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AskReddit/exihktv
ct45lo
What book(s) would you recommend to get someone who’s not an avid reader into reading and why?
The Giver. It’s technically a children’s/YA book, so it’s easy to read, short, and the story is one of my favorites. A great introduction into the genre of science fiction, so plenty of opportunity for the person to spark interest and read some other great books.
2
askscience/cn71e4j
2qguiu
Would a red rose made of anti-matter have the same colors as a red rose?
We do not know! But there are experiments going on at CERN to find the answer to this question. It all boils down to the question whether antiparticles have the same spectographic properties as their 'non antimatter' counterparts. Right now there are people doing antihydrogen spectroscopy to find out if there are indeed no differences in the photon-atom interactions between matter and antimatter. If this is the case, your rose will look exactly the same. If not, there might be a difference.
2
explainlikeimfive/efve8yn
anre9x
Why is it easy to hear someone talking outside when you’re in a car but hard to hear someone inside talking when you’re outside the car?
I’d assume when you’re outside you’re battling more things to be heard (wind/weather/cars) so you naturally talk louder at a point you can be heard from within a nearby vehicle When you’re inside a car your windows and such block out most of this noise pollution or atleast reduce it so you’re not shouting to each other
15
AskReddit/ele72cl
bfjnd1
What’s the last song that emotionally affected you?
Well, this is going to put me on a watchlist, but, The Sacred War, a Russian song from WWII. The composition of it, even if I wasn't able to understand the lyrics, is enough to affect the vast majority of people, look it up, it's a beautiful song. I highly recommend it. ​ Edit 1: Grammar Edit 2: To clarify I do indeed understand and speak Russian, I was just saying that the melody conveys emotion just as, if not better than the lyrics.
2
AskReddit/csjhbr0
3b7acd
What do you add to eggs to make them taste better?
I add things like curry powder, cayenne powder, pepper jack cheese, shredded cabbage, chicken. I like to cook eggs in real butter and or bacon fat.
2
AskReddit/elo8s1m
bgxgfe
What "open world" game doesn't exist, but it should?
I'd love to see an open world zombie game set in the Resident Evil universe. Or a marvel zombies game where you can free roam New York as a chosen hero (Spider-Man would probably play like the ps4 game).
2
explainlikeimfive/d3v7nxd
4mfy27
Do bacteria have only one set of chromosomes?
Yep. They have one large circular chromosome, and a lot of smaller circular bits of DNA called plasmids, which also are expressed, though plasmids can move from bacteria to bacteria.
7
explainlikeimfive/ept1kn4
bvmg12
How did commanders effectively coordinate and move large armies before electricity?
Well for starters, there's the chain of command. Much like armed forces still use today. The commander doesn't speak to each part of his army. The commander relays his orders to generals. The generals relay their orders to the officers. The officers to leadership down the chain of command and so on. Secondly, before mechanisation, armies were relatively slow to move around. They had to march everywhere they went and were followed by a long train of supplies, craftsmen and other followers. Armies are pretty vulnerable while on the march, to avoid being ambushed they usually send out scouts in every direction. Those scouts would gather information on the lay of the land and potential enemy movement for miles or even tens of miles around a marching army and report back to an army's general. Based on the information he receives, the general can inform his officers and those officers will inform their troops. At the same time, runners or messengers on horseback are sent back and forth between allied commanders, forts, command posts, basically, any place that needs to be informed, they also run orders back and forth. This is how an overall commander stays up to date on his campaign. Obviously, travel time and changing conditions mean that not everyone is informed at all times. That's why the overall commander designs strategies that allow army generals leeway in how they do things. The commander defines the goals but the generals have freedom in how to achieve those goals. When battles start, it works very similarly at a smaller scale. The general or overall commander resides at a command post or a field post overlooking the battlefield. If things go according to plan, the regiment or unit commanders have been briefed on the overall strategy and their role in the battle. Smoke signals, flag signals, runners etc. are used to send out commanders or relay information between the commander and his army components. Individual units often had musicians that could sound out orders for the troops. Different musical signals for things like march the formation, wheel left, wheel right, charge, retreat etc. Obviously, it's not as fast modern communication methods but your opponent was dealing with the same limitations.
3
AskReddit/e8myuqz
9s8mma
What are your thoughts on people who dye their hair?
In Asia it’s really common to bleach/dye your hair but it’s often still quite reserved and mature looking I feel. In the West if you have a bold color you’re instantly assumed to be an SJW. If you’re a woman and dye your hair people assume you’ve gone through a breakup or something heavy. As a guy, bleached hair can make people assume you are vain or even gay. It’s quite peculiar actually.
2
AskReddit/cz24s65
41gccs
Are class systems a good thing?
Yeah. I like it when characters are limited in what they an learn as it offers replayabiity by trying different combos of classes the next time. Games like FFV and Tactics have the wrong idea of letting you mix and match, I like hard class systems like FF1. Some mix and match like Dragon Quest III or D&D 2e rules is cool though. D&D 3e has the right idea too since you can mix however you want but only have so many total character levels to gain
2
explainlikeimfive/e1yphxg
8wvh7v
Why does being drunk make you feel hungry?
It might actually be legitimate hunger depending on when you last ate, but it's most likely dehydration. Our bodies didn't develop different cues for thirst and hunger, sure your throat can get dry, but even not drunk, your body will "signal hunger" right after you've eaten to say "I need water."
5
AskReddit/deacqwp
5wipbe
Did mayors actually gave keys of cities or where did that come from?
They actually do give Keys to the City to certain people. It comes from medieval times when prominent members of a city would be released from Serfdom. Not so fun fact- Saddam Hussein was awarded a key to the city of Detroit.
3
explainlikeimfive/dwe4ccb
87n81v
How do subscription based services know when you've changed your credit/debit card and then change your payment to that new credit/debit card?
I got an explanation from AAA telling me that my bank notified any company that is under auto pay from my debit or credit card when I get a new card. AAA let me know that my bank updated it for me. I freaked out when my car insurance updated itself but calmed down a little when AAA notified me that my bank did it for me.
6
AskReddit/clpvd7l
2ky2s7
How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
It's not about how important the person is, it's about the reason it happened. An assassination may be prompted by religious, ideological, political, or military motives; it is an act that may be done for financial gain, to avenge a grievance, from a desire to acquire fame or notoriety, or because of a military or security services command to carry out the homicide. Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human, and generally this premeditated state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter)
67
AskReddit/c2to1gk
llmn6
What are some customs in Canadian/North American culture that you would consider BAD?
Tolerating really, really bad customs from immigrants because we don't want to seem culturally insensitive. Forbidding your daughter from talking to boys is a shitload worse than wearing your pants too low.
3
AskReddit/c3m7blj
p3jct
What odd little games do you and your friends play?
Last night, my housemate's friends were here, and they were playing this game where they whip out their scrotums above their short/trouser lines, and try and trick each other into looking. If you manage to get someone to look, you get to punch them. I decided against joining in.
6
AskHistorians/cqw42zo
34m5d8
When did humans begin adding a second storey on buildings?
The earliest that springs to my mind is actually Canhasan in Central Anatolia during the Early Chalcolithic period. Düring argues that the the published plan of Levels 2B-2A (dated to 6000-5500 BCE) only represents the floor level and that living quarters were on the second floor (2011: 142ff). He also takes a few tentative stabs at the reason that these second stories were constructed (if you're interested): > Various reasons could be put forward for introducing two-storey buildings, but the relevance of none of them can be demonstrated. These include a scarcity of good building locations in a settlement where people wanted to live in a specific neighbourhood; matters of prestige; and the need to create non-domestic spaces that could be used for storage places or as workshops. That Canhasan I might have been a central place in a wider network of dependent smaller settlements could have been important in this development (2011: 144). Hacilar is another site, this time in western Anatolia, that seems to have had second stories in the Early Chalcolithic period (Sagona and Zimansky 2009: 130ff). I suspect there are many more, but just the two that I could remember off the top of my head (and could find authoritative sources for). I do not think a defensive wall has been excavated at Canhasan. But there is a city wall running around Hacilar; its function is debated, however. Some people say it's defensive, others suggest it's a containment wall for animals, still others argue it's just a boundary wall. EDIT: Backing up even more as I go through Sagona and Zimansky's book again: It seems there may have been upper stories at Cafer Höyük at the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (2009: 53) and at Ilipinar ~5700 BCE (2009: 136ff). They also mention a Neolithic village Kuracay (2009: 99) that seems to have had upper storage levels. And, as others have already said, Catalhöyük is another site to look at. I may have missed a couple in my skimming, but I hope that helps. Sources: Düring, B. S. 2011. The Prehistory of Asia Minor: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sagona, A. and P. E. Zimansky. 2009. Ancient Turkey. London: Routledge.
