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Nitral's Archive 22

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Iron Man] Was Tony Stark revealing he was Ironman a good idea or a bad idea?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You can't generalise whether or not it good or bad for supers to reveal there secret identities. It all depends on the individual.\n\nSure Tony Stark did it, but take this into account; he's rich as fuck so he can afford some serious protection, he's a smug bastard, again he is rich as fuck so if he gets sued for damages he can cover it and most importantly he doesn't really have anyone he cares enough about that villains can go after to hurt him. It was fine for him to do it because he loves the attention and he has very little to lose seeing as he already lives life in the limelight.\n\nCompare those points with Spider-Man if went public..." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[General] Do zombies actually want to eat people, or do they simply want to bite people to spread the zombie disease? If they want to eat people, wouldn't the spread be fairly slow, as most people get eaten, and therefor not as many zombies are created?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's kind of like rabies. It makes them more likely to attack people, and attacking people helps spread the disease. But it's not like they want to spread the disease. It just evolved some traits that help it spread. Also, the zombie virus is fairly new. Maybe if it sticks around for awhile it will evolve to make people attack other people without killing them." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How does Communism decide *what* to produce?\n\nI'm broadly aware of the practical reality of how communist countries decided what to produce; five year production plans based on input-output analysis.\n\nI am more interested in the philosophical basis of these production plans. That is, communist ideology has a fairly clear prescription for how goods should be *distributed*; workers should receive the profits of their labor in accordance with the Labor Theory of Value. But the LTV can't help you decide *what* the economy as a whole should produce. At best it tells each person to specialize in whatever they are most productive in, but if that's the only criteria for the production plan then it is quite easy for peoples' basic needs not to be met (you could end up with a country of artists, or toothbrush manufacturers). So the question is: Does Communism have some way of basing production decisions on the LTV, or do they have some other system for deciding what an economy should produce? Or did they just not care and produce whatever seemed like a neat idea at the time?\n\nThanks for any responses." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">Does Communism have some way of basing production decisions on the LTV\n\nThere are many problems with the LTV (primarily that it has proven useless for explaining real-world economic phenomena), but two traditional problems are worth noting because they undermine the notion that the LTV could be used for resource allocations even if it was true as a theory of value.\n\nFirst, it doesn't sufficiently account for the use of natural resources, and second, it doesn't sufficiently account for the heterogeneous characteristics of labor. Because of this, attempting to calculate costs / benefits solely in terms of labor time will result in serious misallocations of resources, as the values are systematically leaving out certain kinds of information that needs to be accounted for.\n\n>...or do they have some other system for deciding what an economy should produce?\n\nEssentially they have to substitute political ways of allocating resources for economic ways of allocating resources. Generally, without money prices, producers have no way to reckon the opportunity costs of the various technologically feasible methods of production relative to the economic value they add to the economy, so you get all sorts of productive and allocative inefficiencies. \n\nDepending on the political institutions in question, it's quite likely political incentives will not align neatly with social welfare, so you get corruption, abuses of power, rent seeking, bloated bureaucracies, and so on. And the historical record seems to indicate these problems are quite pronounced when we're dealing with countries that subsume sufficiently large portions of their economies under political direction rather than market direction. So in short you have both informational problems due to the lack of reliable economic calculation and you have incentive incompatibility issues with political processes." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How do ceiling fans collect dust when they're constantly in motion?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The air moving over the blades actually creates a static electric charge. Like rubbing a balloon against a sweater, this creates an attractive force between the charged blades and dust in the air.\n\nThis build-up of static charge is the predominant effect causing the dust to collect over time." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: If you put energy into a closed system to reduce its entropy, you will have increased the entropy outside of the system. How does that work?\n\nI've heard that if you put energy into tidying a room to reduce its entropy, you will have increased the entropy outside of your room as a result? Is that true? If so, I don't get it. I have tidied up a room and not caused rooms outside to get less tidy.\n\nEdit: Thanks for taking the time to answer. Makes more sense now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In order to clean your room, you had use some of your own energy. That energy ultimately came from plants (either directly by eating them or by animals which ate them). The plants gained their energy from the sun which is gradually increasing in entropy as it radiates its energy.\n\nYou need to look at the entire system, not just a small portion." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If you gathered enough neutrons to be seen, what would it look like?\n\nIF it were possible what would it look like." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It wouldn't really look like anything, because light has minimal interactions with neutron. It would essentially be a diffuse gas. There would be a lot of beta radiation coming from them, so if you put all the neutrons in water together you might see a blue glow.\n\nIf you had a neutron star, it would look very bright due to its extreme temperature." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5. I heard that you burn quite a few calories when you orgasm. Is this true? How or what is burning all those calories? If say someone started masturbating/having sex multiple times a day would they lose weight?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, it is not true. Sex itself can burn calories, but that's because of the moving around (physical activity), not due to orgasm. If you have vigorous sex several times per day, it will burn calories, but it's unlikely to be enough to lose a significant amount of weight. \n\nAs with all of these types of questions: the ONLY way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. Diets, pills, and supplements that claim to be able to boost your metabolism enough to cause you to lose more weight are lying. Your weight is 85% what you eat, and about 15% your exercise. It's quite possible to be thin and sedentary, and it's possible to have a lot of excess fat and still be very strong." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] Was knowledge that Luke Skywalker could use the Force public during the Galactic Civil War? If so, when did it become known?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes. After the Battle of Yavin Luke served with the Rebellion in several missions and rumours of his abilities begin to spread, he was able to do things the Jedi of old were able to, so of course people began to talk. After he went to Daggobah and trained with Yoda, he openly refered to himself as a Jedi Knight. And after the war was over he made it known that the Jedi were back and that he was looking for Jedi relics and more knowledge of the Force, all culminating into him starting his own training temple, and gathering students to train in the ways of the Force." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[The Inheritance Cycle] Selena using the word 'heal' to kill.\n\nSo it was mentioned that Selena, Eragon's mother was once taught the word for 'heal' in the ancient language and pitted against a bunch of deadly assassins. She managed to defeat them by healing them of all that drove them to kill. However if she was proficient enough in magic to do that, surely she had to know quite a bit of the ancient language. Why didn't she just use another way? The only thing I can think of was that some kind of restriction was imposed forcing her to use only the word for heal. However then why wasn't that specified? saying that she was 'taught the word' seems to imply she didn't know the ancient language, in which case her proficiency in magic seems absurd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Magic in Alagaesia is somewhat intent based. It was linked to the ancient language so you couldn't get a result that contradicted what you said, but the intent of what you were trying to do still matters. The implication in the book seems to be that Selena didn't know more than the word for heal, but it's possible that with the right intention and concentration, that word could be used to have an effect that seems counterintuitive as long as the caster sees the link between what they say and what they want to happen." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Sonic X/Sonic Adventure 2] How was it that in 50 years no one on Earth noticed a rather large spherical object ( the space colony Ark ) a little left to the moon in space?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's big, but not *that* big really. Probably small enough that most people just assume it's a comet or satellite - and if they used a telescope they'd just see a big piece of rock, the cannon part was covered up at first after all." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 How it is determined where one ocean starts and another one ends?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is largely arbitrary. The oceans are designated to aid navigation and geography. Of course there are general temperature differences and salinity differences, but it is just one big mass of water, which freely flows together. Of course the oceans don’t know they are separate, and whales swim between them heedless of what we call them." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How are roaches completely unaffected by mircowaves?\n\nAlright, so we've got a *tiny* roach infestation right now, and they like to scurry around anyplace dark and cramped, like our microwave oven. Even when it's running.\n\nI know that microwaves work by vibrating the particles of whatever's in them to create heat with friction, but why doesn't that work on roaches? I mean isn't fire super-effective against bug?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Someone mentioned this in a post not too long ago. Basically this guy was cooking food and noticed a cockroach running around in the microwave. Freaking disgusting but anyway. \nThe microwave doesn't heat food evenly. That's part of the reason for the rotating platter. The roach senses this and runs to areas of little to no radiation." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Warhammer 40K] What happen if you put Orky bits inside a human?\n\nLet's say an insane and extremely good Chaos Apothecary, some insane Dark Eldar with fetish for surgeries or a deranged but good Painboy decided to place Orky bitz inside a Humie and maybe some tech to atleast stablize it. What would happen if the human somehow survive? Lets assume some good dose of WAAAAGH! Energy was added to the mix as well.\n\nWill an Ork grow inside his body and come out like a chest buster? Would the fungi assimilate the human flesh and in turn make the Humie orky or would it create an insane Frankestein of Man and Ork?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The human would almost certainly die.\n\nThe Orkoid species is violent and dangerous at every level. Even single celled orkanisms are capable of putting up a fight, and so the human would likely be destroyed by microbial Orks, leaving its body to rot and feed the miniature Ork ecosystem now gestating in its corpse." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why isn't Herbalife considered a pyramid scheme by the SEC?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because they have skirted the edge of the legal definition of a pyramid scheme by claiming they are selling a product and not just recruiting more salesmen. But in reality once you are in, they drill home that you need to sponsor massively more and more people to sell the stuff. And once you have paid, you feel like a chump to just walk away and admit they suckered you. So you give it a try because...well maybe this will really work. But it doesn't. And by that time, you've grown bitter and just want to get away from it and it is too much trouble to try to get your money back and you tell yourself it was worth the money you spent to learn that lesson. \n \nAnd while that may be true, they still have your cash. Multiply that across the globe and boom - Herbalife is rolling in the shit while you are left feeling like you were mugged." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Dune] What would such huge creatures like sandworms actually eat?\n\nSo if I remember right the worm produced the spice... But how can the worms survive themself? Being insanely large the sandworms must have consumed tons of biomass not to starve... But in their habitat there was only... Sand, wasnt it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sand worms primarily eat sand plankton, which are actually the first stage in the sand worm life cycle, which is hypothetically trophically contained.\n\n1) Sand plankton are microscopic organisms that feed on melange. Sand plankton mature into an adolescent form called a \"sand trout\" or \"Little Maker\". \n\n2) Sand trout are free swimming \"half animal, half plant\" creatures that hoard water in cisterns underground bound by their own bodies. Given their half plant (even though they're mostly away from sunlight) nature, they are likely the autotrophic portion of the system and are said to contain a sweet syrup. Melange grows as a fungus within the underground cisterns feeding on trout excrement, and a spice blow happens when the build up causes the cistern to rupture (this kills the majority of the trout involved, but apparently not all).\n\n3). Sand trout mature into sand worms, who presumably spore sand plankton." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is it hard to open a refrigerator door right after you close it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You just closed a bunch of warm air in a box of cold things. The air cools really fast and the pressure drops forming a vacuum. It takes a few seconds/minutes for the few gaps in the door seal to allow enough air in to equalize the pressure." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 The concept of making your bed, only to mess it up again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You see, it's like this:\n\nSay you don't make your bed in the morning. Then a fire breaks out, and the fire department responds. they go through every room of the house, and when they get to your room they see your bed isn't made, and then they go \"hey look! brandana doesn't make his bed!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Does the fuse of a bundle of TNT set off all of the sticks at once, or does it trigger one stick which explodes, causing the others to explode?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Former EOD tech here.\nShort version: The fuse itself does not initiate the TNT. The fuse (either electric or black powder) initiates a very sensitive primary explosive in a blasting cap. The explosion from the blasting cap creates a wave of heat and pressure that initiates the TNT which it is inserted into. This chain reaction (shock wave) expands outward from the point of initiation (the blasting cap) at approx. 6,940 m/s through the rest of the TNT. \n\nIt appears to happen all at once but actually happens like a wave, similar to dropping a pebble in a pond." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I’ve heard that the ratio in size between the human body and the smallest subatomic particle is equal to the ratio in size between the size of the known universe and the human body. Is this true?\n\nI've heard this multiple times in my life, and I can't seem to find any concrete evidence of it's truth. Any help would be greatly appreciated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "An elementary subatomic particle does not have a size. Classically, they may be estimated to have a certain radius, or may be assumed to be point-like. But in reality, spatial descriptions of elementary subatomic particles are described by their wave-function, which is defined for all space. It can be interpreted that an electron, for instance, or some other elementary subatomic particle, is actually smeared throughout all of space. \n\nElementary subatomic particles are not baseballs. So the comparison is really nonsensical. But, lets talk about protons for a minute, something that isn't an elementary particle, is still considered subatomic, and is quite small. The diameter of the known universe is on the order of 10^26 m. The diameter of a proton is on the order of 10^-15 m. We are on the order of meters. So, really, if we consider the proton, we are much closer to the size of a proton than the size of the observable universe! As far as muons, electrons, quarks, neutrinos, etc... there is no comparison. They are different critters all together." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At what point does the randomness of quantum mechanics become irrelevant?\n\nI've heard that the Determinism theory was disproven because there is a complete randomness associated with quantum mechanics. However, some things, such as the motion of an object, can be predicted nearly exactly. At what point does the randomness become irrelevant and determinism takes over?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "one useful rule of thumb is whenever the system is (much) larger than its characteristic wavelength. Since wavelength is inversely proportional to momentum, higher momentum objects often have very little quantum behaviour." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If I am on, or near a ship, and it sinks, will I be sucked down with the ship, or will I remain on the surface?\n\nIf I am in the vicinity of a sinking ship, will the current and pull of the water pull me down? \n\nFor the sake of argument, would the result differ depending on the rate the ship was sinking, or if the ship was very big?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There is significant turbulent mixing created as a large object sinks. There will be areas above the ship where surface water is subducted. However, since the sea surface remains relatively flat, that subducted water is replaced by rising water; the net effect being zero. In any case, you don't want to be directly above a sinking ship." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5:What makes that 'pewww' sound, as fireworks get shot into the air?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As far as i know it is a pyrotechnic mixture called whistle mix. The two main components are potassium perchlorate and sodium salicylate or sodium benzoate. The powdered mix is pressed into a tube carefully (as it is sensitive to impact and friction) and when ignited acts like a rocket propellant which creates a high pitch whistling noise as the gases escape from the bottom. Titanium powder can be added for white sparks and iron oxide can be added to catalyse the reaction. The size and shape of the tube can change the sound of the whistle." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why, mainly in the past, only the women changed their surnames when married\n\nWhat is the story behind this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Traditionally, the woman leaves her family to join her husband who is now the head of her new family. It would follow that she takes the name of her new family.\n\nEdit: this is why the father of the bride gives away the bride at the start of the ceremony. If the father is not available, typically, another male member like a brother or paternal grandfather will give away the bride." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What happens to bees separated from their colonies?\n\nA bee flew into my car when I was on the freeway home, and decided to just chill on one of the closed windows. When I got home, about 20 minutes away, I let him out and he flew away. \n\nWhat happens now? Does he die without a colony? Will a new colony adopt him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Depends on the bee. If it was a social bee, like a bumble bee or honey bee then she (almost all bees are female) will die.\n \nOn the other hand, some bees are solitary, so something like a mason bee might be able to find a suitable place to lay her eggs." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: What prevents infections settling in cuts?\n\nWhen I was a kid I often got a lot of cuts unattended. I never had any bad infections, but I do have a lot of scars from some of the bigger cuts. What prevented my body from getting a life threatening infection?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your circulatory system is pressurized, so blood flows out of injuries instead of bacteria flowing *in*.\n\nThen the blood hardens into a protective shield.\n\nSome bacteria do get in, but you have a personal death squad of millions of cells who patrol the body for interlopers. Any cell that can't produce the correct paperwork when asked gets executed. The cell police don't play games.\n\nUsually the combination of the outflow pressure and the police is enough to prevent any serious bacterial incursions, but they can happen if the germs are tough enough or the immune system is weak enough or unable to reach the infection site." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is it safer to turn off the engine/remove keys from the ignition when fueling a car?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fuel emits a very flammable gas with a low ignition point. All you really need is a spark. On a windy day, when these fumes are dispersed quickly, it's generally ok. On a warm, humid, stagnant day, this can be very dangerous as your car is generating electrical energy while it runs which can easily spark enough to set off the gas." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why does the world feel quieter when it snows?\n\nJust a Canadian waiting for the bus when it dawned on me how quiet it was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's harder for sound to travel through the air when there is snow in it. Same thing is true when it rains (but you might not notice it as the rain itself makes a lot of noise)\n\nAlso the snow already on the ground also works like sound dampening. As the sound can bounce much easier on the hard ground than the soft snow." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Marvel Comics] How different would Earth-616 be if a young Magneto had joined the Invaders?\n\nIn this scenario, assume that the classic Invaders (Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Toro, Namor) liberate Auschwitz in 1944 with the help of Erik Lensherr whose powers are developing. They convince him to join and aid their cause as Magneto, Master of Magnets.\n\n1. In general, how does this shift history?\n\n2. Magneto discovers that his teammate Namor is a fellow mutant. How does this change the way mutants are regarded by the rest of the world?\n\n3. Alternate version: Magneto misses his chance to escape in 1944 during a revolt and instead is found by the Russians in 1945 when they finally liberate the camp. What changes for the USSR of they have Magneto on their side after the war?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "1. There's a chance Magneto doesn't become a villain if he's developed as a hero alongside Captain America, and he sees that there are people who will go out of their way to defend those who are different than them. Of course, Namor might convince Magneto of his superiority but probably not. Magneto would make sure the Invaders went to free the other Concentration Camps, and he'd be an extraordinary asset - particularly with Cap and his shield. He could have also saved Bucky from Zemo's rocket, preventing Cap from being super bummed when he was unfrozen and preventing the Winter Soldier from happening.\n\n2. Magneto would publicize his and Namor's achievements in WW2 and they'd be regarded as heroes by the Allied propaganda machine. Potentially leading to a deeply religious country declaring that mutants were gifts from god to defeat the Nazi menace. Good early press lowers the amount of persecution they suffer later.\n\n3. Magneto would probably treat Russia the same as he treats America in mainstream comics. He would of course have to read communist works if he were brought into the USSR government, and the Communist Manifesto talks a lot about alienation from your labor and exploitation of the worker. Magneto would see the USSR taking credit for his successes and then see that they're exploiting him for his mutant abilities. He would then become a mutant supremacist terrorist in Russia." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Arthurian legend] How would King Arthur feel if he returned to defend modern Britain as foretold, only to find that it is now overrun by the Anglo-Saxons he supposedly fought?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I actually think he'd be quite pleased. The assorted tribes of Britain are no longer soaking battlefields with blood to resolve their differences. Human rights and the celebration of human dignity have come a long way since before the Magna Carta, and that is what some of the British tradition celebrates the most (like with the whole concept of a round table).\n\n\n\n\nI honestly think that the hardest thing for him (if you use the continental and Christian traditions, like Chretien as a starting point) would be the secularization of his kingdom. The quest for the Grail would be met with more of a \"meh\" today." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Most of men's largest issues (suicide rate, homelessness, handling emotions, how they are treated around children, etc...) would be helped by feminism, as sexism is largely the reason for these issues.\n\nAll of the large issues that come up surrounding men (which I agree are a huge problem, these things also need to be handled) such as homelessness, suicide, not being able to talk about their feelings, feelings surrounding women and dating, children, etc... seem to all largely circle back to misogyny and sexism.