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<\|im_start\|>user [General] Why do spaceships have wings?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant 1. Some spaceships are designed so as to also allow for atmospheric operations. Even if it's just takeoff and landing, wings are useful. 2. Aesthetics. Like it or not, these are important. 3. If maneuvering thrusters are on the wings, away from the center of mass, they are able to apply more torque for the same energy, giving you a more agile craft for little extra cost. 4. Some systems are useful to have removed from the main portion of the ship. Engines and some weapons systems put out immense amounts of heat, so separation is helpful. Additionally, if engines are on the wings, a hit to one will leave the others operational, whereas having a central cluster of engines could see them failing all at once.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why are the Yen and Euro considered safe havens? Whenever there's panic in the market these days, the Euro and the Yen tend to strengthen and the opinion by the analysts on TV is that it's because of a 'flight to safety'. But with both central banks wanting a weaker currency to stoke inflation, why would buying the Euro and Yen be considered safe at all?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Say you are an Indian business man, you probably keep some money in Indian Rupees since you still do need to pay your workers and buy stuff like food, but the Indian Rupee is not a particularly stable currency so you would be smart to put your excess money into a more stable currency. The US dollar is the most popular choice, but generally 4 other currencies are also used as they are also considered to be extremely stable. They are the Euro, Yuan, Yen and Pound. To massively oversimplify the more of these currencies you have the more stable your assets are. So when the dollar is weakening people will move some of their money to a place that isn't weakening, or is weakening more slowly. Usually most of the issues are relatively short term and these moves are as well, but with a little bit of luck you may even make money.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user How do you test the immune response integrity of a cell without killing destroying it?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Immune response is typically a coordinated and regulated response of lots of different cells. You wouldn't be able to see the whole response in just one cell, nor would that be clinically useful information if you could.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: why does diamond conduct heat better than graphite?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Heat in solids is primarily transferred by atoms vibrating the atoms around them. Diamond is significantly closer packed than graphite so an atom vibrating has more of an influence on the atoms around it and therefore heat transfers faster.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5:Why some accents are loved while others are frowned upon? Is some logical reason behind it, which makes the accent likeable.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant It can be influenced by your own language and experience, but in general there's two contributing factors. First is our expectation: "Frrench is ze lang-wajj of r-r-ro-MANCE!", for example. So if we're a bit romantic at heart a French accent may make us have a positive response. This has been influenced by the media too - certain languages and ways of speaking are often associated with villains in movies, for example; others are often associated with nurturing characters (Mary Poppins). And some are unfortunately tied to more redneck or primitive feelings (Disney Goofy's "Gawrsh!" and "Hyuck!", for example) versus the sophistication of a Cary Grant or Hugh Grant. But a big part of it is some languages have a cadence and flow in them that is less guttural and harsh than others. Compare the "lilt" of an Irish person's speech against the guttural harshness of a German one or the abrupt jarring of a heavy Cockney accent. We're inclined to prefer the former due to its smoothness and flow.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Neon Genesis Evangelion] The Angels wanted to start Third Impact, Gendo wanted to start third impact, SEELE wanted to start third impact...why are they all fighting to stop each other when they all knowingly fight to accomplish the same thing?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Because the Third Impact could be controlled to an extent, each resulting in a different version. The Angels wanted Instrumentality to be rid of the humans, since they were supposed to inherit the earth instead of humanity. This is what the humans were trying to stop, since the Angels would use the resulting mass of what was once humanity and assimilate it to bring back Adam. It would be an Adam/Lilith hybrid, but Adam dominant. It would have most likely destroyed its Lilith half if that happened. Only angels would remain. Seele intended for Instrumentality to only be for their own council members, so they could all unite into a single super being. Rather than forming a sea of LCL, Seele wished to be merged inside an Evangelion unit with its own S² Engine, after destroying the Spear of Longinus. By placing their own souls within the body of a godlike being, and destroying the only weapon that can harm the body, they would effectively create an immortal God with a human soul which would represent the pinnacle of human existence, and live through all of eternity. Basically they wanted to somehow be in control of the world and all of humanity, even though instrumentality is supposed to remove any semblance of individuality when it happens. It would be an Adam/Lilith hybrid, but Lilith dominant. Only the super being would remain, probably indifferent to the presence of Angels since it overpowers them. Gendo wanted Instrumentality to be with his deceased wife Yui again. This is what actually ends up happening briefly in the ending when all the human souls are collected into the black moon by Lilith. But when Shinji rejects it all the souls are redispersed since instrumentality has to contain all of the souls. It ended up being an Adam/Lilith hybrid, but Lilith dominant and then Adam was destroyed upon Shinji's rejection, leaving only Lilith. All the angels die as a result. Only humanity remains. End of Evangelion.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why do traffic lights cost so much money? From the Washington State DOT: "It costs the taxpayer $250,000 to $500,000 to purchase and install a traffic signal. Electric bills and routine maintenance amount to about $8,000 a year." Thats a ton of money. Or is it?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The cost includes paying people to examine the area to survey the area, design a plan, purchase the parts, and hire a crew to do the actual installation. The crew will have to dig up existing street to install the detection coils, dig holes for the poles to support the lights, and then repave and clean up everything once it's installed. Each intersection is slightly different, so while there may be some reuse from existing intersections, a lot of work still has to go in to a new installation.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: How and why is Flash Player apparently such a security risk to users? Everything I google and read keeps bringing up that it is full of security risks and holes, but nothing explains why. How does using this thing put my computer or information at risk?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Secure languages provide separation of code (the bit that does things) and data (the bits which have things done). They provide things like bounds checking (is the data being written bigger than the space you are writing to? is the address you are writing to part of the variable you think it is, or is it part of something else?) and strict type checking (is it the same fundamental type of thing?). Flash doesn't have these things. And, it appears to depend on being 'mutable' -being able to construct new code, and then point to it and say "run this" which is a hugely flexible thing to do, but very hard to do securely. Flash is written to be 'helpful' so its written to provide services which look like 'display this picture' but the same logic can be doing things in the background, the user isn't always able to know. So, it can do things you don't know are happening. Flash is significantly less constrained than other things, in what it can do to your computer. It runs inside some tools which are not 'sandboxed' -that is are not confined to a kind of virtualized substate, where they cannot write outside of areas which are tightly controlled. Flash can access your network. So it can set up to download extra code, including cracking code, which exploits other weaknesses in your host, and then allows it to be abused by other non-flash systems. If you combine all of this, you have something which is very compelling for some people to use, because its so flexible, but that flexibility is the root cause of its massive insecurity. It should be removed, and people should move to using more secure frameworks to support 'actionscript' tasks like the sandboxed javascript environments built into the browser. There is very little flash does which couldn't be done by something else.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Chemistry] If Hydrogen bonds to Chlorine, is there any way this can be ionic? I know HCl is covalently bonded but is there the possibility it can be ionically bonded?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Every bond can be described as having some degree of covalent and ionic character. That 1.7 difference in electronegativity cutoff is just something we tell freshman students because they need something to memorize and regurgitate on exams. The greater the difference in electronegativity, the greater the percentage of ionic character in the bond. HCl has a large degree of covalency to its interaction, but there is a significant amount of ionic character in there, too.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user I have come to the conclusion that pursuing a intimate relationship for myself would be selfish and immoral. Please CMV. EDIT 3: There are sooo many replies to the original post and to threads. Going back and forth to check context and read original replies a lot of my orangereds are falling through the cracks. If you post and I don't reply within an hour, and you really wanted a reply, feel free to PM me. I'm trying my best, but I am also hearing a lot of repeating arguments. Please try to read the thread and see if your point as been made already, that would really make this less tedious and reduce my inbox! Original Post: I think it is important to know at the top of this description that I've never been in a romantic relationship of any kind. I have been plagued with various illnesses which affect my outward appearance and have made me, and continue to make me, unattractive. That, however, is not the issue at hand. Last August I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. With medication and vitamin supplements we can slow the progress of the disease, but there is no medication-- nor any medication on the horizon-- that can heal the damage, or truly halt the course of the disease. I could go my whole life without ever being disabled in anyway, but then again, I could be crippled or worse pretty much at any time in my future. In this way, I believe willfully entering an intimate relationship with someone else would be offloading a colossal and unfair responsibility upon that person to take care of me in such an outcome. It is one thing when an accident occurs unexpectedly and one partner must take care of another-- but to know that accident is considerably more likely than just random accidents and to put someone in that position is horribly selfish and morally wrong. This is all besides the point that I doubt I would be appealing to anyone at any point. My many sicknesses leave me small, frail, pale and discolored. But should any of these things change, or someone happen to find me appealing, I believe it is morally correct to decline. EDIT: I keep hearing the same non-argument to this, which is that I am somehow making someone else's decisions for them. As I have said repeatedly, a relationship is two consenting adults who each make a choice to enter into the relationship. My choice to foster and enter into the relationship is the one I am viewing as immoral. If you want to participate in this conversation, you should be presenting me with reasons why that choice isn't immoral, not reasons why I have no right to make that decision in opposition to someone else's desire to be with me. That is describing a non-consensual relationship. EDIT 2: 88 comments and 8 upvotes. Upvotes aren't about agreeing or disagreeing, they are about making valid/interesting conversations visible. I think we can agree this is a valid/interesting conversation, and I still haven't heard a convincing argument so I'd like some more exposure.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant 1) You are a person and you dont cease to be a person because of a disease. 2) MS is bad but its not a death sentence and you can still live your life if you take medication and if you slow the progression long enough you may see a cure in the near future (stem cells and new medications are being perfected every day) 3) It isn't purely your responsibility to enter a relationship. Its a consideration that both people have to make. If you are honest about the situation and give the other person enough information so they know what they are getting into, then you aren't being selfish at all. You are being fair and opened and they would not be taken advantage of by you. In every relationship one person dies. By your logic that would make every relationship selfish because one person will eventually leave the other behind. Relationships aren't about the end result. They are about the equation before the result.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: why do you feel nauseous or sick after staying up too long?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant During sleep, our bodies replenish a lot of key substances which are necessary for the normal function. This is regulated by the 'circadian clock' which is just a fancy word for our bodies' sleep/wake clock. When there's sleep deprivation, we have an absence of these key substances being replenished, and that in itself can cause some of these symptoms like nausea/headaches. Alongside this, it creates stress on the body, and that activates our 'fight vs. flight' response. One of the effects of this response being activated is also having feelings of sickness/nausea. It's a lot more complicated than that because there are so many things that work together, but this is the very basic gist of it.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Will NSF let me use student funds for summer salary during a no cost extension? I won't be able to use all the remaining funds on my CAREER award before it expires in 1.25 years, so I'll need to request a no cost extension. The problem is that most of my remaining funds are for grad student support, but it's not nearly enough to hire a new student. Are they likely to let me use the remaining money for my own summer salary during the no cost extension instead?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Yes. The NSF doesn’t track (or care) how you spend your grant funds as long as it is more or less on the work you proposed to do. This isn’t something you even have to request approval for. You can just do it. Edit: You need to request the NCTE. You do not need to request the use of the funds for summer salary instead of grad students.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: In U.S. political debate, what does "globalist" or "globalism" mean? This is a term that's been in the news a lot lately, but I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean. Usually it's placed in opposition to "nationalism" and "nationalists," but it seems to be more than just "the opposite of nationalism."<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Globalisation is the phenomenon where increasing free trade and ease of international travel makes the economy less and less local. It is based on the theory (it's essentially proven to be true) that tax-free borders benefit both countries and is true of every two-country combination. It's problem is that some individuals in both countries lose their jobs, as people in the other country are either better or cheaper at it. For example Costa Rica is better at Banana Farming than America, but America is better at building computers than Costa Rica. This means American Banana farmers lose their jobs to Costa Rica, but America gets all the Costa Rican Computer manufacturing jobs.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: How does your eyesight get worse?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Worsened eyesight from aging is caused by the lens in our eye drying as we age and losing the flexibility it needs to help us focus EDIT: To add to this top comment, others have added that in specific fibers that help adjust the lens begin to stiffen and fluid within the lens begins to crystalize EDIT2: The lens is a small structure behind your pupil, not the cornea, the thin layer that covers the front of our eyeball EDIT3: Genetics! The answer to your question is probably genetics<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why do people tend to pace around when talking on the phone?