27
AskReddit/cn3rh0g
2q88p2
If Disney ever rebooted Star Wars Episodes 1-3, what should they change?
The one big thing they should do is take the story arc of episodes 2-3, anakin goes from being a talented young Jedi to a war hero to an evil villain, over the course of three movies. You could start the same way, with a dispute on Naboo, but have the conflict spiral out of control and become the beginning of the clone wars by the end of the film. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Anakin work as three base characters, but Qui-Gon ought to be the Sith apprentice/"The Phantom Menace" and basically gets combined with Dooku.
3
AskReddit/es4os0j
c5xauj
What was your worst restaurant experience?
ive got a doozy for ya, enjoy so for boy scouts we went out of state for a summer camp and on the way back at a gas stop some dude gave the scoutmaster 50 bucks to use on food. so when we get back on the van he takes a vote between the two worst possible road trip food choices he couldve possibly made. we voted between buffalo wild wings and olive garden buffalo wild wings won, and then we are handed his phone with an online menu for olive garden. keep in mind wild wings won like 12 to 4, and the scoutmasters family was the 4 the menu said everything on this list is 12.99 so we think its semi fine. we get there, order food, get crappy grease sticks, and i fill up on those. food comes and all of a sudden i realize that i was full from the addictive breadsticks. then i poke at my food a bit, friends say its all obviously frozen, and overall not the greatest time there. also we looked down the table and saw that the scoutmasters family was really enjoying themselves. yup, thats an olive garden family. then the bills come, and they say that the things that were supposed to be 12.99 are actually more than that, i forgot how much. so i pay for my food, then realize that the scoutmaster was haggling with the waiter as if he went into this whole operation knowing the whole system and how to break it down into making the prices what they said they were. so we got home like 3 hours late because he decided to go send us all to a slow restaurant, wait for food to happen, then haggle with someone who really didnt like their job. i dont blame olive garden for this, i blame my scoutmaster and his “executive decisions”
2
AskReddit/c8rqvsk
19vu2c
What are some good ways to approach a girl?
Walking is a good way of approaching but if you're on a track or park lightly jogging is also appropriate and accepted quite often. If you wear Heeley skate shoe things, then Heeleying towards them may also be acceptable.
2
explainlikeimfive/cwo5bjx
3rhv77
Why does laptop batteries become dead when laptop is constantly connected to the socket?
The back-and-forth chemical reactions which store and release electricity aren't 100% efficient. Over time the battery wears out and its capacity steadily goes down when the materials inside sometimes react in a wrong way and end up not being able to do their job anymore. When plugged in your laptop isn't taking electricity straight from the outlet, the power is used to recharge the battery. Continuously using a bit of the battery charge and then immediately recharging it wears down the battery.
2
AskReddit/csl4r4n
3bddst
What are your rules for re-wearing clothes before washing them?
Always wash undershirts, underwear and socks after one wearing. Work jeans can go two or three days. Nicer pants depends on the weather/sweat etc because they're expensive to wash. Overshirts, depends on what they've been through. I'll wear a coat all winter without washing it, probably should wash that more.
7
askscience/cbg5of1
1jmcko
Is it common for adjacent turbines to stay in sync or just coincidence?
Firstly, if you have seen this effect on all 3 sets of turbines over a period of a few days, it's safe to rule out coincidence. The chances of a pair of turbines appearing syncronised during a snapshot is about 10:1. With 3 seperate observations that becomes 1000:1. With additional observations over a number of days the odds spiral up into the millions to one. It is possible that the electrical connections coming from the turbines are keeping them synchronised. Typical large scale turbines generate 3 phase electricity. If the 3 phase output from each of the turbines are interconnected before reaching the transformers or rectifiers, then they would tend to stay in phase with each other. If turbine A begins to lag behind turbine B then turbine A will "feel" a boost from the advanced phase generated by turbine B, and turbine B will "feel" a load from the later phase coming from turbine A. This would slow down the leading turbine and speed up the lagging turbine. It is useful to note that during maintenance operations or perhaps in extreme weather, it is possible for the turbines to end up 120^o or 240^o out of phase with each other, but because most turbines have 3 blades you wouldn't notice. I can't think of a very good reason that the turbines would be linked in this way because I don't know the area. Possible reasons include reducing transformer expenses, different wind roses at the site of each turbine, or perhaps it's an experimental installation to test something else. Source: plausible speculation. I have come up with an experimental design for a hybrid VAWT/HAWT that links the outputs from 2 3-phase generators to overcome low wind speed startup. It hasn't been built due to construction difficulties but it is theoretically possible.
2
AskHistorians/dvlaqum
83uy7x
What sort of music was played and composed in Ancient Rome?
I would love to know this. Follow up question, do any known melodies or even lyrics survive? Any sources where we can listen to these? I've hard rumors that the title song to the original "Rome: Total War" was based on Roman flute music, but I can't remember where I sourced that from. Any truth to it?
7
explainlikeimfive/cgu5ac5
237do2
If earth is coming out of a naturally warmer period, why is global warming bad?
We want the climate to stay the same for our own sake. Nature doesn't give a flying intercourse about our well being and will adapt on its own. Civilization is very dependent on coastal cities not flooding, farmland not turning to desert and the equatorial regions not turning into burning wastelands. For the record, global cooling would also be bad for us. We like global staying-right-as-it-is.
2
explainlikeimfive/cbcmn8z
1ja646
How come you don't get HIV or AIDS from mosquito/bug bites?
Diseases like yellow fever and malaria are spread by mosquitos through their saliva, not because you got a little bit of the infected person's fluids. Yellow Fever and malaria are just two examples; but virus's/infections that are spread by mosquitos have evolved a way to avoid being digested with the blood that carried them. Instead of being digested, they make their way into the mosquitos saliva system and infect more people. Aids and HIV don't have this survival mechanism. When a mosquito sucks the blood out of a person with aids or hiv, the whole virus gets digested before it can become spreadable. There are 2 more factors that also limit this. One is that a person with HIV or aids doesn't have enough of the virus floating around for the mosquito to take enough to infect with. The other factor is this. Most people think of mosquitos as essentially flying needles. The mosquito's "needle" actually has 2 canals, one that handles drawing blood in, and one that handles saliva. Even though mosquitos do vomit on you a little bit when biting (how you get yellow fever and malaria, from infected saliva), the saliva canal isn't connected to its stomach, so theres no way for aids infected blood to get there. short version: aids and HIV are digested too fast to be spread there isn't enough aids or hiv to be spread theres no way for aids/hiv infected blood to get back out of the mosquito once its in there.
84
explainlikeimfive/c695ad4
zz71i
Why is it when I look down over a high cliff or balcony, I feel tingly in my downstairs places?
Seriously, I have perfectly fine balance but as soon as I'm looking over a cliff I feel like I'm gonna fall and I start swaying. It's annoying cause I can't pee off cliffs.
3
AskReddit/e4wzbqv
9aowtt
What is the dumbest rumor/story you’ve ever heard about yourself?
That I was a raging lesbian based on the sole fact that I’ve never had a boyfriend. What they didn’t factor in was that I was overweight and most of the boys hated me. Keep in mind this was in high school and being a lesbian was a “bad” thing. “Oooooh zack4eva has never dated a guy. She MUST be a lesbian! Let’s warn everyone by writing it on the desks.” I’m straight, but I felt bad for any gay/lesbian/etc person that went to my school. Everyone treated them like lepers. TL;DR was called a lesbian in high school because I was fat and undesirable
3
AskReddit/d7m4zv2
52pabs
How has gaming affected your life?
Probably gonna get downvoted. I'd say it's mostly negatively affected me. I spent most of my free time in my adolescence gaming, and looking back on it I wish I had spent much of that time doing something else. I had fun, sure, sometimes, hanging out with my friend playing smash and halo and gears of war til 4 in the morning, but much of the time I played alone, and it was pretty much the only thing I did in my free time. Now I look back and wish I'd spent that time with people, or learning, or bettering myself in general.
36
AskReddit/daxmnwa
5h5fmm
What's a super easy way to save money?
