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RCSI-v1_ShareGPT

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Nitral's Archive 20

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How do forbidden quantum transitions happen?\n\nOk, so I majored in (bio)chemistry and work in chemistry for my job. I have an introductory knowledge of quantum physics and how it is different from classical models, but not a deep mathematical understanding. One thing that spectroscopists mention often is \"forbidden\" quantum transitions. I gather that these are supposedly against the rules of physics, so in my understanding they should never occur, but they very much do. So, they are much longer lived quantum states because of their \"forbidden\" nature disallowing an \"allowed\" path to relax back to ground state, but they still manage to do so, but slower. I don't understand how something can be against the laws of physics and still happen. Wouldn't that imply that our understanding of what's happening incomplete and we need a better model?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Forbidden\" transitions are not actually forbidden, just suppressed. If the transition carries one unit of angular momentum, it's a dipole transition. Higher-order transitions (quadrupole, octupole, hexadecapole, etc.) are called \"forbidden\", but they're still possible. They're just less likely than a dipole transition, all else being equal." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Serious problems with coworkers at the lab. Some advice needed.\n\nIt's gonna be a long one, I'm sorry.\n\nSo I came to this research institute in the UK to do a 5 year postdoc. (I know, right? Awesome opportunity.) \n\nAfter the first month a postdoc, who was working closest with me (a bit of a knowitall, who really likes hearing his own voice, but otherwise I thought he was a nice guy) suddenly became hostile. Friday -fine, Monday -not so fine. In fact, another colleague of mine (who is the real subject of this post) actually had to tell him to dial back a notch. Since then he merely ignores my presence, which is fine. (I repeatedly tried to ask him, talk to him, he refuses. I have no clue what his problems is.)\n\nThe other guy I thought was a friend. We had once brush-in (I tried to help him and another coworker with an instrument, and he really snapped at me. To this day I don't understand why. I wasn't asked to help, true, but come on, I tried to help, not push him down an elevator shaft). I apologized, and left. From then on, every single time I asked him if he wanted coffee or something, he excused himself, yet 5 mins later he was in the canteen. He also stopped saying hi, and did not look at me, when we met on the corridor. Most peculiar. (The other colleauges are not very relatable: one middle aged woman is trying to convert me to fundi Christianity, and there's a very tight group which just ignores my presence; sometimes I feel unconfortable when I walk into the lab and two of them are alone. So not much interaction with humans here.)\n\nAnyhow, a month or two later he texts me if I had a problem with him, because he would expect me to tell him if I did. I said I did not. (Also thought I should point out that HE DID have a problem with ME yet he did not tell me about it, but did not for some reason.) It turns out he is still angry about me fighting him about that instrument. I told him it's nonsense. Why the fuck (pardon) would I pick a fight over a scientific instrument with one of the two people I count as friend? I do not even pick fights with people I know hate me (see the guy above), so why with a friend anyway?? He somehow refused to see the point, and turned hostile from then on.\n\nFast forward today. Narrow staircase, I'm rushing to the seminar, hoping to have a wee and grab a coffee before, he is coming up, shoulders set. I turn a bit, expecting him to do the same (otherwise I would have had to hug the wall), he does not, and we bump into each other. Mind you, had I not turned, I would have slammed into him full force.\n\nI stop, start to apologize, expecting he does the same, he rushes forward, and shouts back \"fucking dickhead\" and some other stuff. Two minutes later I stop him in front of the conference room, trying to talk to him about professional conduct, when he says that I must think him an idiot if I want to make him belive I did not bump into him on purpose. (His body language is extremely aggressive: pushing up against me, fists clenched.) At this point I was more than upset, so I started to say, yes, he IS indeed an idiot if he thinks that, but he just says \"come fucking outside you asshole\", and still fists clenched, storms out. \n\nAt this point the seminar starts, and I really did not wish to escalate this into a fight; after all it's a fucking lab, not a pub.\n\nWhen he comes in, he tells me that I'm a prick (I think that was the word, but not sure), and he's not talking to me. The girl next to me looks at me because she thought he told this to her.\n\nSo what do I do? At this point I hate every minute I spend in this place at this time.\n\nI want to make a report, but the lab manager (my other friend) tells me not to. She is a good friend of his, and she says he is having issues. Well, I've been having issues, thanks to this douche myself. And she did not see fit to help out, which makes me wonder how much of a friend she really is. (They've known each other longer, that is true.)\n\nI can't just let it slide; I can't talk to this guy because he seems to be bent on aggression, and I really don't want to lose my job for beating the living shit out of his fat ass (yes, I'm full of aggression right now, too). I really ,really just want to quit my postdoc and get a proper job somewhere normal. Any suggestions?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">I want to make a report, but the lab manager (my other friend) tells me not to. She is a good friend of his, and she says he is having issues. \n \nFile a report anyway. His issues are not yours to deal with. Make it clear to your lab manager, who should be managing the lab, that his \"issues\" are creating a hostile work environment and you cannot tolerate it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] At the Battle of Endor, why did the rebels not attack the Death Star from the other side?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Empire knew what direction the Rebels would be coming from so pointed the DS that way. This was a trap remember so they had intel on the rebel plans. Once in system they couldn't sublight around the Deathstar fast enough without exposing themselves to the Star Destroyers that were also there. The Empire most likely had interdictors in the mix so the rebels couldn't hyperdrive out and come back in from hyperspace on a different vector." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Deadpool 2] How badly did Deadpool fuck up his own timeline? [spoilers]\n\nSo, Deadpool goes back in time and kills the man that kills his girlfriend, thus technically unraveling everything, right? She doesn't die and so he doesn't get depressed enough to blow himself up, to meet Colossus, become an X-Man (In Training), going to jail, etc. Right? Cable comes to the past, kills the kid and leaves? But then why doesn't Deadpool have his entire timeline unraveled or fixed or... SOMETHING!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In Deadpool’s Defense, the xmen universe timeline was already fucked up during the events of Days if Future Past. That event severely fractured the X-men timeline so you could probably do a running total of timelines in the movies.\n\n1. The X-men trilogy timeline\n\n\n2. The X men origins wolverine timeline where Deadpool turns into Scott Adkins and Emma frost is a kid\n\n\n3. The Logan timeline which seems like a the X-men trilogy timeline where the sentinels never happened so Logan never went back in time\n\n\n4. The Deadpool timeline which seems linked to the first class timeline\n\n\n5. Cable’s hell world timeline that he tried to fix\n\n\n6. The legion tv series timeline which may or may not be any of the aforementioned timelines\n\n\n7. The Gifted tv series timeline which definitely isn’t part of any of the timelines above\n\nAnd then any other timeline created by Deadpool’s fuckery. Time is very strange in the X-men universe and it seems that rather than the timeline sorting itself out, it just unravels and just sort of goes it’s own way so that might be why Deadpool can get away with all sorts of time travel shenanigans." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[star wars] what happened to the Jedi Temple on courascant after the purge? Was it left alone? Was it bulldozed to make way for a high end subdivision? Did Palpatine like to go there and reminisce?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Disney Canon has Palpatine making it into his new palace. \n\nIts fate in Legends was never confirmed beyond that it still existed a couple years prior to the Battle of Yavin, as Starkiller underwent some training there. It's presumed by many to have been destroyed when the SSD Lusankya launched from its hidden position beneath the capital." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How to answer questions about why do you choose this school? Why do you think you're the best fit for this position?\n\nWell, I'm applying assistant professor positions in social sciences, and I found that the hardest interview questions that I'm facing now is how to answer the questions such as why do you choose to come to xxx university? Why do you think you are the best fit for this position? \n\n​\n\nFrom what perspective should I answer this type of question? Thank you!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before you go to the interview, do some research about the school and the department and see what you find interesting about it. Some things to look for:\n* Where is is located? City vs rural, what part of the country/world, what physical climate / geography. What can you do in the area in your down time?\n* How big is the school?\n* What is the school known for?\n* What is the school’s mission statement? \n* How big are class sizes? \n* What research is being done in the department?\n* what courses do they offer?\n* among those courses, what is one you’d really be looking forward to teach?\n* among the courses they *don’t* offer, what is one you’d like to develop and teach for them? \n* are you more interested in teaching grad or undergrad courses? Intro or advanced undergrad? \n* who is faculty in the department? Do you know any of them personally or professionally, like have you met them at conferences or read their work? Who would you most want to collaborate with?\n* How does your research fit with their research?\n* What facilities do they have (teaching or research) that you’d be looking forward to using?\n\nDo your HW - honestly half of these are useful to find out before applying even - and it’ll help you to answer those specific questions and others." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: On scene news reporters are despicable human beings.\n\nI’m gonna tell you all about a story that happened about a year ago.\n\nMe and my girlfriend heard sirens outside, and walked out to see smoke coming two blocks up from our house. We knew our good friends lived on that block, so we decided to walk up, and make sure it wasn’t their home. It was. The neighbors grill malfunctioned and took out three connected homes.\n\nWe sat there and tried to console our friends as they literally watched everything they own burn. In the middle of the street was a camera man, and news reporter filming. My friends fiancé began to get upset at their presence, but her family kinda explained that it comes with the situation, which I also understand. I watched them approach a neighbor, then saw the neighbor point in our direction. They began walking over to us, obviously seeing how hysterical our friends were. I pointed out the fact they were coming. My friends fiancés mom intercepted them, and yelled “NO!” And this is what he said...”Listen, I know it’s shitty, i figured she would wanna talk to us before we interview all the neighbors” We all shouted a bunch of not nice things to them and they walked away.\n\nThankfully this is the only time I had to witness something like this. I admit, it’s possible they were young, and this situation was a rare occurrence. How can you not as a human being put yourself in a victims situation and say “How would I feel if this were me?” “Don’t you wanna share the worst experience of your life with the world?” These people can’t have any redeeming qualities. Change my view." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some of the most iconic reporting ever done would fall into this category. Newsworthy stories occur when people are at their worst. Respecting privacy is important, but capturing raw emotion on camera and eyewitness testimonials is important too. It connects humans and real people to the stories being told. The people with the power to effect change in the world need to see that the world is in need of changing. \n \nFor example, in 2015 during the height of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, there were pictures taken of families who had just lost their children due to the conflict, or due to the boats capsizing as they fled. These images were extremely powerful and they touched the emotions of many people in the world. As a result, many governments decided to take in more Syrian refugees. \nSure, those reporters were probably being rude by capturing these peoples' worst moments, but if you look bigger picture, these reporters' stories helped those people." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Origins of Marx's quote about California and Mexico?\n\n\"Is it a misfortune that magnificent California was seized from the lazy Mexicans who did not know what to do with it?\"\n\nThis line is heralded on the Internet as a reason Marx is/was racist. I remember having found it once and this seemed to very clearly be wrong. I'm only finding sources on it that display this one quotation out of context, though." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The paper *Were Marx and Engels White Racists: The Prolet-Aryan Outlook of Marxism* by Carlos Moore (1974) includes the quote, saying it was written by Engels (not Marx himself, although reportedly expressing their joint view) for an article in the February 15 1849 copy of Neue Rheinische Zeitung, and citing it as:\n\n> Marx and Engels, Gesamtausgabe (published by the Institute for Marxism-Leninism of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party, Dietz Verlag, Berlin, 1959), Vol. 6, pp. 273-271 (Quoted in: Gustavo Beyhaut, Raices de America Latina [Eudeba Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires, 1964], Chapter II, p. 74, our translation and emphasis).\n\nI don't know if the entire article is available anywhere in English, but for slightly more context the full quote included in that paper is:\n\n> Is it a misfortune that the wonderful California was wrested from the lazy Mexicans, who did not know what to do with it?... All impotent nations must, in the final analysis, be grateful to those who, obeying historical necessities, attach them to a great empire, thus allowing them participation in a historical development which would otherwise be unknown to them. It is self-evident that such a result could not be obtained without crushing some sweet little flowers. Without violence, nothing can be accomplished in history...\n\nAnother quote by Engels on the same topic from an article in Deutsche-Brüsseler Zeitung from January 23 1848 (republished in the same source as the above) is also provided:\n\n> ...we have been spectators of the conquest of Mexico and have rejoiced in it. It is progress that a country which, up till now, was concerned exclusively with itself, torn asunder by eternal civil wars and alien to any form of development...should have been propelled, through violence, to historical development. It is in the interest of its own development that it shall, in the future, be placed under the tutelage of the United States. It is in the interest of the whole of America that the United States, thanks to the conquest of California, should achieve mastery over the Pacific Ocean." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is it when travelling in a car and sleeping, it seems easier to stay asleep while the vehicle is moving around, but more often than not we wake once the vehicle slows/has stopped?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "a vehicle's movement has a rhythm, and that steady (or mostly steady) rhythm is reassuring to very low-level parts of your brain (the so-called reptile brain). So long as the rhythm continues, your body thinks that you're safe. \n\nOnce the vehicle's movement changes significantly (slowing down, coming in for a landing, swerving to avoid road moose, etc.), you sense the change. That change could be dangerous, so you awaken." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What did Albert Camus mean when he said \"Morality, when formal, devours.\"?\n\nTitle\\^" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are some quotes which could help to elucidate this further. One (from his Notebook) is:\n\"Those who prefer their principles over their happiness, they refuse to be happy outside the conditions they seem to have attached to their happiness.\"\nIn another place (can't find it at the moment) he writes that in most occasions you don't need principles because just being merciful is enough." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: A friend of mine who lives in Germany told me citizens receive help from the goverment if they do not have a Job or a home, how can Germany afford it to do so, and why do they do it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is commonplace throughout Europe. We have high tax rates that enable a high quality of welfare provision. This extends to free or low cost medical and dental care, housing, and cost of living benefits. \n\nThe answer to why is because these societies have decided that the expense of helping people through rough patches is worth it in the long term. It can help reduce crime, keep people out of worse poverty, which saves health costs further down the line. Or they just support it on moral grounds. Or a mix and match combination of factors." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Would cancelling all US student loan debt tank the economy a-la a subprime mortgage crisis?\n\nBasically title - isn't it possible that cancelling all student loan debt would tank the economy? what if our debt has been packaged, sold, and speculated upon by banks a-la subprime mortgage crisis? wouldn't value just disappear?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The debt that is having a call for cancellation is federally owned student loan debt- because the government owns the debt directly, they have the power to forgive via fiat (though whatever process this fiat takes is currently a matter of political debate) and they have not resold the debt. \n\nHence, it has not been \"packaged, sold, and speculated upon\", at least the stuff of interest." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: what happens when lightening strikes the ocean?\n\nWhat happens when lightening strikes while there are people swimming near by? What about the fish? If water conducts electricity, how come everything in the water doesn't get electrocuted\n\nHow far would you have to be from the point of impact to barely feel the electrical current?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A lightning bolt is a huge amount charge transfer that is very focused. Once it hits the water, there are a lot of conductive pathways for the charge to follow, so it starts to rapidly spread out. Thus, near the striking point the moving charges are all close together and you get a huge amount of current, which is harmful. The farther away you are from the spot, the more the charges get to spread out and the lower the current is at any given point. Thus, eventually it becomes safe and people/fish are unharmed!\n\nI do not have a good feel for how far that distance is though." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Touchless car washes that spray liquid after liquid to \"presoak\", \"power wash\", \"sealant\", \"protective coating\" and other things, how does this work? Does spraying X liquid after Y liquid after Z liquid really clean and do anything to protect a car's paint?\n\nEdit: as in no need to really dry/wipe off the prior application? Or is it really just a soap and wash that gets most of dirt off?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "X liquid gets things loose so Y liquid can spread it apart when scrubbed. Then your car is clean. Then they spray on Z liquid which acts like plastic wrap. Sticks to the car but let’s other things slide off." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If we can \"freeze\" light for a minute, does that mean that we can \"freeze\" time?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No. The freezing of light actually involves absorbing light in a very cold gas. It's so cold that the atoms have an \"absorbed\" state that lasts a very long time before re-emitting the light in its former trajectory. Not directly related to relativity or anything like that." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How do Black Holes exist? How do we know?\n\nA friend of mine doesn't believe in Black Holes especially with the complex ideals. Please tell me something that I can just read to him to prove/explain to him how Black Holes exist and why we know its there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Black holes don't emit light so we can't directly see them, but because they have lots of gravity, some objects get locked into orbit around them just like the earth orbits the sun. We know they're there because we see stuff orbiting around them with telescopes." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How do airplane tires not explode on contact with the ground even though they bear the weight of several hundred tonnes and travelling well over a few 100km/h?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tires are engineered to be extremely tough and to distribute the weight evenly. That said the challenges for aircraft tires is very difficult and they wear out quickly. And of course sometimes they *do* explode." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: People who take a halfway, “sometimes” stance on a woman’s right to abortion are invariably wrong.\n\nTo clarify, I don’t have a specific view on the morality of abortion. Would I have one myself, no; but on the legal side I’m pro choice because I don’t believe that I or anyone else should be entitled to decide whether someone else should be allowed to have one based on moral judgments that are always relative and subjective. That said, I am not posting to argue for either the 100% “pro-life” stance OR the 100% “pro-choice” stance. Rather I’m here to make a point on the wishy-washy stance that “abortion should only be legal if certain conditions (e.g. the mother was raped, incest is involved, etc.) are met.” I think this view contradicts itself. Allow me to explain.\n\nIf you think a fetus is an innocent life with a right to be born, it stands to reason that you think abortion is the murder of an innocent life.\n\nBut if you think abortion should be legally permissible in scenarios in which you pity the mother or believe the child may be deformed (incest), you are saying that it’s okay to murder deformed babies, or babies that inconvenience/emotionally harm otherwise “chaste” women whose pregnancy was not their fault.\n\nTherefore it appears to me that it’s not the life of the fetus that is sacred to you (after all, why would it be justifiable to murder any baby for someone else’s problems or for something that is not their fault?) but the “punishment” of women who failed to be chaste. After all, the circumstances of a child’s conception should make little difference if you truly believe that abortion is murder. Murdering babies can’t be “sometimes” okay, if that is what you genuinely believe abortion to be.\n\nMy conclusion here is that those who take a “sometimes” stance do so not because they genuinely and wholeheartedly believe abortion is murder (like the 100% pro-life folks) but because they wish to impose repercussions on women whom they view as promiscuous or irresponsible. These are the women who “must” carry to full term. That is why I see this stance as disingenuous.\n\nChange my view.\n\nEDIT to clarify that I am referring to social reasons to permit/not permit abortion (not trying to debate the ethics of late-stage abortion, for example)." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think for pro-life people, it's not necessarily the fact that they consider abortion to be murder *alone*, but rather the fact that they consider the right of the fetus to live to be above the right of the mother to choose. Meanwhile pro-choice people believe the reverse. \n\nIf you look at it on this comparative scale, a decision of the more important between two fundamental rights, then it makes total sense that context can change someone's view on it. For instance, a pro-life person might believe that a fetus's right to life supersedes a woman's right to choose in most cases because the mother already *had* the ability to choose not to have sex, or to choose to take better precautions against getting pregnant, and thus she doesn't deserve a 'second chance' at the expense of the fetus's right to life. But the same person might feel it's different in the case of rape when the woman didn't have that choice to being with, and that in such a case, the woman's right to choose does come above the fetus's right to live." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is Carfax, a commercially owned company, allowed to collect all kinds of information on our cars, and sell it to others for money?\n\nThe more I'm researching the company, the stranger this seems. Apparently mistakes are common, and hard to get fixed, yet they severely affect the value of your vehicle. They get this information from insurance companies, from *police*, but also for example from oil change companies that will report your mileage to them. How is this allowed? It's not like I signed up with Facebook and they then sell my info. I never made any agreement with Carfax. Where did we give permission for this extensive reporting?\n\nI ask, because I'm selling a car, and the buyers just emailed me this morning to say that the Carfax report lists my car as having been totaled in Florida last year. Not only has my car never been in an accident at all, my car hasn't even been in Florida (it's registered in OREGON), and I'm the only owner.\n\nI can't believe that an idiotic mistake by a company I want nothing to do with, and that I never authorized to collect my information, has now reduced the value of my three year old car to virtually nothing, until they fix it. IF they fix it. They don't even have a phone number listed. How can all this be legal? Why isn't this kind of service run by the DMV?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every bit of information that is on Carfax is either:\n\n1) Not information that qualifies for privacy protection\n\n2) Information that is already public - this includes police records\n\n3) **Information that, somewhere down the line, you agreed to allow another company to sell**, likely in a very long sale contract, online agreement, or other similar instrument. \n\nThat's how they do it.\n\nSource: IP attorney." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why is the inner solar system rocky (inner planets), the outer solar system gas (outer planets), and the far outer solar system rocky (Oort cloud, transNeptunian objects)?\n\nI get why the inner planets are rocky and the outer ones gas, but why do we \"go back to rocky\" when you go even further out from the outer planets?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fundamentally this comes down to the \"frost line\": how far out from the Sun do we need to be before water freezes?\n\nThis also depends on the reflectivity of the object in question (the more reflective it is, the less sunlight it absorbs, the colder it is), but generally speaking, it's somewhere in the outer portion of the Main Asteroid Belt separating Mars and Jupiter.\n\nThis turns out to be crucial for which planet forms where. A forming proto-planet needs to weigh in around 5 - 10 Earth-masses before it has sufficient gravity to hold onto hydrogen gas. In other words, a proto-planet needs to build up a pretty substantial mass of just solids before it can grow even faster using gas. That is far more likely to happen if you can build your planetary core out of both rock and ice beyond the frost line rather than just rock inside the frost line.