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With the huge cost of space travel, how can is be economically feasible to mine astroids? What is so valuable on astroids? | I know we have gotten a probe onto an astroid. I know this brought up talks of astroid mining, but this confuses me. What sort of minerals are so valuable that they could actually offset the cost the the transport of those goods? | 19 | **Short answer:** One of the biggest costs of space travel is getting stuff into orbit and asteroids are already in orbit. Depending on the composition the asteroid, a single asteroid could contain a volume of valuable metals greater than what's extracted from the earth each year.
**Longer answer:** Potentially the biggest cost in space travel is simply getting stuff off the ground and into orbit. Currently, the cost to get something to low earth orbit is something like $20,000 per kilogram of payload.
A single asteroid, one mile in size, could contain over a trillion dollars in precious metals, depending on its composition. Even a small asteroid could contain billions of tons of metals, greatly exceeding the annual production from earth's mines. The key point is that this isn't metal that would need to be launched into space- it's metal that we just need to kick into a better orbit around the earth so that it can be easily accessed- this would be a much cheaper maneuver than the other way around.
But of course, the thing about asteroid mining is that it's hypothetical, we don't really know if there are asteroids rich in valuable metals like platinum out there, but if there are, they can considerably increase the amount we have on earth. With the appropriate space-mining infrastructure, such an asteroid could have much higher yields than sifting through tons of ore on earth just to get a few kilograms of the pure stuff. This provides all the financial incentive you'd need, and again it's a little bit easier to get something out of space than it is to get something into space.
Imagine walking on a rock where you could reach down and pick up a rock that's half platinum. It's this outrageous (and hypothetical) availability that makes it such a (hypothetically) lucrative venture. Imagine a world where blocks of nearly pure platinum literally fall out of the sky like clockwork. This could bring the cost of these elements down to the point where conventional mining becomes economically unfeasible. Wouldn't that be a great world to live in; it would be an environmentalists wet dream.
Additionally, water. Imagine paying $20,000 for a fresh gallon of water in space- there's a reason they recycle urine on the ISS. If you have an asteroid rich in ice that would be brought into low earth orbit, you now have ample water supply for people to live off of. Additionally, you can make rocket fuel: melt the ice into water, run an electric current through it to split it into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas, and condense them into liquids to fill your boosters. Combine them and the hydrogen will combust with the oxygen- rocket fuel!
Readily available raw materials, already in orbit, opens up space to massive construction projects, which can allow for human colonization of space (beyond the handful of people on the ISS). This kind of infrastructure would grow exponentially if profitable- one asteroid mine becomes two becomes ten pretty quickly.
| 47 |
[Passengers] Was there an ethical way out? | In case you are unfamiliar- 'Passengers' recent SF film. Setting is an advanced STL starship, on a 120 year colonization trip. Everyone aboard is in suspended animation.
One passenger is accidentally awoken 90 years early. He cannot go back into suspended animation.
After a year of complete solitude and suicidal depression, he deliberately awakens another passenger so he wouldn't be alone. He doesn't tell her he did it though. She thinks her pod malfunctioned too.
So, what is his ethical out? Is there one? How wrong was he?
| 24 | Jim's actions can't really be judged on an ethical - unethical scale very easily. It's like punishing a starving orphan for stealing a loaf of bread. It's most certainly wrong/illegal/unethical on it's own, but the extenuating circumstance is that the orphan would most certainly have died without that action. Desperation for survival is recognized as forcing people to perform actions they would refuse to do otherwise.
And make no mistake, Jim is most definitely a "starving orphan". Humans are not just social creatures by choice, but by necessity. Without regular contact with other humans (or dogs oddly enough), people eventually suffer from severe psychological distress, potentially leading to suicidal thoughts. This is precisely the reason that "solitary confinement" is considered a form of physical torture.
So with this in mind, it becomes clear that Jim was a starving man for a whole year, and even worse, he was surrounded by "food" the entire time. Human contact was just on the other side of a little glass, so close, always. Studies have suggested that will power and self control are finite resources. Resisting the temptation to take those donuts at work all day makes it that much harder to resist the ice cream at the end of the day. And he lasted a whole year.
In summary, Jim was being tortured, he had a way out, and he waited for as long as possible, til he was basically at death's door, so as to minimise the harm to others. That's about as ethical a choice as we can ask or expect, given the circumstances. Still doesn't make his actions "good" though, it's just impossible to see a preferable option.
Some other thoughts about this: Waking her up was dooming her to the same fate as him, essentially a death sentence. However, since there were now two of them, Aurora didn't have to suffer to quite the same extent as Jim did initially.
Also, if waking her up is akin to murder, then one must conclude that Jim was already dead. How do you judge a dead man? | 27 |
How do spiders survive inside people's homes? | I just don't see how there is enough food inside a clean house vs. outdoors, yet so many spiders still set up shop inside attics, basements, and living spaces. How do they not only survive with such a lack of food available, but also seem to grow and thrive? | 45 | Quite simply because no house is as clean as you think it is. Spiders are carnivores, but they dont need full sized flies every day, they can live on mites, fleas, and other things that you wouldn’t normally consider viable food sources. And those things are in abundance under fridges, in tight spaces in pantrys, under sofas (particularly if the house has a pet).
They are also very efficient animals, and can go a while without food if they require. | 53 |
[Avengers Endgame] Why does running out of fuel in space matter? | Now this might be a two part question. I guess the important question is, does the fuel power the life support? If so then there is the answer, but as Tony stated, they ran out of fuel and they have been dead in the water since then. But if a space ship was traveling at max speed and the engines shut off, wouldn't it just continue to travel at that speed since there is no gravity to slow it down? | 21 | Their ship is not FTL. It uses that weird jump gate hex thing grid to travel. They could fly on inertia all they want, if they can't access the jump gate they won't get anywhere any time soon. Besides, as you can see, low fuel means powerplant goes down, and when it goes down, life support goes down, and when life support goes down, squishy meatbags go down. | 61 |
CMV:I believe that Tinder, Okcupid and other online dating services have had a profoundly negative influence on American dating habits, expectations and experiences with healthy relationships | This "problem" is something I have noted for a while now, and I don't believe it is written about, or discussed enough as a real challenge facing people today.
We shop for potential mates through online dating exactly the same way we shop for clothes or electronics through Amazon.com and I think that is a problem. We are becoming increasingly superficial; looks are the be all end all. We up-sell one another all the time. Relationships are harder to maintain because THE second things become difficult, we can simply browse online for another potential match and go from there.
Online dating creates unrealistic expectations... Men/women are checked against a laundry list of required attributes and are disqualified if they don't meet everyone.
It cheapens sex. We view each others as items that can be disregarded at a moments notice. Finally, online dating has profoundly negative effects on people who are not desirable.I for one can say that online dating has altered to way I view my own race. It is not a very pleasant realization to come to after facing rejection.
**TLDR: Online dating is making us increasingly shallow and cheapening sex. I think that we as a society would be better served if I did not exist**
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 689 | > We are becoming increasingly superficial; looks are the be all end all.
When you meet a total stranger in person, *all* you know about them is what they look like. Contrast this with online dating, where you at least know whether or not they want kids and/or are deeply religious. If anything, online dating allows you to be less superficial, especially since a photograph rarely does justice to someone's physical attractiveness.
>...we can simply browse online for another potential match and go from there.
Online dating may enable serial monogamy, but only because it enables *anyone*, regardless of what they're looking for. There are certainly people out there looking for long-term commitments (I and /u/Zachums can attest to this). Weeding through those who don't share your views and goals has always been an ordeal. Online dating actually makes this easier by providing a screening mechanism.
> Online dating creates unrealistic expectations.
That's a problem with the community, not with the concept of online dating. You could argue that certain online dating sites promote such expectations, but with sites like OkCupid, it's largely up to the users to (mis)represent themselves in their profiles.
> It cheapens sex.
This is meaningless rhetoric thrown in the face of just about every change in the landscape of sexual interaction. Sex is as meaningful as you want it to be. You don't have to have sex before you're comfortable doing so. And guess what? If you want to wait until marriage, to take an extremum of that spectrum, there are people *online* who want that too. | 525 |
[Star Wars: Rogue One] If stormtroopers are an elite assault unit, what are they doing guarding prisoners? | Patrolling a cell block full of gangsters and insurgents and riding in prison transports seems like a waste of elite troops. Should there be non-stormtrooper auxillaries doing those details? | 33 | You don't want to feed your best troops into a grinder 24/7. Even the most hardened vet will start to lose focus with a constant high operations tempo like that. That will turn an elite unit of killers into a group corpses broken headcases. You want to rotate some assault troops here and there when you need them. When you don't need then, you rotate them to other lighter duties. Guarding a base, light recon on a moon, VIP/prisoner transport duty. It gives your best some time to rest, brush up on critical skills they don't use often, and if you do get attacked you already have your most experienced killers on hand, usually itching to get back in the action. Win/Win. | 53 |
[Matrix] In the 'Matrix' universe, what measures can be taken to ensure that people living in it don't question their reality? | So, I'm beyond stoned watching the Matrix Revolutions fight scene on the busy freeway ft. Neo & co + Smithy. This freeway is like rush hour traffic packed with people just trying to get home and make dinner, when suddenly stuff starts getting blown up and dudes are fighting on top of the moving truck performing physical maneuvers that defying laws of "reality". So... how do agents do Matrix damage control for the hundreds of witnesses whose minds are shattered from seeing all this going down in real time? In the first movie, the homeless train station guy sees trinity get "beamed up" through the phone and is immediately infected by Smith. Would this then be the solution to the countless people that witnessed the freeway shenanigans? Or are agents able to do a collective memory wipe? My mind is churning and I've paused the movie until I find some answers to this.
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Mods, I'm praying to god I've formatted the title for this post right on my 7th try. | 56 | The current matrix was designed so that people had a subconscious choice to stay or leave the matrix. It doesn't particularly matter what people see or what they remember, as long as you don't get mass numbers of people rejecting the matrix.
There's also the cycle. So, when the one shows up, lots of crazy stuff starts happening and a lot more people start leaving the matrix. That's when the machines invade Zion, and the one meets with the architect and makes a deal. Normally, Zion gets destroyed and the one will rebuild Zion with a handful of people, and the cycle continues. Obviously Neo made a different choice.
So, why does there need to be the one? Well, that's part of the deal with subconscious choice that everyone has. It might be rare, but some people can choose to ignore the rules of the matrix world, and the one is an extreme example of that.
And finally, why do people need to have a subconscious choice to stay or leave the matrix? Well, the machines tried not giving people a choice quite a few times, and it was a colossal failure every time, causing mass deaths. Only by giving people a choice could they create a matrix that was stable enough for people to live in.
So, to sum up, everybody in the matrix subconsciously chooses to stay or leave the matrix. This eventually results in a person that can choose to bend and break the rules of the matrix, known as the one. The one causes havoc in the matrix and an increased number of people leaving the matrix. The machines respond by invading Zion, and sending the one to the architect. The one will then normally choose to rebuild Zion with a handful of humans. This resets the matrix and all the craziness dies down until the next one shows up. | 47 |
I have a random integer generator between 1 and N. To what precision can I deduce N if I generate M numbers? | Basically, if I take 100 numbers in this particular case:
9 10 3 5 2 8 7 6 1 5 1 2 1 4 10 9 6 9 2 3 10 4 2 9 1 6 8 6 5 7 5 1 2 6 4 6 1 8 10 1 1 8 6 7 6 6 5 6 7 7 5 3 3 7 1 7 5 10 2 4 9 1 1 4 10 9 4 2 8 2 6 2 5 8 4 1 6 7 10 7 3 2 8 2 3 1 3 1 2 5 8 5 2 10 10 6 10 5 7 5
I know with reasonable accuracy that the numbers are between 1 and 10.
How do we generalize to N and M?
Edit: Thanks for all the responses! You've given some very interesting food for thought. | 16 | It depends on whether you're interested in figuring out N exactly or approximately. If as a result of your experiment your maximum is wrong, do you automatically consider it a failure or does it matter if you were 'close'
In order to get N exactly, at least one of your M values must be N, the probability of which is 1 - (1 - 1/N)^M which, as N increases to infinity, is asymptotically 1 - e^(-M/N). So your probability of making a mistake in your estimate of N is e^(-M/N) or about 0.366 when N=M and decays exponentially.
If you're happy with your estimate being within K of N, your probability of being wrong is 1 - (1-(K+1)/N)^M. By the same logic as above, this as asymptotically 1 - e^(-M(K+1)/N).
Alternatively, you may be interested in a confidence interval: given that you've observed N numbers each less than or equal to X, what's the range of values that M could take such that your observations aren't too unlikely. Select a cutoff probability and call that p. You know that the lower bound of your confidence interval is X (since M can't possibly be smaller than X). The upper bound is the largest U such that (1-(1+U-X)/N)^M >= p since if M was bigger than that number, the probability of observing a maximum number of X or smaller would be less than p.
I may have gotten some signs or Z vs 1-Z messed up since it's really late here ... | 31 |
[John Wick] If Marcus had shot John through his window in the Continental, would he have been killed for conducting "business" on their premises? | 17 | No blood is to be spilt on or from Continental grounds, not under any circumstance. The hotel is a place people put aside their business to rest and gear up.
Also firing from a Continental safe haven is a huge no no, probably even worse. Not only do you have the lack of respect to murder someone on neutral grounds but lack of balls to walk in and do it yourself. | 32 |
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ELI5: Where does light go? | So if you have a completely dark room, you turn on a lamp and turn it off again, where does that light go?
Does it get sucked back into the lamp or does it fizzle out into nothing? | 200 | Light moves at 186,000 miles per *second*. When you turn the lamp off, the light that it previously emitted continues to zoom away at that ridiculous speed.
