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yytkx | why do the music & film industries have regional restrictions for digital sales? | I never understood stuff like this. This is from Pandora when it's accessed outside the US.
> Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative."
It's the same when you try to purchase music on iTunes with a billing address outside the US, or on almost all music services.
If profit is their goal, wouldn't it make more sense to simply let anyone, anywhere in the world purchase their music and movies? I cannot think of any logical reason other than bureaucratic, legal nonsense. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yytkx/eli5_why_do_the_music_film_industries_have/ | {
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"The way to think of it legally is that a license is like a toll bridge between broadcasters and the music they want to play, or you and the music you want to hear. To get across, either you or the broadcaster has to pay the guy working at the tollbooth (record companies, songwriters, etc). \n\nYou only have to pay once, and you get to cross the bridge however much you want. Broadcasters have to pay much more on a regular basis, which is fine, because advertisers pay the toll and more in exchange for being able to advertise along with the music being broadcasted.\n\nHowever, there's a catch - the toll booth only takes one kind of currency, because the two \"islands\" connected by the bridge accept that currency. To get that music to another country, you have to take a different bridge, with different people who run the toll booth. This is because different countries have different laws about who controls access to certain kinds of music.\n\nPandora pays for a license to broadcast music to American audiences, and Apple pays to provide a medium for customers who wish to purchase American licenses for music. Undoubtedly, these companies would like to expand their markets, but it is most likely too expensive to do so.",
"A lot of it is because the models for entertainment distribution are built for the 1960s world - where people from, say, France couldn't easily wander over to Canada and buy an album. To get Canadian Music in France, the Canadian company would sell the discs to a French company, with possibly a Canadian, French, or.. Dutch or German or something company running the ships/planes to get the physical cargo from Point A to Point B.\n\nHalfway switching your model - that is, if the Canadian Company started selling some albums directly to the French listeners would piss off both the French company selling their physical media, and the company shipping the goods over to France. They'd take their anger out on the Canadian company by either raising their rates or cancelling their contracts.\n\nSpeaking of contracts - often times the French company would sign a contract with the Canadian company stating that the French Company was the only company allowed to sell the Canadian Company's wares in France. The idea of the contract was so the Canadian company wouldn't continually shop around and get an English or Moroccan company to distribute it in France, or even another French Company. But by selling directly over the internet, the Canadian company would be in violation of this contract if they sold their goods to people in France over the internet.\n\nThe internet is changing things, but lots of companies (the shipping company to a certain extent, and the French company mostly) are fighting tooth and nail to restrict content. If the French Company is the only source of Canadian Music, they don't want Apple or Pandora supplying it either. They want to be the sole provider. And they have contracts written up to make them the sole provider."
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pts60 | (computing) what is the difference between "instructions per second (ips)" and flops? | I first heard of FLOPS on Lenovo's history website (_URL_0_), which I found tonight, and I've never been introduced to them before. I've only heard of processors in MHz and GHz, but never in MIPS or FLOPS. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/pts60/eli5_computing_what_is_the_difference_between/ | {
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"MIPS - Millions of Instructions Per Second.\nFLOPS - Floating Point Instructions Per Second.\n\nA floating point instruction is basically arithmetic on a decimal (real) numbers, in contrast to whole numbers (aka integers), and other kinds of instructions that a CPU does.\n\nFLOPs and MFLOPS (Mega-FLOPS=millions of operations per second) are traditionally performance figures that the scientific computing community are most interested in for running their simulations of physical phenomena (e.g. weather simulation, materials simulations, protein folding etc, things which are mostly done using decimal/real numbers).\n",
"MIPS (*M*illions of *I*nstructions *P*er *S*econd) is a generic term describing how many instructions of any sort that a computer could do. Load, Add, Store, Jump, Test, etc. Over time, it has fallen out of favor as a performance measurement because there was no industry standard covering exactly what instructions were being executed, and whether the measurement meant anything in deciding how fast your system would run with your applications.\n\nFLOPS (*FL*oating Point *O*perations *P*er *S*econd) is a specific measurement of the number of calculations that can be performed on floating point (as opposed to integer) numbers. I don't know how much detail you have seen on the internal working of CPUs, but there is a separate sections of the processor that is dedicated to doing integer and another section dedicated to doing floating point arithmetic. This is a much better method for determining performance for certain applications, especially since the SPEC group has standardized benchmarks.\n\nCheck out SPECint and SPECfp.",
"Raw Instructions Per Second (also Hertz) numbers tell you how many times the CPU clock ticks each second - how many times it does its basic unit of work. This isn't a particularly useful number; a designer could just decide to only do half an addition in each clock cycle and the number of gigahertz they put on the packaging suddenly doubles. The big limit on how much useful work a personal computer can get done is how much data it can store in memory and how fast it can get data to and from disk. Files and programs are stored on the hard drive of your computer, which is a physical disk that spins between 5400 and 10000 times a minute. Now, the CPU executes hundreds of thousands of instructions in the time it takes to spin the disk to the point where it can start reading. Then the program or file is stored in Random Access Memory, which is an electrical circuit and relatively fast - the CPU is \"only\" executing a few hundred instructions in the time it takes to read or write to main memory. The CPU also has a cache - a local copy of things from main memory that it expects will be used again. The size of main memory (the number of gigabytes of RAM you have), the speed of the hard drive, the size of the cache, the number of cores, and some other things about the cleverness of the CPU that are hard to quantify are bigger factors than the number of instructions executed per second.\n\nFLOPs are a well-defined unit to measure performance of floating point operations, which are arithmetic on something kind of like fractions. Floating point math tends to be important in scientific computing, weather forecasting, and 3d graphics. CPUs tend to be bad at floating point arithmetic, but good at doing things like running browsers and word processors. Graphics cards are specialized pieces of hardware for doing floating-point math on a lot of numbers at once without making very many decisions while they are doing it. Video game consoles also contain specialized hardware for floating point math - there was a period when literally getting a stack of PlayStation 3s was the most cost-efficient way of buying scientific computing hardware. "
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aisbxm | how does something like a loud noise give someone an immediate headache? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aisbxm/eli5_how_does_something_like_a_loud_noise_give/ | {
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"Well, There is a pain signal caused by the vibration of the loud noise that travels from the sound to your nerve system. Source: mechanical engineering. ",
"~~IIRC its when too much blood is in a certain area of the brain. It kinda swells it if that makes sense. Correct me if im wrong (probably), im hoping to be a neuroscientist someday so anything about brain interests me.~~ \n\nCorrection, a headache is when our nervous system is a little too sensitive, some main triggers are loud noise, smells, and light. Genetics can also play a role in how we respond to certain stimuli. \n\nEdit: here is a video i found to be helpful: _URL_0_\n\nAlso, sorry i was answering the question by u/givemheckkid\n",
"it's less actual damage and more all-in-the-mind\n\nwhen you're not at your best, your body and mind are trying hard to keep you functional and coherent\n\nthen with a sudden shock, a part of you decides \"you know what? that's enough trying. find some place dark and quiet, i'm done putting off this malaise\"",
"Sensitivity to sound is a trigger for migraines to many, headaches can be similar to this in that since it is connected to the nervous system, if one is already sensitive they are more likely to be impacted by strong shocks to the senses with smells, bright lights, strong bad taste in food, etc. Migraines in particular is a central sensitivity disorder and neurological disorder that makes the nervous system and the senses very sensitive to things like this triggering a headache or pain.",
"Nerves signals are the culprit you're looking for. \n\nSometimes, when your brain is perceiving things, it can get over-stimulated and overreact. Your brain starts firing out warning signals out of confussion and BAM! Headache. We think this is why silly things like sunlight and sudden changes in noise/temp/sugar levels/blood pressure/whatever, can cause some people headaches. They disrupt our brain's regular activity so much that it gets out-of-whack. Pain is important, as it lets us know something is wrong. Unfortunately with headaches, when something goes wrong in our brains, it reallllly sucks. Seizures, strokes, migraines, lack of oxygen leading to permanent damage- brain injuries suck. We know what can cause them, and how neurons respond, but, we still don't know *why* some happen, seemingly for no reason. \n[Ted-ed video](_URL_0_) and a [SciShow](_URL_1_) episodes on headaches and migraines. ",
"It depends on the sound. If it's a loud sound you like, it wont, if it's a loud sound you find unpleasant, it's going to induce stress which can cause a headache. I find that if I have loud construction sounds near me I can get a headache but a much louder concert of music I enjoy won't do it at all.",
"So here's an added question. Why does my mechanic husband listen to impact wrenches all day, but our kids screaming causes the instant headache? ",
"Loud noises may trigger the [Stapedius Reflex](_URL_1_) which can cause the ear to shut down temporarily to protect itself. Muscles in your ear contract to stop the sound travelling all the way down your ear canal.\n\nThink of it like flinching when someone scares you. Your ear is doing does this also but with sound.\n\nSource: [Designing Sound - Andy Farnell](_URL_0_)",
"Whenever I have migraines because of a loud sound it's like being hungover without knowing you're hungover and a sound instantly reminding you you're hungover. It's because I feel I'm constantly sensitive like those who are constantly hungover, and when a loud sound happens it triggers a migraine\n Kind of like how a loud sound hurts when you're hungover.\nExcept I'm sober and life sucks.",
"There are many things that can cause a headache. Many of those causes involve the tissue in the face, scalp, and neck. The tissue in those areas is thin. The tissue in those areas is also important and reactive. As a result, the tissue in those areas requires more blood than other areas. As a result, the tissue in those areas, while thin, is dense with capillaries. \n\nWhen you hear a loud noise, your blood pressure increases. A surprising loud noise can cause a spike, but even a constant known loud noise will elevate blood pressure.\n\nBecause the tissue of the face, scalp, and neck is thin, there is not much room for expansion to accommodate the increased pressure. Because the tissue is dense with capillaries, the effect of pressure is more noticeable.\n\nThose factors can combine to cause a headache.",
"Migraine sufferer- I’m very sensitive to sounds, lighting, food and smells. It doesn’t help that i have sensitivity overload too so i think it plays a role. I rarely have any perfumes or scented lotions because those are the biggest triggers. I always mention this to my friends when we get closer so they know not to wear anything to strong around me or have medicine just in case. It sucks being dictated by this issue and it sucks I can enjoy a lot of events and such because an hour in and bam i have a migraine. I only wear perfumes that have soft scents or “smell like old women” because i won’t get triggered. ",
"So it sounds like basically neurologists don't know what headaches are or what's going on in there to cause them, for the most part. There are a few triggers that we observe can be made intense enough to cause headaches reliably, but very few headaches that are not induced deliberately have an obvious trigger. Absent any understanding, all we've got to toss around are speculation and labels.\n\nIs that about the shape of things?"
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jj10m | (li5) please explain the "patent wars" going on now between, google/android, htc, apple etc. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jj10m/li5_please_explain_the_patent_wars_going_on_now/ | {
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"There was a great story on this very subject on Planet Money the other day. What I got from it was this, roughly:\n\nWhen software patents were \"legalized\" back in the 90's, a flood of software patents came in, and many of these are REALLY simple, so therefore easy to use in a lawsuit against a company.\n\nSome sleazy lawyer/investor teams figured out they could buy up the patents and offer to sell them to tech companies as protection from being sued. This \"protection\" could be compared to a mafia type who offers to \"protect\" your business. In other words there is that constant threat if you don't pay up...you know, \"it sure would be a shame if you got sued and you didn't have this patent as protection...\" \n\nThis got everybody buying up patents so they can counter-sue any competitor or who has the money to sue them.\n\nOr something like that...",
"There was a great story on this very subject on Planet Money the other day. What I got from it was this, roughly:\n\nWhen software patents were \"legalized\" back in the 90's, a flood of software patents came in, and many of these are REALLY simple, so therefore easy to use in a lawsuit against a company.\n\nSome sleazy lawyer/investor teams figured out they could buy up the patents and offer to sell them to tech companies as protection from being sued. This \"protection\" could be compared to a mafia type who offers to \"protect\" your business. In other words there is that constant threat if you don't pay up...you know, \"it sure would be a shame if you got sued and you didn't have this patent as protection...\" \n\nThis got everybody buying up patents so they can counter-sue any competitor or who has the money to sue them.\n\nOr something like that..."
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3nnfsl | why have they yet to invent a solid car/bike tire? | There are plenty of hard yet flexible foam rubbers that would work. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nnfsl/eli5_why_have_they_yet_to_invent_a_solid_carbike/ | {
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"Solid tires would make you feel every bump in the road and be very uncomfortable. They do make tires that use sturdy rubber spokes instead of air to cushion, but they make a very loud sound as the rubber pops in and out. [Here's a picture of one](_URL_0_)",
"There are solid [bike tires](_URL_0_).\n\nSolid rubber car tires would be extremely heavy and would drive rough. Plenty of solid tractor/forklift/etc. tires exist.\n",
"The first tyres were solid. They didn't work well, making the ride bumpy as hell.\n\nThere air in inflatable tyres gives a less bumpy ride, and improves grip and handing.\n\nDespite having to deal with punctures, the advanntages of inflatable tyres far outweigh those of solid ones."
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1w70al | are car alarms meant to wake people up? | As in specifically make it impossible to sleep. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1w70al/eli5_are_car_alarms_meant_to_wake_people_up/ | {
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"They're made to scare off the thief because they *will* wake people up."
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6cg2c1 | what is herd immunity and how does it work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6cg2c1/eli5_what_is_herd_immunity_and_how_does_it_work/ | {
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"Consider this\n\nA population of a 100 people has 99 people vaccinated against Mumps, while one has not been vaccinated. Assuming nobody goes in or out of the population, the one anti-vaxxer gets mumps, but it cannot spread within the population since everybody else has been vaccinated against it. If he dies, then mumps dies out in that population.",
"Viruses and bacteria transmit from person to person.\n\nWith a large population there will always be some people who cannot get vaccinated for a variety of reasons (such as being immunocompromised following radiation therapy, organ transplant, is allergic to the vaccine, too young for a vaccine, etc)\n\nHerd immunity happens when the majority of the population has been vaccinated or otherwise immune to contagious disease. Lots of vaccinated people means the disease is not constantly hopping around from person to person. When a person who is not vaccinated is surrounded by people who *are vaccinated*, this reduces their possible exposure to sick people.\n\nIt does not stop a sick person from *directly* exposing a disease to a vulnerable person, but *if almost everyone is vaccinated* then it greatly reduces the numbers of sick people and carriers.\n\n",
"there are two classrooms in at different ends of a school, each housing 100 students each. in classroom one, 50 students have been vaccinated against the flu. \n\nlittle jimmy is in classroom one, and did not get his flu shot. little sally sneezes in jimmy's face. little jimmy feels ill and goes to tell his friends little sam and little rick; when he sees his friends he sneezes in their face. little rick has been vaccinated, so he doesn't worry. but little sam hasn't, and he gets sick. he goes to tell some other students in the class, and this process repeats in like fashion, with the flu virus skipping those vaccinated and infected those not until perhaps it gets so good at infecting people through sheer experience that even little rick is at risk for contracting it, despite his vaccination.\n\nlet's say in classroom two, 85 students are vaccinated against the flu. little pauly feels ill, and sneezes in little anthony's face, who sneezes in someone else's face and so on. since far more students are vaccinated, at every interaction the flu is less likely to jump from person to person (i.e., it's more likely that little anthony might sneeze in the face of vaccinated people only). it never has a chance to spread very far, and it certainly can't get as good as the flu in classroom one when it comes to infecting those who are vaccinated.\n\neveryone is more safe, and it only took a critical mass of vaccinations to do it."
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1jd2u2 | how do bong/pipe/420 shops stay open when technically they are selling drug paraphernalia? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jd2u2/eli5_how_do_bongpipe420_shops_stay_open_when/ | {
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"Tobacco paraphernalia is perfectly legal to sell. Most of these places will refuse to sell to you, and kick you out, if you even *mention* marijuana.",
"For \"tobacco\" use only",
"There are laws that consider your intent when they are execute. Two examples of these are the federal analog laws, and most states paraphenalia laws.\n\nIf you intend to use the bong to smoke tobacco you are fine. If you intend to smoke pot with it, you are breaking the law.\n\nFederal analog laws apply to isomers of known illegal substances, of which synthetic pot is one. Again to break this law it requires that you intending on smoking the synthetic pot to get high. If you do this, then the federal analog law says you can be charged as if you smoked pot.\n\nSince these laws figure intent there is a loophole. Label the bong as a \"tobacco pipe\" and label the synthetic pot as \"herbs\", or \"incense\" with \"not for human consumption\" on it and everything is legal.\n\nThe guy selling it knows what's up, the cops know what's up, the buyers know what's up, the DA knows what's up, and the judge know's what's up, but what's up can't usually be proven in court. It's like a quiet fart in an elevator, everyone knows whats going on, but nobody says anything.\n",
"They aren't bongs.. they are water pipes. Water pipes are for tobacco only.\n\nSource: _URL_0_ new online smoke shop."
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4g08v3 | what is the point of social security? | To my knowledge, Social Security is when the government takes money out of your paycheck when you are working, only to give it back to you when you retire. But what's the point? Who benefits from this and how do they? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4g08v3/eli5_what_is_the_point_of_social_security/ | {
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"They don't give it back to you, they give it to someone retired now so that they can purchase food and other necessary goods they otherwise couldn't because of an inability to work.\n\nWhen you retire, working people will pay into social security, which you will receive the benefits of. That is, assuming social security remains solvent until then (some have their doubts).",
"It's basically a government-enforced retirement fund, to ensure citizens are saving adequately so that they won't have to go on Wellfare when they're too old to work.\n\nWhether it works is a different conversation, but that's the intention. ",
"First off, the government doesn't take money from you and then give it back later. The money that is being taken out of your check is actually paying those people who are on Social Security right now. When you retire, the people who are working at that time will be paying your benefits. The younger generation pays for the older generation to retire. \n\nThe point of Social Security is to provide a basic income so that people can retire. Additionally, by allowing people to retire Social Security, on paper, opens up jobs for younger people to fill. ",
"So there is actually a fairly simple rationale for why do we have social security. So most people go to school, go to public schools. Who pays for that? Your parents do through taxes. That's a direct transfer of wealth. Then, how do you pay them back? You do that through social security. The social security is mean to be a transfer of wealth from you back to your parents. \n\nFor a non-ELI5 explanation, see [Becker and Murphy (1988) \"The Family and the State\"](_URL_0_).",
"Social security is insurance. SSI stands for social security insurance. People who work pay a percentage of their wages, up to a certain amount, into the system. I think employers also pay. \n\nIf you become disabled and can no longer work, you are entitled to a payment. When you reach a certain age, you are also entitled to a benefit.\n\nIt insures that people who can no longer work will not be destitute. They will have a small amount of money coming in.\n\nIt is not a retirement fund. Each person is responsible for their own retirement planning but can factor in an SSI payment.",
"The point of social security is effectively to provide the government with additional sources of revenue. \n\nSocial Security payments are treated like any other federal tax and are used to borrow more money to give to corporations and the wealthy in the form of tax credits, a free lunch.\n\nThe government does not use social security taxes to pay benefits, but as payments for interest on loans. The government uses that borrowed money to pay out social security benefits, effectively taxing itself so that it can spend more. Over time its main purpose has become to socialized the debt created by borrowing more money using social security as collateral. If the government shuts down its not corporate welfare that is 'cut off' its social security payments that are cut off, leaving grandma and grandpa high and dry, but the tax would still remain in effect, screwing everyone retired and working, except the government and the corporate welfare takers and the banks who charge interest on money the federal government is loaned. The federal government cannot 'loan' itself money, the fed has to go to the collection of private banks known as the 'federal reserve' or other nations governments to beg for money on a daily basis."
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2483en | as an european, why do areas with frequent natural disasters as hurricanes have so fragile constructions instead of using strong materials? | I dont get why those areas have to be rebuilt everytime...
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2483en/eli5_as_an_european_why_do_areas_with_frequent/ | {
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"Cost and the low likelyhood of a repeat occurance in that specific area.\n\nalso most people don't want to live in a bunker, they want to see the sea"
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8ev80m | what do we do with the trash that we remove from the ocean, and how do we prevent it from going back there? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8ev80m/eli5_what_do_we_do_with_the_trash_that_we_remove/ | {
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"We don't need to remove what's already out there. The ocean breaks it down in a pretty short amount of time (10-20 years even for plastics, shorter for more degradable things).\n\nThe primary sources of the trash entering the oceans is rivers that flow through poverty stricken areas with little to no organized sanitation services.\n\nShort of curing global poverty, we need to catch it at the mouths of the rivers - a strategy that limits the area we have to cover compared with trying to remove it from the open ocean.\n\n_URL_0_"
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53pl22 | how can trucks say "no responsible for damage to vehicle within 100 feet"? can trucks really claim 100 feet of road? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/53pl22/eli5_how_can_trucks_say_no_responsible_for_damage/ | {
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"The sign doesn't reflect any law or make a law. Instead, it's a warning that could be used as evidence in a lawsuit. If you're on an mostly-empty country road, follow a truck closely, and the truck's tire hits a rock that cracks your windshield you could say it's the truck's fault because you had no idea the truck could do that. If the truck has a big sign warning you of that, though, then you can't say you had no idea it would happen. Then again, if the truck has a big sign and then merges in front you without leaving 100 feet, the sign doesn't do a lot of good.\n\nIt's sort of similar to a \"Caution: Wet Floor\" sign. If someone slips on your wet floor, you can be negligent regardless of whether you have a sign, but a sign helps. If the sign isn't visible or it was impossible to go around the floor, you might still be on the hook. But if someone runs right into the sign when they had plenty of other options, a jury is less likely to think it's the property owner's fault.\n\nAnd as other posters have said, the signs are referring to the tires kicking up road debris, not the load on the truck. If something loaded on the truck falls off, that's obviously the truck's fault regardless of how many signs it has."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
9sy966 | why is there so much dna in spit? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9sy966/eli5_why_is_there_so_much_dna_in_spit/ | {
"a_id": [
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"score": [
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"text": [
"DNA programs cells. All of your DNA is the same. Spit has no more or less. It's more that it's just an easy thing to test DNA from because it's easy to get."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
6kw7x6 | how do the same species such as bass end up in pretty much every lake or pond across very large regions? | I understand how this would happen for birds, but I get confused when this occurs for fish that are locked within their water bodies. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6kw7x6/eli5_how_do_the_same_species_such_as_bass_end_up/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"These bodies of water may have been connected at some point in the past, even though they are not now. that being said, if it is a popular fish for fishing, a strong possibility is people. They like to fish, so they put fish that are popular to catch in their local water.",
"Several methods:\n\n- The adults swim up of down stream.\n\n- Eggs go down stream, fry swim up a different fork.\n\n- The lakes are connected underground.\n\n- Humans move them.\n\n- Female full of fertilized eggs is carried by predator, eggs fall into water.\n\n- Some fish can survive out of water long enough to move themselves.\n"
]
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[],
[]
] |
|
fusojx | why does bleach solution lose effectiveness after 24 hours? | ELI5: Why does a bleach solution such as one made up at home and stored in a spray bottle or other jar lose effectiveness as a disinfectant after 24 hours? (Basing this on information posted by MSU, but they didn't give an explanation of why or how.) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fusojx/eli5_why_does_bleach_solution_lose_effectiveness/ | {
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"text": [
"Because bleach breaks down into salt.\n\nBleach works because it is very reactive and it breaks down a lot of organic material it comes into contact with, but the bleach itself also reduces to salt.\n\nPure bleach breaks down over time which is why bleach that is a year old isn't as effective.\n\nWhen you mix it with water, it breaks down faster and so isn't as useful the next day because there isn't as much bleach left.",
"Bleach breaks down in the presence of light. Most spray bottles are clear. Store in the dark or in a non-opaque container for a longer lifespan.",
" [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) \n\nThis was a nice read, and almost your exact question, with a little background.\n\ntl:dr - \"To simplify things for you, you could make a smaller amount (2 tablespoons diluted in 4 cups water)\"",
"Chlorine evaporates and breaks down due to UV. This is why all chlorine products are stored in solid color containers.",
"Thank you muchly!! Looks like smaller batches more frequently for us, then."
]
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[],
[],
[
"https://www.clorox.com/how-to/laundry-basics/product-usage-guides/shelf-life-of-bleachwater-solutions/"
],
[],
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|
169wp3 | why do male lions have so much hair (mane) if they live in one of the hottest climates on earth ? | _URL_0_
nice mane on that cat there, for example. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/169wp3/why_do_male_lions_have_so_much_hair_mane_if_they/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"An interesting Question!\n\nThe mane of a lion is a secondary sexual trait (that means ist is not used for reproduction but to enable other lions and lionesses to tell that you are male).\n\nA General rule for secondary sexual traits in evolution ist: They rarely serve anything but to show off. And yes, often enough, they are a burden. Think of a peackock! These feathers don't help him survive.\nLarge secondary sexual traits mean that this speciman is healthy and strong enough to afford them. As such they must be a good choice for a partner.\n\nSo that means.... the mane does not benefit the lion in any other way than making him a hit with the ladies and telling other males to stay away from this lion badass.\n\nAdditional thoughts: Look at they lion girls! they have no mane. Also they do most of the hunting, actually, and feed their alpha males. Maybe it's harder for them to afford these strong traits?"
