test_answers.txt

{"candidate": "question: What's the deal with these CEOs raising prices on generic drugs? If they're generic, can't another manufacturer produce them for much cheaper?It seems like the only thing that will happen is that the company will get really bad publicity... answer: It should be noted most of the expensive drugs are USA exclusive.  You can get most drugs cheaper online.\n\nMy drug for example is $35 for 30 day supply, if I got name brand in the usa it would be $2,400 fr same amount.  That is how fucked up the system is.\n\nIn fact I buy all my perscription drugs online now, online pharmacy offer %100 resend of meds if customs takes it.  So really no reason to spend that much for mst drug s.", "reference": "question: What's the deal with these CEOs raising prices on generic drugs? If they're generic, can't another manufacturer produce them for much cheaper?It seems like the only thing that will happen is that the company will get really bad publicity... answer: In the case of Daraprim (this is the one that is in the news currently), even though the patents have long expired, the distribution is still tightly controlled, meaning it's not easy for generic drug manufacturers to get ahold of it. They'll need to compare their version to the real deal in order to get FDA approval, and it's not easy to do when the distribution of the drug is tightly controlled."}
{"candidate": "question: Do dogs ever get lonely if they are exclusively in the company of humans, but never around other dogs? answer: My friend had 2 dogs.  \nThey were inseparable, they played together every day.   \nOne day, one dog died.  \nMy friend worried the other dog would get seriously depressed.  \nThe remaining dog didn't seem to give a shit.", "reference": "question: Do dogs ever get lonely if they are exclusively in the company of humans, but never around other dogs? answer: Have two dogs. They fight for attention just like children would.\n\nThey get lonely if they aren't getting attention if they're on their own (locked away from a room containing humans) or if they're in a room with humans and another dog, both will fight each other for attention.\n\nThis observation is based on the two long standing dog family members both female, (An intelligent Collie and a Lhasa Apso) and their behaviour around the rest of the human family.\n\nThey appear to require humans more than other dogs."}
{"candidate": "question: Why aren\u2019t there any diseases which benefit the human body?I know that some diseases can make a person feel physically (and mentally) weak. Why is the opposite of this not true? Surely a disease that would benefit the human body wouldn\u2019t be cured on purpose? (Heightened senses, increased strength, etc.) answer: That's like asking why aren't there any car crashes that make the car run faster afterward.\n\nThe human body is an incredibly complicated, delicately balanced biological machine.  There are millions of ways to through it out of balance, but only a few ways to improve it.  Any random change is likely to be a change for the worse.", "reference": "question: Why aren\u2019t there any diseases which benefit the human body?I know that some diseases can make a person feel physically (and mentally) weak. Why is the opposite of this not true? Surely a disease that would benefit the human body wouldn\u2019t be cured on purpose? (Heightened senses, increased strength, etc.) answer: [Hookworms reduce the symptoms of allergies](_URL_1_).\n\nBut for the most part, diseases/infections are selfishly trying to re-produce inside you or they don't want to be in *humans*."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I work in sales in commission in the UK. I'm so glad we talk about money all the time. Makes life so much easier.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: It's just a personal question. I mean, why is it taboo to ask a random person the size of their penis or how often they masturbate?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: Get ready for a lot of angry people who know very little about economics", "reference": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: The government acted as investor for 9 Trillion of the 12.1 Trillion involved in the bailout. Many of these investments have turned out to be money-makers for the government, lowering the overall amount of spending with the bailout. With households, there was no clear opportunity for the government to get their investment back. We would have each* gotten an unsecured, $40K loan. \n\nI agree that the bailout was the wrong move, not because of the way the bailout has performed (better than expected), but because of the precedence this set. Right now, our savvy business folks are knuckle-deep in shadow banking in China and another housing bubble in the US, predicated on private equity purchasing rental properties. How do I know that? Because these are both high-risk, high-return activities. Seeking the highest returns is a requirement of any public company (thanks for all the fees and dangerous incentives 401(k)!), so they *have* to get involved with stupid shit like this. Plus, we not only *told* them that we'd bail them out, we *proved it*. Bonuses for good performance, bailouts for bad performance. Oh, what the hell; keep that bonus. Uncle Sugar ain't mad.\n\n*assuming every one of US's 300 million citizens were eligible and received an equal portion of the 12.1 trillion."