Within a room, it bounces off of every surface, being partially absorbed and partially reflected on every bounce until it's either been completely absorbed or has escaped the room. Since it bounces around faster than you can imagine, it reaches that point of "completely absorbed" so quickly that it's essentially instant as you see it, so the room becomes dark "immediately". | 348 |
CMV: The Axis could not have beat the Allies in WW2. | In this scenario, the Allies include the US, UK, France, Soviets, Nationalist China, and other historically aligned nations, while the Axis includes Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania and other historically aligned nations. As WW2 was a war of unconditional surrender, that is the victory condition.
My arguments are as follows...
1) Industry. The Axis Powers simply couldn’t match the Allies in production of war materials, foodstuffs, and other goods. Some industries also lacked sufficient material to operate at maximum capacity. For example, tungsten shortages in Germany, as well as POL(Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants) shortages. These chronic shortages of certain war materials hurt the already smaller industry of the Axis Powers to a point that they could never hope to match the Allies.
2) Manpower. The Axis Powers did not have enough people to defeat the Allies. WW2 was very much a war of attrition, and the larger populations of the USSR and USA would eventually lead to the complete collapse of the Axis armies. Even by the Autumn of 1941, Germany was experiencing shortages of manpower in over 20% of their divisions. If I recall correctly, Germany assumed the USSR could raise 150 divisions during WW2, but the USSR ended up raising over 500 divisions. By the time the Western theater was opened up again, the Soviets has crippled the German army.
3) Resources. As mentioned in Industry, Germany suffered from chronic shortages of metals and POLs. One major shortage was that of fuel. Fuel was an especially relevant issue in the Eastern theater. The supply lines were long, and traversed harsh terrain with little to no infrastructure. This meant that the Axis armored and motorized divisions had to slow their advance, and wait for more supplies to slowly come in before pushing again. Even if the Axis has taken the Baku oil fields, it’s likely the Soviets would set them on fire and destroy a large amount of production.
Those are my 3 main points, and while I could elaborate further, I’d rather see the “desire path” of this conversation and engage arguments as they come. | 66 | Let's get a little bit of alternate history here. Let's say hypothetically that Winston Churchill was not elected prime minister, and that someone a little more malleable was elected and sued for Peace with Germany rather than war. This totally could have happened. Were this to have happened, the Germans would not have to protect their North-Western front from bomber attack... or anything.
At the same time, this would have freed up resources for their attack on Russia... which nearly succeeded on its own.
The Russians actually sued for peace numerous times early in the German invasion even without the alternate history mentioned above. A Nazi Germany with huge land resources of most of Europe (as client states at the least) with no war with England or Russia would have left little opposition.
With the European powers out of the war... Japan would have faced little resistance outside of the United States. They could have made their own colonial empire and pretty much done little more than defend against the U.S. until the U.S. was worn down. They wouldn't have to have troops on the Soviet border if the Germans had already taken them out of the war.
Could the Axis have won WW2? Yes. Could they have ruled the world at the end of WW2? No. But they could be in a position to essentially fight the entire Western hemisphere after a few decades of ramping up for the next war.
| 20 |
Why do professors allow group peer evals to influence a student's grade if they can't see it? | It makes no sense to have a peer evaluation at the end of term where a student can't see the feedback given to them by their classmates. It also makes no sense to give evaluations at the end of term when the student can't change their behavior or learn from their mistakes. Why aren't evals given at midterm, and then a student has the rest of the term to correct their behavior?
In 2 of my classes this spring, I had to fill out an eval for a group or a partner. One of my project partners ditched our work on the last day of finals (yes, I know), but the other group went well. I filled out an honest, yet respectful and professional eval for the partner. That's when I realized, if we never see these evals, how is she supposed to know how to change her behavior? Perhaps she knows what she did was wrong, but I had other feedback in the eval she wouldn't know about.
In the other class, I was the one to receive a poorer than expected eval. I did ask the teacher for the feedback, and he refused to give it. I never received any notice from my classmates that they were less than satisfied with my work-- I attended all meetings and had my work prepared. Now that I think of it, I think a reason why they gave me a lower score is because I struggled with Excel and needed a little more help. That's my guess, I don't know.
It's frustrating to deal with as a student. Since I'm a non-traditional student, I'd expect these things to be handled the way adults should handle disagreements or giving constructive feedback.
ETA: I received a final grade of an A- in this class, so I'm not some slacker looking for excuses.
UPDATE: The teacher did email me back and said he wouldn't share the feedback because it was considered confidential information. | 35 | The answer is because a professor has no way of knowing (aside from these evals) how much of a group project was done by each member. Assuming the groups are larger than 2, the professor gets multiple reviews for each student and the professor then makes the judgement of whether to knock off a portion of the group's overall project grade for any individual.
I can understand wanting mid-point reviews, but the purpose of this exercise is to hand you the percent of the final grade that you earned (according to the people who worked closely with you for 4 months). If there's no mid-point grade, this exercise doesn't make sense for a professor to make you go through. If you want feedback from your group on your performance, you'll just have to ask. | 62 |
[ELI5] Why are men's shirt buttons on the right and women's on the left? | 28 | Not at all.
But women did not (typically) dress themselves. Or at least noble ladies didn't. They had servants for that. So the buttons being on the other side makes it easier for the servants to work.
Men would dress themselves. So their buttons would be on the right. | 40 |
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CMV: The idea that "Any Job is better than no job" is false | Last year I was laid off from my first "real" job at a Fortune 500 company with an outstanding (for my age) salary. I was unemployed for 9 months after that. I'm an IT professional with no degree (I'm not rich, I can't afford college. I couldn't afford college even if it was free, I got bills to pay)
During that period of unemployment, I had people, mostly boomers tell me that I should just get a job "anywhere" since "any job is better than no job" My problem with this logic is if "any job" doesn't pay the bills, then it's not better than no job. Let's say I got a job at Walmart, which obviously wouldn't be able to pay my bills. Whether I got "any job" or no job, I'll still be forced into bankruptcy, except I'll be wasting my time getting no real experience that matters while going further and further underwater. After a painful 9 months, I finally got an awesome IT contract that recently ended, so now I'm on the job search again. (I've been searching since about 4 months ago, actually) My fiance is in a similar ish situation. She has $22,000 in student debt, has never had any job and is trying to look for work in her field. She has an AS in human services. Like me, she's sending out applications, but no one's biting. Her parents are drilling into her head that she should just get a job at Home Depot or Walmart. I believe she's entitled to a job in her field and should just mass apply to as many human services related jobs there are (which there aren't many, tbh) | 156 | gaps in your employment history aren’t a good look especially if you’re seeing paid work that isn’t what you want as ‘a waste of time’
i understand how walmart has no relevance to your profession but i am sure there are many entry level jobs that are. even if they aren’t what you want, you’re getting paid, you’re doing something and you don’t know how useful the connections you make can be in later life | 75 |
What is the difference between a polymer composite and polymer blend?? | 30 | In brief, a polymer blend is multiple types of polymeric materials literally blended together with heat and screws. They aren't always single thermodynamic phases afterwards, but they usually are. A polymer composite is usually a non-polymeric material mixed with or embedded into a polymeric material. A good example of this is any so-called "carbon fiber" composite, where it is carbon threads weaved into a sheet of fabric, then soaked in glue. Another one is fiberglass composite which you might find in boats or light aircraft: fiberglass threads slathered in epoxy. | 10 |
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Why does China artificially inflate its currency and what exactly does inflation do to and for an economy, in a local, national, and global perspective? | [ANSWERED] | 209 | The goal isn't really inflation, rather, the Chinese government attempts to keep the value of the yuan low relative to the US dollar. Let's do a thought experiment: suppose it costs you 100 yuan to make your widget. If a yuan is worth 50 cents you can sell your widget in America for anything more than $50 and profit. If the yuan is worth 75 cents you would have to sell your widget for at least $75 to profit. China manipulates it's currency to give themselves a competitive advantage to sell goods in America. | 58 |
What did Adam Smith mean when he said: "As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce" (Chapter VI, p. 60)? | What did Adam Smith mean when he said: "As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce" (Chapter VI, p. 60)?
I am very new to economics and have seen this quote brought up frequently on the internet and it results in confusion for me. Was Smith opposed to landlords? | 60 | It means people want money for what they’ve got if you want it, and that property owners are in a great position because they have an inexhaustible resource.
If someone wants your labour they pay for it, you don’t receive the fruits of your labour, they do and you get paid. If someone wants the fruits of your labour they pay for it, they get it, you have money.
The unimproved value of land is special because the owner didn’t make it but he still wants payment for it. That’s a thing with property generally but most property is improved out of recognition from the natural state, whether it’s crop land that “should” be a swamp or a jet engine that is ultimately made out of highly processed and refined dirt.
I wouldn’t say Smith was opposed to landlords. He was just describing what they do. | 33 |
[Frostpunk] Why don't they just build things underground? | 39 | That would almost certainly be the long term plan if the frost doesnt lift. Once the mines have been dug out enough, there will be plenty of empty space available for people to curl up into. But, during the time of the game everyone is still assuming this will be a temporary winter, so they may as well make their settlement on the surface. In most of the scenarios the cold does indeed start to let up after a few months.
In the short term though, mineshafts generally arent suitable for human habitation. They still need to be heated (if you get deep enough this isnt true, but the ones in game need to be heated), and you still need people topside to collect wood, food, explore the wastes looking for survivors, etc. You also need to make sure the air intake and venting is clear otherwise everyone would just suffocate. | 41 |
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ELI5: Why doesn't the wetness of your eyeballs freeze in such negative degree temperatures? | I was greeted with -12 this morning. My nostril hairs stuck together, lost my breath, and a tear running down my cheek just stopped in place. | 57 | They're largely encapsulated in your nice, warm head, and receive a pretty continuous supply of blood from your core, which provides them heat. As well, your tears, being salty, are somewhat more resistant to freezing. | 103 |
[Star Wars] Darth Vader survives the Battle of Endor with Luke. What are the options for Vader's future? | What would the former Sith do with his time? | 45 | Probably help his son bring down the remnants of the Empire. As the former second in command of the Empire Vader might even be able to command the remaining Imperials to surrender to the Rebel Alliance. After that, Vader probably shows Luke all the surviving Jedi lore and artifacts to help him rebuild the Order. Of course this is all assuming the Rebels don't try to execute Vader on the spot. Luke would probably be able to dissuade them though. | 68 |
[Harry Potter] Can I get a transfer? | So my parents have sent me to magical school which is cool but I don't want to do anything magical. I want to be a scientist. What do I do? | 24 | If you want to do anything magical, then you should at least make some wizard friends and get a passing familiarity with the system so you can get magic items and hire wizards when magic is useful. Then figure out what you really want to do and start learning that.
If you want to be a scientist, transfer to another magical school (Hogwarts is way too dangerous) learn magic, and then work out the fundamental principles behind it. You should probably get an independent study class, or at least try to learn what you can online as well. You'll need to learn how science is done, as well as some interesting stuff that works well with magic. Your transfiguration will be a lot better once you know about carbon nanotubes and that sort of thing.
But pick one. You can't not care about magic and also be a scientist. | 24 |
Is the blood moving in a pulsing manner (i.e. move - stop-move, in sync with the heart), or is it constantly flowing? | 44 | Yes and yes.
The amount of fluctuation in blood pressure (and therefore also the amount of fluctuation in the rate at which blood is flowing) diminishes steadily as you go from the heart (where fluctuation is greatest) and towards peripheral tissues (where fluctuation is smallest). By the time blood returns to the heart, it's flowing very smoothly. | 22 |
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ELI5: How is it possible that UK police don't carry guns? | I live in Canada and I would absolutely feel it necessary to have a gun as a police officer. Are there less guns on the street in the UK? | 45 | Because of the United Kingdom's strict restrictions on firearms, and the relative lack of their popularity even when they were less restricted, most criminals don't carry firearms. It's not a common worry for UK police officers, so ordinary beat cops don't need a weapon to match. Bladed weapons are a serious concern, though, which is why police normally wear anti-stab vests, in addition of course to various non-lethal weapons. | 38 |
[40K] What happens to the souls of the deceased? | I know that those who give themselves/are devoured by Chaos have an eternity as the playthings of daemons ahead of them, but what of those who die with faith in the Emperor? What is is store for them?
Also, what happened to those who died believing in the Imperial Truth, or ancient humans who lived long before the emperor revealed himself, or humans living on worlds not part of the Imperium? | 25 | Their souls fade and disperse into the background noise of the immaterium. Then, when something new is born, whatever soul-stuff is in the area seeps back in, reincarnation-style.
Or they fall into the holy cosmic bonfire of the Astronomican and are annihilated.
Or they're eaten by chaos gods. | 33 |
[General] Do superheros retire? | We know Bruce Wayne stopped being Batman, but are there any mutant-type superheros who just decided not to do it anymore? There's plenty of mutants who have powers that aren't superheros, but are there any superheros who just got tired of saving the world day after day?
Does it generally go like The Incredibles, where they try to fit in to society, do they generally go off on their own like Wolverine, or do they seek other mutants for companionship? | 27 | IIRC for a while superman retired. He went home to Kansas and was a farmer. When shit hit the fan and the new, young, edgy superheroes couldn't handle it, Supes showed up with forty years worth of working out in the sun, soaking up the yellow rays, and was even more OP than normal.
EDIT: In Justice League Unlimited, J'onn J'onzz "retires" and runs off to live among humans for a minute in disguise, but comes back because, you know...the world is ending and he's a good guy. Which is kind of the problem with superheroes "retiring". When you have the power to save people and no one else can do it, a good guy is going to step in and help. And superheroes are known for being good guys. | 39 |
ELI5: Why do magnets lose their magnetivity over time? | 68 | There are afew ways a permanent magnet will lose its magnetism.