\n\nAlso note that subsequent migration can then alter planetary positions later. We see a lot of exoplanet systems where Jupiter-sized planets spiraled inwards after formation to end up with an orbit closer than Mercury is to the Sun; we *think* our own Solar System was spared from this fate only thanks to a resonance between Jupiter and Saturn.\n\nI would challenge your assertion that...\n\n> why do we \"go back to rocky\" when you go even further out from the outer planets?\n\nWhen you get beyond Neptune, the bodies out there are somewhat rocky, but primarily they're *icy*. For example, the density of rock is usually somewhere around 3 g/cm^(3), while the density of ice is about 1 g/cm^(3). The density of Pluto, meanwhile, is 1.88 g/cm^(3), suggesting its got a *lot* of ice. To some extent, you can think of Pluto as a giant proto-planet core that never really gathered enough mass to get started.\n\nThis also makes sense because there's more than just one kind of frost line. While we usually means the *water* frost line just inside Jupiter's orbit, there's also the CO2 line farther out (where carbon dioxide freezes into dry ice), the methane line beyond that, and the nitrogen ice line even farther out than that. So far as we can tell, the objects beyond Neptune have lots of nitrogen ice, because that's just about the only place it can form." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do wall sockets only have 1 or 2 plugs?\n\nI've always wondered why there were only two. Can't we add more?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There is typically a code (for safety) regarding electrical wiring. There is always the option of running more wires to more outlets, but there is a limit to how many sockets can be wired for a single pair of wires (by code). \n\nAlso a outlet boxes are very standard items - they are low cost because they are made in large volumes and made to common specification. Anything custom will be very expensive. More outlets means more circuits, means more wires, larger distribution boxes and more circuit breakers. \n\nLots of things can be done (within the electrical code for homes) but it is a matter of paying a lot more. Most households don't bother with the added expense." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why are 'do' and 'don't' pronounced differently? If 'do' is pronounced 'doo', shouldn't 'don't' (do not) be pronounced 'doont'?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's just one of those quirks of the English language. \"Won't\", for \"will not\", adds an 'o' before the 'n', which makes even less sense. Languages change over time, and clunky pronunciations like \"doon't\" or \"willn't\" get smoothed down to easy pronunciations." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In comparison to the sun, as viewed from Earth, how large does the sun look on Mercury?\n\nDoes it basically look the same size? 2x larger? 3x? 1.2x?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun as viewed from Earth subtends an angle of about 0.533 degree. From Mercury, it subtends an angle between about 1.14 degrees at aphelion and 1.73 degrees at perihelion.\n\nSo measuring (approximately) linear dimension, the sun appears between about 2.1 and 3.3 times as large from Mercury as it does from Earth.\n\nMeasuring *solid angle*, however (i.e., think \"area\"), the difference is between 4.6 and over *10 times* as large. It depends on which measure you think is more appropriate-- for example, if you look at two circles, one of which has twice the diameter of the other, is it \"twice\" as large (twice the diameter), or \"four times\" as large (four times the area)?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How many years will it be until the 'maps' NASA sent out on the interstellar probes to locate Earth will no longer be useable by possible aliens who pick them up?\n\nWondering how long until the star maps that NASA had sent on the voyager probe (the gold disc type messages with the star chart to find our solar system) will be outdated due to star deaths etc. Will the Sun burn out first, or will stars drift far enough through space to render them unreadable?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Star maps sent out on spacecraft are based on pulsars. These stars are extremely long-lived and easy to identify based on their frequency. The maps should be relevant for billions of years. \n\nAlthough keep in mind that the plaques are mostly symbolic. The chance of anything finding those probes is nearly nonexistent." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think they're called 'for profit' colleges, but I'm not sure. Places like ITT Tech and University of Phoenix: why are they bad?\n\nOr is that just a matter of opinion? My parents made me watch a special on it a while back when I was looking for schools to apply to, but it all went completely over my head and was so technical and confusing...I think I ended up falling asleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They have a profit motive. The thing is, academic standards aren't really profitable; to get the most money, you want to accept as many students as possible and ensure that none of them drop out. So a for-profit college's degree doesn't really mean anything; nobody will care if you have it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is there an actual difference between, say, microwaves and infrared waves, or did we just decide on random numbers to separate them?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Photon frequency doesn't have any well defined natural boundaries. Practically, the categories we separate EM radiation into has to do with how that particular radiation is created, manipulated and detected, i.e. how it interacts with matter. It makes sense to separate radio waves from microwaves from visible light because the methods for generating them and ways of using them are completely different. However, there is certainly a degree of arbitrariness in exactly where those boundaries are." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] Do some force users have more precognition then others? Who has the best precognition?\n\nAlso do some force sensitive people get precog? Why isn't there a sniper character with precog?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes, Sifo Dias is known for his ability to predict events; even as a padawan, the Jedi Masters were in awe of his abilities. He predicted the clone wars when no one else did. \n\nThe reason we dont see force sensitive snipers is because we've yet to meet many force sensitives who are not part of the two major groups. The Night Sisters used bows which was no doubt aided by their abilities, though." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How can Nietzsche like Christ and hate Christianity?\n\nLike, did he have some secondary sources that talk about Jesus? All his info comes from the Bible, but if his message was perverted like he says, why would Christians compile the New Testament when most of it contradicts its main work, the Gospels? And what is his admiration of Christ then, when his figure was invented by Christians?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">Like, did he have some secondary sources that talk about Jesus? \n\nHe had thoughts about which aspects of Christianity strayed from Jesus's message, and which did not. It's not like he's the only one to draw these conclusions: when you read something like Paul it's not hard to get the picture that there are parts of Jesus's message and life that he places less emphasis on and parts that he places more emphasis on (think about 1 Corinthians 15:17 for instance).\n\n>All his info comes from the Bible, but if his message was perverted like he says, why would Christians compile the New Testament when most of it contradicts its main work, the Gospels? \n\nWhy indeed! Nietzsche has a lot to say on this, both in *The Anti-Christ* (his big anti-Christian screed) and much of his other work too.\n\n>And what is his admiration of Christ then, when his figure was invented by Christians?\n\nThis too is covered in *The Anti-Christ*. Nietzsche doesn't think Jesus was invented by Christians - he think Jesus existed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Does hypnosis work?\n\nIs it a real thing? Or is it just a magic trick? And if it works, how so? Can one get hypnotized by watching videos?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suggestion works to some degree - for example, it has been successfully used as a mild alternative to analgesia, in dentistry for example. It is in no way comparable to what is popularly shown in media (e.g. against your own will; making you think you are a chicken, things of that sort)" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is the CIA allowed to black out parts of declassified documents?\n\nInitially I thought it was just to protect the names of specific people involved - and indeed, that is definitely one reason they do this - but sometimes in declassified documents you'll see entire sentences or even paragraphs blacked out completely. I know it's the government, not just the CIA, who decides what gets declassified, but what's the point of declassifying a document if the CIA first gets to cover up the most sensitive bits? In the case of particularly damning documents, such the recent torture pieces, what's stopping them from simply blacking out the entire document? Do we know anything about the type of information that normally gets covered up? Is there *any* policy on this, or does the CIA just kind of do it and expect people to deal with it? Is it even carried out by the CIA in the first place, or is somebody else in charge of this?\n\nI've been wondering this ever since I saw an old document about Charlie Chaplin in the communism witch hunts, where nearly full pages of the document had been removed despite it being a supposedly well-known and well-publicized scenario. It seems more relevant now than ever, though, as the torture documents have similar censorship and this is extremely unnerving for such an already controversial release.\n\nEDIT: Thanks, everyone. The answers explained the law in place to determine what should and shouldn't be blacked out, and shed some light on the process and who's responsible for it. A lot of the info on what actually gets cut is still fuzzy, but that seems natural considering nobody can actually know exactly what that info used to be.\n\nEDIT 2: Even the information on what's actually cut seems pretty clear now, or at least the type of thing they normally remove. I marked this explained a while ago but the explanations that are still coming in have been very helpful too. Thank you." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The easiest, non-conspiracy way to explain it is simply that the act of removing the information is what allows the documents to become declassified.\n\nFor example, in the sentence:\n\n\"Mr. Ahmed Jones informed us of the super secret password to the al-qaeda clubhouse: pepperoni.\"\n\nThe sentence could be \"declassified\" by removing sources and methods:\n\n\"Mr. [redacted] informed us of the super-secret password to the [redacted]: [redacted].\"\n\nWhen you remove the sensitive information, there's nothing left to warrant the classification, so it can be downgraded." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[MiB] Why did Jay chase the alien in the beginning of the movie?\n\nYou never really get an explanation but it must have been big. I mean he had two uniformed cops and Jay who was in plain clothes. \n\nWhat did he do to get such a reaction from the NYPD?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would bet carjacking, grand theft auto, trying to jack a ferry, or something else. All the registered aliens were trying to find a way off Earth as fast as possible because the Bug was coming, and he was probably cutting legal corners trying to get to a spacecraft." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How do planes not become covered in ice when flying in -70F temperatures?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Planes try to avoid flying into areas that contain high amounts of moisture like clouds. When that isn't possible there are de-icing systems on the plane that prevent the buildup of ice around critical areas like the engine inlets and leading edges of wings and probes. They work by heating up or by passing bleed air from the engines underneath the surface or an electric heater. This is the reason why the leading edges of engine intakes on most planes aren't painted." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why does choked flow happen and why it is related to the speed of sound ?\n\nI'm diving into the venturi effect (example: rocket nozzles and chocked flow happening in the admission valve of a ICE) and it seems that when the gas approaches the speed of sound, the flow starts to choke. Why does this happen ?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To preface this answer: information about a medium travels at the speed of sound in the medium. So if you change the conditions of a flow at one point, the effect on the medium travels at the speed of sound upstream in the medium.\n\nIf you imagine a venturi nozzle and a flow condition where the speed of sound is achieved at the throat, and your downstream flow is travelling at greater than the speed of sound, any disturbances downstream of the throat won't propagate upstream. Picture yourself splashing around in a river where the flow travels faster than the wave speed; no one upstream of the river will be able to see your splashing around. Now there are two ways to achieve a choked flow scenario from here: \n\n* ~~Increase the pressure upstream of the throat~~ **EDIT:** Forcibly increase flowrate upstream of the nozzle \n* Decrease the pressure downstream of the throat.\n\nIf you try ~~increasing the pressure~~ forcing the flowrate to increase upstream of the nozzle (perhaps by increasing power on a compressor), you end up forcing air to get to Mach 1 before the throat. If you picture it does that instantaneously before the throat, because of how supersonic flow behaves it will actually decelerate to subsonic flow just downstream of the Mach transition. And speed up again and slow down again, etc. etc.. This just creates a bunch of shocks in your convergent nozzle where heat is generated but the flow doesn't speed up. And once it gets to the throat, it hits mach 1 anyways and accelerates in the divergent section.