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are people allowed to request their face be blurred out/censored in photos and videos, but celebrities are harassed daily by paparazzi putting their pics and videos in magazines, on the Internet and on TV? answer: If you want to be a public figure, then you give up some rights to privacy when in public.", "reference": "question: Why are people allowed to request their face be blurred out/censored in photos and videos, but celebrities are harassed daily by paparazzi putting their pics and videos in magazines, on the Internet and on TV? answer: In Germany, you are allowed to take and publish pictures of big groups of people as long as no one stands out dominantly, like, for example, on a public square. \nBut if you take a picture or video of one person, or a few, you have to ask them for permission to publish it. If they don't you can still publish it, but have to make them unrecognizable. \n\nPersons of public interest are exempt, but their kids or family are not. \nOnly if you are the one that's actively looking to be in the limelight (mostly through your job), you have to live with your picture being published without you being asked. That's why stars and politicians are in the news all the time. \n\nI believe there might be something about when they could have expected to be in privacy, though. Like sunbathing topless on a remote property but being photographed via mega-zoom-lens by a paparazzi. They might try and get these removed. But I'm not 100% sure there."}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: You definitely adapt to the temperatures. When I was in the Middle East in 2003 during my service it was about 120-140 every day during the summer. After a few weeks of suffering and drinking a few gallons of water a day it got much easier to cope with the temps and my water consumption went way down and I was still just as hydrated. When it got to November and the temps got down into the 90s we all wore sweaters and jackets because it felt so cold.  So I'd say your body adapts as well as your mind.", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: I'm literally allergic to the cold, so acclimatization isn't going to work for me. It's called cold urticaria, which essentially means when my skin remains in contact with something cold for too long, I get an allergic reaction which usually includes inflammation and hives.\n\nI could potentially die if I run into water cold enough that I asphyxiate withe the reaction around my face/neck or my blood pressure drops dangerously low. Interesting, huh?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I'm not American, but that price seems high. [This](_URL_9_) seems to indicate significantly cheaper costs to patients.\nIf you look at the cost breakdown for a unit of blood product, banking, testing, separating, and acquiring blood is not cheap and makes up a significant portion of the cost. \nAlso remember that just because \"everyone\" would want to donate doesn't imply those people would be of the needed type, disease free, and able to donate safely.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I'm a little late to the party, but oh well:\n\nLike previously said, you don't want to encourage people to donate when they shouldn't. As in:\n\n* they're sick, running a fever, etc.\n* they just donated a week ago, not giving their body enough time to regenerate the lost red blood cells\n* they are unsure of their status, as in hepatitis, HIV, etc, or have exposed themselves to this since their last donation and might omit this information\n* for women, they might be pregnant in the time between the last donation and this one\n\nAs for the hospital/blood center customer itself:\n\n**Yes, they may charge $800/unit to the patient, but this is NOT the cost that the hospital pays to the blood center.** The markup is due to the pre-transfusion testing that the hospital performs. It's not just ordered by the hospital and passed directly to the patient - further testing is performed to ensure compatibility to the recipient. It's a huge liability to give blood to a patient without prior testing and is heavily discouraged unless it's an emergency situation. My hospital paid around $225 for a regular unit without special requests (CMV status, irradiated, etc). That $225 pays for the person before collection to screen patients, the person to collect the blood, the time to collect the blood, the products used to collect the blood, and the post-collection testing (HIV, hepatitis, etc). Also... a lot of blood just doesn't get used before it expires. It's just the nature of the beast. We do our best to limit this, but a large hospital will still expire 2-3 units on a 'good' day. The hospital ends up eating a lot of the extra cost.\n\nSource: I worked in a level-one trauma center blood bank for five years. I've seen it all."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does sleeping for 8 hours feel like only 5 minutes? answer: If you want to have some crazy dreams that you will remember and make your sleep feel longer try eating some stuff with B12 vitamins in it. The easiest way I've found is to eat some cheese or bananas before going to bed.", "reference": "question: Why does sleeping for 8 hours feel like only 5 minutes? answer: Your consciousness, the system of bodily functions you call \"you\", completely shuts down. Just like when you die. This \"you\" does not exist while you're asleep, that's why you can't notice the missing time. When the body wakes up, a new \"you\" gets started. As all instances of this \"you\" have access to the same sensory organs and the same memory, an illusion of continuity and unity from day to day is created."