Think about the value of the things you're buying. If spending a night out with friends costs $40 after food, drinks, tips, parking, gas, would you have rather had a new pair of pants or shoes? Next time car pool and bring a soda to sip on. Set money aside. Automatically have a small amount of your money transferred to an investment and don't touch it, ever. It adds up slowly, but it adds up rather than not existing. Pay attention and plan your finances. You can save a ton of money just by paying a little more attention to the things you do. Pay attention to which loans have the highest APR. Pay attention to which bills are the highest and what is driving them. Learn how the world works so that you can do things like build your credit, pay loans bimonthly to reduce interest, pay off high interest loans and extend low interest loans so you can hold the money and invest it, etc. Learn to do things on your own. Stop paying $3.50 for coffee when you could make it at home. Stop paying $40 for an oil change when you could do it for $20. Stop paying for whatever grooming you have done when you could learn to do it yourself. Services add up and are unnecessary. Stop wasting so much. If you're not going to finish a meal, eat a little less and make it into two meals instead of tossing the last little bit. Spend $5 on a little repair kit and sew that hole in your pants. Turn your rug over so it looks new again, and keep an eye out for things you need on trash day (because everyone else is super wasteful). I'm working a tech job in silicon valley and could easily justify buy everything I own brand new, but I pull junk off the sidewalk at least once a month and fix it because there's no reason to let it go to waste. Don't trust yourself. You're not going to go to the bar and order only one drink. Don't go or plan for three drinks. You're not going to magically start saving money. Have it automatically withdrawn to an investment or it won't happen. You're not going to magically learn to sew, cut your hair, and change your oil. Watch some videos, ask a friend, such it up and have the mind set that you only pay someone else because you're lazy, not because you can't figure it out.
6
explainlikeimfive/eu6u59e
cf2owl
How come sometimes we feel more awake after 5 or 6 hours of sleep than I do after a "full 8 hours"?
Your brain's sleep time works in cycles, it cycles between stages 1 and 3, with REM cycles. ​ Stage 1 isn't exactly sleep, it's the process of your body falling asleep or waking up. Stage 2 is when your body is actively asleep, and stage 3 is "deep sleep", when the brain does most of the work it needs to during sleep. REM sleep happens between the stages of 2 and 3 usually, although it can happen during stage 1 as well. Most of these stages are differentiated by the number of delta waves produced, stage 3 producing a lot of delta waves, and brain activity is massively slowed down. The deeper into sleep the brain is, the more delta waves are produced. REM is different, as the brain enters a period of activity that produces dreams. The cycle between stage 2, REM, and stage 3 repeats a few times during the night. ​ If you wake up during stage 3, the brain was in a deeper state of its cycle and was actually "slowed down", and thus will actually feel more tired than it should. If you wake up during stage 2(or ideally stage 1 as your body is naturally waking up) you will feel far less groggy. ​ 8 hours is an asinine myth, and is actually quite toxic to those that require more or less. Some people will need more, and some less. It all depends on what your brain needs to do during this period.
49
AskReddit/d8hx3y2
56bgsd
If anyone were to recall you from your grade school days, what do you think you'd be remembered for?
I was bullied at school, when I was 11-12 yo. (Is that considered grade school age?) Later found out that a classmate from that time remembered me for being the teacher's pet. That really hurt, because it felt like my bullies would blame me for not being more socially active in the class. Like the "not normal kid" role I felt I was pushed into by the bullying, would justify the bullying. And years later they still thought of me that way. It makes me angry just thinking about it now.
2
AskHistorians/d2flu08
4g8tpp
Are there any instances of wartime internment of ethnic minorities before the Spanish-American War?
A quick note regarding Cuban internment, since I'm not really qualified to speak on the other points you raised. During the second Cuban war of independence (1895-1898) the Spanish government sent General Valeriano Weyler to put down Cuban insurrectionists. As it was essentially a guerrilla war, he employed a policy called the Reconcentración (Reconcentration). This policy consisted of insisting that all loyal Spanish subjects move to specialized camps in fortified urban areas, pre-approved by the government. Anyone caught in the countryside after a certain date would be considered either an insurrectionist. While the policy lasted slightly under a year, the human cost was staggering, with some estimates totaling in the hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths due to lack of food, poor housing conditions, urban density in a territory notorious for contagious tropical diseases, etc. Please note that while barbaric, Weyler's policy was not specifically targeting any ethnic group. It targeted people in the countryside as often being complicit in the insurrection through their support of the independence movement through commerce with or gifts to the rebels. In this way I don't think that you could call it a "wartime internment of ethnic minorities", unless by this you mean "non-whites", which while also true would misrepresent why they were being targeted. Cuba was not a majority non-white country of the likes of the Philippines or South Africa.
2
AskReddit/cwzbrul
3spi95
If Reddit was a stand-up routine, what would the jokes be like?
It would be a lot of retelling of old jokes, about six or seven people standing on stage arguing over the punchlines, some cats would be thrown in and roaming the stage/audience. Oh yeah, Chris Pratt would somehow make his way on stage and everyone would lose their minds.
5
AskReddit/ehzfzci
ayawmw
If you could teach everyone in the world one concept, what concept would have the biggest positive impact on humanity?
The benefits of colossal squids. To protect these giant beasts in the depths of the ocean. We need to investigate humanity's impacts on the ocean, hopefully, we can have a bigger appreciation of nature.
2
AskReddit/drunhs2
7mkkeb
What ten second video always makes you laugh?
That vine where there’s an ambulance speeding through traffic and then there’s this guy taking advantage of that and following them to get through too whilst jamming to rihanna (I think). Always makes me laugh & I wish I could find it again.
2
AskReddit/dxm8mqu
8dd60g
How do you deal with depression?
It’s partially about finding the right coping mechanisms, you want something that will help give you an outlet for your negative thoughts and emotions but won’t become a vice. For example, I find journalling really helps me get my thoughts organized and can help me realize how unreasonable I’m being sometimes. Once you start developing good coping mechanisms you gotta decide how you want to attack the problem. Some people like therapy, some people like medication, some people like both, or neither, that’s up to you. One thing that’s worth keeping in mind though: almost nobody finds the right medication or therapist right away, and sometimes someone or something you thought was working for you won’t anymore. And that’s okay. You cannot deal with depression without falling over a few times and picking yourself back up. If you’ve never heard of it though, CBT is a great way to work through depression and has helped me a lot, especially through reading the book ‘Feeling Good’ by Dr. David Burns. I’d highly recommend reading it to anyone looking to gain control of their depression and emotions. In the short term, I just take things day to day. I make sure I take my medication, complete the sleep-hygiene routine I’m forcing myself to get into, force myself to get out of bed and the house on my days off, and go to therapy every few weeks. I’m nowhere near where I want to be but I’m still so much farther than I ever thought I would have come when I was diagnosed 6 years ago. It’s a constant battle, but I’ve realized winning isn’t important, just that I keep fighting.
2
AskReddit/ehzhk50
ayae4m
Which of your testicles/ovaries is dominant?
Since I'm a boy, I would assume my testicles are dominant over my ovaries. Though, I love cats and am incredibly emotional, so in a kind of sexist sense my ovaries are "dominant" in that context
5
AskReddit/dqj6979
7gd7nb
How do you fake passion in job interviews?
i didnt fake it in my last interview. When he asked a question along those lines I literally said "I'm mostly just passionate about being able to pay rent and eat but ill show up and do the job." he hired me on the spot.
5
AskReddit/c9afxag
1bvhqp
How dangerous is it to travel to Europe and stay in hostels for a month or two?
It's not dangerous at all. Period. It's very safe to travel in Europe. Violent crime against tourists is practically non-existent, and the worst thing you have to worry about is petty thefts in some cities, like pickpocketing or bag snatching.
14
explainlikeimfive/cke8sml
2fzlk2
If I fall asleep while listening to music, will my brain enter rest mode, or keep processing information?
"Rest mode" is somewhat of a misnomer - when sleeping, your brain is actually just as active as when you're awake. It's believed that sleep is when the brain processes daytime experiences to find meaning, incorporates what it believes to be important into longer-term storage and other parts of the brain, and runs literal simulations to work on long-term problems. Dreams are believed to be a consequence of this processing and deep thought, and are affected to some extent by available stimuli (such as music), which continue to be received and processed by the brain even while asleep. If you fall asleep, you're sleeping, period. The quality of that sleep may be affected by surrounding noise such as music, but you will be sleeping all the same.
