 | Why do fire trucks often have a "vintage" look, whereas ambulances and police cars don't? | Police cars and ambulances are based on production vehicles. Fire trucks are mostly just utilitarian and low rate production. Right angles and flat sheet metal are far easier to produce in small quantities than compound curves and varying angles. The lettering is usually chosen by the department. | 3 |
AskReddit/c9bjspz | 1bzged | What's the strangest thing that has happened on a family vacation? | Not sure if I would call it strange, but the combination of events is certainly unique. It was the summer of '86 (I was around 5) and my whole extended family rented a place on the beach. Here's a list of the main events: My cousin got her toenail ripped off by a stall that fell on it; Her brother bust open his shoulder pretty bad on a windowsill while we were running around the house; Myself and two other male cousins "attacked" my 13 year old female cousin as she left the shower. Pulled her towel looking for some boobies; My sister got very sick, threw up and had diarrhea for half our stay; I had an intense case of ear infection; My family was the one to close the house after everyone left. My dad locked the keys in the trunk and we had to wait for a locksmith; After arriving home, my uncle's wife started unpacking. Found a note from his mistress in his clothes. | 2 |
AskReddit/c5c81id | wctsa | What is the worst way you have ever been woken up? | Was out hiking in the mountains near my house and met these cool foreign guys. They were a riot so I we trekked back to my man-cave and stayed up late drinking wine. I'm passed out when I wake to the worst pain of my life - they gouged my eye out! I screamed and ran but once I was outside I realized I wouldn't be able to get medical attention on my own, so I started calling for help. The bastards then had the audacity to taunt me as they cruised away! Worst day ever. | 3 |
AskReddit/czkacxh | 43r1b9 | What moment in your life has changed you the most as a person? | Moment I came home very upset and drunk and (after months of contemplation) almost tried to take my own life. At some point sitting there sobbing on the kitchen floor with a huge knife in my hand I thought about many different things and realized it wasn't worth it. Not that night at least. The depression and suicidal thoughts didn't go away for a while but eventually they did and I consider that night my turning point. I'm glad I didn't do it, I'm not exactly a happy person yet but I'm making great strides toward that and alot of good has come my way since. Don't give up people! | 2 |
AskReddit/d0fzh24 | 47vus0 | Do you like your job? | I know I love my job because I have never not wanted to go. Every morning I wake up and I'm happy to go, which I hope never goes away. I'm a park ranger and our staff is a small group of 5 which has kind of turned into family. The tree hugging and animal tracking stuff is cool too | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/d19r01e | 4bjpvi | How do universities like Harvard maintain and attract students to take classes in less known departments like African language programs? | I don't know, specifically, but I do know you cannot compare a place like Fordham with Harvard. Harvard's endowment is close to $40 billion. This is the largest in the world and it means Harvard can afford to do a lot of crazy things. Harvard also has a lot more royalty income and grant funding. Fordham's endowment is under $1 billion. They simply can't afford to have single person classes (which exist at Harvard). Further, there's a difference in the class compositions. The Harvard "brand" has worldwide appeal, and they can attract diverse applicants from everywhere. Fordham is prestigious but not that well known outside the U.S. northeast (I'm sure some Fordham alums will be furious at that, but it's true). | 5 |
explainlikeimfive/dy72w7k | 8fwpoq | How does a TV show episode get on air? | There are many shows such as family guy that will make all their episodes at once over the span of about a year. Most shows take a long time to create episodes. South Park is very strange because they make every episode in 6 days, which is insanely impressive and I’m sure extremely stressful for them. | 3 |
askscience/c5dp73m | wisd1 | What uses more gas, driving with the AC on or with the windows down? | This depends on the speed of driving and the aerodynamics of the car. At 0 mph, it is definitely more efficient to have the windows open. At 250 mph, it is definitely more efficient to have the AC on. At some point there is a crossover. I've heard various estimates for this point, from 30 mph to 50 mph. | 3 |
AskReddit/crlohp1 | 37d95k | If you work a typical 9-5 job, what do you during your down time to make you feel like you aren't wasting time? | I build tools to make my job easier: Code generators specialized for my tasks. Scripts for repeated tasks. Document libraries and API corner cases. etc. | 3 |