]
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"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Lion_waiting_in_Namibia.jpg"
] | [
[]
] |
|
8i5nbh | i am confused about how many kb are in 1 mb. some sources seem to say 1000 and others say 1024. which is it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8i5nbh/eli5_i_am_confused_about_how_many_kb_are_in_1_mb/ | {
"a_id": [
"dyp1574",
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"text": [
"1024, 1000 is rounded out, u don't say \"hey that burger is 1,99\" you say: \"hey that burger is 2 dollars\"",
"There are several usages for it:\n\n- In disk size measurement: Initially it was \"1 megabyte is 1024 kilobytes\", but when they started to get bigger and bigger, suddenly 300 megabytes was actually 314 million bytes and marketing took over and decided that the disk was 314 megabytes.\n\n- In link speed measurement: A download speed of 5 megabytes per second is 40 megabits per second is 40 million bits per second.\n\n- In memory: Now we are back on why you have 1024 bytes in a kilobyte. Memory addressed by the CPU is done in a power of 2: With one address line you can have two addresses, with two address lines you can have four addresses, with three address lines you can have eight addresses, [...], with 10 address lines you can have 1024 addresses, with 11 address lines you can have 2048 addresses, [...] with 16 address lines you can have 65536 addresses, with 17 address lines you can have 131072 addresses, [...] with 20 address lines you can have 1048576 addresses etc.\n\nSo with disk space these days, one gigabyte is 1 000 000 000 bytes, and that is just marketing.\n\nWith link speed, 125 megabytes per second is 1 000 000 000 bits per second, and that is the nature of the design.\n\nAnd with memory, one megabyte is 1 048 576 bytes, and that is due to the fact that the number of addresses is a power of 2.\n"
]
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[],
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] |
||
2q4jcq | response time on tv's | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2q4jcq/eli5_response_time_on_tvs/ | {
"a_id": [
"cn2tabq"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"When a source (STB, console, etc) sends info to the TV, the TV has to figure out how to display it: upscaling, de-interlacing, picture settings, etc. \n \n The time it takes between receiving the info and displaying it is the response time, really important when playing online multi-player."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
du1jai | how do people launder money through artwork? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/du1jai/eli5_how_do_people_launder_money_through_artwork/ | {
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"The value of art is *extremely* subjective, and can be artificially inflated through a series of auctions. If you own a given lump of gold by contrast, it's worth a specific market price. A painting is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, right? Moreover you can work through cutouts and the seller might well be anonymous even in legitimate transactions. \n\nSo, lets say you have $1 million in dirty money, and you want to send it from Country A to Country B, and have someone there clean the money. You could have a seller of a piece of worthless art in Country B sell that art to you for $1 million bucks. It cost them nothing to buy the art, and what's really happening is that you're just straight-up paying them a million dollars. Now they have your million (no longer dirty) and you have some worthless art you can throw away, or keep moving around to launder more money. The guy in Country B then ships you a certain amount of cocaine worth the $1m you transferred, minus a percentage for his trouble. You could also have them invest that money in something with real value in your name, or any number of other tricks.\n\nThe bottom line is that art sale is key to transfer money from A to B or visa versa, without having to justify the amount of money being moved or actually having to buy/sell something of value in exchange. You could also buy and sell a real piece of valuable art, as a way to store/transfer value. You could pay someone by selling them a nice piece of art at a bargain, which they can then sell on for its real price. \n\n_URL_0_",
"You have drug money. You can't put it in the bank because it would raise suspicion. So you buy art or whatever in cold hard cash.\nThat money is dealt with by the auction house, who put thousands of dollars through banks every day so no suspicion.\n\nYou later sell the artwork. You now have money which is explained and can be taxed and so on. Thus clean Monet",
"By overpaying for it.\n\nYour a drug dealer and I am a supplier, we want to make a deal, but we both want it to look legit. Instead of paying me $25K for drugs, you pay me for my spouse's half-ass paintings and just happen to trip over a pile of drugs on your way out. The value of art is both subjective and artificially manipulated by dealers, so it is hard to claim you overpaid, on paper you just bought an expensive painting.\n\nAlternative, you can buy real art that can easily be resold with dirty cash, and use it as a currency. Moving paintings around is easier and draws less suspicion than bags of cash.",
"purchase a painting for a small amount of cash without telling anybody, have a friend who owns a castle 'find' it in the basement, make a bank transfer for a smaller value than what it's worth to buy it off the person so you can justify having it, keep it for a while, sell it at an auction to the person who has dodgy cash (your dodgy cash, that you gave them off the books) for lots of money, pay tax on the money, they 'lose' the painting or report it stolen and rip off the insurance company too. repeat.\n\nYou have a legitimate purchase, a legitimate sale, and proof of both. To the untrained eye either you got a good deal or it appreciated in value. It's art, nobody knows what it's worth really. Valuable art does turn up in the basements of churches all the time, who put it there is a mystery but I'd imagine it has something to do with churches not paying taxes. They can just claim they don't know when it got there, a church is an old building and they have large basements full of cobwebs from the last century."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/arts/design/has-the-art-market-become-an-unwitting-partner-in-crime.html"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
57tw60 | why do countries care about those tiny islands in the middle of the ocean? | I watched WonderWhy's video regarding the overseas territories of France, and when the video talked about Clipperton Island, I couldn't help but wonder: why would any country care about owning that tiny territory, and why would they bother to claim it in the first place? I mean, it doesn't seem like it would be very useful. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/57tw60/eli5_why_do_countries_care_about_those_tiny/ | {
"a_id": [
"d8uvsqo"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Tiny islands in the middle of nowhere become useful as military bases in case of war. Controlling Hawaii during WW2 gave the US a significant advantage in dominating the pacific ocean."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
ecjkuu | why does it such a long time for lip cuts to stop bleeding? | I've realised that if you have a cut on the lip - even if it's a small one - it will take longer for it to stop bleeding than say on your leg or on your arm. It cut my bottom lip shaving almost two hours ago, and it still hasn't stopped bleeding. It's not bleeding as profusely as earlier, but it's still bleeding quite significantly.
Why does it take a long time for lip cuts to stop bleeding? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ecjkuu/eli5_why_does_it_such_a_long_time_for_lip_cuts_to/ | {
"a_id": [
"fbbuz2v"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Lips and your head in general have a lot of blood vessels around them, which is called “vascularity” or “having a lot of perfusion.” Blood clots easiest when it’s static, because forming the bonds between the fibers in your blood is easy when everything is staying still. Moving blood doesn’t clot as easily because the fibers can’t grab onto each other before they’re whisked apart.\n\nThe faster the blood moves, the harder it is for it to clot and stop bleeding.\n\nAs a side note, whenever a nurse takes your blood they typically can’t just set it down somewhere — they have to send it to be assayed pretty quickly or else the blood may clot in the tube."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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|
1029gv | how an ionic foot detox removes toxins from your body. if it can't, why? | I read a pamphlet describing the "science" of an ionic foot detox and I couldn't understand how it worked. I hope someone has some information or can clairfy/dispute the information provided in the pamphlet. Thank you.
LINK: _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1029gv/eli5_how_an_ionic_foot_detox_removes_toxins_from/ | {
"a_id": [
"c69rskv",
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"score": [
7,
7
],
"text": [
"Do they use this in an emergency room when someone is suffering from some form of toxicity? Nope.",
"Pro tip: Anything that talks about \"toxins\" without specifically naming one is a scam."
]
} | [] | [
"http://www.rejuvenator.ca/images/ionic_science.pdf"
] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
30dhzr | why are american police "bad" and european police are "good" | I use these terms lightly, but you always see American cops hiding evidence and shooting people unnecessarily, and then see fun facebook posts of European cops helping their citizens. Is there really such a difference in training or expectations? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30dhzr/eli5_why_are_american_police_bad_and_european/ | {
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"text": [
"There are far more good cops in America than bad cops, but American news loves to sensationalize the bad ones and completely ignore the good",
"Do you live in the U.S.? Where you live heavily affects the level of exposure to which you are given when it comes to events that go on in certain countries. American cops have recently been receiving heavy flak for incidents (racial profiling, abusing power, etc), but I think I can safely say that this is less that 1% of the cop population here. It's unfair of you to generalize like this because your opinion is based heavily off of what the mainstream media has been giving off recently. ",
"Simple answer ... guns\n\nand by example, I was stopped recently in the UK for tail light out. How did it go?\n\nWell .... blue lights on, indicated left. Flashed me, turned his lights off and then followed me to a turnoff. I got out of the car and met him at his car and we affably greeted each other good evening.\nNow imagine that happening in the US as a normal everyday expected procedure\n\nGuns not in the public domain with a extremely high penalty even just for handling them means that even amongst criminals gun ownership is correspondingly low. Normal day-to-day gun carrying even amongst hardened criminals is therefore practically non existent ( except perhaps on an actual 'job')\n\nThe level of 'gun' expectation and therefore fear by police is correspondingly low and therefore police procedure on everyday 'normal' public contact is hugely different. \n\nIt may be an over generalisation, but American police expect guns on every encounter and act accordingly, to the determent to the public perception of encounters, whereas European police ... well ... don't\n\nedit: spheling and words",
"Most cops here in the states are fairly good guys. I know because I run in to them from time to time, but usually to my benefit. \n\nOur media is a bigger problem than most of the world seems to recognize. We're a massive country with millions of folks. As such, exciting news stories are more frequent in this huge country than in your average country, even though they aren't much more frequent. Granted cops and citizens have guns and approach many situations with due caution, and as such there's more gun violence than in an un gunned country. \n\nRegardless, the media makes it seem constant and inescapable, but it's not accurate, barring some significant events.",
"To anybody trying to dismiss this as purely a question of media attention, the numbers don't bear out. \n\nUS cops kill around a 1000 people a year. UK cops kill about 1, German cops kill about 6, Australian about 5. \n\nThat doesn't mean that US cops are evil or bad people, but it does mean that we have a problem. ",
"There's no such thing as European cops, they do vary from country to country. Talking of two places I've lived, UK police have no guns, Spanish security guards in supermarkets have guns (and obviously so do the police). What Europe does have in general is a completely different attitude to guns and police. Nobody in Europe (who is regarded as sane) would ever say they own a gun just in case they need to fight the government. On the other hand in the U.S. a lot of people (relative to Europe) will say that one of the reasons they own a gun is to effectively fight the government or its agents, i.e. the police. America has a siege mentality relative to Europe as a whole. This is one aspect that colours the interaction between citizens and police in the US and Europe. It's not the police themselves but the cultures they operate in too.\n\nThe other aspect is America's police are very militarised compared to Europe as a whole. Europe doesn't do the \"yes sir no sir\" type of interaction that you see happening in at least some US areas. Police don't talk to people like they are drill sergeants and the public does not interact with them in that way either. Things don't escalate anywhere near as quickly as they do in the US because, in general, neither party is on the defensive as much. Don't get me wrong, you'll get a lot of \"why the fuck are you hassling me you cunt?\" interactions with police that will end in arrest, but in general it's a very different type of interaction. From the side of the police, you don't want to escalate things unnecessarily when the only weapon you have is a stick, yet at the same time the person they want to talk to is likely to be armed with a baguette or colourful language rather than an NRA membership card holding, taxes-are-theft nutjob that it going to start shooting at them for being asked to stick to the speed limit. \n\nEven in places where the police is armed, such as Spain, the population is not armed so the police are not approaching people in the same way. \n\n"
]
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27ngwu | why don't we see when we daydream? | I could be daydreaming and "see" a city, for example, all while looking at a tree or my feet or something. It is as if I go voluntarily go blind for a little while. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27ngwu/eli5_why_dont_we_see_when_we_daydream/ | {
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"text": [
"Seeing there is still no answer after 4 hours, I'll share my understanding from what I've been able to guess, as I've asked myself the same thing. \n\nIt seems to me that the experience is somewhat similar to when I concentrate on something to the point everything around me fades away, just like when you read a really good book and ''see'' the events and don't even realize you're reading words anymore, or if you concentrate on visualizing something, for example you mother, who you should be able to picture easily enough.\n\nNow i'm not very satisfied with my own understanding because usually if you try visualizing it's very hard and it goes away easily, as for when you're reading or daydreaming the images are clear and constant, only going away when you snap out or get distracted by something else. \n\nHopefully someone who knows better will get you a good explanation, or to the very least tell us I'm wrong so that even if we don't get to know what it is we'll know what it isn't.",
"I am not a neuroscientist, or even a scientist at all. So, hopefully somebody with more credentials will come in. But my understanding from talking to people who are legitimately knowledgable on similar questions is that the current thinking is that while you are daydreaming (or otherwise have your focus totally elsewhere) your brain is still taking in, and to a certain extent, processing, all the information your eyes are providing. However, when you are daydreaming this information essentially stops being transmitted from the part of your brain that does this processing to the part of you that posted this question. Ie, the information is never transmitted to the part of you we generally call your consciousness. (This is under a theory of consciousness where consciousness is basically a result of your brain reflecting on and making statements on the data that it has processed) \n\nFor an example of this sort of phenoma in the extreme, some individuals have actually had brain damage in a way where the transfer from visual processing towards 'consciousness' gets permanently damaged. So they sometimes can pick up and interact with objects that they report not being able to consciously see. (Consciously they are blind) \n\n_URL_0_",
"When we form mental images, we use many of the same parts of the brain as we use to process visual images. So, when you bring up a vivid mental image, you aren't able to make full use of those areas to process what you're actually seeing. Obviously, there is still plenty of information coming in through your eyes, but since you are distracted, it is not processed as thoroughly as when you are focused on the world around you.\n\nThe same goes for when you bring a memory to mind. I've often been listening to someone talk, and when something they says triggers a memory, I might not even hear what they said for the next few moments. The brain isn't too great at multitasking.",
"TIL: Daydreaming doesn't mean that you fell asleep and had a dream."
]
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[],
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight"
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a3ljav | why are m.2 nvme ssds at times cheaper or the same price as standard 2.5inch, despite being about 3-5 times faster? | I bought a Samsung 970 Evo and have been looking at the prices of other SSDs. And have found that despite the M.2 drives having extremely superior speeds, they are still in the same price range as their 2.5inch counterparts?
Is it down to the market, production costs or how niche the m.2 form factor still is? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a3ljav/eli5_why_are_m2_nvme_ssds_at_times_cheaper_or_the/ | {
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"Most likely because it's such a nice form factor, yes. Manufacturers are likely to have leftover stock of them, and be willing to sell them for cheap. Also, since they mount more or less directly into the motherboard, there's probably less material cost in making them - no big enclosure, less control electronics, no cables in the box, etc.",
"There are a couple reasons. M. 2 ssds are smaller and require less material to make. M. 2 ssds normally use less memory chips. The m. 2 slot has higher bandwidth. These factors add up. Add in the economy of scale m. 2 drives are faster and cheaper to make.\n\n"
]
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c5y8b4 | how are dinosaur footprints fossilized? wouldn't the mud or soil that they were formed in get washed away in rain or some other quick erosion? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c5y8b4/eli5_how_are_dinosaur_footprints_fossilized/ | {
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"text": [
"The vast, vast majority of footprints do get eroded away. Actually getting fossils is vanishingly rare. \n\nIn order for it to happen, some layer of sediment (from a flood, or volcano, or whatever) has to cover over the footprints (which have to be stable enough not to get obliterated by this), and then that layer has to be fossilized into rock. Everything has to wind up just right....but if you consider how many footprints dinosaurs must have left during all those millions of years, it's not surprising we still have a few left."
]
} | [] | [] | [
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||
2kpbi4 | other than the fact that it looks really cool, why do military groups perform elaborate drills (all the gun twirling and marching | I think it's really cool that soldiers can march in unison and do all that crazy gun twirling stuff, but I'm curious as to how it became a thing. (please understand that I'm not hating on it, just curious) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kpbi4/eli5_other_than_the_fact_that_it_looks_really/ | {
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"text": [
"It's for ceremony. \n\nAnd it's not exactly new. It's been around for centuries. Soldiers, warriors, etc. doing elaborate performances with their weapons showing their skill.\n\nObviously it was much more practical when armies were fighting with swords, axes, polearms, etc. and it was a display going \"look how fast I'm going and not missing a step. This is how well our army is trained\".\n\nIn more recent times, it's more or less just for show. It's something that allows the military to do something in unison during ceremonies to show that they are still trained well enough to do these elaborate routines.",
"What /u/ACrusaderA said. But also, soldiering is sort of like martial arts. When the time comes to use the skills, they have to be so ingrained that they happen without thought. This sort of drill is part of training for that automatic response.\n\n\n",
"It teaches discipline, pride, and a bit of teamwork. Think about civilians in boot camp. They teach you how to march, because if you let everyone do their own thing when walking in a group, they'll look like a mess. It wouldn't be intentional, but people walk differently, so having people march makes things look neat and tidy. Marching is especially not for show. The basic drill is taught in boot camp and it is tradition, but they also make you responsible for your piece (gun) so you always have to be able to account for where it is from the second it's assigned to you. Typically honor guards and ceremonial details may do drill for special events like memorials, but some do competition. Many honor guards will also preform funeral honors when requested to do so. As someone who has been in some of those details, I'd have to say it's much more than just for show... more or less.",
"It originated in trying to keep armies in control and in formation on the battlefield so skills were developed to accomplish this i.e. marching in step means that all soldiers are now moving a the same speed and even tightly packed and not falling over each other or getting in each others way\n\nFrom marching came changing direction in various ways, weapon skills i.e.archers, pikemen. Even think of the Romans most famous formations the Tortoise (testudo) where control was vital.\n\nThen the best way of demonstrate how well your army was trained to your commanders, your King or even to intimidate others was to put on demonstrations and displays of marching/weapon skills. \n\nThese displays then evolved over the years for showmanship purposes rather than purely military skills\n\n\n\n"
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2mpjdg | how are the time zones of madrid and paris both 1 hour ahead of london, even though london is geographically between the two cities? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mpjdg/eli5_how_are_the_time_zones_of_madrid_and_paris/ | {
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"Time zones don't necessarily have to correspond with what makes sense (just look at Russia or China). Essentially all of Western Europe (except Portugal) is all in the same time zone, which (probably because of German influence) is an hour ahead of London.\n\ne: It's preferable for countries to be on the same time zone to facilitate trade. Don't want to call your supplier 30 miles away in Germany and have to remember he's an hour ahead of you.\n\n[e: yep, looks like I was right, CET was pretty much adopted in Europe during the German occupation (in either WWI or WWII depending on when you were first occupied by Germany)](_URL_0_)"
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5jqd1b | how does cutting through alfoil sharpen scissors? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jqd1b/eli5_how_does_cutting_through_alfoil_sharpen/ | {
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"Sharp scissors are different than a sharp knife. In the case of a knife, you have a single blade that is ground and honed to a very fine edge. The thinner and more uniform that edge is, the sharper it is. Scissors (in general) don't work that way. Scissors rely on 2 blades that touch at point as you close the handles. Each blades need to have a clean, well formed edge, but only the \"corner\" is important. If the corner edge is very well formed, the 2 corners where they touch, sever the thing you are cutting. What does foil do? Well, as the scissors are used, the edge breaks down a bit...a burr is formed. This little burr prevents the 2 edges from coming together properly, and thus the scissor action is poor. Cutting a piece of foil can (or might) knock this burr off (this is called honing) and you might restore the cutting action. In truth, the only way to properly sharpen scissors is to take them apart, inspect, and regrind/hone the edges again. Source: I've sharpened many pairs of scissors.\n\nEdit: If you happen to have 2 steel rulers with nice 90 degree edges on them, you can pinch the ends together and use them like a pair of scissors. This shows how the scissor-action actually cuts."
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8l6vpo | how do companies that provide “free credit reports” make money? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8l6vpo/eli5_how_do_companies_that_provide_free_credit/ | {
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"The big one that I know of is credit karma. Lots of people on here have recommended it. Thy say right on their website that they make money through the advertisers that pop up on the page, most of them are financial products that may be of use to you, and if you use one of those services, like a credit card application, then credit karma gets paid for that. They do try to tailor it to products that you could use, or that you’d get approved for. The only downside is is that the score they give you is a vantage score, and not a fico score, so it may be a little different than a bank would see when pulling your credit. But it does give you a ballpark figure. And it only gives your reports from 2 credit bureaus, not the third one. Equifax, and trans union, not experian."
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3xopcq | if the sr-71 blackbird was such a fast jet, why isn't it being used anymore? | I mean if they would have a newer, faster jet I would understand it but i think there is no comparable jet nowadays so why not continue to use/produce/improve the blackbird? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3xopcq/eli5_if_the_sr71_blackbird_was_such_a_fast_jet/ | {
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"The Blackbird was a spy plane. It's been made obsolete by modern satellites and drones. There's no reason to have a plane like that. \n\n",
"it was VERY expensive to fly and maintain, and today it really doesnt have much purpose other than in museums for people to look at and say \" thats a really cool plane, it used to fly really fast\"\n\nfun fact: the plane leaked fuel when it wasnt flying because it had to have enough room between different pieces so that when it was flying and the plane was hot from the friction against air, the pieces would have room to grow",
"Blackbirds couldn't transmit the data they recorded as they recorded it. That meant the intelligence had to wait until the aircraft landed and the film rolls were unloaded, where a team of people could review them. They were also insanely expensive to fly ($85,000 an hour in 1990, or $156,000 an hour in 2015 dollars)\n\nThey were replaced by 2 different systems;\n\n1. satellites - they didn't have to worry about missiles, and they could broadcast their intelligence back to the intelligence personnel immediately. Also, there's no human pilots onboard, so there's no political risk in using one over a manned aircraft. Imagine an SR-71 being shot down over the Soviet Union and the pilot being broadcasted all over the internet.\n\n2. regional intel aircraft - Things like the U-2. Yes, I'm aware the U-2 is older than the SR-71, but the U-2 was able to be easily upgraded, due to not facing the extreme speeds and stress the SR-71 faced. That allowed U-2s to transmit intel back during flight, which gave commanders actionable intel immediately. They also cost a lot less to operate. \n\nregional intel aircraft aren't good for flights over Russia, but they're amazing at getting intel you might need over Syria, or Iraq. Satellites are good for getting intel over Russia or China, but it'd be a waste of money to use them on Syria/Iraq. However, now regional intel aircraft are switching from manned aircraft like the U-2, to the Global Hawk and drone platforms like it."
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1kcod7 | if i'm programmed by evolution to be productive, why do i have such an incredible desire to be lazy (and then regret it)? | I think it would be a safe assumption that being a productive, hard working individual is advantageous from an evolutionary perspective. You can tell we are programmed as such since after a hard workout at the gym or nailing a big presentation at work our brain's reward system tells us we did a good job and releases endorphins/dopamine/whatever. That being said...why do I have no other desire than to lounge around with a pizza and a blanket and watch Netflix all day? And isn't it interesting that when you do that, later on you typically feel bad about the fact that you weren't productive and sat on your ass all day?
Busting my ass and doing great things gives me such greater pleasure than being lazy, but being lazy always seems like a much better option than busting my ass. Scumbag brain.
EDIT: Look I understand that biologically we are wired to conserve energy...but that doesn't explain the cognitive dissonance in my brain where it tells me to be lazy but at the same time beats me up for doing so.
EDIT 2: I think all i've learned from this debate is that I have a fundamentally flawed understanding of evolution. Hahaha
EDIT 3: And the lightbulb finally went off. I get what everyone is saying now I think. So if i'm understanding everything right, the means to propagating our genes ARE hard coded into our DNA, but that hard coding tells us to be lazy as a result of millions of years of evolution as opposed to few thousands of years of living in civilized society that probably had little to no effect on our genetic makeup.
I think what I was trying to say was that evolution has been favorable to those who are adaptable, and those who can adapt to our current society the best will reap the most rewards, allowing most potential to propagate our genes.