453
AskReddit/dl3vllo
6rbbya
How would Harry Potter be different if it took place in the United States?
There wouldn't be any "Houses". Houses actually exist in real British schools but they don't in North American ones. I actually thought it was just a Harry Potter thing until I moved to the UK and taught at a school there. An American writing Harry Potter wouldn't think/know to put houses in. So the whole sorting hat and the houses and the points probably never would have existed. [Edit]: Yes yes I get it, what about sororities and fraternities? Sure, American schools have those, but Hogwarts (the school in the HP books) is not a University. It's like Junior High and High School combined.
3,139
AskReddit/d95xn0b
596829
What was either the first video game or first m rated video game you ever played?
Doom on my sega 32X back in the day. when I was younger, I played kiddie games like sonic and what not however, my dad would sometimes use it to play Doom, however, I was never allowed to watch. One day when I got older, he let me watch then eventually play, my life changed forever
2
AskReddit/ebda20n
a4btox
What's been the most memorable Christmas gift you've ever received?
I teach at a severely low income school. Many of my students come from homeless shelters, experience drug addicted family members, incarcerated family members, etc. As it is the holiday season I know that my students won’t have much but am trying to do little things here and there. Today, I was the one brought to tears. One of my students came in with a huge gift box wrapped in beautiful paper. This student’s parents don’t know how to read, one is incarcerated for drugs, and they struggle with money. The student places the box on my desk and says, “I’ve been saving my money since August to get you the perfect Christmas gift. Thank you for teaching me.” Inside was a 1850 piece bullet journal kit complete with pens, markers, tapes, journal, etc. I had to excuse myself to go cry. This student has nothing but wanted to make sure I felt loved on Christmas.
5,074
AskReddit/d64cuqu
4w6agx
What's a good job where you only have to work a few hours a day?
I'll go for freelancer web-designer, as soon as you have set up some good web pages you will get payed very good for just changing the layout of your own written template. But the same goes for many freelancer jobs as long as you get new customers
3
AskReddit/epl1bgs
bv484a
What's the scariest dream you have had and why ?
Last night I had a dream I was at a concert and there was a mass shooting there. It was so scary. I was running away and ended up getting shot in the back of my neck. I remember the feeling of dying too. Everything turned like super slow. I felt weak and fell to the ground on my back. My eyes rolled back as my eyelids struggled to remain open and everything gradually began turning blurry and darkening into sheer blackness. Apparently a doctor was there beside me and did something that kept me from completely dying out. I remember my eyes opening slowly in the dream and feeling normal again. Then the attacker shot the doctor and walked right by me as I played dead. At this point I was terrified he’d put another shot in me to make sure I was dead. Thankfully I was able to force myself awake, which took so much energy to do so for some reason. It all felt real and I partially believe I was close to dying in my sleep.
2
AskReddit/dv7lk8c
825vst
What's the one pet you would never get?
Any “wild animal” that people will deluded themselves into believing are actually pets. This would include snakes, spiders, lizards etc. These animals are not pets. They don’t love a person. If you (the owner) died tomorrow that snake/spider/lizard would skitter over your dead body like you never existed.
7
AskReddit/czewdig
4329w1
For those who take issue with any given presidential candidate, what's your "escape" plan if the wrong person gets elected?
It's an extreme way of thinking - but time and time again. every election, I hear at least a handful of people say, "If so and so is elected, I'm moving to Australia." For those who are quite serious about the presidential outcome - what's your backup plan if any. and who is the candidate you're most afraid of winning and why?
2
AskReddit/euv5m9d
chm7ns
What is making us all stupider?
Entertainment. Or, rather: the lack of boredom Think about it: educating or improving yourself isn’t fun. It requires a lot of patience, focus, and commitment, which Netflix et al. doesn’t. If you have to choose between reading this tome on how to analyse companies to learn how to invest for a pension vs Netflix and chill (or just randomly waste time on Reddit), everyone knows what they’d choose. As a result, nobody has the time to get bored enough to start improving themselves, growing stupider asa result. I’m trying to circumvent this by not having access to any entertainment at home: I don’t have a TV and I use my computer only rarely. My smartphone is a problem—but only because I can’t “check it in at the door” because I use it for keeping in touch with my boyfriend who lives far away. (And as far as my productivity is concerned, he definitely qualifies as “entertainment”.) TL;DR: Entertainment (and relationships) makes learning interesting things seem boring.
2
AskReddit/ee5lokj
agee6g
What’s the one piece of advice you would give to a 21 year old female about to graduate from college?
This is technically 2 pieces of advice :v If you're graduating in May/June and your goal is to work after graduation, start applying to many, many jobs right now and continue to do so and go on interviews until you find a place you love and fits your desired lifestyle. Regardless, don't be afraid to explore the world, see what life has to offer to you, and build experiences with those you love, because life is too short to not get to know the type of person you are in your 20s and to figure out the type of person you want to become. Don't spend all your time hustling.
4
AskReddit/ey1s6qp
cv4cyj
How are some people so clever academically but so dumb in just general life?
Because more often than not the kids that are clever academically are like that because they are completely sheltered and closed off from the real world. I've known kids that can do differential equations but struggle to work out how to turn on a vacuum cleaner
2
AskReddit/ds51436
7nvc13
What's the scariest thing you've seen while visiting a foreign country?
Was in Warsaw for the 2012 EuroCup with some of my Polish buddies (I speak very little Polish) and we got followed around by a gang of about eight young kids (13-15) demanding that we buy them bottles of booze. Ended up getting back to our Air BNB before they kicked in the window of the apartment building. Thought I was going to have to beat up a high schooler in a foreign country for a while there.
2
AskReddit/d2ezkw1
4g6f73
What's the best argument you've heard, either for or against the legalization of marijuana?
For: -Makes money when taxed by government -Takes revenue from gangs -Keeps minor drug offenders out of prison and away from a criminal record -Saves money in prison/legal fees -Makes it easier to use/acquire for people who need it medicinally Cons: -Slippery slope argument, where does it end? -Gangs will move into pushing harder drugs (prohibition to drugs) -Children will have easier access -Higher chance of public intoxication/driving high -Offends people religiously/ideologically -Potential for drug hotspots and havens for harder use -Issues with history of legislation, what happens to the people who were arrested and jailed for the use of marijuana? Do we release these people? What if they are now a hardened criminal? Etc I see where con is coming from, but pro has more substantive arguments. Just an opinion.
4
AskReddit/cu1kmx6
3guhaz
What is the scariest medical emergency that you have experienced, whether it happened to you or someone else?
Well, I didn't regard it as an emergency. So what if I turned grey and kept passing out? Finally I came to in an emergency room. A doctor was leaning over me and she said to someone, probably my mother in law, "minutos." First person known to have flesh eating bacteria in South America and to live through it. 8 weeks in a charity hospital in a poor poor part of Peru. Lost almost all of my soft tissue in my guts. Doctor that took over management when they got it killed deliberately formed scar tissue inside me to support my organs without me having to fly to the states and have artificial supports built into me. Why the charity hospital? No one knew what my finances were like and if I did or did not have health insurance. If I was going to die, my wife insisted that I die cheap. I was in hospital for 8 weeks and total bed rest at home for 8 weeks more. I had a medical emergency flying into the capital 800 miles away in the middle of the night a couple of years later. When my doctor and my wife were arranging for my check up, they were calling the best in the city and emphasizing that I was the crazy American who refused to leave Peru when the head of hospitals had told him he would die in the hospital he was in. I told the head man that the Peruvians had kept me alive so far and I would ride it out with them. After my American caused medical emergency was cleared up, I didn't get a bill from the hospital nor any of the doctors. I asked my primary care doctor when I would get a bill, he just looked at me and told me that I wouldn't. Did I have any idea of how few foreigners trusted Peruvian medicine much less for an unknown disease? That whenever he flew to Lima or other cities for conventions, other specialists asked him how I was.`
2
AskReddit/cni7ler
2rq4io
How do you tell a family member that their child is not going to be allowed near yours since they aren't vaccinating?
"I know that you and your wife have decided not to vaccinate your baby, and although I am also looking forward to our kids growing up together I would prefer that they were a bit older before they get to know each other, due to my own concerns for my baby's health. I hope you understand it is nothing personal against you or your family, just me looking out for my son/daughter's health, and your baby's as well."
4
explainlikeimfive/etzbapz
ce6c5g
How does your body know when you have chewed your food enough to swallow?