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: In addition to integrating social media with YouTube, they're trying to detoxify the environment around YouTube comments by making you attach your name to them instead of remaining anonymous.\n\nI'm less likely to troll someone for their race, skin color, or native language with my name attached to the comment.", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I'm getting sick of continually being prompted to use my real name, not only for this but other sites.  I found out Amazon posted my real name for comments on their site, pissed me off that they made a change and didn't notify me."}
{"candidate": "question: A long time ago, a person was able to work 40 hours a week and support a family. Today two people need to work 40 hours a week to barely support themselves living together. What changed?[removed] answer: Capital has suceesfully destroyed the labor movement. Simple as that's. Through propaganda they have convinced the people to vote out of their self interest and have undone the progress made in the 1880's through the 1950's", "reference": "question: A long time ago, a person was able to work 40 hours a week and support a family. Today two people need to work 40 hours a week to barely support themselves living together. What changed?[removed] answer: Two points some people are ignoring.\nExecutive salaries increased by about the same as middleclass lost (by stagnation)\nMost jobs lost through automation are middle-management not enrylevel or unskilled."}
{"candidate": "question: What exactly is wrong with standardized testing in schools?Not that I am a proponent of just endlessly testing students, but it appears to me that, on average, those with the highest test scores are still the ones who are the most intelligent, creative, and dedicated. Top schools take these students, and let me them succeed to their full potential.\n\nObviously there are a few who score low but are still extremely intelligent, but they aren't nearly as common.\n\nWhy do people want to change the system so badly, and to what? answer: All the reasons presented here are spot on. I'd like to add another consideration that hasn't been mentioned.\n\nI grew up and a very diverse city, my high school had about or maybe just over 3,000 students from every nationality you would think of; there were over 40 native languages in my school. However, ALL of the standardized testing was done in English. There was no option for Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, nothing. Only English. So, as you can imagine, non-native English speakers often times failed due to just a simple language barrier. This always infuriated me, my high school was technically a \"failing\" school, but how can accurately assess someone's knowledge if you're not willing to do so in their native tongue? I just don't get.\n\nSo you have that issue on top of all the other issues mentioned in this thread.", "reference": "question: What exactly is wrong with standardized testing in schools?Not that I am a proponent of just endlessly testing students, but it appears to me that, on average, those with the highest test scores are still the ones who are the most intelligent, creative, and dedicated. Top schools take these students, and let me them succeed to their full potential.\n\nObviously there are a few who score low but are still extremely intelligent, but they aren't nearly as common.\n\nWhy do people want to change the system so badly, and to what? answer: As a teacher:\n\n - It's hard to get a rounded view of someone's ability through a test. I've known a lot of students through the years that could get a high mark, yet tell you nothing about the subject a week later. \"Cramming\" doesn't embed the knowledge like using it or arguing about it does.\n\n - All subjects are somewhat subjective. Having an exam board means I have to teach the way they expect. For example I teach IT and I've seen what I'd call image maps called all kinds of things (hot spot, picture link, etc. and yes they all meant the same thing), similarly site maps and other technical terms. \n\n - Because the syllabus for the exam needs to be small enough to be taught, but broad enough to get a sense of the subject you are stuck learning about whatever the guy who make the test thought was important. That limits a teacher's ability to make the subject more interesting by for example going off on a tangent or looking at topics that your students in particular find relevant. And ultimately, if you don't care about something you won't learn it effectively. In some cases you can make something interesting, but it's harder if you don't agree with its importance.\n\n - It encourages teaching exam technique more than anything. I've just run a mock exam and most of the dropped marks are students either not understanding what's being asked or not being able to put their thoughts onto paper. When in real life can you not ask clarifying questions? This again rewards those who can remember the correct words and those with good literacy skills.