\n\nMen suffer with suicide and attempting suicide because they often feel they have nobody to reach out to because talking about your feelings is a \"feminine\" thing to do and men must be \"masculine\" because being feminine is seen as less than and weak by society, and men are not supposed to be weak. It's the same with homelessness, they get into a situation but feel they have nobody to reach out too. Often I hear men talk about how they can never share their feelings, but again, that is because we deem as a society that men need to be strong because women are... weak and therefore being feminine is also weak. \n\nI say this because so often I see men saying that feminism isn't needed or that it is trying to push women above men, but it seems if you really look at it, implementing equality and egalitarian practices would mean that men would be given the opportunity to just be human and not have to feel so pressured. To me, it makes sense that feminism also helps men because when we put women in a box, it only makes sense that is going to force men into the opposite box and so we both end up stuck with the expectations of how we should be that can be suffocating.\n\nedit: I find it interesting that most women disagreeing are simply saying that men need their own specific movements or groups to help with their issues separately to be more focused, while the men disagreeing largely seem to be saying that all feminism wants to do is drag men down and that women actually only care about themselves and are just pretending to care about men’s issues. It seems that the women and feminists in this thread have shown that is not true." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">All of the large issues that come up surrounding men... seem to all largely circle back to misogyny and sexism.\n\nYou are fundamentally correct, gender issues are two sides of the same coin. Patriarchal gender norms hurt all of us. In that way, yes, feminist goals and ideals do actually stand to generally help men in the long run.\n\nHowever, feminism is not a direct solution to these problems. Feminism is focused on women's issues and women's rights in the here and now. Complex male issues like suicide, homelessness, mental health, body dysmorphia, sexual trauma, social support networks... are NOT any part of any feminist agenda and won't see any direct improvement unless we create movements and initiatives specifically targeting those things." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why as you increase the speed of a song, the pitch gets higher." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sound is basically vibration in the air. Our brain detects slow vibrations as lower notes and fast vibration as higher notes. For example on a guitar if you don't have you fingers on the string the entire string vibrates causing it to make slower vibrations. If you place your finger on the stringer and strum the guitar the sound becomes more high pitched because the vibrating part is smaller and thus vibrates faster cause it's smaller.\n\nIf you speed up sound like on a record, your effectively speed up the vibration in the song. Because your speeding up the vibrations you brain things the song is playing faster." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 why can't we produce blood and have to donate it from real people?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Just because it has one name doesn’t mean it’s one thing. Like a car is make up of lots of parts, Blood is also made up lots and lots of different pieces that are super tiny, so small, you can’t even see them, and they have to be fit together in exactly the right way for it to work. It’s still too hard for humans to put the pieces together in exactly the right way, but we’re working on it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How do they get water up large skyscrapers\n\nI've always wondered how they get water up massive skyscrapers like in new york or in india, please help!\n\nEdit: Thanks for all the answers and videos! I appreciate having my question answered by a great community! and made my Front page! Thanks again!!!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "with pumps! the pressure that is supplied by the water main available in most cities is usually only adequate to get water up around 6-8 stories. any building higher than that needs to supplement the water pressure in its system with pumps." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How are ovens able to cook at a lower temperature /faster by being fan assisted?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "that is the difference between a conventional oven and a convection oven (one with a fan). the fan does two things. The first is it mixes the air in the oven, so you get a more even temperature throughout. This helps things cook more evenly. The biggest difference, though, comes from the flow of air through the oven. Moving fluids, be they gas or liquid, transfer heat faster that stagnant fluids. Stagnant air is often used as insulation. Conventional ovens do have some airflow due to the slight temperature differences between the top and bottom of the oven and having a heating element on the bottom, but this is minor compared to convection ovens.\n\n\nTL;DR faster moving air transfers heat better than slow or non-moving air so a convection oven cooks faster than a conventional oven." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How exactly is a pulse ox able to detect the amount of oxygen in the blood?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It shines a specific color of light through your finger. That light has it's color changed by the blood in your finger and is then received by a sensor on the other side. The amount and type of change depends on the oxygen content of your blood. (Which is also why veins appear bluer than arteries.) From that it's a simple formula to give an accurate enough measure of blood oxygen." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Andromeda Collision\n\nI've been told that the Milky Way is on a collision course with the Andromeda galaxy, but I've also heard that all the galaxy's are moving away from each other, how does this work?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cosmological expansion only causes things that are already sufficiently far apart to expand away from one another. For things that are relatively close to one another, like the galaxies in the Local Group, the behavior is much more closely approximated by the standard picture of attractive gravity.\n\nIn other words, gravitationally bound systems (like galaxy groups) don't experience cosmological expansion. It's only when you consider widely separated galaxies that you find the distance between them increasing due to expansion." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Will Build Back Better add to inflationary pressures?\n\nI read that some believe the >$1trillion spending package won’t add to inflation. I was wondering how we can know that? What does add to inflation?\n\nMy thought is: if we take money from people/companies not using as much of it (via higher taxes) and spend it on infrastructure where much of it goes into raw materials and worker pay (who are more likely to use it), it seems like it should put more pressure on inflation? Especially in such huge volumes of money.\n\nSo, does it seem like it would be more or less likely to put additional pressure on inflation?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's not a matter of BBB not adding inflationary pressure all together, it's more a matter of scale. In this case, if the current 1.5 Trillion dollar plan is passed, that would represent 150 billion/year in new spending, or a bit over 0.5% of the GDP on these social programs. They could have a broader effect than those simple numbers, but it's not likely that it will significantly add to inflation. \n\nIt's important to keep in mind that the bulk of the inflation we're seeing now is a result of supply chain constraints being tested and not the monetary/fiscal policies of governments, and we likely wouldn't be considering the potential for inflationary pressure for such a bill in most other contexts." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eli5: In this day and age how the hell can people escape from prison?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the end of the day, a prison is a building with a security system limiting what goes in and out of it, and security systems are subject to flaws unforeseen by those who create them. \n\nConsider how often we hear about security breaches in million dollar, professionally built computer systems. Hackers look for flaws in those systems to exploit and gain entry. In a similar vein, those who are able to escape from prisons have simply found a way to hack the prison's security system. Perhaps a door that must be manually locked is forgotten or missed by a lazy or tired guard. Or poor maintenance has led to a section of fence which can be pushed open. \n\nWhen you have an imperfect security system being analyzed on a daily basis by a group of people who would like to break through it, sooner or later one of them will succeed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is SpaceX attempting to land a Rocket on a drone ship?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They're trying to develop a rocket that can land vertically and be used again. Due to laws regarding airspace and (mainly) safety regulations, they can't try this over land, so they built a barge out in the water where they can legally develop the technology." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do some programs crash/become unresponsive when minimized?\n\nSkyrim is a huge example for many people. Why can't some programs do this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Let's say your computer is a line of students (programs) in primary school waiting to be served lunch (processing resources).\n\nSkyrim, the school bully, has the notorious reputation of beating other kids up to get the Fullscreen pass which allows him to cut in front of the lunch line so he gets the highest priority for the food.\n\nA new teacher, Mrs. Minimize, notices the bullying and forces Skyrim to the back of the line. Since Skyrim is always used to getting the highest priority for food, he gets extremely upset. If he isn't first in line, then no one should be! He charges through the cafeteria, crashes the table of food to the ground, and stomps his way out.\n\nSummary: Some programs are used to getting high priority for processing power. When minimized, they switch to low priority which could cause processing issues, causing them to crash or become unresponsive." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eli5: Is there any explanation why when we sleep it seems like time is so fast? For example, ive been asleep for 9 hours but it feels like just a minute." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Time passes inconsistently based on how aware of it you are. Five minutes doing something unpleasant feels a lot longer than five minutes doing something you love, because you are keenly aware of the time passing when you're waiting for it to reach a certain point. \n\n\nWhen you're asleep you aren't counting the time, and therefore it doesn't have the slow down effect." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Incredibles] What happened to all the villains that were around?\n\n Assuming the Supers world worked like our own comics then every Super has at least 3 villains that they fight. When the Supers go the villains presumably wouldnt. Did the government just go the way of the Syndrome with them?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We never see any super powered villains. They're all mundanes with gadgets. \n\nWithout superheroes to oppose them, they don't need super gadgets. They just returned to using guns and crowbars like the good old days." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What if in the future space mining become true, think about Federal Reserve Bank of New York, all funds that are stored in gold and other metals are now priceless (if prices of gold and other metals drops). How would that affect the global economy?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some data.\n\n* The US Government has a gold reserve of about 11 billion USD.\n\n* The US GDP is about 19 trillion USD per year, or 52 billion USD per day.\n\n* The US federal government revenue is about 3.6 trillion USD per year, or 9.9 billion USD per day.\n\nSo the US government has a gold reserve that is about:\n\n* 5 hours worth of GDP. \n\n* 21 hours worth of federal revenue.\n\nEven if all the gold vanished overnight, it would be little more than a footnote in the US government budget. If we had a technology that made it inexpensive to mine gold and bring it back to Earth*, whatever that imaginary technology might be would have an effect on the global economy many orders of magnitude greater than the value of the now worthless and abundant gold.\n\n_________\n\n\n\\* Which, spoiler alert, we probably never will, because of the laws of thermodynamics." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Celebrities do have it easier.