I hope that made sense...i'm thoroughly confused now and my brain hurts. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kcod7/eli5_if_im_programmed_by_evolution_to_be/ | {
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"You're also programmed to conserve as much energy as possible in case of famine. I think traditionally productivity came from necessity, not something we liked to do. We had to work hard or we would die. If you have everything you need to survive then what motivation do you have to do anything?",
" > I think it would be a safe assumption that being a productive, hard working individual is advantageous from an evolutionary perspective.\n\nNope.\n\nThe only thing rewarded by evolution is gene propagation, which is to say, having more children. Everything else is a side effect.\n\n > why do I have no other desire than to lounge around with a pizza and a blanket and watch Netflix all day? And isn't it interesting that when you do that, later on you typically feel bad about the fact that you weren't productive and sat on your ass all day?\n\nYou care more about near-values (ie, things that can make you feel good right now) than far-values (things that might make you feel good, if you manage to accomplish them, later). This could just as easily be an evolutionary adaptation - say, a preference for easy prey - but beware of making up evolutionary psychology just-so-stories like this with zero evidence.",
"I don't think you're programmed by evolution to be productive. You're programmed to survive, thus if you are surviving comfortably you have no further innate drive to be productive.",
"Your programmed by nature to seek food, water, and sex. Once you have met those needs your primitive side is satisfied, why do more? Your intellect will tell you if there is benefit to being productive or if you will get more pleasure being a lazy ass.",
"You're programmed by evolution to meet your needs, not to exactly be productive. Your needs are food, water, shelter, sex, and some kind of stimulus. The need for sex is what causes us to produce children, at which point certain evolutionary tendencies usually drive us to take care of said child.\n\nYou're likely feeling lazy because all, or at least most, of your basic needs are met. You feel guilty because your higher brain functions, your ability to question and reason, realizes that you aren't really doing much, and there is a strong liklihood that part of you craves more from life than simply \"fed, sheltered, and content\". Hence the guilt.\n\nHappens to a lot of us, dude. Me included.",
"You're not \"programmed\" by evolution to be productive.\n\n\n\n",
"Simple answer: You're NOT programmed to be productive.\n\nWorking hard feels good because it hurts. Your body/brain recognize that things don't feel good, so they release chemicals to make you not feel pain. They usually release enough to not just numb the pain, but to also give a general good feeling.\n\nAnimals are designed to be efficient. If we don't have to work, we won't. If we can meet all our needs being as lazy as possible, evolution says that's a good thing. More energy for the lean times and whatnot. As far as you body's concerned, lying around all day and eating a pizza is a huge win. You took in way more energy than you put out, you didn't damage yourself in the process, and you got lots of rest. Your brain and body like that. \n\nYou feel bad because of psychology. To your brain, the future is a myth. The only thing that really exists is the present. It wants to minimize exertion for maximum current reward. That's a hard drive to overcome. You know, cognitively, that you could do better if you work a little now - if you delay gratification, you'll get more gratification. Basically, every time you laze about and feel bad about it, you experience \"cognitive dissonance\" - discomfort caused by holding conflicting views at the same time, or holding one view but acting on its opposite. You know you ought to be productive for the future's sake, but you don't want to. When you decide to be lazy it clashes with what you believe, and you get this discomfort.\n\n**TL;DR** - We're not programmed to work hard, we're programmed to work efficiently. Modern life allows us to do so really easily. We also know that working is good for the future, but fuck the future. Ice cream is here now. Knowing we screw over our future selves causes the discomfort.\n\n**EDIT**: Thanks to the kind stranger who got me gold for this! Also, if you're here, there's great discussion going on in the sub-comments. Spend some time and upvotes there as well.",
"Don't forget Newton's Law of Inertia: a body at rest tends to stay that way unless an external force is applied.",
"You are designed to be efficient, not hard working. \n\nEvolutionarily, animals work as little as possible to complete a task (usually a hunt) and then precede to lay on their ass until they need to hunt again. Do you ever see animals stockpile food? Typically no. (I'm sure most food would go bad, but I'm also sure a lot of food could be saved and eaten).\n\nImagine any time you have seen a big cat on TV. What are they doing? Either laying down or hunting. Once they have met their need for food and water, they are good. \n\nSo change big cats with people. We already have the food and water, what else do we need?\n\n (Side note: you have to work to obtain the food and water in the first place. I'm guessing you don't work or are too young for a job? Or maybe you are saying you only want to work the bare minimum?) \n\nThe answer is, we don't really need anything else, but society typically tells us not only to work an 8 hour shift at work, but then come home and; do dishes, laundry, shuffle kids to this practice/recital/school meeting, landscape, workout (because our desk jobs are getting us fat), small talk with that neighbor, etc etc etc. Which leaves most productive adults only a few hours a day to actually stop and maybe watch some TV. \n\nMoney also kinda throws a curveball at the entire situation since it is an extrinsic reward that people would gladly starve, or work harder for. I think anyone can become productive for the right amount of money. This is leading me to once again believe that you don't work or have a shitty job. \n\nI think you are just looking at this situation the opposite of how it actually is \n",
"[No one has linked a study, so here you go.](_URL_0_)\n\nBasically, hard workers are the most advantageous in small amounts. In large amounts/a societal structure, it's necessary for lazy entities to eat up any extra resources. That way, none of it gets wasted. Because of this, there are extra entities around to reproduce. They don't work as hard, so they're less prone to disease and fatigue. Which means they're more likely to reproduce and pass on their genes. Of course, during times of famine, the 'lazy' ones would be the first to die off...if evolution hadn't given them *just* enough willpower to start working when they see the negative effects of their laziness on society. Lazy people are the signs of an overproductive society, so take solace. I guess.",
"You're not programmed by evolution to be productive. You're not programmed by evolution to do anything. Evolution is not a force on nature, it is the **result** of selective pressures **on** nature. When you have two organisms from the same species with two different traits (those traits coming from differences in **DNA**), and one of them is more capable of reproducing that the other, the following generations will have more of the one trait than the other. That's it. That's all evolution is.\n\nSo why are you lazy? Lots of reasons. Unfortunately, evolution isn't one of them. Laziness is not a trait that is controlled by DNA. And even if it was, in the modern world lazy people still reproduce and therefore laziness isn't a maladaptive.\n\nThere isn't much left in modern human society that will keep you from reproducing, therefore we've almost entirely halted evolution on our species. That doesn't mean we aren't changing, but those changes are not driven by selective pressures (aka evolution).",
"copy pasta: \n\nYou have a lizard for a brain :) or perhaps a lizard brain! _URL_1_\n\n\nthe eli5-ish:\n\n\nHumans like to think we're a clever lot. Yet those magnificent, mighty brains that allow us to split the atom and touch the moon are the same stupid brains that can't start an assignment until the day before it's due.\n\nWe evolved from primitive creatures, but we never quite shed ourselves of their legacy. You know the clever, rational part of your brain you think of as your human consciousness? Let's call him Albert. He lives in your brain alongside an impulsive baby reptile called Rex:\n\n\n_URL_0_\n\nYou know how you can't help but notice if a stranger is tongue-wettingly gorgeous? That's Rex, and no matter how hard you try, you can never turn him off. He's your instinct, your impulse, your love and your fear. \n\nWe like to think of Albert as \"our true self\" - the conscious part of our brain. He's the talking, reasoning part. When we decide to go to the gym or write that term paper, Albert made that decision. But Albert is old, easily exhausted, and switches off all the time. \n\nYour brain is locked in a battle of wills between a sleepy professor and an impulsive reptile with unlimited energy. You may as well hand Rex the steering wheel. \n\n\n_URL_2_\n\n\nRex does listen to Albert. Like a child, he will do a lot of what he's told, as long as he doesn't disagree too much. But if Rex desperately yearns to crash on the sofa to watch Survivor and eat Cheetos, that's what you're going to do.\n\nThe incredible ascension of mankind that surrounds us is largely possible because we've developed systems to nurture the Rex's in our brains, to subdue, soothe and subvert them. \n\nMuch of this system we call \"civilisation\". Widely available food and shelter take care of a lot. So does a system of law, and justice. Mandatory education. Entertainment. Monogamy. All of it calms Rex down for long enough for Albert to do something useful - like discover penicillin, or invent Cheetos. \n\n\n_URL_3_\n\n\nNow let's look at your procrastination or lack of productivity\n\nYou're making a decision with your conscious mind and wondering why you're not carrying it out. The truth is your daily decision maker - Rex - is not nearly so mature.\n\nImagine you had to constantly convince a young child to do what you wanted. For simple actions, asserting your authority might be enough. \"It's time for dinner\". But if that child doesn't want to do something, it won't listen. You need to cajole it:\n\nForget logic. Once you've decided to do something, logic and rationale won't help you. Your inner reptile can be placated, scared and excited. But it doesn't speak with language and cannot be reasoned with.\nComfort matters. If you're hungry, tired or depressed your baby reptile will rebel. Fail to take care of yourself, and he'll wail and scream and refuse to do a damn thing you say. That's what he's for. Eat, sleep and make time for fun.\nNurture discipline. Build a routine of positive and negative reinforcement. If you want a child to eat their vegetables, don't give them dessert first. Reward yourself for successes, and set up assured punishments for your failure. Classic examples include committing to a public goal, or working in a team - social pressure can influence Rex. \n\n\nIncite emotion. Your reptile brain responds to emotion. That is its language. So get yourself pumped, or terrified. Motivational talks, movies and articles can work, for a while. I use dramatic music (one of my favourite playlists is called Music to conquer worlds by). Picture the bliss associated with getting something done, or the horrors of failing. Make your imagination vivid enough that it shakes you. We use similar tricks on children for a reason: \"brush your teeth or they'll fall out\".\nForce a start. The most important thing you can do is start. Much of Rex's instincts are to avoid change, and once you begin something those instincts start to tip into your favour. With enough time, you can even convince Rex to love doing the things he hated. There's a reason we force kids to go to school or to try piano lessons.\nBias your environment. Rex is short sighted and not terribly bright. If he sees a Facebook icon, he'll want it. It's like showing a child the start of a cool TV program immediately before bedtime. Design your environment to be free from such distractions: sign out of instant messenger, turn off notifications, turn off email. Have separate places for work and fun, and ideally separate computers (or at least accounts).\n\n\n\nOnce you know what to look for, you'll start to recognize the patterns and control them.\n\n\n\nThere's an impulsive baby reptile in your brain, and unfortunately he has the steering wheel. If you can be a good parent to him he'll mostly do what you say, and serve you well. Just remember who's in charge.",
"Because you are one of the random selections that evolution is going to wean out - you're basically a reject mutation and there is no place for you in the future of the human race.\nHave a nice day, peace out and god bless",
"the real answer that no one has addressed yet is that your lazy because you've been CONDITIONED to be lazy. You feel good when you do it, so you keep doing it, even if might later regret your lack of action. ",
"Next time my boss says something about me not working hard enough I can just say: \"Hey, I'm conserving energy!\" ",
"A long time ago (however not that long in terms of evolution) the most productive thing humans would do was to catch large animals and feed our families with their meat once we caught them.\n\nHumans were not faster or stronger than those large animals, but we had better posture and foot design for long duration running, we were better equipped to deal with heat by sweating, and we were better at tracking prey over large areas due to communication. A [widely held belief](_URL_3_) is that we hunted by using human endurance to exhaust our prey.\n\nWhat all of that means is that evolutionarily the best hunters were those who could stay motivated towards completing a productive task over very long durations, since it could take many hours or maybe even days to exhaust a large pack animal to the point where you could walk up to it with a spear and poke it to death.\n\nSo maybe that explains why you feel a constant desire to be productive, and you feel a build up of regret when you don't accomplish anything, however your incredible desire to be lazy likely stems from evolutionary code that existed long before humans evolved.\n\nIt is an obvious truth of all animals evolving in the wild that calories from food will be limited, and so conservation is necessary for survival. Thus, from an evolutionary standpoint all creatures (especially carnivorous ones) tend to mill about lazily wasting as little energy as possible until it is time to chase food. The evolutionary advantage goes to any animal who suffers from a lack of motivation at all times until pushed past a certain threshold by some outside stimulus such as hunger or fear. Yes this is why your cat sleeps all day and all night.\n\nIn humans these two motivations are at odds with each other even more in suburbia than they are on the African plains because the [chemical signals](_URL_2_) evolutionarily tied to pushing you over that threshold of apathy are mostly linked to physical exertions. You may have heard of such a thing as a Runner's High? However, those physical exertions aren't actually very valuable in a modern society unless your goal in life is to be a gym instructor or an action movie star.\n\nSo when modern society tells you that your sense of progress can only be satiated with a steady income earned behind a desk in front of a computer all day, your body tends to disagree. Chemically speaking, if you're not going to run all day chasing a bison, you would be better off eating cheetoes and watching daytime tv getting nothing done.\n\nSo what is the solution? Well, with the marvels of modern science, you can trick your body in a number of ways: First of all, you can run around the block for absolutely no reason first thing in the morning. It seems like a waste of time initially, but once you have run for a bit you feel good so you keep going and suddenly you have motivation left over for other things like filing expense reports. Secondly, and most importantly, there is this awesome drug called [Caffeine](_URL_1_) which blocks the receptors in your brain that cause that constant feeling of apathy, and modern society loves that shit so much they put it in almost half of all the food they make.\n\nHowever be warned: your body will try to protect you from yourself. When you use caffeine to block adenosine receptors, your brain compensates by increasing adenosine production producing an arms race between the desire to be lazy and the inability to be lazy. Yes evolutionarily the ability to be lazy is considered an asset, not a liability. This means you can build a tolerance to caffeine and in the long run it can make you even more [apathetic, fat, and lazy](_URL_0_) than you were to begin with.",
"This has nothing to do with evolution. \"Programming\" towards goals and things like that are a product of a pseudo-science called Evolutionary Psychology, in which people try and guess how cultural over lapping (and non over lapping) habits have anything to do with evolutionary \"intentions\", \"goals\", and \"predispositions\"\n\nIt is not actual science. It doesn't have anything to do with evolution and the methods of change involved with it.\n\nLaziness is a social construct where people are who are perceived to be doing less are stigmatized by social labels like laziness.\n\nThings like watching TV, eating junkfood, having an irregular sleeping schedule, playing video games, spending large amounts of time at home or on the internet are stigmatized as lazy things.\n\nLazy has a connotation of being bad. Thus, you are going to NOT want to be seen as bad by yourself or other people. So you're going to feel bad for doing lazy things.",
"You're wired to want to maximize food, sex, and survival. If you are honry, you'll work hard for sex. If you're hungry, you'll work hard for food. If you're in danger, you'll work hard to survive.\n\nThe problem is that in society, the relationship between work and reward is disconnected. If you've just had lunch at work, your body isn't going to see the need to work hard so you can make money so that you can eat later. All it knows is that you're full and happy, so right now it's time for a nap to help digestion, and maybe some sex.\n\nSo you won't want to work. You'll want to watch some porn and take a nap.",
"It's hard to stay fit in our modern world because it's easy to stay alive in our modern world.\n\nIn other words, not that long ago you had to fight for survival: hunt, fish, climb for fruit, walk miles to get water, etc. When everything's at your fingertips it's easy to be lazy.",
"We're programmed to fuck, produce children, and ensure they live long enough to be able to go out into the world (and thus produce their own.) \n\nOther than that, we're not programmed for anything else. \n\nWhy are you lazy? Because we have everything easy. You go to sub-saharan Africa, the number of \"lazy people\" drastically drops as the standard of living does. This is because they are forced to work to just get by. \n\nWe have the luxury of being able to do next to nothing and have a safety net to fall on. So it's actually in our best interest to conserve energy for when we *do* have to work to get by. \n\nGetting past that instinct is what makes you a non shitbag. ",
"you are not programmed by evolution to be productive. you are programmed by evolution to be reproductive.",
"OP is trying to further his understanding of something by asking questions and exploring alternative answers? Down vote him to oblivion ITT",
"These things you do are rewarding to the brain: Pizza is full of high-calorie cheese, fatty pepperoni, etc., all very \"rewarding\" food to your brain. Watching Netflix fills you with emotions of leading an exciting rewarding life (Just look at how you feel when watching Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. A lot of these shows are purposefully full of sex appeal too...your brain loves sex). The thing is, you like these things because they are rewarding to your brain. That's why people can make money providing them to you, because your brain likes them. And if such a reward is so readily available and easy to obtain, why not just enjoy it all day? \n",
"Productive means shelter, food, and sex from an evolutionary stand point. Not go for a jog or build a bird house.",
"The fact is that evolution does a really, really poor job of explaining this and many other things.\n\nThe Christian worldview posits that we are made in Gods image but fallen and thus made for productivity, creativity, and great things but our fallen state makes us selfish, lazy, and the like. ",
"On the other hand there are also people, like myself, who when faced with no income and limited food supply and no place to really call home, still have a difficult time getting into overdrive. Sometimes being alive is just enough. Many people who have this dilemma are suffering from a mental disorder and typically have a deficiency in executive functioning - especially when having to coordinate with other people.\n\nEven with medication and help from state, local, and private agencies - they still struggle. There's an unfortunate stigma attached to people like me.\n\nThey frequently ask, \"Why can't you just go get a job or do *x*?\"\n\nIt's a lot easier said than done, and I hate it.",
"Humans are not programmed to be productive!\nHumans are are programmed to find food, shelter and sex.",
"I never regret my laziness....",
"Hmmm... I think the biggest issue with this is thinking you're comparing the process of evolution, something that takes millions of years to have dramatic effects, with a \"modern understanding of productivity.\"\n\nThis is just a guess, but my guess is, if you were raised in a pre-industrial culture, you'd be very \"productive.\" Seeing as how the average human worked far, far less before the industrial revolution, and worked even less before the agricultural revolution.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nSo, stop trying to define productivity by the ability to work 40 hours a week for someone that you hate, and THEN trying to find \"extra time\" outside of that 40 hours to do other things.\n\nInstead, productivity should be defined as, \"If you didn't have to be employed at all, how much time would you put into bettering yourself and others when you see tangible benefits from your efforts?\"",
"We're programmed to survive and survive with as little cost to ourselves as possible. Productivity is a human invention.",
"Evolution doesnt reward productivity...nail that presentation if you want to\nbut it wont make any babys.\n\nEvolution is a great theory (well it's basically a scientific fact) but it doesn't explain EVERYTHING, humans are the offspring of evolution but its principal is only applible on a larger macro scale...it doesnt descirbe how we work at a individual level.\n\nWe arent programmed to be productive.\n\n",
"Quite a wide variety of human personalities fall within the normal range. Some people are more vigorous than others. Some people are more ambitious than others. Some need more sleep than others.\n\nTo make sense of this in the context of evolution, you have to think in terms of game theory.\n\nImagine you are the only person in your village who is not very vigorous or ambitious and sleeps a lot. The others will gather enough food and will likely share with you. You might be a low-status person. On the other hand, maybe the others will wear themselves out, expend too many calories, or get killed getting food. In that case, you reproduce, they don't.\n\nEven today, it's still sort of true. If you're not very vigorous or ambitious, there's a good chance that someone will provide you with food and shelter. You'll probably be a low-status person, but you might find a few opportunities to reproduce anyway.\n\nNow imagine you are the only person in the village who is vigorous, ambitious and doesn't need a lot of sleep. You're going to be more successful getting food, you'll be better nourished, and you're likely to be regarded as a desirable mate. You are more likely to reproduce, the others are less likely to reproduce.\n\nOver long periods of time, genes for laziness and vigor, passivity and ambition, sleep a lot, sleep a little, and so on, get scattered around the human genome. Eventually, nature establishes a balance between lazy and vigorous, with most people falling somewhere between the two extremes.\n\nIt's not just people. There's a broad range of normal for chimpanzees and other animals, too.\n\nThis isn't the whole story, of course. We don't understand the full explanation. Imitation, family traditions, epigenetics, general health and chance all play roles, too. But you asked me to explain it to you like you are five, so there it is. ",
"Natural selection at its finest. ",
"I went to read the comments because I knew I'd enjoy reading it and I knew I'd find it very stimulating, but I decided I'd much rather lie on my bed and spin vinyl. Just when I thought I was going get to the bottom of this question, the cause for the question came and bit me in the ass. What the fuck, brain... ",
"So that you will work to invent an easier way of doing things.",
"I think Modern Society is overwhelming to many of us, and we cope by checking out. ",
"Where did you get the idea evolution wanted you to be productive? Evolution wants really only one thing: for you to pass your genetic information to the next generation. \n\nTo achieve this you need to survive. This means surviving and passing your genes is all you evolve to do. Guess what- being lazy saves energy and could have saved you from predators if you were living 200,000 years ago. I'm not an evolutionary biologist but energy saving is a common evolutionary trait(due to the difficulty of aquiring energy), as a matter of fact, we evolved bypedal motion in part to save energy. \n\nSo you're evolutionarily programmed to be lazy if anything. It saves energy and keeps you from wandering around where predators might eat you. \n\nAlso, if you remember the goals of evolution up top, you might be able to come to the conclusion that we're under very different pressures now than all other animals, including our old selves, are. \n\nIf only the most productive people were allowed to reproduce, however, we would select for productivity and if there is a gene controlling it, naturally make that gene much more likely to be passed on. ",
"Most animals conserve energy when they can.",
"As a nonscientist and now that I've got passed 40, sigh, I wonder if evolution pushes us to desire to rest, more since lots of work kind of wears things down, especially physical work. Knees, back, shoulders, and well, stuff. The longer you can keep from feeling pain, possibly the more you can make babies. I don't know, just a wild guess on the loose!",
"This is the best question I've seen on here",
"Productivity has nothing to do with it. It is about survival. Life today is easy. You want food? Walk to the fridge. Most don't worry about shelter or wild beasts. No storms. Nothing. Getting no satisfaction out of work, no sense of accomplishment you become lazy. I think it is perfectly normal. Many of us find no pleasure in chasing dollars. Unless you play that game and either accumulate wealth yourself or work for pennies so someone else can - there is no point in living. So you are programmed to survive, not produce. Not ever being threatened, you become lazy. ",
"You're not programmed to work hard and be productive. You're programmed to manage resources wisely. You have enough food coming in and are not under attack. Therefore your body is telling you to conserve and take it easy for the moment.\n\nYou feel guilty not because of evolution but because of Protestant influence on your culture.",
"Actually, you're not meant to be productive. That is simply an exploitation that the wealthy have manipulated for their own good over the centuries and millennia. You're meant to be social and work well with a group towards a common advantage, you're not meant to be exploited through a system that has you conditioned to be satisfied with getting one extra widget instead of the four other widgets too that go to the wealthy for no justifiable reason. It is why all things that pose even the slightest threat to the system of exploitation are demonized and slandered through falsehoods without you ever realizing it. So to answer your question, your premise is a off and a product of being deceived.",
"I think it's a product of the modern age. Everything around you now is geared towards making you lazy. Food, modern entertainment (movies, television, video games), and even our most productive tools like computers and smartphones are meant to require and inspire less effort. So the world you live in is telling you to be lazy, but your natural instincts are telling you to go do something.",
"posting to read later, because im lazy"
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28ku1j | how do services like google and facebook deal with the gigabytes of new data they receive everyday? is there a guy just ramming hard drives in servers all day? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28ku1j/eli5_how_do_services_like_google_and_facebook/ | {
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"Also, compression.\n\nIn storage, one of the best ways for companies like this to take in the amount of data they do is through deduplication (the concept is it never writes the same thing twice).\n\nIf I post a picture of Neil deGrasse Tyson on my FB page, and 1,000,000 other people post that exact same file, those 1,000,000 files will take up almost no disk space. In the storage, they would exist as pointers to my file.\n\nFiles that are similar, but not the same would also take up less space (the portions of the file that are the same would be 'deduped' out with pointers).",
"They keep building these\n\n_URL_0_",
"It's a lot bigger than 'a guy' ramming hard drives...but yes, I think they just keep expanding their storage.\n\nMy current screen saver is a photo of room in one of Google's facilities. The room is just for the cooling and heating requirements of servers at the facility.\n_URL_0_\n",
"I work in this industry and it still baffles me how they are able to achieve their levels of scale, retention and performance. At a very high level, they're very good with software and distributing their data across a lot of server around the globe. The hardware to store the data, I don't think is too expensive. However the networking switches that the data travels over may cost as much as some poor countries' total GDP.",
"Server are usually just servers, but they get attaches to a SAN ( Storage Area Network ) through switches, so a single server is able to get attached to massive size of storage. There are different ways to expand storage, there are cheaper ways like adding JBOD units ( Just a bunch of disks ) to a RAID head, or adding new RAID ( Redundant Array Of Independent Disks ) controllers to your architecture. To make it more straight it's like compressing multiple physical disk to creat a VDISK ( Virtual Disk ) and represent that to the costumer through the server . The RAID storage allows creating big storage spaces while achieving better performance with HDD's ( which are considered slow in the industry ) , and keep the cost reasonably down. \n\nSource : I'm an Storage Solutions Engineer and do this for living! \n\nEDIT : Big companies like Google produce their own storage systems instead of buying from popular storage companies.\n\n",
" > Is there a guy just ramming hard drives in servers all day?\n\nYes"
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3l62bb | why no one has created a commercial diet that includes a balanced amount of all required nutrients for humans. | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3l62bb/eli5_why_no_one_has_created_a_commercial_diet/ | {
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"Pretty sure that it has been tried. There just tends to be not that much demand for it, and regulations in the food industry can be problematic for this kind of product.\n\nSoylent, for example, is one of these products.",
"There is.[ It's called Soylent](_URL_0_) and is an all in one drink that claims to be able to offer your body with everything it needs to survive. It comes around $3 a meal and while I can't say I'd really like the idea of not eating anything but that liquid for all my meals It might be what you're looking for. ",
"You can't create a single diet that works for all people because not everyone is the same.\n\nSome people need more calcium or vitamin C or some other nutrient more than others. A good example would be a construction worker vs computer programmer. The construction worker needs more calories and protein since they are most likely going to be labouring outside for a good portion of the day. Whereas the computer programmer isn't going to need as many calories but may need more vitamin D since they aren't outside as often due to working indoors."