\n\n - Exams are a completely unrealistic environment. When on earth will you be stuck on your own, with no Internet or phone and not allowed to ask anyone? These days most jobs are about finding and selecting information and being collaborative and creative. Exams focus students on remembering the \"right\" answer rather than thinking about the topic. A wrong thought is often more useful than a right fact if you see what I mean.\n\n - As already touched upon they reward \"middle class\" skills like memory, sitting quietly, neat writing, good literacy. While these are important, they are not the be all and end all to being a useful human being.\n\nHowever you will never get rid of them in the current political system because each party needs to have a number they can see go up and down according to the tale they want to tell. Also, as seen here in the UK with English GCSEs recently, the state can intervene to alter results to make them look worse.\n\nA basic level is needed in literacy and numeracy (and possible IT) that could be tested with a standardised reading/writing/maths test. Beyond that really you need a system like universities where teachers are well trained and trusted to grade professionally. Backed up by a strong inspection and support system to ensure standards."}
{"candidate": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: Yes, and you're tasting these things too, without the necessary means to describe them. In the same way as a child a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler were both just \"dog\", your palate just needs a better vocabulary. Consider that the taste of a drink can change wildly between multiple variables (age, temperature, etc;) and you're absolutely going to find more subtle notes the longer you spend critiquing it.\n\nThere's a pretty interesting (albeit pretentious) documentary on Netflix called \"Somm\" that takes a look into the world of sommeliers (wine stewards) I'd recommend if you wanted to see just how refined your palate can become.", "reference": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: There is a good documentary about this called sommelier.  In it, five guys try out to become master sommeliers, or wine servers.\n\nPart of the test is to taste six wines and say where they are from down to the vineyard.  You do this by describing the taste.  They could be from anywhere, any continent, and you have nothing to go on but your senses.\n\nThey taste a lot of crazy stuff in there, but they could tell what wine it was.  So thats as close to proof that ive seen that at least for some people it is not bullshit."}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: And they had more kids, too! Most people today have only one, and two at most.", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: In 1975 the price of gas was 74.9 cents per gallon (in the USA), a loaf of bread was 50 cents and you could get day old bread as low as 10 cents per loaf. Breakfast cereal was only $1.00. A new car was less than $5000 and a 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bath home could be had in most suburbs for as little as $50,000 with even lower prices in many small towns throughout the country. There wasn't cable or satellite and nothing like a cell phone was even thought of yet. Also kids moved out at 18 and didn't hang around until they were 30.\n\nAdd to that women entering the workforce giving families two incomes allowing them to afford better cars and bigger homes, not to mention better food.\n\nNow a loaf of bread is $2.50 or even $3.00, gas is still over $3.00 per gallon and a 4 bedroom home costs you over $1 million. More and more major road systems and bridges require a toll to use (in addition to any taxes you pay).\n\nAdding all that up, a family needs 3 or 4 incomes just to live."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I replied just because you said not to.", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I don't want to use my real name when I call someone a fucking moron for not knowing the difference between scruggs style banjo playing and clawhammer style banjo playing."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: It's probably cultural, just like how the black community has it's own accent and cadences(which white people who grow up in black communities also have just like black people who grew up in white communities don't have it), the gay community adopted its own in an attempt to form a cultural identity. The preconception is that homosexual males tend to be more effeminate than their straight counterparts (whether or not this is actually true) so it just kind of became expected. What I want to know is what came first, the stereotype or the cadence?", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: The same reason guys/girls try to act cool/dress differently/flex/wear makeup: to impress or attract mates."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does everyone follow protocol when addressing people of seniority/rank? What's actually stopping me from walking up to the US president and saying \"Hi, Barack\"? What would happen if I did?Thanks for the responses.\n\nI guess my original thought was pretty much right: it's simply a show of respect...and nothing much would happen if you didn't use their correct title. I can't wait to bump into Barack now.