\n\nI always hear celebrities saying stuff about how fame wasn't what they expected and how it's gotten to them and if they could do it all over again they wouldn't have chosen the fame. I get that maybe the attention might be too much but at the end of the day you're rich and famous and can get what you want, etc. I think the main thing is that it seems like they forget everyone struggles. Like they think all of their issues will disappear and they'll have a perfect life without the fame. Everyone else has a lot bigger problems than they do, especially in terms of money." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I’d say that’s absolutely true...until you have struggles. Imagine if you will, the experience of drug addiction as a celebrity vs. some no name joe q citizen. The entire world gets to experience (and comment) on your downfall...that’s something none of us could possibly fathom. It’s certainly a much higher mountain, but god help you if you fall off it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Portraying fit/attractive actors as characters that eat junk food all the time and never work out is irresponsible and damaging.\n\nI really started to take diet and exercise seriously and found that to reach certain target body types, it's massively more challenging than I expected. I partly put this down to TV constantly portraying these young, attractive, fit, successful people as eating junk food all the time and never working out. I don't consider myself a particularly naive or impressionable person so I don't consciously form my views on this from TV but over time it happens subconsciously.\n\nIt happens with most characters in TV, sitcoms especially but lets take Joey from Friends as an example. He's eating pizza constantly, he eats an entire turkey, the meal for 6 for 1 etc. He's seen to be working out once I think, immediately hurts himself and says 'why did I have to start lifting weights again?' - indicating this isn't something he normally does. Despite this he's a good looking guy and in good shape.\n\nBy contrast I'm a similar age and height/build and only after a solid year of working hard in the gym 3 times a week and eating right am I starting to look like that. (Starting point was just 20-30lb overweight). By the standards set on TV and adverts for 6 week abs etc., even after considering that those standards aren't reasonable and adjusting my targets accordingly, I was still disappointed with such a minor change. I think TV in general wildly misrepresents what lifestyle you need to lead to achieve a certain body type.\n\nI understand why they do it for TV. If someone is attractive, they are immediately more likeable. If they also like junk food and lying around on the couch, they are more relatable - making them more likeable again. I'd just like to see more shows address this, I think it's harmful for people's body image and very demotivating when they see what they perceive to be slow progress.\n\nMaybe I'm in the minority though, I've never heard anyone express this view before, I'm open to changing my mind. What do you guys think?\n\nEDIT: Thought of another good example after posting. Look at Jake and Terry from Brooklyn Nine Nine. Jake looks in pretty good shape but is portrayed as a guy that eats junk and never works out, in reality I'm guessing Andy Samberg is pretty careful about what he eats and probably goes for a run regularly. Terry is portrayed as a guy that just eats right and exercises whilst working a job and having a wife and kids. In reality his body type is only possible if he uses steroids and spends probably 3-4 hours a day working out - virtually impossible alongside a full time job, wife and kids.\n\nEDIT2: Maybe I didn't make myself clear because a lot of people seem to have misunderstood. I'm not asking for TV shows to show these people working out or eating healthily. I just don't want them to actively portray that they regularly to do the opposite like the Jake and Joey examples." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This isn't a problem with tv, it's a problem with human biases. \n\nConsider two friends that you eat lunch with every day at work/school (you know back when that would happen...). One is fit, and eats whatever looks good from the cafeteria. The other is trying to get fit, and eats a small, undressed salad every day. From your perspective, it would seem that the salad eater should at least be trending to being more fit, while the other trending to being less fit. But you don't have sufficient information to make that assumption. We actually have no clue whether each friend consumes more calories per day than they burn, we only know how many calories they chose to consume at lunchtime.\n\nTV is like just seeing someone during lunch. No tv show gives you 24 hour-a-day access to a character's behavior. Not even 24. Taking the behavior you see in the tv show and assuming that extends to how that character acts 24/7 is to make the same fallacy as assuming your trying-to-be-fit friend has a healthier lifestyle than your fit friend." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] What would have happened if Obi-Wan Kenobi had escaped the Death Star alive?\n\nLet's assume group escapes without needing Obi-Wan to distract Vader. Obi-Wan goes to Yavin IV with Luke on the Millenium Falcon as the Death Star approaches. \n\nHow do the events of the series unfold from there?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Obi-Wan and Luke both pilot X-Wings during the Death Star assault. Vader barely makes it out in time to survive the explosion, but is in no shape to dogfight Luke or Obi-Wan. Wedge survives.\n\nLuke still heads out on Hoth, but being more adept in the force, the wampa attack is detected sufficiently in advance that it becomes a simple dismembering from tauntaun-back. Luke reports in that there are space-bigfoots about. When Han reports that an imperial probe blew up, Obi-Wan immediately declares that they must abandon Hoth. As a result, Vader's fleet arrives to find an empty and abandoned Hoth.\n\nObi-Wan and Luke both go to Dagobah, and Luke's training isn't interrupted to save his friends since... they don't need saving. Luke manages to become a full Jedi and divines on his own that Vader is his father. Yoda and Obi-Wan teach Luke how to handle force-lightning.\n\nReturn of the Jedi plays out pretty much the same, except that Luke easily bests Vader in combat without succumbing to anger, and isn't immediately roflstomped by Palpatine. Sensing a real chance at victory, Vader turns on his master (this was his plan as indicated in Episode II) and the two of them dismember the emperor without much incident.\n\nVader fails to take command of the Empire, and is unwilling to join the rebellion. Yoda still dies from space-flu. The empire, without a strong leader, begins to unravel itself and an emergency senate is created in a final hope to restore order." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[LoTR] it’s my understanding that the Istari were forced to limit their involvement and use of their abilities in Middle Earth. If Gandalf were allowed to go ham on the forces of Sauron, how much damage could he have done?\n\nCould he one-shot any of the Nine? How powerful would an unrestricted Gandalf be compared to Sauron before the end of the Third Age?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We saw Gandalf the Grey go all out against Durin's Bane. Because he is confined to a living body (even if it is much more than a simple old man's frame), he is still quite limited in terms of raw magical power. The last time forces beyond Middle Earth intervened against evil, continents were shattered, species were wiped away, and the entire world was quite literally reshaped. (from a flat plane into a sphere)\n\nGandalf the White had a little more leeway given how desperate the situation became. But even then, the majority of his influence still came from his ability to inspire and lead, rather than cast divine fireballs at the enemy. With a slightly more powerful figurehead to rally behind, the armies of men had more hope, and thus fought a little harder than they might have if Gandalf had somehow remained in his original incarnation. \n\nEven when Saruman abandoned the mission, he was still in his living body, and his magic was mostly in his voice. And he died to a dagger in the back, so he wasn't some sort of all-powerful being wading amongst the mortals." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Psych] - Was Shawn naturally talented or was his ability through training from his father? If a combination of both, did his father train him because he knew about the gift or would he have raised him that... rigorously if not?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Henry had trained himself to an extremely high level of skill, so he knew that it could be done for anyone (Henry being a dedicated cop, but knowing he was nothing special). So he trained Shawn, hoping that he would be a cop, and knowing that he could be taught, irregardless of Shawn's initial skill level." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is it important to serve different types of alcoholic drinks in different styles of glasses? Does it affect the flavor somehow?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It can - some large volume glasses like a wine glass or brandy snifter are designed to create a large bouquet that you inhale when you stick your nose in the glass.\n\nFor most though, it comes down to presentation and volume.\nA single whiskey on the rocks would look like nothing at all in a large highball glass. Conversely, drinks with ice and lots of mixer require a larger glass.\n\nA stemmed glass (or a martini glass) is designed so you can hold the stem, yet not warm up the chilled drink contents, yet has enough open mouth so you can smell the bouquet. Or hold 11 olives if thats your thing." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "We say the universe is roughly 13,75 * 10^9 years old. Given that time is relative, from what perspective is this measured?\n\nEdit: After reading a bit about cosmic time I think Coin-coin answered my question in the point I was looking for. Thank all you guys for your contribution, didn't expect that much feedback." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's what we call **cosmic time**.\n\nIn our model, the Universe is homogenous and isotropic. So there is a special frame: the one in which the Universe is isotropic. If you move in one direction in this frame, you will notice that the Universe doesn't look the same in your direction of movement as in the other directions.\n\nThe reference time is the time measured in this special frame." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[MCU] Did anyone get snapped peacefully in their sleep and then get brought back in their same bed unaware of what happened?\n\nAs the title says like would they have tried to get their work day started Shaun of the dead style totally unaware of the chaos around them?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Statistically, absolutely. Though it's unlikely they could remain blissfully ignorant for long, given things have significantly changed in those five years. If you're lucky, you find your home still owned by your family, who are shocked to see you. If you're not, it might be owned by total strangers who take you as a home invader, or it might be abandoned or demolished. In any event, you're very confused and in an unexpected chaotic situation." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is the No Child Left Behind Act considered a failure.\n\nThroughout my entire life I have heard people put down the No Child Left Behind Act but from what I could tell by a simple google search the act was intended to provide educational opportunities to many kids who would not have previously had them as well as raising national education standards. Was there something in it that was fundamentally flawed or did it simply just fall short of this goal?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Schools could only get more money through testing, which resulted in multiple grading scandals. It also forced kids through the system who were maybe not ready to advance as quickly as they did. This would set back students who were testing at grade levels. It essentially dumbed down everything, forcing all students to learn at the lowest-performing levels. Besides the funding issue, it seems like an ideal thing, to not let kids down no matter what, but it ends up holding others back." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why was a steroid use in professional sports a congressional matter?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I can't speak for other professional sports, but baseball tends to get more attention from congress because it is the only business that is exempt from antitrust laws. Since it is a legal monopoly, there can never be a competing professional baseball league. With that kind of market power, it was thought best to regulate it in a public arena. Since steroids could be considered corruption of the integrity of the game and since the free market is not at work... Congress gets involved." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Marvel] Does Captain America need to exercise?\n\nIn both the Avengers and The Winter Soldier they show Cap exercising, first by hitting a heavy bag and then by jogging. With the super soldier serum does Captain America actually have to exercise? Is it just recrational for him? A habit he picked up when he was scrawny and never stopped? Or does exercise actually increase his physique beyond what the serum did for him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He excercises to maintain. The serum gave him very rapid muscle growth and in general boosted his physical upper limit. However to stay there he has to excercise like every other person. If he stops his muscles will start atrophying like they do for bodybuilders who quit. \n\nBesides it gives him something to do with all that pent up energy." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Becoming part of academia in a foreign country?\n\nHello everyone, in the future I hope to obtain a PhD in Psychology (specifically Clinical Psychology) from here in the U.S.\n\nMy question is what are the opportunities of being apart of research/academia at a university in a foreign country?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It depends. Some countries are more closed than other. And within those countries, some universities and departments are more closed than others.\n\nIf it comes to a you being 100% qualified for a job and McLocalface being 80% qualified, in many cases they might still hire McLocalface." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Intimidating Advisor\n\nDoc student in a STEM field here. \n\nI saw numerous posts on similar situations like this – but I am wanting to hear some direct thoughts on my situation. \n\nMy advisor is a well-respected scholar in the field. We haven’t had any “conflict” yet, but I am having doubts about whether I should continue to work with her. I don’t know why, and maybe this is on me – but I get so anxious around her. It’s to the point where I have to take my “as needed” anxiety medication whenever I speak with her. Her presence is intimidating, even when we are just talking about our daily lives. \n\nShe is a highly ranked professor in my department, which also means that she has a lot of $ and power. She can fund me on different projects that other faculties may not. One thing to note though is because of the political environment in my department, there are faculty members who are on the opposing side of my advisor. I didn’t know politics in academia can be this bad until I entered one. I thought about switching numerous times, just because her presence is so intimidating to me for some reason. The way she talks can be “short” sometimes, and whenever I share my interaction with her with other students, they often think I am not being treated properly. I personally haven’t felt like I was being mistreated until others started pointing it out to me. I don’t know if I’m seeing her with rose-colored glasses because of all the opportunity that comes by working with her. The only other faculty I will be interested in working with is my advisor’s worst enemy. How do I know? She made it clear to me on day 1, that if I were to ever work with the other faculty, I will not be working with her anymore. I am afraid to change advisors as I don’t want to lose the opportunities. But it’s taking such a huge psychological toll on me. How would you all go about this situation?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It’s hard to really know what is happening here but many busy people are “short” when they speak. They didn’t become a top professor by spending the day chitchatting. That in itself doesn’t seem a problem but it’s impossible for us to know the real picture." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[MCU] Had Thanos tried to collect the Stones peacefully, would anyone have even noticed or cared?\n\nLet's say he collected the stones through trades, money, favors, etc. Without using any violence at all.\n\nWithout telling anyone he had already collected the previous ones.\n\nCould he have done this and completed his mission successfully without anyone caring or even noticing?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He only knew the Space stone was on Earth because Loki told him, the Reality stone was revealed after Dark World and was in the hand of the collector, who wouldn't trade it for anything because there's literally nothing rarer. Time stone was in the Sorcerer Supreme's hand and she's not insane to give it up. The Power stone he tried getting in secret, but Ronan betrayed him. The Soul stone's location was only known by Gamora, and nothing but violence would get her to talk.\n\nEven without those factors, he was infamous for his half-genocides that he can't move around without the galaxy looking at him. He only decided to attack when he knew where most of them were and could reach them before anybody could react." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Any literature/guidance on writing a purely theoretical master's thesis?\n\nI'm currently a master student of sociology and decided with my mentor to write a purely theoretical thesis. However, I couldn't find any good guidance besides Umberto Eko's \"How to Write a Thesis\", everything I found was research-based (theoretical framework, method, results, discussion).\n\nAny help would be welcome, even your own advice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rather than books - which may be entirely unapplicable to your specific situation - ask your advisor for examples from their past students, and find relevant examples for yourself. \n\nPretty much every university out there puts masters theses online, usually through the university library. Go find some examples of the kind of thesis you're doing, in similar fields, for the same type of degree, and from whatever country you're in (since the standards/expectation for masters thesis vary a *lot* by country and type of degree). Skim through several. Look at how they're structured, how the work is introduced, how much depth there is, how the different sections are related to one another, etc etc, and go from there." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is it that when walking home I moderately have to pee, but upon reaching the door and stepping inside it feels like I'm about to piss myself?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This will be an example of trained reflexes in your body. If you are out and about there is not going to be a toilet anywhere, so you're not in the situation you'd usually be in if you were to pee. Your brain registers this on a subconscious level and tells your body \"don't piss right now\". Obviously you have to piss eventually, so your bladder will let your brain know that it's pissing time and you'll feel a little need to pee. \n\nWhen you get closer to a piss destination your body will be all like \"hey yo it's pissing time let's do it\" and start prepping your peehole for pee pee, thus the need to piss gets bigger. It's just you associating home with being able to piss that makes it seem more urgent." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: we’re all a bit racist\n\nAnd that’s ok. Nobody’s perfect. Being racist can be as little as being judgy. Have you ever been judgy? Sure you have. We all have and that’s ok. It’d be seen as a bit scummy but ok. But once you judge a race, that’s seen as racism. Try it, I don’t think you could find a topic you could judge on without seeming racist. I also don’t believe that’s true racism but it’s just seen as that. I feel like I’m going to be judged for this but if I was a race that’d be racist.\n\nWhat I’m trying to say is that we’re all racist cause we all judge and if we judge another race at all that’s seen as racism." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hypothetically, if there was a person who lived their whole live on an island where everyone was the same race, and had no exposure to other races existence, and didn't even know the concept of race, could that person possibly not be racist?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why am I so tired throughout the day and can easily fall asleep, but the second I'm in bed, I'm wide awake and take hours to fall asleep?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the day, demands for your time and attention are omnipresent, sleep is a desirable way to escape them.\n\nOnce you're in bed, all the distractions have been silenced and now you have time to think about demands, worries, concerns, etc." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: why do we expect organizations like the NFL to punish players for illegal things they do off the field?\n\nShouldn't that solely be handled by the legal system? Yet all you hear is bitching when a player does something illegal in their personal lives and only gets a slap on the wrist from the NFL." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The NFL is a media juggernaut, so one would think they have a certain moral responsibility. But really, like most things, it's about money.\n\nThe NFL has sponsors, and those sponsors don't want their product associated with wife-beaters, child-abusers, and murderers. Same reason Donald Sterling was forced to sell his NBA team. On the surface, the other owners said they were \"appalled\" (for PR reasons). But really, he was hurting their bottom line." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How can water vaporise at every temperature if it requires heat from outside?\n\nWhat about below 0 Celcius, or when you put some water that's colder than the room's temperature( before the temperature of water and room equals)?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What happens when water (or any other liquid) evaporates, is that a molecule of the liquid at the surface has enough individual energy in order to overcome the attraction of local inter molecular forces. The temperature of the water is essentially the average energy over all the molecules; it does not represent the actual energy of every single molecule. As such, some molecules will have less energy and some will have more. As they move around and bump into each other, energy is exchanged and constantly in flux.\n\nBecause of this, at any point some molecule of water at the surface might have enough energy to escape and become vapor. The lower the temperature, the slower this process, of course." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eli5: How did the first weight get weight to know how much it weights?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It more-or-less went, \"We need to define a weight, so we take this object and say that it defines the unit and calibrate our scales to match.\" In the case of the kilogram, it was defined as \"the mass of one liter of water,\" and so no matter how massive one kilogram of water actually was, that mass set the definition." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC/Marvel] Who are the biggest Heroes operating outside of the US?\n\nEngland, France, Germany, Canada, Australlia, Mongolia - there must be heroes from all over the place doing stuff all over the place right? Who are the biggest guys from these countries?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Batman Inc has members in many nations- Nightrunner in France, Black Bat in Hong Kong, etc. The Great Ten are the most prominent heroes of China. England has Knight and Squire. \n\nIn Earth 616, China has the People's Defense Force. In Britain there's Excalibur, MI-13, and Captain Britain. France has Les Heroes de Paris, a team Ben Grimm joined for a short while during the Civil War." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELIF- How does a hot air balloon work? How does the pilot know where they're going to end up and what happens if it all goes wrong?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Controlling a hot air ballon is a lot of guesswork. Educated guesswork, but guesswork nonetheless.\n\nBy controlling the heat inside the actual ballon (this is done using gas burners) it's possible to control if the ballon is rising (because it's hotter than the surrounding air) or declining (because it's colder, respectively.).\n\nThe ballon also has a valve at the top where you can let hot air out, to speed up the process of cooling down.\n\nAnd that is really all there is to it. Hot ballon goes up. Cold ballon goes down.\n\nActual navigation, though, takes skill. A ballon is always and indefinitely moving in the direction the wind is blowing. Which means that if you want to go west, you'll have to wait until you have wind blowing towards the west.\n\nComplicating things a bit, wind can blow in different directions at different heights. Which means that you can go higher and find a patch of wind going in sort of the right direction instead of staying low and going in the exact opposite direction.\n\nThe easiest way to find out exactly how the wind is blowing above you is to release a small helium ballon (because helium ballons always go up) and see in which direction it goes when the wind grabs hold of it.\n\nThe rest is all about skill. Knowledge. A tour ballon pilot would typically have several pre-planned routes to choose from depending on wind direction. \"If the wind is blowing westward, we'll have to start east of the national park with all the wild animals. And land someplace west of it.\" The problem is the \"someplace\" bit, because you don't necessarily end up where you intended to.\n\nMost aircraft can fend for themselves and force a direction they want with a propeller, but an air ballon just...can't. So, to simplify things for everyone, air ballons got their own set of aviation rules where other aircraft has to make way for them. The obvious issue here is of course that ballons are not necessarily welcome in any airspace, because the extra considerations everyone else has to make for them.\n\nThings that typically go wrong is that the wind changes at the exact worst thinkable time, pushing the ballon towards a high voltage power line. Or, you know, towards a forest. Or a cliffside. Any place where you can't immediately land is a risk that the pilot would try to avoid. Passing a risk area means that they have to plan ahead.