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3dyt73 | why is the pay ratio of ceo to average employee such a big deal? why do people care that ceos make as much as they do? | Do people think that their wages/salaries will increase if the CEO gets paid less? What's the deal? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dyt73/eli5_why_is_the_pay_ratio_of_ceo_to_average/ | {
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"Part of the deal is that CEOs receive this large pay even as their company does poorly. In general though, pay is always going to be a function of scarcity - the tougher it is for your skills to be replicated the more you're worth. There aren't many people out there who can do what a CEO does or is willing to do what he does.",
"It bothers people because you can work just as hard as the CEO, but get paid 1/1000000 of what they get paid. Many CEOs get to where they are by hard work, but a fair number of them get to where they are because they had old money or were from families which allowed them to build the right social network/connections. It's unfair to a lot of people that they work just as hard as the CEO, but get paid a millionth of what they get paid. ",
"In your defense it's reasonable to acknowledge that a ceo leads the company and the life and prosperity of the company rests on his shoulders and the board of directors if there is one. Now opposite to that, you ever worked fast food? You slave over nasty ass ingredients, deal with fucking cunts from time to time and get paid dirt. Proportionally speaking you make what, 15-20 k a year? A ceo makes that in anywhere from a day to a week. That's a little unreasonable in some people's eyes. It's like you and your friends open up a lemonade stand and make 10 k, it was your idea so you give them 25 cents a piece for their day labor and you keep 9999.25...unfair to say the least in some respects",
"The issue is that while [productivity of Americans has risen over the past 30+ years](_URL_0_) wages have not gone up and remained nearly flat.\n\nThe CEOs and top 1% are siphoning that money into their pockets.\n\nThink of it this way. Imagine you get paid $10/hour and can build 100 widgets per hour. In time, through hard work, longer hours and so on, you improve to be able to build 200 widgets per hour. Except you still get paid the same and the CEO takes a pay rise.\n",
"While people always like to be paid more, they also like to be paid *fairly*. If someone else is doing the same job, with the same responsibilities, and after adjusting for longevity is getting paid much more, a natural reaction is that it's unfair. \n\nThis extrapolates to people above you in the management chain. You expect managers to get paid more. The question is, how much more before it's unfair?",
"Many reasons, the least of is what you and I make or the general pay gap.\n \nBetter questions are: How much of profit is due to a well-executed corporate strategy? How much credit should the CEO get for others in upper management?\n \nPeople think that if CEOs will be paid less then lower paid employees will be paid more, but that's not going to happen. Obscene amounts of CEO pay, however, does take away from the company's shareholders profits.\n \n**Edit:** \"Obscene amounts\" refers to the ratio of CEO salary vs. profit attributed to his/hers strategy.",
"The ratio between average employee pay and CEO pay has widened ridiculously, now, on average, CEOs make 350-ish times as much money as the average employee in the company, and 700+ times as much as the lowest paid employees. The problem is that business growth or economic growth is not benefitting a huge portion of the population. So while inflation increases, rent increases by huge amounts every year, cost of gas increases, cost of living in general increases... but their pay stays the same. This means they have to move further and further out of the city and away from work, contributing to urban sprawl, popup of low-income areas, huge rise in crime, etc.",
"Corporations cry poor when it comes to compensating low level employees. They fight minimum wage increases and unions as if their businesses could go bankrupt tomorrow, yet executive compensation has multiplied hundreds of times without a blip in negative consequences.",
"It's not that they get paid more, it's that they get paid ridiculously more and their wages keep rising while everyone else's have essentially remained stagnant. Everyone in the company contributes to the success of the company but virtually all of the profits go to the CEOs and other top level people.",
"For some historical perspective, years ago CEOs made about 30x the salary of the average worker and during this time growth was better in the economy. One camp on why growth is slowing is because the demand side is not weakening due to less demand, but to a lack of capital among the majority of the working class.\n\nSo if things were going well in the economy and these guys salaries were increasing I don't think that anyone would really care. The last 15 years have had a number of economic shocks and terrible wage growth for the majority of people so I would argue that is what most people are actually upset about.",
"\"Economist here\":\n\nThere are two reasons for that:\n\n-----\n\n**The first reason is psychological** - people still think like animals and pack animals understand equality and hierarchy differently from what we see around us presently. That causes our monkey brains to become unhappy with things that often don't make sense to be unhappy about. \n\nThe way people value things is highly subjective (personal) and is shaped by what we can see happening around us. We have a sense of self-worth and our place in the social hierarchy and what we can and can't do affects how we perceive the world around us and ourselves in it. It is what we inherited after our animal ancestors and [this](_URL_0_) example says all about the roots of such behaviour. People don't like to be treated in a way **they perceive** as unfair. It might be unfair or it might be perfectly fine - but as long as there's an expectation to be treated the same way ( a very basic instinct) any discrepancy between what you can and can't do will be a serious psychological problem. Humans are social animals and the integration into the society is important for our mental health and stability. It is true for disabled people, sick people, people in financial distress, social outcasts. \n\nSo when CEOs earn far more then regular people - which allows them to do much more (significantly much more) than them - it creates a sense of unease because those huge earnings strike that ancestral nerve which tells us that all animals in the pack must be equal. Even if there's a leader it's only because the leader has some specific skills (strength, cunning etc). CEO pay is highly abstract (it is a product of an economic structure that was created by humans very recently - something our brains haven't evolved with) and often completely unrelated to what people instinctively portray as \"deserving\" of leadership positions.\n\nIn other words what the CEOs get paid for is not what people would pay for in one-on-one relationships. That creates a cognitive dissonance and makes people think CEOs get paid \"for nothing\".\n\n----\n\nAn interesting perspective is on the role of a social outcast. It is a cruel but nevertheless natural phenomenon (the \"omega\" animals in packs) which people instinctively understand (beggars, hobos, crazy people, losers). People have a natural tolerance for \"natural\" social outcasts. The situation when CEOs earn so much more than them and do not engage in sharing of wealth places *everyone* in the place of an outcast. People hate to be the outcasts especially when there's little they can do to change it.\n\nNotice that billionaires who are very active charitably do not get so much flak because they are seen as \"accidentally\" rich because they share so much of their wealth and therefore do not engage in exclusionary practices - making the whole society feel as outcasts.\n\n----\n\n**The second reason is political** and it has to do with the notion that CEOs and high management create a new kind of social class which hampers social mobility of the masses. \n\nI said already that even though humans are hierarchic to a degree as social animals there is an underlying sense of equality beneath all natural hierarchy. Social classes are artificial creations which aim at making those hierarchies permanent through manipulation and force. That's how it's been through the ages - the warrior castes, priest castes, aristocracy and peasantry etc etc. CEOs are seen as yet another rendition of the old system where some people are better just because they are in the other, higher class and the increasing earnings are seen as a proof of that. People therefore rebel not against the earnings (many will tell you that it's nothing wrong if the CEO is really brilliant enough to deserve it) but against the notion that it is possible for some people to earn so significantly more than you and that there's nothing you can do to get there because it is a *social class*. It is in a sense a political consequence of the psychological phenomenon in reason one - an extreme form of social exclusion.\n\nThe only way to get to such highly paid positions is to be born in the right country, in the right family, to have the right connections, go to the right school , get the right internship in the right company, have the right mentor....\n\nThere's a lot of exclusionary conditions to becoming this highly paid professional which seems just as modern nobility. Most people will never get there unless they somehow become successful at business to a similar extent - which is just as rare.\n\n----\n\nNotice that before CEO's pay became the main subject - and it's mostly in the context of the recent financial boom and bust - there were very critical voices about skyrocketing earnings of sportsmen, leading actors, big music starts etc. It does have to do a lot with the first reason - although a bit also with the second. It wasn't really until the divide started to grow in *both* directions - CEO's pay skyrocketing despite the crisis while real earnings of people took a dive - when it became the focus.\n"
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3nhwas | why isn't jamestown the most populous u.s. city? or st. augustine, for that matter? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nhwas/eli5_why_isnt_jamestown_the_most_populous_us_city/ | {
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"Population growth tends to be less about getting a head start, and more about things like being able to offer people jobs or nice places to live. \n\nSo New York---a city at the center of American economic growth, on a major port at the mouth of a major river system, near beautiful and accessible land with a moderate climate, that welcomed immigrants from relatively nearby Europe---easily out paced less accessible, less well-off areas that happened to be first settled."
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1j96im | why rechargeable batteries lose their ability to recharge completely when used over time. also why does an incomplete charge and usage cycle accelerate this process. (feel free to explain like i have had sophomore high school chemistry if nessesary) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1j96im/eli5_why_rechargeable_batteries_lose_their/ | {
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"This is called the memory effect, and, for the most part, it is a falacy. It was a problem with the early forms of NiCd cells, but, by the time most persons ever saw a NiCd cell, it was already fixed. What people called the memory effect was, in fact, normal cell aging which was irreversable.\n\nIt has never been an issue with NiMH, Lithium-ion or lithium poly cells. Rechargeable lithium cells are actually stressed more by being fully discharged, so should be recharged whenever practical.\n\nEdited to add: Some cell recharge circuitry doesn't detect changes in the chemistry of a cell properly under normal use, and a full, deep discharge and recharge can reset the information that it has stored about the battery, so that it gives you proper information about its charge state."
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2aaw99 | how do all natural numbers add up to 1/12? | I've heard this theory and really don't know much about it, however i'm really interested in how it works.
If anyone knows how to explain it well, thanks! :)
Edit: -1/12? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2aaw99/eli5_how_do_all_natural_numbers_add_up_to_112/ | {
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"The sum 1+2+3+4.... doesn't really equal -1/12, in the conventional sense of addition and summation. But it's possible to extend a particular function outside of its regular domain in a way that's useful sometimes but misleading other times and yields the result -1/12 for that particular sum. I don't think anybody explains the conundrum quite as well as the Numberphile channel on youtube. [Check them out!](_URL_0_) ",
"It doesn't. It's based on an abuse of the \"=\" and making some assumptions that just aren't true. The popular Numberphile video on the topic is especially bad about just brushing aside these assumptions like they're an everyday thing, which annoys me since they should know better. \n\nWhat it comes down to is that there are times when you get an infinite series when it would be really convenient to assign a meaningful number to represent that series. One of the ways that such a number is assigned is by looking at what the average of the partial sums converges to. For example, if you take 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + .... and you add up the first 1 term you get 1. If you add up the first 2 terms you get 0. The first 3 terms and you get 1; 4 and you get 0, and so on. Now if you average the first 1 of these sums you get 1/1 = 1. The first two sums you get (1+0)/2 = .5; the first 3 sums and you get (1+0+1)/3 = .666..., the first four sums: (1+0+1+0)/4 = .5, and so on. If you keep doing this until you've added up *tons* of these sums then you find that the average of the partial sums trends towards 1/2. So you declare \"when I see the sequence 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + ... I'm going to think of the number 1/2.\" Often this statement gets abused by writing 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + ... **=** .5, but that is a special use of the equals sign. It should be stated that 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + ... = .5 (**R**) where the **R** states that the = is only giving a Ramanujan sum (named for the guy who pioneered the method), not a true sum in the traditional sense.\n\nOther series do not have this nice property of having their partial sums converge, but we still want to associate a number with them, so we push our luck some more with the math gods. You can do some fancy arithmetic with arranging the terms of different series and assuming that they have Ramanujan sum and arrive at the statement that 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + ... = -1/12 (**R**). When you do this you make the assumption that Ramanujan sums act like normal sums, which is kind of dicey but it works out. It turns out that pretending 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... = -1/12 nicely fills a hole in a graph in the same way that assuming 0/0 = 1 makes the graph of y = (x)(x+1)/(x) nice and continuous. 0/0 does **not** equal 1 and 1 + 2 + 3 + ... does **not** equal -1/12, but pretending like they do gives useful results sometimes. \n\nSo really what is meant by the sum is \"when you see 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + ... you should think '-1/12' since that number is closely related to that series,\" not \"If I add 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + ... then I will arrive at a negative fraction.\""
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67jdlj | why is remaining abstinent until marriage a common rule in religions? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/67jdlj/eli5_why_is_remaining_abstinent_until_marriage_a/ | {
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"It's an easy way to verify that you're the father absent any other technology or medical knowledge.",
"The motivations are different in different religions, due to varying views on the purpose of sexes.\n\nI can't speak on behalf of religions like Islam or Sihkism. But within Christianity, the view is that men and women were made as different but complimentary, and that through sexual intimacy relational development can be reached which is impossible for other kinds of relationships. Sex is reserved for marriage because when it is used for anything other than the marriage relationship, it causes harm either to the partakers, or to the society around them.\n\nIt's a view many people disagree with, but that's normal for the discussion: there's no such thing as a non-biased view of what marriage is for and how to treat sex.",
"1.) Bastard children are a nuisance to society. A society has a vested interest in establishing paternity so someone will devote resources towards the child's upbringing. Premarital sex muddies the waters as to who the father is. \n\n2.) Up until 50 years ago, birth control didn't exist, and your ability to prevent pregnancy while still having sex was pretty limited. ",
"Everything related to culture has a function within that culture. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that it's a way to ensure that the child will be taken care of and to try and decrease the number of labor related deaths. If it's completely taboo to have sex outside of the marriage and doing so gets you stoned to death or removed from the community as sinful, disgusting people, you can rule through fear and it'll kinda sorta save lives. Part of it is also oppression of women.\n\nIt's kind of like the theory that the development of Muslims and Jews not eating pork arose because the environment that the religions developed in weren't great for raising swine. Pigs have a really similar diet to humans and that depletes resources that the people need to survive, whereas you can let goats and sheep just graze on grasses.",
"Most religions belief in the sanctity, and struggle to keep the life, of a crucial institution, the family. That is why most religions are patriarchal (belief of a sole controller to keep the family in line), and traditional (what is customary must be preserved, like what your parents thought you, you teach to others.) Families are the main repository and medium of religion and families are formed on loyalty, respect, and understanding (works on other relationships). \n\nAn individual then is developed to form a family later, and to protect that goal, and to maintain loyalty, respect, and understanding, to the future partner and to self, one is instructed to remain abstinent before marriage. Some people tell that a person is for another person, and fornication is like stealing another's partner. However, the main point is to preserve the family and to start it as early as possible. "
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8ah125 | why humans,compared to most mammals, are so slow in running speed? | Pretty much most mammals,relative to size,can run faster than humans. Why is that? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8ah125/eli5_why_humanscompared_to_most_mammals_are_so/ | {
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"Humans are slower in terms of burst speed yes, but we evolved a different traveling method that was overall more advantageous. Humans are the best long distance runners for our size by FAR. Early hunters could use our more advanced communication and intelligence to keep track of prey as it kept sprinting, exhausting itself. We, on the other hand, can go at a slower speed, but at a very steady rate for HOURS, something most other species are almost incapable of. ",
"We aren't that great at sprinting. But we're able to track a fast animal for hours, when the animal is already exhausted and unable to run more. \n\nAnd our main strength is in our capability to work together and improvise. That's why you live in a house, use electricity and talk with people around the world. ",
"We are bi-peds, most other mammals are not. The fastest land animals/mammals are all 4 legged animals, more legs, more power to propel. ",
"Humans are essentially terminators. Imagine running from something that's trying to hunt you down, you spring at top speed away and fantastic - they can't keep up! So you run a bit more for safety and stop to rest up, but before you're fully recovered, the predator comes back into view. You run away, but you're slower now that you were so you get even less time to recover, and every time you try to get something to drink there's more of the predators kind blocking your way. This carries on for days, because you're strong, but ultimately there was only going to be one outcome.\n\nWe don't need to be fast. We've got fantastic cooling and efficient use of energy. We will be there when you fall.",
"We specialise in endurance but not speed(what do you know, the infographics show made a vid about it ! _URL_0_ )",
"Well most of our evolution had us on all fours, so there are all sorts of problems now that we stand up straight. Lower back pain and GI problems are a couple examples.\n\nLike other people in the thread are saying though, we did land in sort of a golden spot with our evolution in that we are amazing fucking hunters. Humans can basically walk after anything, and if that anything doesn't open enough distance that their tracks disappear behind them faster than we can follow, they are basically fucked. Assuming the hunter knows how to track, that is... I couldn't do this.\n\nThere is an 18(?) mile human vs horse-and-rider footrace that humans often win, to put things in perspective. Lots of fast animals are pretty rubbish over long distances.",
"Fast animals are invariably either prey species or solitary ambush hunters. Human beings are neither - they're pack-based apex predators.\n\nHuman beings also don't need to be nearly as fast as other such predators (like wolves) because they're intelligent tool-users with tremendous range.\n\nAgainst a wolf pack, all prey really needs to do is keep away from the wolves. Against humans, prey not only needs to keep away from humans but also out of range of their spears. Humans also have a variety of tactics - such as chasing herds off of cliffs or shaping the environment with fire - that limit the need for pursuit speed.\n\nNote: Many have commented on 'endurance hunting' where human beings simply wear down prey. While this is *possible*, it's also a spectacularly inefficient way to hunt and it wasn't particularly common. Remember, the goal of hunting isn't just to take down prey, but expend as little energy as possible in doing so. That's why you don't see wild animals engaged in this form of hunting - they'd starve if they needed to run themselves nearly to exhaustion every time they wanted a meal.\n\nThe primary value of human endurance is actually in terms of expanded range. Human tribes can range over tremendous distances compared to other land animals, maximizing their hunting/foraging opportunities.\n\n"
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4ggcat | why do foster kids go through so many homes instead of staying in just one? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ggcat/eli5_why_do_foster_kids_go_through_so_many_homes/ | {
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"Foster kids often have behavioral issues due to trauma in early childhood and there unstructured home life. They may often act out to get attention from adults as they don't feel like they belong to any adult in particular. Behavioral issues can cause the foster parents to get the kid into a different home.",
"Foster parenting is, for the most part, seen as \"temporary\" in the eyes of the ones in charge of it. And, if a child is acting out, the usual fix is to try and find a \"better fit.\" This can result in cases where children are bounced around until they turn 18, or someone tries to adopt. \n\nAdopting foster children is actually very difficult, because a lot of \"wards of the state\" still have birthparents or relatives that can, and do, challenge the state when something like that is attempted. ",
"I work in this field for a county job and family services. There are several reasons why this occurs. \n\n1. First and foremost the intent with almost all foster situations is to return the children to their parents. These are very temporary situations. So mom gets arrested(dads not around) Kids need somewhere to live for awhile while the situation is assessed. So they go to be fostered(if another family member i.e grandma/uncle/aunt/grandpa don't want to/can't. Then mom gets out of jail is put on an action plan(plan we set up to get better, rehab, parenting classes and so on) then the kids return to mom. \n\nWell guess what moms a sucky parent and gets back on drugs or abuses the kids or whatever and here we go again! But that same Foster parent is fostering someone else and doesn't want to or can't foster additional children. So they go to a new foster parent.\n\n2. behavioral issues as many have said. \n\n3. Foster parents can be found to be abusive themselves. Sometimes the foster parent is a family member who is just as shit as mom because they were raised in the same family. \n\nTheres various other reasons but from my experience these are probably the most common. Especially one and two. \n\n"
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matkd | things before the big bang. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/matkd/eli5_things_before_the_big_bang/ | {
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"Leonard was on Roseanne, Penny was on 8 Simple Rules, Sheldon was in Garden State, and Amy Farrah Fowler was Blossom. Everyone else was unheard of. \n",
"IIRC the Big Bang was not only the beginning of the universe but also of time so there can't have been anything before it because without time the concept of before is completely meaningless.",
"There are a number of hypotheses, some more promising than others, but we don't know for sure. Any research runs into significant problems, like the possibility that the current laws of physics didn't actually apply before the big bang.",
"There was nothing, and then it exploded.",
"Leonard was on Roseanne, Penny was on 8 Simple Rules, Sheldon was in Garden State, and Amy Farrah Fowler was Blossom. Everyone else was unheard of. \n",
"IIRC the Big Bang was not only the beginning of the universe but also of time so there can't have been anything before it because without time the concept of before is completely meaningless.",
"There are a number of hypotheses, some more promising than others, but we don't know for sure. Any research runs into significant problems, like the possibility that the current laws of physics didn't actually apply before the big bang.",
"There was nothing, and then it exploded."
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5pl2qe | why do piston driven airplanes still use leaded fuel instead of using unleaded fuel like all modern automotive engines? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5pl2qe/eli5_why_do_piston_driven_airplanes_still_use/ | {
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"Here's a pretty good article about it. Basically, until an affordable and proven alternative is developed, they'll keep on using it in piston-driven aircraft.\n\n_URL_0_"
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"http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/the-fight-over-avgas-11912260/"
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55ij0l | how does a dishwasher effectively clean the dishes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/55ij0l/eli5how_does_a_dishwasher_effectively_clean_the/ | {
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"By impingement (water hitting the dishes, and knocking off debris) and by chemical action of the soap and water which devolves organic and inorganic contaminants. \n\nSource: Was a surgical instrument washer repair technician for labs and hospitals. "
]
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18j13w | why do mobile carriers not regularly offer updates for android devices? | I've recently read that nearly half of all Android devices still use Gingerbread, despite three significant updates to the OS since its inception. What is the primary reason carriers lag behind updating their devices(if they ever do)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18j13w/eli5_why_do_mobile_carriers_not_regularly_offer/ | {
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"Because they make more money selling new devices?",
"Lots of reasons:\n\n1. The older hardware may not be optimized to support the new OS updates. Upgrading to the new OS might make things perform worse.\n\n2. Profitability. Like nassozeebo says, carriers make more money when people renew their contracts (usually as a result of getting a new device).\n\n3. Supportability. You can have an opinion on how good a carrier's support is, but they have to support the devices and OS that they sell. Supporting multiple OS versions on a device costs them more.\n\n4. Cost of updating their version of the OS. Most carriers and manufacturers don't just have stock Android. They either put in some extra features, apps, or a different UI. Whenever a new OS version is released, they have to go back and rework (or at the very least retest) their carrier-specific skins and functions. This one isn't just for carriers, it also applies to manufacturers. HTC's SensUI is a great example of this."
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10el03 | how bad is alcohol for a teenager? | I'm talking about age 15-18. What are the risks of drinking alcohol at this age? Is there a special point to stop?
Sorry for bad english. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/10el03/how_bad_is_alcohol_for_a_teenager/ | {
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"At 15 your body is still developing, so it is generally not advisable to meddle with your body chemistry too much before it sorts itself out.\n\nAccording to [wikipedia](_URL_0_) heavy drinking will mess with your brain and make you stupider, i.e. your memory will be crappier and learning will be more difficult. \n\nBesides, alcohol can be quite nasty regardless of age. When someone gets too much to drink, they may lose conciousness which is a state where medical help is required - it basically means you've drank more poison than your body can handle on its own, so you may stop breathing, or simply choke on your own vomit.",
"1 bottle—no\n\n2-3 bottles over the course of the night—no\n\n3 shots, 2 beers, 2 more shots, and a mixed drink, and 2 more beers all in a couple hours? That's binge drinking and you'll 1) throw up, 2) feel like shit in the morning 3) possibly make a bad decision, like fighting someone or kissing someone or driving drunk (which is always fucking stupid; people always regret it the next morning), and 4) It will fuck up your brain development, if you drink like that all the time. One bad night won't ruin you. But if you get into the habit of drinking too much too often, it can become a very expensive and unhealthy habit.\n\nBut no, 1 beer or 2 or 3 won't kill you. I'd be more worried about the calories than the alcohol, myself.",
"Son, the only rule you need to know is this:\n\nStay off the drugs until your body stops growing."
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1ao12g | how does a circuit know when to use the ground? | I understand what the live wire, the neutral, and earth wire do, but my question is the following:
When the electrons get to the plug socket from the mains, why do they take the live wire, and not the ground wire? Since they want to get to the shortest route to the earth, surely the ground wire is a better option instead of the live wire? I assume it has something to do with the potential difference, but I'm not sure.
Cheers. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ao12g/eli5_how_does_a_circuit_know_when_to_use_the/ | {
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"When you make something electronic, like a computer. You want the case to 'be grounded'. You do this so that if something goes wrong, like a positive wire get's loose, and touches the case, it'll short out straight to ground. If the case wasn't grounded it would make the entire case positive, then if you touched the case the current would flow through you to try to get to ground if you happened to be grounded. If the case is grounded then the current will go straight to ground, instead of through you since you're very resistive compared to metal",
"I'm not a big expert but here is how I've always understood it:\n\nIn normal operation, the ground should do nothing. However, in the case that something goes wrong, and electricity ends up where it shouldn't, the electricity will be redirected to ground rather than to the user. For example, say you have a nice laptop made out of aluminium plugged into the mains. The chassis of the laptop would be grounded, so that if there is a short and electricity is being directed to the chassis, it will take the path of least resistance to ground, rather than to the user.",
"Electrons always flow to regions of lower potential because physics. The ground is, by definition, the region of lowest potential in a circuit, therefore electrons will flow there. It's really that simple, but if you need more explanation just ask. ",
"Because the ground is there for SAFETY, not as a path for it to follow.\n\nThe idea of the ground is for it to be there in case something goes wrong with the device. You ground the chassis, which is the part the human is most likely to come in contact with-provided the human hasn't done something like open the device up.\n\nThe moment the part the human can touch gets \"hot\" the ground shunts the power to earth, which causes the circuit or any safety device on the appliance to \"trip\"-cutting power to the device.\n\nThere are other applications for grounds, such as in radio transmitters and the like, but the primary use for a ground is safety-if the ground sees power, it causes the device to trip, or the circuit it is connected to will burn out the fuse or trip the circuit breaker. This is better than the human making contact and being shocked.\n\ntl; dr Grounds are there for safety, they create a path that makes the device or circuit breaker \"trip\", cutting power to the device before a human makes contact with it and is shocked."
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85xgsd | how does g2a stay in business and how does it sell steam keys for cheaper than on steam? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/85xgsd/eli5_how_does_g2a_stay_in_business_and_how_does/ | {
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"If you buy a game with a stolen credit card, you get the key instantly but it will take several days for the theft to be caught & the charge canceled. Many game companies do not have systems in place to invalidate keys obtained this way so the CC thief now has a \"free\" game.\n\nG2A gives them a marketplace to sell them and turn stolen goods into \"clean\" money. They're a fence.\n\nThere's also the slightly-less-shady method of buying low cost keys in a poorer country (like China or Brazil) and then reselling them to people in rich countries (like the US) for games where the developers don't region-lock the keys.",
"They make a ton of money. Why would they not stay in business? There is no authority that can shut them down. The have legitimate business and make millions from that. It is hard to prove they have done anything illegal. \n\nSome developers sell their keys on their site. Some players sell keys on G2A site (nothing illegal about that)."