\n\nIf you decrease pressure downstream, on the other hand, you get a situation of underexpansion at the outlet of your pipe system. Unlike subsonic flow where the information about the new reduced downstream pressure propagates through the system quickly and stabilizes the flow pressures and velocities, the underexpansion remains at the outlet in the form of an expansion fan. Remember: information can't travel in a medium faster than the speed of sound, and if the flow travels faster than the speed of sound, the information downstream never propagates to the rest of the system.\n\nEDIT: Changed \"increase pressure upstream\" to \"increase flowrate upstream\". Your behavior from the reservoir leading up to the throat will not depend on absolute pressure of the reservoir." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why did the first stage of the Saturn V use different fuel from the second and third stage?\n\nI'm kind of wondering here, why did they use Kerosene (or RP-1) for the first stage, and Liquid Hydrogen for the second and third? Does it have something to do with the thrust and efficiency?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is solely to do with thrust and efficiency, actually. Kerosene is energy dense, and liquid at high temperature. It doesn't need to be cryogenically cooled, like liquid Hydrogen, and can be stored in a much smaller tank. You save weight on fuel tank size, insulation, etc. Being more dense also makes it easier to burn a lot of it in a short amount of time and produce more thrust, because you're not having to push huge volumes of liquid Hydrogen through your system.\n\nHowever, because the combustion products are heavier, they can't be thrown out the back by the rocket engine at as high a speed as burning liquid Hydrogen. This means that the combustion is less efficient. Lower stages are always less efficient anyway, though, because they're dealing with the atmosphere (not the case in space).\n\nFor a lower stage, you want to produce a lot of thrust, and you aren't as concerned about efficiency. You want to pack a big bang for a little buck. When you get to space, you want to start using more efficient propulsion techniques and fuel sources so that you're getting more out of your payload." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Transformers] What kind of components are transformers made of?\n\nAre they made of human components like wire and motors? If so how do they come in to existence? And why do the have muscles?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They seem to be made from a combination mechanical, moving parts and advanced electronic circuitry. Transformers actually start out a more simple mannequin like shape, with a relatively smooth surface. Fully grown transformers are made primarily of durabyllium steel. While their parts are similar to human components, they are decidedly much more advanced." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why hasn't Youtube tried to remove Adblock?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They get their revenue from ads, which come from viewers, which come because YouTube is, by far, the favored video sharing site.\n\nIf they block Adblock then those users leave so the content creators are encouraged to leave and then the other users leave.\n\nAllowing a small percentage of adamantly anti-ad users to view the site without ads winds up hurting them less than trying to force them out." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I predict our eventual move to the cloud will end 99.99% of piracy. CMV.\n\nWith Internet infrastructure slowly developing and improving, cloud solutions are slowly becoming more viable. Sooner or later, as we are moving with Microsoft's Office 365 and Adobe's Creative Cloud, pretty much all applications and games will run virtualized on a server. Screenshots of the applications will be sent from the server to your PC and any input will be sent from your PC to the server. We can already see this happening for games with Nvidia's shield streaming service.\n\nWith complete cloud solutions (we haven't quite reached this yet), the companies no longer provide you with a copy of the program code (in binary that is) and therefore in order to modify the application, you would have to either physically go to the server or hack the server which is incredibly hard and relies on a finite and shrinking amount of security holes created due to human mistakes.\n\nChange my view." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That could only apply to utility software and video games, where the content is reliant on you getting interactive feedback. \n\nBut for every medium that can exist as a single data file, it would still be easy to rip that data out of the cloud and play on any device without the servers.\n\nBut how do you end music piracy, if every MP3 file can contain copyrighted music? How do you end ebook piracy, if every PDF file can have the text of a book inside of it?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[MCU] Was the original Captain America's shield as strong as the one he got later from Black Panther?\n\nGiven that Howard Stark had probably never worked vibranium before is it possible that he may have not been able to produce an optimum strength shield??" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The double wrist mounted ones? They’re both Vibranium, no reason to assume one is better than the other. The Wakandan shields are better offensively, but caps shield is larger and can bounce. He’d probably prefer his own." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do phone batteries die at low temperatures, even if the charge amount is nowhere near 0%?\n\nI found a previous post on this but the explanations were not really something a five year old would understand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The protection circuit in the battery shuts it off. Li-Ion batteries mustn’t be discharged below ~3.0V voltage. Low temperatures make the battery voltage drop. There is a deep discharge protection circuit, usually built directly into the battery pack which shuts it off." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Learning to make good arguments?\n\nI have noticed that I am not being able to make convincing arguments, probably due to a lack of formal education in Philosophy. How can I remedy that? Is there any book I can read or maybe even a short course?\n\nTo give some background information, I am a medical professional and active in medical research. I have never received any formal philosophy training. However, I feel drawn to philosophy quite a lot. My primary area of interest is the nature of existence, especially the philosophical implications of general relativity and quantum mechanics (again I regret to say that I don't have any training in physics or mathematics beyond high school and mostly depend on science communicators e.g. Carl Sagan).\n\nTill now, I've read some works of Socrates, Nietzsche and a little bit of eastern philosophy. \n\nDo you guys have any recommendation for me?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I’m going to tell you the secret to writing good arguments.\n\nWrite an argument. Let a smart person who disagrees with you (or can play devil’s advocate well) read and critique it. Revise the argument based on that critique.\n\nRepeat over and over again." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC] Has Bruce Wayne ever run out of money?\n\nThe man buys a lot for himself, supports several members of the Bat-Family, pours a lot of cash into making Gotham a better place (for all the good it does), and supports the Justice League in a number of ways including paying for all the damage they cause and buying them at least one super-high-tech base. Has there ever been a time when Bruce just plain spent everything he had on all of this, or came close to it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There have been times in earlier DC continuities when Bruce Wayne has had to pull back on his spending, but that's not quite the same thing as running out of money.\n\nOver the decades, the amount of money Bruce Wayne has had to throw around has significantly increased. Back in the 1960s, for example, he was only one of a number of millionaires who lived in Gotham City and didn't even qualify for the Forbes top 100 wealthiest men and women in the world. Back then, his socioeconomic authority came less from how much money he had and more from his aristocratic lineage, such as being the descendent of one of the founders of Gotham City and of a Revolutionary War hero, and from his constant public charity work." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why your vision becomes grainy when you're in a dark room or when you close your eyes\n\nRepost since my post got ''[removed]'' when I did not remove it myself nor did I receive a message as to why so I am going to assume it was a glitch on Reddit.\n\nLike tiny fine dots that change colors and are red green and blue." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Our eyes have two different types of cells that detect light. Rods and Cones. \n\nCones detect color, there are (usually) three types that detect different wavelengths, corresponding to Red, Green, & Blue. \n\nRods don't detect color, only amount of light.\n\nCones have a much harder time detecting light when the light levels are very low. This is why we tend to lose our color vision when in low light. The cones practically stop working but the rods still work.\n\nI don't recall fine dots that change colors, but I'd bet that what you are asking about is because the cone cells are struggling while the rod cells make up the difference." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC]Since the Flash speeds up his subjective sense of time, all of the time, how many years has Barry Allen actually lived?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's hard to say without knowing just how time converts from normal speed to his speeds and how many times he's used his speed (countless). \n\nBUT when Bart Allen decided to read every book in the library he said he had spent around a year reading it all when it had only been 20 minutes to the other Titans. So I'd assume, relative to himself, Barry Allen has lived for a VERY long time." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What causes viruses to take different structures? As an example Ebola is a string like structure, where as the flu is spherical.\n\nAnd does the structure change the effects, like symptoms, transmission,etc." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beyond giving and answer like evolution, it is like a lock and key. Over time viruses change to adapt to changing host biology since their only purpose is to reproduce itself. Sometimes it is the conection site itself that changes and other times the body simply makes it impossible for the virus to reproduce.\nFor example their are certain humans who are naturally immune to HIV, their immune system actually recognizes and attacks the virus. \n\nViruses are sneaky and they rely on that fact to be successful.if the body detects the foreign invader or the virus cannot make a home in a cell then it fails and dies or gets passed on." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[The Man in the High Castle] It's patently clear how the Nazis defeated the Americans, but how did they beat the Soviets?\n\nAlso, what about the Brits? Anybody wanna take a stab at that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They got to Moscow, and the cowardly communists folded like a stack of cards.\n\nHEIL!\n\nEDIT: The British fought the Germans on the Beaches... and lost.\n\n***\n\nNon-universe answer:\n\nWithout FDR, there was no Lend-Lease act.\n\nStalin once candidly remarked that without the USA giving them support via Lend-Lease, they would not have been able to repel the Nazis. Something like 30% of all Soviet vehicles during WW2, with the exception of tanks, were provided by Lend-Lease. They received resources ranging from aluminium and steel down to clothes and rations.\n\nThe Soviets would have held on for a while. Assuming Operation Barbarossa started at the same time in the Summer of 1941, the Soviets would have probably still won the Battle of Moscow, purely because continuing to invade Russia once winter starts fucking insane. However without Lend Lease they never would have been able to effectively roll back the Nazi Invasion - especially without a western front. Either in 1942 or 1943 the Nazi's would have ~~done what only the Mongols had done before them and~~ taken Moscow (Ok Moscow has been conquered/leveled six times in history). \n\nThe loss of Moscow is a HUGE blow to Soviet Moral and could spell the death kneel for the USSR that Hitler gambled it would be. Forces from the Steps and Siberia would have continued to fight (Russia is *vast*), but with the the great Ukrainian bread basket and the oil fields of Caucuses presumably falling under Nazi control, the Reich would have had the resources to continue their conquests.\n\nThe Soviets had manpower like no army in history before it, but without Lend-Lease to equip them the Nazi's would have eventually taken Moscow." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Infinity War] Thor says to the Guardians about Uru weapons, \"You simply lack the strength to wield them: your bodies would crumple as your minds collapsed into madness.\" Is there a deeper explanation as to why this would happen?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "stormbreaker controls incredibly vast electrical currents, and its user interface operates through direct mental connection. If you are insufficiently resilient attempting to use such a weapon will literally cook you inside out.\n\nThe main issue is the base energy level of the mental interface, well the second main issue. the other is just how pathetically weak humans are. So you might say, well why not just tone down the mental interface to human limitations? Well thats where we get to the second problem, the energies stormbreakers fucks with are just too strong to tone down that far, it's just not safe around people. \n\nWe're like a squirrel and stormbreaker is the electric plants main transformer, there's just no safe way for us to hit something else with it while holding it ourselves." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why have \"B's\" become the new \"F's\" in university?\n\nIt just seems that most students in the universities in Canada believe that unless you get an 'A' you have failed. Any thoughts as to why this has come to pass?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grades used to indicate the student's rank in the class--grading on the curve is all avout that. Under this system, a C meant that the student is average compared to other students in the class. Starting around the 70's, there was a shift in assessment philosophy to one where the grade reflects the student's work/competence without comparison to who else takes the class. This shift was slow and patchy; every time someone complaints of grade inflation, they are implicitly assuming that grading on a curve should be standard. But the new philosophy is clearly winning.\n\nSo what do grades mean now? Usually it boils down to this: a B means you did what was required with sufficient but lackluster competence. C means that you couldn't do what was required, but you show progress towards competence. To get an A, you have to do what's required with clear competence. No need to be \"outstanding\" (though many college catalogues still use that term), since you aren't being compared to other students.\n\nSo the students do interpret the grades correctly--anything but an A is deficient on their part." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If a person were spinning perfectly horizontally in space, could they slow themselves by putting their arms out? Much like an ice-skater?\n\nIf we take the question further, what if the person had a pack with heavy chains that they could fling outward. Would this slow their spin down at all? Co-worker just watched Gravity..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I haven't seen Gravity, but the essential idea you are referring to is conservation of angular momentum. The answer to your question is yes, you could slow down your rotational speed by moving mass away from the rotational axis. \n\nBeing in space (away from the effects of gravity) should have no effect on this principle." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Are the 30% of ebola survivors just lucky or is there something other than proper care that directly lead to their survival? Are survivors left with any permanent physical damage and does surviving once build a tolerance or antibody to prevent future infection?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Care will matter. The two most prominent symptoms of ebola are vomiting and diarrhea. That will dehydrate you real fast. \n\nThe dehydration makes it difficult to fight it, it can even kill you through electrolyte imbalance right there. \n\nHowever, dehydration alone is not the problem. Many people have been given IV fluids which are basically ironclad protection against dehydration and still died of ebola. IV fluids will only *reduce* the fatality rate somewhat." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Game of Thrones] Which gods do you think are real?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "None are probably real in terms of being 100% the way they're described. But the Old Gods and the Lord of Light are probably real in some capacity. \n\nThe North definitely has some magic that could be derived from the Old Gods, warging and Bran's tree-boy stuff is real. So there is something magical connecting all of that stuff. Whether they're a set of animist gods that the old Northerners worshipped or something else is unclear.\n\nThe Lord of Light is implicated in some of the most replicable magic. The fire stuff is definitely real and characters are for sure brought back from the dead and have visions of the future. Whether it's some actual duotheistic religion with a fire god and ice god representing good and evil is not clear, but there is some actual magic going on." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What does wind look like on an atomic level?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wind is simply air with a group velocity. As such, it looks no different from air on a molecular level except that there is an overall trend of the particles to move in one direction. An individual particle may move counter to that direction of motion for a time, but it will likely collide with another particle and change direction. Overall, the average velocity of time is in the direction of the wind." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Could southern hemisphere countries get something similar to the polar vortex from Antarctica?\n\nIs it a specific situation in the arctic circle? Or could South America/Africa/Australia also face this situation?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good question!\n\nShort answer, Yes. Tasmania and South America get hammered by Antarctic storms sometimes. But it doesn't happen as often or as easily.\n\nThe Antarctic Polar Front, the big circle of winds around Antarctica at approximately 55 degrees south latitude, acts like a wall, limiting the exchange of weather systems between Antarctica and parts farther north.\n\nThis atmospheric 'front' is a natural effect of the Earth's rotation and the energy differences between the cold southern latitude air (which sinks) and the warmer air to the north (which rises).\n\nThe same thing happens around the North Pole. A big difference is that the Southern Polar Front doesn't have any topographical barriers -- no mountains or land masses -- to disrupt the flow of air or change the energy balance. The wind chases itself in a big, continuous circle around the Southern Ocean without hitting anything.\n\nIn contrast, the Northern Polar Front gets disrupted by land and mountains and different air masses, scrambling the flow. So the northern hemispheres sees a lot more breakup of the polar front simply because of geography." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Lovecraft Mythos] How is Cthulhu, an extradimensional eldritch abomination gets trapped in such infinitesimal prison under Rlyeh on the speck of dust called earth?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cthulu, for all his power, is just a Herald hiding out on some backwater until he is needed.\n\nWhich makes you wonder what else is out in the universe that makes beings like him hide out somewhere so quiet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Democrat Leaders Extending the Patriot Act Shows Their Animosity Towards Trump is Mostly Rhetoric\n\nOf course, most people are aware of the impeachment hearings against Trump. However, just yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to fund and extend the Patriot Act for an extended 3 months after December 20th. \n\nIt seems to me hypocritical to believe that Trump is unfit for office and abused his power and then proceeds to potentially give him more power--or at least extending the duration of his current powers. \n\nAdditionally, Representative Justin Amash attempted to amend the budget bill by removing the Patriot Act language but the amendment was blocked by the Democrats on the Rules Committee. Only 10 Democrats voted against the resolution, including AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Tlaib. \n\nThe Trump administration still retains authority to reinitiate the NSA call records program, the program where millions of innocent American calls had been collected, if they deem it necessary. \n\nGiven the fact that the Trump administration could potentially extend another 4 years, it seems questionable at best why Democrats would not strip him of some of the powers he could abuse when they had the opportunity to. Given this, it seems to me most of the rhetoric against Trump is just for show. When presented with something to act on, most of the Democrats chose to empower Trump, and allow his administration the power to listen and collect calls, information, and data on millions of Americans." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">It seems to me hypocritical to believe that Trump is unfit for office and abused his power and then proceeds to potentially give him more power--or at least extending the duration of his current powers.\n\nBeyond those powers explicitly authorized by the Constitution, it is the job of Congress to both legislate what powers the President has and to ensure those powers are being used properly. It's not hypocritical to give the President one power while simultaneously accusing him of abusing a different power." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why are there a lot of WW2 movies and almost no movies about WW1?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was widespread opinion after WW1 that it shouldn't have happened, and accomplished nothing. Its causes are still a bit hard to understand, and it discredited pretty much every government involved in it to one level or another.\n\nAnd while it was happening, the horror was ironically uneventful. People died in droves, but not much changed - the front lines did not advance much for most of the war. People might unknowingly clamber over multiple layers of buried corpses trying to capture the same few meters year after year.\n\nWorld War 2 was very different. It was one of the few wars in history that can be legitimately called *totally* unavoidable, given the mentality on one side. Its causes were clear, its moral distinctions eventually were found to be absolute, and its events and movements were very dramatic.\n\nIts outcome was also economically and politically profitable to the country that houses Hollywood, so lots of movies about it were inevitable." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: What are those things in the sky that people are saying are chemicals and population control?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They are contrails -- condensation trails caused by aircraft. \n\nKnow how they kinda look like clouds? That's because that's exactly what they are -- artificial clouds created as a byproduct of jet travel." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 What determines which body part gains more weight ?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All genetics. It’s nothing you really control. You can not spot burn fat with exercise. Meaning that crunches won’t burn belly fat. Exercise and diet that are appropriate, will cause you to lose overall body weight, from everywhere it stores it, most likely leaving fat where it first formed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Does the gravity of one object affect / attract another object sooner than light can travel between the two objects?\n\nFor example, is the Earth attracted to the *current* location of the Sun's center of gravity, or to the location of the Sun's center of gravity from ~8 minutes ago?\n\nI think I remember reading about something like a \"cone of possibility\" (I know I'm probably butchering the term) that stated that one thing could not affect any other thing any faster than light could travel between them. But I also think I remember reading that gravity causes an instant attraction between any two objects, no matter the distance between them.\n\nA follow-on question would be: If the attracting effect of gravity is in fact instant, and that force is \"carried\" by a graviton (or some particle / wave), then does that mean gravitons are super-light speed things?\n\nThanks, and as always, please forgive my ignorance (but that's why we have this wonderful sub!)." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nope, information about gravity travels at the speed of light. This is what we expect from theory, and while observations are difficult they seem to indicate this.\n\nWhat you probably heard about gravity being instantaneous refers to Newton's theory of gravity, which is very useful but obsolete." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What is the current consensus on using biological entities for information storage?\n\nEvery once in a while I read small news stories about people using dna to store images, or questioning the viability of using dna and rna as future methods of storing information like flash drives. Is anyone familiar with the topic and can give me a summary of how current professionals view this technology?\n\nI am a nutrition science major in college so be gentle with the computer science." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "DNA data storage is sort of in the same category as asteroid mining or a space elevator. The general consensus is that it's plausible at some future point, but the technology and funding isn't there yet. If there was a breakthrough or some major push to pursue it, it could happen in our lifetimes, but who knows what the future will bring.\n\nThe big advantage of DNA data storage is that you can store a tremendous amount of data in a very small physical space (~200 TB in 1 gram of DNA). It's also easy to make copies and lasts for thousands of years. The downside is that it's very slow and expensive to read/write.\n\nWith current technology, the use case for it would be a situation where you need long-term storage that is highly compact, and cost isn't a consideration. That use case also assumes that current flash storage solutions are too heavy or don't last long enough (~30 years).\n\nSo right now there isn't much need for it. The part that generates excitement is that there is a lot of potential there as technology changes. imo it will be used someday, probably to solve a problem that doesn't even exist yet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Are Klingons particularly intelligent?\n\nObviously humans run the gamut from very smart to very...not\n\nBut is the average Klingon more intelligent than a human, or about the same? Or less intelligent?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Klingon intelligence is comparable to human intelligence. It may not seem so at a casual glance, but this is due to cultural differences; the Klingons are a warrior culture, and warriors are honored above all others. This was not always the case; a few centuries ago, many professions were considered honorable (including intellectual professions such as scientists, teachers, and attorneys), but over time the role of the warrior has come to be seen as *so* honorable that other professions are close to *dis*-honorable.