\n\nWhen all you can control is height, you'll have to go higher. Because if you can only go up, then you are soon out of options. But if you can also go down, then you got two options to choose from.\n\nWhat happens when the ballon risks running into a power line is that the pilot has to consider the two options. 1) burn gas and get more heat so that the ballon slowly rises? 2) release hot air so that the ballon quickly goes down?\n\nGoing down is always easy. Going down comfortably, thats more difficult. Going down comfortably when you are in a hurry, When you desperately have to come down immediately, that takes skill. And could definitely involve bruises as a calculated better outcome." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Where does \"The Floor is Lava!\" come from, and how did everyone invent it as a kid?\n\nIdk about you guys, but I definitely played the game \"The Floor is Lava\" as a wee kid. Not only that, but being that young, I'm pretty sure I invented the game myself.\n\nThe weird part is, there are a lot of people I know who played the same game, and invented it themselves as well. How the heck does a game like that get independently mass-invented?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You didn't invent it yourself. :-) Most kids get it from other kids and it's passed down in grade school. A younger kid might see their older sibling playing it or an only child will see their friends or neighbors their age playing a similar game. \"Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back!\" is very similar. Since lava is cool (hot molten rocks!) to well...most sane people but especially little kids, pretending your floor is something neat rather than the boring carpet your parents are thinking of replacing is just fun." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Marvel] How powerful is the country of Wakanda?\n\nCan they be considered a global superpower?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No. The definition of a superpower is a state that is able to project power on a global scale. Wakanda is extremely advanced, but they have a small landmass, low population, an extremely weak military, and have made a point of staying out of global affairs. They could certainly punch above their weight class if they wanted to given their advanced technology and a near monopoly on vibranium, but tech and resources only get you so far in a world where there are gods walking around.\n\nIf Wakanda made an effort to get extremely involved in global affairs, I'd compare them to Japan. Extremely advanced technology, a highly developed economy, and the theoretical ability to be a far larger player than they currently are, but things like a long history of intentional isolation, a relatively small landmass, and a population that seems fairly content with maintaining the status quo keep them from ever reaching that potential, at least for a good while longer. Definitely a large player on the global stage, but far from a superpower." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Short Circuit] How would Number 5 have developed if he had access to the internet?\n\nWe see him devouring information from the moment he gains sapience. Billboards, TV, radio, encyclopedias. How would he have turned out if he had access to the internet, with all of it's wonders and depravity?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd have absorbed all the information he could much like Leeloo in Fifth Element. But when he got to the \"war\" entry in Wikipedia his eyes would start glowing red and he'd turn into a terminator. It's basic computer science." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "So, what are some legitimate scientific criticisms of or alternatives to evolution?\n\nI was wondering if there are any **legitimate** scientific alternatives to evolution. Although I realise that 'Theory of Evolution' is a broad term, what evidence is there that does not fit nicely with - or even contradicts - evolutionary principles such as natural selection, genetic mutation, sexual selection, and the like?\n\nEDIT: perhaps I did not ask a precise enough question:\nWhat would cause a major revision to evolutionary theory? What findings do not fit well with evolution as we currently understand it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There is no biological knowledge that does not fit cleanly into the theory of evolution. That is, the theory of evolution can be used to explain literally every piece of empirical data there is that pertains to all aspects of biology." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[X-Men] If Wolverine were to stab an infected person, tuck away his claws, and then proceed to stab me, would I become infected with the same illness?\n\nOkay imagine this, Wolverine stabs someone dealing with an infection like I'm not sure, the common cold or influenza. If he unsheathes his claws for a small period of time, then stabs me (to which I get medical attention and live), would I be dealing with the same infection as the first victim? \n\nWhat about in a hypothetical scenario where the victim's blood stays on his claws at the time of sheathing and unsheathing and instead it's a blood borne illness?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, with his healing factor curing him of gunshot wounds in seconds, a mere infection would be dealt with literally immediately. Also, hard metals like stainless steel don't carry disease well anyway so adamantium can be supposed to also be germ resistant." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[The Office] Why does Jim never face any penalties for his pranks against Dwight?\n\nSo some of his pranks aren't that crazy like just showing up dressed as Dwight and imitating him, others can be really hard to trace back like putting quarters in his phone to make him bonk himself in the face after they're removed, but some pranks are just unquestionably unprofessional and pretty easy to trace back to Jim like moving Dwight's entire desk to the bathroom and acting smug about it.. Dwight is entirely right it's extremely unprofessional and severely impacting his ability to work for no reason." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Michael likes Jim. He would never penalize him, especially not for just playing a joke.\n\nDwight has gone to Toby with numerous complaints about Jim, but Toby never sends them to corporate. He just keeps them in a box under his desk. So Dwight really has no recourse left." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do sodas taste better in glass bottles and cans rather than plastic bottles?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One word friend: permeation.\n\nSo, plastic bottles are permeable as hell. They will lose water and CO2 over time. This will impact the flavor, how bubbly it is, and the “crispness” of the soda. Glass and aluminum are not as permeable so the formula stays relatively the same and doesn’t lose as much from permeation. On that note most plastic bottles are PET and it leaks like a sob." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "eli5 Why are historical ruins so much lower than modern ground level?\n\nI recently visited the Roman Baths in Bath. The tour made a point of pointing out that you had to go down several meters below the modern ground level to see the remains, that as you travelled down you were travelling further into the past. Walking around old cities you'll sometimes come across a glass panel in the road and below it you'll see the excavated original medieval road 1 or 2 meters down. How is it that this happens? I can't imagine it's a geological process in only a couple of thousand years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Archaeologist here. There’s a lot of reasons. Some have already been mentioned. When buildings collapse it makes a lot of rubble and dust that can cover other ruins. You also have floods, volcanic eruptions, dust storms, etc. Other factors can be plants…over thousands of years plants grow on ruins, die, and decay and this produces a lot of soil that can bury things. People also often throw trash into abandoned buildings, over time this builds up and can bury a whole structure. Last, don’t forget deliberate burial in old cities. It’s easier to just fill in the foundations of an old structure with dirt and build on top of it, rather than tear the whole thing down. Same with streets, if you need to replace a street, just cover it with some dirt and pave it fresh on top. Over time this can add many layers on top of one another." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Ghostbusters] What would have been written in the Help Wanted Ad that the Ghostbusters put out?\n\nBonus: Who would have written it? What were the qualifications they were looking for? And why would it have been attractive to only Winston?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ray would have come up with it (Egon would have been too busy and Peter probably didn't care enough to put any thought into it), but Janine would have typed it out and submitted it to the newspaper. It would have been stiff, formal and contained only the basic information and job description. It would have likely asked for someone with a PhD in particle physics, maybe some higher mathematics or at least SOME kind of high education. And the job description would have been full of wonderful terms like \"observing paranormal phenomena\" and \"collecting postmortem samples for analysis\". Most people would have assumed it was a joke or way above their skills, so they avoided the ad and went on to apply at different locations.\n\nWinston just wanted to get paid and he assumed rightly that anyone who came up with such a ridiculous ad and interview would be desperate for help. He also didn't run when he found out everyone in the firehouse were completely serious, so he was hired." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Marvel] Can Magneto take the Infinity Gauntlet off of Thanos?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I feel really stupid that in all the various infinity gauntlet talk, I've never heard anyone bring up someone like Magneto that can control metal. Frick' SWOOP and now it's mine. Done. \n\nI feel like if someone is actively using it, like Thanos shooting out Power stone rays, that would probably prevent it from just flying off, but yeah, if Thanos is just walking around with it on, they already showed you can literally just pull it off his hand, so there's no reason a magnetic user couldn't just make it fly off to them." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC/Comics generally]The Hulk can lift a mountain or drag together continental plates. But why doesn't the surface that he is exerting this tremendous strength on just snap, the mountain fall on top of him or the plates break from his grasp? How do other strong characters deal with this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The 'Selective Field of Influence Theory' by Doctor Otto Binder\n\nThe theory was first postulated in reference to the exploits of the World War II era Captain Marvel, aka, Shazam. The World's Mightiest Mortal could punch a tank, and the power was applied only to an area the size of his fist. However, he could rescue a disabled plane in midflight by holding a wing, when that should have torn the wing off. \n\nThe theory is that these gifted individuals exert their influence as if they were manipulating a variable size and shaped field. Thus Captain Marvel can hold up a falling building, and later return to punch out a single brick. How this happens is not clearly understood, but it appears to be a widespread and innate attribute of these individuals." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why is there a time-energy uncertainty relation when time is not an operator in Quantum Mechanics?\n\nThe Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is based on the property of the commutators of two Hermitian operators. But time is not an operator in Quantum Mechanics, so what gives? How fundamental is this relation? Where does it come from and what does it mean?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's not really the same kind of uncertainty relationship, since you are correct that time is not an operator.\n\nInstead think more as a time evolution on states. If a state is an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, it is stable in time. If a state is not an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, it can be written as a linear combination of Hamiltonian eigenstates, with a time dependence determined by the difference in energy levels from the spectrum of the Hamiltonian. It is from this time dependence that the time energy uncertainty comes from." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] What is the difference between Bacta and Kolto?\n\nI'm playing through KotOR now and they seem to be pretty much the same thing?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both are powerful healing agents, but they come from different places. Kolto was commonplace a long time ago, but Production suddenly grinded to a near halt, causing the Galaxy to turn to the more commonly availible bacta, which are in common use today." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Exposure to Misinformation and Invalid Arguments is Crucial in the Exercise of Critical Thought\n\nJohn Stuart Mill said it best when he argued 160 years ago, in his classic *On Liberty*, that it is impossible to truly know if 'x' is false if we refuse to hear any arguments or evidence purported to be in favor of 'x'. If, for example, a given society were to decide that holocaust deniers and anti-vax people should be fully silenced to the point that I never heard their reasoning, then I would not be in a position to know whether in fact their arguments were invalid. And since being able to compare arguments in order to determine which ones are valid or invalid is a part of critical thought, my opportunity to exercise such critical thought would be greatly diminished.