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4q90yl | why do people complain about illegal immigrants taking jobs? shouldn't they complain about the companies who give illegals jobs? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4q90yl/eli5why_do_people_complain_about_illegal/ | {
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"The is nothing to be explained other than the person that hire those illegal immigrants are of the same nationality of the person that complains about it. \nVery often those who hire illegals are complaining about it too since they feel that they cannot compete legally. \n\nFinally, \"Taking jobs\" that most citizens don't want is a very bad argument. Most of the jobs that illegals \"take\" are daily jobs with little money that provide no income security nor benefits.\n\n"
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2y4ul3 | if you are currently in jail/on probation marijuana and your state legalises it, do you still serve your jail/probation time. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2y4ul3/eli5_if_you_are_currently_in_jailon_probation/ | {
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"Yes.\n\nWhat you did was illegal at the time. Making it legal now doesn't change the fact that you broke the law. You could say that technically it's *illegal to break the law*, rather than illegal to do the action.\n\nI'm not a lawyer, but it's my understanding that this is always the case - changes to the law cannot be applied retroactively.\n\nIt's the same reason why pot use can be a problem for getting a security clearance: they don't care that you smoke pot, they care that you break the law.",
"Yes...if you go the wrong way down a one way street, you still have pay the ticket even if they change the sign the next day.\n\nAs a practical matter, states that have legalized/decriminalized marijuana are choosing to drop cases and offer preferential parole. \n\n"
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25ayw0 | why is wiretapping yourself illegal? | In lieu of the Chicopee woman who faces wiretapping charges for recording her own arrest, it doesn't make much sense for it to be illegal unless the police have something to hide. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25ayw0/eli5_why_is_wiretapping_yourself_illegal/ | {
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"Probably because the big guys in charge want to make it harder for corruption to be proven.",
"She wasn't recording herself, she was recording others. And arrested != guilty of. ",
"If you're talking to yourself there's no problem. However, if you're talking to someone else many states require that both parties must consent. If someone were taping YOU without your knowledge you might find this law a good idea.",
"In the US, in 12 states everyone involved in the conversation needs to consent to the recording. In the rest of the states as long as one person consents, it's legal. Nowhere in the US is it legal to record a conversation you are not party to.\n\n_URL_0_"
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5rujgr | why aren't major news organizations covering the berkeley protests? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rujgr/eli5_why_arent_major_news_organizations_covering/ | {
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"Are you even paying attention? Not to say that most of the media doesn't have a left-leaning slant but getting all of these links for you took a grand total of a minute. Seriously, it's been all over the news.\n\nCNN:\n\n_URL_6_\n\n_URL_3_\n\n\nMSNBC:\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_5_\n\nABC:\n\n_URL_9_\n\n_URL_1_\n\nCBS:\n\n_URL_4_\n\n_URL_7_\n\nFox:\n\n_URL_8_\n\n_URL_2_"
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"http://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/violent-berkeley-protests-force-cancelation-yiannopoulos-talk-n715796",
"http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/stake-berkeley-trump-warns-university-canceled-speech/story?id=45227163",
"http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/02/milo-yiannopoulos-tucker-carlson-tonight-berkeley-protest",
"http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/02/02/protests-at-uc-berkeley-over-speech-alt-right-lah.cnn",
"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/milo-yiannopoulos-uc-berkeley-event-canceled-after-violent-protests/",
"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/can-trump-block-money-punishment-uc-berkeley-protests-n715901",
"http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/milo-yiannopoulos-berkeley/",
"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-threatens-berkeley-yiannopoulos-hits-social-justice-left-and-campus-apologizes-for-riot/",
"http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/02/02/who-knew-there-were-so-many-homophobic-racist-xenophobes-at-berkeley.html",
"http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/violent-protesters-block-berkeley-talk-breitbart-editor-45214986"
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65ry8d | how have we not run out of space for graves in cemeteries by now? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/65ry8d/eli5_how_have_we_not_run_out_of_space_for_graves/ | {
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"Because they haven't. Cemeteries have become more and more of a nuisance, ask any urban planer or city developer their opinions on cemeteries? Burial plots are crazy expensive (that's not even considering the cost for a funeral as whole,) are allotted only for a specific time, charges maintenance fee's. If those cost fail to get cover, they'll dig that person up just incinerate them. If they can get a fresh one in the ground they'll gig up any ol' schmo they can legally get away and put some paying customers body there. \n\nSo just get cremated. Its cheaper and much better when the zombies come. ",
"Alot of it too is that cemeteries can use land which isn't buildable due to whatever reason. One specifically I can think of is marshlands. If the ground is too soft you can't build a full building on it, but sure as shit you can bury people in it so that space gets used for cemeteries",
"Some have, so they are several bodies deep. There's one near me that's like that, you have to go up steps to get to it as it's now above street level. I'm talking about in the UK btw, around 100 years ago. Also in London there was a problem of people being buried in shallow graves on top of other graves and the bodies floating back to the surface. Then they passed a law saying the bodies must be six feet under. ",
"Paris had problems of overflowing cemeteries, decomposing bodies above ground level being a health hazard. The bones were moved and stacked underground. ",
"There are alternatives to burial, mainly cremation. As cemetery space gets more scarce it gets more expensive... therefore people are more likely to choose other options.\n\nIn cases where people are willing to buy burial space despite the high cost, the money involved is enough to move graves around, expand the cemetery, or establish other cemeteries in less-populated or less-valuable areas.\n\nThese are the same reasons we \"haven't run out of houses yet\", even though the population keeps growing. There are housing shortages, and unaffordable prices, but in general it is worth building more housing, building it in less-than-ideal locations, etc... because people will take advantage of it despite those concerns. \n",
"Funeral director here. Two points: first, the cremation rate is passing 50%, and folks are choosing to be cremated then buried with family that already have graves, instead of buying their own. ",
"In Germany for example people are not embalmed prior to their burial, which would hinder or at least slow their decay rate. The casket also has to be made out of wood (instead of metal) to allow the corpse (and casket) to decay instead of being preserved for a long time.\n\nGraves do not last for ever but normally are only rented for 25 years. (This varies for some cemeteries, depending on soil type. Some soil types cause the body to decay slower (clay for example) and thus the time until a spot can be reused is longer.)\n\nAfter the normal resting time for a grave is over, the headstone is removed, and the spot can be reused.\n",
"Took an entire class on Death and Dying. Places like San Francisco (city limits) actually have no cemeteries due to the high cost of land. As others have said, stack them up. Also, the 6 foot thing isn't a thing, especially with a low water table. Some cultures still do air burials, atop cliffs and such, where the elements and animals do their thing. ",
"There are a couple of reasons.\n\nFirstly, cremation (the process of burning bodies) is becoming a much more popular method of getting rid of bodies than it used to be. Cremated ashes need less burial space than whole bodies, and many people who are cremated even choose to have their ashes spread out somewhere they used to enjoy.\n\nSince cremation is becoming more common, the need for burial space lessens.\n\nSecondly, burial land is becoming more expensive. Cemeteries, especially in larger cities, are often limited or even devoid of space to spread out to bury more bodies. As a result, buying land to be buried in gets less attractive, and people seek cheaper options that won't place as much of a financial stress on their families.\n\nThirdly, older graves in many countries are often re-used or outright replaced after so many years. Some cemeteries place a time limit on how long the grave will remain undisturbed before it is reused (10-20 years, for example). Others will outright re-use graves that have gone into disrepair --- if caretakers notice no one is visiting a gravestone anymore, and that the grave is fairly old, they'll bury a new body on top of the old one.\n\nStill others form mass graves after a certain period of time, consisting of anyone who died before a certain year. They might have one mass grave for people who died before 1900, one between 1900-1925, one before 1925-1950, and when they need new space, they'll probably move the 1950-1975 people into the mass grave that was meant for 1900 or older, as those bodies will likely have decomposed completely by that time, even if they were relatively embalmed.\n\nLastly, embalming has also become more expensive, and as a result, less people are doing it --- this makes bodies not last as long, so they're completely gone by the time that the grave is reused. Some funeral homes still want you to be embalmed for an open casket funeral, but this is a trend that is slowly disappearing as people look for cheaper alternatives.\n\nEdit: typo. Oops.",
"The only realistic option is to have the bones organs and muscles removed from the body, the skin strengthened, and filled with helium. The body can be released into the sky the way our ancestors would have wanted it.",
"Check out the bone house in Hallstatt, Austria. The village is so snug against the surrounding mountains that there is precious little space for burial. Traditionally a body might be buried for a short time, exhumed, and the bones left out in the sun to dry. Skulls would be hand painted with flowers and symbols corresponding with the person's life, including their birth and death dates. The bones are still on display in the bone house, although the last person to be celebrated in this manner died in the 80s I believe. Very cool. "
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1rjta2 | what happens in my brain, physically, that makes it harder to remember events from my childhood as i get older? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rjta2/eli5_what_happens_in_my_brain_physically_that/ | {
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"It's really interesting, actually. When you remember a memory, you're not actually remembering the event itself. What you are remembering is the last time you remembered it. As you do, you are re-writing the memory (including all of the small details you didn't remember). Each time, the memory gets less and less complete. To give you an analogy, think of it like this. Your memory is like a hedge maze. Each memory is a box that you place at some point in the maze. As time passes, the hedges grow and the vines eventually block the pathways you don't physically walk everyday. When you finally try to get to a box you haven't opened for a while, the path is blocked, so you wander around the maze for a while until you find another route to it. \n\nLink:_URL_0_"
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6ofkp6 | when drinking through a straw, why can't i sip the last of the drink? | This has always bothered me. I'd buy an expensive cup of coffee from Starbucks, drink it happily until it's time to sip the last of the coffee through the straw. The last dregs simply don't come up to my mouth, so I was wondering why.
Why is it that these last dregs can't be pulled up through the straw? I understand that if I suck through the straw quick enough, then the liquid gets pulled up the straw. Is there any reason why it wouldn't be the same for the last amounts of liquid? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ofkp6/eli5_when_drinking_through_a_straw_why_cant_i_sip/ | {
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"Straws work by creating lower air pressure in your mouth than exists outside your mouth. The air pushes the liquid up the straw. If air is able to get up the straw directly, it will without pushing the liquid. By sucking quickly, you can get the fluid to bridge the gap of the straw, but sipping doesn't create enough suction."
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5a1dkj | why do some people deal with stuffy noses on a daily basis throughout the year more than others? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5a1dkj/eli5_why_do_some_people_deal_with_stuffy_noses_on/ | {
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"Some people have allergies and 3/4 people who have allergies deal with both spring and fall allergies. The further south, the more ragweed. Ragweed is the main reason for stuffy noses right now. As November creeps in it should stop being the menace. Cold season is among us however so some people will be affected by the cold and get stuffy noses.",
"Some people has chronic allergic rhinitis (all year nasal allergies), and some people have chronic non-allergic rhinitis (persistent irritation of the nose due to other factors such as hormones, smoke, smog, certain foods, etc.). Many people who suffer from one also suffer from both or a mixture of both.\n\nAlso many people have issues such as deviated septums and enlarged turbinates. These make the actual structure of the nasal passages narrower and they feel constantly stuffy."
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1r7y4v | how did we get from the "golden age" of air travel to the current state of air travel? | Is it merely fuel prices that have caused airplanes to become glorified cattle cars? Corporate greed?
It be great to know when the quality really started dropping. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1r7y4v/eli5_how_did_we_get_from_the_golden_age_of_air/ | {
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"The golden age of air travel was also the golden age of family road trip vacations. The services were caused by minimum price regulations that placed a very high minimum price for a flight (a low priced flight across the country cost the equivalent of about $1500 today). Because it costs far less than $1500 to fly across the country, airlines competed for travellers by offering services. \n\nWhen the regulations requiring very high minimum prices were removed, airlines began removing services and lowering prices to find that most people prefer lower prices to bundled services, so they deliver the services for which the most people will pay. \n\nEdit: Corporate greed means selling the most profitable services for the most money. It's foolish and not greedy to cut services people want at prices higher than the cost of providing them. ",
"When air travel got cheap.\n\nI've flown economy long haul several times in the last few years. It's been as comfortable, relaxing and well cared for as I can ever remember air travel (Flying since the 80's).. and most importantly, it's affordable now. In particular modern aircraft are far quieter and less wearing to be on that the tri-stars of yore.",
"Deregulation.\n\nUntil the 1970s, the gov't controlled fare prices. That means airlines couldn't compete on price, so they had to compete on service. Air travel remained expensive and out of the reach of most people. \n\nThese days, consumers would rather pay $200 for a uncomfortable flight than $600 for a nice flight, and airlines are free to accomodate that choice."
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3tgc4b | the difference between the different raids on a network attached storage (nas) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tgc4b/eli5_the_difference_between_the_different_raids/ | {
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"Raid0 - file system striping. All the HDDs provide a single filesystem roughly equal in size to the combined storage of all drives. There is no backup, so if you lose a drive, you lose data. \n\nRaid 1 - drive mirroring. All HDDs (usually 2) have a complete copy of all data\n\nRaid 2/3/4 - can't remember, they *never* get used in real life \n\nRaid 5 - One filesystem crossing multiple drives (like raid0) but with parity backups. This means that you can lose \none drive and still have a complete copy of the data \n\nRaid 6 - Similar to raid 5, except you can lose two drives and still have a complete copy of your data \n\nRaid10 (ala1+0) - same as raid0 plus raid 1 \n",
"All RAID configurations are ways to combine storage from different drives into one cohesive unit. The purpose of this is either to increase the size/performance of the storage, the redundancy of the storage, or a combination of both. \n\nRAID 0 is making more than one drive into one drive, so you are increasing effective utility and size, but not redundancy. \n\nRAID 1 is all about redundancy. Everything is written exactly over on both of your drives. (Usually this is only with 2 drives.)\n\nRAID 5 and 6 are ways to incorporate some redundancy while also maximizing size and performance. You don't rewrite everything twice over, but the data distributed over 3 or more disks in such a way that the loss of one drive can be absorbed without losing data. 6 is different because you can lose 2 disks and no loss.\n\nRAID 10 is combining 1 and 0 so everything is doubled as in 1, but using the concepts of 0 for both sets of drives. This is expensive because you need double everything, but it is completely redundant.\n\nOther RAIDs are more complex and less used. More can be found [here.](_URL_0_)",
"- RAID 0: Two (or more) drives acting as one drive (the operating system sees it as a single drive). Advantage: Speed Disadvantage: No fault tolerance (one drive dies the whole thing is kaput).\n\n- RAID 1: Mirroring. Two drives where one drive is a perfect copy of the other drive. Advantage: Some speed advantage when reading, fault tolerant (if one drive dies the other can take over). Disadvantage: You lose 50% of your installed disk capacity to fault tolerance.\n\n- RAID 2, 3, 4: Not used anymore. They offered little to no advantages.\n\n- RAID 5: Striping. Three or more disks are used to form an array that looks like one disk to the operating system. A parity bit is written to the disks which allows fault tolerance. If one drive dies the system can calculate what the missing data was and rebuild it. If a second drives dies at the same time all data is lost. Advantages: Speed (read performance) and fault tolerance. Disadvantages: Minimum of three drives needed and lose some disk space (the equivalent of one of the drives) to fault tolerance but a smaller percentage than RAID 1 needs.\n\n- RAID 6: Striping. Akin to RAID 5 this uses two parity blocks instead of one. This means up to two drives can fail simultaneously and the array can stay up and rebuild the missing data. Advantages: High fault tolerance. Disadvantages: Slows write speed and greater loss of installed disk space to fault tolerance (still better than mirroring).",
"All these folks have answered it for ya. And they are right, as I have recently watched an A+ cert video on HDD raids and remember all this, lol. "
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dl36ag | what's the difference between an adverbial and a complement? | I'm having an English syntax test tomorrow, and I have no idea how to make a difference between them.
We got these examples from the teacher:
SVC - He'**s getting** angry
SVA - He **got** through the window
We will get similar sentences in the test, and we'll have to write their syntactic patterns, but I can't tell the difference between these two. I've looked it up, I know that the complement completes the meaning of the verb, but I just can't seem to understand the concept... Doesn't "through the window" complete the meaning of the verb too? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dl36ag/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_an_adverbial/ | {
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"Typically the defintion is that an adverbal is \"optional\" remove it and the sentence still makes sense. \n\nHe got through. Makes sense. \n\nHe got through *the window* so \"the window\" is an adverbial phrase. \n\nComplements, on the other hand are required for the sentence to make sense. \n\nHe is getting. Does not make sense. \n\nHe is getting *angry* therefore \"angry\" is the complement.",
"An adverbial modifies something--it gives you more information but the sentence makes grammatical sense without it. \n\nA complement is a predicate that redescribes the subject. So, in the sentence, \"The ball is blue\", \"blue\" is the complement--the ball isn't doing anything, you're just learning a detail about it's state. In your example, \"getting\" has the same function as \"is\" in mine. It tells you something about the subject's state or identity, rather than its action."
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5httwk | why is the byproduct of consuming cocaine and alcohol considered deadly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5httwk/eli5_why_is_the_byproduct_of_consuming_cocaine/ | {
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"As with most solutions introduced to your body, the circulatory system will spread solutions throughout the body, and chemicals cause different effects to different organs. Cocaethylene has several effects to the organs of your body; it creates euphoria and stimulation in the brain as a substitute for dopamine, but it also causes extreme stimulation in the heart as a substitute for adrenaline, and causes damage to the cells in your liver as it attempts to filter it out of your blood. If the heart attack doesn't kill you, liver failure eventually will. Studies also show it's degenerative to muscle tissue, and over time, it can damage your heart as well, causing palpitations, weakened valves and arteries, and blockages."
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1zmga9 | how is a digital currency created? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zmga9/eli5_how_is_a_digital_currency_created/ | {
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"Ars just posted an article on this topic today: [Behold Arscoin, our own custom cryptocurrency!](_URL_0_)."
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5ifu25 | why do people want to restrict hb-1 visas, when the companies will just outsource after the visas are restricted? | What I don't understand about the HB-1 'abuse scandal' is that if they stop tech workers being imported, then surely the companies will just export the jobs?
> I always support the concept of 'exporting jobs' over 'importing people', because I think it's more "progressive" to try develop foriegn countries without the mess of importing foriegn workers.
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ifu25/eli5why_do_people_want_to_restrict_hb1_visas_when/ | {
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"jobs that require collaboration aren't so easy to outsource, as it's like 3x more difficult to work with someone remotely esp if the time zones don't match up. the efficiency lost makes the h1b cost seem reasonable. ",
"Also employment is a requirement of an H-1B visa. So if a job should pay $120k, the company can offer it for $60k. They will be \"unable to fill the position\" and so be able to offer it to H-1B's. The H-1B holder needs to remain employed and if s/he loses their job they have a limited window to obtain a new one or they will be deported.\n\nThis all goes towards what and why the abuse happens. As for whether more jobs will be outsourced, perhaps. Some of the jobs that are frequently H-1B'd are professions that you can't reasonable outsource, such as physicians and surgeons, accountants, chemists, biologists, architects, professors, etc.\n\n\n",
"In addition to /u/jaksblaks answer... \n\nSometimes, companies get incentives in return for locating in a specific city or state and employing a certain number of people. Depending on the wording of the agreement (and corporations can afford better lawyers than local governments), H1B visa holders can count as 'residents.' This means that companies can hire H1B visa holders and avoid employing US citizens. \n\nIt creates a lot of benefits for the corporation:\n\n* Crap pay\n\n* An employee they can bully. If an H1B visa-holder complains too much or to the wrong person, they lose their job and their visa. \n\n* Employees that often don't have \"family\" to put on employee health plans or to take time off for. \n\nMy personal beef with the H1B visa program is that it's a lie. Lawmakers justified it by stating that there's a lack of technical skill in the US. That's a load of steaming bullcrap. They flat-out lied to justify it and no one called them on it. \n\n"
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5jdw21 | what technology is not present yet so we can have complex robots walking around? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jdw21/eli5what_technology_is_not_present_yet_so_we_can/ | {
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"Just walking (on two legs) is very complicated. Your brain does lots of \"calculations\" every step for you to maintain your balance, and then there's the mechanics of your foot. That is much more complicated than it appears to be.\n\nSecond, if by \"complex robots,\" you mean like in Star Wars where they understand speech, well speech comprehension is another technology that is just not there yet, as many Siri and Google Assistant users can tell you.",
"The first thing that comes to mind is energy storage. A powerful computer coupled with enough strength to walk around requires a lot of electricity. If you don't want your robot to have to be plugged in, it's going to need batteries. Batteries are heavy, necessitating more power usage to move that weight around. Power to weight ratios are getting better in batteries, but it'll be a while before you've got robots walking around. \n\nHowever, if you're willing to get rid of the walking part, things get a little easier. Consider Google's self driving cars. They're not quite ready for commercial usage, but they're fully capable of getting themselves from point A to point B without any help from a person.",
"Efficient and continous analysis.\n\nWe are subconsciously doing things like analysing the ground we step in and autobalacing ourselves. That's why babies fall when learning how to walk (besides not having the strength ofc). Even Wind can mess up with his walking\n\nEnergy / Batterie life: I dont need to explain why.\n\nAlso speech analysis may be a problem (it's fine, Siri and Google are doing it right). But the robot would need to turn the voice into steps like walking, grabbing something, check for obstacles, etc.",
"The biggest limitation by far is battery life. We haven't moved forward as fast as we'd like to in this area, there's been *plenty* of research but so far nothing that can beat lithium ion batteries.\n\nSome cool robos you might like:\n\n_URL_2_ Asimo can balance, ascend stairs and even kick soccer balls without tumbling over. His hands are very articulate too.\n\nFor practical applications: _URL_1_ Delivery robot in a hospital. _URL_0_ hotel delivery robo. You'll notice though, while these guys are smart duders with jobs...they don't have legs. They're using that bulky lower torso to house a lot of battery power so they can cruise for extended periods, and might (I'm not sure) be equipped to \"quick swap\" so one set of batteries is in the robot while the other is sitting on a base recharging.\n\n\n"
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48lta7 | what happens inside the brain when we're feeling nostalgic? also, what causes nostalgia? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/48lta7/eli5_what_happens_inside_the_brain_when_were/ | {
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"I could just nick the explanation from Vsauce, but Michael explains it so well that I have to post the [video](_URL_0_) ",
"I think it's a combination of things but specifically action within the temporal lobes. This has been proven to be the case (t lobe disruption) with deja vu. This theory has-been tested via tcmcs",
"I'm not sure that science knows exactly why, however we do know a few things...The Hippocampus in our Limbic system might be the answer as it is a part of a series of processes which take in short term memory, transfer those memories to long term, and is connected to the amygadala - who is known for processing emotions and levels of fear. The temporal lobe is known for keeping information which can help with retrieval. Keep in mind this is VERY simplified because of ELI5. I left some people out, but this is the basic idea. So, to the ELI5...\n\nSo, you have several small people working inside your head while you're awake or sleeping. These people all have different jobs; some work to make sure we're safe, some work to make sure things make sense, some have personalities, while others are aspects of our emotions. \nTwo of these people have an important jobs. One is a logistician - a person who takes information from what other people tell him, and he decides if it is important enough to keep (his name is hip). The other is a man who is completely emotional, and takes note of how we feel at a given moment (His name is amy). Amy and Hip go way back, and their friendship shares a deep connection. \nSo, when Amy senses something about the world, he sends a message to Hip. Hip has received a few other messages, but what is important is that Hip wants to file the good and bad memories so that we're safe and we have identifiers to those situations. Amy helps Hip store files that they both consider important into his shared folder, and Hips other friends (such as the guys who see, feel, etc) who have been sending him messages get tagged in the file as well. That file is now in your history, with all their relevant friends tagged, and all the important aspects covered. \nWhen you experience a moment that is similar to one of those events on file, Amy and Hip call one of their friends who has the memory (we'll call him temporal, but some other friends do a similar job as him). They all open it, and they get to have a small recollection of what made that event so special. \n\n\nMemories and Emotions are tied together very strongly, and for some people, it is not a good thing. When Amy gets hurt, Hip and Amys other friends aren't happy. Amy begins to bring up dramatic experiences, such as war, famine, disease, death and begins to over-react when things cause Hip and his friends to bring up any 'triggers'. This is PTSD - a dramatic and potent case of memory retrieval. Similarly, people who are depressed have many of their mental people tired or over-worked. It is commonly not that persons fault, and can happen because of miscommunications that happen when they talk. \n\n\nMemories and Emotions can be good though, like with just the right amount of nostalgia. If the brainiacs in your head are working together, then they sometimes bring up memories of fun times. Times when you were relaxed. You were listening to music, playing a game, talking with one of your friends... almost anything can be nostalgic if the context is right. Once you're comfortable, the team works together to store that information so that you know what it is like, and have a reference point in the future. \n\n\n*After receiving a lot of replies, maybe i should watch Inside Out. It turns out that i made something similar to their story, so that is pretty cool. \nOther people are talking about genes and why this personality quirk may have developed. Most neuroscientists and behaviorists say we develop these out of an adaptation for something - and adaptations most dominantly solve a 'problem' in their environment. It is up to speculation, but usually this introspection or reaction is for keeping us alive socially. \nAs far as the rest goes, the brain builds-itself-up (both in neurogenesis and in its evolution), so it is easy to see why the limbic system would tie together 'primal' emotions and 'complex' trains of thought and storage... they're all adjacent to each other and they all want to keep you alive and reproducing. \nWhy some people have \"good\" and \"bad\" nostalgia is usually broken down into how an individual reacts or their expectations, and the feelings that are memorized with that actual event. It turns out to be pretty personal and hard to determine. So if you dislike nostalgia, it is in your best interest to do things that aren't going to bring it up. Some people love it, some people hate it. \nIt will never feel the same, because it is two different points of view in two different time frames, with completely different perspectives. If you ask me, we just have to appreciate the fact that our brains are able to make these connections... though i do understand it is not easy at all times. I'm happy people are getting a kick out of it at least, because neuroscience and psychology are pretty cool.* \n\n\n",
"Walter White says old paths in your brain getting juiced again and it's like oh I used those before. ",
"Also check out a video by Vsauce on youtube, Why do we feel nostalgia?",
"Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.",
"Here's something fun i recently learned from a James Burke documentary: prior to proper modern medicine, back when doctors were told by patients what to do rather than being observed and diagnosed, \"nostalgia\" was considered a chronic illness, listed in the doctor handbook they all used. ",
"Man, I was thinking about this just yesterday. Once every couple of months I go on a nostalgia binge which consists of watching old TV shows and music I remember from when I was young. \n\nI get this high from nostalgia which is so difficult to explain. It's like, a deep sadness, but It's euphoric at the same time. Listening to an old TV intro brings me right back to a moment where I was sitting on the floor, watching TV without a care in the world. \n\nThen there are the TV shows I don't even remember watching, but the music/some imagery in it brings me right back to the feeling I got from watching it. Same goes for music from my past - I might of heard a certain song while, for example, sitting at a restaurant with my family. Brings me right back. \n\nMakes me wonder what nostalgia will feel like when I'm much older. When people close to me have passed and I have nothing more to look forward to... just reflecting on my past. ",
"You have come in contact with a thing that you associated with other things that used to make you feel a certain way.",
"Michael over at Vsauce may have a the [response](_URL_0_) you're looking for ",
"Why explain it when I can have Vsauce explain it way better? \n\n_URL_0_"
]
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[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coGfGmOeLjE"
],
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coGfGmOeLjE"
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[
"https://youtu.be/coGfGmOeLjE"
]
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||
1pu655 | how are people "genetically" skinny or obese? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pu655/eli5_how_are_people_genetically_skinny_or_obese/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"There are three main body types. Ectomorph, Mesomorph, Endomorph. More info is given here - _URL_0_",
"As with anything regarding the genetic components of physiology, this one's still highly debated, especially with continued research in the field of epigenetics. This is a very basic list, but genetics can determine (1) how your body stores excess energy, (2) how quickly it breaks down stored energy into useable forms, (3) how it responds to exercise, and importantly from a behavioural standpoint, (4) hunger and the need to consume energy.\n\nGenetics alone is rarely the final answer though, maintaining healthy diet and physical activity levels will have an enormous effect on body composition."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/body-types-ectomorph-mesomorph-endomorph.html"
],
[]
] |
||
1nmf1l | how did the fbi find the silk roads owner when it's anonymous? | ^See titel. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nmf1l/eli5how_did_the_fbi_find_the_silk_roads_owner/ | {
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"text": [
"The [forbes article](_URL_0_) mentions a number of clues:\n\n > The complaint also mentions security mistakes, including an IP address for a VPN server used by Ulbricht listed in the code on the Silk Road, mentions of time in the Dread Pirate Roberts’ posts on the site that identified his time zone, and postings on the Bitcoin Talk forum under the handle “altoid,” which was tied to Ulbricht’s Gmail address.\n",
"Many reasons.\n\n1. When Silk Road first came round, in order to drum up business, he posted to a few forums that did a similar thing and started advertising the site in it's early days. \n\n2. In these posts, he then further asked for assistance from someone who \"knew\" Bitcoin. He needed a good way for funds to transfer in and out of Silk Road leaving not trace of the sender and recipient.\n\n3. He put his full email address in this post, so people could contact him for more information. That was the first time that the FBI could relate someone \"high up\" in Silk Road to an email. From an email, the FBI have a great lead to go on. Even if he wasn't the owner of it, he was \"high up\" in the organisation.\n\n2. At this point, they have his email, so started researching who he was. They found his LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, and also got records on his Gmail account. Through all this they were able to get some IP addresses used to login to the accounts.\n\n3. From these IP addresses, it was apparent it was being done from a VPN server, thus it would be just sent the FBI on a goose chase.\n\n4. The FBI subpoenaed the VPN provider he was using.\n\n5. They were then able to get the IP address used to login to the VPN server, it was an internet cafe which was just a few yards away from a known address of a friend of his. This IP address was also used to login to his Gmail account a time or two. \n\n6. His ordered fake ID's to sent to his actual address. They were intercepted. The Homeland Security guys then got into their car and went to this address to question the guy. It was our dear friend Ross.\n\n7. It became apparent the fake ID's were being used to purchase more servers for Silk Road. Since they were fake ID's, when he purchased them, there would be no trace back to him.\n\n8. He posted to [StackOverflow](_URL_1_). This site is used for many programmers and web developers for solutions and advice on programming problems. He posted asking for help on how to connect to a hidden TOR website using cURL. It's not too relevant on what technologies he used for this, it's more the fact that he posted there.\n\n9. In this post, his original post referenced a TOR website URL that links directly to Silk Road.\n\n10. In this post, his original post was posted by a user called Ross Ulbricht. He changed this straight after posting and noticing his mistake, but the problem is by that point the damage had been done. He changed his named to \"frosty\".\n\n11. The [deleted answers](_URL_0_) in his post explicitly reference people refusing to help him because they tested where the link goes and found it went to Silk Road and didn't want to help someone working with them.\n\n12. Even though he changed his name to frosty, the FBI found many many references to frosty all over his servers and physical emails. \n\n13. The code in that StackOverflow post is within Silk Road's source. \n\n14. Although not out of the realms of possibility, the FBI put 2 and 2 together and realised \"frosty\" = \"Ross Ulbricht\".\n\n15. With the above, it was clear to see that whether or not he was the owner, he was clearly the *administrator* of Silk Road.\n\nTLDR: He fucked up. He made an electronic paper trial back to him."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/10/02/end-of-the-silk-road-fbi-busts-the-webs-biggest-anonymous-drug-black-market/"
],
[
"http://i.imgur.com/g9zlBd2.jpg",
"http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15445285/how-can-i-connect-to-a-tor-hidden-service-using-curl-in-php"
]
] |
|
9ltpc8 | why are the fuel prices and the us dollar rate at an all time high in india? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9ltpc8/eli5_why_are_the_fuel_prices_and_the_us_dollar/ | {
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"text": [
"The reson that they both are high is that fuel is traded in US Dollar. So the cost of the fuel will increase if the value of your currency changes compared to the dollar. That is even if the cost of oil stay the same on the world market because the price is set in dollar. So the current world maker price of oil and the exchange rate of the Indian rupee to the US Dollar result in all time high fuel prices. The world market price of oil is relative independent of the economy of India. It might change a bit if India import more or less as India uses 5% of the oil in the world.\n\n\nThe question why the Indian rupee exchange rate to the dollar is another question that I can't answer. \n\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
dl28j7 | how can algae think / move / live without brains or nervous systems? | In "Teaching a Stone to Talk", a collection of essays by Annie Dillard, she writes that "the translucent strands of algae you see under a microscope - Spirogya, Oscillatoria, Cladophora - move of their own accord, no one knows how or why".