AskReddit/dlggcb3 | 6sy2w4 | How do you spot a tourist in your city? | They're way too enthusiastic about the town. I live in a small city (20,000 residents), and it's somewhat rundown. It used to be a factory town, but similar to all the other rust belt cities, industry went away many years ago. I mean it really is beautiful here, but tourists don't see the cool parts. They just drag their entire families, tandem strollers included, into posh coffee shops, waltz into the bike shop eager to rent things to ride the GAP trail, and they're usually wearing those puffy vests no matter what season it is, hahaha. "The mountains are chilly, dear! I know it's August, but it's probably already cooling down in the upper lats! We never have to worry about getting a chill here in Rockville. snooty laughter" ^conversation I imagine all families who travel here have as they're packing, hahaha. Edit: a word | 2 |
AskReddit/diaok8k | 6eix1k | Can people really fundamentally change who they are after 30? | I had no idea how much I would change in my 30's. It can be the most transformative time for people, because you are slowly reaching the point where you no longer care what people think of you. Your parents' opinion no longer holds sway. You start to surround yourself with friends you like instead of those you think are cool. You've had time to try a bunch of stuff and figure out what makes you happiest. Think about what being free of self-consciousness and false attachments could do to your personality. I'm entering my 40's now, and I can't help but think that this is when life really starts getting good. | 3 |
AskReddit/czf936r | 433y6j | What is the most considerate thing your parents have done for you? | Adopted me and loved me. Who knows where I would be if not for them. To me, they are "mom" and "dad". And I'm also thankful for my biological parents. No ill feelings towards them, I got to grow up with wonderful parents in a loving environment. | 2 |
AskReddit/ejqyj1x | b7dy8c | What was the weirdest thing you were scared of as a kid? | Saw a bad scare documentary about myth animals like the Jersey devil, and they made a picture of a chupacabre that scared me shitless. I would occasionally look over my shoulder in the dark till I was like 15 | 4 |
explainlikeimfive/c6cdedm | 10cm0e | How does caffeine make me stay awake? | In your brain, there are chemical sensing molecules that react to different hormones, vitamins, and foods to see what your body needs to react to. Drugs like caffeine interact with these molecules to make your body do different things. What Caffeine does is plug up the sensor for a hormone called adenosine, which tells your body to slow down for sleep. It does this so well that other sensors recognize that the chemicals released when adenosine is sensed that physically cause cells to slow down are missing. One of these chemicals also tells your brain if you're poisoned or not. If it's missing, your body panics and starts releasing adrenaline, which is the same chemical that your body releases if you are scared or angry so that you have more energy. All caffeine is the same. The caffeine that is in soda is actually taken from coffee and other plants like Guarana and added later. | 7 |
AskReddit/djf5wtc | 6jlu7s | How would you kill 36 hours on a train with your SO? | I misread the title and thought it was an Alfred Hitchcock plot. "Ok, I have 36 hours to make this murder look like an accident". We are pretty good at having our separate mobile games we like but with that much time I might want to bring a few lightweight card games too that can be played 1v1 or coop. | 4 |
AskReddit/cf1whux | 1wh6h4 | If Obama's plan to raise minimum wage is passed, what effect will that have on consumer prices? | The min. wage now is over $3.00 lower than it was forty years ago, taking into account inflation. Raising it to those levels again is not going to cause prices to rise much. | 4 |
AskReddit/e5s9g7s | 9ewtqh | If you could make a computer virus that would spread like wildfire but only did beneficial things to someones computer, what would you program it to do? | Real talk, I would just make it install ublock origin and force chrome. Probably also hide IE/Edge. I find most of the virus removals I end up having to do are results of an erroneous pop-up being clicked or a spam ad getting undue attention. No pop-ups? Fewer viruses. | 3 |
explainlikeimfive/d9m2qnx | 5b651n | Why are students considered more liberal than their contemporaries (both in modern and historical times)? | The young, which students tend to be, do not have as much invested with the current culture or status quo. They often do not yet have jobs or have only entry level/base level jobs, do not tend to own property, do not tend to have much savings or investments, do not have families that they have to care for, etc. They basically do not have much to lose and so do not have much to protect. As such they can afford to be liberal and pursue massive change to society. As they get older and get more of the things mentioned above they have more to protect and so become more conservative as protecting what you have currently and resisting change that may harm what you have is what being conservative is primarily about. | 5 |