The most common one is heat. If you raise a magnet above its "Curie temperature" then its atoms will lose the order that they need to have their magnetic fields aligned. Once the alignment is randomized, virtually every atom has another opposing it and the overall net effect is no magnetic field.
Even low heat will eventually do the same thing, but it can take a very long time. Over time the randomizing effect of the heat will slowly reduce the magnetism.
Another way to demagnetize a permanent magnet is to provide a mechanical shock (whack it with/against something hard). Like heat, this can de-orient the atomic structure needed to keep the atom's fields aligned.
The third way to do it is to simply apply an opposing magnetic field. The most effective way to do this is to run another magnet along the length of the one you want to demagnetize, over and over. | 58 |
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ELI5: How did Super Mario Bros on the NES look blocky, have no detail, and lack a bunch of features; yet Super Mario Bros 3, also on the NES, with the same hardware, have a fully fledged world map, Siginificantly higher quality sprites, and more content? While on the same cartridge? | 1,121 | Memory hardware inside of cartridges advanced precipitously in the five years between the release of Super Mario Bros. & Super Mario Bros. 3. The limitations on the quality of graphics were almost entirely based on the amount of available storage in the carts. | 758 |
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ELI5: Why do people still urinate even if they are dehydrated? | 16 | The cells in your body create small amounts of waste that get dumped into your blood stream. Your kidneys filter that out and that creates your pee. That process continues during mild dehydration.
Dehydration has stages. Signs that things are getting really serious include stopping sweating then stopping peeing. If you stop urinating then your body has decided its worth letting your body become toxic to hold onto moisture. | 32 |
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As a whole, is the Earth gaining or losing heat energy? | When taking into account all sources of heat (solar radiation, radioactive decay, burning of fossil fuels, etc) and all heat loss from radiation into space, is the entire planet (including surface and interior) gaining or losing heat energy?
Edit (quick sub-question): When heat is radiated into space, what is the physical mechanism that is in action? It was my impression that heat can only be transferred by physical interaction between molecules. But since space is literally the absence of molecules (in any significant density), how does heat escape the atmosphere? | 76 | We are overall losing heat. There are a few sources of Earth's internal energy (We'll ignore the processes at the surface here, since compared to the heat of the core, they mean next to nothing):
-Accretion: This is the heat that built up while the planet was forming. It's a result of the collisions of progressively larger particles until planetesimals started smashing into each other. Obviously, this is a pretty significant source of heat hat isn't around today.
-Differentiation: When we first started out, the Earth was not divided into core, mantle, and crust. The heavier elements sank to the bottom, and this falling motion caused a conversion of potential energy partially into heat energy. This isn't happening today either.
-Short-term radioactivity: some radioactive elements with relatively short half-lives on the order of 10^5-6 years like ^26 Al create an immense amount of heat, and then shut off. We don't have this heating process today either.
-Long-term radioactivity: This is the only kind of heating still occurring today, and is considerably less effective than the other three heating methods above. Things like ^238 U have half lives on the order of 10^9 which means that they are still decomposing and heating the planet. However, this process happens so much more slowly that it has a relatively small effect on the overall heat of the planet.
The end result of a lack of heating sources is that the planet is cooling down. The vast majority of this heat is lost as a result of tectonic processes-- the formation of basalts at mid-ocean ridges, and more catastrophic stratovolcanoes like Krakatoa and mount St. Helens. As heat is lost, the lithosphere (the brittle part of the mantle) extends downwards and the mantle "freezes". After a certain amount of time, it will reach the core, and Earth will in essence shut down like Mars and the Moon. | 10 |
I believe the Republican Party will die within the next 100 years and will be replaced by the Libertarian Party. CMV | It has recently become fairly clear that the Republican Party is clearly disconnected with the younger generation. Millennials are increasingly more skeptical of religion and very supportive of gay rights and action on climate change. They also view the Republican Party as out of touch with reality and old fashioned. I predict that within the next couple decades, Republicans will show a deep decline in support within the American Populace. However, Republican backers have some very deep pockets. Therefore, they will continue to win elections (particularly in districts where apathy is rampant and incumbents have been there for a long time) and maintain a presence for quite some time. They will ultimately accept their fate and rebrand themselves as libertarians that support common sense answers to the social issues afflicting us today. The Republican platform has little to no merit with younger people except in terms of economic issues. While I happen to disagree with libertarians stance, it will be far more tolerable that the GOP we see today. CMV
∆ | 53 | It's far more probable that the Republican party will survive, but will shift towards a more libertarian stance - if libertarianism is what will get them votes. Political parties are notoriously hard to ruin, especially in a two-party system. No matter how much people gripe about them being out of touch, they still have a sizable base, and new blood from a younger generation, like Marco Rubio for example, will be on the forefront of changing the party to be more on line with a changing society.
Think about how Republican party lines are already changing due to demographics (immigration reform instead of more border policing and building an ineffectual fence) and the now majority acceptance of LGBTs. Just remember that Republican politicians are still politicians at their heart. Maybe they'll need to lose a few more presidential races, and lose the popular vote a couple more times, but they'll undoubtedly change their strategy if it means that destruction of their party. | 29 |
ELI5: How do they balance weight on planes with an odd number of seats in each row? | For example, how do they balance weight on planes with rows of 3? Seems like one side would be much heavier. | 51 | It is not that much heavier as the isle would be close to the center of the aircraft. And they can balance the aircraft using the location of the cargo and by pumping fuel between the wing tanks. And lastly they just put a bit of trim on their flight controls so that one wing produce a bit more lift then the other wing. | 46 |
I have a question about the moon. When did all those craters happen, and why isn't it happening now? | The moon is full of craters, where are all the meteors? | 32 | A lot formed during the Late Heavy bombardment, shortly after the moons formation. There have been a fairly constant stream since then. The reason you don't see the same cratering rate on Earth is that we have an atmosphere and active tectonics which recycle our crust, and erode the surface. | 66 |
[Star Wars] How often did Clones perform executions? | I just rewatched the Umbara arc of TCW, and looking at Fives and Jessie’s near execution, it looked like the Clones had it down to a process. This is Star Wars, where lethal injection technology is sure to exist, but they put them in front of a firing squad like it was rehearsed. Does Kamino have a lesson guide on how to execute prisoners? Namely their own brothers?
And then when we go a season further when Ahsoka’s on trial, Tarkin says that if she’s found guilty he’ll be recommending that she face the highest punishment possible, including penalty of death. Would she be put in front of a Clone firing squad too? Or would Jocasta Nu come out of the library with that lightsaber rifle thing and cap her ass herself?
I don’t doubt the Empire performed executions like this, but we’re talking about the Republic here. We’re executions this brutal really that common? | 22 | Odds are good that, along with other assorted drill and formation work, the cloners did include protocols on executions in the training for the Clones. The Republic wasn't exactly huge on executions, but this is a Republic on it's way to becoming the Empire, and having a large standing army trained and ready to gun down the enemies of the nation is a part of that downward slide. Aside from the usual suspects for a military execution, they'd also need to be ready to dispose of defective or unstable clones, as well as traitors to the war, with the definition of "traitor" creeping ever outward as the Chancellor gets closer and closer to being the Emperor. As well, there's the elephant in the room in the form of Order 66; the endgame for the Grand Army is *a massive series of near simultaneous blaster executions*, so having the procedure and practice drilled into all clones is in the Emperor's interests.
As the Grand Army of the Republic is the most potent policy tool at the Republic's disposal, most executions are probably being handled by clone troopers unless committed within the jurisdiction of worlds with alternate or no death penalty. In Ahsoka's case, as A) she is being tried on the Republic level and B) the Jedi have more or less washed their hands of her, the execution would likely be via clone, versus the Jedi coming and killing their own. | 25 |
What COULD kill the Hulk? | Everything I read indicates he is nigh invulnerable. What would be able to kill him? | 62 | It's not entirely clear that anything could kill the Hulk due to his massive regeneration abilities however there are other options- Leaving him drifting in the vacuum of space with nothing to push against would likely render him harmless, as would throwing him into a strong gravity well (such as a star or a black hole).
It may also be possible to kill Bruce Banner fast enough, say with super speed, that he has no time to turn into the Hulk but some claim that Banner's death would simply free the Hulk permanently and remove his "off swithch".
Also note that Banner survived standing close to the detonation of a nuclear device so he's not easy to kill either. | 50 |
Eli5: Why do we automatically make the ‘sour face’ when eating sour food? | 41 | That's a good question - "sour" is how we describe the taste of acid. Generally the acids we eat come from two sources - 1) fruits like lemons, oranges, mangos, etc., 2) acids produced in fermentation like in kombucha, vinegar, some beers, and fermented dairy products.
The sour face is an involuntary reaction which means it's wired deep into our brains and not a learned habit. If you give a new born a lemon they'll make the face without anyone ever having seen it before.
The cause is likely 2 reasons -
1) it can aid in the release of saliva in your mouth to help dilute the acid which might have been harmful if too concentrated.
2) its a social signal to others that the ingested food is sour, this can trigger further involuntary saliva production in people around you, helping them with the acidity, it can also signal to others, without language (again going back to primal instincts here) that the food is *wrong* the acidity can come from spoilage and the food is not suitable for consumption. The first person might get sick and die, but the others who witnessed the reaction know it was the food and to not eat it. | 56 |
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[Harry Potter] So did Harry, Ron and Hermione ever attend school in Year 7? They were so busy with their little road trip that year, they only showed at the school for that last bang. Did they graduate? Did they need to make up lost classes the following year? | 34 | There was no way they could've finished the year back then due to the fact that the Battle of Hogwarts took place on the 2nd of May, meaning they missed two-and-a-half terms of classes. But it would've have really mattered in the end.
Harry and Ron never returned to Hogwarts, since their experience as the ones fighting Voldemort's forces meant they were the best qualified to become Aurors, so they were given a special exemption to join the Auror training corps.
Hermione, however, *did* return to Hogwarts the following year and graduated in the same year as Ginny and Luna, just so she could gain her N.E.W.T. certification.
Something you need to understand, though - Hogwarts uses the British education system as the basis for it's education program. Only the first to fifth years are actually compulsory, since Sixth and Seventh years are the equivalent to A-Levels or BTEC - just something to prepare students for getting into university. | 69 |
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If two radioactive atoms were entangled, would they decay at the exact same time? | 172 | Two particles may be 'entangled' - with respect to _some property_. That means that that particular property (e.g. which spin state the particle is in) is correlated between the two particles. You cannot say that 'particles' themselves are entangled, it's really their states. In quantum mechanics, you can completely describe a system in terms of different states (a basis), and something which is entangled in one basis is not necessarily entangled in another. So another way of looking at it, is that the entanglement is a property of the physical description of the system, rather than the system itself.
So it's not clear what your question is supposed to mean. Which states are entangled here? Why would they decay simultaneously? Entanglement does not mean two 'entangled' particles suddenly act like each other's clones.
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ELI5: How are new data points created in a video such that a video filmed in 30 fps can be viewed at 60 fps? | How does interpolation work? | 25 | Interpolation is a process where a display unit (TV/Monitor) takes two frames and puts them together (similar to an "average") to generate an extra frame in the middle. By inserting an extra frame between each one that was recorded, you effectively double the frames per second and can bring 30 to 60. | 14 |
ELI5: Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 and is almost 12,000,000,000 miles away from Earth, yet we still receive data transmissions from it. HOW? | 1,084 | The probe has a nuclear power pile and a radio transmitter. We have radio telescope dishes that are sensitive enough to receive radio information from the distant parts of the universe, so even a 12-billion mile distant radio signal is enough to be received by such dishes. | 400 |
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ELI5: What actually is that slimey vaginal discharge that women get? | I get it everyday and when i asked this to women around me, they just say it's normal wihout explaining what it actually is and what causes it. | 124 | Mucus. Vagina is covered by mucous membrane like mouth, the inside of nostrils etc. Mucous membranes are covered by a layer of mucus that enables their function (keeps the right ph balance, right micro biome, and because it has no layer of dead epidermis it protects it from drying out). In vaginas it also serves to flush out foreign bodies like bacteria that can cause infections. In case of infections that develop discharge can increase, change in texture, smell or colour because it contains other things like dead antibodies etc | 272 |
What are the moles on our skin for? | 764 | Moles are just benign tumors of melanocytes. They don't serve a purpose so much as they are harmless growths of skin pigment containing cells. Luckily, moles are typically self limiting but sometimes they are not, and that's how you end up with melanoma. | 837 |
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ELI5: What are different shapes of pasta good for? | Flat, ridged, fluted, shapes...I've heard they are good for holding onto different kinds of sauces but can't find a good source. Any chefs or other food pros that can let us know the secrets? | 37 | Different pastas suit different dishes and purposes. There are literally hundreds of different types of pasta but they can be organized into different groups, such as shells/cups, round, flat, long, soup pasta, stuffed, and special shapes. Really, it's a matter of personal taste and creativity, but some are better suited to, say, a cream sauces (flat pastas like linguini) and some are better suited to a chunky sauce (cupped pastas like orrechiette) and some are better suited for oils (long, thin pastas like cappellini or angel hair). High texture pastas pair well with textured sauces (which cling to the nooks and crannies of the pasta). Cupped pastas go well with thick or chunky sauces. Long, thin pastas go well with olive oil based sauces that coat the pasta without drowning it. Sheet pastas are best for layering (think lasagna) or rolling. Tomato and simple cream sauces are pretty universal and can be used with basically any pasta.
Generally speaking, the smaller or thinner the pasta, the lighter or thinner the sauce or soup it should be paired with. The bigger/thicker the pasta, the heartier and/or meatier the sauce it can handle. And the giant pasta shapes like manicotti, jumbo shells, and canelloni are meant to be stuffed.