\n\nEDIT: and in case anyone misunderstood my question, I definitely didn't mean addressing anybody in a (purposely) disrespectful way. I was thinking more along the lines of a friendly but casual hello. answer: Nothing would happen if you called the US President by his first name in the US.\n\nHowever, the same can't be said for many other countries. It depends on the country and its laws.", "reference": "question: Why does everyone follow protocol when addressing people of seniority/rank? What's actually stopping me from walking up to the US president and saying \"Hi, Barack\"? What would happen if I did?Thanks for the responses.\n\nI guess my original thought was pretty much right: it's simply a show of respect...and nothing much would happen if you didn't use their correct title. I can't wait to bump into Barack now.\n\nEDIT: and in case anyone misunderstood my question, I definitely didn't mean addressing anybody in a (purposely) disrespectful way. I was thinking more along the lines of a friendly but casual hello. answer: Nothing would happen. I wish more US civilians would understand this:\n\nThe government works for you! You are their boss. You out-rank them.\n\nI know it may not seem like it a lot of the time but that's how it works. The US military in specific is HIGHLY sensitive to public opinion. You can walk up to a four-star general and tell him he sucks at his job."}
{"candidate": "question: How does New Horizons avoid space debris for 9 years and three billion miles?Considering a tiny rock could devastate the spacecraft, is there a way NASA can mitigate the risk of impact or is it just a cross your fingers situation?  answer: Our solar system is basically made of a bunch of really old vacuum cleaners. I mean REALLY old. And we call them planets and moons.\n\nOver about 5,000,000,000 years, they've been flying around in circles sucking up everything they could find.\n\nThey're really really good at getting rid of stuff floating around out there.\n\nImagine if your grandma and about 250 of her friends had been vacuuming the living room floor constantly for 5 billion years.\n\nIt'd be pretty clean.\n\nIf you go skipping across that floor, the odds of you getting even a spec of dust on your feet is as crazy low as anything you can imagine. Even lower than my chances of ever dating Scarlett Johansson.\n\nTHAT low.\n\ntl;dr There's really nothing out there **to** hit the New Horizon.", "reference": "question: How does New Horizons avoid space debris for 9 years and three billion miles?Considering a tiny rock could devastate the spacecraft, is there a way NASA can mitigate the risk of impact or is it just a cross your fingers situation?  answer: Don't think of space as Han Solo flying through an asteroid field. Hell, even asteroid fields aren't like that.\n\nSpace is incredibly empty. Pretty much the only way that you're going to hit something in space is if you're *trying* to hit it."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I know this will only get buried, but there was a documentary on this exact topic. The trailer alone will answer your question.\n\n[**LINK:** Do I Sound Gay?](_URL_2_)", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: True story; guy named Joel pledged our house my senior year. Was just a normal dude until the day he became a brother. He came out, not a big deal, not sure why he hid it as we already had an openly gay brother, but Joel came out big time. \n\nHis voice changed overnight.\n\nThe make up and blouses and all the other flamboyant things we could all deal with, but there was something very unsettling about *that* \"VaUhOiceeee\".\n\nExtra emphasis on the Ss. \"Ssilly Ssailor\".\n\nFuck you Joel, I still love you, you flamboyant son-of-a-bitch."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do I feel like I'm going to vomit when I get really hungry? answer: Your respirations, or breaths in and out, become more shallow and rapid (ex. Hyperventilating). This causes your oxygen (good air) levels to drop, and your carbon dioxide (bad air) levels in the blood to rise. Blood sugar at this time is obsolete (irrelevant). Next time you feel angry, try to focus on slowing down your breaths. You will not get nauseous. \n\nEdit: Holy shit I read this wrong. Hungry not angry. I wondered why everyone was getting so off topic. Agree with first comment. Your blood sugars are not consistent. If you keep glucose levels...uh, level throughout the day you should never have that feeling. In other words, eat small meals every 2-3 hrs, even if you are fat. And don't freaking starve yourself. It's lame.", "reference": "question: Why do I feel like I'm going to vomit when I get really hungry? answer: Cause your stomach is trying to digest your stomach."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do zoos prepare animal food as if the animals were at restaurants? why not give the whole uncut vegetable instead of cutting it into pieces? answer: It also ensures that the animal is getting all of the nutrients they need. And, in animals that don't forage, the food is usually placed in a few specific places in the enclosure or on specific platforms that the animals are conditioned to know are used for feeding. That way, the least amount of food goes to waste as possible.\n\nHere's an example: I worked as a camp counselor for two summers at a small zoo near me. Because one of the camp themes was focused on what you need to do to take care of the animals (essentially turning the kids into mini zookeepers for two weeks) and we had to walk through everything we would be doing with the kids, we got to prepare food for and feed the animals.