Practice. Years and years of constant practice. We use our tongues and the other senses of our mouth to "test" the texture, moisture, and consistency of food constantly as we consume it and consider whether it is to a state in which we can easily ingest it. Sure, it's not an exact science but we can pretty well know the limits of our own body to safely ingest food very quickly through a little trial and error and learning from when our parents feed us when we are young. Consider why babies are fed milk first, then soft foods, then hard food. Not only is the nutritional value of the foods we eat when we are babies important but it also "trains" us, in a sense, from birth that soft foods are more easily ingested and to remember the consistency, texture, and moisture of food in that state.
9
explainlikeimfive/ein968h
b1p5fm
How do stars like the sun fuse hydrogen atoms which usually have no neutrons into helium atoms which contain one neutron?
Usually what happens is what’s called proton proton fusion, two protons fuse (hydrogens) and form a helium isotope. From there a proton transforms into a neutron to form deuterium (proton and neutron) and then THAT fuses with another proton to form Helium.
6
AskReddit/c78yfbp
1418ha
What is your perfect murder?
I've always thought that the perfect murder is not about the how, it's about the who. Basically, if you have a motive for killing the person, your plan is already flawed. You need to do one of three things: 1) kill someone that won't be missed or searched for; 2) kill someone with no connection to you; or 3) find a way to project motive, means, and opportunity onto someone else.
2
AskReddit/ccljt10
1nscix
What is important enough to go to war over?
There are plenty of things important enough to go to war over, but 99% of the time there are better solutions. The problem with America is our politicians always think war is the answer right away when if we used other methods (diplomacy, cutting them off economically, etc.) we could usually achieve the outcome we want without costing thousands (if not more) of lives, spending a ton of money, and making everyone in the world hate us.
5
AskReddit/eqgz4cc
byfb3s
What is a breed of dog that you do not like and mankind shouldn't have bred that way?
I don't agree with the breeding of a lot of flat-faced dogs, as they all seem to have respiratory issues and a whole host of other medical conditions. I feel bad for them, and also think they're kind of terrifying? But, as always, to each their own. My favorite breeds are sighthounds, and I'm well aware that they have their own issues / people may find them terrifying haha
5
AskReddit/cipvcly
29yyli
What is the biggest misconception you've heard about the human body?
Legitimate rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” - Todd Akin EDIT: I understand that this is only applicable to females, and OP asked for the human body, but this is the most profound misconception that came to mind!
1,405
AskReddit/dpxzvo6
7di4lb
What's the most interesting thing a teacher or professor has made you do for a class?
In my AP US History class, after we covered everything and took the national exam, we had a couple weeks left in the trimester so the teacher gave us a project that was basically "Do whatever you want, about anything you want". On the last day, everyone shared what they did science-fair style. It was really awesome, some people studied specific parts of history they wanted to learn more about, some people did other things entirely, like one guy worked on creating his own non-profit organization. I wanted to learn more about web design, so I studied that and then made a simple website that displayed some fun facts about each state. It basically let people explore their own interests for once.
4
AskReddit/dbte584
5l6otz
How did you almost die?
My childhood was a unique one, but I'm pleased to say that I survived: 1) My uncle trying to break into my house in a drug-induced rage (armed with a machete) when I was home alone, with the intent of killing my mother and I. Rescued by older brother arriving just in time. 2) After being abandoned by my mother I somehow survived without my medications for several days (which, given their purpose, it astounding). 3) Tortured, strangled, and trampled to a pulp by a group of 6 "friends" at school. Survived after a lengthy stay in ICU (as a result of the extensive kidney damage amongst other things). 4) Downed a half bottle of Tylenol and who knows what else from the medicine cabinet in a failed suicide attempt following my discharge from ICU. Felt absolutely horrible and was violently sick before passing out, did not get medical attention, but somehow amazingly lived to tell the tale. I still don't fully understand how this was possible today. 5) Forced to consume large quantities of a poisonous substance by my much older cousin. Not taken to get my stomach pumped (instead advised to guzzle water by parent). Amazingly did not die. My hepatocytes are apparently invincible. .amongst other adventures. Life is much quieter now that I'm an adult with a life and home of my own. Fortunately. Edit: Aww, thanks for the love everyone - it means a lot! To be honest I'm still seeing a psychiatrist to work with the PTSD. One of the things I continue to struggle with is not being able to be semi-open with people about my past/deliberately lying about it when people ask questions (eg. "What's your brother do?" ".oh, well he's an entrepreneur, he seems to be doing pretty well".not entirely untrue, he was implicated in one of the largest drug stings our country has ever seen, amongst other things). I've found the anonymity and kindness of Reddit to be an excellent outlet for a lot of what I'm only just starting to fully process in real life (it's pretty liberating). You guys are great!
23
AskReddit/e7mgnbj
9nhycc
Why do Creationists say that evolution just theory?
Because they're not speaking the same language as scientists. Seriously. In everyday English, a 'theory' is as good as a wild guess. In contrast, it takes a lot of evidence to become accepted as a scientific theory - significantly more than what it takes for most non-scientists to consider something proven facts. But science is very careful about what is called a fact. A science 'fact' is a hard measurement that must stay true no matter what future evidence comes in. A theory is an explanation that matches the facts. It becomes widely accepted when it matches all known relevant facts and can effectively predict more substantial facts before they're observed. In plain English, we would say creationism is just a (bad) theory and evolution is plain fact. But in scientific English, we say evolution is an accepted theory and creationism is an unsupported hypothesis. They're not the same language at all.
9
AskReddit/chlml5r
25xcsh
What very popular or well-rated TV show started off with a poorly rated pilot or first couple of episodes?
Best show of all time man, Seinfeld. From the wiki >The pilot was met with poor reviews, and NBC decided not to pick up the show. Believing the series had potential, NBC executive Rick Ludwin ordered four episodes about a year after NBC's rejection. The first of these aired on May 31, 1990. When the pilot was first repeated on July 5, 1990, it received a rating of 13.9/26, which means 13.9 percent of households were tuned in at any given moment; additionally, 26 percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into this program.These ratings were high enough to secure a second season.NBC research showed that the show was popular with young male adults, a demographic sought after by advertisers. This gave NBC an incentive to keep broadcasting the show. "The Stake Out" was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award. >In retrospect, however, reception of the season has been more positive. On Metacritic, it received a weighted mean score of 78/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." TV Guide ranked it the twenty second greatest television season of all time, being one of four of the series's entries on the list.
4
AskReddit/cmkk4sd
2o7un5
What is the best/favorite experience you've had with law enforcement?
I once got too drunk to stand up at a baseball game. Instead of ticketing or arresting me (while drunk me cried bc "I'm sorry I'm so drunk") he walked me to the street and hailed me a cab. This is the first time I've appreciated a police officer. Thank you whoever you are and keep doing good!
3
AskReddit/ex2ajod
cr6xtx
What’s the most steps you’ve gotten in one day, and what’s the story behind it?
24km (don't know how many steps that is) I was dead drunk, broke, in a neighboring city and my Handy died so using my compass and some landmarks I tried to navigate home. I knew some things but missed enough streets that I went 16km more than I needed just so I could go to my house
2
AskReddit/d5uhhph
4v0zms
When's the worst you've ever needed to pee?
I was in school, 1st grade, and i really needed to pee but my teacher just wouldn't let me go to the toilet. I then just peed myself sitting in my chair without anyone noticing it. After the school ended one of my classmates said "you spilled juice", lol. The ride home with my bicycle and my soaked pants was very uncomfortable. It's funny when i think about it now.
2
explainlikeimfive/c7q9tar
15vwie
What is LTE, exactly?
LTE, short for Long Term Evolution, is considered by many to be the obvious successor to the current generation of UMTS 3G technology, which is based upon WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA, and HSPA. LTE is not a replacement for UMTS in the way that UMTS was a replacement for GSM, but rather an update to the UMTS technology that will enable it to provide significantly faster data rates for both uploading and downloading. Verizon Wireless was the first U.S. carrier to widely deploy LTE, though MetroPCS and AT&T have also done so, and Sprint and T-Mobile USA both have plans for LTE. In fact, Sprint is phasing out its WiMAX network in favor of LTE. Verizon Wireless and AT&T currently have incompatible LTE networks, even though they both make use of 700MHz spectrum. AT&T and Verizon Wireless LTE customers often see download speeds that exceed 15Mbps, and upload speeds in the 10Mbps range. Also known as: "Long Term Evolution"
13
AskReddit/di87pty
6e7rdz
What is your happiest memory?