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Why is elevating your heart rate through exercise good for your heart but elevating you heart rate with caffeine bad for it? | 1,695 | Elevating your heart rate through exercise causes your vascular system to dilate, allowing for greater bloodflow. When the veins are wide open, the heart does not need to work as hard to pump more blood. However, caffeine is a vascular constrictor, causing your heart to work harder to pump the same amount of blood. Coupled with an elevated heart rate, your heart is now trying harder to force blood through constricted passages, which puts undue strain on your heart and your vascular system. | 1,743 |
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ELI5: Why would a butterfly be attracted to a human? I recently watched a video (link below) where a Monarch Butterfly (named Penelope) hung out with this guy for about a week. I would like to understand why a butterfly would do this. | https://youtu.be/327WTVWI0Qw | 404 | Butterflies tend to eat nectar or other sources of salty or sweet liquids. Humans are covered in salty-sweet sweat, sebum, and other skin secretions which are tasty to insects and other animals. Additionally, some humans use soap, body wash, shampoo, or perfumes which may smell floral, further attracting insects.
Furthermore - this is a self-reported incident. It's very likely that the person in that Youtube video is exaggerating the butterfly's attraction to him because he wants to think it likes him. | 289 |
(WH40k) Why aren't exceptionally tough guardsmen made astartes? | I read about guardsmen like stone tooth harker and can't help but think they'd be unstoppable as astartes. It can't be that they're too old as hive city gang members are regularly made astartes.
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/%27Stonetooth%27_Harker | 32 | While there are many reasons, such as there being very strict limits on the number of space marines on duty, there are several major reasons.
Most (If not all) chapters generally recruit the strongest young men from death worlds specifically chosen by the chapter, guaranteeing strength and power.
The second reason is that the process of being a Space Marine is very long, and very dangerous. It is a regularity to not survive the growth of extra organs or hellish training, as well as occasionally the years of mental therapy can destroy the mind.
Third, and potentially most important, is the fact that the guard would likely not allow the applicant to leave duty. Every man is important within the guard, and it would be highly foolish to simply give away the best guardsmen to an organization that has its own separate agenda and duties.
So overall, while turning them into an even more unstoppable death machine is a highly tempting prospect, the high risk of death means that the guardsmen is doing more good for the Emperor where he is, even if you could get the imperial guard to give up applicants.
Also there's something to be said about the strict separation of the military branches as well. If you start allowing strong ties to form between the imperial guard and various space marine chapters, it compromises the entire command structure of the Imperium. | 27 |
CMV: Staying up-to-date on 'the news' is pointless and a waste of time. There are far better ways to improve your understanding of the world. | What we class as 'news', even serious news, is mostly just entertainment. But we are obsessed with it because we have an in-built craving for gossip and new information, which is actually just a relic of our ancient history, when knowing the latest 'news' (such as the location of the latest foodsource was) was vital information.
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More detail in these posts (warning - they're long form and quite sweary). On bullshit it the news and media, parts 1 and 2:
[https://bullshitblogger.squarespace.com/new-blog/2019/02/20/no-3-part-1](https://bullshitblogger.squarespace.com/new-blog/2019/02/20/no-3-part-1)
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[https://bullshitblogger.squarespace.com/bullshit/73](https://bullshitblogger.squarespace.com/bullshit/73)
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Meanwhile, news websites and outlets naturally encourage us to think that it is vital that we stay informed of the lastest current affairs, and craft their content to give it an unmerited air of gravitas and importance. But largely all those outlets are doing is encouraging short-termism through focusing on what is happening right now, with little far-sighted or in-depth analysis of history or long-term trends that could influence our future.
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**\[Edit\]**
Thank you so much to everyone that commented on this. You have exhausted, confused and challenged me, and I've spent my entire Sunday on Reddit.
I now no longer know what I think. Although forgetting about thinking for a moment, I still *feel* that I'm still attached to most of my original point. I hope I'll be open-minded enough (or maybe that should be open-gutted enough) for that feeling to be open to change. | 1,181 | Your statement is analogous to "voting is a waste of time."
Yes, it is true that if *some* people stop voting/stop staying up to date on the news, then that's not a huge problem, because other people are voting/staying up to date on the news (and your friends will tell you if something really important is happening, and you can always ask people you trust "can you summarize this ongoing story for me?").
However, if *lots* of people stop voting/staying up to date on the news, then you will no longer get updates and summaries from your friends on the really important issues. Then society as a whole starts crumbling and dictators will get a chance to seize power.
> What we class as 'news', even serious news, is mostly just entertainment
Then find news sources that aren't. | 545 |
[Harry Potter] How does one create a new spell? | We often read about how famous witches in history created spells, which everybody now uses, and we also know that Snape created two spells himself. Now, I don't understand how this is supposed to work: How exactly can you make someone not say a word while twiddling their wooden stick but do actual magic with this? | 22 | First, lets look into potion creation. What various parts of the potion tend to do is known. What they will do when mixed (note that how you mix also plays a part) can be derived with some degree of accuracy, but may take multiple recipes to get the exact potion you want.
Spells work similarly, except the "ingredients" are sounds and wand movements. One can derive sectumsempre from "sectum" which is an ingredient that involves cutting and "sempre" which makes it long lasting. These are not exact, so much like how you would vary the amount of eye of newt in a potion, you would vary the exact sound you are making until you get the exact right effect. Variations of the sound create variations of the effect. | 11 |
Is there something deeply morally wrong with the state of the world today? | I've been reading a lot on the economics of global capitalism lately, but usually economists and political scientists aren't talking about the ethical consequences of the system, mostly just about the economic problems.
The economic system of global trade, etc., seems to me to have pretty big moral consequences, sweat shops, imperialist-type wars in the Middle East, massive poverty. Have many philosophers taken on the contemporary state of the world and the moral problems with how things are "set up"? It doesn't just have to be about capitalism...I'm curious just about how people see beyond that into just how most people live. Is the way that most people in developed countries live (in states mostly of conformity and passivity,consumerism, non-active political life) morally problematic? | 51 | There has been plenty written about this. Pogge's *World Poverty and Human Rights*, Unger's *Living High and Letting Die*, Singer's "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," Risse's *On Global Justice*, and a million other things we could mention. | 24 |
ELI5: How does raising minimum wage to $15 an hour benefit anyone? | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/seatac-15-minimum-wage-passes_n_4339492.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
Airport workers in SeaTac Washington just won the vote for $15 minimum wage. My understanding of basic economics is this.
Pay workers $15 an hour and that money has to come from somewhere. So the companies in charge raise prices, which raises the local cost of living. When the cost of living goes up, your inflated wage is now right back to what it was worth when you were making $9 an hour. Wouldn't this just give a short term boost to the economy and put long term hardships on anyone who isn't making this $15 an hour wage?
Side note: Would a tiered salary system ~1:12, blue collar:executive with a national minimum wage solve this dilemma?
| 38 | Because if you make the current minimum wage you live under the federal poverty line for a family of 2.
The idea is that the minimum wage should adjust with the dollar to match inflation.
For example lets say minimum wage is $1 an hour. And $1 buys you a loaf of bread.
A few years go by and the dollar gets weaker, now bread costs $5 but minimum wage remains the same. Now you are getting paid less without realizing it because your dollar has less buying power. | 36 |
ELI5:Why isn't the remote finder feature common on TVs? | When you turn on the TV manually, a sound comes from the remote until you press a button. Why isn't this feature on all smart tvs? | 57 | Most TVs use IR (infrared), which require line of sight to the TV - (the remote sends a series of invisible 'blinks', like morse code).
The TV doesn't have a way to send a blink out, and even if it could, the remote is probably lodged inside a couch saying "screw you hippy i'm taking a nap, come and find me, suckah".
If the TV used RF (radio frequency) then it could do that, but then the remote would have to listen for that RF signal, which would eat up the batteries.
| 36 |
CMV: The SpaceX launch is neat, but the headlines are totally overblown | When I see headlines declaring "A New Age In Space Exploration Has Begun", it's hard not to laugh. Nothing new has been achieved here other than that a private company has now done what several space agencies from multiple countries have already done.
I think people need a reality check when we talk about going to Mars. Getting to the ISS is hard enough as it is, and that thing is barely outside our atmosphere, (about 250ish miles). Mars is 128 million miles at perihelion with an optimal launch window that only occurs once every two years.
Maybe it can be done with decades of improvement in propulsion systems and other needed technologies, but we are a LONG way off. I'm no astrophysicist, you hardly need to be one to tell this whole SpaceX launch was way oversold. | 24 | Aerospace Engineer here. The greatest hurdle humanity has to landing a man on mars is not technical, but financial. Landing on mars would not be that much more difficult than landing on the moon, which we were able to do back in the 60's. We have been sending probes and landers to Mars for decades. Living on Mars would not be that much harder than living in LEO, which we have done continuously for the last 20 years. We lost the ability to land on the moon not because it had gotten harder, but because the public and politicians lost interest in space exploration and did not want to pay for more lunar missions. NASA has proposed many missions to return to the moon or to go to mars, but they all either failed to get funded, or were de-funded partway through.
The reason this is a new age in space exploration is because the public is finally excited about space exploration again. If NASA and Spacex can capitalize on the wave of excitement and get the funding they need, there is nothing stopping us from getting to Mars and beyond.
As far as why we would want to colonize space, space travel is one of the greatest investments we can make. For every dollar spent on the space program, 4-5 dollars are generated in the economy. This is better than almost any other program. An example of this is the transistor. The transistor was developed because the old vacuum tubes of the day were to bulky for a computer able to fit inside the Apollo capsule. In order to get around this limitation, NASA engineers made the first transistor, which allowed for the miniaturization of modern computers. The cost to the taxpayers for this innovation was the same as one bottle of coke per person. | 13 |
ELI5: Almost every radio station across North America can be live streamed via the web. Why isn't this the case for tv channels? | 288 | Radio uses less bandwidth. Streaming cost are lower.
Most tv stations get money from cable and satellite companies. They dont want to jepordize that money by using live streaming.
OTA companies have already partnered with hulu and other companies. | 51 |
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ELI5: Why do products in the USA say "made with real milk" or similar? What else would they use? | I got this question from a friend from Germany and as an American I...actually don't know, and googling is only showing milk advertisements, or ehy milk is a lie not why it says "Real Milk."
Edit: thank you for all the answers, the topic is covered!
Also, I saw many answers that are not talking as though you are speaking to a 5 year old, or some spiraled into why milk is a lie. Milk itself was not the topic of my question. :/ | 258 | In the 1980's there was a trend for cheaper products to contain "cheese" that had no actual milk in it - it was basically a blend of hydrogenated vegetable oil that *sort of* mimicked the appearance and taste of cheese. This became especially prevalent in cheap delivery and store bought pizzas.
People began to assume that all cheap pizza was made with fake cheese, so companies like Dominos and DiGiorno started sticking big "MADE WITH REAL CHEESE!" labels in their advertising and on their products. A lot of local pizza chains also developed advertising materials based around the fact that they used real cheese - Round Table Pizza, which is a major chain in the western US, used the phrase "The Last Honest Pizza" for a long time to indicate that they used real cheese.
This became so widespread in the pizza industry that its now spread to other areas as well. A lot of products advertise that they're made with real milk if for no other reason than that it looks weird for someone to see a row of products that all have that label on them and then one that doesn't. Its sort of a weird labelling arms race - as products that are located nearby in a store begin using labels like that, other manufacturers start using the label as well so that their food isn't perceived as an inferior product. | 416 |
CMV: Baby Boomers (as a collective - not entirely or individually) are the problem with progress | I have had this conversation about the effectiveness of generations for a while now. I've talked about it with different demographics of age and race and ultimately I come back to the same conclusion. The baby boomer generation has generated the bulk majority of major issues that we currently face and when they have retired the world will be a better place. I'm going to break this down into the typical claims that people make for and against them to make this easier, because when you talk to a boomer, they claim all kinds of outlandish things and likewise I have seen nonsensical rants from other millennials with absolutely no basis. Thus, here we go.
**CLAIMS ABOUT SYSTEMS THAT BOOMERS HAVE BROKEN**
* 1. *Climate Change Induced By Humans*
http://judithcurry.com/2014/02/27/nasrs-report-on-climate-change-evidence-and-causes/
Arguably the beginning to excessive use of chemicals that damage our environment was begun by the Boomer generation. Their use of such materials has eroded the use of the more safe alternatives and created dependency. As millennials, we are tasked with making sacrifices that they never made in order to help reverse the actions taken.
* 2. *Savings and Loans*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis#Major_causes_and_lessons_not_learned
**DISCLAIMER: I know this is wiki, but there are about 40 sources at the bottom of the page**
Ultimately the major underlying factor among all of the causes of this crisis is a boomer at the head of the banking that governs savings and loans. Giving predatory loans to people who could never afford them so that they could get a bonus was regular. All of the causes for the problems with the S&L industry were done by boomers in charge and supported by boomers in the senate.
* 3. *MASSIVE inflation resulting in stunted subsequent growth*
http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/HistoricalInflation.aspx
Inflation as boomers graduated high school was around 1.5-2%. Ten years later they were hovering 11-12% inflation while having an increased ability to earn money and having the largest voting block of all time. Not only were they beginning to take power at this time, but they were enjoying the false fruits of epic inflation of gross proportions that led to recession in the 80's. This is actually a huge indicator of massive unemployment that began then and a huge trend in wild spending of money without concern for the future - as we can currently see.
* 4. *Sending Jobs Overseas*
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/10/talking-tax-breaks-for-offshoring/
Several tax laws (Not NAFTA or other trade agreements - although the certainly didn't help) have caused problems with retaining domestic positions. Until these laws were enacted by Clinton (the first boomer president) and by a primarily boomer senate, the concept of trickle down was actually working pretty well. The problem with trickle down economics is greed, and these tax cuts enabled the wealthy to become wealthier without providing positions for the middle and lower class, leading me to my next point.