Does anyone have explanations for how they can live - flee danger, eat, signal using chemicals, etc - without a brain or central nervous systems? They are alive, but it seems as close to being dead as you can get, and I don't understand it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dl28j7/eli5_how_can_algae_think_move_live_without_brains/ | {
"a_id": [
"f4ly8aa",
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Moving doesn't require thinking. Living doesn't require moving (talk to the trees about it).\n\nWhen a sunflower bends toward the light it is moving, but not thinking. A cleaver hardware system has that property.\n\nThinking is one of the least common solutions to the problem of life and movement.",
"First off, many lifeforms have no brain or central nervous system: All plants, all fungi, all bacteria, some animals, and another class of single-celled creatures called \"archaea\". They go about their brainless lives just fine, yet still they manage to perceive their environment and react to it. How does this work? While our brains use multiple interconnected cells (neurons) to perceive/react, brainless creatures use multiple interconnected molecules to do a similar job at a smaller scale.\n\nThe details are complicated and as you can imagine many lifeforms use different systems to accomplish the same job. The best understood example is bacterial chemotaxis - that's the process where bacteria detect yummy/icky molecules and swim towards/away from them. Bacteria detect yummy/icky molecules via large protein molecules called \"receptors\" that can grab smaller molecules. If they do grab one, the receptor moves which causes other \"second messenger\" molecules inside the cell to move as well. The relay molecules then bump into giant \"motor\" molecules which cause the bacterium to swim.\n\nIt's kinda like communication in a submarine: One person is looking through the peephole (receptor). When the person on lookout sees something, they relay this information to another person (second messenger), who runs to the pilot and tells them to drive the submarine (motor).\n\n**TL;DR: While our brains use multiple interconnected cells (neurons) to perceive/react, brainless creatures use multiple interconnected molecules to do a similar job at a smaller scale.**"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
1t04f5 | the decline of the japanese economy | So from what I gather the aging population and declining birth rate is causing not enough people to be in the workforce? So why don't they allow outside workers to immigrate and fill some of the gaps, maybe even instilling incentives to do so. On the other hand some of the Scandinavian countries have extremely small populations and are of similar geological size, and make out fine, so why can't japan? Lastly what is the reason for the large birth rate decline? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1t04f5/eli5_the_decline_of_the_japanese_economy/ | {
"a_id": [
"ce2zp7r",
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"text": [
"In Japan a thing called \"Stagnation\" is happening, it economy is reducing because of a lack of people. A clever thing which they could do is to encourage immigrates, but the cost of living in Japan is very high. Inflation depends on a growth of population.",
"* Japan has very strict immigration laws that prevent immigration. Last time I mentioned this on Reddit, I was told I was essentially saying Japan is racist and various people agreed/disagreed with me. Whether you consider wanting to have a homogenous population as a form of racism is up to you. The fact remains that they've never been welcoming of immigrants, skilled or unskilled. \n\n* [Economic stagnation over the years have meant that having a family doesn't look financially attractive.](_URL_1_) Japan has a huge seniority system, which puts a damper on having young, dynamic individuals rising up in the ranks (allowing them to afford to have children), especially since the older generation doesn't want to retire because of economic stagnation. It's a vicious cycle.\n\n* [Some people aren't interested in the other gender or having sex at all.](_URL_0_) The reasons vary, from not wanting to deal with emotional entanglement, being career focused (both genders), or being reclusive (shut ins). The guardian article I linked is interesting, but the author does make some bad points such as equating sex with love, saying Japan isn't religious?!?\n\n\nThat's a summary of what is preventing a turnaround. To know WHY it occurred in the first place (i.e. what caused the economic downturn), that takes more explanation. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex",
"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/without-babies-can-japan-survive.html?_r=0"
]
] |
|
8gd0nq | in car racing, how do they keep the cars organized into a clearly defined "front" of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc when the cars are constantly doing pit stops? | It seems like it would be all jumbled up. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8gd0nq/eli5_in_car_racing_how_do_they_keep_the_cars/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"These days, usually by GPS tracking. In earlier times with well trained marshals at key points on the circuit.\n\nOn some of the older (and now disused) very long circuits in Europe this could lead to significant chunks of the track being effectively unmonitored - so if a driver had a crash in one, it could take ages before anyone realised he had gone missing.\n\nPit stops were actually relatively easy to monitor, because that's where most of the people are.",
"If you go into a pit stop and another car that is still racing overtakes you than you lose that place\n\nSo if you are in first and go for a pit stop and the cars in 2nd and 3rd skip the pit stop and go past you, you'll be in 3rd place when you come out of the pit stop\n\nTiming your pit stops is a big part of the strategy in car racing because every car needs to do them, but when you do them \\(and how quickly\\) can have a major impact on where you finish in a race"
]
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[],
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121awa | why globalization is bad for america, and why it's good for china and india? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/121awa/eli5_why_globalization_is_bad_for_america_and_why/ | {
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"text": [
"Globalization will eventually make things more equal between countries, Americans have it better than Indians and Chinese people. ",
"Globalization means that everybody gets to play with the toys in the sandbox. The way it used to be is that the American children would make sandcastles and sell them to all the other children. American manufacturing was second-to-none after WWII (mostly due to the absolute destruction of other industrialized nations in Europe). With globalization, the Chinese children and Indian children now have access to those toys in the sandbox and are willing to sell their sandcastles at a much lower cost than the American children (mainly due to differences in currency exchange rates and quality of life). Originally, the Chinese children and Indian children could not produce sandcastles that were the same quality as American sandcastles, but they were MUCH cheaper. As time has gone on, the Chinese and Indian children have become much better at making sandcastles, and prices haven't risen as much. Many of those interested in sandcastles have, therefore, gone to Indian and Chinese children to build sandcastles that are roughly the same quality as American sandcastles - they are getting a similar product at a much lower cost. Since this trend has begun, there has been an explosion of the middle class in India, and emerging markets like India and China are the fastest growing in the world. It's not just India and China, though, globalization will see a rise in GDP (and therefore, lifestyle) for all of the third world. The breaking point will come when Indian and Chinese children begin demanding the same amount per sandcastle as American children demand.",
"It benefits everyone. In the book Post-America World, the author argued that it is not the demise of the US, but rather the rise of everyone else. Even though the US is losing manufacturing jobs, we shouldn't be manufacturing simple household items anyway since we have the ability to develop much more advanced industries such as information technology and leave the manufacturing jobs to countries with large and cheap unskilled labor force. This is called [comparative advantage](_URL_0_). ",
"As someone who works in the International Relations/Foreign Trade field, your original question is not the 100% agreed upon consensus that many people think it is. Globalisation has been excellent for America in some ways, and catastrophic for China and India in other ways. It's an ever-changing phenomenon that has a big list of pros and cons for every country involved. \n\nYou could argue that it might take away American jobs, but globalisation (which America has pushed for more ruthlessly than anyone else) has also helped to make America the country it is today. Globalisation has satisfied America's never-ending thirst for consumption and cheap non-durable goods. It's also allowed America to manipulate the global economy and maintain economic power over nations through avenues such as the IMF and the World Bank. Many suggest that the UN is one of the biggest by-products of globalisation, and that America has benefited greatly from being central to UN policy and decision making. \n\nConversely, whilst many would suggest globalisation has grown the economies of India and China to unprecedented heights, the affect of their increased manufacturing industries has had enormous social and environment consequences. Do some research of wealth distribution in rapidly industrialising nations and also have a look at things like the pollution haven hypothesis and the effects of increased migration into urban areas. "
]
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[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage"
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||
3n0uzg | why don't american police simply say, "yes, you are being detained"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3n0uzg/eli5_why_dont_american_police_simply_say_yes_you/ | {
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"text": [
"They will, if you are being detained.\n\nThey won't if you aren't.\n\nBeing detained comes with a specific set of rules and limitations, so people would like to avoid detaining and being detained unless necessary, it's just easier that way.",
"Sometimes police are deliberately vague about your status, because once you are detained, certain laws come into effect that can limit what police are allowed to do.\n\nPolice need reasonable suspicion in order to detain someone. There must be \"specific and articulable facts\" that would indicate you were involved in a crime...if they don't have that, detaining someone is unlawful. They can face legal consequences and any evidence they might obtain could be ruled inadmissible. \n\nOnce you are detained, the encounter becomes a what is called a Terry Stop (after *Terry v. Ohio*, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)). The police are allowed to \"briefly\" detain you in order find probable cause a crime has been committed, which would be grounds for arrest. Briefly isn't specifically defined by the Terry ruling, but is generally understood to be around 15 minutes. If the duration becomes unreasonably long, it becomes unlawful as before.\n\nFinally, while this doesn't make a legal difference, a police office saying \"yes, you are being detained\" sends a very clear message you are being investigated for a crime, and should be your cue to invoke your right to remain silent and ask for an attorney.",
"Officers will not necessarily tell you you are being detained\n\nAn officer needs to have reasonable suspicion that crime is afoot and that you are connected with it to detain you\n\nGenerally an officer will create a situation in which you feel detained but which a \"reasonable person under the circumstances would not feel detained\" so that you don't just walk away\n\nAn officer will not tell you you are detained to protect himself, the officer may think he has the right to detain but he may not be sure so if he does not say you are detained the prosecutor can always make the argument you weren't being detained until after the officer obtained reasonable suspicion through a \"consensual encounter\" with you \n\nTHUS If you have doubt of whether you are being detained you should ask, if the officer says no walk away",
"**Arresting** someone means that they have to physically restrain you. There was a case that clarified this when a police officer yelled at someone across the street that they were under arrest and then charged him with evading arrest. The charges were dismissed and the court ruled that it's not an arrest unless it can be enforced physically. You can't just yell it over the phone or something. An arrest can result in significant personal violation and therefore there are several rights that arise (ie Miranda in the US) The standard for arrest is **probable cause.**\n\nBeing **detained** is a different matter, the courts have held that having a gun toting, uniformed police officer tell you that you can't leave does count as being detained if it's reasonable to assume that they can and will physically enforce it, even if they don't actually use the words \"detained\". Being detained allows the officer to question you and perform minimally invasive searches (ie metal detector or breathalyzer yes, body cavity search or blood sample no). The standard for being able to detain someone is much lower than arrest: **reasonable suspicion.**\n\nThe point of a detention of to allow the officer to figure out whether there is enough evidence to go from reasonable suspicion to probable cause, or to remove reasonable suspicion.\n\nIf they don't have reasonable suspicion, then they can't detain you. Not providing information you do not have to provide does **not** count as reasonable suspicion.\n\nCarrying a weapon at looks similar to a banned weapon (ie a pellet gun that looks like a fully automatic rifle) is reasonable suspicion. However as soon as it's shown that the weapon is lawful, the detention is supposed to be ended.\n\n"
]
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||
1ush4n | the earth spins at roughly 1000mph. why can't we use this fact to travel super fast by just hovering in a plane or chopper, and letting the world spin underneath us? or going double-fast by flying in the opposite direction to the spin? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ush4n/eli5_the_earth_spins_at_roughly_1000mph_why_cant/ | {
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"text": [
"Because the air is traveling with you at the same speed carrying you along with the rotation.",
"Picture the chopper on the ground, it isn't moving relative to the surface is it? Now imagine it hovering a metre off the ground, is it one second later going to be a 1/4 of a mile away? Obviously not. This is because the chopper is moving with the Earth's rotation, as is everything else around you. In order to just hover up and have the Earth pass beneath you, you first have to start accelerating against the direction of the Earth's spin. \n\nYou can do it, but it isn't a trick to quick transport.",
"It's possible when outside the atmosphere.",
"Jump up.\n\nYou were just traveling faster than the speed of sound.\n\nBut you didn't feel it because everything around you is traveling at the same speed.\n\nImagine a bunch of objects falling out of the sky. Thousands of them. And you are in the middle.\n\nEverything is falling at the same speed. It would look like everything is standing still from your point of view.\n\nReach out and grab a teddy bear and hold it tight. When you let go of the teddy bear it simply moves away from you. In reality you both are moving very fast and at the same speed.\n\nCue splat."
]
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[],
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[],
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||
37rkzj | now that the uk banks, barclays, rbs etc have been fined, where does the money go? | So the banks have been fines billions for fiddling with the stock exchange and other shady practices. Where does that money go? Who is responsible for managing it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37rkzj/eli5_now_that_the_uk_banks_barclays_rbs_etc_have/ | {
"a_id": [
"crppfe2"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The money goes to the government to distribute to charities. _URL_0_"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.wsj.com/articles/englands-bank-fines-are-a-boon-for-a-happy-few-1432919125"
]
] |
|
bjq3v9 | how do air fryers work? don't you need oil to fry foods? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bjq3v9/eli5_how_do_air_fryers_work_dont_you_need_oil_to/ | {
"a_id": [
"ema9qku"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"it's like a high powered convection oven. you still need some oil. your normal oven doesn't get hot enough to do it and circulate the air fast enough. it's like if you turn on the boiler setting you can get some crispiness from stuff, but now imagine that all around your food."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
2iot5l | black hole density | Black holes are collapsed stars. Stars have a specific mass. Then how can black holes have infinate density? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2iot5l/eli5_black_hole_density/ | {
"a_id": [
"cl41lbp"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Because they are speculated to occupy effectively zero volume.\n\nIt should be noted this refers to the singularity itself. the average density of a black hole including its event horizon is not necessarily infinite, some supermassive blackholes measured in this way are less dense than water."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
2ksmpk | do dogs understand the concept of travelling by car? | My dog loves to take car trips, but does she understand that we are actually travelling vast distances? Or if we use the elevator, does she understand that we have actually ascended/descended to another floor? Or does a dog just go all "whoa, everything looks different" when it leaves the vehicle? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ksmpk/eli5_do_dogs_understand_the_concept_of_travelling/ | {
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16,
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"text": [
"ELI5: can humans know what concepts dogs understand?",
"My dog seems to understand the concept that the car travels but does not seem particularly aware that I'm the one controlling what the car does. ",
"I'm not sure if he completely understand that we're moving without making any movement, but he is able to recognize places and get excited or sad depending on where we are. \n\nFor example, he goes crazy when we get next to our neighborhood, but can be really stressed when I'm next to the vet street. ",
"Probably. Some dogs in Russia have learned how to travel by the underground."
]
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[],
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|
e9gyjc | why is microsd cards affordable and have high capacity of upto 1 tb and very small compared to ssd and hdd? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e9gyjc/eli5_why_is_microsd_cards_affordable_and_have/ | {
"a_id": [
"faiuyxs",
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"text": [
"The size is more based on the usage. MicroSD cards are designed for small electronics, stuff like phones and cameras. SSDs and HDDs are meant for laptops and desktop computers. They don't need to be as small, they're for larger electronics. This makes them cheaper (the smaller something is the harder it is to make) and allows SSDs to be faster and use better memory management than a MicroSD card. It also allows them (HDDs in particular) to have a lot more storage, you can't get an SSD or HDD that has 8 gb of storage while you can get a microSD card that small.\n\nAs for affordable, we've gotten really really good at making small transistors for really cheap. But that's also true for SSDs and HDDs. MicroSD cards are actually pricey compared to the others (once size stops being a factor). Here's the cost of 1Tb of memory.\n\nMicroSD: $250\n\nSSD: $90\n\nHDD: $40",
"Micro SD is really good at being small, but not great at being the things a typical SSD or HDD is good at. Most notably, the microSD isn't good at doing lots of things simultaneously, or in queue (quasi-simultaneously). If you think of the uses of micro SD it's usually just _storage_ on devices that use that storage for one thing at a time. For a SSD you are running lots of applications at the same time, or maybe you're a server handling thousands of nearly simultaneous web requests. The capacity to read and write rapidly and efficiently and in parallel and buffer large amounts of data is not something a microSD card is good at."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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] |
||
7x68rm | how do olympians who compete in sports that require very elaborate facilities like luge or ski jumping train? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7x68rm/eli5_how_do_olympians_who_compete_in_sports_that/ | {
"a_id": [
"du5todd"
],
"score": [
2
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"text": [
"[There are more ski jumping hills then you'd think](_URL_0_).\n\nThey do what other athletes do in Olympic off years. Train, compete, and hone their skills all over the world."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ski_jumping_hills#United_States"
]
] |
||
56ooiq | how do we know what is in the observable universe. | [For a better understanding of what I mean.](_URL_0_)
Seriously, how do we know that it's there? How do we know what's there? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/56ooiq/eli5_how_do_we_know_what_is_in_the_observable/ | {
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"By looking at it. We can and have observed most of the things in that flash tool and the extremely small things we have theorized to exist and the mathematics of how the universe behaves sure acts like they're there."
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5j264i | why is friends popular and loved in a way no other sitcom is? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5j264i/eli5_why_is_friends_popular_and_loved_in_a_way_no/ | {
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"Probably because it was the first sitcom of its kind and the first major sitcom some people watched ",
"Average Seinfeld viewers per season: 26.6 million\nAverage Friends viewers per season: 23.6 million\nSeinfeld series finale: 76.3 million\nFriends Series finale: 52.5 million\nEmmy nominations/wins for Seinfeld: 68/10\nEmmy nominations/wins for friends: 64/7 \nObviously ratings and award shows aren't everything, and those numbers are fairly close, but those statistics do disqualify friends being seen as a show that's \"*popular and loved in a way no other sitcom is*\""
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22l0kf | what is heartbleed and what should i do to protect myself? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22l0kf/eli5_what_is_heartbleed_and_what_should_i_do_to/ | {
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"It's a security vulnerability for servers running OpenSSL, which is a very popular software package for secure data transmission (in practical terms, think of websites that run https).\n\nThe problem was patched almost as soon as it was announced, but there's no guarantee that every server running the software will update promptly. Even worse, there's a (small) chance that a server's private data may be compromised, potentially including user passwords, session keys, or private authentication keys that could be useful to impersonate the server.\n\nAt my work, today, we patched every server we can get our hands on and cycled private keys. Some services also expired all user sessions (forcing everyone to log back in).\n\nAs an end user, you aren't very exposed unless you do business with an affected server. Make sure your software is updated, change your passwords if you like. Email your bank if it helps you feel comfortable.",
"Let's say that you and a friend are passing notes in class. You want those notes to be totally private, so you and your friend come up with a secret code that only the two of you know. Every note you pass is written in code, and even if your teacher grabbed every single one of them, he wouldn't be able to figure out what they said. That's a very ELI5 version of encryption.\n\nBut now let's imagine that every time your friend opens that note in class, your teacher can see a tiny chunk of it - maybe only a few letters or numbers. And let's say that because your code is so complicated, your friend has another piece of paper on his desk (called the \"key\") that he can reference to actually translate from the coded note to plain text. Now, your friend is really stealthy, so he does his absolute best to hide the \"key\" under his desk so that nobody but him can see it.\n\nHeartbleed is the equivalent of your teacher having super vision that allows him to see tiny bits of both the notes you pass AND the piece of paper that tells your friend how to translate the message - **even though your friend is doing his best to hide everything**. Your teacher can only catch the tiniest glimpse of those things, but after enough time, he can piece together big chunks of your notes but also (perhaps) the entire \"key\" that your friend uses to translate your messages. \n\nIf your teacher writes down everything he sees - both messages and the \"key\" - for long enough, he can eventually crack the code and read every single note that you have ever passed to your friend using that \"key\". It's important to note that your teacher would REALLY have to put a lot of effort into this in the \"real world\" of the internet, because you and your friend would be among **billions** of pairs of kids in class passing notes. But it's still possible, because your teacher has lots of eyes.\n\n(In this example, you are you, and your friend is your bank or something - and the note you're passing contains your Social Security number, date of birth, bank account number, and list of your fears)\n\nIn non-ELI5 terms, the best things you can do to protect yourself include:\n\n* Change all of your passwords to your online accounts - this will not fix the \"read every single note that you have ever passed to your friend\" part, but it will protect you in the future\n* Check with your financial institutions to determine if anything out of the ordinary has appeared - this may protect you from past fraud that has occurred due to Heartbleed exploits\n* If possible, request new accounts, cards, etc. from your financial institutions - this will protect you from a bad guy trying to use your old data that he got via Heartbleed exploits\n\nEDIT: Never thought I'd say this, but thanks for the gold!\n\n",
"This video by Tom Scott explains its really well\n_URL_0_",
"Today's xkcd comic explains Heartbleed very well. _URL_0_",
"Since none of the previous explanations actually explained how the Heartbleed bug works, instead offering a very superficial and vague explanation, here is a better way to explain what the Heartbleed bug is:\n\nImagine your friend (the server), receives notes from a lot of people in the class, because he is very popular and everyone wants to share secrets with him. To ensure that your friend is going to receive your note, you have to make sure he is paying attention at all times. You do this by sending him a small piece of paper with the word \"BACON\", and you tell him to put that little piece of paper in the middle of his desk and reply to you this 5 letter word. Your friend then puts this piece of paper where you told him to, freeing up a little space on his desk so it won't cover up anything important, looks at the start of the paper, counts 5 letters then replies \"BACON\". Good, you know your friend is paying attention and you can go on to pass him the real note. This, in technical terms, is called a \"Heartbeat\", which is where the bug takes its name from.\n\nThe cause of the bug arises from the fact that you can tell your friend that little piece of paper contains any number of letters you want, and he's too stupid to figure out that it is a problem. So you can hand him that little paper with \"BACON\" on it and tell him to reply to you that 500 letter word. Your friend isn't smart enough to figure out that the paper you sent him has only 5 letters in it, so he puts it in the middle of the desk, right next to the other notes, goes to the start of the paper, and when he reaches the end of the word \"BACON\", he starts reading back to you what the note right next to it says, which might be any kind of information that your classmates passed to your friend. He does this until he reaches the 500th letter.\n\nThe second problem arises from the fact that you can tell him to put that little piece of paper wherever you want, so if you want to read notes from another part of his desk, you can write BACON again, hand it to him, tell him to put it next to the edge of his desk and read this 500 letter word and he will now be reading you information from another part of the desk.\n\nYou can do this over and over again until you have a pretty good chunk of all the notes your classmates passed to him.\n\nThe entire reason this bug exists is because whoever wrote the code in the software that handles the note passing didn't put a function to verify if the little \"attention grabbing\" paper actually contains the number of letters you are claiming it contains. After this was fixed, the bug was gone.\n\nTo protect yourself, check if nothing abnormal happened to any of your accounts and change all the passwords. Some services might not advertised that they were vulnerable, so it's better to change every password regardless of warnings from the service."