\n\nThose other professions are still there; one need only look at Klingon technology to see that they know what they are doing." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Trek] Is Data the only immortal being in Star Fleet?\n\nI'm assuming that B4 would eventually have provided a way for Data to be revived after the events in Nemesis. \n\nIf Data remained in Star Fleet (and didn't go to Cambridge), is it inevitable that sooner or later he would end up running the entire organisation?\n\nIf not, what do you think Data would be doing 100 years after the end of TNG? What about 1000 years?\n\nEdit for clarity: I'm curious where Data would end up after huge periods of time. He struggles fitting in with humanity at the moment, but he does make progress, so its fairly logical to assume he would eventually out-grow us. His former friends would inevitably die off, leaving him a bit of a loner. If he did rise to the top of Star Fleet (and eventually he would, unless Star Fleet introduced a discriminating 'no androids' rule) he would pretty much stay there, as he wouldn't die off. Would he be a benevolent dictator, or would we have an 'i, robot' sort of situation?\n\nAlternatively, would he head off and explore space by himself? Would he become a hermit? After several thousand years of putting up with petty humans, would he eventually start to hate humanity? Would he create his own race of androids?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You are coming at this backwards. \n\nData's endgame isn't success in Starfleet. \n\nMost sentients have a childhood and dreams. Some dream of space, and then wind up joining Starfleet. Picard is an example of this. The point is, they joined Starfleet to demonstrate the humanity they already possessed, to make the galaxy a better place generally if only by following their dreams. But there is a distinction between Man and Uniform, they serve in Starfleet but they remain human.\n\nData joined Starfleet to develop and discover his humanity. For him the rules and structure of Starfleet kept him safe from gross misconduct in the real world while he developed. This is because he didn't have a childhood, or dreams. But in Starfleet he actively seeks to learn from and emulate the behaviour of those who possess qualities he associates with the best of humanity. The point is, he choose Starfleet so that he could be close to the best examples of humanity he had discovered. For much of his career/life there was no distinction between Man and Uniform for him as there was no Man. At points in time Data even considered forgoing any off duty time as he was capable of serving continuously. \n\nTLDR: His goal isn't to be the best Starfleet officer and run the show. His goal is to become human. If Data remains in Starfleet forever than he will likely have failed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How were CDs and DVDs professionally made? What computers, software, and printers are used?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They use a clean room and production line. \nSound typically came from digital audio tape (in the '90s) and was then transferred on a glass disc called a master, using lasers. This master was then plated with metal to create a stamper. This entire process was relatively slow and took place in a clean room. \n \nThe stamper was used to mould large amounts of cds (which are made out of plastic) on a production line. This is a quick process that only takes a few seconds per cd. Afterwards reflective material was dampened on the disc and the disc was coated with lacquer for protection. \n \nIt is a different process compared to burning cd-recordables, as recordable discs have a layer with organic dye that can be burned using a laser. This also gives cdrs their distinctive color." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why is the fossil record poor for the Mesozoic in the Midwestern part of the USA?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If by Midwest you mean Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, etc, they simply didn't have much deposition during most of the Mesozoic. Everything was eroding away from the landforms of the area during this time. No sedimentary rocks = paltry fossil record. A little further West, excellent fossils from this period are found in the deposits from an inland sea during the Jurassic and the enormous Western Inland Sea in the Cretaceous as well as their associated lowlands." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: we already know how photosynthesis is done ; so why cant we creat “artificial plants” that take CO2 and gives O2 and energy in exchange?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Artificial photosynthesis actually is a deeply studied field of research, where you use sunlight to drive a reaction that releases oxygen from various solutions. The problem is, the components needed in the reaction are inefficient, degrade/deplete quickly, or are expensive to make/maintain." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How does eBay prevent people from bidding up their own items with a different account?\n\nI mean I could imagine that a friend and I both have eBay accounts. Hypothetically, I'll put an item up for bid with no reserve. If it doesn't get to the price point I want to sell it at, I'll have my friend bid it up to that point, or if it still doesn't get there, then he'll buy it and just give it back to me. \n\nI can imagine a network of people doing this. Two people was just an example, and I could see that if one person sells something then relists the exact same thing a week later they'd know something is up. Or if two people kept relisting the same item back and forth they'd suspect something. But are there networks of like 10+ people who could get past eBay's people?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They don't care, because they take a cut of the transaction. If he buys something for £20 off you, you only get £19 and £1 goes to eBay.\n\n\nKnock yourself out and do it as often as you want, you will run out of money before they get bored." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Who Framed Roger Rabbit] What about non-toony toons?\n\nIn the movie, they make a big deal about how the entire point of a toon's existence is to make people laugh. The thing is, that's not as true now as it was during the Golden Age of Animation, as there are just as many dramatic cartoons nowadays as there are comedic cartoons. Hell, that was even true back when the film takes place, with many Disney films like *Snow White*, *Pinocchio*, and *Bambi* having a lot of drama in them.\n\nThey also point out that it's impossible to (permanently) kill a toon with anything other than dip. It makes sense, knowing how characters in the classic cartoons can survive practically anything that's thrown at them. But a lot of animation nowadays has more realistic physics, even the comedic ones like *The Simpsons*, so it's easier for a character to die in one of those than it is in, say, *Looney Tunes*." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">In the movie, they make a big deal about how the entire point of a toon's existence is to make people laugh. The thing is, that's not as true now as it was during the Golden Age of Animation, as there are just as many dramatic cartoons nowadays as there are comedic cartoons. Hell, that was even true back when the film takes place, with many Disney films like Snow White, Pinocchio, and Bambi having a lot of drama in them.\n\nThey are probably there. Funny you should mention Pinocchio and Bambi because they are on screen at the end looking at the death of Judge Doom.\n\n>But a lot of animation nowadays has more realistic physics, even the comedic ones like The Simpsons, so it's easier for a character to die in one of those than it is in, say, Looney Tunes.\n\nThat doesn't mean anything. Heck, even in the Simpsons, Homer has taken enough abuse falling off Springfield Gorge to kill him and he's been fine. The toons don't die unless the plot or the story says they die and even then it's acting. They simply don't die." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] How well could a Jedi do in a lightsaber duel in the presence of a Ysalamiri?\n\nAre Jedi skilled enough to use a lightsaber and anticipate their opponent's moves without using the Force? Or would they become incompetent in combat due to no training in conventional swordfighting without the Force?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They still are skilled, they just lose the precognition that they have. So rather than a preternaturally fast (due to predictions) fighter, they're slowed down to speeds more in line with regular but still well-trained folk." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eli5: how do living things move at a molecular level?\n\nSorry if its too complicated to ELI5\n\nEdit: I'm asking, how can I control the atoms of the muscles in say, my finger? What do my brainwaves do to the atoms?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the molecular level, molecules move around by brownian motion. Brownian motion is essentially the random motion of molecules just bumping into each other. Every time a molecule bumps into another energy is exchanged. An easy way to think of it is to imagine tennis balls being flung around in a hurricane. When the balls bounce into each other they change direction.\n\nThe trouble is, is that this motion is completely random. Nature has found a few clever ways to turn this random motion into directional, generally by using \"molecular ratchets\". One example is kinesin motor protein. This protein looks like a pair of legs, and walks along long rope-like structures called microtubules. The neat thing about kinesin is that the front foot is always locked in place, and the back foot is allowed to freely move. The random brownian motion pushes this foot in every direction, until it finds a foothold in front of the other leg. The new front foot then locks in place, and the back foot gets released, so it can take another step. This is one way that random atomic movements get turned into directional molecular movements." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: What is a Markov chain?\n\nI keep hearing about them and after looking it up I'm not much closer to figuring it out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A markov chain is simply a \"path\" of various destinations, where each direction you take has a certain probability of happening.\n\nFor example, lets say every time you encounter a crossroads, you always take a random turn. This means that you have A->B(0.5)/C(0.5) chain. Thats a very simple markov chain.\n\nAn example of a slightly more complex chain would be:\n\n1. Start in A\n2. 30% chance to stay in A, 50% chance to go to B, 20% chance to go to C\n3. B has 80% chance to stay in B, 10% chance to return to A, 10% chance to go to C\n4. C has 0% chance to stay in C, 50% chance to go to A, 50% chance to go to B.\n\nThat is a markov chain. If you are in the chain, all you care about is your current position - if you are currently in C, it doesnt matter what probabilities A has, all that matters is what probabilities C has." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How do rising interest rates combat inflation?\n\nPrinting a bunch of new money the past couple of years is what caused this huge increase in inflation, right? How exactly does raising interest rates combat all this new printing of money?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are at least a couple of different ways to think about this. One way is to realize that raising the federal funds target is synonymous with taking money out of the economy. In order to push the rate up, the fed sells bonds and takes that money effectively out of circulation, lowering the money supply.\n\nAnother way to think about it is to realize that higher interest rates disincentivize economic activity. Saving becomes more attractive relative to consumption. Borrowing becomes more expensive, raising the cost of investment and consumption of durables. This lowers aggregate demand and puts downward pressure on inflation." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Am I keeping my eyes open while I'm awake or am I keeping them closed while I'm sleeping?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both!\n\nMost movements in the body are done by two muscles (for example, the biceps flexes/bends your elbow and the triceps straightens/extends it).\n\nThere is a muscle in the eyelid which closes the eye, and another which keeps it open. When you sleep, your brain forces the muscle that closes your eye to close it - this also happens involuntarily when you blink. You can also choose to activate a voluntary part of this muscle, like when you think about blinking or wink.\n\nWhen you open your eye an opposing muscle is active, which you have less control over (when you widen your eyes, as opposed to opening them, a different muscle is activated). This is done an unconscious part of your brain (the basal ganglia).\n\nSummary: three muscles move the eyelid - two that open it and one that closes it. You can consciously or unconsciously control the closing muscle, and your eye is kept open automatically when you're awake by your brainstem, which you can modify by activating another muscle to widen the eyelids.\n\nEdited for \"brain\" (basal ganglia) instead of brainstem." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The stock market crash of the 1930s.\n\nBonus points for explaining the reasoning of the implementation of the federal Reserve as I've been told that it was put in place to prevent the stock market from crashing again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, everyone believed that they could make huge amounts of money from the stock market, so they borrowed thousands of dollars from banks, using this money to invest in the stock market. However, they had to be able to make enough from the stock market to pay off the interest on their debt. For one reason or another, the value of stocks began to drop, and since people had borrowed so much from the banks to invest in the stock market that they tried to sell all of their stocks-they didn't want to end up losing money. However, since everyone wanted to sell their stock, and no one wanted to buy, the price of the stocks continually went down, as people tried to undercut each others' prices, hoping someone would buy their stocks.