* 5. *Wealth Inequality*
http://www.cbpp.org/images/cms/11-28-11pov-f1.png
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3629
As a result of the points made in #4, you see in this graph a disparity that has origins in the 70's/80's, as boomers were taking the helm at corporate america.
* 6. *Inflating College Costs*
http://financemymoney.com/student-loan-market-college-loans-for-profit-education-pell-grants-debt-educational-outcomes-bubble-in-higher-education/
https://www.google.com/search?q=inflating+college+costs+over+time&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=IxRcU-zeM6XM2gXTroC4DQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=899#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=QI8vHg0rMltR4M%253A%3BrRVG6WqDJ3-nAM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252F2%252F2e%252FCollegeTuitionsUsCanada1940to2000.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FCollege_tuition_in_the_United_States%3B664%3B558
Tuition fees drastically have expanded due to several problems in funding from the federal government that was enacted by Boomers. The loan system for banks is now hopelessly tied to these loans. It would actually be less expensive to forgive all college debt than it would be to bail out all of the banks again. Banks should not be too big to fail.
* 7. *Outrageous Oil Prices*
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/03/business/20080304_OIL600x275_GRAPHIC.gif
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Crude_oil_prices_since_1861.png
So in the 1970's there was the Iran/Iraq war, which you could argue either way whether we could have helped or not as it's a non-domestic issue. Sure the boomers were taking the helm during that era and held the largest voting block, but I think that it might be fair to write that one off to foreign soil and/or the Silent Generation. Probably more the former than the latter. The second spike, however, is directly in time with us declaring war on an unspecified target (Terrorism?) and pursuing an agenda of military action in the middle east. Coincidentally this was approved in mass by the boomers in politics that were voted for by boomers in majority (roughly 50% of boomers vote as opposed to about 20-30% of other age groups). The more disturbing price is the "real" price and not the nominal one, which is at unparalleled heights in all of history - even since the massive spikes in the 1800's.
* 8. *Social Security Problems*
http://www.nasi.org/learn/socialsecurity/boomers
http://www.cato.org/publications/congressional-testimony/social-security-baby-boomers
Boomers have statistically paid less into social security and will cash out more from it than any other demographic in history. If it doesn't bankrupt the system, the burden of keeping the system alive will not only shift to the millennials but to the generations after them who will be paying higher tax rates with lower volumes of jobs and less opportunities. By 2032 the boomers will all be able to claim SSI and the system will begin to unravel or taxes will be ravaging everyone besides them.
* 9. *The Housing Bubble*
http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/2012/04/LevitinWachter.pdf
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.367.6248&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Baby boomers routinely were valuing all of the homes that they had as higher and higher among one another while no actual changes were taking place to the home. A house I bought two years ago, despite having more problems that would exceed the added value to the home, increased in value out of simple principle for some reason. The thought to a lot of boomers was that the properties gained value, and they inherited this from the Silent Generation. That *USED* to be true when the bulk of properties were large sprawls of land and had very large homes. The reason those homes gained value is because many of them were gone when we started building more houses and started making them smaller. The problem is that boomers ignored this and just kept tacking on value to homes without regard for other trends and then the bubble burst because of other issues that they caused specifically in the Savings & Loans industry.
* 10. *One Of The Least Effective Congress' in History*
http://www.mediaite.com/online/2013-congress-one-of-the-least-productive-in-history/
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/319997-pew-113th-congress-not-the-least-productive-yet-
Despite the boomers having a majority of 65 Senators (to 28 Silent Generation and 9 Xers) in the senate, having 33 states worth of governors, and a total of 276 voting members in the house of representatives (64.137931%). With all of this done and the members collecting their salaries they are among the least productive of all time and are doing the absolute least to impact change because they are so polarized in their factions and they all want to "fight the power" rather than realize that THEY ARE the power and unity is what they need rather than fighting.
* 11. *MASSIVE Government Debt*
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/06/29/how-the-baby-boomers-destroyed-americas-future.aspx
http://g.fool.com/editorial/images/54352/boomers-investventitlement_large.png
So debt isn't inherently evil if you are producing product to compensate or if you have investments that can counteract the debt by producing dividends. Unfortunately, the programs that the boomers have enacted for entitlement (specifically for the elderly and retired - convenient now that they are retiring) with no actual return far exceed the actual investment and cause a problem that can only be overcome with more product or more investment that must be sacrificed by the generations following them.
**CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPOSED VICTORIES OF THE BOOMERS**
* 1. *Civil Rights*
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=when+was+the+civil+rights+act+passed
The Civil Rights act was passed in 1964 - which was right when the oldest boomers were graduating high school. They likely remember it, but hardly did they have any impact on the legislation for it. Only one year worth of them were able to vote. Hardly an impact on Civil Rights.
* 2. *Musical Revolution*
This is actually decidedly true. The Boomers decidedly changed the face of music. Peter Frampton, Journey, Michael Jackson, Queen (Freddie Mercury), and a host of others. Denying the boomers the musical revolution is asinine. They basically invented good music.
* 3. Vietnam
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/timeline.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/tet-offensive
While you can make an argument that protests were making change in America, we were profiting hand over fist from the war. The problem is that there was a balance between the cost of life and the profit that we were gaining. The deaths and people sent over to vietnam were increasing, but the profits held steady, which is a negative trend. The war seemed to be leaning that it would be coming to an end. The Tet Offensive by the Vietnamese drastically changed that outlook and made it appear as it truly would be - a stalemate - and decidedly marked the point where we changed our stance. The Vietnamese essentially ended our involvement in the war with the Tet Offensive.
http://listverse.com/2013/05/02/10-nefarious-conspiracies-proven-true/
Not to mention that Operation Northwoods decidedly left the boomer generation in the dark about what was really happening because they also didn't have the internet or access to information besides the news. (Let's not even get into the other proven true conspiracies about their time in power - like the heart attack gun)
It should be noted though that they did need to endure the draft, which was horrendous by any standards and they have my sympathies on that end especially given that the war was essentially for profit.
* 4. *Women's Rights*
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline2.html
Theoretically this is ambiguous. A lot of monumental legislation like the CRA and other things were passed before they were even in the opportunity to vote for such legislation. There was also a massive movement of women's rights that were happening previous to their time pushing it. On the other side of that coin, they DID push that agenda for women dramatically and caused a lot more things to happen in the public spotlight than had previously. This one I would call a draw at best. The laws that enabled a lot of them to do what they did were passed before they did it, but their actions did spur a lot of further action.
* 5. *Sexual Revolution*
http://historyofsexuality.umwblogs.org/mid-to-late-20th-century/the-sexual-revolution/
http://www.alternet.org/story/153969/how_the_sexual_revolution_changed_america_forever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Kinsey#Sexology
http://img.thebody.com/cdc/2010/graph-lg.gif
This one I also call a draw, on several grounds. First, Alfred Kinsey decidedly started the revolution in the 50's with his controversial research and he was decidedly NOT a boomer. The Revolution actually started closer to the mid-1930's and 40's, but Kinsey publishing Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953), also known as the Kinsey Reports, as well as the Kinsey scale set of a huge spark in the revolution. So the boomers didn't really "start" the revolution, but it did explode under their care.
On the other hand, the spread of HIV infections peaked in the 80's, as they matured but had minimal information on HIV and AIDS. Not to mention the wide spread of other STD's that still plague our nation (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2598671/bin/st26245.f6.gif)
So on the grounds that they didn't start it, and their expansion was so uninformed about it as to wide spread disease for several generations, I'm calling this one a draw. We have more liberties and understanding but at the cost of disease and death.
* 6. *Technology*
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/who-invented-the-computer1.htm
So yes/no here also. A lot of the technology began in it's infancy long before the boomers got a hold of it, but they did take technologies very very far. They took computers from number crunching machines to what they are now (Thanks Gates and Jobs!). They created the wireless systems that we all now enjoy and updated the phones that we use. I wouldn't say they invented the ideas for a lot of technology, but they absolutely expanded that technology. Our generation, including Mark Zuckerberg, is currently using those technologies to revolutionize communication. This is a resounding YES for the boomers. They have given vast new ways to communicate and widely opened technology.
* 7. *The Cold War*
http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/cold_war_timeline.htm
Um...half of the cold war was over before the boomers reached 18 years old. Most of politics was run by the Silent Generation still. This is a resounding no. While there were contributions that happened to wrap things up toward the late 70's and 80's, most of it happened because of some very heavy lifting on the hands of the generation before the boomers and them doing things that we would never consider ethical.
* 8. *Fixed Polio*
http://renekratz.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/eid_lec8_slide47-medium.jpg
The Polio cases and vaccines happened while boomers were alive, but not when they were in power. It was again the Silent Generation who came up with most of the cures for these problems and consequently the cases drastically reduced in the 50's. This is like 3/4 no, but also 1/4 yes, because the Boomers did create more versions of it and standardize the use of it.
* 9. *Established better retirement*
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/In-the-Literature/2006/Apr/Twenty-Common-Nursing-Home-Problems-and-the-Laws-to-Resolve-Them.aspx
http://www.socialsecurityreform.org/problem/index.cfm
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-real-reason-behind-social-securitys-problems/
Boomers have done a ton to bolster social security and set up nursing homes. The problem is that since they have put their parents in these nursing homes there is a wild flurry for how horrible those places are. In addition, there were a lot of gaps in Social Security that caused problems for their parents. They have moved to fix those holes, but haven't chipped anything more into the pot while beginning to already cash out. So they fixed a system for themselves and are now depleting it while not likely to go into the said homes that they created for their parents. This is also a resounding failure.
**CONCLUSION**
Based on all of the observable problems that have been created by leaders from that generation (not during their generation, mind you, but BY MEMBERS OF their generation), the lackluster performance of a bulk of their important contributions, and the very self-absorbed nature of a lot of the mindsets I am currently of the opinion that they are actually (as a collective) the problem with progress. This doesn't mean there aren't great people in the generation who did great things. It means that the bad things they allowed their leaders to do and voted those leaders in for, drastically outweigh the benefits of the good things they did by marching and so on. I don't think the bulk of the generation had ill intentions or is that greedy, but undoubtedly the major influencing powers from the generation have left a generation of greed, selfishness, and personal ambition at the expense of anything else.
Feel free to show me wrong. I am more than happy to hear about all of the definitive evidence about how they did great things and did NOT cause most of the problems we have today.
**Disclaimer: I might come off as smug but I just speak in a more matter-of-fact tone. I'm always open to other opinions as long as they are actually supported and not inane statements like, "I don't need a source because I was there."**
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 58 | Define what a baby boomer is. Born between the years X and Y?
How are they different from any other previous generation? Or are all previous generations were a "problem with progress"?
Exactly how should a generation act/have a track record so they are not a "problem with progress"? | 11 |
Eli5: When a logo, image or anything is etched on a surface via a laser, why is it always there a final pass that runs throughout the image? | 22 | If you try to draw with a ballpoint pen~~cil~~, when you fill up an area you will first scribble in one direction which fills 95% of it, then scribble in an other direction to fill the remaining 5%.
Laser engraving try to fill up surfaces with a line. The problem is a surface is 2d while a line is 1d-ish. There is some thickness to it but in between the lines there might be some remaining paint to etch. So you finish the job by having a faster finishing pass in a different orientation to clean up anything remaining. | 28 |
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How much does personality/geniality/general likability count in interviews? | Is it like a normal job interview where that's kind of a big deal once you reach the interview stage (I had a mentor who said it absolutely was because they didn't want to have to work with someone for 10+ years who wasn't easy to get along with), or are faculty generally keeping it in mind but more focused on someone's CV/ability to obtain funding/etc? | 80 | I’d rather hire someone with a less impressive resume (but still qualified) over someone who’s monotonously boring, or rude, or self-aggrandizing 9 times out of 10.
Edit to add: if you’re thinking “why not hire the most qualified candidate?”, what a lot of people misunderstand here is ability to get along with colleagues IS a job qualification in most fields. | 193 |
ELI5: How do we know that plastic takes 450 years to break down in the environment if we haven't lived so long to test it? | 34 | Extrapolation. We look at a piece of plastic at X time intervals and take measurements, then apply that information to what we know about how things decay (Surface area vs volume, etc). The combination of the two gives us an approximation. It might not be 450 years, it might be 200 or 900. The point is more about the time scale over which the material will break down. Meaning that it's not going to just be a month or two like organic waste, but also not tens of thousands of years like radioactive waste.
​ | 60 |
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ELI5: if an overweight person has liposuction from one area but is big everywhere else, would that area remain smaller or would the fat redistribute? | 1,317 | Liposuction is the removal of fat cells, so they would in theory remain skinny in that spot because there are no fat cells to gain fat (fat cells expand like a balloon with fat). If they did not maintain a healthy lifestyle and continued to gain weight their body may add new fat cells there. But no, the fat would not distribute from non lipoed areas to the lipoed area. Fat cells are fixed in place and do not redistribute after removal. | 635 |
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What are your go-to coding principles that aren't SOLID, DRY, or YAGNI? | More and more I feel like my ability to code well depends on an almost intuitive knowledge of guiding principles such as those mentioned in the title. These are the things that let me say "this is bad, let's do it this way" when reviewing code, and I find that they're mostly heuristic based.