Being on my grandfather's shoulders while walking through Los Angeles. His brother drowned in a some river accident overseas on my 5th birthday and he had a heart attack on the spot, right next to the black Kent BMX bike with training wheels and big ribbon & bow I'd received. When they operated, he didn't have great insurance so it was at County. They removed (or f'd up) the wrong vein in his thigh (one that replaces or is moved to the heart) and he could never walk without a walker again. No malpractices suit; it wasn't a thing in our family I guess; maybe it wasn't the era. Still, as sad as it sounds, those memories of being with him on long summers in Los Angeles before my 5th birthday were some of the happiest — digging through his ancient belongings in the garage, taking apart his stuff, going for walks with him through a bustling city and watching TV detectives do their thing on the box were some of the happiest of times.
2
explainlikeimfive/dz5cto4
8k72gv
Why do our fingernails grow faster than our toenails?
They don't -- they generally grow at the same rate. However, most people cover up their toes with socks and shoes, which wears away on the end of the nail. Personally, I spend all day typing on Reddit, so my fingernails stay nice and short, but I go through keyboards regularly.
13
explainlikeimfive/c6ad0li
104mhz
Why hasn't there been a cure for common cold?
Cold is caused by many different strains of viruses. Viruses are much harder to get rid of since they are technically not living in the normal sense. Many diseases caused by virus have no cure, you either overcome the disease with your own immune system (doctors can give you drugs to make your immune system stronger though) or you have it for the rest of your life. For some diseases antiviral drugs have been developed, but antiviral drugs is a relatively new thing and like many other drugs it can take years to develop. The problem with common cold is the virus change every year. By the time someone come up with an antiviral drug for one strain of virus, it would have been the virus from years ago that nobody has anymore. In addition antiviral drugs are often highly toxic, so it's only used when the illness is life-threatening.
6
AskReddit/ee5p2lr
agek95
What is the worst thing you've ever done in The Sims series?
That thing where you build the 1x1 box and put the sim inside it that we’ve all done. I had a ton of those tiny rooms all over my lot, each with a different starving sim lying unconscious in a puddle of their own urine.
3
Ask_Politics/d9o2uxx
5bdxor
Why do we know who won early voting in Nevada?
How does this manipulate voting? Everyone who hasn't voted is still able to vote for the candidate(s) of their choice. It's no different than showing the score of a sporting match during the actual sporting match - it gives you an idea of who's winning, but not who's won. I don't think you'd say that seeing a score during a sporting match unfairly manipulates the outcome, would you?
3
AskReddit/cemgino
1uww0n
What is the most annoying college major?
My senior year I needed a few random hours to graduate, but wanted to stay remotely on course with my major (history), so I signed up for an art history class. I was the only history major, everyone else was an art major. It was then that I learned that art majors are the most lazy, annoying, and pretentious people I've ever had to deal with.
39
AskHistorians/cfhd894
1y4g9k
What caused the decline in the use of personal armour?
You see a lot of armour still used by elite troops in the 17th century, such as Imperial Cuirassiers in the 30 years war, Polish Winged Hussars and so on. Swedish cavalry did use moose leather undercoats and steel breastplates until 1707 or so, when the breastplate was no longer used. It was however, worn unde the blue overcoat, probably to protect it from rust. Good quality armour was expensive as well as heavy. Unlike older armour, such as chainmail and lamellar armour, which can easily be modified or repaired in the field, you cannot modify or repair a breastplate for another soldier without a skilled smith and all his tools (and his forge). Modern age armies became much larger than earlier armies, but still lived off the land. March dispersed and fight concentrated became the standard modus of operation. This, however, meant that troops marched back and forth quite a bit more, and were required to be able to do forced marches to join with other forces that had encountered the enemy. Considering the soldier was already carrying musket and bayonet, bullets and gunpowder, usually come cooking utensils, a backpack with some emergency rations, part of a tent and all his personal items, adding the weight of a cuirass would probably impact negatively on his ability to fight. At the end, however, the soldier did not equip himself. He was equipped by his colonel raising his regiment or by the state conscripting him. For them, it quickly becomes a question of numbers. You can buy almost 3 muskets for the cost of a bullet-proof cuirass. Do you want an army with cuirasses, or an army twice its size without? Considering that the vast majority of soldiers died of disease during this era, a unit with cuirasses would not have such a huge advantage over one without, especially not on a campaign. There's still plenty of unarmoured points which can knock the cuirass-equipped soldier out. As for soldiers equipping themselves with armour - it would be unlikely that he would be allowed to keep it, as officers wanted uniform dress to be able to tell their units apart.
25
AskReddit/c11s9uy
doqqa
What are some sneaky trick you've noticed businesses play on customers?
I run a small training business and pull a really sneaky trick on clients that forces them to part with their cash. I guess it's safe for me to reveal it here because I doubt any of them read Reddit. Basically what I do is I offer them an excellent service at an excellent price. They always fall for it, the suckers.
134
AskReddit/es7dj73
c6asz2
What political party do you identify with and why?
I don't really identify with a party, but if I had to pick one it would be the Libertarian party. ​ The Democrats and Republicans in the US are both equally as corrupt, out of touch, and bought by special interest groups. ​ My belief is: If you're not hurting anybody else, I don't care what you do, who you marry, how you live, or how you choose to spend your money.
3
explainlikeimfive/c7peuee
15sl7c
What exactly is happening when my ears "pop"?
Inside your ear canal is a flap of skin that closes the inner ear off from outside world called the ear drum. Behind the ear drum is an enclosed air space. The pressure inside that air space can be different from the outside air and this causes pain. When the pressure is finally equalized the ear drum snaps back into its regular place and you hear a "pop".
27
AskReddit/e4xoar2
9aqq1p
What is the strangest reason that someone has claimed to dislike you for?
To me, the strangest reason was that I told them I was a Christian. It is amazing the amount of stereotyping that goes on with some fervent anti-Christians. They tell you what you believe in (even if you don't), tell you you're racist (when you aren't), tell you you're ignorant (when you aren't). They don't bother looking past the word "Christian" to see the person rather than the "title", and in doing so, they become what they purport to hate. I've run into this about a half-dozen times, and I'm not even a big evangelist or "faith-pusher".
23
explainlikeimfive/ct4mr39
3dfijo
Why is there much talk about building human colonies in space (i.e. Moon, Mars), but no talk about building in earth's oceans, which is seemingly easier?
Building colonies in space or on other bodies in space would actually be easier in a lot of ways than building in the ocean. Pressure is the big one here; past a certain point and we just don't have the materials or science to manage it. Fewer people have visited the bottom of the Challenger Deep than have walked on the moon.
3
AskReddit/dgd42jz
65thxp
What is the one thing you wish your "dream-self" had an easier time remembering?
The basics of physics. If a car is morphing into a cat before your eyes, that's not real. If you're capable of flying without wings or other means of suspension, that's not real. If time is flowing backwards. you get the idea. It's a dream. so figure that out and start making wonderful things happen!
2
AskReddit/dg19tls
64de7w
How did your friend destroy the friendship?
On her 21st birthday I went out with her, me and one other were the only people who showed up. She was my best friend for eight years. She rented the duplex next to me when we moved to a new city together. I got too drunk during the bar crawl, I went to the bathroom to throw up. I come back to the bar and she's gone, the two guys she was speaking to were gone as well. She took my jacket which had my house keys and my wallet. Hail down a cab, promise the driver I'll pay him when I get my wallet at home. Get home, she's refusing to answer the door. Won't answer her phone. I call this guy I just started seeing and give an explanation, he offers to have the cab driver take me there. 40$ cab fare that he paid, and I had work in five hours. He drives me home in the morning and my friend pretends like nothing happened. I realized then our entire friendship was always revolved around her and I couldn't remember a time she was there for me, but always me being there for her. But since then I've never had a friend to talk to everyday like I did with her. My life is much more lonely, it's weird. Edit* What the. I had no idea this would get this kind of attention. I've never had gold before, and receiving one for sharing a bad experience is super comforting. This community is amazing and being able to share this and have so many different responses from so many people is really special. Thank you for the gold and thanks for everyone who replied with their own stories and situations. I hope everyone can find friendships that are both mutual and respectful, and move on from the harmful ones.
9,103
AskReddit/c4uoyo1
uej7d
What are weird things your parents do?