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant When you talk in person to someone, your brain connects elements such as the tone of their voice, their word choice, their expressions and their gestures all together. You essentially get visual feedback from the person you are talking to. You can see them, hear them, touch them and our brain understands that the person we are talking to is right here next to us, However, when you are talking on the phone, the physical feedback you normally get is not there. So your brain tries to understand what is happening. Because it cannot really explain it, the brain transforms those emotional responses we normally get when talking to someone in person, to physical ones. That's why you get the urge to get up and stroll around the house when you are having a long conversation on the phone. Your brain is confused and because it cannot form an emotional connection to the person you are talking to, it fires up a physical response making you want to move around.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5:The process of turning milk into bones My understanding is that milk (and other dairy) contains calcium which our bones need, but the body can't use it without D3 which it creates by going out in the sun. When you drink milk does the calcium build up in your system waiting for you to get some D3? Or does D3 sit in your system waiting for calcium? What happens between the calcium and D3 to turn it into bones?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Milk doesn't actually help build bones. As u/yellowyeti14 mentioned, milk actually hurts bone growth. The idea that milk improves bone growth was a very successful marketing ploy that sounds feasible because it has a reasonable amount of calcium and calcium is useful for bone growth. This however isn't the whole story. The whole story is that the lactose and casein in milk are acid forming once digested, and since calcium is a base, most of the calcium bonds to the formed acid and is neutralized. Additionally, there is usually more acid formed than calcium consumed, so your body actually starts pulling calcium away from its bones to neutralize excess acid. If you want to build strong bones, eat green leafy vegetables.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: The law code should be no more complex than what can be taught to children. The reason for this comes down to this simple explanation: You can't play the game if you don't know the rules. If you try, the rules become "do whatever you want, and don't talk to authorities". By the time you are an adult, you are expected to play the game. I don't believe it's any coincidence that the countries with the most laws have the [highest per-capita prison population](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm). In the US, we [literally don't even know how many](https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/06/06/how-many-federal-laws-are-there-again-n2009184) laws we have. For this reason, a study and book by Harvey Silverglate estimates the average American citizen unknowingly commits about [3 felonies per day](https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594035229). There are many downsides to a system this complex. * It makes everyone into yet-uncaught criminals. I think most people try to be good people, but it's not enough to keep you out of prison. In order to stay out of prison, you also have to lie (or at least not talk) about what you do, and you must also perform your actions in concealment. * It breeds corruption in the population. Why try to follow rules when they are absurdly complex and you don't understand them? Why not break a rule you know about when you've already broken 10 that you don't know about? * It breeds corruption in law enforcement. If a law enforcement officer wants to put a person in jail, all they have to do is follow them around and wait for them to break a law which the law enforcement officer knows about and the yet-uncaught criminal does not. In theory this allows them to use their power for good (like catching Al Capone on tax evasion). But there are plenty of instances of otherwise innocent people being locked up on technicality. * It makes law enforcement's job harder. The first thing a lawyer will tell you is don't talk to police. The reason for this is you could accidentally incriminate yourself, even in a failure of articulation. Police require cooperation from the public in order to enforce laws. But an individual puts themselves in great danger by cooperating. * Laws must be selectively enforced. There is no way to enforce them all without even knowing what they are. This creates an entirely separate set of rules all on it's own. i.e. "I can get away with this because the police don't care about it, I can't get away with that because law enforcement happens to be 'cracking down' on that right now." There are many ways we can reduce complexity in the system, and things which I think most people agree on. For one, we can say "If there is no victim, there is no crime." Also, "a perpetrator of a crime cannot be the victim of the same crime", so a crime against yourself is not a crime. We can also say that all laws have an expiration date. So if you want the law to remain after 7 years (just for example), then it has to be renewed. This gets rid of many old and unneeded laws. Or we could also just scrap the whole law code and start over "ten commandments" style. These are not the limitations or even necessarily the methods themselves which we could use to reduce the number of laws. These just serve as examples. So, CMV, how is it possible for a person to be a law abiding citizen in such a system? Or how is it not possible to simplify the law code? Or how do the benefits of such a complex system outweigh it's consequences on society? Or how are the consequences I've outlined wrong? EDIT: My view has changed in one way - Many (but not all) of the profession-specific regulations do not need to be known by people who do not work in that field. There is no great need for an 18 year old to know all the intricacies of medical malpractice, but they should know that they aren't allowed to practice medicine yet and that doctors have rules. I still think many of these regulations can be done away with, but I can certainly see why new adults don't need to know the specifics of them. For this reason I'm going to go through the comments and award deltas to everyone who made a compelling argument about profession-specific regulations (it's a lot of people). _____ > This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please *[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules). If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* *[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)*! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to *[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview). Happy CMVing!*<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Laws aren't necessarily complex so much as they are incredibly specific, which is an important distinction to make. We arguably started with a very simple system of law, but the diversity of the human experience coupled with our desire for the law to give out reasonable justice requires us to get specific with how things are legally defined. For example, if we had the flat law of "Do not kill other people." That's great. No one would disagree, and it's easy to understand. But, then life happens, and we start having issues. John kills Timothy, which should be an open-and-shut case. However, in looking at the specific details of the case, Timothy was trying to kill John, so John was acting in self-defense. Alright, let's modify the law to make it a bit more complicated, but not too hard: "Do not kill other people, except in self-defense." Okay, now we have Sally and Annie. Sally killed ten people, and Annie killed one person. Do we give them the same punishment, or do we need to punish Sally worse than Annie to ensure appropriate justice is being delegated for the victims? Now the law becomes "Do not kill other people, except in self-defense. Also, you have to serve 10 more years in prison for every extra murder." Here's where things get fun: Annie claims she was acting in self-defense because the ten-year-old she killed was giving her a threatening look. Hmm, well, what is self-defense? Our law currently mentions it, but doesn't define it. Okay..."Do not kill other people, except in self-defense where self-defense is defined as an action taken by a reasonable person to protect their life. Also, you have to serve 10 more years in prison for every extra murder." Well, what's a reasonable person? Fine..."Do not kill other people, except in self-defense where self-defense is defined as an action taken by a reasonable person to protect their life and where a reasonable person is defined as someone with typical skills, knowledge, and mental capacities. Also, you have to serve 10 more years in prison for every extra murder." And, we can keep going on and on from here until we get to where we are at right now. I don't think anyone would deny the system has some degree of redundancy and bloat, but it's certainly not the case that we decided to make it complex by design. It's simply that the law is designed to regulate society, and in order to allow a complex society, we must allow for complex regulation of it.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user How do some things get absorbed through lung gas exchange (Nicotine) but others don't? (Tar) I'm essentially wondering how lung gas exchange works for substances other than air. Obviously anything besides air is going to be bad for the lungs but how? Does it leave a film like buildup? Is it permanent? How does vaping compare to regular air?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The chemicals in the tar are not very soluble in water (blood) and they tend to interact with each other more than water making it difficult to separate tar leading to a build up. The immune system has to remove the tar, which leads to inflammation and cell proliferation and long term it can facilitate the growth of tumors. Vaping has no tar, but it does have oils that can build up in a similar way. Long term effects of vaping are still largely unknown, its likely better than smoking but still far from healthy and possibly even more addictive.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Dune] Why are the members house Harkonnen such assholes? Basically the title. I do not remember if an explanation was ever given. Were they just evil for the sake of providing an enemy for the plot, or were they motivated by something where they thought they were doing the right thing?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The Bene Gesserit had been intentionally cultivating these attributes for years. The Atredies house was bred to have all that was noble and pure; the Harkonnen to have all that was ignoble and devious. Combining the two branches was their ultimate aim, to reconcile these two human divisions with the birth of the Kwisatz Haderach.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Very very very very basic question. Considering the covid-19 pandemic, why is "Total number of cases in a country (ranked)" a more quoted statistic than "unit number of cases in a country (ranked)"? Is the latter tougher to interpret for the common man or is it more difficult to compute? Or is there some other reason?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Three issues here: one political, one educational, and one is somewhat of a statistical problem. 1) especially in US media, they want sensationalized stories and titles. "Most cases in the world" is a powerful and simple statement. 2) education: the per capita case count is slightly trickier to understand, and doesn't fit neatly into a headline 3) The more interesting statistical issue is around small sample sizes and confounding variables. The highest number of covid deaths per capita so far have been: Czechia, San Marino, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montengro, North Macedonia, Moldova, and Belgium. Many of these countries are small (small sample size) or remarkably different from the US in composition (i.e primarily urban). They are also less well known countries that have less influence over pop culture. Due to their small size, a high death rate doesn't necessarily lead to many deaths. San Marino for example has the 1st or 2nd highest covid death rate in the world (depending on source) with about 80 covid deaths. It's not sufficient to be an interesting study around the spread and missed prevention opportunities. Some argue the ideal metric would be death rate among G20 (highly developed) countries. In that case, it's Belgium. They got hit very hard by covid, and it's because Belgium is particularly urban and an international center of politics, trade, and culture. And that's true, Belgium is not rural like the center of the US, it's more comparable to New York, New Jersey, or Massachusetts, all of which have had a higher death rate than Belgium (despite the US as a whole have a lower death rate). Unfortunately, these metrics around how to normalize and how to subdivide areas end up in almost circular arguments, primarily driven by people looking to point fingers at which government did the worst job protecting their people. If the media gets to pick the metric, they just keep the metric simple and use it to point at the US Federal Govt, and that's not unreasonable. Edit: also let's not forget when Trump tried arguing on 60 minutes about normalized metrics that has now turned into a popular meme, but he argued for deaths / cases, and not deaths / population. The first one is a measure of healthcare quality and availability of testing, while the 2nd is a measure of how much a country was impacted by covid. Either way, Trump chose the metric simply because it made the US look better.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Why did Germany produce so many philosophers? I haven't delved into philosophy much yet, but from my layman's view it appears as if Germany produce a massively disproportional amount of philosophers. Germany produced Weber, Kant, Hegel, Nitezsche, and Heidegger, and I'm sure quite a few more I don't know about. What was it about Germany that produced so many brilliant minds, especially in or near the twentieth century? Should we emulate what they did so well? Also, I don't intend to be obtuse here, but does the quality that gave Germany so many intelligent thinkers also made Germany the only country that Hitler could have risen in? It seems astounding that a nation which consistently produces the most intelligent thinkers in the world is also one which succumbs to the greatest evil.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Germany, ~~England~~Britain, and France - and to a lesser extent, Italy - were the three biggest economically developed language zones (Germany and Italy not being "countries" until late in the game) from the early modern period on. This meant they were able to afford to produce the most intellectuals, and to this day in most academic fields English, French, and German are the most useful European languages to read, and hence also to write in. With Germany specifically there's also the fact that the Prussian state was the first to introduce compulsory elementary schooling as well as the one to invent the modern research university, which inaugurated a form of patronage that allowed the existence of academic philosophers who only needed to justify themselves to other academic philosophers. This allowed philosophy to become much more abstract and, for the internal community of philosophers themselves, more prestigious and hence influential.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why do some companies file bankruptcy but keep operating, while others dont? They always say in the news that a company filed for chapter x bankruptcy, but what do they mean?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The act of filing bankruptcy serves many purposes, including protection from debtors. The "default position" is that the company is going under, but then the argument goes that if you can get it back and running then you can return _something more than zero_ to those who are owed money by said organization. So...thats better than going under to all parties (employees, lenders, suppliers, etc...). So...as long as you can demonstrate that you're fucked and that without bankruptcy relief you'd cease to exist then you can get bankruptcy. The ones that don't continue to operate are the ones where there is no clear path out of bankruptcy. For example, if the company filing bankruptcy had no customers then it would seem unlikely that a restructuring of debt would result in a healthy company capable of returning at least something to lenders or suppliers, or one that could pay its employees.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: In Chess, why are Female players rated lower than their Male counterparts for the same rank?