I pose the question to you guys though, what are the principles you rely on to code well, and why are they important? | 32 |
* Don’t repeat yourself. (DRY)
* Keep it simple sillyhead. (KISS)
* Test-driven-development (TDD)
* Do one thing well. (DOTW)
* You aren’t going to need it. (YAGNI)
* Big design up front. (BDUF)
* Single responsibility principle, Open-closed principle, Liskov’s iubstitution principle, Interface iegregation, Dependency inversion principle. (SOLID)
* Prior preparation prevents poor performance. (PPPPP)
* Straight up making random acronyms. (SUMRA) | 39 |
How do 2nd and 3rd generation stars exist? | How does a 2nd or 3rd generation star exist? When a star dies, I was under the assumption that it supernovas into a black hole or neutron star, or becomes a red giant that later turns into a dwarf. How does a star reasemble itself into a 2nd or 3rd generation star? Is there that much unused fuel from one star that it can create another? | 32 | There are large clouds of dust floating around from past supernova (or something else), and primordial hydrogen and helium that has never been in a star. Eventually all of this will coalesce into a new star if there is enough of it in close proximity.
Don't think of it as re-assembling. Supernova's blast the material away such that it's just triggering the creation of new stars eventually elsewhere, not recombining. | 15 |
[Star Wars Legends] What was the greatest starfighter of the galactic civil war? What topped it? | Was it really the X-wing? Or is the question to dependent on context to have a definite answer? | 31 | This question is entirely dependent on context.
The X-Wing is by far the most notable of the Alliance Starfighter Command and is probably the best all round Starfighter but while the X-Wing performs well at both bomber and fighter roles, it excels at neither. The A-Wing, with its incredible speed and traversable laser cannons, is by far the superior dogfighter. The Y-Wing meanwhile carries a heavier bomber payload and excels at fulfilling the dedicated bomber role. Unfortunately they are slow and susceptible to anti-Starfighter systems. For this reason the B-Wing was developed, a fighter both capable of carrying a large payload and evading incoming fire, making them ideal for tackling Imperial capital ships.
Where the X-Wing out performs all others is in its flexibility. Alliance doctrine called on the use of hit and run operations against Imperial convoys and other targets. X-Wings were both hyperspace capable meaning the could act independently without capital ship support and carried a big enough payload to deal with Imperial escort vessels (at least until the introduction of escort vessels such as the Lancer-class frigate). In this role the X-Wing performed above expectations (as evidenced by the Empire's need to develop ships capable of countering any fighter attacks). | 41 |
[Legend of Zelda] i am this timeline/universe's hero but i am homeless beggar with no way to get in contact with royalty and no knowledge of what i am what happens to the world and me? | 17 | You rise up. Many heroes didn't know what they were and had little to no resources, only being called or hearing a calling got adventure. Hylia looks over us and she brought you here for a reason. You'll naturally be drawn to justice and that will bring you on the path to greatness. | 30 |
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CMV:Capitalism is better than any other economic system | I have been on reddit for like a year and everywhere i go , people are shouting Capitalism sucks , i also know most of you dont support communism or socialism but some of these people need to get their damn facts straight
Reddit is become increasingly hardcore left with subs like Latestagecapitalism going around ,and from their bajillion posts have only a few correct posts that actually take out the damn problem and instead are whining
I honestly am bit of a leftist my self but damn yall need to chill , there isn't lizards running around with all the money or some CEO that is trying to enslave us all , they are human , yes most are absolute dbags but even they dont have such power
I read the left subs for a while like antiwork and then decided to do my own damn research and guess what , most of the statements there are so out of this world it doesnt make sense ( some are legit and bring up good points ) , most dont even have a clue of economics and come to rant after googling one time
Most people who link to "papers" done by "economists" dont realize that the people writing this are not economists
one decided it would be good to post what bernie sanders said in a tweet about wealth tax
Dont get me wrong , bernie is a really good guy and really wants to help the country but some of his ideas are unfeasible like the wealth tax for example if jeff bezos got a wealth tax on him it would be ok for a while but the money he has in billions is not all in cash and liquid , most of it is the stocks in his company ( amazon )
So the tax will start draining his assets and he will start to quickly lose money and snowball into losing more money
Mods wont allow a link so go have fun in badeconomics
I know that capitalism is really horrible to most people , and people are suffering out there while i sit in my bed but the harsh fact is , it is the only system that works
The other two rivals of a capitalism is communism and socialism ( sweden is not socialist ) which have to rely on something called morals , work ethic and in just general , humanity which most people dont have
Communism sounds really good on paper but when executed it is a horrible idea
I will not even talk about socialism
Instead of trying to change everything we should focus on more pressing matters like reducing the wealth gap , that is how a new system will be born , it is based on capitalism , but with limitations to how much a CEO vs the employee can earn so that system that we all are used to is made even better ( i am not an economist so i can only plan this far ahead without asking one )
In this day and age with the internet, ignorance is a choice and they are still choosing ignorance
\- FilthyFrank
PHD in internet r
​
I really want to hear how could communism or socialism be better than capitalism
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Edit : It seems i have missed which way i measured and perceived cap. as better- i decided to use gdp and the generally for how long it is sustainable compared to others ( there is a lot of misinformation but it also helped science develop faster when projects could be funded quickly )
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Edit dous: I love how all the argument went here , no douchebags or angry people , just sane peeps with high iq minds , this was really fun :)
Ty for changing my view , good points were raised | 50 | You say capitalism is good, complain that people are against it, and your only real example is just capitalism? Bernie talking about wealth taxes is capitalism. What's your issue?
>that is how a new system will be born , it is based on capitalism
This is literally what socialism is (at least in a vaguely Marxist sense). It's based on capitalism. It looks at what capitalism accomplished and seeks to improve on that
>which have to rely on something called morals , work ethic and in just general , humanity which most people dont have
fwiw, it really doesn't. And that goes hand in hand with many socialists acknowledging that "capitalism" did work better than, like, feudalism. What's the point of technology otherwise?
You say yourself, it seems, that capitalism isn't the end of history. Which is great, it's more than most people making these posts are willing to admit. And, yeah, you don't have to come up with your own alternative to be critical and believe that something better is possible. But you also can't say "capitalism is better than any other economic system" while also admitting that it sucks ass and will eventually be replaced with something better | 13 |
[MCU] Quick question: Why didn’t strange see Thanos coming much sooner? | Thanos’s actions were pretty significant and peering very far into the future would have made his plans very obvious. Did something happen that changed all the timelines? Could strange not see past the snap, since he was destined to be dusted? Maybe strange decided not to peer into the future, until it became necessary in infinity war? | 18 | I don't think Strange ever looked into the future before Infinity War. Mainly because there's really no reason for him to do so but also because he needs the Time Stone to do it and he would never use the Time Stone unless it was absolutely necessary. | 32 |
ELI5: If the United States can dispose of dictators like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden publicly and not through assassination. What's stopping them from doing the same to people like Kim-Jong Un? | 16 | China. They're not as close as they once were, but China and North Korea are allies. Any country allied with a nuclear power is not one you mess with unless you want to risk global nuclear war.
On top of that, North Korea has had basically their entire arsenal pointed at South Korea, one of our allies, for decades. It's suspected that the ordinance is falling apart and wouldn't reduce Seoul to ash, as was once believed, but they are still certainly capable of doing some damage at a moment's notice. | 19 |
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When does a market become ‘monopolistically competitive ’ vs an oligopoly? | I guess I’m theory and practice- like in theory economic profits would be eaten in the long run for the former, but that’s not something we can directly observe right? | 58 | Other comments here are confusing game theoretic oligopoly models with the general meaning of an oligopoly market structure. Oligopoly predates concepts of game theory by about 60 years.
The only difference is whether there is free entry or not. Oligopoly has barriers to entry, so firms can earn long run profits. Monopolistic competition assumes free entry, so while firms charge above marginal cost, profits are driven down to zero.
The monopolistic competition model was first developed by Chamberlain using a representative consumer, but it’s not widely used.
The cournot model was one of the early oligopoly models, but can be transformed into a monopolistic competition model by simply relaxing the assumption of a fixed number of firms. | 30 |
[Star Trek] if I had no knowledge of holodeck programming and wanted to create my own, what would the process be? | 27 | Unless you need something particularly complex or obscurely specific you can simply request what you want in plain speech and the computer will attempt to render it for you. Describe the setting, the characters, and the activity or plot. No programming skill necessary, the only limits are your ability to articulate what you want and the vast resources that the computer can reference. | 18 |
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ELI5: How do we know that most of an atom is empty space? And since that is so, why can’t we just walk through solid objects? | 16 | Think of it like a net. A net is mostly empty space it we can’t walk through it. There are bonds on energy holding all the atoms together. It takes some amount of energy to break those bonds like it does to break the net. | 64 |
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CMV: I think it's totally fine that other companies want to start their own streaming service and think that it encourages competition and prevents monopolies. | In light of the recent Disney announcement that they want to launch their own streaming service, I am very surprised that redditors seem to be upset by it. I love Netflix, but if Disney wants to offer their own streaming service to host their content, then that should encourage Netflix to develop it's own originals that might attract Disney audiences and/or prevent Netflix from price gouging because consumers now have options.
Second, isn't this what people wanted from cable companies? The ability to pick and choose channels that they wanted and only pay for what they want to watch? Netflix as it is is very cheap compared to a cable subscription. It's superb value. Combined with Hulu it's only around $20/mo and you get plenty of options. The cheapest I can get cable is $29.99 and that is only if I bundle that with 2 other services that also cost $29.99 each, and that does not include premium channels like HBO.
Related but not part of my original view, people threatening to pirate if Disney does this. Why is that okay with so many redditors? | 53 | The ideal situation for consumers is to have a low cost one stop shop for all entertainment content. If there are multiple streaming services, the incentive is to have one amazing piece of content that gets people to subscribe, and a ton of low quality filler. If there are three good tv shows each year and you have to subscribe to three different streaming services for each, then we are back to the cable model: One good show to get you to subscribe and a ton of garbage.
We are already at a point where a person needs Amazon, Netflix, HBO Go, and Hulu to get the full online TV experience. Now we are adding Disney. That's $50/month compared to $10/month for Netflix.
Competition is good to the extent that it encourages higher quality content, but the incentive in the online streaming service system is to provide as little quality content as possible in order to extract as many subscriptions as possible. That's completely fine from a business standpoint, but it's not a good situation from a consumer standpoint.
It would be one thing if the amount of quality content increases. But these new streaming providers aren't making the pie bigger. They are just carving out their own piece. So now, we have four streaming providers that provide 100% of the quality content. That's 25% each. $40/month total. Now Disney is jumping in, but they aren't making new content. They are just decreasing Netflix content. So the entertainment pie is the same size, but you have to pay $50/month to get it. Each streaming network is only giving us 20% of the content without increasing the overall amount.
So this kind of competition isn't the kind that makes other companies better. It doesn't grow the pie so consumers get more quality content for the same price. Instead, it's the kind of competition where you succeed by hurting others. Disney makes money by making Netflix worse. Consumers get the same content for twice the price. This sucks for everyone (Consumers, existing streaming companies, etc.) except the newcomer to the field, in this case Disney. | 31 |
[General Fantasy] Is diamond armor actually any good? | So, we killed a diamond elemental. Our mage is telling us he can shape the diamond into plate armor for us and it will be better than our steel armor. I'm worried about how much it will weigh. Our tank is worried about it shattering. Should we let him do it? | 17 | Armor made of extremely expensive items tends to be magical--and the more expensive the item, the more magical it is (in direct proportion) and vice versa.
Magic armor tends to be form-fitting (e.g. it shifts to fit the wearer) which is why you can stumble across it in a treasure horde inside a dungeon and it works immediately. It tends to be lighter than it would if it were nonmagical. Thus, diamond plate--which would be insanely expensive and thus insanely magical--would be ultra light.
Diamond is going to have a really hard time shattering. Depending on the type of diamond, it might be poorly conductive to electricity (bonus for you) or a good semiconductor (meaning you'd be at risk to take electrical damage). Diamond does have very high thermal conductivity, so it won't protect you from heat damage. | 22 |
ELI5: The political tension between Iran's President Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei | Inspired by [this article on CNN's website](http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/14/world/meast/iran-ahmadinejad-questioned/index.html). From what I gather, Khamenei wants to implement more strict Muslim law in Iran? But he also once supported Ahmadinejad, correct? What happened to create political tension and what implications might this have for the future of Iran politically and socially?
| 40 | The US overplays Ahmadinejad's power.
Ahmadinejad is the 14th most powerful man in Iran.
He is behind the ayatollah and his 12 mullahs. These guys(mullahs) are like Iran's supreme court-but with more power. They have veto power over all laws, interpret the constitution, and decide who is allowed to run for president and have even vetoed parliamentary candidates.
Ahmadinejad is (surprisingly) less of a theocrat than Khamenei. But he has no real power over khamenei. He is merely a puppet that is forgetting his master for the moment. If the ayatollah wanted him gone he would have the mullahs prevent him from being allowed to run.
Iran is a theocracy posing as democratic.
| 11 |
Does food that has been cooked have less calories than it did before it was cooked? | Would it matter what type of food like boiling pasta or a pizza?
I overcooked a frozen pizza and was curious if it had less calories than before I cooked it. | 20 | Actually cooking increases the number of calories you can *extract* from foods. For example plants have cellulose lining their cells (which is not easily digestible), unless you physically break those bonds, the nutrients and energy containing molecules inside are inaccessible (cows have four stomachs for this reason). Cooking however, breaks down cellulose very nicely. Cooking will also break down protein in meat (and vegetables) making them more accessible to digestive enzymes. It's like how you digest well chewed food better than poorly chewed food, cooking breaks down food. It's hypothesized the development of fire allowed for the evolution of the human brain (it takes up 1/4th of your calories, you know!