\n\nEventually, people couldn't pay their debts, so those with money in banks panicked as well and ran to the banks to withdrawal their money from the bank. However the banks did not anticipate this, and did not have enough money on hand to give everyone all the money in their bank accounts. Many banks were forced to close, and those with money in those banks lost everything they had.\n\nEDIT: The Federal Reserve was implemented to prevent bank panics as stated above. Basically, if a bank doesn't have enough money on hand for a withdrawal they take a loan from the government, and are able to give people their money back, even if the bank is forced to close." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[The Boys] could Homelander have stopped the plane from crashing by using super strength to move whatever stick clearly controls the whole plane?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most planes these days are fly-by-wire.\n\nWhich means that the \"stick\" (or yoke) that the pilot moves just feeds into a computer, and it's the computer that actually physically moves the flight control surfaces on the plane. \n\nSo it's like the yoke is no different than the thumbstick on your xbox controller. Without the xbox on and working, your thumbstick isn't going to do shit.\n\nHomelander destroyed the dash in the cockpit (which houses some of the computer systems) with his laser eyes, but many of the computer systems are actually below the floor beneath the pilot's feet, and many more are in a server rack type structure behind the pilot.\n\nNevertheless, Homelander probably destroyed enough to make the fly-by-wire system inoperable." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Spongebob Squarepants] How is the Chum Bucket so technologically advanced even though Plankton isnt making any money?\n\nThe Chum Bucket is a notoriously crappy restaraunt across the street from one of the most popular restaraunts in Bikini Bottom. So how can Plankton afford such an advanced interior while making little to no profit? It's a miracle the place hasn't been closed down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After the episode with the floating garbage patch and after noticing that buildings are old mufflers and whatnot i like to think that plankton is a scav repurposing the trash that sinks to the ocean floor." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Regarding Guy Debord\n\nWhat would you recommend i read before reading Society of the spectacle by Guy Debord? Are there any specific Marx texts i should read first?\nAlso, which of Marxs texts are the most important to have read before getting in to critical theory and the Frankfurt School authors?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Guy Debord was a humanist marxist in the vein of the young Lukacs- or what can be called Hegelian Marxism- and thus the most important text of Marx regarding \"society of the spectacle\" is the economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844. Debord references not only Marx but also Lukacs's \"history and class consciousness\" and Hegel and Feuerbach heavily in his works." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Are the terms \"nuclear\" and \"thermonuclear\" considered interchangeable when talking about things like weapons or energy generating plants or the like?\n\nIf not, what are the differences?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, they're not interchangeable. \n\n\"Thermonuclear\" refers to nuclear reactions occurring in an environment where the temperature is very high (think millions of Kelvin, at least). The term is particularly meaningful for certain kinds of reactions where both nuclei in the initial state are charged (as opposed to the case where you have at least one neutron in the initial state), because positively-charged nuclei repel each other. \n\nBecause of that Coulomb repulsion, two charged nuclei need a fairly high relative kinetic energy in order to have any chance of reacting with each other. This can be done either by accelerating particles to these energies using an accelerator/making use of particles which are produced at high enough energies, *or* by creating extremely high temperatures such that the kinetic energies of the particles in their random thermal motion is high enough. The latter is what's referred to as \"thermonuclear\". \n\nSo this term would apply to the reactions that happen in stars and other astrophysical processes, in fusion reactors, and to nuclear weapons which make use of light charged particle fusion reactions. In all of these cases, the temperatures are very high compared to what humans normally experience, corresponding to average kinetic energies at least on the order of around 1 keV, which allows some of the charged nuclei in the plasma to react with each other. (Even if they don't have enough energy to overcome the Coulomb barrier classically, they can still tunnel through, and the tunneling rate increases strongly with temperature.)\n\nSo when you're using a particle accelerator or radioactive source to initiate nuclear reactions, you wouldn't call that \"thermonuclear\". Or for neutron-induced reactions like the ones occurring in a fission reactor, would not be called \"thermonuclear\". But the high-temperature plasmas in stars and supernovae, in fusion reactors, and in modern nuclear weapon designs are all referred to as \"thermonuclear\"." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What do people here mean with \"laws of physics start breaking down\"?\n\nAre they talking about the laws of physics as we know them start being incorrect and faulty or is it physics itself becoming unpredictable and weird like in a blackhole?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "> Are they talking about the laws of physics as we know them start being incorrect and faulty\n\nYes.\n\n> or is it physics itself becoming unpredictable and weird like in a blackhole?\n\nIf we don't have laws that can predict what happens then we don't have predictions. You could call that weird, too." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What is behind the rise in suicides by 1/3 in the United States since the 1990s?\n\nI watched the Wall Street Journal's video on this topic about how Angus Deaton and Anne Case did a study on the rise of suicides in the US since the 1990s. \"Deaths of despair.\"\n\nWhat are your estimates on the causes behind this trend as social scientists?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emile Durkheim would argue that societies that lack cultural rituals that tie people together on a regular basis will see have an increased number of suicides. His book, On Suicide, is a statistical and theoretical foray into the suicide rates across the globe and gives us a keen insight into why suicide rates different from culture to culture and epoch to epoch." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eli5: How do beats per minute or the tempo of music affect your workout.\n\nI have noticed that there are some pop songs that have a really fast beat and my heart rate increases first because of the music and when I am walking or working out to it I suddenly feel more energetic and I can do higher intensity workouts easily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It’s a mental thing.\n\nScientists aren’t even sure the exact reason we Like music, but we know it definitely impacts us, from starting to tap your foot to the beat to feeling emotional from the song. \n\nSo a fast beat high energy song can definitely give you a sort of mental boost as your working out, as your brain wants to match the pace of the song." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Elder Scrolls] Why do we not see more machines being powered by magic?\n\nWhy would they need horses when they could create combustible engines and shit with magic? I'm not talking about weapons, just transport and industry. Mills, factories, and farming would be so much easier if they used magic." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, there are Dwemer automata (they aren't sentient or sapient, but they are powered by Magicka). Then there are the Orrerys, the Battlespires, the Sunbirds... Vehk-ships. Magical forges, scrying arrays, traps. Morrowind had an extensive teleport system which could be used by those who paid for it, there are the Falmeri wayshrines...\n\nThere's plenty of it. The problem stems from the less magical nature of Men. We see lots of more esoteric and automated uses for Magic by the Mer, but we've only really seen one Merish province, and what we saw was really just the frontier." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why hasn't a male contraception pill been put on the market yet?\n\nI would gladly and diligently take it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Women's bodies, specifically the parts that are for making babies, are more strongly regulated by hormones than men. Men produce sperm constantly, while women only produce/release eggs at a specific time. That timing is controlled by a system of hormones. \n\nBirth control pills hijack that system using synthetic hormones, usually preventing the release of the eggs, but that system is practically non-existent in men. That makes it a lot harder to make a male contraceptive pill." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[1984] What led to the creation of The party and big brother? Also what is the point of divergence from our timeline?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If we look at how fascism got started in the real world, England and/or America probably got screwed over in world war 2, leading to \"economic anxiety\" which was taken advantage of by a dictator, who proceeded to conquer the Anglosphere to form Oceania. Your guess as to how Eurasia or Eastasia was formed, if they even exist at all rather than the Party of Oceania just setting their own troops against each other, both under the belief that the other is the enemy." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[MCU]Are Pym Particles the cure for aging?\n\nIn Endgame, while testing the time travel device, Scott is accidentally made into a kid and then a baby. Tony says that without his guidance device, time moves through you instead of you moving through time. Doesn't this mean that this technology can be used to de-age people, potentially repeatedly?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I’d say yes, theoretically BUT Tony also said if you mess with time it will mess right back. \n\nI always felt this statement fit the general physics theory that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Basically there’s always a price or equalizing reaction to balance out the scales." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Halloween should not be moved to Saturday\n\nThere's a petition going around saying Halloween would be better suited for the last Saturday of October because it would be safer and easier for kids to go trick or treating. \n\nHere are my 2 reasons why I don't agree with this.\n\n1 Halloween is on 31st specifically for a reason. It's based on the Celtic holiday Samhain. Similar to the day of the dead, it's believed that this is when the the barrier between the dead and the living is the thinnest and spirits come back to visit. It's also the eve of all saints day if you're Catholic. These Holidays have been celebrated on this day for hundreds of years. For people to want to suddenly change that so it'd be easier for them and their kids to get free candy is disrespectful to people of that culture. \nShould we change other holidays with cultural significance just to suit people's work week? I don't think so. My main argument here is that people are not respecting the culture behind Halloween and are trying to bastardize it so it's only about candy and partying. I've seen a lot of people agree with the petition for that reason alone. They don't have kids they just want to get sloshed and not have to go to work hungover.\n\n2. Saturday wouldn't be any safer. DUI statistics say accidents increase on weekends and holidays. Having more drunk drivers on the roads while children are trick or treating does not seem like it would be safer for them and wouldn't be any safer for other drivers on the road. \n\nI don't have kids, I just really love Halloween so I admit this really wouldn't affect me either way. I just don't buy the excuse that this is for the kids. From what I've read of people's comments, it's just inconvenient for parents to have to take off work early take their kids out late and then wake up exhausted the next day and have to go to work. There are always Halloween events around town the Saturday before Halloween like trunk or treats, or costume party's and contests that don't go on late into the night. Why not just go to something like that rather than try to make 300 million people adjust their life to make yours more \"convenient\"." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The US celebrates Easter on a different day than many other countries (on some years)... which you'd think would be disrespectful to Christians, the largest religious group in the US, but that is perfectly fine.\n\nSamhain dates back to before the use of the modern Gregorian calendar anyway, so the specific date isn't a key element of culture of the celebration or else we'd be continuing to celebrate it based on the Coligny calendar." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Role of LinkedIn in academia\n\nIs it important to have a LinkedIn when you’re working in academia? If you’re not on LinkedIn, what are your reasons?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "LinkedIn is primarily useful when job hunting, both as a platform for finding jobs and just general information gathering about different people's career paths.\n\nI also find it very useful as a professional contact list that's always up to date. Particularly outside of academia where it's common for people to change jobs every few years and lose access to whatever professional email address they had when you were introduced." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why is it when I set my thermostat to 65°-70° during the winter it feels warm? Yet, when i turn my central air onto 65°-70° during the summer it feels very cold?