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Chess rankings use a system called the Elo rating system. Your rating is a mathematical value that represents how much more likely you're going to beat another player in the same rating group. The number itself is fairly arbitrary. The system starts with every player joining at a specific rating, and then it gets adjusted based on wins and losses. The adjustments are zero-sum. However many points you win, the other player loses. That means if you took the average point value of everyone in the league, it would be equal to that starting point. The more players in the league, the more points there are to spread up and down. This means that more players there are, the higher the high end is going to be. So if the male league has more competitors, its highest ranked players will have a higher rating than the top players in the womens league, but the actual value of the number is meaningless outside of the league.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: I don't really like any of the presidential candidates, so there's no point of me voting in the presidential election. I don't plan on voting in the US presidential elections in November. I've never voted before, but only due to age. As it stands, I don't really like any of the presidential candidates. Trump is obviously horrendous. I don't like Cruz based on his socially (and some fiscal) conservative ideals, and I don't trust him at all based on his interviews. He seems to use religion to pander to the masses of conservatives. Hillary is untrustworthy as well imo. I guess she's a good politician, but I don't necessarily trust her or agree with her most of the time. Bernie is a cool guy, but I don't think he's a strong enough leader/politician to be president, nor do I necessarily agree with his ideas -- they're a bit too socialist (and unrealistic, imo). I guess I could always vote for a third-party candidate, but 1) I don't know enough about them to be able to say I'd want them as a president (that's my bad though. I guess I could always learn more about them.) But the main reason is that 2) It's pointless considering the fact that third party candidates don't win. I know if everyone thought like that it'd be dangerous to the political system, but based on political history, let's be honest -- at this point, they would never win anyways. In conversations about the abysmal state of politics and how none of the candidates are really that great, I've mentioned to two different groups of friends that I might just refrain from voting, and they both flipped out on me. They told me it's my civic duty to vote, I should just vote for the least of the four evils, it's a disservice to myself and others if I don't participate, etc. I'm just like, why should I lend my vote to a person that I don't truly feel would make a good president? By not participating, I'm saying I don't support any of these candidates. Besides, I feel like local elections are the ones that truly make a difference. CMV, yall. (Also I don't really want to argue about any of the candidates and their abilities/stances/pros/cons. This is more about not voting than not liking candidates). _____________________________________________ > Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to *[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules). If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* *[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)*! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our *[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)* first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to *[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview). Happy CMVing!*<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant So one of the things that happens by showing up is you start to help data aggregation. For example, young parents are low turnout voters, so politicians do little to appeal to them. Elderly are high turnout, politicians pander to them like crazy. Notice how all the social security reform ideas wont touch current retirees, but aforementioned parents. People respond to incentives, and the incentive most politicians respond to is getting elected or reelected. That means they do things to appeal to voters. Non-voters just don't matter as far as they're concerned.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user If I ingest a toxic substance, why shouldn't I induce vomiting? Wouldn't having my stomach pumped have the same effect?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant some toxic substances, for example corrosive substances, may have damaging effects as it comes back up through your throat and mouth. for substances like these, having a tube put into your stomach to remove the contents is better because it prevents this damage to your esophagus and oral cavity.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: What makes us emotionaly numb when we are depressed? And how does it come back?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Emotional numbness is one of the key markers in the first step of diagnosing things like major depression, but also PTSD and depersonalization disorders and they sometimes have different causes. With depression, it's often heavily influenced by the imbalance of chemicals in your body and brain like serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and oxytocin to name a few. These levels become so low that you lose the pleasure and excitement reactions to things that usually make you happy and instead, you don't feel anything. That's why you're usually asked the 'have you lost interest in things that you usually enjoy doing' when being seen for mental health. There are a ton of ways to help yourself and get professional help to work through depression and treat it until you're symptom free, so don't give up. In cases of PTSD and the like, it's more commonly a coping mechanism. The feelings from the associated trauma and its triggers are so intense that your brain decides that it's in its best interest to not address that feeling in order to survive. This isn't a bad thing! Often at the time the initial trauma occured, if your brain has triggered this kind of dissociation, it was a necessary coping mechanism to protect you and your mental health. If you are still experiencing symptoms of PTSD once the trauma is over, therapy is important to help teach your brain that it's okay to use other, more appropriate ways to deal with day to day emotions. As for your question about how it comes back, that depends on the cause. You can certainly do some things yourself to try to jump start your happy chemicals, like doing light cardio every day for a few weeks, getting enough sunlight, taking a multivitamin- all things that are essential to helping you maintain a healthy cycle of production for these chemicals. If you are still struggling after a few weeks of this OR experiencing worsening symptoms like panic attacks, severe lethargy, hostility, having suicidal thoughts, get in to see your doctor. Our brain and our genetic make up is entirely unique, so sometimes we will have trouble balancing our chemicals. To expound, because of that uniqueness, it will likely take a few or even more than a few different tries to find the right medication for you. Not only do they all act a little different, but there are many different classifications of these medications that specialize in specific chemicals and receptors in your brain, so an SSRI which mainly deals with serotonin reuptake will not perform the same function as an SNRI which mainly deals with norepinephrine reuptake, to only mention a few catergories. The most effective treatment in most cases is therapy and medication when needed. Hope this helped.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Mathematics in computer science Hi guys, I'm currently taking a computer science degree and math major on the side. I was planning to do M.L. but I found out I disliked statistics so I was wondering what other fields of computer science, mathematics is useful in.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Theoretical computer science is very literally the mathematical theory of computer science, and sometimes considered as its own branch of math! There are many very active areas within TCS including algorithms, complexity theory, coding theory, combinatorial optimization, learning theory, programming language theory, etc. Many branches of math find applications in different areas of TCS. For example category theory has been used in programming languages, linear algebra and graph theory find uses almost everywhere in TCS.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: The differences among astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Cosmology is the study of the cosmos itself (e.g. the expansion of space, the Big Bang, relativity), and astrophysics is the study of the objects in the cosmos (e.g. how stars work and galaxies form). There's a lot of overlap; for example, the astrophysical problem of how galaxies can rotate so fast without tearing apart introduces the cosmological problem of what dark matter is and how it got here. Modern astronomy might as well be called "observational astrophysics"; it's about looking at what things in space are doing and figuring out why. An astronomer will generally concern himself with finding data that can test astrophysical/cosmological theories and hypotheses.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: How don’t we see huge satellite shaped shadows cast on the earth? Wouldn’t satellites be between the sun and the earth meaning that they’d cast a shadow on us?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Two things, - Satellites are very very small compared to celestial objects like the Earth, or even the Moon - Light has a property called diffraction (made possible because light behaves like a wave). What this means is that light waves tend to bend inwards around the edges of objects So when satellites come between the Sun and the Earth, their small size and diffraction of light means that their shadow is cast for only a short distance, thus not reaching the Earth's surface<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: What does the thalamo-cortical complex do?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant A glance at the Wikipedia article suggests to me that you might have better luck finding someone qualified to answer this in like, /r/askscience or something along those lines. Also, obvious homework is obvious.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5:What really happens when we unfocus our eyes ? Like when you stare at something at everything is just blurry<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Your eye has muscles that adjust the shape of the lens. This changes the focal point, optimally so that the light coming from part of an object converges on part of the retina, the image is 'in focus.' These muscles can essentially focus automatically, but you can control them. So if you are relaxing those muscles, they aren't focusing the light from a single point onto a single spot on your retina. You get a smear.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user What is the healthcare system like in countries like America, Canada, Sweeden, Denmark, Austrailia, etc? And how does ObamaCare compare? Living in America, our healthcare system is (from what I've read about) is vastly different from other countries (in the sense where it is strictly a ploy for money). Can somebody explain the similarities/differences? Why can't America have more affordable healthcare, especially when other countries have more affordable healthcare and delegate less money towards healthcare? What is ObamaCare aiming to do, and is it similar to the healthcare system of other countries?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Denmark has a public health care system. We pay through our taxes and everyone can use ambulances, hospitals and doctors without paying anything but taxes. Everyone is entitled to help, not only the rich.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why does a call center keep making me repeat the same information every time I get transferred? I call: give phone, name, secret password... transferred, first thing I have to do is give phone, name, secret password... rinse, repeat. Don't that have a computer/system that will save me the frustration?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant They have to verify that you are who you are in order to give you access or information about your account. Who knows where you're actually getting transferred to. Could be down the hall or across the country. It's safer to verify your information every time than to just assume and possibly give out personal information to a random person.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: If mitochondria are small even through microscopes, how do we know how they work?? How do we "know" how body cells function??<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Much of what we know about cells comes from a) direct observation under electron microscopy and b) knock-out mutations/disease in people and animal subjects. Some structures we can see under electron microscopes, and we have a saying in physiology of “form follows function.” Basically, the way something looks can inform what it does. So we look at mitochondria and see the double membranes, and then we make hypotheses. What’s the double membrane for? Is it for energy production? (It is—it’s for the electron transport chain) Then we look at what happens if there are no mitochondria at all. What happens to the cells? If they don’t have mitochondria, they don’t seem to make any energy, and they die. Some people have mitochondrial disorders, too, and what happens in their bodies can inform us of what the purpose of the structure is. Finally, animal experiments where genes are artificially silenced or enhanced can prove or disprove our hypotheses. Biochemistry can be frustrating because we don’t normally see exactly what is going on. We have to use surrogates sometimes to make a theory about what is happening, and—when it comes to physiology—sometimes when something goes wrong, we can try to find what is missing and determine the function from there.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why is all the hair on my body black, but my beard has a lot of ginger in it?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Hair color comes from the pigment melanin, which also plays a role in skin and eye color. Melanin comes in different types, which in hair can produce brown or black color (eumelanin) or varieties of "red" colors (pheomelanin). The types and amounts of melanin produced have a basis in genetics, which is why hair color can be inherited. But you do not have a single hair color, because not every hair follicle on your body produces exactly the same mix of melanin. So it's possible, and quite common, for hair on different parts of your body to be slightly different in color, and even for different hairs on the same part of your body to not be exactly the same. Plus, it will change over the course of your life; for exmple, many people start out with quite light hair, only to have it get darker as they grow older. And, of course, as you reach into old age your hair starts going grey (the cells which produce the melanin are no longer replenished, meaning no more pigment). If you look closely at an area that has a lot of hair, close together -- like the top of your head -- you'll probably be able to see the variations pretty easily. Although from a distance it may all look "black", up closer you'd see some hairs that are darker, some that are lighter, some that are a bit more reddish, etc. Your beard is no different from any other part of your body, in that sense, and variation is to be expected. There may also be some genetic factors which make it more likely for beard hair to have more pheomelanin, but no-one is quite sure yet.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: How does lowering the volume on a device actually work?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Simple version: You turn a knob, and a coil is wound/unwound which increases the resistance of the electrical current by increasing the distance it has to travel through the coil. This resistance drops the power(volts&amps) which causes less energy to be transferred to the speaker. The same process happens in a digital device, but it's instead controlled by a digital potentiometer, which regulates the current that passes through it, instead of a mechanical coil.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: what does a shark “feel” from magnetic fields that allows them to navigate by it. I recently read an article about a shark using the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate great distances across the world’s oceans. I’ve always been curious about this. Does the magnetic field give them a physical sensation or tingling in their brain or is it more of driving a subconscious instinct? I guess the same would apply to a bird or a butterfly or any other creature that uses magnetic fields to navigate.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant What do you feel when you're sensing light or sound? It would probably be similar for a shark and the magnetic field. It's probably impossible to tell what an animal senses with a sense we don't (really) have. But just by examining our other senses, we can get a glimpse of how senses that we don't have might feel.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: How do manufactures simply add vitamins to products? How are the vitamins produced?