AskReddit/cd8r77s | 1q3cw5 | What is a song you cannot listen to on public transport because of the feels? | "Little Light" by Clara C. and Sam Ock. It brings back a lot of feelings I felt before I started dating my SO. I hide the nostalgic feelings I usually get from the song, but sometimes they just come back really hard and give me that warm feeling you get in your face before tears of joy fall down your face. I'm a guy. I'm not even lion (I know you'll read this eventually and understand the pun goddamnit). | 2 |
AskReddit/efc640d | ala8et | What happened when you told someone to do something, thinking they wouldn't, but they actually did it? | I told my friend to act sick so he could get out of class since he didn't want to be at school. He didn't just act. He ended up forcing himself to throw up and threw up on a girl's desk and was sent home. I was absolutely baffled, even more so when he ended up dating that girl | 6 |
AskReddit/evsoktc | cl432j | What is the weirdest thing your cat/dog eaten? | My cats have had pretty typical 'unusual' tastes. Arwen is obsessed with olives and olive oil, Bubba loved brocolli and yogurt. But I had a dog eat through a wall. | 2 |
AskReddit/d05iiiw | 46iw2a | How can you spot a "narc"? | You will have to define narc. There are different meanings. I have heard narc used as a slang for a police informant, and a slight derivative of that when the victim of a crime calls the police the perpatrator labels them a narc for grassing them up. ( my first hand experience of that was a domestic violence incident. However the victim was not the brains of Britain, and the perpetrator also appeared to lack the mental agility to push wet string uphill.) So back to the question. How to you spot a grass / informer. Difficult to do, but simple to prove. You have to track the information you tell people and notice which bits start getting flagged and tackled by 5-0. The other way which is harder, is get your own pet piggie. A copper on your payroll. | 2 |
AskReddit/e1r9sl8 | 8vy1ux | Why are dogs so afraid of fireworks? | I'd say something clever or thought out, but while one of my grandma's dogs is terrified of fireworks, the other one literally chases them and EATS THEM, we had to keep her inside all 4th of July so she wouldn't hurt herself, so I think dogs are just dorks | 2 |
AskReddit/chpiih2 | 26bovq | What was your biggest video-gaming satisfaction? | I'm awful at video games. I didn't get to play them while growing up, so by the time my boyfriend showed me his shelves of games and several gaming systems, I was like a toddler. I'd get confused where the square/circle/x/triangle buttons were (imagine glancing between the screen and those buttons and trying to make a combo). I'd get lost in small rooms, confused whether a doorway was actually a doorway or just set dressing. I'd wander off in the wrong direction, sometimes for hours. Shadow of the Colossus was especially bad for this, even with the addition of the magic sword that points the way toward your next goal. Knowing that I like to draw, he bought me Okami. As predicted, even with extremely limited moves, I was awful at it. We joked that Ammy had brain damage from all the times I tried to swing the camera around and wound up hitting the directional joystick instead, slamming the protagonist into a wall, an NPC, or sending her flying off a cliff. Then the fun wore off and I got frustrated every time he tried to correct me. "Jump on that ledge." I'd accidentally hit another button and Ammy would start digging. "No, jump." "I'M TRYING!" "That's the wrong button." "I KNOW!" "Then why did you hit it?" I stopped playing around him, but started playing on my own. I blundered through every quest and side-quest, wandered idiotically around the countryside for literal days and racked up a lot of money from all the times I accidentally went flying into a demon gate. A side-effect of my ineptitude at the controller meant I got into a lot of fights and eventually I started getting good. Months. It took me months. It was the only game I played. I racked up atrocious hours. I had the time of my life. I never consulted an online guide (I didn't even know they existed). I just kept moving forward and trying everything out. With no one's help, I beat my first video game. I still cry when I hear the end credit music. I had so much fun playing alone in my room at night, with my headphones on, saving the world one stumbling step at a time. | 2 |
AskReddit/ecgrdbl | a964a9 | Do you really know the deep history of the place where you live? | I live in an old asylum. The stories about the place (especially in its early days) are horrendous. ​ People were admitted here for the smallest of things like being dyslexic, being pregnant out of wedlock, even just if their families had enough of them and made an excuse to get them locked up here. They'd become institutionalised to the point they could never be properly discharged into the community ever again (until mental hospitals were deemed surplus in the late 80s/early 90s and patients were given over to "care in the community" - i.e. pretty much abandoned). At least whilst here it was like a proper community in itself and pretty self-sufficient. There was a farm, an on-site shop, a textile unit where clothes were made (and sold), a cricket pitch and