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2zm9jt | why aren't commercial airships more popular? | I'm well aware that planes are better for transport, but what I don't understand is why airships aren't used more often for sightseeing purposes. It would be great to take a dinner airship tour around the skyline of a city, and i'm surprised no company has capitalized on this yet. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2zm9jt/eli5_why_arent_commercial_airships_more_popular/ | {
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" they are slow, require large areas for landing and storage, too susceptible to high winds, hydrogen too flammable, helium too expensive.",
"I think although modern helium dirigibles are much safer and more fuel efficient than they've ever been, that stigma surrounding the hindenberg crash still makes people fearful. \n"
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1u313l | why has science not invented a viable zero calorie fat replacement similar to low calorie sugar substitutes? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1u313l/why_has_science_not_invented_a_viable_zero/ | {
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"They did a few years back. It was called Olestra, and it was supposed to change the way we eat (or so they claimed). Basically, the stuff was a fat-substitute that the body simply wasn't able to absorb or digest, so it was just passed through the body. Unfortunately, a problem arose with the stuff because you were basically passing an fat-like compound, which is like an oil...which acts like a lubricant in your large bowels.\n\nThe stuff fell out of popularity when the side-effects of anal leakage became widely known."
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2eiysz | how exactly does the french foreign legion work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2eiysz/eli5how_exactly_does_the_french_foreign_legion/ | {
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"It works pretty similar to that of any other countries military service; although the enlistment criteria is different. Usually a specific countries military will only taken citizens of that respective country. The FFL differs in that it will take recruits from pretty much any country, with a criminal history. The initial 'recruitment' process is very simple and if you were to join it's simply about turning up to a recruitment center, say Marseilles, and off you go to do your fitness and medical tests. If you pass you'll then be shipped of to basic training under a 5 year term. At the time of signing your contract you will have been given the opportunity to undertake a new identity or keep your existing identity. This is part of a tradition that the FFL still does and is often romanticized by multinationals that have a tarnished criminal record. If you choose to take the new identity route then you will not be allowed to take leave (out of France) during the 5 year period. If you keep your identity then you will be afforded international leave. Once you have passed basic training you will have the choice to join one of 10 units ranging from artillery, admin to special forces.\n\nAt the end of your 5 year service - you will be offered the chance to leave the FFL with your new identity and become a naturalized French Citizen. A new life, clean slate - so to speak. \n\nThe FFL serves in a great ranging amount of countries and has had a part to play in an equally great ranging amount of conflicts. \n\nThe FFL is not for the faint hearted and is a reputable force, although there is a typical critique from equal or regiments, forces that have a more advanced training. This is something that happens across the world and opinion differs on how 'elite' certain regiments are. \n\nTraditionally the FFL was a safe haven for criminals and literally an opportunity to start their lives afresh - inline with my above statement however, a lot of recruits underestimated what was required of them and went AWOL and absconded. Only to further go on the run. \n\nNowadays you cannot join the FFL if you have commited murder and/or are wanted by INTERPOL. Although the FFL have stopped serious offenders from joining they still have pretty lax guidelines when it comes to criminal offences. \n\nObviously whilst doing you service you'll be afforded accommodation, food and equipment. After 4 months of training you can leave base in your free time - you'll get 45 holidays a year and the pay, is, well - maybe not so good. \n\nYour question is pretty broad and there are plenty of informational sites detailing the actuall history of the legion. Bears Grylls did a fantastic documentary and, of course, there's the official website. None of which are linked here as I am on my phone. \n\nHope my brief overview helps. \n\nSOURCE - Had a breakdown and nearly joined the FFL"
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5pm8ys | what property of most microwavable food containers makes them microwavable, and what health hazards are are there in using non-microwavable containers to heat up food? | ELI5: What property of most microwavable food containers makes them microwavable, and what health hazards are there in using non-microwavable containers to heat up food? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5pm8ys/eli5_what_property_of_most_microwavable_food/ | {
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"For a container to be labelled \"microwave safe,\" it has to undergo a series of FDA-approved tests to ensure the chemicals in the plastic don't leach off onto the food. This has less to do with it being in the microwave and more to do with the heat the container will experience with heated food inside of it. The levels considered safe are a couple orders of magnitude lower than levels shown to cause health problems in lab tests. \n\nA container not labelled as microwave safe may actually be safe, it just wasn't tested by the manufacturer - say, you use a container not made for food, but it's made out of a food-safe plastic. Or it could leach some plastic chemicals in the food but still be safe. Or not safe. Or it could just melt from the heat."
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760ow9 | if you somehow broke a bone in space, would your bones be floating in your body? what would happen to the blood? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/760ow9/eli5_if_you_somehow_broke_a_bone_in_space_would/ | {
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"Your bones would stay put, and you'd be relatively fine as long as it wasn't a compound fracture where skin is broken. Also, u/mmm3says is correct about edema and exercise. I've never had a broken bone, so I tend to forget about such complications, but as an anatomy student I can't really afford that.",
"Edema would be worse (Can't elevate it to relive it either). Immobilizing it easier. But bones in space get weaker without loads being put on them. So I doubt bone repair would go well, because you can't exercise a broken arm. ",
"When you break a bone you don't gain space in your body for the bone to \"float\". It would behave almost exactly as in earth, with the added advantage being that since things \"weigh\" less you would probably have a easier time moving with a broken leg or lifting something with a broken arm."
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2laxop | how come it takes hours to digest food, probably a long time to get to your intestines as well, but you feel more energized almost immediately after you eat? | Shouldnt you remain hungry and low energy until after your stomach has fully dissolved the food and then your intestines manage to absorb some of the nutrients? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2laxop/eli5_how_come_it_takes_hours_to_digest_food/ | {
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"You stop feeling hungry because your stomach is physically filled. \n\nAs to getting energy, many do not feel energized immediately after eating. In fact many feel lethargic and want to take a nap. ",
"Food does not take that long to get to your small intestine, where nutrient absorbtion takes place.\n\nIn particular, dissolvable nutrients or those already dissolved like sugar in juice will just go through exceptionally quickly. Also, more refined sugars will get into the bloodstream within minutes. This is why juices are so effective at reversing the effects of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) in diabetics.\n\nThe other factor is that the simple act of tasting food and filling your belly causes hormones to be released. I presume most are just appetite regulators that you don't necessarily \"feel\" but it also releases endorphins, which cause a feeling of pleasure and \"energy\".",
"There are also glucose (sugar) receptors in your mouth, this tells the body nutrients are on their way",
"The burst of energy doesn't come from your stomach but from your tongue.\n\n\nIf you have not consumed food in some time, your brain sends hormones to your body that signal it to conserve energy. When you ingest food, your tongue sends a signal to your brain that says you just ate something. Your brain, aware that you will soon have more sugar to replace any sugar that you will burn in the near future, signals your body to freely consume sugar.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThis isn't covered in that article, but experiments done on endurance athletes have shown that if you inject an athlete with sugar, their performance degrades just as it would if no sugar was injected, but if you orally administer sugar, their performance improves.\n\nOn a related note, similar pathways are thought to cause the weight gain seen in people who consume artificially sweetened beverages. The lack of sugar entering the blood stream after the tongue tastes sugar makes the brain distrust signals sent by the tongue. This distrust weakens the tongues ability to regulate energy levels and consumption, leading to less energy and increased food intake.\n",
"Do you feel kind of sluggish a few hours after eating, but then feel better after eating some carbs? You might have some budding hypoglycemia or possibly even insulin resistance issues (CYA notice, I am not a doctor). \n\nFeeling tired/ sluggish is a common symptom of low blood glucose. Simple sugars and refined starches will hit the bloodstream minutes after eating. This temporarily corrects the low blood sugar, making you feel more energized. "
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2r87ri | why do people say radio waves are harmfull to the human brain if it has a lower frequency than visible light? | So I'm doing high school physics, and I was wondering why do medical people say radio waves from phones are harmful to your brain, but visible light has a higher frequency than radio waves? That means the penetration ability of a radio wave is less than visible light, correct me if I'm wrong. So why doesn't visible light harm the brain but radio waves do? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r87ri/eli5_why_do_people_say_radio_waves_are_harmfull/ | {
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"The whole \"radio waves can harm you,\" thing is not an accepted health risk in the general medical community. Those who do say it are generally conspiracy theorists and/or people who don't understand the basis of how cell phones actually work."
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1l0ke3 | what's the point of being a philosophy major? | As a philosophy major, I find this question more difficult to approach than almost all others. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1l0ke3/eli5_whats_the_point_of_being_a_philosophy_major/ | {
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"Whats the point in studying anything. personal improvement.",
"Philosophy teaches critical reasoning and communication skills, both of which are very important in the real world. A lot of philosophy majors end up going to law school because the skillset is very similar; a lawyer is just a modern day sophist, after all.\n\nAre you ever going to need to explain Descartes in the real world? No, of course not. However, the training you had to get you to the point where you can explain it is applicable to more than just philosophy.",
"Why does anyone major in anything? I think at its core, people make the decision that devoting 4+ years of their life to learning about a concept will make them better-off than if they spent those 4+ years doing something else. The \"better-off\" obviously holds many different meanings to many different people, it could be having knowledge for the sake of knowledge, better position to be employed in the field that they want to be employed in, etc."
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31abzh | how are websites made | Understand that there is HTML involved and maybe JavaScript or CSS but I don't understand what they mean and what the relationship between them is
How do servers play a role? Why do we need web hosting? what are domain names? What makes a website like Facebook or Google complicated compared to a website a middle school kid made in class.
Hopefully someone can explain all that or point me to the right resources. I feel not a lot of people know how the internet and websites work and they are such an integral part of society. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31abzh/eli5_how_are_websites_made/ | {
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"You've asked a very large question. But I'll give it a shot. \n\nHtml and css are the building blocks of Web pages. Css is the style of the page like colors, spacing, etc. Html is the structure. \n\nA server serves up an html page to a user when the user requests it. The user can then modify info and send something back to the server. The server does stuff with that info and sends a new page back. This repeats over and over till you leave the site.\n\nA domain name is basically an address for the server. There is some complicated mapping that occurs through a DNS that translates the ip address of the server (numbers like 127.0.0.1) to words that we can recognize and remember easier.\n\nThe difference between what google does and a high school kid is drastic. The scale at which google operates is just not possible for an individual. But basically google has to maintain a lot of equipment and data structures/databases while maintaining security, usability, and am overall enjoyable experience. \n\nThe real bread and butter of what google does is how fast they can send those pages back and forth. Take google docs for example. As two people type the letters show up instantly. There is soooo much going on there that I can't explain in this alone. But basically google maintains such a high quality product that takes hundreds of people to get working. A lone developer can do cool stuff like Google docs. But most projects quickly require a team of people to work on it to make deadlines.\n\nI have simplified this for brevity. There are dozens of Web languages, different kinds of servers, front end apps, back end api interfaces and all that takes years to learn. And decades to master. Which is why those who have no idea how basic tech things work don't bother to learn it.\n\nEdit: forgot to explain the 'internet' part of the internet. Basically all these servers can talk to each other and pass info anywhere in the world to the computer requesting it. They are all INTER connected like a NET. Get it, internet :P",
"1. We agreed on a way to \"speak\" HTML a while ago. Granted it wasn't very good. But if I say \"img src\" it means I'm showing an image, and it's universally accepted everywhere in the world. So anyone in the world can describe what makes up a web page, piece by piece, picture by picture, paragraph by paragraph. It's quite verbose (hit CTRL+U and try reading it all outloud) but luckily computers are fast and can read it + convert it in a fraction of a second.\n\n2. Servers and web hosting is a place you can visit and have someone describe a webpage to you. Domain names are a way to find these servers, like a phone book, translating a bunch of numbers (the actual address) to something you can remember (_URL_0_). There's a really intelligent network of them working together that'll help you find and reach others (e.g. hey bob, do you know where reddit is? Nope, but I'll ask carl. Oh carl doesn't know, but he'll ask four other people. Then eventually someone knows and relays it back to you).\n\n3. Facebook and Google are part of Web 2.0, which you might've heard before. They basically have \"dynamic\" webpages, which is a fancy way of saying the website is different and can change. What's the big deal? Well if I go to facebook I get a different page than you. So bam, a huge door of possibilities from games to custom content are suddenly possible. These dynamic webpages usually require more technology and knowledge, making it different than middle school kid's page. Also they have to handle billions of people using them and not crashing.",
"**Client** - computer that requests a web page (e.g. as the result of you typing _URL_0_ into your browser's address bar and pressing enter)\n\n**Server** - computer that listens for incoming requests (e.g. reddit's servers are constantly listening for clients to connect and request a reddit webpage)\n\n**HTML** - Hyper Text Markup Language - the basic building block of websites; it's a language used to define and format page content (e.g. this text should be centered, this text should appear as a header, a blockquote should be inserted here, this text should be emphasized, a table of data should appear here etc.).\n\n**CSS** - Cascading Style Sheets - used for styling page content (e.g. headers should be this size font, images should have a black border, all buttons of this type should be green, etc.) \n\n**JavaScript** - Lets you add interactive features to a webpage and run sophisticated programs inside the browser (on the client computer). You know how you click a subscribe button and then it subscribes you and switches the button to an unsubscribe one? That sort of stuff is handled with JavaScript. Note: CSS also supports some interactive features (e.g. change the color of a button when you hover over it), but that functionality is very limited.\n\n**Server-side Scripting** (I'll call it SSS) - This is the 'back-end' code that runs on the server and is used to generate webpages dynamically. Without SSS, webpages would have to be static and updated manually. With SSS, you can make sites like reddit that automatically generate pages dynamically with new content based on vote counts, the subreddits your subscribed to etc.\n\nWhen you request a web page, your browser (the client) sends a request to the appropriate server. The server then generates the page content you requested (including all the HTML, CSS and JavaScript) using Server-side Scripting and sends all that back to your browser. Your browser then processes and interprets all the HTML, CSS and JavaScript and displays the webpage to you.",
"Oh boy... \nI'll give simple answers, and start with your last questions first, because that gives you the internet architecture.\n\na server is a program/computer that listens for request and responds by sending data.\n\nthe internet is made of servers=servers are the internet=the internet is a bunch of servers all talking to each other\n\na website is one of the types of data that can be served on a server\n\nA webhost is a company that specializes in running servers for other people, with the ultimate goal of making those other people's websites viewable to the other servers and clients (your home computer) on the internet\n\nYou need web hosting because you do not want to, or can not, run your own web(page) server.\n\nDoman names are a way to make computer locations/addresses (IP addresses) readable to humans. Their native format is just a number, try typing \"_URL_0_\" instead of \"_URL_1_\"\n\nFacebook and Google are complex primarily for 2 reasons, first they are dynamic pages. This means that the instructions your browser receives were written by a program that is building the website as your ask for it. In essense, the website doesn't exist before you ask, instead, a personalized version is made, just for you, when you ask. The other reason they are complex is because they operate HUGE data collecting (mining) and serving operations. Facebook is connecting you to... EVERYONE... google is connecting you to... EVERYTHING... that is a massive organizational and technological undertaking.\n\nNow......\n\nHTML is the original langauge for formating web pages. If you know what LaTeX is, it is like that, for the web. Think of the options in your word processor..... that is what HTML provides, plus hyperlinking, a web specific feature.\n\nBut, HTML is VERY simple, It really only has the same options as the \"word pad\" program.... so we made one other tool... CSS... \n\nCSS lets you handle more complex page formatting options and manipulate them in ways more natural to the power of computing. It is basically object oriented design.\n\nJavaScript is a simple programming language that is based on Java, but runs in your browser. So, it lets your browser run programs. Without Javascript, and tools like Flash, your web browser is more like adobe reader.\n\n",
"It is complicated but I will try to give an extremely simplified explanation.\n\nThere are at two computers involved. You computer that displays the webpage and the Server that hosts it (in theory the two can actually be the same computer, but lets not get into that right now)\n\nYour computer runs a program that is called a web-browser and the server runs a different program called a web-server. Examples for web-browsers include Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer. Examples for webservers include Apache and IIS, but as a users you won't really need to concern yourself with that part.\n\nWhat you do is to open a page in your webbrowser by typinf something like \"_URL_0_\" into the address bar of your wweb-browser. In this case \"_URL_1_\" is the name of the Webserver so your web-vrowser know which one of the many many servers out there to contact. The \"/folder/index.html\" part tells the webserver whi of the many pages it is has to offer is the one you want.\n\nThe html file is at its core a simple text file.\n\nSince simple text is boring some stuff was added to the idea of html files. for example is a word is surrounded by the letter 'b' in angle brackets and the second bracket has a backslash in it like this: < b > bold < /b > the result will be displayed in **bold**. the same goes for similar stuff like < i > italic < /i > getting you *italic* these things in angle brackets are called html tags.\n\nYour browser can take these \"html tags\" in the text file it get from the server and convert them into formatting. Over the years more and more tags were invented. We have tags that let you insert images and create tables. \n\nOne of the most important tag on the web is the anchor tag because it lets you insert hyperlinks to some place else.\n\nAt some point it was decided that it might be good idea to split up the ideas and the actual apperance of a text. The html file ideally should tell you how to make something look but what something is and then separate information should tell you how to make these look. For example instead of saying that a word should be bold and big and underlined and centred on the screen it is just marked as a headline and then you can use something called css to say all headlines should be displayed in a certain way.\n\nThings get a lot more complicated from there if you include stuff like scripting (which can either be done on your computer with Javascript or on the server with things like PHP etc).\n\nIf you want to experiment with the idea a bit you can try a bit yourself.\n\nCreate a text file with notepad and write some stuff into it include some html tags like < b > hello world! < /b > etc. Save the file with a html ending and then tell your webbrowser to open that file (if you change the ending to to htm or html it should automaticall open the file in your webbrowser.\n\nSee now you have written your first webpage!\n\n"
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2in5ok | how do spiders walk on walls and pretty much any other surface? | This house is creepy... Spiders crawling to my bed from the walls | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2in5ok/eli5_how_do_spiders_walk_on_walls_and_pretty_much/ | {
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"They use the force, specifically the [van der waal force](_URL_0_). Like geckos, the bottom of a spiders foot branches out into ever finer little hairs until they are so fine they are able to interact with the surface they are walking on at a molecular level, loosely bonding with it to the point that they almost become part of it.\n\n\nTL;DR spiders, fuckin ninja's man."
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4845u9 | why is voting turnout in us elections so low? | First off, I'm not a US Citizen. Compared to most other democracies, turnout in the US is spectacularly low. Turnout has not been higher than 70% in the last century! Even developing nations and quite few third-world nations have a higher turnout it seems.
EDIT: It should have been "voter turnout" | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4845u9/eli5why_is_voting_turnout_in_us_elections_so_low/ | {
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"The common mentality is that \"I'm just one person, my vote won't make a difference\". This way of thinking leads to the fact that 2/3rds of eligible voters don't vote. \n\nBasic the general populous just doesn't have the right mindset, and it's very discouraging for the future of our country.",
"Political influence of the Republican and Democratic Parties keeps most people from turning up. Politics is really black and white in America, at least what you see in the media. It's like have to pick between the lesser of two evils. It is near impossible for anyone with a different political party than the ones mentioned to be able to represented. Its the reason why Democratic Nominee, Bernie Sanders, had to run as a Democratic Socialist. He wouldn't be a runner in the Presidential election if he hadn't added democrat to his political views. The reason why turnout is poor is because people rather abstain than take part of a fixed political system. Your choices are made by electoral colleges, not by the American people. Popular vote does not equal Presidency. ",
"Source material - _URL_0_\n\nThe US isn't great, with about 53% turnout by population... but 83% of the people who are registered to vote DO vote which is really high. So it seems like there is a substantial number of people in the US who are not registered to vote at all, but if you are registered... you vote.\n\nThat being said, the US political system is built in a way where many people believe that their vote doesn't matter. California is going to be a democratic state in the Presidential Election, and Republicans in California have basically written off their vote in that context. The same is (currently) true of Texas in the favor of the Republicans.\n\nAs an interesting aside... take a look at the countries above the US... the vast majority would barely be *States* in the US. The US is much much larger than these countries, so % turnout may look bad, but absolute turnout is probably a lot higher.",
"A lot of people don't have the ability to leave their jobs in the middle of the day to go vote. They'd get fired or punished. ",
"Thought experiment: your allergic to seafood. Your at a restaurant that only serves seafood. Do you order the lobster or shrimp scampi?\n\nBoth parties are ineffective, many people don't see a point in voting. Our political process has become so polarized its impossible for more balanced candidates to get support from either party. ",
"* American citizens are not automatically registered to vote, unlike in others countries like the UK. Registering can be a pain, especially for people who don't have an ID or have their IDs rejected, often for petty reasons. This is especially difficult for people who have changed names (even through marriage).\n\n* Election days are not holidays. Many Americans would be lucky to get time off from work to vote.\n\n* In some areas, polling locations can be sparse, and only major cities in the US will have even halfway decent options for public transportation, which voters would still have to pay to use.\n\n* Voting by mail isn't exactly encouraged or promoted.\n\n* Waiting in line for hours to cast one vote is not fun or efficient.\n\n* Undemocratic elections, just in the way they're set up. Elections have just one round instead of being narrowed down to the top two, screwing over non-Rep./Dem. parties or ones running two candidates. Electoral college overrides the popular vote anyway.\n\n* Conservative states are requiring IDs which are disproportionately MUCH more difficult for poor or minority voters to obtain. This is intentional, because those demographics don't vote Republican. But it's done under the guise of preventing voter fraud, which occurs in single digits in even big elections (see previous bullet point and ask why anyone would even want to go through that twice in one day).\n\n* Also notice how nearly all of these other points impact poor and minority voters more than anyone else. Not a coincidence. Politicians know what they're doing."