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant There are several ways in which vitamins are made. Some, like Vitamin E, can be extracted from vegetable oils while Vitamin D from fish liver oil. Vitamin C is produced in the lab and is nature identical. A 3rd form of production is by using genetically altered bacteria. Vitamins obtained this way include B12. Some manufacturers add vitamins to products for a multitude of reasons. For example, white bread lacks some vitamins present in whole wheat bread so these vitamins may be added to white bread. Margarine lacks the Vitamin D of butter so most kinds of margarine are enriched with this vitamin<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: 3rd wave feminists should just abandon the name and join the egalitarians. Third wave feminism is just too open and all-inclusive a movement and therefore so different from Second wave feminism that it's basically egalitarianism by another name. So just switch to egalitarianism and be honest about what you support. By switching to egalitarianism third wavers will automatically distance themselves from batshit crazy radical factions like femen, amazons, political lesbians, Christian feminists, born-women only feminists etc, and the rigidness of the second wave feminists who simply can't cope with how the world is different the last twenty-five years or so. This will benefit both third wavers and egalitarians, as their philosophies are almost identical, and together they can register as a pure minded lobby that has definite registered numbers and actual political power, instead of having to cling to middle aged second wavers who have either gone out of sync with today's problems and goals by aging, or have grown too old to be incorruptible as representatives. This will draw support by other factions who have been shunned by radical feminists in the past, such as trans people and the LGBT movement in general. edit 01 Please people, I mentioned THIRD WAVE FEMINISTS only, not all feminists. I did so for a reason: Only Third Wave Feminists support fighting for equal rights for all. Second wave feminists don't. First wave feminists don't. Other factions don't. Only Third Wavers. So please keep that in mind next time you mention what other factions of feminism ask for. edit 02 God dammit, I'm not saying feminists are inferior to another group, I respect feminism and I think it still has a lot to offer, but, that third wave feminism has crossed waters. It's no longer simply feminism. It's equal rights for all, not just women, therefore it's not feminism anymore. It's a trans movement that simply refuses to acknowledge that it has transcended to a divergent but equally beneficial cause. Let go of the old conceptions, and acknowledge what you really are: you are egalitarians. _____ > Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to *[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules). If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* *[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)*! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our *[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)* first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to *[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview). Happy CMVing!*<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The difference is that by using the word 'feminist', you're not just saying that you want a fair and just society, you are making a statement regarding the policies you feel that need to be instituted to make it so. You are saying 'One set of things that needs to be done for this to be an egalitarian society is that the position of women in general needs to be bolstered' Presumably not all egalitarians believe this, so the two terms aren't synonymous. Those egalitarians who believe that the position of women needs to be bolstered, can actually make this clear by calling themselves feminists.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5 \| Why do most people have middle name, where did it originate from, and what are their purposes?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Middle names typically originate in the upper classes of societies, and are useful for demonstrating ancestry, fealty or devotion. It can also be a superstitious thing. Back then, they were a political tool similar to surname. If you had a well-reputed ancestor, you may give your child that ancestor's name as a middle name, which could indicate to other people that your child is descended from a great person, or if you're the magical-thinking type, bestow your child with the protection of that ancestor. You could also choose the name of a saint, to bestow the protection of that saint or demonstrate your allegiance to the dominant religion. As tends to happen, the lower classes gradually started imitating the upper classes, adding middle names to their children because upper class people did it, rather than because there was any political use to doing it. Note though that in some cultures, middle names were something commoners started doing for magical protection even without imitating the upper classes.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: What does an investment banker do? I am not in any way trying to make points about Wall Street, I'm just interested in what investment banking is and how things actually work.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant If you want to sell your house, you may decide to hire a mortgage broker to help you figure out how much your house is worth on the market and then show your house to potential buyers. If you want to buy a house, you may decide to hire a mortgage broker to show you different houses based on what you want and can afford. Instead of houses, an investment banker helps companies buy or get a acquired by other companies. Most investment bankers spend 80-120 hours a week staring at Excel to model out what the financials of the combined company would look like (that's seriously the industry standard hours; most people quit within a year or two). At the highest levels, however, it's basically a sales job. The managing director knows a lot of people in his specific industry, what companies are worth in that industry based on financial metrics he's memorized over the years, and basically helps arrange buyers and sellers. If the deal goes through, the banker gets a small cut of the transaction.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: why are dog breeds so drastically different between themselves (size, body shape, etc) while cats look basically the same in size and shape between breeds? I'm not saying a sphynx cat looks the same as a maine coon but you can clearly see they're the same species, but it's not the same case with an Italian greyhound and a saint bernard<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Dogs have been heavily selected and bred for different tasks and then later for appearance. Cats have pretty much been kept for their natural instinctive hunting ability, so haven't been selected into such diverse forms, and have not been as extensively bred for appearance.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: Cinderella (1950) is far more progressive than people give it credit for This is actually my topic for my college essay so I’d really appreciate some feedback on this! I watched the original Cinderella in full for the first time yesterday (scene where the sisters ripped off Cinderella’s dress scared little me too much lol). For years I’d heard people talk about how 50s it is with its sexism and stereotypes and how it’s not a great role model film for kids. And while I don’t necessarily disagree with those claims, after watching it for myself I have to say it’s far more progressive than people give it credit for. 1. Cinderella is actually a pretty great character. People go in about how she’s a generic Disney princess and kind of a ditz but is she really? I mean she’s got a work ethic on par with Tiana from Princess and the frog. Even more impressive, she manages to take the constant abuse and manipulation she gets from her family like a champ. She still manages to find joy in life and continues to have hope that her situation will get better. Even better she’s not bitter and mean because of the abuse, she’s super nice and caring to the mice and other animals she’s friends with (you could even say she takes care of them the way she wishes her family did her). That takes real strength and I think that needs to ge recognized. 1.5. Also, why is Cinderella’s main motivation (or one of them at least) in the movie going to the ball and dressing up a bad thing? She’s been locked up inside of a house being forced to be a servant for years and the one night she has the opportunity to actually be a teenage girl and have fun seen as a weak motivation? All she wants to do is have one night of partying and fun (not specifically trying to meet a man or fall in love might I add) and people are mad about that? Also Cinderella is also interested in fashion and dancing and other “girly” things like the stepsisters. The difference being that she isn’t obsessed to the point of becoming an entitled, materialistic asshole about it (and squandering your family’s wealth in the process). 2. The female characters in this are great. I explained Cinderella already but honestly the Evil stepmother is one of the best and smartest Disney villains of all time. No exploitation needed 3. With this, pretty much all of the leads are women. Surprisingly, this movie actually passes the Bechdel test (which I know isn’t a perfect system but still) with flying colors. Unlike a lot of other movies that are seen to have strong female leads (all three of the original Star Wars movies and the prequels for that matter). 4. You can make the argument that Cinderella didn’t technically do anything to earn her fairy godmother visit, but isn’t the whole idea of the fairy godmother that she comes when people really need her and are on their last legs? Cinderella has been working tirelessly for her entire life with no thanks and the one opportunity she finally gets to have fun is ruined. So, the fairy godmother shows up as a result of this. You can see this as a direct cause and effect relationship, she did eventually earn her prince and her ball. And at the end of the day, this is a story of women helping women overcome hardship. Really the only men that helped her get the prince were the male mice and the dog lol. 5. Speaking of which, the prince is far more of a ditz than Cinderella ever was. You could even call him a himbo with how adorably clueless he is for most of the movie. 6. The king is actually pretty great as well. True he’s an emotionally and mentally unstable man child who’s always threatening to kill his #2, but when you look at his actual behavior and motivations in the movie they’re actually pretty unique compared to other Disney kings. Like compare him to the kings from sleeping beauty. Unlike them he wants grandchildren not because he needs an heir but because he just likes kids and wants his family to grow. Also unlike the other kings, he didn’t do an arranged marriage for his son at birth and instead literally let his son choose any girl in the land, regardless of wealth or class. Even poor servants and pesants (like Cinderella) stood a chance. 7. The one line that’s brought up a lot when talking about the sexism and stereotypes in this movies is “leave the sewing to the women”, which I agree is a painfully 50s line. But like, at the end of the day the mice are still all making a pretty pink dress, regardless of gender. There’s even a scene during that song where the male mice are helping with the sewing. The suspenseful chase scene in that song are two male mice stealing some ribbon and a necklace So what are we left with; a movie made up almost entirely of fully developed female characters in leading roles who don’t rely on men to fix all of their problems. A main character who is emotionally strong and hardworking, but also interested in “girly” things. Male characters who’s motivations and personalities challenge masculine expectations and stereotypes. All for people to call this movie sexist and old fashioned? Edit: spelling Edit 2: I’m now realizing that Attack of the Clones actually does just barely pass the Bechdel test<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant One of the counterarguments you should consider tackling in your essay is that Cinderella’s path to happiness and “freedom” consists in being chosen by a man - and while she is in fact virtuous, it is her beauty which wins her this opportunity. It may be that the film makes her outwardly beautiful in order to reflect her inner beauty, but fitting into the glass slipper is a test of her physical delicateness, not of her moral worth. Do you have a way to counter this argument? I very much recommend you read the Hans Christian Andersen version of the fairytale that the film is based on, if you haven’t already. It is a 19th century version of an older folktale, so in a lot of ways the morality of the film is quite Victorian rather than 1950s.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Eli5: How does hormonal acne work? What hormones are involved? How does that affect your skin?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Some changes in hormone levels, caused by stress, or natural changes in your body, can increase the amount of oil (sebum) your skin produces. This oil exits through tiny holes in your face, your pores. That oil is thick, and because the holes are tiny these holes can get clogged, creating pimples or acne.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: No one "deserves" respect based upon a position of authority or power So I just finished listening to my art teacher childishly scream at our class that he deserves to be respected. When class started, my teacher scolded one kid (who is a troublemaker) for sitting on a desk; he didn't seem too upset at that point. Later in the class, as he began to introduce our next assignment, people we're still chatting as he began to talk. He stopped introducing the assignment and went on a tirade about how he as a teacher deserves to be respected because of what he had to go through to get that job. I do not believe that anyone inherently deserves respect, no matter who you are. You can't demand someone to respect you, you have to earn their respect. CMV Edit: I read the comments and I agree with most of them. I think when my teacher complained about us not respecting him I think he was referring to basic respect, and I misinterpreted his definition of respect. I still believe that a deeper kind of respect must be earned, but all people should have a sort of "baseline respect" _____ > Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to *[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules). If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than just downvote it. Speaking of which,* *[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)*! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our *[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)* first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to *[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview). Happy CMVing!*<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The sacrifices and effort needed to become a teacher warrant a significant amount of respect. If the students fail to recognise this just because that sacrifice and effort wasn't performed in front of them, they're simply short-sighted and inconsiderate.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Star Wars] If Grand Admiral Thrawn were to scrutinize Earth's arts… what would happen? If Grand Admiral Thrawn were to scrutinize Earth's arts… what would he find about us? Given "similar" technology, how would he exploits the flaws and how easy would he be able to invade and conquer Earth?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant He'd see the wide variety of art forms, both within and between cultures, and realize that a "divide and conquer" approach would work: find the group most willing to work with the Empire, give them aid, and then tell the other peoples "you can get this too, or be conquered by the people we're helping; your choice."<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user What causes all living things to die of old age? What exactly causes any living thing to cease living simply from old age? Why can't cells perpetually replace themselves and continue to grow and live?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Once the germline is established an organism begins to die, due to the loss of cellular quality control. After you have offspring, you are no longer important (evolutionarily speaking). Your genome is also limited in the number of times it is copied, due to sequences known as telomeres. These get shorter and shorter with subsequent divisions and the grnome will begin to deteriorate after further replication. Telomerase is an enzyme which repairs these regions but it is not expressed after a certain stage of embryonic development. Both of these processes are often reactivated in cancer cells, allowing them to grow out of control.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [General Fantasy] Why is every cure from a plant that is found only in one place and that place is always a dangerous hard to get place surrounded by monsters? Why isn't it ever in a field of butterflies and bunnies?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant There's tons of common accessible plants that cure lots of things. Every witch and herbalist knows about them. That health potion collecting dust in the bottom of your pack is probably made from them. But the bards don't sing about that and there's not a buff warrior fighting to get them, so you forgot they exist.