team formed. all manned by the patients and dedicated staff. ​ A nearby church has a lovely field in the middle of the graveyard. Seems nice, until you get to the top of the field and there is a tiny headstone by the wall that says "Here lay the bodies of 3500 men, women and children who died in the local asylum." These people had no families (at least that wanted them) and were just buried along with all the other nameless in that field. ​ The buildings were also taken over during the war as an hospital for injured military (asylum patients just moved around away from the place or even abandoned). ​ The whole place is now a little housing estate 'village', with lots of new-builds and a couple of the old hospital buildings turned into apartments. I love it - one of the nicest, quietest, community-led places I've ever lived. Oh, and there is also a prehistoric fossil forest on the land which is classed as a "Site of special scientific interest" (SSSI) and is protected so no-one can build on that portion of the locale (it has been turned into a woodland walk now). | 2 |
AskHistorians/cbguj7z | 1jn5sh | Did Grigory Potemkin really present fake villages to feign progress and impress his temptress, empress Catherine II of Russia? | A bit of Potemkin's background helps explain the "Potemkin village" slander, and why it was effective. The man wasn't born into a rich or powerful family, yet he was elevated to become almost a co-ruler of Russia. Part of this, of course, was due to his love affair with Catherine. As far as his rivals were concerned, Potemkin was an upstart who took shortcuts to power, and those "shortcuts" meant that he was a fraud. And Potemkin did take shortcuts. Tasked with building out the Black Sea Fleet, he first built a fortress and shipbuilding center at Kherson, completely ignoring the fact that this was a horrible location, susceptible to malaria outbreaks from the nearby delta of the Don River. When it came to building the fleet itself, Potemkin again accomplished the task in a phenomenally short period of time. In his haste, he resorted to using green timber (which reduces a ship's seaworthiness), and the resultant Black Sea fleet had great problems with surviving storms. Given Potemkin's propensity for accomplishing grandiose feats in short periods of time, fraud was an easy way to explain away his success. The idea that he'd fabricated villages out of whole cloth is, then, an exaggeration of the truth, and this is why it was so successful. | 3 |
AskReddit/eng6ig9 | bogzle | When did you realise your SO was for you? | There were a few times. She likes to ball both hands into fists and lean on them with them on her cheeks. It looks like she's pretty grumpy when she does this even though she isn't. One day I noticed that I no longer think it's weird when she does it but instead I found it cute. That was a nice day. The biggest thing is that I'm 20 and a pretty cynical person, so it's pretty consistently been on my mind that my relationship won't work out. We've spoken about that and whatever, I even wrote a breakup playlist (there's a long story attached to that). Eventually I woke up and realised I was no longer watching out for the end of our relationship, that I wasn't convinced we would break up. That was a wonderful realisation and as part of it I deleted the breakup playlist | 4 |
AskReddit/el5iyw2 | befeu9 | Which is better, ice cream in a cup or ice cream in a cone? | I have celiac disease, so I can’t eat regular cones (and gluten free food is awfully expensive). Anyway, they tend to be messier as the ice cream melts really fast, so it’s gotta be a cup for me. I’m especially fond of chocolate sundaes. | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/dtoo6kl | 7v137e | How did people figure out what combinations of 0s and 1s do specific tasks in CPUs? | No one "figured it out" - instead they decided it. They might have decided that 10100001 means "add the next two numbers together". If that's what they decided, they'd then have wired up the switches so that if the 1st, 3rd and 8th digits are all on (and not the others), it supplies power to the "add the next two numbers together" circuit. They could have chosen any series of 0s and 1s they wanted for this command, they just had to decide, then wire up the switches in the appropriate way - a bit how the light switch in your lounge turns on your lounge light, and the light switch in your bathroom turns on your bathroom light, only more complex because it's a combination of switches that turns on the required circuit. | 3 |
AskReddit/d0nw8bo | 48zkgu | What always makes you gag? | At work, finding someone's forgotten carton of milk, having to pour it down the sink and it has completely turned, lumps of the stuff landing in the sink with that smell. That makes me gag | 2 |
AskReddit/cav54ua | 1hkaw1 | What do you think American schools desperately need a course in? | I think Redditors desperately need a course in what courses are actually taught in American schools and how effective they are. I always see stuff like "Personal finance" mentioned, but that is widely available, and it doesn't accomplish much. In fact, banks and lenders advocate for classes like that in lieu of regulation. they know the people making horrible financial decisions just sleep through classes like that anyway. | 7 |