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6hfp2k | why alcohol consumption isn't as dangerous in the early stages of pregnancy as it is later on. isn't the embryo more defenseless at that point? | I may be missing a major bit of information, but this is my understanding. Help? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6hfp2k/eli5_why_alcohol_consumption_isnt_as_dangerous_in/ | {
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"Because pregnancy doesn't mean the baby is immediately hooked up to the mother's body and sharing in everything that happens to her. \n\nIt can take up to a day for the egg cell to be fertilised (after 24 hours it starts dying). Then, it can take several days for the fertilised egg cell to move down the fallopian tube to the womb where it implants into the lining of the womb. At that point, the development of the placenta (through which mother and child share blood) starts, but it for the first few weeks, the embryo feeds on the yolk sack. The fetus doesn't start fully depending on the placenta for nourishment until week 12 of the pregnancy (from which point on it is completely dependent on the woman's body for nourishment).\n\nAlso remember that pregnancy is actually counted from a woman's last period. Ovulation doesn't actually generally happen until two weeks after menstruation. That means that for the first two weeks (roughly) of pregnancy there isn't actually a fertilised egg at all. We count like this because it is left over from a time it was pretty much impossible to find out exactly when a woman had ovulation (and therefore, exactly when conception took place). That means that if you went completely buckwild and got really fucking drunk in week one or two of your pregnancy, there was actually nothing there to affect yet. And even if your egg was just fertilised, it is drifting in the fallopian tube where it is not attached to your body at all. "
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18s69x | what is the difference between crossfirex and sli? | For example some motherboards support only CFX, some only SLI. But super fancy boards (Crosshair V Formula-Z) support both! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18s69x/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_crossfirex/ | {
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"GPUs can be run in parallel in a process called AFR or Alternate Frame Rendering (exactly what it sounds like - you do one, I'll do one, you do one, I'll do one). (It's more complicated than this, but you're five). The basic idea is that you have more processors doing the same amount of work, meaning they can do it faster. \n\nWhen a company wants to deploy this technology, they need a way to communicate to customers that they have this technology, and they need a name they can control so when they tell their customers about it only *they* get the benefit, rather than worrying about their competitors trading on their name, so companies create Brand Names. \n\nCrossFireX and SLI are brand names of different AFR graphics technologies. CrossFire is the brand for AMD, and SLI is the brand for nVidia. They are *not* compatible, but because most of the 'technology' happens in software (not special hardware) it is possible for a motherboard to support both. \n\nThe \"difference\" is that one is nVidia's, and the other is AMD's. Technologically, they are mostly similar. "
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b6ay08 | why is “poc” (person of color) being used in the us today while “colored person” is historically regarded as very offensive? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b6ay08/eli5_why_is_poc_person_of_color_being_used_in_the/ | {
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"This is the standard \"conveyor belt\" for terms describing disadvantaged populations. Every new term is non-offensive for a while, then gradually takes on a condescending tone and has to be replaced, again and again.\n\nConsider also: crippled - > handicapped - > disabled - > differently abled - > person with a disability",
"Far from an expert, but logic seems to indicate:\n\nHomeless or Homeless Person stresses 'homeless' so it migrated to Person experiencing Homelessness.\n\nDisabled Person stresses 'disabled' so it migrated to Person with Disabilities. To some from a logical perspective the migration shifted to Differently-abled to reduce the sting of the 'dis' marker. But it seems that [Person with Disabilities](_URL_1_) is the preferred nomenclature. \n\nSimilarly 'Colored Person' (initially referring to those with African ancestry) stressed 'color'. That shifted to the more inclusive Person of Color, and that has since shifted to '[Racialized](_URL_0_)' to clarify that there is no default melanin content and the distinction (to some) my have an automatic separation/distancing involved.",
"It’s a way to have more person-first language. In my school, I am encouraged to call one of my students “a student with autism” instead of my “autistic student.” It’s not the only feature that defines that person, it’s just one of the many that make them up.",
"I'm not an expert on this by any means, but I think the phrasing \"person of color\", as opposed to \"colored person\", is supposed to emphasize the fact that the person being referenced is first and foremost a person, and then is a person who is not white as well. \"Colored person\" constrains the person's identity to only \"colored\", whereas \"person of color\" suggests that the person isn't totally defined by their race/ethnicity, but that their race/ethnicity is just one part of their identity.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThe same applies when speaking of a person experiencing homelessness (as opposed to \"homeless person\"), or a person with disabilities (as opposed to a \"disabled person\"). These terms are also kind of up to the people of disability/homelessness/color (or at least should be) and their own preferences.",
"\"Colored person\" wasn't regarded as offensive historically (i.e., when it was being used), it's regarded as offensive today because of the history it represents.",
"The term \"colored\" was created by white people and was historically used to discriminate against them. The term \"people of color\" was coined by POCs so avoid referring to themselves with reference to white people, e.g. \"non-whites.\" \n\nThe \"people first\" aspect is true, but that is more about why it was coined. The actual reason it is not offensive is that the people who it is used of coined it themselves, and thus don't consider it offensive. They recognize a difference, and thus \"person of color\" doesn't carry with it the racist connotations of \"colored person\" or even \"colored.\" \n\nUltimately, that is how it always works. A term is offensive due to the people it is used against associating it with bigotry, and the least offensive term is one that the group coined for themselves. The exact forms this takes don't actually matter. \n^() \n^(*Edit: Small grammar fix*)",
"Language is a mutable thing, and the \"pure meaning of the word\" or the dictionary meaning is not the only defining aspect of a language. Colored people were use a lot for the more segregated of USA ( colored people bathrooms, colored people places in the bus, and many other things), and it was more commonly used for black people.\n\nPeople of color was an alternative that activists believed would bring more of the \"I'm not only defined by race yet it is part of my history\". So, as most of our language, it's just how the history played out.",
"Because the people who those terms are used to describe generally find one of those terms offensive and generally do not find the other one offensive, and they get to decide what offends them. It doesn't really matter if someone else thinks they are similar phrases or didn't understand the distinction. \n\nThere are a lot of possible answers to both halves of your question, but ultimately all that matters is what the people the words describe feel about the description. ",
"It's because \"colored person\" was historically used in offensive and often violent ways. People of color have generally chosen not to reclaim it and instead ask that we use POC, so that's what we use. It's not quite on the same level as, say, the n-word, but it's still very bad form to use it.",
"When our nation was still figuring out integration we had used the term \"coloreds\" to refer specifically to blacks. Not Mexicans, native americans, Chinese etc. It was specifically in reference to blacks. Chinese, Mexicans, etc all had their own derogatory name that they could still quite openly use, as they were not a sensitive subject, and in many ways still are not. \n\n & #x200B;",
"It's a good way of grouping white people against everybody else in society, which is unfortunately an extremely common phenomenon in modern society. There aren't individuals: There are oppressors, and there are victims.\n\nWhen somebody says, for example, that they want the opinion of a \"POC\", they are saying that they want the opinion of literally anybody who isn't white. Being any minority at all disqualifies you from the \"oppressor\" status and therefore makes your opinion more valuable. After all, how could any white person have a valuable perspective? They don't know what it's like to struggle, right?",
"POC, even saying out the words, still sounds 100% stupid. I work with folks from like 7 different countries, and everyone saying white, black or asian, otherwise short/tall, if they are wearing a neon blue hat...whatever is easiest to quickly point out who they are talking about.\n\n",
"Follow-up question: In languages where the order of the words is reversed from English (noun verb), like French, is the equivalent of *person of color* used too, or do they use their normal *personne couleur*-equivalent?",
"i think of it as POC being an agreed upon choice of a descriptor while colored person was used degradingly against POC and now carries that negative connotation. \n",
"I work in a place that is probably 80% black people, and never *once* have I heard the term used by a single person. When I brought up the subject to one of my coworkers, they explained that both of them are pretty offensive. In his words, “we’ve been away from using ‘color or colored’ as a descriptor in the US for a looooong time.” I think the only people who use the term at all are liberal college kids tbh. ",
"Just wait. What is preferred now will no longer be preferred in the future and there will be another term. \n\nDead and Dumb\nRetarded \nHandicap \n\nThose were all preferred at one time. "
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1xw71c | why do choke cherries make your mouth feel numb/really dry? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xw71c/why_do_choke_cherries_make_your_mouth_feel/ | {
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"Chokecherries have many astringent compounds in them which tend to make your mouth \"pucker\" or feel like it's dry. These are called tannins, and the dry feeling comes when the tannins bind together the proteins in your saliva, which leads to that dry feeling."
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7ugjih | why do recipes for sweet foods (cookies, brownies, etc.) often call for the use of salt when the taste is near absent? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ugjih/eli5_why_do_recipes_for_sweet_foods_cookies/ | {
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"Salt actually helps the yeast to rise its more for a chemical aspect rather than a flavoring ",
"Salt ionizes and binds to taste receptors, reducing bitterness and amplifying sweetness, sourness, and umami. Food tastes more like itself when it has been salted.",
"It helps for taste in what would otherwise be overly sweet things. I once forgot the salt in a batch of snickerdoodles and they were nearly saccharinely inedible."
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quwqs | the end of the lord of the rings | Where are the elves, Gandalf, and Bilbo going? Why does Frodo have to go? Thanks. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/quwqs/eli5_the_end_of_the_lord_of_the_rings/ | {
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"They go to the Undying Lands. Frodo goes there because he carried the ring for a time. At the end of his life, Sam actually goes as well as he carried the ring for a little bit. \n\nThink of the Undying Lands as a sort of heaven/paradise. ",
"The story takes place at a crossroad where the age of elves and magic is dying out and the age of man is emerging. Lothlórien and Rivendale are two of the last bastions of elven magic in the known world, overall it has been waning and dying out as elves leave. With the rise of the kingdoms of man the remaining elves led by Galadriel and Elrond decide to pack it in and migrate to Valinor, or the \"Undying Lands\" and leave middle-earth to to man.\n\nFrodo is so much in agony due to being wounded by the Nazgul, he is also just totally spent by carrying the ring all that time. The elves allow him to come with them. His friends are distraught over this but in many ways understand.",
"You should read the Silmarillion. They're going back to Valinor, which would be the land that the elves originally came from where the Valar reside still (the first ones created in the First Age who created the world- Sauron was actually a servant for one of them- Melkor I think). Anyway that's where they're returning with the rest of the elves because the age is coming to an end and the elves are returning 'home' I guess. It's pretty confusing, but I found I learned a lot I didn't understand in LOTR by reading the Silmarillion. \n\nFrodo has to go because he's just been through too much I guess. It was really more of a personal decision than that he 'had' to go. He felt out of place in the world after everything that happened. I think he said that the Shire was fixed, but not for him. \n\nEdit: Didn't answer the whole question. ",
"As others have stated, going to Valinor is correct. \n\nIt all started with a guy named Eru who created the Valar, who were basicilly his immediate underlings. With their help he created Earth and they chose to go live there. There are (I believe) 13 Valar, one of which is Melkor, who is just evil, and with a crew of other recruits (including several Balrogs and Sauron), destroys all that the others build. Eventually, he is contained and the Valar come to settle in Valinor, which is a voyage by sea to middle earth.\n\nFrom Valinor, they watch over Middle Earth's affairs from afar, all the while, Eru is introducing his \"children\" to Earth, first elves, then a long time later, men. \n\nSome of the oldest elves are original habitants of Valinor, most have never been and formed different tribes over different parts of Middle Earth. \n\nAnd now, as others had pointed out, the age of men is coming, so for a long time an exodus of elves to Valinor as been happening, kind of a return to the homeland, although, most elves have never been there. What you see at the end is the last of the elves preparing to leave, along with some friends of the elves.\n\nGandalf goes, as he is only a couple of orders below the Valar themselves. Bilbo is invited as a friend, and he is on death's door anyway. Frodo is invited because he can find no rest anymore on Middle Earth due to the burden of the Ring and the wound he sustained from the Nazgul. \n\nDamn, this is a very difficult answer to keep succinct. ",
"It is alluding to Heaven in a way. Gandalf died and was returned to his body until his duty was completed. So in the end, he is getting what he deserves, peace.\n\nThey say throughout the book that Frodo's journey with the ring will be the end of him, and in a way it is. He goes with the elves to forever be at peace.",
"As simple as possible:\n\nThe Undying Lands (or Valinor) is the holy homeland of the god-like Valar.\n\nThe Elves when they were young and new in Middle Earth journeyed west to Valinor and created magical jewels called the Silmarils.\n\nMorgoth, an evil Vala, stole the Silmarils and fled east to Middle Earth. \n\nMorgoth had a servant named Sauron.\n\nElves left the awesomeness of Valinor to get their jewels back.\n\nMen appeared.\n\nSome men helped the Elves in their war to get the Silmarils back.\n\nLost of adventures happened.\n\nMorgoth was defeated. The Valar created Numenor (an Island between Middle Earth and Valinor) for the men who helped the Elves.\n\nA lot of Elves went back to Valinor.\n\nSauron reappeared in Middle Earth and made the One Ring.\n\nSauron ended up becoming a prisoner of the Numenoreans. And then corrupted their king by telling him that he could become immortal if he captured Valinor from the Elves and Valar.\n\nNumenoreans launched invasion fleet to Valinor.\n\nElendil and his sons left Numenor for Middle Earth.\n\nValar destroyed Numenorean fleet and then destroyed Numenor. lolz.\n\nElendil and sons founded Gondor and Arnor.\n\nSauron attacked Gondor. But was beaten back by the Last Alliance of Men and Elves\n\nA lot more Elves left for the Undying Lands.\n\nThe Line of Kings of Gondor failed.\n\nGandalf, Saruman, Radagast and 2 other wizard Maiar arrive in Middle Earth from Valinor to figure out what happened with Sauron.\n\nSauron returned. War of the Ring. Return of the King. Death of Saruman.\n\nMore Elves left. Frodo and Gandalf left with them.\n \nMore Elves left. Sam and Gimli left with them.\n\nMore Elves left.\n\nMore Elves left.\n\n??????\n\nNormal History"
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nawln | how you can figure out what key a song is in. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/nawln/eli5_how_you_can_figure_out_what_key_a_song_is_in/ | {
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"There's computer software you can use. Rapid Evolution is fairly good.",
"Depends on how much information you have. If you just have the audio file, try looking up a chord chart or a lead sheet online, and go from there. If you can't find a chart, you'll have to use your ear to find the chord. The basic rule is whatever chord the song starts on, and ends on is the tonic, and you can use that to figure out the key. For example, if the first chord is an Em7, chances are it is in the key of Em (this rule is quite often broken, depending on the complexity of the arrangement, but it's a good starting point).\n\nIf you have the sheet music, then the key signature should be there, and you can easily work it out from that.\n\nHope this helps. ",
"If it's a modern song, the bass usually plays the root note on the one beat, making it easier to isolate.",
"The best way of doing it is to simply figure out which notes are being played in the song, then see which scale they follow. For example, if all the tones in the melody are simple A,B,C,D,E,F,G, then the song is probably in C-major, because those are the notes in that scale.",
"As long as you have a musical ear, it's fairly simple. You try to play along with the music on piano, guitar or whatever. Once you're hitting some right notes, listen out for the 'home note'. So, if it sounds like G is the home note, play the chord of G. By playing the chord, you should be able to hear if it's the root or a fifth, etc. If it's not right, keep trying. You can also figure it out based on the notes /accidentals you play that sound right. ",
"A song usually starts and finishes on the chord in the 'centre' of the key. Grab a keyboard or guitar, listen to the first/last chord of the piece and try to match it on the instrument. When it sounds the same, you've found your key. Remember, it could be major or minor, so try both.",
"If you have no information, then it takes a good ear. If you are experienced with solfege (The Do, Re, Mi system), it is *way* easier. What I do is listen and figure out which pitch is Do.\n\nThere are a few clues to help you. The leading tone, Ti, the seventh scale degree, leads up into Do. Fa (4th degree) falls down to Mi. The other strong pitch is likely Sol, the 5th scale degree. \n\nIf it's a minor key, you'll hear Me instead of Mi (the difference is Me is a half step lower) and instead of La (6), you have Le, which acts similar to the way Fa lead to Mi, but it leads to the stronger Sol. Ti might be Te (half step lower) or remain Ti; it's easy to hear the Le-Ti gap, so that's a major hint in a minor key.\n\nWhen you figure out in your head which note is Do, you can hum it into a tuner or find the same note on a piano. For major/minor, you look first at Mi vs Me, La vs Le, Ti vs Te. Sometimes a song changes key or briefly tonicizes(makes it sound like Do) another note, typically Sol.\n\nThe only way to get good at this is experience. Sing simple tunes in Solfege to build your ear skills. Practice intervals; songs are rarely just steps. ",
"Not strictly how to find the key, but the root note is generally whatever note the song *seems* like it should end on. ",
"TIL that there's no explaining anything in music theory like one is five. However, I'll try to give it a shot.\n\nIf you have the sheet music, a quick and easy way is the key signature. Every possible combination of sharps and flats has an equivalent major and minor key. This has to be memorized by rote, there is no other way.\n\nIn the context of rock music, the key is almost always the first chord in a \"riff.\" This is a fast and loose rule, but let's look at a basic three chord progression of G-C-D. This would be in G major. Or Am-F-G-D, the key is A minor. \n\nThis is not always true, but the best way I can explain it is to listen for the \"tonic\", rather, the dominant-sounding chord in the riff. I can't really tell you how to do this one other than \"you know it when you hear it.\"",
"Figuring out which _scale_ a song uses is not to hard. Play some notes on an instrument (e.g. guitar, piano) whilst listening to the music. Remember which notes sound terrible when played with the song, remember which ones sound good. (There's only different 12 notes, so it's easy for a musician to remember).\n\nOnce you've got a set of notes that sound good, it's usually easy to find the 1 or 2 that sound \"best\". These will be what musicians call the root and fifth, and they'll basically pinpoint which scale the song uses. \n\nThe key is a bit more complex. *Scale* is a different thing from *key*, as *scale* simply says what notes are used, but not how they're used. A *key* defines a *home note* -- the note which the musical *key* centres around. A normal C scale is \"C,D,E,F,G,A,B\". But you can technically play in that scale by using the Key of *G Mixolydian*, as well as the plain old key of *C Major*. Don't worry to much about the word Mixolydian, in plain terms it just means the G isn't the start note of the *scale* used, and tells you which note in that scale it was. (Mixolydian is the name for the 5th).\n\nTo most human beings there's no hearable difference between a C Major and a G Mixolydian. Musicians can figure out if the key is C Major or G Mixolydian etc by looking at the different chords used and how often a song uses a particular note, and when it uses it. That's the tricky bit.\n\n",
"I usually just start playing a scale along with the song. If it sounds like crap, I move up half a step, and repeat. Once it \"sounds right\" for the whole scale, you've found it. I'm sure there is a better / more technical way, but oh well.\n\nThough, there are quite a bit of songs that change keys throughout the piece... that kind of sucks because then you have to do it again.",
"Clarifying question from someone that isn't good at music notes. Is the key the note that makes you feel like the melody is \"finished\"? Like if you hum the song, you end it on a note of that key? I don't know if I'm making sense because my music vocabulary is very limited.",
"To find the key for much of today's popular music: Find the \"home\" note, the note that feels like the main note, a.k.a. the \"tonic.\" A key is a perceptual series of note relationships proceeding from that \"home\" note. Often times, these note relationships follow what we call \"the major scale,\" so once you find the \"home\" note, you have generally found the key. If the main note is C, odds are you will be in the key of C major. Major keys have a very distinct feel, what many would call pleasant or \"happy.\" This is an over-simplification, but it does the job most of the time. The name for what music theory people call the feeling or mood of the piece is tonality. Major tonality is the dominant tonality in popular music today.\n\nThe real music theory explanation: The major scale is not the only kind of tonality. There are other commonly found tonalities; they arise as often as you can discern a different scale. Minor scales, the blues scale, the pentatonic scale (minor or major), different modes of those scales (same note relationships overall but proceeding from different degrees functioning as the \"home\" note), ranging all the way to non-western and/or microtonal scales.\n\nOnce you identify the home note, you can figure out how the other notes in the song relate to it by matching them by ear or on an instrument. Write all of the notes in the song down, and figure out their relationships to the home note. This series of relationships from the home note up the scale will usually be Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half (whole and half steps), the major scale. This is good enough most of the time. But the relationships will reveal other scales from time to time. Reading up on the different kinds of scales/modes people use opens up new worlds. I highly recommend it.\n\nThe only problem I see in all this is that the western system for writing and talking about music is hundreds of years old. The benefit of this is that western music theory people have de-constructed and and put back together much of the music in the history of the western world again and again, contributing amazing insights and spurring on massive innovation. The disadvantage of this is simply that music is never in the past, but it is now. It is a transient, fleeting thing, and often defying expectations or \"rules.\" Using an old system to describe music can lead someone to miss some of what's conceptually present in music that was written outside of it (\"world\" music, songs written by people like Thom Yorke who can't read sheet music). Thus, thorough transcription needs to fit the piece, the composer intentions (wherever discernable from their previous work), and other contextual clues like genre... and my personal opinion is that the Italian system of old is no longer doing the job. It becomes tedious when trying to transcribe dubstep rhythms with note heads, or blues solos in traditional staff notation. Music has always been sound, not words and symbols. And conceptually, music has always been bursting at the seams. On a related side note, I am working on a new system to roll out on a music theory/guitar website I am launching someday hopefully in 2012.\n\nWhy I am commenting: I am a music theory teacher. I have studied western music theory and world music theory. Baroque harmony, species counterpoint, microtonal stuff, non-western transcription methods, and all that. Bachelor's degree in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. Scored 5 on the AP music theory exam (which isn't saying that much but whatever).\n\nTL;DR - Find the main note, call it \"[main note] Major\" and you will be right most of the time.\n\nEdited to mention my favorite comments and expand some brief thoughts. Konrad4th's explanation in solfege is great. Only issue with it is you need to embark on the challenge of ear-training which everyone should do if they haven't. Relative pitch opens up music in a whole new way. Lizard's comment is also very informative if you have access to a piano.",
"There's computer software you can use. Rapid Evolution is fairly good.",
"Depends on how much information you have. If you just have the audio file, try looking up a chord chart or a lead sheet online, and go from there. If you can't find a chart, you'll have to use your ear to find the chord. The basic rule is whatever chord the song starts on, and ends on is the tonic, and you can use that to figure out the key. For example, if the first chord is an Em7, chances are it is in the key of Em (this rule is quite often broken, depending on the complexity of the arrangement, but it's a good starting point).\n\nIf you have the sheet music, then the key signature should be there, and you can easily work it out from that.\n\nHope this helps. ",
"If it's a modern song, the bass usually plays the root note on the one beat, making it easier to isolate.",
"The best way of doing it is to simply figure out which notes are being played in the song, then see which scale they follow. For example, if all the tones in the melody are simple A,B,C,D,E,F,G, then the song is probably in C-major, because those are the notes in that scale.",
"As long as you have a musical ear, it's fairly simple. You try to play along with the music on piano, guitar or whatever. Once you're hitting some right notes, listen out for the 'home note'. So, if it sounds like G is the home note, play the chord of G. By playing the chord, you should be able to hear if it's the root or a fifth, etc. If it's not right, keep trying. You can also figure it out based on the notes /accidentals you play that sound right. ",
"A song usually starts and finishes on the chord in the 'centre' of the key. Grab a keyboard or guitar, listen to the first/last chord of the piece and try to match it on the instrument. When it sounds the same, you've found your key. Remember, it could be major or minor, so try both.",
"If you have no information, then it takes a good ear. If you are experienced with solfege (The Do, Re, Mi system), it is *way* easier. What I do is listen and figure out which pitch is Do.\n\nThere are a few clues to help you. The leading tone, Ti, the seventh scale degree, leads up into Do. Fa (4th degree) falls down to Mi. The other strong pitch is likely Sol, the 5th scale degree. \n\nIf it's a minor key, you'll hear Me instead of Mi (the difference is Me is a half step lower) and instead of La (6), you have Le, which acts similar to the way Fa lead to Mi, but it leads to the stronger Sol. Ti might be Te (half step lower) or remain Ti; it's easy to hear the Le-Ti gap, so that's a major hint in a minor key.\n\nWhen you figure out in your head which note is Do, you can hum it into a tuner or find the same note on a piano. For major/minor, you look first at Mi vs Me, La vs Le, Ti vs Te. Sometimes a song changes key or briefly tonicizes(makes it sound like Do) another note, typically Sol.\n\nThe only way to get good at this is experience. Sing simple tunes in Solfege to build your ear skills. Practice intervals; songs are rarely just steps. ",
"Not strictly how to find the key, but the root note is generally whatever note the song *seems* like it should end on. ",
"TIL that there's no explaining anything in music theory like one is five. However, I'll try to give it a shot.\n\nIf you have the sheet music, a quick and easy way is the key signature. Every possible combination of sharps and flats has an equivalent major and minor key. This has to be memorized by rote, there is no other way.\n\nIn the context of rock music, the key is almost always the first chord in a \"riff.\" This is a fast and loose rule, but let's look at a basic three chord progression of G-C-D. This would be in G major. Or Am-F-G-D, the key is A minor. \n\nThis is not always true, but the best way I can explain it is to listen for the \"tonic\", rather, the dominant-sounding chord in the riff. I can't really tell you how to do this one other than \"you know it when you hear it.\"",
"Figuring out which _scale_ a song uses is not to hard. Play some notes on an instrument (e.g. guitar, piano) whilst listening to the music. Remember which notes sound terrible when played with the song, remember which ones sound good. (There's only different 12 notes, so it's easy for a musician to remember).\n\nOnce you've got a set of notes that sound good, it's usually easy to find the 1 or 2 that sound \"best\". These will be what musicians call the root and fifth, and they'll basically pinpoint which scale the song uses. \n\nThe key is a bit more complex. *Scale* is a different thing from *key*, as *scale* simply says what notes are used, but not how they're used. A *key* defines a *home note* -- the note which the musical *key* centres around. A normal C scale is \"C,D,E,F,G,A,B\". But you can technically play in that scale by using the Key of *G Mixolydian*, as well as the plain old key of *C Major*. Don't worry to much about the word Mixolydian, in plain terms it just means the G isn't the start note of the *scale* used, and tells you which note in that scale it was. (Mixolydian is the name for the 5th).\n\nTo most human beings there's no hearable difference between a C Major and a G Mixolydian. Musicians can figure out if the key is C Major or G Mixolydian etc by looking at the different chords used and how often a song uses a particular note, and when it uses it. That's the tricky bit.\n\n",
"I usually just start playing a scale along with the song. If it sounds like crap, I move up half a step, and repeat. Once it \"sounds right\" for the whole scale, you've found it. I'm sure there is a better / more technical way, but oh well.\n\nThough, there are quite a bit of songs that change keys throughout the piece... that kind of sucks because then you have to do it again.",
"Clarifying question from someone that isn't good at music notes. Is the key the note that makes you feel like the melody is \"finished\"? Like if you hum the song, you end it on a note of that key? I don't know if I'm making sense because my music vocabulary is very limited.",
"To find the key for much of today's popular music: Find the \"home\" note, the note that feels like the main note, a.k.a. the \"tonic.\" A key is a perceptual series of note relationships proceeding from that \"home\" note. Often times, these note relationships follow what we call \"the major scale,\" so once you find the \"home\" note, you have generally found the key. If the main note is C, odds are you will be in the key of C major. Major keys have a very distinct feel, what many would call pleasant or \"happy.\" This is an over-simplification, but it does the job most of the time. The name for what music theory people call the feeling or mood of the piece is tonality. Major tonality is the dominant tonality in popular music today.\n\nThe real music theory explanation: The major scale is not the only kind of tonality. There are other commonly found tonalities; they arise as often as you can discern a different scale. Minor scales, the blues scale, the pentatonic scale (minor or major), different modes of those scales (same note relationships overall but proceeding from different degrees functioning as the \"home\" note), ranging all the way to non-western and/or microtonal scales.\n\nOnce you identify the home note, you can figure out how the other notes in the song relate to it by matching them by ear or on an instrument. Write all of the notes in the song down, and figure out their relationships to the home note. This series of relationships from the home note up the scale will usually be Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half (whole and half steps), the major scale. This is good enough most of the time. But the relationships will reveal other scales from time to time. Reading up on the different kinds of scales/modes people use opens up new worlds. I highly recommend it.\n\nThe only problem I see in all this is that the western system for writing and talking about music is hundreds of years old. The benefit of this is that western music theory people have de-constructed and and put back together much of the music in the history of the western world again and again, contributing amazing insights and spurring on massive innovation. The disadvantage of this is simply that music is never in the past, but it is now. It is a transient, fleeting thing, and often defying expectations or \"rules.\" Using an old system to describe music can lead someone to miss some of what's conceptually present in music that was written outside of it (\"world\" music, songs written by people like Thom Yorke who can't read sheet music). Thus, thorough transcription needs to fit the piece, the composer intentions (wherever discernable from their previous work), and other contextual clues like genre... and my personal opinion is that the Italian system of old is no longer doing the job. It becomes tedious when trying to transcribe dubstep rhythms with note heads, or blues solos in traditional staff notation. Music has always been sound, not words and symbols. And conceptually, music has always been bursting at the seams. On a related side note, I am working on a new system to roll out on a music theory/guitar website I am launching someday hopefully in 2012.\n\nWhy I am commenting: I am a music theory teacher. I have studied western music theory and world music theory. Baroque harmony, species counterpoint, microtonal stuff, non-western transcription methods, and all that. Bachelor's degree in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. Scored 5 on the AP music theory exam (which isn't saying that much but whatever).\n\nTL;DR - Find the main note, call it \"[main note] Major\" and you will be right most of the time.\n\nEdited to mention my favorite comments and expand some brief thoughts. Konrad4th's explanation in solfege is great. Only issue with it is you need to embark on the challenge of ear-training which everyone should do if they haven't. Relative pitch opens up music in a whole new way. Lizard's comment is also very informative if you have access to a piano."
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