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Interview at R1 university but research credentials are not extravagant Background: I am currently tenure track at a teaching university with ungodly course / service loads. My goal is to do research and I have gotten an interview at a nearby university, which is highly focused on research. However, my publications and funding are very nill. I only published one paper in my PhD (a "current state of the art" review paper), and most of my other publications were internal reports at the company I worked for, not peer reviewed, and very dry, non-academic quality. However, I have technical skills and super powers which is what probably got me the interview. I was wondering if anyone could give me tips that might help me out, or has been on a search committee at an R1 or similar. My plan for the presentation is as follows: ~~Background on myself~~ ~~Teaching, classes developed, course loads / pedagogy~~ ~~Past technical projects (non published :( , but I have physical show and tell)~~ ~~Current research focus and plan, and what I am working on~~ ~~Current grants submitted~~ ~~Future grants I am planning on submitting~~ Big question is whether to talk about my Ph.D. (nothing really came of it but it was neat), and what I need to be successful at the R1 (students, lab, start up funds, faculty interested in xyz ). Anything else I should include or mention? Edit: Ok obviously glad I posted this. FYI im in Electrical Eng. So my PhD didnt really go anywhere (finished 2 years ago), so I guess I will present what I am working on now. Unfortunately I dont have a lot of results yet. It is an idea in progress. It would mostly be a technical talk about the idea, and how I am going to accomplish it. How about this * Background on Tech (5 min) * Proposal ( 15 minutes ) * Strategy to accomplish it w/current work done ( 15 minute ) * Funding sources identified ( 1 - 2 slides ) * Broader impacts (plus: undergrad research, incorporate Ph.D. work, etc.) * Research spin off ideas ( other things I can work on once this work is done ) * Beg for mercy and to be pulled out of my current hell hole ( 1 - 2 slides ) * Advanced Groveling Techniques ( 1 - 2 Slides ) Ok maybe not the last two. Edit 2 Per your advice, I emailed the search committee. The contact said include: "your research philosophy, your teaching philosophy, and show that you are going to write research proposals and state the research potential agencies"<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant One of the most important things we consider is the future research of a candidate. What intellectual contribution you will make during your CAREER? What are the funding agencies and specific programs you will target? What are the broader impacts of your research? How will you integrate our students into your research plan? Will you collaborate with other faculty in the department? These are some of the important questions that should be answered during your talk.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Eli5: why are submarines cigar shaped but jets pointy? Both water and air are fluids but jets and missiles are pointy whereas submarines and torpedoes are cigar shaped. Why is that? Edit: Grammar Edit2: why is pointy better for supersonic? Why is round better for subsonic?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Air is a compressible gas whereas water is usually a non compressible fluid. The air density vs water density is also very different. With those two variables the dynamics at each medium are widely different, and hence you have the hydrodynamics and the aerodynamics. Making a submarine very pointy creates a weak structure that will not be able to whitstand the compression deep under the sea, and it will also make the submarine hard to steer because of its relatively slow speed (compared to airplanes). An airplane with a cigar shape is actually possible (as long as it has wings) and those type of designs are used for slower and bigger cargo planes. High speed jets require a geometry that allows them to break the sound barrier more easliy, and thats the main reason for the pointy geometry. Air is usually considered uncompressible at subsonic speeds, once the speed of sound is reached, the air resistance becomes exponentially more "thick" and the calculations for the aerodynamics start considering air as a compressible fluid. A plane can be made to be good at subsonic speed or good at supersonic speed, but not the two at the same time. Pointy geometry is good at supersonic speed.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user How do animals get their "hard wired" instincts in the first place?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Science teacher here: This is best explained by evolutionary theory. Hard wired behavioral instincts are those most likely to be selected on by natural selection. If a behavior is innate, meaning it is not something the animal learns, but rather something the animal does because it is specifically coded in the genes, then the behaviors that do not benefit the animal for its environment will be selected out. Those beneficial behaviors will pass genes on to the offspring. If you are asking how is it behaviors are coded through DNA, then its a little bit more difficult to explain. Because DNA is incredibly complex, the genes that code for specific behaviors can be difficult to decipher. However, behavior is really just an extension of a complex interactions of proteins. The simplest kinds of behaviors, like those demonstrated by bacteria are the the easiest to consider. Bacteria that demonstrate a tendency toward or away from light can extend a evolutionary advantage under certain conditions. For example, avoiding UV light as Neil De Grasse Tyson explains in the most recent episode of Cosmos. This is a behavior that is hard wired and is simply a complex protein interaction that causes the bacteria to avoid UV light. Behaviors have gotten more complex, but if they are the innate kind, then they are just part of a line of increasingly complex protein interactions going on inside the animal, dictated by DNA that has been selected on by natural selection.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user I want to teach at a liberal arts college. How much does prestige of grad school matter? I'm getting my PhD in chemistry, and I hope to become a professor at a liberal arts college. I have been accepted to three schools. One is top tier, one is mid tier, and one is bottom tier. (All three are RU/VH.) I'm having a hard time with the decision, and I need some insight. - I want to be close to family: Bottom tier school is 30 minutes away. It's in my home state. I would be happy to teach at some of the schools in my home state. - Research is not the most important thing in my life: I am not a workaholic. I will not stay awake thinking about my work until the wee hours in the morning. The top tier school is a pressure cooker, and I'm more likely to have mental health issues if I go there. Mid tier is slightly more laid back, but it's still grad school. 5th year grad students at the bottom tier school said that 40-50 hours a week is the norm. It is a very relaxed department. - I want to like the research at least a little: Top school is amazing. Everything is awesome. Funding and resources are not even a little bit of an issue. Mid school has cool stuff happening. I would be happy doing that work. Bottom tier school has only one professor I would want to work for, and even that research wasn't that exciting to me. tl;dr I would go to a bottom tier school if I could be guaranteed the job I want at a liberal arts college. Leaving my family makes me sad, but I feel I may have no choice for the sake of my career. Any words of wisdom? Edit: I chose the top tier school. It was the right decision.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Like any tenure-track position, jobs at teaching-focused liberal arts schools are fiercely competitive. You seem to be under the impression that you can lowball grad school and slide into a teaching position. That isn't going to happen: if you can't publish, you won't get a job. So, you need to be thinking very seriously about what your publishing prospects look like at the mid- and bottom-tier programs. If you lack resources or talented advisors at either school, it's not an option. You will also need teaching experience in grad school, so consider which schools would allow you to TA and (ideally) be the instructor of record of a course at some point.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Over 800,000 people go missing in the US every year, the vast majority people under the age of 18. Discounting the runaways, resolved cases, and other causes, how many of these missing can be attributed to psychopaths and sexual slavery?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Your question is flawed and that's why you are getting widely different answers. let me ask you a question. If a teenager runs away from home, that's a run away. If that run away falls in with a bad crowd (because, homeless) and ends up being sex slave in a far away place. If that person's disappearance attributed to sex slavery or is she a run away? Very few kids who are in happy healthy homes are abducted by strangers. Much more likely is that the home is shit, the child leaves that shit home and gets involved in another dangerous situation. This person is now considered "high risk" because no one is looking out for them. It's now relatively easy for sex slavers to abduct them.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Is evolution limited to "random mutations" or can other paths also be deemed evolution? For example, can the results of work being done in DNA manipulation be considered evolution? Whether now or in the future, as the area progresses? If down the road we are creating "super humans" as one might call it, can this be considered the next evolutionary step of mankind? Ps. No need to limit answering the question in the title to my example.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Evolution is the term used to describe changes in a gene pool over time. This can occur by various mechanisms; random genetic mutation being one among many. Artificial selection, such as that seen in dog breeding or horticulture can also induce evolution. Artificial selection imposed by humans can occur at the phenotypic level (ex: selective breeding) or at the molecular/genetic level (targeted specific mutation). Either way, they both result in changes in the gene pool over time. i.e evolution<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: 4-kilobyte animation [Example](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YZufDSD3IE) How can something like that be made with so little data?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Mathmatics. Calculate the stuff rather than having large blobs of data to be manipulated. We're very spoiled today with the amount of memory on our computers which means we can put alot of computing to create pre-processed objects, songs, etc. which are faster to manipulate and require less computing power, but more memory. Want to use less memory? Then you require a lot more computing power to calculate everything live. You basically just sit down and try to describe everything mathematically and that which you cannot you add as pre-compiled raw data into the program. Edit: The gist is that instead of telling the graphics card "Hey GFX-Card, I've got a gift for you! It's a gift-wrapped propeller! Do you like it?" you say "Hey GFX-card, I've got these two points in space. I'd like to draw a line between them in 3D space where it flexes with <insert formula here> as the line rotates around the X-axis. Store that shape for me in your memory with this name and I'll come back to you later."<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: The basic differences between the Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs. If you wouldn't mind sacrificing some of your time, I'd appreciate it.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period (c. 2000 BC to AD 250), according to the Mesoamerican chronology, many Maya cities reached their highest state of development during the Classic period (c. AD 250 to 900), and continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. The Inca Empire or Inka Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century. From the 13th century, the Valley of Mexico was the heart of Aztec civilization: here the capital of the Aztec Triple Alliance, the city of Tenochtitlan, was built upon raised islets in Lake Texcoco. The Triple Alliance formed a tributary empire expanding its political hegemony far beyond the Valley of Mexico, conquering other city states throughout Mesoamerica. TL;DR Differences: Different people, different places. Mayans came before the others.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Is all research experience good experience or should you not work in areas that you may not be fully interested in anymore? So I got an offer for a research assistantship at my undergrad institution for some work in an area that would be my second-third choice if I were choosing it for grad schools. I'm not sure if I'm 100% interested in that area anymore, but I believe it might help me with applications this year, as I'm taking a gap year to improve my profile before applying again. Is it worth it to take up the offer? (Also as a small side question, if the asking professor asks for a list of the courses you've taken as an undergrad, do you give them your transcript or just actually send them just a list without any grades?) EDIT: Thank you everyone for the comments!! I think I'll take up the offer then and try to learn something out of it, hopefully it'll help my apps and I'm starting to think I'll enjoy it too!! Thankss!!<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant I think all research experience is good experience, particularly for undergrads. Honestly unless you have a better offer lined up, you can’t really be that picky when it comes to your research topic. There are so many factors involved that’s it not reasonable to expect everybody to only research topics they are extremely interested in. You research what you can get funding to research, and hopefully this lines up somewhat with what your interests are.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user What are the criteria for having a species declared extinct? How are scientists so sure that there is not one single animal of a species left?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Basically you have to have a bunch of different teams gathering data over quite a few years on last known sightings and animals that have been tagged, etc. After that you have a committee come together, review the data, have the data proven, and after a while they'll agree the animal is extinct. With some it's a lot easier than others (kinda hard to miss elephants or rhinos if they still live in areas)<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user How is data encoded on light? After reading a [BBC article](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13469924) on how scientists had achieved a transfer speed of 26 terabits per second by encoding data on different colors light in a laser, I'm really curious: how do you encode data on light?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant What you're talking about is called multiplexing, and there are a few different ways to go about it. One way is time-division multiplexing. You know those chess guys you see in the park playing three games at once? That's time-division multiplexing. They play one board for a minute, then move to the next, then the next, then back to the first. But in fibre optics, it's more common to use what's called dense wavelength-division multiplexing. What happens there is that individual chunks of data get turned into different wavelengths of light, each wavelength being modulated by its own source of light, such as a laser. If the source of light is sufficiently clean, and your optics and repeaters are of sufficiently high quality, you can send different frequencies of light down the same optical fibre basically with no interference. In other words, the "red" frequency doesn't interfere in any way with what's on the "blue" frequency. (It's not really that simple. In practice, frequencies are very subtly different, not different primary colors.) This isn't typically something you use to move a chunk of data from one computer to another. Instead, it's used to combine lots of different signalling paths onto a single piece of optical fibre for long-distance links. For example, you can carry a large number of distinct phone calls on a single piece of optical fibre by giving each call its own wavelength and having the equipment on each end sort it out. Combine that with time-division multiplexing (because the signaling frequency of a laser is much higher than the number of on-off transitions per second needed to carry a single signal) and you can get a lot of information crammed into a single fibre.