AskReddit/c9ndim6 | 1d6jw3 | When you first left University/College what jobs did you get and did it support you well enough? | I worked before I went to college. I went to community college first for 2 years. At 16 I did school to work computer jobs programs that got me some great experience. Then I worked at a Sylvan Learning Center until I finished CC. Then moved to the bay area to finish school. Worked at Best Buy Geek Squad since I had built up a technical skill set in computers. Finished both then got hired at a small food corporation has help desk. So all of my jobs have supported me well enough but the key was that I built up practical working experience and knowledge. My education was in art. Nothing to do with what actually paid me well. Experience, experience, experience. Get it as soon as you can. | 3 |
AskReddit/cgjxs9n | 22701d | Is college still worth going to? | If you're expecting the current economic situation to remain like that for the next 40 years. Sure, it might seem unimportant. If you feel you could do without further knowledge in any field and still come out successful or achieve that knowledge by yourself then sure you could avoid it. My suggestion? If you can go to college, go to college. It's still very worth it. | 2 |
AskReddit/e4sc9hs | 9a2wya | When in physical pain, is it true that inflicted pain elsewhere will minimize the INITIAL pain still being felt? | As someone who had terrible back pain and then got tazed by a friend while I was locked at a 90 degree angle because of my back pain was spiking, no, it all just felt terrible sent me to the floor. It was a pain so bad that I couldn't even make a sound. I just opened my mouth as I dropped to the floor in silence. | 2 |
AskReddit/ebnldpq | a5m7o2 | Which fictional character was portrayed as a villain in the movies, but would be seen as having mental health problems in reality? | Hades from Disney’s Hercules. Dude seems to have a major inferiority complex and major anger issues. Blames everyone else for his own problems. If only he had a therapist instead of two tiny gargoyles for company. He could easily and nicely asked one of the Muses to help. | 26 |
AskReddit/c84x5xs | 17f4l1 | What is a book or movie that you absolutely love, but you admit that it is poorly written/made? | The Hunger Games. I was so disappointed by the writing style, and felt like it could have dug a whole lot deeper, but I did spend a entire weekend reading non stop to get through all three books. | 28 |
explainlikeimfive/cbzfjip | 1lhzdl | Why are Native Americans/Canadians still called "Indians"? | The origin of Native Americans being called "Indians" starts with Christopher Columbus who set sail across the Atlantic ocean in an attempt to reach India. Columbus and Queen Isabella disagreed on the size of the earth. Columbus thought the earth was much smaller than the queen and set off to prove that he could sail across the "empty" Atlantic and land in India. Columbus landed in North America and assumed that he had succeeded. He thought he was in India and therefor he called the people he discovered "Indians." The name stuck even after it was known that he had landed North America and not India. Today it isn't really considered correct or polite to call Native Americans Indians, but the name has been used for so long that it's hard to change. | 2 |
AskReddit/cq7xgfs | 3250gy | Is losing your religion a necessary step in the progression toward spiritual growth? | Yes, of course. Even if your "religion" is atheism, eventually you start to realize that the nonexistence of God is the absolute least significant thing about reality - that obsessing on what isn't there makes no sense, and that what is there is amazing. But speaking more generally about spirituality, as you grow internally, a person loses the need for artificial structures, myths, fantasies, and the trivializations of profound truth that religion creates for cynical predators and parasites to exploit against the naive and gullible. You learn to see with your own eyes instead of constantly through the lenses imposed on you. Even, again in the case of atheism, through the lens of whatever initial negative reaction to religion made you loathe its falsehood rather than just moving past it to what the real truth is. | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/d9tncug | 5c4c9s | Why does a computer number pad go down from 7-4-1 while a phone goes down 1-4-7? | Computer number pads come from calculators, where numbers are likely to follow Benford's Law. Lower numbers are more common and correspondingly placed lower on the pad so they're easier to type. Telephone number pads come from a bunch of research Bell Lab did when they started to develop phones with number pads instead of rotary dials. They tested all kinds of ridiculous designs and found that the one we have today was a good mixture of speed and accuracy. After they set the standard, other phone manufacturer's followed suit. | 9 |