\n\nI'm really hoping it's not an embarrassingly obvious answer. I just can't figure it out at this moment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Acclamation. You get used to a certain temperature range. In winter, you're body is used to colder temperatures so 65-70 is an increase in what your body has become acclimated to, where as in the summer, your body has become acclimated to temperatures higher, so this is now a decrease in temperature, thus it feels \"cold\". Same reason why a person from florida will come to maryland and have to wear a jacket when locals are wearing a short sleeves." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beta-blockers help dilate the blood vessels, but yet EP and NE cause vasodilation when they attach to beta-2-adrenergic receptors. Does that mean there are little to no Beta-2 receptors in the peripheral vessels, or does it mean less catecholamines bind to alpha 1 and alpha 2 receptors?\n\nI am posting here because I do want an explanation, but I'd like it said in terms any average student would understand, which I don't think ELI5 would be able to provide this time around. \n\nEdit: Thanks to all who have answered my question so far. I'm a nursing student taking Med-Surg (in my second semester out of four to take my NCLEX), which means for now a lot of the material is introductory, but so far I am understanding the material ~~well~~ decently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't have time to provide a detailed answer at the moment, but the effect of Beta-andrenergic receptor antagonists is not to dilate blood vessels. In incredibly simplistic terms, alpha receptors are excitatory except in the GI, and beta receptors are inhibitory except in the heart. \n\n\nSo, consider this: epinephrine binds to a B-receptor in a peripheral vessel. Since it's *inhibitory* to the smooth muscle in the vessel wall, that vessel will dilate. If epinephrine binds to a B-receptor in the heart, it will have an *excitatory* effect. Meaning it will have a positive chronotropic (increased heart rate) and positive inotropic (increased cardiac contractility) effect on the heart. \n\n\nNonselective B blockers, such as propanolol, block these receptors. Which means that the effect on the heart will be decreased heart rate and decreased contractility, and a mild vasoconstrictive effect on blood vessels. \n\n\nBut thats in pretty simplistic terms. Hope this helped!" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 Why most languages use special names for the numbers 11 to 19?\n\nFor example, some languages follow the same rule regardless if its in 10s or 20s: \n\n\nJapanese | Chinese | \nJuu-ni | Shi er | twelve \nNi-juu-ni | Er shi er | twenty two \n\n\nBut other languages such as: \n\n\nEnglish | French | Romanian | Icelandic | German | Philipino | \n\n\nTwelve | douze | doisprezece (two towards ten wtf) | tólf | zwölf | labindalawa \nTwenty two | vingt-deux | Douăzeci și doi (two tens and two) | tuttugu og tveir | zweiundzwanzig (two and twenty) | dalawampu't dalawa \n\n\nInitially I thought it was an european thing but not even koreans do it like japanese or chinese people, so why is that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is a holdover from older languages.\n\nIn English only 10, 11 and 12 have special names 13-19 all have the suffix teen or ten. We say thirteen three-ten, fourteen four-ten, etc\n\nWhile French has special names for 10-16 but those names are derivative forms of 1-6. (onze douze treize sounds like un deuz trois) but when you get to 17 it's pronounced dix-sept ten-seven\n\nThis is common in Germanic languages and languages that have basis in Germanic languages like English.\n\nLikely this comes from a time before writing language and numbers was common place and people were typically mathematically illiterate. The lower numbers 1-12 were frequently used in every day life so they gained special names.\n\nThe counting system that includes special words for 11 and 12 is found in Old English which dates from 5th century to 11th century. At this time the learned class spoke Church Latin and counted in Roman Numerals which didn't have unique symbols for 11 and 12 (X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV) or words ūndecim (one ten) duodēcim (two ten)\n\nSome argue that having special names for up to 12 is a result of base 12 numbering, possibly because of the wide spread use of 12 hour time keeping or clocks which dates back as far as the Egyptians. But clocks didn't become common place in Europe until the 14th century, and Arabic numerals about the 12th century." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why are most third world countries in warmer areas of the world?\n\nGeographically, a majority of sophisticated first world countries tend to be in colder (maybe milder is a better word) areas of the world. Why is this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a scientific trend in the past called Material Determinism that attempted to explain that the tropical regions were not as developed for reasons such as being warmer and thus making people lazy. This theory has been discredited a long time ago. There is no causation, even if there is some correlation." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do taxes get taken out of your paycheck, but then you get taxed again when you go to buy food at Burger King?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are a lot of different laws written that include a lot of different taxes - where they are applied, and what those funds go towards. So, you might pay 10 cents a gallon in tax on gasoline to fund highway repair, and 6% on soda towards the general state government, and some amount of taxes based on your income to the federal government." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How does the QR code manages to not be the same with other QR code that has already been generated?\n\nI was reading online and saw an option when I right clicked an image to create a QR Code. I know QR Codes are unique but how do they manage to avoid having the same pattern with the other QR Codes? Does it have a database where all QR codes are stored? I tried searching through this but can't find any similar queries aside from QR codes are unique." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If you generate two QR codes for the same piece of text or link, you'll get two identical QR codes. They're not randomised or generated out of thin air and then matched with a site or link or something. Rather the QR code itself encodes the information onto it. So as long as whatever you're encoding is unique, the QR code is unique to it. \n\nThe wikipedia page (section 'encoding') actually shows you how it functions." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do all the stars and planets look white when you're looking from earth?\n\nthanks guys! totally understand it!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They don't all look white. To the naked eye, Mars is visibly red, Jupiter and Saturn are yellowish. Many stars are reddish or bluish as well.\n\nThe colors can be quite faith and hard to notice, because your color vision isn't very sensitive unless there is a lot of light." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: What actually is Asbestos?\n\nI keep hearing about it in different contexts but still am not too sure what it is why it was considered good and turned out to be bad. Anyone know?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral. People have been using it since antiquity because it is flame resistant. Even the Ancient Greeks knew about it. During the Industrial Revolution it was mined at large scale, and used in all sorts of products - insulation for homes, textiles, bricks...\n\nThe problem with asbestos is that when you cut it, you release tiny fibers into the air, and these tiny fibers are incredibly sharp. So you breathe in the tiny fibers, and they cause tiny holes in your lungs. Long-term this leads to scarring of the lungs, a condition referred to as asbestosis. You can also develop cancer in the lining of your lungs, which is referred to as mesothelioma." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[General] Are there any villains with a no-kill rule because they give their victims a \"fate worse than death\" ?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She might not see it that way, but Lady Lilith de Tempscire, aka Lily Weatherwax, from the Discworld novel Witches Abroad definitely fits this description.\n\nShe believes that she's the benevolent fairy godmother. Those who cross her, who fail to fit in to her fairytale view of reality, are... adjusted to fit. The wolf is forced to be big and bad; the frog is transformed into a handsome prince; the princess is kept under guard by serpentine sisters.\n\nOh, and she also sometimes has people killed, or turns them into bugs and steps on them, but only when all methods of correction have failed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How come we don't notice a difference (e.g. in centrifugal force) between standing at a geographical pole and standing at the equator?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The centrifugal force at the equator is about 0.3% of gravity. We could “feel” it, in the sense of being able to measure it with sensitive enough equipment, but it’s not enough for people to notice the difference." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In my understanding of existentialism, man is meant to live authentically and adhere to his own moral code. Therefore is it justified for a man to kill another or commit some sort of crime because it is what he thinks is right?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The main work of Existentialist ethics is de Beauvoir's *The Ethics of Ambiguity*. She suggests that, no, one ought not to go around being a shithead, which includes not murdering people, because the freedom of others provides the basis for a moral system which rules out (among other things) murder. Sartre (another key Existentialist) agreed with de Beauvoir." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Religion is man made and most likely entirely fictitious\n\nThe entire concept of a written book that god sent down to a human being to spread the word does not make sense to me. A being that has the ability to create the universe, has a son that’s major power is water to wine and walking on water, and was crucified by humans. How do we even know this man existed? Language is man made, and only understood by certain people so it’s an unfair advantage that some get to understand it and others don’t ... what about the people who are never exposed to religion in their lives? How can we live based on a book written thousands of years ago... that you have to actively try to understand and decode. I’d assume God’s message would be more understandable and direct to each being, not the local priest who’s essentially an expert at deflecting and making up explanations using the scripture. \n\nI grew up in a religious Muslim family and being religious for 16 years made me a better person. I lived as if I was being watched and merited based on my good behaviours so I obviously actively did “good” things. I appreciate the person religion has made me but I’ve grown to believe it is completely fabricated - but it works so people go with it. The closest thing to a “god” I can think of is a collective human consciousness and the unity of all humankind... not a magic man that’s baiting you to sin and will torture you when you do. I mean the latter is more likely to prevent you from doing things that may harm you.. I would like to raise my kids in future the way I was raised but I don’t believe in it and I don’t want to lie and make them delusional. \n\nI kind of wish I did believe but it’s all nonsensical to me, especially being a scientist now it seems pretty clear it’s all bs. Can anyone attempt to explain the legitimacy of the “supernatural” side of religion and the possibility that it is sent from a god... anything... I used to despise atheism and here I am now. I can’t even force it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "God actually didn't send the book(s) down or even have anything to do with it's compilation. It's not a secret that they were written by actual people. Just wanted to chip in and dispel a common(but mindboggling) misconception." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[40k] Do the Ruinous Powers ever fight each other in realspace or are their eternal wars confined primarily to the warp?\n\nFollowup: Do worshippers of different chaos powers hate/fight each other at every opportunity?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not at every opportunity, but they do regularly fight when there isn't a wider agenda to deal with. \n\nIt's not just feuds between the gods either. The leaders of individual warbands may have a beef with each other, they may be competing for resources, or they may just be bat shit crazy." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star trek]would the prime directive apply to a group of humans that used to have warp, but have since reverted to a primitive state?\n\nA star fleet ship (circa 2333) falls through a temporal anomaly and crash lands on a near by planet in AD 1222. when Another starfleet comes to explore they find the decedents of the surviving crew have build a bronze age civilization over the past 1111 years?\n\nDoes the PD apply or not?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the civilization retains knowledge of their past they're just not in a position to actually build it, Star Fleet could intervene. If the civilization has lost understanding of warp tech and doesn't know they're the descendants of star-travelers, the Prime Directive would apply." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[The Matrix] So is \"The Matrix\" a conspiracy theory in The Matrix universe? I mean Neo was tracking down Morpheous. He knew of something called The Matrix.. Whats the deal?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Conspiracy theory\" is correct, but they're on the wrong track- in hacker communities, there are whispers of the concept called \"The Matrix\" but it's not really understood what it is. Most hackers would probably believe that the rumored \"Matrix\" is more like a mass-surveillance network or Illuminati conspiracy or something." } ]