My mother blaming all technology failures on me. Apparently when the internet stops working it's because I somehow broke it while surfing the internet. Also since I'm 16, I'm learning to drive. My parents both said that they will fully trust me behind the wheel when I can drive somewhere without them saying a word. Thing is they always speak before the fact. Example- I was driving home from school today, these are three things my mom said. I was stopping at a stop sign at a T-Junction, didn't even fully stop yet, still slowing down when she tells me to nudge forward so I can see down both sides of the road. I was going down the street, almost 2 blocks before the turn into a different street when she tells me to get ready to indicate for the turn. I was slowing down to turn at the same spot as above, and a car was coming down from the other side of the street. She warned me to be careful and watch the car. How can I go one ride without them saying anything when they say things like this?
2
AskReddit/dnhkleg
72cwax
What's a movie you loved, but you only watched once?
If you count documentaries, Dear Zachary was the best movie I never want to watch again. The way the creator's intentions for the film change over time as the story develops in real life is absolutely chilling and heartbreaking.
119
AskReddit/eul3dez
cgu36o
If you could have an infinite supply of any tangible item that you're not allowed to share, what would it be?
Well, since "selling" isn't the same as "sharing" I would have to go with gold coins. If the intent of your question was a tangible item you couldn't share/trade/sell/give away, then I'd go with 230 grain .45 ACP FMJ bullets. I'm a competitive shooter who shoots a few hundred rounds a week so that would save me a few hundred bucks a month easily.
2
AskReddit/cjtknal
2dvvwi
What is one thing I can do to most improve my life?
I stood at the bedside of a dying man, wrinkled and rickety. He lived a life with all his dreams and ambitions completely fulfilled. He ate all the finest foods, and traveled to the most beautiful and exotic places. He married the love of his life, had long lasting friendships, and had endless success and wealth in a career he loved. He was well read and well cultured. Everybody respected him and wished they could live half the fulfilling live he had. I was no different. I inquired to the man, "Sir, what is the one thing I can do to most improve my life?" He looked upon me with his tired, sunken eyes. Before he took his final breath, he said his final words. "Son", he replied, "Life is too short for 1-ply."
2
askscience/cmuo70r
2p9wky
How does a hypothetical Alcubierre drive solve any problems with relativity at all?
It can still be used to communicate back in time as part of a "tachyonic anti-telephone." If two things outside each others' light cones can communicate (it doesn't matter how, or what tricks are used), then with the right choice of reference frames they can communicate back in time. It also violates the energy conditions of the universe, requires negative-energy-density material, and a host of other issues. Alcubierre did not conceive of this because he thought it could be made. He did it because it was an amusing trick to do with the mathematics of general relativity. Most of his other work involves simulations of black holes colliding, which is also really cool. edit: One other thing: people, including Alcubierre, often cite the Casimir effect as evidence of negative energy density. It is not. It is a relativistic van der Waals attraction, which can be derived much more easily in a non-rigorous way using a toy model of negative energy and vacuum fluctuations.
436
askscience/cetbyt5
1vkijr
If you were standing next to the Voyager 2 probe at it's current location, would you be able to see it, or is space too dark?
Voyager 2 is 104 AU from the Earth, so using an inverse square law it would be 1/104^2 times less bright. (0.00009245) The Sun is about 400,000 brighter than a full Moon at Earth's surface. so lets multiply them to get: 37 times brighter than a full moon. So one the side facing the Sun, can 100% see it, very well actually. Im not sure how well distant star light will illuminate the other side though, probably pitch black. Voyager 1 is even further away but its still way brighter than the moon comparatively.
8
AskReddit/euedt3n
cg3phx
What is the craziest thing you have ever done while drunk, high, or otherwise under the influence?
I don’t drink in public, so mine are relatively minor. My worst was eating a summer sausage. My brother’s in-laws are fairly well off, and his father-in-law gave him some super expensive summer sausage, which he regifted to me. Drunk me got the munchies and tore into it. Through it I had noticed that the casing was a little more chewy than I’d like, but it was delicious so I kept going. The last few bites I got to picking at it, and noticed that the “casing” was actually wax paper meant to be peeled before eating.
3
explainlikeimfive/clv0u85
2lia0b
When cloning an animal (let's say a dog), how much of that cloned animal is exactly the same as the original animal?
Essentially, a clone of an animal is the same thing as an identical twin. 100% match genetically, but everything else is a wildcard. Anything that is directly genetically controlled will be the same, such eye or fur color. Anything that is affected by environment, habits, temperament, coat quality, size, health, etc. Will be up to chance essentially.
22
AskHistorians/c5bg8eb
w8nau
What holds empires together ?
This is the question that destroys the image of Empires as being inherently evil states; why did so many people not only accept being part of an Empire but actively take part in them? Was it because the majority of humanity is/was evil or complacent? Or is it because Imperial states can offer something to people that is actually helpful? Before I sink my teeth into this, a major disclaimer; I am not an imperialist. I don't think Empires are inherently evil, but I don't think that they're nice either. They are morally ambiguous, capable of both great acts of service and great acts of cruelty because they operate on such a large scale; anything they do is magnified in impact. It is certainly never, ever nice to be caught in an Empire's way. So, let's turn to your first subquestion- why don't the conquered provinces rebel? In many Empires, the conquered provinces did attempt to rebel initially or even multiple times over the course of the Empire's lengthtime. For example, Egypt managed to gain independence from Achaemenid Persia not once but twice. In fact the examples are so numerous that I can't begin to list all of history's rebellions here. So what do Empires do to solve this problem, as clearly many did not face constant revolts everywhere at once? Well, firstly most ancient Empires weren't able to centralise their administration as we would recognise; the King would only ever be able to really rule everything in a 50 mile radius around where he was at a given moment. This is a weakness in the state, but it was very often turned into a strength of Empires; lightness of touch. In many Empires, provinces, subkingdoms and whatever were relatively free to do as they wished as long as they didn't threaten the Empire and kept to their treaty obligations. In many cases, no direct governor was appointed- instead, a 'client-king' was installed; he was normally a local who had proven loyalty to the Empire in question, or who had been shown favour. Whilst these states obviously lost their ability to make foreign policy decisions, on a day to day level they could essentially continue as before. Speaking of courting locals, many states went straight for the jugular and outright attempted to buy the loyalty of local elites. When I say local elites, I mean the people in a society who have control over social organisation, economics, everything like that. Imagine Medieval aristocrats for a relatively clear example of 'an elite'. Many Empires would court these elite groups on a case-by-case basis; an Empire controlling Babylon example might have the 'Emperor' act as King of Babylon, and repair the major temples of the city, whereas an Empire controlling a Greek city might guarantee to keep a certain ruling family in charge. By keeping the local elite onside, it meant that even if there was resistance in a given area Empires would face no organised resistance, which often meant it collapsed easily and quickly. Indeed, these local communities often began policing themselves whenever rebellion seemed to be on the cards. In addition, starting from the very first Empire (Assyria) measures were adopted to attempt to counter the limited capacity of the Emperor to directly observe a situation. Efficient communication systems were created to drastically improve the ability of the King to communicate with his governors, generals and other important subjects; pony expresses were the method of choice from Assyria onwards, and did their job extremely well. Not only that, the creation of a vast bureaucracy enabled the Imperial state to actually begin to manage the vast amounts of data that would pour in every day. Also importantly, infrastructure was built; roads, forts, garrisons, capital cities, navies, all of these are ways of protecting interests, or speeding up movement. Speaking of infrastructure, let's turn to the actual palpable benefits to ordinary people in conquered societies. This is the paragraph in which I basically list all of the nice things that Empires can do in the right situation. First and foremost, the world has been a very dangerous place. Not only can settled states declare war on you, but quite often people who were not in 'official states' might just turn up one day and decide to burn your crops, sack your city, plunder its treasures and leave everyone for dead. Empires can legitimately protect the states within its borders in a way that the state wouldn't be able to do on its own. This is one of the reasons to contribute troops to an Empire's forces, or to join them; you are not just protecting the Empire, you are by extension protecting your home as well. Speaking of which, the other major function of many Empires was to protect trade routes- this may not very exciting, but piracy has been a problem for a very long time, as have scams to cheat people out of money or to sink ships for profit. Empires can safeguard trade routes, and even increase the volume of trade by including the traders in an enormous network of exchange; there is a reason why so many cities became prosperous under Empires even without direct intervention. Empires also act as arbitrators in disputes