askscience/ccday81 | 1mwbk0 | If the speed of a molecule is a function of its temperature, is there an upper bound temperature in which the atoms would be moving at c? | Temperature measures energy, nod speed. The average kinetic energy of a molecule is proportional to T. At very high temperatures, the motion is described by special relativity, and KE is no longer 1/2 mv^(2). Even though v < c, the energy is not bounded, and the temperature can be arbitrarily large. For electrons, relativistic thermal effects become significant at T ~ 10^(9) K, or so. That's hotter than the center of the Sun (~10^(7) K). (Caveat: The proportionality of E to T fails at low temperatures - not an issue here.) | 8 |
AskReddit/c2dd8km | jmoyr | Is it better to be most kind, or most true? | I would like to be fun, smart, true and kind person friend to those I meet. A fun friend turns any time into a good time, a smart friend makes you use your head, a true friend keeps your secrets and tells the truth always, and a kind friend gives more than they take. Generally speaking, I try to put truth, kindness and loyalty at the top of my priorities each day. Some days are so much easier than others. After all, we're only human. | 2 |
AskReddit/ckfghz7 | 2g3l14 | What was the last lie you told ? | A friend gave me a bunch of squash from his garden. I hate squash. I brought the bag of squash to work so my co-workers could take them home. I don't know why but this became a big deal and all day long everyone asked me how I grew so much squash. Rather than tell them that the squash came from a friend I lied and told them that I grew the squash. I don't know why I did this. | 2,048 |
explainlikeimfive/dgulitd | 67zza4 | Why does water dry out skin instead of moisturizing it? | Because it "tricks" your skin. The water gets the skin wet, and in response, the skin stops producing naturally moisturizing oils - because why would it need the oil? The skin is super moist. But then the water evaporates/gets absorbed super fast (compared to how long it takes to make new oils). So your skin gets dry until the oils can be made again. | 22 |
AskReddit/e5bqtpa | 9cmshv | What is something you wish your parents hadn't made so easy for you growing up, because you have trouble dealing with as a grown up today? | The struggle needed to succeed. I was cursed with a loving, relaxed, happy home where as long as I was happy, they were happy. Perhaps as a result, I don’t have any drive or determination and have just bumbled along doing stuff that makes me happy (like smoking weed for 30 years!) I realise I can’t usually complain about my lovely parents, so this seemed like an opportunity to share. | 4 |
AskReddit/dy161rk | 8f7dah | What's your favorite memory of you and your father when you were still a child? | Hate my father. A few good memories though. I showed him I could make a paper hat by folding it, he said he could make one too then stuck newspaper on top of my head and wrapped sellotape under my chin and on-top of the paper. I thought it was one of the funniest things. | 2 |
AskReddit/c13t5wg | dy7ns | What songs did your parents sing to you when you were little? | My mom sung a lot of songs to me, she was a music person and she wanted it to rub off on me(it did). However, every single night, before bed, she sang "You are My Sunshine". Even as a teenager, if I needed some extra mom comfort, she would sing it to me. I sing it to my oldest daughter(who is named after her) every single night now. | 20 |
AskReddit/cjwjgdw | 2e6ml7 | What is a grudge you still hold? | I was a very fussy eater as a child and this infuriated a friend of my mother when we were staying at her house. After a couple of days of me refusing to eat the food she was making she lost her patience and grabbed by cheeks to squeeze my mouth open so she could force-feed me. I was about 6 or 7 at the time, I have never forgotten it and I still hold a grudge 22 years later. | 6 |
AskReddit/c0v87lc | ctwt4 | What made you happiest when you were a kid? | Watching TV. It was the only thing in my childhood that truly made me happy, sadly enough. I never understood why my parents decided to punish me by taking it away when it was the only thing that ever made me happy. | 3 |
AskReddit/dp90unk | 7ad3f1 | How should we handle the death penalty? | I oppose the death penalty for the following reasons: Killing is wrong, by an individual or the state. There will always be wrongful convictions. If you support capital punishment you need to be prepared to execute a certain percentage of people who were not guilty. It is actually more expensive for the state to execute someone than to keep them in jail for life. Minorities and the poor are disproportionately sentenced to death. There is no evidence that capital punishment deters crime. | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/d2571tu | 4f1qbb | How can bamboo grow up to 3ft per day whereas other plants can get no where near as close to this speed? | Bamboo grow in a different manner to normal plants. Rather than growth through mitosis (splitting and division of cells) they already have present a number of cells and these cells stretch and elongate these cells. They become turgid (full of water) and stretch. Tldr; They don't grow faster. They fill with water and stretch into their adult shape fast. | 174 |