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Firefly] Why were Alliance ships shaped like 5-towered mini cities? http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Tohoku_Class<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Part of the design was dictated by technical requirements, such as wanting at least a certain amount of surface area for the volume of the ship (for heat dissipation, windows, external instrumentation, etc). As far as role goes in the design, the Tohoku cruisers were built for administration and patrol duties. They carry gunships for policing actions, but are not expected to personally engage in actual ship-to-ship combat. So there's minimal need for armour, defenses, or large guns. Instead the focus is on long-term independent operation and habitation. Beyond that, it's a matter of aesthetics. The ships effectively are miniature cities, and are a symbol of the Alliance's dominance and the civilization they bring to the outer planets, so the design of the ships reflect that.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Addressing Professors In Canada or US, does Professor John Smith mind being addressed as Hi John, in an email. How about in person? In what context is it (in)appropriate to use Hi Prof Smith vs Hi John? How about pre-interview, during and after getting hired and working in the same lab?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant It's Prof. or Dr. until they give you permission, either explicitly or implicitly. If they start signing emails "-John", then you're probably clear to use the first name. Until then, use the honorific.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user With a heavy vehicle trying to stop on snow, what is the relationship between the higher mass increasing traction on the snow, but also increasing the momentum that has to be stopped? I often see pickups loaded with snow for traction, but it seems like extra weight might work against you at a certain point<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant That's an interesting question, let's look at the math. As you point out, there are two factors at work here. First is the kinetic energy of the vehicle, Ke=1/2 mv^2 M is the vehicle mass, v it's speed. Second, there is the friction term. This one changes depending on whether or not the car is sliding or the tires are rolling like normal, but in either case the equation takes on the form F=um Where u is a friction constant times g. To compare these, we need to look at how force translates to energy - we need to integrate the acceleration term with respect to the distance over which it is applied. this is easy- Fx= delta E. So, for the force of friction to cancel out the kinetic energy of the car, Fx=delta E = umx= 1/2 mv^2 It looks like the masses cancel out here. ux= 1/2 v^2 We can collet all constants to say that X is proportional to the square of v. In this case, x is the distance needed to brake, and v is your car speed. Conclusion: according to classical dynamics, braking early and ESPECIALLY driving slowly are more important than the weight of your car. Edited as per physicistphill's suggestion.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [My Hero Academia] All Might tells Midoriya he can't be a hero without a Quirk, but some time later the Support Class gets introduced. Even without a Quirk, couldn't Izuku, an expert on heros, try for the Support Class and become an Iron Man -style hero? Did this not cross his mind at all?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The point of the Support Class is to build gadgets to enhance others' quirks. Izuku could have built gadgets for himself and become an Iron Man-style hero, but it would have been strictly less effective than having a hero with Iron Man armor, a quirk, and who can spend all their time practicing their quirk instead of building and maintaining their armor. And if you follow a less effective strategy just so you can get more glory, is that really heroic?<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Judge dredd] Are the judges right in their immediate execution of criminals? So we know the judges are basically fascists but you look at the cities and they are all run by violent gangs. So is it acceptable to have the judges be so brutal?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant From a statist and utilitarian point of view it can be said that as the legal system is overwhelmed, they are trying a different take on the proper legal process, with the ultimate aim of maximizing the benefit to society and minimizing the cost of criminal activity, which appears to be spreading at an unprecedented rate. From a libertarian point of view it could be said that if such a scenario existed people should be allowed to form volunteer militia to police their communities and protect their life and property, according to their own conception of the law.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user If a stereotype is statistically true is it still a stereotype? I mean in the commonly used sense of the word, I know the exact definition refers more to personal mental stereotypes that people accumulate. I'm referring to the "common knowledge" stereotypes of which there are many. Im not going to include examples so as to not bias any potential answers.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant This depends on how you define stereotype. Some social psychologists may define it as "a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people." Stereotypes seek to oversimplify someone's qualities and reduce their humanity to a few correlations in identity and behavior. Regardless of whether or not the data supports a strong statistic correlation, it still reduces a person to a set of actions based on impression and judgment; thus, retaining its status as a "stereotype."<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why are so many scam call centers located in India?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Because labour is cheap, but equally important, because of the legacy of the British Empire, there is a strong tradition of learning English as a second language. EDIT - worth noting that on occasions where having faultless English with an English accent is important, call centres (sometimes called boiler rooms) are located nearer home. Spain is a favourite for scams targeting the UK.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Star Trek]How centralized is the United Federation of Planets, how much automony do it's members have over themselves?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant It really depends on the particular issue when it comes to centralization. Agriculture is very world to world, while regulations regarding orbital traffic are not. Matters of Interstellar Foreign Policy are decided by the President of the UFP under advisement from the Diplomatic Corps, specific expert advisors, & Starfleet Command, while Domestic (read: issues within the UFP affecting multiple Member worlds) are decided upon by the Federation Council. Matters affecting specific Member worlds are generally handled locally, albeit with a support network of resources and organizations spanning the entire Federation. Singular (planetary) issues tend to be solved by that planet themselves, except in such cases where they lack the resources, wherein they petition the Council for assistance. All of this presumes we're referring to Member planets, formal members of the Federation. signing into the UFP carries with it certain preconditions & requirements, among them universal suffrage, civil rights, non-discrimination, & secular governance. Aside from that basic framework, local laws & regulations can vary, especially with new members, but, over time, most interplanetary differences in civil matters fade as travel & relations encourage members to standardize so as to make themselves more hospitable & familiar (and in turn find other worlds more hospitable & familiar to them).<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: Society would be more productive if prostitution was legal Men are horny creatures that crave a lot of sex from a variety of physically attractive women. Physically attractive women are generally very selective and either off limits or take a lot of time/energy to lay, so there's naturally a huge imbalance between horny men and the beautiful women they crave willing to fuck them. On top of that, most men don't have the time and/or energy to devote to constantly being on the prowl and putting in the work necessary to have sex with a ton of beautiful women, not to mention the looks, personality, status, etc. All this time wasted chasing sex is time that could be better spent elsewhere. Sexually satisfied men are happier, more focused, and more productive than sexually frustrated men. Prostitution makes sex an option, sexually satiating a man and freeing his mind to pursue more productive things. Sure a man can always masturbate, but the real thing is generally more satisfying. Also, masturbation makes it easier to live in a reclusive virtual world removed from human contact where sex with an attractive woman isn't believed to be a real possibility. Women would also benefit because they'd no longer have a legion of desperate sexually frustrated guys chasing and using them solely for sex. Human interactions would be more genuine and less driven by sexual desperation. _____ > This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please *[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules). If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* *[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)*! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to *[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview). Happy CMVing!*<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant You've looked at some upsides, how about looking at downsides to productivity: 1) Massively increased levels of incurable sexually transmitted diseases (several of which cannot be effectively protected against by condoms). 2) Large increases in divorce (partly due to #1). 3) Considerable increases in human trafficking (as seen by every country to decriminalize prostitution so far). To name a few.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [WH40K/Avatar:TLA/LOK] A rogue trader comes across the planet that TLA/LOK happens on. What happens?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant 1. Explorations are made to see if it's valuable. 2. Rogue Trader doesn't find anything truly valuable (archeotech/STC fragments, major resources, stash of old Imperial tech, etc.), but passes on word of the planet to other organizations who may find interest in the planet. 3. Mechanicus Explorator fleet with Ecclesiarchy missionaries show up. 4. Ad-Mech doesn't find too much, but the Ecclesiarchy gets to preaching the Imperial Cult right away. 5. Imperials discover the existence of Bending, and start to lose it. Zealotry begins to take hold. 6. Luckily, a (more radical) Inquisitor gets word of this newly discovered planet where a large majority of the population appear to be able to manipulate Warp energies in strange ways. 7. The Inquisitor gets to the world in time to stop the Ecclesiarchy from turning it into one big fireball of religious intolerance. 8. The Inquisition takes control of the planet and study it for the next few decades, allowing for it to become normalized into the Imperium proper. 9. A century later, the planet, now known by the Administratum-given name as Laogai Primus, is known for producing large amounts of seemingly incorruptible "Elemental Psykers" who are used in combat zones across the galaxy's many war zones. Laogai is also well-known for its Imperial Guard regiment, the 2005th Avatars. 10. Some douchey Space Wolf Rune Priest hears about the 'Elemental Psykers', and once again tries to claim that the Rune Priests of Fenris also derive their sorcery from the elemental forces of their planet instead of the Warp. He is wrong, and always will be. 11. Half a millennia after its discovery, Laogai is bathed in an unholy orgy of Chaotic destruction, as every Elemental Psyker on the world is simultaneously possessed by servants of the Architect Of Fate. As they were thought to be incorruptible, many of the Psykers (known as 'Benders' within Low Gothic slang) never underwent proper training that other sanctioned Psykers go through, making their corruption infinitely easier. Within three weeks, all PDF and Guard forces have been slaughtered by the renegade Benders, causing the Inquisition to take extreme measures and launch an Exterminatus against the once great Laogai Primus. Any and all Benders serving across the Imperium are quickly purged with maximum prejudice. 12. Laogai Primus is now classified as a half-dead world/half-daemon world, quarantined by the Inquisition as there are hundreds of Warp gates scattered across its surface. 13. The Rogue Trader who first discovered Laogai Primus, now an aging veteran, comes across a strange new world. Upon the planet's surfaces he hears rumors of an organization known as a 'Ninja Academy', where disciples learn how to control and activate sorcerous abilities called 'jutsus'. He passes knowledge of the planet on to a Mechanicus Explorator Fleet which has some missionaries attached.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Why does tilt shift make things look like models?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant This is because when viewing things from a very close distance the depth of field (the part of the scene that is in focus) is very narrow. When you use a tilt-shift lens one of the effects you can produce is a very narrow depth of field even if the scene is very large. This tricks your brain into thinking that what you are looking at is actually very small and close to your eyes.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: How is sound stored in a file and reproduced back?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Sound is a waveform and anything that is a waveform can be described by numbers. Think of a simple sine wave. If you walk along the x axis you can measure the wave in terms of numbers - x and y. The number of steps you take across the x axis is your resolution and the height of the y axis is your amplitude. There are programs called codecs - code and decode - they take the sound coming in over the microphone and convert it into numbers (coding). The numbers are stored in a file. The file format is specific to the codec (.wav, .mp3, .avi etc) . The same codec takes the file and does the reverse. It converts the numbers back into sound vis the speakers.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5:Why can an alcoholic die from withdrawals if they quit cold turkey?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Alcohol affects various neurotransmitters, the chemicals that your neurons use to communicate with each other. In serious alcoholics, some neurotransmitters are under produced, because the alcohol makes up the difference. But if you quit cold turkey, the body can't quickly respond to make more of that neurotransmitter, so the neurons don't fire correctly. This leads to seizures and sometimes death. In short, if you're dependent upon alcohol and you quit immediately, your brain won't function right.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user When areas of our body swell due to injury, why is it recommended to suppress it? It's recommend to elevating or apply ice to a swollen area to reduce it, but why do we have to stop an instant bodily reaction? What's the purpose of swelling if we do everything we can do suppress it?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The point of the the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) treatment to fight swelling is to reduce the secondary injury caused by the swelling. The extra fluid in the area makes it harder for nutrients get to the cells because of fluid dynamics. Other causes of the secondary injury (cell death) are compression of blood vessels, and already dead cells releasing enzymes typically contained in the cell that can digest cell parts. You may try to suppress swelling but it is going to happen regardless the point is to control it so healing speed is increase. Hope that helps Side note: There are multiple models/theories on the subject<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Besides Carbon Dating, what are the other techniques to determine the age of objects ? Organic or inorganic?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant There are a huge number of dating techniques. To list some of them: Dendrochronology Sclerochronology Varve-chronology Radiocarbon/Uranium Series/Etc. (many, many dating techniques in this group) Cosmogenic Isotopes Fission Track Dating Thermo-luminescence and Optically Stimulated Luminescence and Infrared Simulated Luminescence Amino-Acid Racemization Obsidian Hydration and Tephra Hydration Rock-varnish cation ratio and development Lichenometry Soil chemistry chronology and soil profile development Rock and mineral weathering Scarp Morphology Depositional and deformational layering (seasonal layers in ice sheets, for example) Geomorphic position Calcium Carbonate dating Stratigraphy Paleomagnetism Tephrachronology Paleontology (huge field) Stable Isotopes dating (whole ton here) Tectites and microtectites And of course human historical records Radiocarbon gets a lot of press, but it is very far from being the most reliable dating method, and it is not used nearly as often as most laymen will tend to think it is.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Why is self-awareness considered to be a necessary condition for consciousness?