As for the stuff you derive energy from. There are starches, proteins, and fats. These are molecules that consist of long chains of smaller molecules (carbohydrate sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids respectfully) that can be used to make energy in the form of ATP molecules. Cooking can break down these chains, but the molecules tend to be ok. When they don't you get charcoal. | 27 |
CMV: My reduced participation in capitalism and reduced purchasing from unethical corporations won't have any longterm benefits | I currently have been trying to reduce putting my money towards businesses like Amazon with known, unethical practices. I understand that morality and ethics are subjective measures, but I personally deem businesses with evidence of worker exploitation, poor wages, poor working conditions, illegal business practices, and practices that harm the environment to be indicators of that business being one I don't want to support. However, the more I dig into the subject, the more I'm finding that there truly is no ethical consumption under capitalism. I've believed for a while that although it might not be possible to consume completely ethically, consuming more ethically is better than nothing. But now, other than the feeling of moral superiority, I don't know of any true benefits to trying to shop more ethically. Amazon is going to continue to expand with or without my personal support, so is there a point in trying to fight it? As far as I'm aware, my lack of purchasing from Amazon hasn't drastically improved their policies. I definitely still will continue to criticize corporations and do what I can to support the rights of workers.
Just a heads-up that my understanding of capitalism and these corporations might be more minimal than it is a full understanding. I have autism and so I struggle with processing, so please go easy on me if I misunderstood something crucial to this discussion.
I'm posting this with the hope my mind will be changed, that there are actual longterm benefits to my lack of participation in consumer culture and the purchasing of products from corporations I deem to have unethical practices. | 75 | Ezra klein has a good take on this (although he was talking about veganism), which is that you shouldn’t view yourself as an individual actor, but rather a node in a graph for social change.
Yes, by yourself, your actions won’t change much, but you influence the people around you, and they influence the people around them. So if you change your behavior in a way that reflects your values, you’re likely to get other people to change, who will spread it to even more people.
And finally, personal values drive politics. While individuals who don’t shop at amazon probably won’t make a huge difference by themselves, the very act of doing that builds that anti-corporatist sentiment deeper into your identity, which makes you more likely to be politically active and vote for/pressure politicians into creating laws that drive meaningful change.
We live in an extremely interconnected society, and i think it’s foolish to view things in a vacuum | 54 |
Explain to me like I'm five the severity of having the stock market drop 500 points. | Title says it all. | 373 | You have a lemonade stand.
People originally came to you and bought lemonade at $1 a cup. Then someone had the brilliant idea that they would buy future cups from you, like coupons, because they think you are going to get more popular and raise your price. This catches on and eventually you are selling future cups for $2!
Every one of those future cups is debt on you.
People catch on that you have thousands of future cups sold, but you haven't hired anyone or even made a better sign. They figure they are never going to get their cups, so they try to sell their cup vouchers.
As people begin selling these future cups, they realize people don't want them for $2, so the price begins to go down a bit.
Now, your lemonade stand was hit by an SUV, and instead of rebuilding it properly, you put up a cardboard sign on a stick and spent some of the future cup money on a snazzy hat. There's a scramble to sell these future cups people bought, because they have no faith in you owing up to your debt and making the lemonade they paid in advance for. The price drops dramatically. Now, you can't even sell existing cups for $1, because anyone can go buy a cup you promised someone else for 50 cents.
Now, you can't even make a cup of lemonade for 50 cents, considering you have to buy the cups and pitchers and lemons from other people, and they aren't lowering their price just because you can't afford them. So, you have to close up shop.
The real problem with the stock market is that lots and lots of people planned on retiring by selling their delicious lemonade vouchers, but you spent all their money on fancy hats instead of making the lemonade. | 180 |
Why can't mobile design offer swappable RAM modules like PC counterparts? | 50 | Swappable RAM, or any user-servicable component, requires more space than a non-swappable equivalent. In the case of RAM, the individual chips need to be assembled onto a module, the motherboard needs to have some kind of mechanism to seat the module in and there has to be space around the socket so that all users, including those without tiny fingers and amazing motor skills, can remove and insert the module. If you forget about user-servicable design, you can simply solder the chips to the motherboard, possibly in awkward and impossible to reach locations, which will give you more leeway to reduce the overal size of the device.
Ultimately, the quest to make mobile devices smaller has made a victim of modularity and user-servicability. | 38 |
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Why do people get sick from eating contaminated food? Wouldn't the bacteria/virus be broken up by stomach acid? | 32 | The capacity of microbes to survive the acidic environment of the stomach is largely dependent upon a few variables:
\-The microbial load: The number of organisms accompanying the food bolus. The more organisms there are, the greater the likelihood that at least a few will successfully pass through the stomach and in to the small intestine.
\-Time: Food can pass through the stomach relatively quickly depending upon a few factors. It takes time for the acid concentration of the stomach to do what it does. Sometimes food (and, therefore, microbes), simply pass through too quickly.
\-Adaptive mechanisms: Many microbes have adaptive mechanisms that protect against low pH. There is a long list of pathogenic microbes for which this is the case, but this also applies to microbes that are part of our normal microbiome and do not necessarily share a pathogenic relationship with us.
\-pH fluctuation: The stomach isn't always at pH-2. When food empties in to the stomach, the pH can rise as high as pH-6 depending on the particular materials being digested. It's also important to recognize that, while the pH of solution can be low, the surface of food contents in the stomach can have a micro-environment that is relatively high-pH.
So while the normally low pH of stomach contents (pH 1-2) is often deleterious to a great many microbes, there is a wide array of conditions that ultimately allow microbes to pass through the stomach and in to the intestines, which is the primary site of infection for most food-borne infectious organisms. | 42 |
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ELI5: Why does stretching feel so much better right before you go to sleep and right after you wake up? | I've noticed even simply raising my arms above my head, which isn't usually stretching, feels good.
Why is this?
Thanks! | 87 | Before you go to sleep: Depending on the stretch, you can release gases and muscle waste. Mostly, it's a way of relaxing your muscles. Instead of them being tight, you give them a good stretch so they can be more flexible and keep you from cramping and being sore when you sleep.
Waking up: After having your body relatively still for several hours, giving it some movement before going through your day is good for you. Not only does stretching get your blood circulating faster, but it can prepare your joints and muscles for the day, and remove or work through any stiffness. After a good morning stretch, your brain releases and spreads more of the stress and wake up hormone cocktails, which include cortisol.
I hope this helps your understanding. | 32 |
ELI5: If and object heats up due to a lot of movement in the atoms, can you theoretically shake a liquid inside a container so fast it heats up? | 739 | Yep. It’s just that shaking at human speeds transfers so little heat to the atoms that you’ll get exhausted or bored before making any real heat.
Instead of water you should put heavy cream, sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract in there. The end result will be much better. | 1,367 |
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ELI5: What makes Snopes the authority on whether claims are true or false? | I see Snopes referenced a lot when it comes to the validity of claims on the internet and it never seems to be questioned. How are they confirming these claims and why is their word taken so seriously? | 107 | They reveal their research process, cite their sources, constantly update their articles when they find new information and most importantly they are not afraid to correct any errors they've made. Basically they practice what good researchers are suppose to do. | 172 |
What causes people to "stick" to the high-voltage third rail of a railway line? | I've seen it said in many places, including rail operators websites, that if you tread on a third rail you might "stick" to it, meaning the power may have to be turned off before you can be rescued. Is this true and if it is, what causes it? | 20 | You lose control of your muscles due to the high currents, causing intense spasming, you're no longer capable of letting go should you have any grip on it, and you're unable to move if you fall on it. | 23 |
[Star Wars] How come there was a mechanical suit ready for a Vader after he had fallen into lava? | I read the wiki page on Vader's suit and it included all sorts of strange things like Sith alchemy to make it work. They also replaced his heart and a lot of his spine. It seems very complex. Surely they didn't think of all of this when he was rushed in by the Emperor? | 15 | One aspect of the Sith that is often overlooked is their scientific minds. The Sith were some of the greatest researchers in the Galaxy, simply because they combined sheer ambition with a curiosity that would never be impeded by morals.
Both Plagueis and Sidious were obsessed with immortality, and researched for any possible way to extend their own lives.
Combine these two facts, and you start to see the truth behind Vader's suit. It was a cobbled-together abomination of technology and magic. The suit itself was not prepared, but Sidious had over 1000 years of Sith experiments and technology at his disposal. And he had a test subject at his disposal.
Basically Sidious threw any experiment he thought might work into the suit, resulting in the greatly impaired Darth Vader. Vader's survival was important, but it was also a chance to weaken his own apprentice and turn him into the tool he needed. | 34 |
I am suddenly getting kicked out of my research group. Help? | I'm a PhD student in experimental materials physics who had just passed the PHD candidate qualification exam. I have been working in my current lab for a year and have been working hard - logging high experimental hours, doing lab cleanup and maintainence, attending conferences. I was working on the project assigned to me and I liked it, working nights and weekends, reading papers everyday, never slacking off and only taking brief vacations for less than a week. Other than a postdoc in the lab that I didn't get along with, everything seemed OK.
Before this, there were only a few signs of trouble: my PI recently didn't answer some emails, some of my experiments were failing and getting bad data and then I was involved in a (non-safety related) accident that resulted in equipment being down for a week. I thought that was normal, since people in my group get bad data all the time (it's a common thing in experimental materials physics due to the inherent sensitivity of samples to contamination) and I thought as long as I moved the ball forward every week, I was fine. People have broke the equipment before as well. And my PI didn't say or do anything to contradict that belief because when there are replies to my emails, it's usually 'good data' or telling me a problem that I immediately fix. Then a week ago, I was cut out of an email exchange on my own project. I immediately felt something was wrong.
Then a few days ago I'm called into the office for what I thought was going to be about my most recent results, which I felt were actually promising and heading in the right direction. Within 20 minutes it turned into "your interests don't seem to be aligned with the goals of the group and your slow progress reflects that." "I believe you will be more successful elsewhere."
I firmly believe that I have what it takes to get this PHD. I have my MS down and passed my candidacy exam - showing that my committee also believes I have what it takes. I have done research before and gotten publications. I was enthusiastic about my project and was a contributor to the lab. But apparently, none of that matters.
Now I'm forced to find a new research group as a 2nd year or quit with the MS. It's been on my mind for the past few days and I haven't made a move yet. What do I do? | 36 | This may be a physics-y kind of behavior, I've seen it in a physics prof before. Talk to your thesis committee! That's what they are there for. Maybe discuss it with your grad program office too. The sooner you start talking to people about this, the better off you'll be later regardless of how it works out. | 18 |
[LOTR] What caused to Saruman lose hope in the fight against Sauron enough to join him? | Even after Saruman's defection, defeating Sauron was obviously a real possibility (after all they did win), before his defection it must of been even less obvious who would win. Even without taking into account the role of the actual people on the ground and involved directly in the conflict - the combined forces of most of the supernatural beings in the universe were against Sauron, surely leading Frodo and giving him strength. God itself was against Sauron even if not interfering directly, why would Saruman waver in his confidence? | 33 | Divine intervention in Middle-earth tended to be limited and indirect after the 1st Age: the Valar worked only through emissaries (most notably the Wizards themselves), and the number of times Eru interfered in a blatantly obvious way can be counted on one hand.
And besides, Saruman was not truly on Sauron's side: he wanted the One Ring for himself, to master it and overthrow Sauron (before taking over all of Middle-earth, "deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order"). Pretending to be on Sauron's side was convenient because Sauron did seem overwhelmingly likely to win. Sauron controlled the entire East besides Mordor and Harad, and he was growing stronger yearly. Meanwhile Gondor was getting weaker and weaker while the Elves continued to sail west in large numbers. It was becoming increasingly clear military victory against Sauron was simply not possible. And in the end it was impossible: without Frodo and Sam, Sauron would have eventually crushed all opposition. | 37 |
[Megamind] So an infant alien crash lands into a prison, and is just...kept there and treated like an inmate? | He’s not even classified as a person under the law and the government would definitely go and investigate his anatomy. | 158 | Megamind seems remarkably well adjusted, all things considered.
I would hazard a guess that the inmates knew the peril he was in. They came to really care about the the kid and went to great lengths to keep him safe and secret. | 83 |
ELI5: Why do batteries always go the opposite way round to each other? | 17 | Generally batteries are hooked up in series — that is, power flows from the positive end of one battery to the negative end of the other battery, then out to through the device and back into the negative end of the first battery. (Actually, it's the reverse of that, but that's irrelevant to our discussion).
Given the batteries being hooked together like this, putting one in “backwards”, so to speak, lets you connect the two batteries on one end of the case with a short bit of wire, and run from the other ends of the batteries to the device in a more efficient layout. | 21 |
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Is having fun a waste of time? | Like I like Overwatch, it's my favourite game. I don't like school that much, but is playing overwatch a waste of time? Should I be off getting educated?
edit: just to clarify, i do in fact do schoolwork and im doing well. I just like OW and sometimes i feel bad that maybe i play too much.
second edit: ty for the answers | 32 | Integrity means making choices that are consistent with your true self. It means leading an authentic life (Heidegger), it means becoming (Binswanger), and should ultimately lead to self-actualization (Maslow, Nietzsche). When one does not have the courage to make these decisions and move forward, one is just treading water and avoiding their life. This is an inauthentic life, or as Rollo May called it, self-alienation.
It may be that school is not the right choice for you which is why you can't bring yourself to engage with it. Or it may be that you have chosen the wrong type of academics. Or it may be that you just don't have the courage to do take the hard road and become yourself, instead opting for the path of least resistance.
Recreation and leisure are not a waste of time, there are noted health benefits, but still can be problematic if that is all you ever really do.
I would recommend thinking very hard about who you are, and what you want out of life, and then find the courage to achieve it. | 31 |
[Deadpool] Does Deadpool fight crime in the US, or does all his adventures take place in Canada, since he is Canadian? (more questions in this post) | And more importantly, does he have a US citizenship or visa of some kind?. If so how did he manage to get that, has it ever been shown or spoken about before? Did he get it like everyone else that applies for it, or was there some other way he could have gotten it being such a force to be reckoned with. Is there an exception for mutants and super folks? | 106 | He interacts with other super heroes. That is pretty conclusive he lives in the us. Also he does not really fight crime. As a Merc he mostly commits crimes. There is no evidence he is legally in the country, or any country he travels to, which is not that rare an occurrence from what i have read. He has travelled disguised before so the most likley thing is he uses his black ops experience to fake identities as needed.