\n\nNow, one of the animals was a polar bear. Instead of throwing chunks of fish and whatever else into it's enclosure where the polar bear may not find them/where they'd rot, we would have to make special meatballs and roll them under a special door in the enclosure where the polar bear was waiting to catch them. These meatballs not only had fish, but also had vitamin and mineral powder mixed in as well as some kelp and a fair amount of fat and meat from some other meat source (I want to say venison or something like that) to ensure that she got as realistic a diet as possible living in captivity.", "reference": "question: Why do zoos prepare animal food as if the animals were at restaurants? why not give the whole uncut vegetable instead of cutting it into pieces? answer: Some reasons,\n\n- Enables all individuals in a group to obtain enough of each food type and reduces aggression.\n\n- Prevents wastage caused by animals taking one bite and discarding the rest of a large item.\n\n- Makes it so that you can scatter the food over a larger area to encourage foraging behaviour.\n\nThere has been some research about if it's a good thing or not since there are some downsides too."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does American culture put so much emphasis on \"moving out of the house\" and being independent from one's family, when other cultures (e.g. Asian and Spanish) live with their extended family under the same roof throughout their lifetimes?[removed] answer: As an American I know what you are saying. I am a country manager of oil and gas companies in the middle east. My guys buy houses to move their parents in with them. I honestly ask them WTF but that is they way they think. We GTFO as soon as we can, I joined the damn USMC!\nThis is a good question though.\nPlease ELI5", "reference": "question: Why does American culture put so much emphasis on \"moving out of the house\" and being independent from one's family, when other cultures (e.g. Asian and Spanish) live with their extended family under the same roof throughout their lifetimes?[removed] answer: Idk why but then they all complain about not having money and not being able to afford rent, bills, college debt, etc. You save thousands of dollars a month by not moving out. More people should try it (that is not moving out immediately after high school/college, not living with your parents til your 30)"}
{"candidate": "question: why people in third world countries starve when people used to be able to live off the land?I am not trying to judge them in any way, just something I think about sometimes.  We hear all the time about people in Africa etc. dying of thirst and hunger.  People have lived there for a long time, and somehow survived off the land.  What changed? answer: I always picture trying to explain the wide gaps humans have in technology levels to aliens. \n\n* Alien: \"Okay so these humans on this part of the planet live in climate controlled homes and drive SUV's, over here on this patch of land we have humans who live in huts and have trouble surviving their first year of life...\"\n\n* Me: \"Uh well you see... it's uh... yeah... wanna play some Call of Duty?!\"", "reference": "question: why people in third world countries starve when people used to be able to live off the land?I am not trying to judge them in any way, just something I think about sometimes.  We hear all the time about people in Africa etc. dying of thirst and hunger.  People have lived there for a long time, and somehow survived off the land.  What changed? answer: OP, the use of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd worlds is out dated. The terms are now developed and developing countries. The 3 worlds theory was used to separate communists, the west, and other countries not involved in the cold war. Since the USSR no longer exists, the theory has no real value today.\n\n\nAs for your questions, I'll try my best to keep it ELI5.\n\nThe people who you see starving represent a small, small part of the developing world. Those people are starving because their governments are allowing them to. Their governments can't invest in sectors that would help the nation grow. In this case, it's agriculture. Agriculture is always the first step a country takes to becoming wealthy. It goes agriculture  >  trade  >  manufacturing. \n\n\nSo you see, the people dying aren't dying because they can't farm. They're dying because they live in an area that *can't* grow food and their government won't help them find jobs in areas that *can* so they can feed themselves."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: This is how you get blood bandits. Do you *really* want blood bandits?", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: This is a modern debate in the law: do you own your own body?  If so, can you sell your kidney?  If not, why not?  \n\nIf yes, can you sell yourself into slavery? (say, have the money go to your mother who needs an expensive treatment).  \n\nIf not, do you own the produce of your labor? If yes, what is the difference?  \n\nI could write hundreds of pages on the above questions alone.  It is relevant to your question because we presently cannot pay people to donate parts of their bodies.  \n\n----\n\nThe other part of your question is, why is there a shortage?  \n\nThe shortage isn't in the supply, it is in the distribution, storage, and allocation.  It costs a great deal of money to move, store, and efficiently allocate these products."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: A lot of animals are well known to commit suicide. A lot of new parrot owners may find themselves being instructed not to leave their bird alone. If you end up in a situation where your parrot is alone a lot, it could start self harming or commit suicide from loneliness. It may be recommended to purchase two birds for some species.", "reference": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: I was reading about a kangaroo whose joey fell off a cliff and died. She paced back and forth for a long time, very distraught, and eventually jumped. Hard to say if it was a suicide or she wanted after her baby."}
{"candidate": "question: Even though America has spent 10 years and over $100 billion to recruit, train and arm the Iraqi military, they still seem as inept as ever and run away from fights. What went wrong?News reports seem to indicate that ISIS has been able to easily route Iraqi's military and capture large supplies of weapons, ammunition and vehicles abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers.  Am I the only one who expected them to put up a better defense of their country?\n\nEDIT:  Many people feel strongly about this issue.  Made it all the way to Reddit front page for a while!  I am particularly appreciative of the many, many military personnel who shared their eyewitness accounts of what has been happening in Iraq in recent years and leading up to the ISIS issue.  VERY informative. answer: Nation building is a waste of time and resources and is a failed  doctrine. When the people of Iraq collectively want peace, prosperity, security they will create it for themselves. This cannot be for forced on a society they must want it. All nations on earth have created their own realities. As for the Iraqi army, the men are like teenagers, almost even childlike in their disposition.  Sadly, nothing will ever amount to land that is Iraq, having spent time there I am convinced it is cursed, it's people destined to continue this existence of war, death, corruption, sadness. It is a failed state,  a failed people.", "reference": "question: Even though America has spent 10 years and over $100 billion to recruit, train and arm the Iraqi military, they still seem as inept as ever and run away from fights. What went wrong?News reports seem to indicate that ISIS has been able to easily route Iraqi's military and capture large supplies of weapons, ammunition and vehicles abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers.  Am I the only one who expected them to put up a better defense of their country?\n\nEDIT:  Many people feel strongly about this issue.  Made it all the way to Reddit front page for a while!  I am particularly appreciative of the many, many military personnel who shared their eyewitness accounts of what has been happening in Iraq in recent years and leading up to the ISIS issue.  VERY informative. answer: It's not just Iraq. Almost* all Arab military units suck, because of lack of trust and cohesion. 1st and 2nd Cousin marriage and tightly-knit families are very common in the mid East. \n\n > In Iraq, as in much of the region, nearly half of all married couples are first or second cousins to each other. A 1986 study of 4,500 married hospital patients and staff in Baghdad found that 46% were wed to a first or second cousin, while a smaller 1989 survey found 53% were \"consanguineously\" married. The most prominent example of an Iraqi first cousin marriage is that of Saddam Hussein and his first wife Sajida. \n\n[One US officer puts it like this...](_URL_3_)\n\n > The Arabs are what the sociologists like to call \u201camoral familists.\u201d This means that they are nearly or totally incapable of forming bonds of love and loyalty with anyone not a blood relation. Even then, the degree of blood relation determines where loyalty legitimately lies. The saying in the area is: \u201cMe and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother and my cousin against the world.\u201d This not only allows a superior to extort baksheesh from non-relations, but identifies him as an idiot \u2013 a weak idiot, actually \u2013 if he does not.\n\n > The Arab private? He\u2019s no more a coward than anybody else. Indeed, as an individual, I might rate him above, or even substantially above, the human norm. But he is just one man, alone.\n\n > With us, the very broad us within the western military tradition and some eastern military traditions, or with Israelis, who are very western, \u201cIt\u2019s all of us against all of them. They\u2019re toast.\u201d With him? With that poor dumb-shit Arab private? \u201cIt\u2019s all of them against me alone. I\u2019m toast.\u201d"}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: Animals do commit suicide. Suicide is not a uniquely human experience, nor uniquely mammalian.", "reference": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: Animals do commit suicide. Most notably dolphins, but horses have been documented jumping off cliffs when in excruciating pain."}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: Both. As a 8th grader I spent the whole (european) winter in a t-shirt and simply told myself to ignore the cold and try to not shake.