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant There's a question of etymology here which is interesting to explore. Etienne Balibar in his essay 'Conscience/Consciousness in Spinoza's Ethics' notes that in Latin (as well as French) there isn't a distinction between consciousness and conscience. In French, both are represented by la Conscience, and in Latin both are Conscientia. In the essay, Balibar is writing about Spinoza as well as Locke (Locke, he contests, is responsible for establishing the difference in English between consciousness and conscience). In An Essay concerning Human Understanding, Locke writes that "Consciousness is the perception of what passes on in Man's own Mind." What's so radical about this definition, which became standard in metaphysics as well as psychology, is that consciousness is defined as internal perception of experience. Consciousness isn't the same as mind, and it's not the same as experience, but it is the mind's awareness of its own experiences. In a sense, at least according to this view, consciousness is always-already self-consciousness or self-awareness. Then, self-awareness would be a necessary condition for consciousness because consciousness just is self-awareness (etymologically speaking).<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Marvel] Can daredevil safely drive a car at rush hour using his echolocation powers? Even though he is blind his other four basic senses are heightened and his superhearing ability gives him sonar-like powers. So can he drive a car in a big city at rush hour time without getting involved with an accident? Edit: Should have capitalized Daredevil :)<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Sonar waves hit the first solid object and return to the receiver, which is how position is determined. Daredevil would have a really clear "picture" of where the windshield was, and hear the screams of all the soft, vulnerable pedestrians as he ran them down, but that's about it.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why are there so many more homeless men than women?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Women * are more likely to ask for and receive assistance from family and friends * have more charities targeted towards them * are more like to be caring for children, which makes them more eligible for state assistance * are more able to trade sexual capital for support * when homeless, face greater dangers, and are less likely to be visible<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [General] To what degree of relative sentience would eating a sentient organism be considered "wrong"? Let's say you have Organism A, who is a human with 21st century intellect and intelligence at a genius-level. Meanwhile, Organism B is an alien with intellect and intelligence so beyond comprehension that it dwarfs most species in the Universe. If B decided to eat A, why would this be considered any different from a human eating an animal? "Wrong" can be an objective and/or subjective term, depending on which angle you approach it. Would it be wrong for B to mercifully end A's life, prepare him/her into a meal, eat said meal? Why, or why not?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant This is kind of a broad problem that we address in real life as well. Not sure if this is the right place considering we could also just use the example Human V. Apes/Dolphins. Animals that can and do communicate with semi-complex concepts. We eat animals that understand life and death.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why do we use XLR input for microphones instead of a 6.3mm jack like we do with guitars?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant XLR (which, technically is only a connector standard) provides a balanced signal path. Balanced lines allow better signal quality because they are less susceptible to interference. Microphones tend to have much longer cables than guitars and so tend to be more affected by noise/interference. XLR also allows "phantom power", which allows you to send power to microphones that require it. Why not guitars? Guitars (almost always) have high-impedance , high-output pickups and neither of these make a balanced line reasonable. And short cable runs. Mics also plug into a board, where as you plug your guitar into an amp...so you'd need XLR inputs there, too. Final point: You can run balanced lines on XLR or 1/4" (6.3mm) but the connectors for 1/4" are 3 conductor, not 2.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user What is the biggest thing separating humanity from animals? If there even is a deference, maybe do you think we are the same as them?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Thomas Suddendorf has written an interesting book ("The gap") about what sets humans apart from other animals. He distinguishes six domains - see below -: the first term is related to features we can find in animals, the second term belongs to Homo sapiens (the sign ">" representing the "gap"): \- Communication > language \- Memory > mental time travel \- Social reasoning > mindreading (theory of mind) \- Physical reasoning (problem solving) > scientific theories (abstract reasoning) \- Empathy > morality \- Tradition > cumulative culture In all six domains we repeatedly find two major features that set us apart: a.) our open-ended ability to imagine and reflect on different situations b.) our deep-seated urge to link our scenario-building minds together ('joint attention' and 'collective intentionality', according to Michael Tomasello). It seems to be primarily these two attributes that carried our ancestors across the gap, turning animal communication into open-ended human language, memories into mental time-travel... and so on<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user What’s the difference between industrial and competitive programming? I know that in school (both high school and college), students are taught competitive/algorithmical programming. However, I’ve heard that what we do in school is rather different from industrial or real programming. I don’t quite understand what this means. What’s industrial programming and why is it different? I suppose that real problems are much more complex, but is that all?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant In industry software development is done by adding small incremental improvements with a big focus on keeping the code: tidy, reusable and extendable so less time is spent re-inventing the wheel and fixing bugs. However in competitive programming there is often a strict time limit and its unlikely that the final result will be used again. So most attempts to make tidy or reusable code go out the window and the only focus is making something that just works. Think of it like building a lego helicopter vs buying a model. The lego helicopter will take time to build but you can add guns or swap out parts later, while a model can't be easily modified.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Star Trek] What's the reaction of your average Ferengi when told about Humanity's capitalistic past? To put it another way, is it well-known among the Ferengi? And among those who do know of it, how do they feel about the fact that Humanity-at-large abandoned the pursuit of profit?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Many Ferengi who deal with humans are aware that the species was once similar to them in terms of economics. But it doesn't really affect their day-to-day. Just like it's common knowledge that Vulcans used to be even more violent and deadly than Klingons in the distant past. How does that help anyone right now? Sure, there are isolated incidents where having that knowledge MIGHT help, but it has no real effect on anyone in the modern day. A Ferengi who doesn't pursue profit isn't a Ferengi at all. But to them, that's all that matters. A Pakled could be the richest sapient being in the galaxy, and the Ferengi wouldn't care much. They're a Pakled, after all, not one of them. Other species have cultures and values that the Ferengi might not understand, but they usually respect them. (and most of the time keep their mouth shut instead of loudly judging them. It might drive customers away if they did so) Humans, in the Ferengi's eyes, were stupid to abandon their pursuit of economic gain. But then again, their society is still around, and still trades with the Ferengi along with all the other Federation members. So it balances out. Plus, sometimes humans being devoid of business sense makes it very easy to exploit them. (mostly price gouging, since a human wouldn't have much concept of it) On the other hand, we know from Quark that some Ferengi are glad that humans abandoned their capitalistic ways. Good members of Ferengi society live by VERY strict rules and laws. They do just about anything in the pursuit of wealth, but the "just about anything" is extremely important to them. Humans had no rules. Mass warfare in the name of profit, slaughter, slavery, suffering. Ferengi might exploit their friends, but they'd never sell them into slavery or bomb their homes in order to take their stuff. Humans developed warp drive after 600 million people died in Earth's most horrible war. The Ferengi bought it.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Star Wars] I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan, and have read fairly extensively into EU, but something still eludes me: How, other than aesthetics, has technology changed since the Old Republic era? It just seems like ships go from sleek and sexy, to bulky and square, then back to sexy again, but what changes have actually happened? Quicker warp speeds? Better weaponry? Are lightsabers still exactly the same as they always were?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Most of the advancements take place under the hood these days. This makes them much less noticeable unless you're a technician that keeps up with them. Think if it this way. Everybody noticed when the Jedi went from using traditional bladed weapons to lightsabers. It's not as noticeable when the power cell inside that lightsaber is made 40% more efficient. You'll notice when militaries start using blaster rifles instead of slug throwers, but you don't notice so much an innovation that allows newer model repeaters to fire more accurately and efficiently.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: If sharks are predators, why are it’s eyes on the sides of the head? I read in school that prey have eyes on the sides of the head (sheep, cows, etc) to spot predators coming whereas predators have eyes on the front. Is this rule not applicable to marine biology?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Land predators rely on sight more than sharks do, while sharks rely on smell more. Hammerheads are the best example, their eyes are way out to the side right? They sense the electromagnetic field of their prey, even below the sand.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user How do companies put such specific expiration dates on products that sometimes go years into the future?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Expiration dates are almost always estimates that are added starting from date of production. A lot of foods can last longer than expiration dates and some things can even last indefinitely past expiration dates, but have them ("best by") to ensure quality. Like for example a lot of baking products like flour can last indefinitely as long as it's kept in an air tight container and is checked before use for things like bugs.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Due to the financial crisis of the late 2000s, there has been a lot of fundamental criticism of conventional economic and financial theories. What should a financial industry student study in order to prevent a repeat of these mistakes? Ever since the recent global financial crisis , there has been a lot of criticism directed towards different disciplines of economics and other business related fields like finance or administration. For example: The economics profession appears to have been unaware of the long build-up to the current worldwide financial crisis and to have significantly underestimated its dimensions once it started to unfold. In our view, this lack of understanding is due to a misallocation of research efforts in economics. If you trace the deeper roots of this failure to the profession’s insistence on constructing models that, by design, disregard the key elements driving outcomes in real-world markets. The economics profession has failed in communicating the limitations, weaknesses, and even dangers of its preferred models to the public. This state of affairs makes clear the need for a major reorientation of focus in the research economists undertake, as well as for the establishment of an ethical code that would ask economists to understand and communicate the limitations and potential misuses of their models. http://www.ifw-members.ifw-kiel.... Another example: Accounting practices are deeply implicated in the current financial crisis and in proposals for recapitalizing financial institutions and restoring stability to the global financial system. This essay discusses the methodological and theoretical gaps in accounting research that explain our failure to anticipate the crisis and limit our ability to analyze and respond to it. http://www.sciencedirect.com/sci... Another example: The failure of academic finance can be considered one of the symbols of the financial crisis. Two important underlying reasons why academic finance models systematically fail to account for real-world phenomena follow directly from two conventions: (a) treating economics not as a 'true' social science (but as a branch of applied mathematics inspired by the methodology of classical physics); and (b) using economic models as if the empirical content of economic theories is not very low. Failure to understand and appreciate the inherent weaknesses of these 'conventions' had fatal consequences for the use and interpretation of key academic finance concepts and models by market practitioners and policymakers. Theoretical constructs such as the efficient markets hypothesis, rational expectations, and market completeness were too often treated as intellectual dogmas instead of (parts of) falsifiable hypotheses. The situation of capture via dominant intellectual dogmas of policymakers, investors, and business managers was made worse by sins of omission - the failure of academics to communicate the limitations of their models and to warn against (potential) misuses of their research - and sins of commission - introducing (often implicitly) ideological or biased features in research programs Hence, the deeper problem with finance concepts such as the 'efficient markets hypothesis' and 'ratex theory' is not that they are based on assumptions that are considered as not being 'realistic'. The real issue at stake with academic finance is not a quarrel about the validity of the assumption of rational behavior but the inherent semantical insufficiency of economic theories that implies a low empirical content (and a high degree of specification uncertainty). This perspective makes the scientific approach advocated by Friedman and others less straightforward. In addition, there is wide-spread failure to incorporate the key implications of economics as a social science. As response to these 'weaknesses' and challenges, five suggested principles or guidelines for future research programmes are outlined. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/pape... Another example: This one is a book written about the failure of risk management: http://www.amazon.ca/The-Failure... Should one study philosophy? What is there to do when all that knowledge could be wrong?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Tl;dr What should be done? Stop using sophistry to justify screwing people over to maximize profit. Start thinking globally with cooperation and creation mixed in with the more common competition and destruction.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5:Athletes seemingly get better every decade as we learn more about nutrition. Does this mean we truly don't know the capabilities/limitations of the human body?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant There's so much more to learn about the human body. No question. Just consider the amount of conflicting studies re: nutrition and sport-specific training. In the 80s, carbs were good. Now, carbs are bad. In the 90s, fat was bad. Now, it's making a nutritional comeback with a vengeance.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: Most people's beliefs are based on what they feel and what the people around them have told them. Most people dont have a moral system under which they have thought about the foundational elements that make that system to substantiate their beliefs. Most people's political beliefs as well as other beliefs of whats right and wrong in general as well as whats right and wrong in society are based on 1. intuitiveness and what they feel 2. What they've been told by the people around them. Ie groupthink, aligning political views. For exmaple, a lot of people I know are pro-choice and as much as I've thought about it, so am I, I do need to think about it considerably more however. But whenever I ask pro choice people " when do you think life begins" they usually dont have an answer or its an answer they think of on the spot. Now this isnt an argument for pro choice or against pro choice. Im using this exmaple to highlight peoples responses to difficult moral questions to show they usually have not thought about it at a fundamental level of ethics. Another example is " murder is wrong". I think for the most part almost everyone would agree with that statement. But if I were to ask why, most people would have no clue, or an answer on the spot about how ending a life is wrong. This is a weaker example but my general argument is that most people have not thought about their beliefs past what they feel and what theyve been told. Maybe I am expecting too much from people. People should have a moral system under which they ring their beliefs through and should they should truly believe in the consistent results of that system. If you believe X is right and Y is wrong, and you put it through a moral system under which they both come out to be right. Your beliefs are either wrong and inconsistent or the moral system under which you put X and Y through are wrong and inconsistent.