An added wrinkle is he has gained some legitimacy in the comics recently but i haven't read much of that so i don't know if he lives/travels under his own name currently. | 92 |
[The Shining] Is Jack's ghost being treated well by the Overlook? | So, we all know how the Shining ends, what with Jack in the picture in that party in the 1920s.
Is Jack just sort of living an eternal party for the rest of his life?
It seems sort of almost like Heaven for a guy like Jack. Free booze, good music, etcetera.
Does the Overlook reward him for his service, or is it torturing him and the other ghosts? | 17 | Hell isn't a place of eternal torment, it's just separation from god.
The Overlook is a mental prison that keeps the occupants from passing on to their eternal reward. They look around and see things that they should like - parties and drinking - so they *believe* that everything is okay.
But on some level they know something is off somewhere. They just can't quite locate the source of their unease, though, so they occasionally lash out. Then the Overwatch brings them back into the fold with its seductive offers of worldly pleasures. | 33 |
ELI5: How would Greek exit from eurozone lead to euro collapse, what exactly would happen after Greek exit, step-by-step? | EDIT: It has been pointed out below that there are several "unknowns" which make the question unanswerable. Perhaps the more generals questions of "How does a banking system collapse?" and "How does a currency collapse, what is the step-by-step process?" are more answerable.
I can only assume these are complex processes with many variables and numerous ways of evolving but a step-by-step analysis of any scenario would be a very interesting read. ELI5. | 30 | Greece exits the Eurozone, unilateral declares that existing debt will be paid back in drachma at some rate (a semi-default). They begin to devalue their currency. They have some rough years because people are wary of taking their worthless pieces of paper in exchange for actual goods and services. Eventually however, Greek labor becomes so cheap that they bounce back to a new normal, poorer than before, but sustainable.
Step two of the Euro crisis is Spain and Italy looking sideways at Greece saying, "hmm, that looks pretty good and we wouldn't even have as bad of a landing since we both have legit economies and actual exports" | 10 |
[Pixar's Toy Story] Do toy replicas of real people have the thoughts and memories of that actual person? Does my Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure think she's the real Ginsburg, somehow shrunk down and trapped in a child's bedroom? | 62 | Well when Buzz was opened by Andy, he initially thought that he was the REAL Buzz Lightyear. So in that sense yes, your Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure would initially think she actually IS Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
However, toys soon figure out that they are just that, toys, and start acting like that. In the case of an action figure of a real person, the time it takes for them to realize they are a toy would be fairly short. | 41 |
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[Looney Tunes] Why is Michigan Frog unwilling to sing for people other than the person who finds him? | Does the frog have anxiety?
Is singing something the frog views as special and intimate that he only does for that man in thanks for finding and taking care of him?
Is the frog malicious and want to ruin the man?
https://youtu.be/YkfU1JqmkHM | 64 | He's a curse, a being that punishes people for trying to use his talents for greedy and selfish means.
He is there for your amusement, not for you cash in on him. That's why he essentially ruins the dudes life. | 63 |
[Star Wars] How much was the Imperial Military weakened after the destruction of the first Death Star? How was the Empire's grip on the galaxy affected? | Just curious as I don't think they really covered it in the movies, and I haven't read any of the books on this era. | 26 | It really wasn't *that* weakened. They lost some high end leaders, but no one that was irreplaceable.
Their grip on the galaxy, on the other hand, definitely started to fracture. With the Rebels showing that they were able to destroy the Empire's new battlestation, more and more planets begin to show sympathy towards the Rebellion and either support them indirectly or openly, but the Rebellion still remains a relatively tiny coalition (in comparison with the Imperial military) until the destruction of the second Death Star. | 24 |
CMV: The Star Wars prequels were good movies but got negative reviews because of purists and elitists fans | The prequels were good movies. They had better fight scenes, better use of CGI and had pretty interesting story. But the reason many people hate on it and it got negative reviews is because of purists who feel that the prequel do not fit into their view of what Star Wars is. Since they grew up with the original trilogy they have a sense of nostalgia to them, and when the new movies came up they felt their nostalgia threatened by them. An example is the riddicilous criticism against Jar Jar. Many people complained that he was comic relief and was just a strange looking alien with a funny voice. But the easily forget that this is basically what Chewbacca was in the original trilogy. This kind of hypocritic criticism plagued the prequels and led to many critics to give them a much lower score than they deserve. Most likely those reviewers grew up watching Star Wars and now have the nostalgia for the original and hate for the new prequels. Most people I know that only seen the prequels or seen the prequels before the originals like it. But most who don't were often influenced by the purists fan and went in watching the movie with an already negative mindset. | 53 | So your standards for what makes a good movie are:
* good fight scenes
* good use of CGI
* pretty interesting story
Leaving aside the fact that the prequels aren't what most people would call interesting... What about writing? Dialogue? Acting? Practical effects? Continuity with the established universe? Character arcs that make sense, or, god forbid, move you in some way? Emotional resonance?
It sounds to me like your standards are just lower than most -- you don't care about much beyond being mildly entertained for two hours, which is fine. But if you serve me a hot dog and call it prime rib, I'll probably object. | 83 |
[Full metal alchemist brotherhood] Hoeinheim made this huge deal out of ed/al not transmutimg their actual mom and apparently it was something else, who pr what exactly did ed/al and Izumi transmute??? did they just create another life ? | 54 | you can make a body with common elements. That's what the boys did.
The problem ends up being when you try to bring it to life. Life isn't just base matter. It's energy. that energy has to come from somewhere. In order to get the animating force, the energy, the "soul", you have to open the gate. The boys didn't realize what this would mean, what price they would have to pay. They just wanted their mom back.
The problem is, Mom was gone. They didn't have her original body, they didn't have anything but themselves to draw her back... so they opened the gate to find her, and what their alchemy called out was not their mom - it was something ELSE. Maybe it was a soul not quite through with the reincarnation process. Maybe it was a demon or an Outsider. Maybe it was an angel, fallen from grace. Who knows?
A homunculus is what happens when the things on the other side of the gate get into a body - either an artificial body made with alchemy, or an existing body, through the Philosopher's Stone. The boys did make life... but not well. What the boys made was... not a healthy human body. What was inside it was not their mother. They made a homunculus, and Mustang put it out of its misery before it had a chance to do more than crawl. | 41 |
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ELI5: How can we "train" our bodies/tastebuds to handle spicy foods? Is it just getting used to the heat or are there actual chemical changes? | 169 | You can train your body. More importantly your brain. Your body creates chemicals to battle the pain. It is why heat heads get a high from trying really hot foods.
Endorphins and other brain goos in the brain are discharged more effectively if you eat spicy food more often.
If you have problems with spicy foods start off with small changes. Overtime you'll find it much easier to kick up the spicy. | 99 |
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Does anyone have a way to explain voltage, other than the water pressure analogy? (probably going to go beyond ELI5 rating.. Or do you know an appropriate subreddit?) massive thanks!!! | 59 | Someone throws a grenade into a crowded room.
Voltage = desire to get out.
Amperage = actual flow of people through the door.
Resistor = door. Increase the size of the door means to lower the resistance.
Grenade = positive charge. (DC)
People = Electrons.
Outside = resting area (lower potential) | 98 |
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ELI5: If I break my finger or cut it or smash it, it can heal, but if I cut it off it won't grow back. Why? All of those tissues can grow back individually, so why can't they grow back together? | 25,823 | Long story short, your body doesn't know how to read the 'blueprint' of your finger anymore and can't grow a new one. Your genes hold the blueprints, but they require the help of some molecules known as morphogens to actually shape your body. This happens during embrionic development. Morphogens either cause or prevent certain types of growth in certain parts of your body, causing it to become the shape you are familiar with.
Now, this is all fine and dandy if you are an embryo, but imagine if we had these morphogens in our bodies active as an adult. We would be continuously growing random parts of our body. This is actually one of the pathways that cause cancer. Cancer is bad, therefore our bodies suppress these morphogens after we don't need them. The problem with this is that while we still have a blueprint (genes), we fired the architect (morphogens) who know how to read the blueprint. You can patch up holes without a blueprint but you can't build a new balcony if the one you had fell apart.
As for why we can patch up holes, well it depends on the tissue. Scar tissue isn't the same as normal tissue, it's more a mix of collagen just holding everything together. Kinda like pouring concrete. Your bones are always balanced between dissolving and growing to begin with, so more focus on the growing part means two shattered fragments can eventually become one. Kinda like mortar holding two bricks together. This all is directionless and doesn't need a blueprint, so it can be considered DIY. No need for an architect here.
Edit : Wow, this blew up. Went back to sleep after typing this out and came back to this. RIP inbox lol. Thanks for the gold!
Edit 2 : since a lot of people are asking, let me explain a little about why i think therapeutic application of morphogens isn't exactly viable. Please note that i am not an expert on this subject and i'm just trying to keep things simple.
If you've ever done *origami*, or paper-folding craft, you'll know that the paper needs to be folded in a specific order. If you try to do it out of order, a corner you need to fold won't be there; it doesn't exist yet. Morphogens are similar to each individual step of folding the paper. As you need a specific corner of paper to fold, morphogens require a specific type of cell in a specific layout to interact with. Because the starting point is different in an embryo and in an adult, the results will also likely be different. And different can mean bad things. | 30,248 |
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CMV: The Education System needs to be revamped! | I'll start off by saying that I have always been interested in the trades, and for years I have wanted to start my career as a mechanic. As a senior in my high school, I can confirm that there are many things that should change about the education system in my country (Canada)
Throughout my schooling over the past numerous years, I have noticed multiple flaws in the education system for the students such as myself:
1. There is not enough support/education available for tradespeople
2. Required courses such as math or history should be directed or focused on areas of choice ( i.e. learning about taxes for math, or learning about specific topics of history chosen by the student)
3. The expectations for every student is the same, no matter mental or physical health. The only way to be treated differently or receive more support is through an IEP, which shows on my school record (Making students appear less capable or "stupid") The expectations for students is that they receive 80-90+ averages, for courses that they genuinely do not enjoy.
I can keep listing things off, but I think I am getting my point across. The information that students have to retain, should have purpose. I, for one, would achieve so much more if the information I was being presented with would affect my career.
I think that high school, colleges, etc. should have a different pathway for the students that want to pursue the trades. Every time I bring up to an english or math teacher that I want to be a mechanic, and want to pursue the automotive industry, it is almost frowned upon. People don't realize that there is so much opportunity and room for growth in this industry, and yet schools only seem to push students to be things like doctors or lawyers. At some point in life, that same teacher is going to need a mechanic, and because they told their student it was a bad idea, they will be stuck on the side of the road.
There is a reason that in college or university students can pick what they want to pursue, it is because they are receiving the education that they NEED for their career choice. But how can a student make this decision if they were never given the choice beforehand? Why shouldn't students be given these opportunities or choices for high school? Wouldn't this only encourage students to pursue what they love, rather than just make them procrastinate and stress over courses they can never apply in the real world?
Therefore, to put it simply. There is not enough recognition for the students that want to pursue a career in the trades. They are being influenced into jobs like accounting, doctors, etc. Even when students want to learn more of what they are interested in, they don't have the resources to do so. I think that high schools alongside colleges should have two different clear pathways available. One for regular education, with the same 30 credit diploma, and one pathway for tradespeople which gives direct and important education specific to the areas students want to pursue. | 16 | If high school *prepares* every student for college, they'll have the opportunity to go to college. They don't necessarily need to choose that option, but at least it is available. If high school prepares ever student to be an auto mechanic, then an auto mechanic is the most they'll ever be. Not that there's anything wrong with being an auto mechanic, but if you're prepared to be an auto mechanic, you can't be a lawyer. But if you're prepared for college, you *can* become an auto mechanic.
> People don't realize that there is so much opportunity and room for growth in this industry
But the growth in is automotive engineering and computer science - both of which benefit greatly from, if not require, a college degree. The growth isn't in being an auto mechanic. We're 20 years away from oil changes being obsolete because everyone is driving electric. And with electric, it's a lot more about computer science than it is about understanding how engines work.
**TL;DR** - The world needs ditch diggers and doctors. You can be a ditch digger even if you're prepared to go to college. You can't be a doctor if high school only prepared you to be a ditch digger. | 11 |
ELI5: different regions of American Barbecue? | Can anyone explain how Texas BBQ is different from KC or Carolina BBQ? And any other major regions I’m missing? | 19 | Carolina BBQ is pork and (to a far lesser extent) chicken. It comes in a variety of styles, but perhaps the most famous is Eastern Carolina, which has a thin, vinegar-based pepper sauce that can act either as a mop (applied while cooking) or finishing sauce (applied as a condiment). Western Carolina, or Lexington, has a thicker tomato-based sauce.
Texas is all about beef. Particularly brisket. It's delicious.
KC style is usually ribs or chicken made with a sweeter molasses-based sauce.
Alabama style is known for it's distinctive white sauce.
Other areas in the Southeast use a mustard-based sauce. I've heard this referred to as Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina style from different sources so maybe someone can elaborate on this.
| 16 |
eli5: Why do we need rockets that go straight up to get into space instead of using a ship that could just gradually increase altitude like an airplane? | I understand that structurally, it can't just be an airplane. I've just never understood why a rocket is needed. | 29 | Rockets do not go straight up all the way into space. They go straight until the air resistance is greatly reduced then angle over. This helps to reduce fuel consumption.
Fuel consumption is basically the answer. To "escape" Earth's gravity you have to go *very fast* and doing that down where there is high air resistance simply wastes fuel. | 68 |
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