AskReddit/c8dc41m | 18bkkg | What group of people have you seen live up to their stereotypes in public? | A guy in my speech class was giving a speech on felony car stops and starts by asking if anyone knows what one is. No one raises there hand but the one black guy in the back of the class. He casually puts his hand up and then after looking around realizes he's the only one and quickly lowers his hand. I think I was one of the only people who saw it and I was just thinking oh gosh, stereotypes hahaha | 3 |
explainlikeimfive/cvquu6t | 3nsawd | How does a computer chip work? | The thing you posted is a PCB. The lines are basically wires. A computer chip works by implementing digital logic. I.e, a "high" voltage (lets say higher than 5 volts) is a "1" and a "low" voltage (lower than 5 volts) is a "0." By simply comparing millions and millions of these 1s and 0s, a computer can create complex logic. | 2 |
AskReddit/eejdyh0 | ahxu2m | What is it worth living for? | I dont think life Is worth living. I understand for a lot of people it is but me personally I hate every second of having to be awake. Sure there are little moments where I can distract myself but at the end of the day every day I want nothing more than to just die and be done with it | 2 |
AskReddit/ccpot9c | 1o8bmc | How can I let her down easy? | You are really cool for asking this. Here are some scripts (and don't wimp out. NO TEXTING. You must say this in person, to her face): "I haven't been feeling right for several months. I don't what to hurt you, and it feels horrible that I'm doing this, but I just want to go forward on my own now. This isn't working out. I don't want to be in a relationship with you anymore. There are better matches for us both out there. I know this hurts you. I'm so sorry. There's nothing you did or said, and there isn't anything I'm willing to change, and there's nothing I want you to change about yourself. We are just on different paths, and that's OK. As hard as it is, it is still OK. We aren't ever going to be together as a couple. That's it. That's all I have to say. Again, I'm sorry. To make this easier on both of us, I'm going to ask that you don't contact me. I need the space. Thanks for listening, and thanks for being with me. You are a good person and you deserve better than this." | 2 |
AskReddit/di2d9nr | 6dg520 | What is a good gift for a kid who just graduated kindergarten? | Get something they will appreciate later. Every birthday and Christmas my grandparents got me something small and gave my parents savings bonds or money for savings bonds for me but never told me about them. When I graduated and stated college they told me about it and I received thousands of dollars and it helped so much with college costs. IMHO its much better than buying something just for the sake of giving a gift. | 2 |
AskReddit/eskq9dx | c865ul | What’s a clever thing your parents did to catch you lying? | My mum told me I would laugh or smile when I lied. She should never have told me. I’d purposely lie about minor things and smile so she could ‘catch me out’ and prove her theory, then I’d keep a straight face when lying about more serious things. Parents should never underestimate the intelligence of their kids man. | 20 |
AskReddit/eceeoeo | a8wg0a | What do you think the differences are between people who are confident and people who are arrogant? | Confident people don’t look down on others, can take criticism and don’t take every chance they have to show how great they think they are. Also arrogant people can lack confidence and be arrogant trying to be acknowledged by others because they don’t truly feel comfortable with themselves. | 3 |
AskReddit/d9ry5k5 | 5bx8z5 | Which cover of a song is better than the original? | I heard the Devil Driver version of Sail the other night. I liked it better than the original but I tend to like metal better. Hurt - Johnny Cash . Huge NIN fan but the pace and emotion work better here. Sweet Dreams - Marilyn Manson. Again, love the original but something about the agony Marilyn portrays in this song makes it more emotional. | 8 |
AskReddit/ej5zthd | b4dcuk | What are some YouTubers you’d watch with your parents/family? | Me and my sister watch several youtubers. My mom doesnt like them to much, she says they are attention seekers. Our favorites are Auronplay, Enchufe TV, SSSniperwolf, Azzyland and German Garmendia. | 2 |
explainlikeimfive/exjd8u7 | ct8zg3 | How do volunteer fire departments work logistically, and why aren’t they just normal, paid positions? | Volunteer fire fighter here. Our station is ran by the county. Our city owns a very old (50s) fire truck and the county loans the other two. We are insured by the county and receive survivor benefits in case of Injury. As far as being paid, these outfits are usually in locations where the city is unable to afford it and relies on volunteers. Realistically it is volunteer so if somebody doesn't feel like going they have nobody to answer to. Hopefully I answered your question. | 43 |
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