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Have you read much philosophy in ethics? Some of the most intelligent people ever to live have been trying for over 2,000 years to articulate a logically consistent moral system with solid, rational foundations. Every effort is picked apart and shown to miss the mark. It's just not a reasonable expectation for anyone, let alone everyone.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user Are other physical properties subject to the uncertainty principle, like position and momentum are?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant There is a generalized uncertainty relation for any two observables. And any two observables whose operators don’t commute have some nonzero minimum for the product of their uncertainties. That applies to the position operators with their conjugate momenta, the different components of the angular momentum operators with each other, etc. Any operators which don’t commute.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: an argument's validity should not be influenced by the speaker I've seen this happen for a while now but it has increased in frequency a lot lately and I just can't wrap my head around it A few months ago I was talking to a friend of a friend when she brought up her interest and a book she was reading a book about middle eastern women's rights, I recommended another book "The Arab women, from a Psychological, social and sexual aspect \[Rough translation of the title\] and she was interested till I told her that it's a collection of research papers written by a well-renowned Psychiatrist, the contents of the book were evidence-based, peer-reviewed articles, the author is pro gender rights, but she got upset about the audacity of a man writing about the "female experience" I was at a bar the other day with an American friend, when Arab politics were brought up, The man has moved to the middle east 5 years ago, studied and works in middle eastern community development, has more experience about the topic than everyone at the table but his opinion was rendered useless on the basic fact that he's a foreigner I'm a Psych Resident was talking to a friend about mental illness and her reaction was I can't possibly know more about it because she suffered from depression while I kind of understand the argument that people have unique and different experiences and a another human can't experience that, and their opinion is valuable but an expert opinion at least in medicine is the lowest form of evidence, a experts opinion cant and never will disregard a peer-reviewed article, and the personal identity of someone doesn't disregard their knowledge I would understand their argument if someone living in a peaceful country would disregard the experience of a Syrian who lived through the war but just cause I was born and raised in Arab country doesn't make me an expert in middle eastern politics or just because I was diagnosed with hypertension doesn't make me know more about it than a cardiologist people provide valuable experience and knowledge but that doesn't make them experts Edit: Formatting<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant >in medicine is the lowest form of evidence, a personal opinion cant and never will disregard a peer-reviewed article, and the personal identity of someone doesn't disregard their experience What if an article is written by someone who's repeatedly falsified data in the past, would you trust it?<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user How can you tell if research is being 'stolen'? I'm not in academia so please bear with me if I'm not using correct terminology. My gf is is incredibly smart and hard-working. She's been working towards her PhD in political science from a top ten progrsm, and is ABD. She recently went into the field with a new colleague, one who had similar but distinct research. She was with him in the field for about half of her lengthy stint, at which time she discussed her research with him at length. She always knew their research had overlaps, but after her fieldwork she finds he "reframed" his theory to now center around what made hers unique. He shared it with her willingly, which makes her doubt malice, but she's understandably doubtful as well. Her advisors are toothless and passive with any advice. I don't know one way or the other what the truth is or, more importantly, how to identify the truth without making premature accusations. Any advice on how she approaches this question? I see merits to both "sides"- some shady shit is going on and he sent her his proposal to test her willingness to challenge it's originality, or it's all an unfortunate accident of shared interest and timing. Any advice whatsoever is welcome, thanks.<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant It's research, she might tactfully suggest that he links to one of her publications (and/or put her name) when mentioning that part of the reasoning. That's how science work: people jump on other people's findings to build on them with their own work and insight (and give proper credits)<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user CMV: I am scared of my own mortality. Hi basically I am terrified every day by the notion that my life is passing me by. I am only 22 years old which I realize is young but I can't accept the fact that I will die of old age one day. Even worse, I will probably deteriorate in health then die. The way I see it each year is passing and I'm growing older and this seriously worries me. We're all expected to go to school, get a job, have a family and then die. I want to experience all this too, it just haunts me that this isn't forever. Help CMV please! Please leave the footnote below the following line, but remember to delete this sentence by replacing it with the body of your post. Thank you! _____ > Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to *[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules). If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* *[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)*! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our *[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)* first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to *[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview). Happy CMVing!*<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Look up the Buddhist ideas of mindfulness and being present. In a nutshell, a Buddhist would point out that by feeling anxiety about something as inescapable as death, you're failing to enjoy the life you're living. So much about every present moment is beautiful -- and not just the "good" parts. Happiness is nice, but sadness has its own beauty. People have this remarkable ability to be happy in almost any situation. People in third world countries can be happy as long as their basic needs are met. People were happy before industrialization, and not just aristocracy. Peasants were happy. Farmers were happy. Hunter-gatherers would stare at the stars in wonder, and then have sex and go to bed. You better believe they were happy. You can be happy too, as soon as you stop worrying and enjoy the moment you're in. You have the capacity to choose. Anyone who has accepted death has simply chosen to be happy now, regardless of what happens in the future. Living the life you want to live is all you can do; the rest will figure itself out. Don't worry about it.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [The Martian] How did The Watney Incident effect future space exploration? We know that Mark Watney's ordeal on Mars was one of the most watched and studied episode of human space exploration. We also know that it led to some unexpected cooperation between several of the world's space agencies in both this incident and future ARES missions. What effect on the future of space exploration of this? Did it hinder or expand NASA's future goals?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant New colonial efforts include an emergency back-up food supply. Safety and survival protocols are set in place for new astronauts to learn. All equipment are designed to be modular and allow colonists to rebuild after an unexpected catastrophic failure of the main equipment.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: What performance difference can we see between an athlete that warms up and one that doesnt before a race? I would like to know specifically about cyclists<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant In short, warming up brings the body from its natural state of rest closer to its exercising state during training, performing etc. Essentially, it makes the transition from rest to exercise much more efficient as our heart rate is already substantially increased due to warming up. Our blood circulation is subsequently increased, leading to increased delivery of oxygen and removal of metabolic waste products from working muscles. Warming up allows athletes to jump straight into performance without having to worry about the stage known as oxygen deficit, where the body literally needs to take in a greater amount of oxygen to satisfy the increased demand for oxygen by the muscles. So to answer your question, a cyclist that has warmed up will be able to cycle harder and faster as their heart rate, blood circulation, respiratory rate and more are already substantially increased. A cyclist that has not warmed up will need an increased amount of oxygen delivered to working muscles to satisfy the sudden increase in demand.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Wall-E] How was the Axiom self-sustaining? What was originally intended to be a voyage lasting a few years at the most, turned into one lasting 700 years. For the entire time the Axiom has continued to provide for the entire human population aboard. They're kept (very well) fed, they're provided a hover-chair, clothing, etc. They're clearly going through a ton of food. They're also many robots aboard that are regularly maintained and need to be repaired with new parts. There are also things things like paper and such that gets thrown away. There's rocket fuel for voyages to Earth to drop off the EVE robots and many other things. When we see the garbage disposal area of the ship we see there is a huge amount of waste being generated. All of which is stuff that most likely will have to be replaced somehow. And how does the economy of the ship work? The people aboard seem to live a life of luxury, preforming no actual work of any kind. When the captain does his morning announcements on their 700th anniversary he mentions to ask for a free cupcake in a cup. This being free implies that not everything is free, meaning people have to pay for stuff aboard the ship. Where do people get the money for things? The only one who seems to have anything resembling a job is the captain. Are they given an allowance?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Heavy duty recycling programs, external matter scoops to recoup fuel (likely hydrogen and helium) and possible other elements which can be synthesized into food and the like. Onboard refineries and machineshops to produce the materials required for maintaining the ship and it's robots. Automated hydroponics and cell-cultures sustained by recycled waste and collected hydrocarbons. In principle, creating a self sustaining generation-craft is doable (and most of the systems to allow that would also be necessary for a mission lasting several years and sustaining a crew of thousands) and they seem to have most of the technology they would need. As for the economy... Either they are afforded stipends from the 'Company' which they then pay back into the system for services, creating a closed circuit finance system with zero loss or gain... Or they've become so dense through over-pampering that the term 'Free' has become more of an attraction than actually meaning 'No Cost'.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Marvel] Would an Autonomous Iron Man Suit be Able to Wield Mjølnir? If Tony Stark directed a suit to move Mjølnir or give it to Thor, or if an autonomous iron man suit were to identify MjOlnir as the most suitable weapon in a situation, would the autonomous suit be able to move the hammer because it has no soul or intent? The hammer is moved by the helicarrier, would it also be moveable/wielded by a suit?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant It depends on whether it's a truly autonomous, self aware entity or not. If it's truly self aware, then it'd be judged based on its worthiness. If it's not self aware, then it depends on a number of other factors (for example, an elevator or an airplane can lift mjolnir) that're too complicated. The shorter answer is "depends on what Odin thinks about it."<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user What are some of the best essays arguing for/against the concept of self-ownership? Title says it all: I'm hoping to write an essay discussing this topic and am looking for all the material I can find. Thank you!<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant G. A. Cohen, Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality, Cambridge University Press 1995. Cohen was a marxist who examined Nozick's ideas of self-ownership in a serious rather than purely dismissive manner.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [Robot Fiction] Hi, I'm a designer for your local robocorp, and I was hoping I could get some input for Warbot designs Y'see, popular culture has infested a lot of my colleagues' creative processes. Lots of skeletal Terminator looking robots, which never made much sense to me. I mean, the human anatomy is structurally one of the least effective combat designs in nature, and no robot can actually take advantage of the human body's abilities, y'know, like flexibility or heat displacement, etc etc. What designs could you guys suggest to make the most structurally efficient fighting robot with the least amount of unnecessary parts and doohickeys? Should I take inspiration from the animal kingdom? Or other places? Any questions regarding the actual conflict our bots will be expected to take part in, I'll answer in the comments. Thanks!<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The reason why combat robots are designed to be humanoid is to maximize their utility and versatility by being able to crew and use human weapons, vehicles, and equipment. A walking tank is cool but it can only ever be a walking tank. A humanoid robot can be infantry that fights house to house, a police-sentinel, emergency rescue, or general labor. And as an arms manufacturer, you know that most governments can’t afford robotic armies but can afford planes, tanks, APC/IFV’s. You can sell them that equipment. And with humanoid robots, you can sell them robotic soldiers in the future that can crew the equipment you sold them before. Of course you can have specialized units like pilotless jets, but if we’re talking about basic single unit combat robots, nothing will beat the versatility of a humanoid<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user [DC] what are the limitations of the Lazarus pit? How long could someone be dead for, before the pit wouldn't work? Are any wounds or diseases incurable? If you threw in a hand would a whole body regrow?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant The body must be more or less in tact, lets say ballpark, you need 75% of the body (water less weight) and it has to be more less arranged in the proper shape, the most important part is that the brain has to be in tact as far as possible. The real downside of the Lazarus Pit comes from how far you are gone when you use it. Use it for rejuvenation? Short spurt of rage when you emerge. Straight out reanimate a dead body? Welcome to the sequel of Pet Sematary.<\|im_end\|>
<\|im_start\|>user ELI5: Why is chemo more effective against aggressive cancers? I’ve been told this by a couple of doctors but didn’t think of asking why at the time. Why is chemo more effective against aggressive cancers than slow-growing cancers?<\|im_end\|> <\|im_start\|>assistant Many traditional chemotherapy drugs work by breaking some part of the DNA replication process. This has the advantage of only hurting a cell when it tries to copy its DNA, so cells which never do that aren't affected at all. Nerves, for instance, don't copy themselves, and are therefore immune to these chemo drugs. However, the most aggressive cancers are literally always copying their DNA. As a result, breaking that process will break a greater percentage of their cells than any others in the body, killing the cancer faster than you. This is also why chemo is bad for sperm and white blood cell count. Both are rapidly replicating cells, so both will be heavily impacted.<\|im_end\|>

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