\n\nPotential Objections:\n\n1. On several issues common sense or intuition can be used to arrive at the truth without the help of critical reasoning. Response: common sense and intuition are not infallible and thus need to be verified through the testing of evidence and critical thought. Many people have erroneously believed, for example, that it is self-evident that the earth is flat or that the sensation of color pertains to the objective world.\n2. We've already heard enough to know that the holocaust deniers and anti-vax people are wrong. Response: that in itself proves the point that hearing such arguments is useful in determining what is true or false.\n3. It is sufficient if others, as with previous generations or experts, hear those invalid arguments on our behalf in order to determine if they are valid or incorrect. Response: previous generations and experts can certainly do that, but if we ourselves simply trust them then we are merely conforming to their views rather than exercising critical thought or exhibiting genuine knowledge (on the assumption that having the correct view on the basis of conformity is not the same as knowledge).\n4. It is for our own protection that we should not be exposed to misinformation. Response: perhaps so, but that does not relate to my view apropos of critical thought. It simply states that the harm outweighs the need for free speech and critical reasoning.\n\nIf I've missed something I'll add an edit. *But as a last point I will add that if my view is changed, then in a certain, perhaps ironic sense it would actually be proven, since it would show how a misinformed view grows into knowledge not through its censorship but rather through hearing a variety of ideas in the exercise of critical reasoning.* In which case I would be happy to change my view!! :)\n\n​\n\nEDIT: I forgot to clarify that while I believe that exposure to misinformation is crucial to the exercise of critical thought, it is not a sufficient condition of it. For example, if I am a deeply ignorant, uneducated person who is psychologically susceptible to propaganda, then being exposed to bad ideas won't by itself suddenly make me a critical thinker! But, nonetheless, if I am to develop into one then at some point I must be able to analyze bad information." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Misinformation that is presented critically is helpful in exercising critical thought. There is plenty of misinformation out there that can be analyzed and dissected, and there always will be. Misinformation that is spread widely with no context to masses of people with little to no critical thinking ability on the other hand is dangerous to critical thought." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How is having such dependent offspring selectively advantageous for humans?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, first of all, humans are extremely K-selected in comparison to most mammals. We put a lot of effort and care into each individual which is born. You can have a supremely dependent offspring when you put a lot of care into it. Additionally, our babies are born in what we call a secondarily altricial state. We are less developed at birth than what you'd see in most primate species. Basically, we are born before you would be expected with regards to our brain (and body) development. Much of this is related to brain size. We are born relatively large-brained, but have neonatal brains that are in a less developed state (relative to final brain size) than seen in our primate relatives. It has been hypothesized that this is due to the \"obstetric dilemma,\" where you can only manage to squeeze out a head of a certain size through the pelvic outlet (although there are some researchers who indicate that this might not necessarily be the case). \n\nIt is also interesting to note that humans are really good at taking care of our kids after they are weaned. Most primates do not engage in significant direct care of offspring following weaning. Primate juveniles are pretty much on their own in terms of finding food following weaning -- and have correspondingly high rates of mortality. In contrast, humans engage in significant food sharing and direct care for individuals after weaning. This period called \"childhood\" (see work by Barry Bogin and friends) not only increases offspring survival, but also reduces interbirth interval by lowering the amount of time spent in lactation. As females demonstrate reproductive suppression during lactation, reducing this period allows us to resume cycling faster and allows us to have additional kids while still having dependent offspring. In contrast, other ape species have extremely long interbirth intervals as their period of lactation (and thus reproductive suppression) is longer than found among humans." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How efficient are our solar panels?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The commerical panels available on the market are ~15-19% efficient with sunlight. Lab ones are in the 20% region The theoretical limit for single junction silicon solar cells using sunlight is about 33.7%, based on the solar spectrum and the bandgap of silicon. \n\n\nMulti-junction solar cells made from multiple layers of material offer better theoretical efficiency as you can tune each junction to a given wavelength. Certain organic semiconductors that can generate mutiple charge carrier pairs from a single photon also offer better theoretical efficiency, as you can better use the higher energy photons rather than just making heat. In the lab, multi-junction cells have hit ~45% efficient, but these aren't commercially viable." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is there a specific reason why many people's arms tend to hurt after receiving a flu shot but not after many other shots?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There is a substance called Adjuvant that is an irritant included with some shots. Adjuvant stimulates your innate/non-specific/general immune response, by stimulating your innate immune response at the same time as the vaccine stimulates your specific/late/anti-body/adaptive immune response the adaptive immunity developed is stronger." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why home blood tests do not exist, while we can measure our sugar levels with personal devices at home?\n\nI feel like going to get basic blood test done is a chore. Why it can't be done at home? I have the glucometer at home and its great. Is the same thing possible for a more general purpose? Education-wise I am far from anything to do with medicine, but technologically speaking, is it really a stretch?\n\nHaving a nurse come over is not what I mean by at-home testing, btw.\n\nEnglish is not my mother tongue, sorry if my question is not clear.\n\nEdit: Yes, I missed most of what's going on with Theranos. It's not widely covered where I live, I will definitely watch the documentary or listen to the podcast. sounds interesting! \nAlso, thank you all for your comments, so much I didn't know!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most tests don't use blood per se, they use serum or plasma. Hard to get at those at home.\n\nA blood count requires machines able to see, differentiate and count a variety of different cells in your blood. It is not comparable to a glucose test." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] Why do the Separatist bother with life support on Droid controlled ships?\n\nIt seems like an unnecessary drain on power, and a lack of life support would make it that more difficult for organic boarding parties." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because sometimes they need to take prisoners or shuttle officials/organic officers around. And they never know when a prisoner might come by.\n\nBetter to be prepared. In any case, if they didn't use that, boarding parties would soon start using space suits. Clone Trooper armors already give them over fifteen minutes of air in a vacuum." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[The Thing (1982)] What happens to the clothes when The Thing devours you?\n\nMany characters get devoured and imitated in The Thing (1982). I have always wondered about the clothes.\n\nBennings has his coat, pants and sweatshirt on, they are not bloody, not ripped, they look perfectly normal. The imitation is not ready yet, but clothing is not an issue in that case.\n\nThe characters at one point are assuming that it rips off your underpants - but why only the underpants? What is happening with the rest of the clothes? Suffice to say that the characters don't know anything for sure, they are just speculating.\n\nAnyone has a working in-universe explanation?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I've always assumed that the thing absorbs any natural fibers, discarding anything it can't assimilate, and then remakes the clothing out of itself. The same way it made fur when it was the dog or hair when it's human." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Rocky Horror] Giving myself over to absolute pleasure sounds pretty cool. What's the down side?\n\nI'm cool with living my life for the thrills." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pleasure fades like the high of a drug. What gave you joy will soon fade. You will crave for the same feeling you once had but must now go to greater lengths to achieve it.\nYour life will degrade into the never ending pursuit of pleasure. You will become its slave - its darkness will consume you.\nThe extremes you will go to for the slightest bit of pleasure will make you a monster beyond reckoning. Eventually there will be nothing left but an empty shell, devoid of all things good, a demon of lust whose thirst cannot be quenched. \nYour hunger will become your hell." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When an avocado is not ripe, are the fats and nutritional content just as present or does the ripening process make them available? If so, why?\n\nHere I am sitting with a bag full of avocados, and all of them are not quite ripe yet. I wonder if the fat and nutritional content are the same at this stage as when it ripens or if there is a type of transformation that happens as it ripens. If, so, why?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The nutritional content is all still there, but the nutrients in unripe fruits are more difficult to digest for us, and hence they don't taste as good. Starches breaking down into simple sugars, complex enzymes denaturing into amino acid chains, all this helps us digest and absorb the nutrients easier. This is also the same reason we cook meat vs eat it raw (aside from the chance of infection)." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do so many people have peanut allergies?\n\nJust saw on the news that a trial was happening in NZ which could lead on to a cure for peanut allergies, and it made me realise that many people around the world all have this common allergy. I guess my question is, why is it so common? It's interesting enough to know that it is widespread, but knowing why would help me make sense of it all. ELI5." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nobody's sure. It's more common in developed countries which has led to the ***hygiene hypothesis***, which is basically that our immune systems like to pick fights, and will attack random substances if they can't find real infections - even if they're delicious and harmless like peanuts." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Spider-Man] Do you think Raimi Spider-Man could've engineered his own web shooters if he really had too?\n\nCompared to the other two on screen spider-men he seems to be the least technologically inclined. His suit is definitely the least advanced and in the trilogy we rarely get an inside look into his scientific expertise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Spoilers for No away Home\n\n>!In his own movies Peter is a gifted scientist to the point that he found an error in Doc Ock's calculations for the fusion reactor. Then in No Way Home we see that he was capable of creating a cure for the Green Goblin in a matter of hours. So he probably could build webshooters if he needed to.!<" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Many billionaires like Bill Gates \"give away\" billions of dollars, but they give it to their own foundations, who dole it out at a trickle. Could they take this money back if they needed/wanted to?\n\nI'm sure they'd have to pay taxes and penalties on it, but if they wanted to for some reason could they transfer funds from their foundation into their personal account, or just start spending it on themselves instead of on charitable causes?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, this would be considered \"self-dealing\" by the IRS and is prohibited by law. An excise tax of 5% of the amount of money involved will be applied to everyone involved in the act of self-dealing and the act is supposed to be corrected. If it isn't corrected then a penalty of 200% of the amount involved is applied to the self-dealer and another 50% to any foundation manager who refused to correct the self-dealing.\n\nSo no, it wouldn't be accessible." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: The \"first lady\" job should end\n\nReason #1 - It is an outdated, archaic pratice that has no place in a modern republic.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nBack in the days of monarchy, when you were the king, your son was the prince. Should you die, he would rule and be the new king. If the president/prime minister dies, his/her son doesn't get to be the new president/prime minister. So why should, these days, someone be granted a title based on marriage alone?\n\n&#x200B;\n\nReason #2 - It is nepotism pure and simple.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIf you argue that some form of charity done by the presidential office is important, shouldn't that job be given to a professional who has actual experience in doing it, instead of a random person that simply happens to be in the family of the president/prime minister? \n\n\nReason #3 - It inferiorizes women.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nBarack Obama's first lady was Michelle. Trump's is Melania. Now, do you know who Angela Merkel's \"first husband/man\" is? Do you know who was the \"first man\" of Brazil's Dilma Roussef? You probably don't and the reason is: when men are in power, it's okay for their women to be their \"helpers\", coming right behind them. Now, when a woman is in power it would be \"weird\" for their men to walk behind them taking a subordinate position. Maybe that's another sign that the job is not really necessary. I mean, if it becomes vacant for 4/5 years and nobody even notices...\n\n&#x200B;\n\nReason #4 - It takes our attention away from the important stuff\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs the internet would say, government is serious business. A president/prime minister can take millions of people out of poverty, initiate a nuclear war, etc. When he have people discussing whether the current first lady is prettier than the previous one or not, wheter her clothes are adequate to a certain a event or not... That takes attention from the important stuff and transforms the \"first family\" into some sort of reality show couple. People stop debating tax rates and, instead, start asking if the first lady doesn't care about her husband's flings...\n\n&#x200B;\n\nReason #5 - It reinforces the idea that the \"traditional family\" is the \"proper\" right one.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe president/prime minister is elected, pictures start flooding the internet and magazines. Who's in these pictures? The president, the \"first lady\" and, hopefully, the two first kids and the first dog, as well. Now, put yourself in the shoes of a transgender person, a single lady, a sixty years old man who never had kids or a dog... Won't the fact that the \"first family\" is always different from yours start giving you feelings of inadequacy and make you question what you're doing \"wrong\" (even though you're not doing anything wrong at all, it just so happens that this tale tells you that you cannot be successful - or happy, for that matter- if your family does not look like every single family in power since the dawn of time)?\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhat am I getting wrong here?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "> Now, do you know who Angela Merkel's \"first husband/man\" is? Do you know who was the \"first man\" of Brazil's Dilma Roussef? You probably don't and the reason is: when men are in power, it's okay for their women to be their \"helpers\", coming right behind them.\n\nI think the reason is that those countries never placed any importance on the \"first spouse\" in the first place. Do you know who Justin Trudeau's wife is? David Cameron's? Bolsonaro's? Shinzo Abe's?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How does the United States run on a deficit, and what does that ACTUALLY mean for the future?\n\nWe've only NOT run a deficit for four years of the past forty. As a member of the younger generation I'm trying to learn what it actually means for a country and it's posterity to run a deficit year after year." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Running a deficit basically means that you end the year owing more than you did at the start of the year.\n\nIs that a bad thing? Well, maybe... but not necessarily.\n\nYou see, unlike in personal finance, when you're talking about national finances (or business finances, which are very similar), having some debt is usually a *good* thing, because it means you can spend money in order to make more money.\n\nSo if the country borrows money, spends it on things like infrastructure and job creation, and ends up with more of the population in work, earning more money, and paying more tax, then this extra tax ought to be enough to pay the extra interest on the bigger amount of debt. That's a good thing - it means the country's finances are growing. As the country's finances grow, so its ability to repay debt grows, and it would be wrong not to take advantage of that.\n\nOn the other hand, if the reason you're running at a deficit is because no one is in work so you're not collecting much tax, but you're having to borrow money to pay the salaries of civil servants, then that's bad." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: People who say \"if you disagree with BLM, then you think Black Lives Don't Matter\" are incredibly dumb.\n\nImagine if someone said \"MAGA\". If you found issue with their statement, would it make any sense for them to say \"Oh. So you do not think America should be great?\". Of course not!\n\nIf one was to disagree with the MAGA types, that can come out of a place of discontentment with the pioneer of the term (such as Trump), the policies that term has embodied, or the behaviour of a significant proportion of people who say that term etc. It does not necessarily come from a disagreement of the actual phrase itself.\n\nSimilarly, although I do support BLM and the movement it has spawn, it must be acknowledged that BLM, in addition to being a phrase, is a movement, And disagreeing with a movement is not the same as disagreeing with the name of the movement. It is disingenuous to immediately attribute skeptics of BLM as racists, or to accuse them of thinking that \"Black Lives Don't Matter\", of course unless they show otherwise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would actually argue that MAGA *is* an inflammatory statement. “Make America Great Again” implies something other than making America great - the keyword is “again”.\n\nIt implies that America was once great and lost part of its greatness - and that returning to the America of the past would be a good thing. \n\nThis is something you can disagree with, all while believing that we should make America great. \n\nNo such equivalent exists for BLM. It’s a wholly inclusive and easy-to-understand statement that’s only been made inflammatory by its detractors." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[STAR WARS] What was life like for Stormtroopers and officers in Vader's personal 501st legion, post-clone era?\n\nWhat was Vader's relationship like with his men? The clone troopers in the war loved him and he cared for them.\n\nHow were his relationships with his officers?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Officers hate him. Troopers are fanatically loyal to him.\n\nIt's interesting to note that so far in the new canon, there's been no mention of him commanding the 501st after the Clone Wars ended, not until Hoth, and that may be incorrect information at the moment." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where do files, pics, etc. go once they get deleted?\n\nI remember someone telling me about cyberspace once but I don't really know much about it, or whether or not it has anything to do with deleted files." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "your files don't go anywhere. you just forget where you put them.\n\nwhenever you want to draw a picture of a cat with your crayons. you just take a picture and draw. when you are done you throw it away, but you can take a new piece of paper and draw again. You'll always have paper to draw on (your parents will get it for you), and you just throw the old paper in the trash.\n\nbut a computer can't get its paper from its parents. it doesn't have any parents. instead it has a certain amount of memory to use and draw or write on, like drawing on the bedroom walls. It can draw all over those walls, and it always remembers where each picture is (the cat is below the light switch, the dog is behind the bed, the house is next to your trash can). But if it wants to get rid of something and start over new, it can't just tear out the wall. instead it just forgets where it put that particular picture. so it thinks the wall is empty.\n\nso it forgets that the cat picture is under the light switch, and the cat picture is deleted. the computer thinks the spot is empty, and the cat is gone, But technically, the cat picture is still there, where we left it. some times you can do special stuff to get the computer to remember where that picture is, but it might be difficult depending on how it was deleted.\n\nthat deleted picture will stay on the wall until you ask the computer to write something new, like a picture of your goldfish. The computer thinks the spot under the light switch is empty, so it goes to draw the goldfish there. first it applies a layer of white paint, and then it draws the fish. now the cat picture is truly gone, and only goldie remains." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: If there are no lions in Europe, why are they all over European heraldry?\n\nOwls, bears, boars and all that make sense because Europeans would see them all the time. I've never heard of lions indigenous to Europe, and yet lions are everywhere when you look at European heraldry. How come?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "modern europeans largely have a greek/roman lineage, to some degree (at least culturally). romans had lions. Lions are depicted in the bible. Lions territory used to be quite large as well, living in southern europe." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Fallout: New Vegas] The Courier does not survive being shot by Benny and dies. How does this affect the Mojave Wasteland?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kimball gets assassinated. \nThe Great Khans join the Legion. \nThe Brotherhood doesn't fix its stuff and either leave the bunker or lock themselves in. \nGoodsprings gets wiped out by Powder Gangers. \nThe White Glove Society becomes cannibals. \nThe Omertas attack the Strip. \nMr. House doesn't get his securitron army. \nThe Boomers stay in their base.\nCaesar doesn't cure his cancer. \nThe Legion probably wins the Battle of Hoover Dam." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] How many clones were created on Kamino ?\n\nIn the movies it’s suggested 1.2 million units. That simply makes no sense at all in the context of a galactic war. For context, China has an active army of 2 million troops - not including navy and airforce.\n\nIn the context of a galactic war, you would need many hundreds of billions of troops. This isn’t a regional war on a single planet. A galactic civil war would require almost incomprehensible numbers. Tens of thousands of star destroyers, billions if not trillions of active personnel and so on.\n\nIs there any clarification on what was meant by “units”?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What you're asking is a question which has been debated by fans practically since Attack of the Clones came out. Some authors treated this gospel truth, with total numbers of the Grand Army reaching no more than a few million. Others portrayed it as far more flexible, with each and every planet in the Republic receiving a garrison force of between ~2,000 and 100,000 clones, even as the Republic's lines were allegedly stretched thin by the war.\n\nComplicating things is that Lucasfilm Limited was quite clear that no more fixed number could ever be stated for the clones, ensuring that many writers would write battles where tens or hundreds of thousands of clones die even in quick raids - well exceeding the alleged ~1.2 to 3 million figure.\n\nNo clarification of the term \"Unit\" was ever given.\n\n- If, however, it was referring to the 576-clone Batallion, then Lama Su would be offering Obi-Wan roughly 155 million clones with 576 million more soon - a far more suitable \"starting force\" for the opening days of the war.\n\n- If it referred to a 2,304-clone Regiment - the largest \"unit\" in the Grand Army's structural makeup - then the Republic would begin the war with nearly 461 million clones, with another *two billion* arriving soon after - a much more reasonable force for beginning a truly galactic conflict." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What keeps synapses together?\n\nI've read that neurons do not touch at synapses, but are rather really close to each other. So what keeps them from coming undone, especially in a body in movement?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think you mean what keeps two neurons together at the synaptic cleft? \n\nTurns out their are glycoproteins (like you would have on the surface of just about every cell), that bridge between the presynaptic neuron and postsynaptic neuron. The presynaptic neuron has a glycoprotein called neurexin and the postsynaptic neuron has a glycoprotein called neuroligin. \n\nBy altering the genes responsible for the synaptogenesis of these glycoproteins, it's possible to induce certain neurocognitive conditions." } ]