between states- for all that the Empire is usually working for their advantage, that does not also mean they can't legitimately solve disputes. This is in itself a way of keeping peace- preventing disputes escalating into war. Indeed, if ordinary people were wronged they actually now had a level far beyond that of their direct king or governor to appeal to- appeals to Emperors for help have been around for a very long time. And this was actually sometimes effective- from a pragmatic point of view, if a governor was so hated that ordinary people were constantly sending representatives to complain about how harsh he was, it was entirely in the Emperor's interest to intervene and replace the man with a new governor. In most Empires, you actually had to consider what ordinary people wanted because you needed some element of co-operation in order to continue to exist. And last but not least in terms of tangible benefits, as I mentioned everything is on a larger scale. Glory you win on behalf of an Emperor is glory resounding throughout dozens of nations and cities, achievements are on an Imperial scale. An Empire might often invest immense amounts of money into making an area prosperous, in several cases they even spent time and money on making sure the local farming was up to scratch and invested in upgrades where possible (I'm mostly thinking of the Seleucid Empire here). If you're a trader, you have access to a vast regulated network where you are guaranteed safe passage and where a single currency is likely to be serviceable the entire time. If you're an intellectual, instead of being the biggest fish in a tiny pond you can suddenly find yourself in a whole lake; Empires are often breeding grounds for intellectual study as previous separate trains of thought encounter one another and begin to react to one another. If you count religion as part of intellectual thought, which in the ancient world I would, then just look at the Roman Empire between about 100 BC- 400 AD; the number of new religions formed from interactions of older ones is dizzying. Empires are not nice, but they are not necessarily parasitic; there can often be tangible benefits to being part of an Empire, and even reasons to actively prefer to remain part of the Empire rather than attempt to leave. However, let's turn to the stick; the ways that Empires controlled their subjects. You are right in saying military dominance was not enough, but in the case of some Empires they were already militarily dominant before becoming an Empire; in the case of Assyria it was already the largest state in the Near East, with a standing army of 60,000 men by 800 BC. This is not an insignificant thing. Additionally, there are other ways of using that military force to control populations than as an army; many Empires garrison forces in cities and other areas using forts. When 600 armed soldiers loyal to the Emperor are in your city, you think twice before trying to get rid of them. Some Empires went further, and made locals responsible for billeting and feeding the soldiers. It's a canny if really nasty move. Also, taxes serve a twofold purpose; they enrich the Empire's core whilst also reducing the power of the local people being taxed. If you're being taxed and have troops in your house that you have to pay for in terms of living expenses, how do you even begin to consider resistance? Additionally, the method of getting local elites on board is also a method of control. As is propaganda, like erecting massive stele in a city talking about your conquests- even if almost no-one there can read it, they are impressive to look at. And you divide and conquer; you move populations around to weaken them. However, a major caveat here- relocating populations was never used by early Empires as a punishment, the intention was usually that they had a new city and needed a population whilst also weakening the strength of the original people. Indeed, usually you ended up taking much of the local elite out of the original territory- the intellectuals often ended up in the Empire's capitals, the soldiers in the Empire's armies, the scribes in the Empire's administration. Now, this was a bit sprawling, and there's a few things wrong with this post; I've not used specific examples very much, it didn't dwell on any of the topics long enough, and sourcing it is going to be difficult because I'm piecing together my knowledge of multiple Empires rather than using specific texts that talk about all of them. So if either the OP or anyone else wants me to elaborate about any of this, feel free.
10
AskReddit/c16zm6t
ec8ag
Why do I get four different answers from AT&T?
To answer your question why you get so many different answers? It is because there are so many different variables. You have corporate ATT Call Centers and then 3rd party ATT call centers. Same with stores and then you have different managers at all of those sites telling their agents to handle customers one way or another. On top of that each agent has their own way of handling customers. Also the resources available to the stores, Online, or customer care very greatly. Honestly I would of been more surprised if you said you contacted them 4 different times and got the same answer every time.
3
AskReddit/clhmzzo
2k3gkd
How do you know when you have found the "one"?
It's different for everyone. I think there is a moment for some people My wife always tells people, and reminds me, that she realised she loved me and that I was the one, when we were sitting on the steps of the local Vets office, on a freezing November Saturday, with a smelly, flea bitten, rotten cat we'd found, waiting for the emergency vet to turn up or call me. And at this point I hated cats, was afraid of cats. In the end, we took the cat home and cleaned him up and I ended up keeping him in my flat because she couldn't have pets and there was no where else for him to go. She realised, when we were sitting on the steps, how good a person I must be to do this for an animal I hated, because she had asked me too. And she loved me for it and realised she loved me. For me, it was about the fact that I could sit with her in total silence, reading or just dozing and not feel awkward or uncomfortable. I have never felt uncomfortable with her. I'm pretty socially inept and awkward and anxious but with her I am not, never was, not even at the beginning. That said something very important to me deep down. For her is was a moment. For me it was more gradual. Been married two and half years now. Oh and we have three cats.
2
AskReddit/djrpumt
6l7q1m
What is your most horrific bathroom experience?
Not so much horrific in the sense you might be expecting but I remember being about 18 and going to my new girlfriends house for the first time. My school finished 2 hours before hers so I had time to kill so I walked slowly to her place while eating something which clearly didn't agree with me. Upon meeting her at her school, I was feeling the downtown push-down and rushed her to her house. She didn't really understand why I was in a rush but the sweats started. We eventually got there and in a poor attempt to cover it up, I sat on her sofa for 5 minutes before asking where her bathroom was hoping to appear a bit more normal. After those 5 painful minutes, I shot up the stairs and dropped the biggest log I've ever passed, it was both round the bend and poking out the water at the same time. Mid-wipe, she shouted up the stairs "Hey, that toilet doesn't flush by the way! We're getting it fixed later, only pee in it". I tried and yep the flush didn't work. I covered it with toilet paper and left it. An hour later, her mother arrived home and my girlfriend immediately mentioned the toilet to her and her mother went upstairs right away to fix it. Without even seeing her mother's face, only hearing her walk upstairs, I kissed my girlfriend goodbye and legged it. Couldn't go back.
2
AskReddit/cap5tn9
1gytfa
What do you predict our children and grandchildren will have to explain to us about technology 50-60 years from now?
Absolutely nothing. As technology advances, companies are making applications as user friendly and simple as possible. Computers and phones have easier functionality than they did 10 years ago, I assume it is only going to improve.
169
AskReddit/eius486
b2slla
Why don't we hear about planes/ships disappearing in the Bermuda triangle anymore?
Because it just doesn’t happen anymore. The Bermuda Triangle used to be the most popular route to travel by boat and plane (it might still be idk), thus most accidents happened there. Now technology has improved a lot and there are rarely and disappearances. There was never a supernatural force making tragedies happen.
5
AskReddit/dzo1tv0
8mhn4z
What's the worst smell you have ever experienced?
I used to be a custodian and the absolute worst smell was cleaning out the ladies used menstrual pad box. It was like emptying a box of mostly decomposed dead rats. Made toilet duty seem like a cakewalk.
7
askscience/cy2fzj4
3x8em7
When humans smell something "bad", does that stem from social conditioning, or is it our body's natural response to said smell?
The aversion to smells comes from our bodies natural response. Many putrefaction chemicals are universally experienced as repulsive. This includes ketones and sulfides from bad fish. Feces contains many of the same chemicals. In the work I did on dead body detection I kept coming across instances were the chemical also was present in things that make you sick. I've done a bit of reading on this over the years and have not come across very many instances of many preference for decay products. Some of those would be fermentation which world wide has acceptance, in that instance though the strain of "rot" is usually carefully chosen. I see that as more a food processing method. I have worked with electronic noses and chemical sensors especially gas sensors for a couple decades.
379
explainlikeimfive/cr9t0ku
361chd
How did a scottish accent become the principle accent for dwarves in a fantasy setting?
It's not a Scottish accent, it's a dwarf accent. Jokes aside. Dwarves historically were based on Nordic/Viking culture and didn't necessarily have a set accent before they started frequenting film/video games. Most Americans at the time this started would have a difficult time recognizing (or thinking it sounds silly for a tough dwarf) something that would most resemble a Viking accent like Scandinavian. At one point the Scottish highlands were controlled by Norsemen and some clans in Scotland have Viking lineage so the accent was chosen. Of course, there is no right answer, it is the true definition of a meme.
103