\n\nSimiliar like I tell myself that I don't care about anything to not be nervous when going into a presentation.\n\nAccording to *Psychology Today* there are many benefits in self manipulation via talking to yourself.", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: There's a lot of great info here by some people and others not so much. There's a synergistic effect of all these systems working together, and you can mentally steel yourself to the cold, but no one has seemed to mention the largest contributing factor; cholesterol.\n\nCholesterol is a very important molecule in physiology. Within this context its role is within cell walls. Cholesterol fits in-between fatty acids within the phospholipid bilayer. It's concentration effects cell rigidity or flexibility.\n\nGreater amounts of cholesterol will be sent to the cells to protect them from cold shock and increase an organisms tolerance to exposure. This cholesterol comes from diet or adipocytes and profound effects roll out from here. While the composition of lipids within the bilayer will change to less unsaturated fats and more saturated so that they stack better, cholesterol is the key to this whole ordeal. \n\nThere is a lot more going on from a biochemical standpoint but that's the main factor. Not very ELI5 but it's how it works."}
{"candidate": "question: If bullpen pitchers are so good (compared to starters, it seems), why do they see relatively little playing time?I think it makes more sense that you would play your best pitchers more than your less-skilled ones, but I'm not too knowledgeable about baseball. answer: You also have to remember that the last 6 outs are extremely hard outs to get. Especially in a World Series game. That is why bullpen importance is trending higher than it ever has in the history of the game. Your starting to see some of your better pitchers come out of the bullpen nowadays and the really great ones sometimes will make the transition to a starter. The numbers for bullpen pitchers are skewed bc one inning of severe damage could jack your E.R.A. up. But you don't make it to the World Series or the postseason for that matter without a great bullpen.", "reference": "question: If bullpen pitchers are so good (compared to starters, it seems), why do they see relatively little playing time?I think it makes more sense that you would play your best pitchers more than your less-skilled ones, but I'm not too knowledgeable about baseball. answer: Starting and relieving (and closing) are different kinds of tasks.  Starters play for a long time and have to face the same batters several times.  As hitters get used to the pitcher (and watch their teammates at bat), they'll start hitting better.  Combined with the pitcher getting tired, at some point they won't be effective any more.\n\nThen relievers come in and usually don't pitch long enough to see the same batter twice, and also know they won't be in the game for long so they can go all-out all the time instead of having to pace themselves.  These factors combined can make it look like a reliever is way better than the starters, but these relievers would mostly not be too good if put in the same kind of situation as a starter.\n\nThe extreme example is the closer, who just comes in when the team has the lead to get the last 3 outs.  Nobody's used to trying to hit him, and he can just burn fastballs because he only has to throw a few.  For as dominant as Mariano Rivera was, if you tried to have him pitch 3 innings he wouldn't have done well."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does a major chord sound happy, while a minor chord sounds sad?Same as many other chords having some emotion attached to it.\n\nIs it PURELY because of how we are used to it in society or is there a biological reason for it? answer: Vi Hart did an excellent video all about this:\n\n_URL_5_", "reference": "question: Why does a major chord sound happy, while a minor chord sounds sad?Same as many other chords having some emotion attached to it.\n\nIs it PURELY because of how we are used to it in society or is there a biological reason for it? answer: Well, hmm.  I am a musician who has spent a lot of time building a personal relationship with harmony.  I think social/cultural conditioning is definitely the first explanation for this.  However, there are many examples of different, unconnected cultures sharing similarities in their folk/traditional music.  This is usually related to the pentatonic scale, that being 5 notes which, in general, don't produce any harsh intervals (spaces between notes, when a chord is played it is defined by the space separating each note). If you are near a piano and don't have any playing experience, try messing around with just the black keys, as they make up a pentatonic scale. \n\nAs explained by other commenters, the relation to the harmonic series, or natural occurrence of overtones in resonant spaces in our world, is important.  The natural series doesn't first make just a pentatonic scale, it is a little bit more, but the pentatonic scale is in there.\n\n[Here](_URL_7_) is a cool video playing the harmonic series to a certain point.  This exists everywhere, and I mean everywhere.  Brass instruments, wind instruments, string instruments (harmonics on a guitar), any tubes, any resonant spaces, a cave even, all have a resonance that follow these steps.\n\nSo, I believe that this natural series is just familiar with everyone, because it is prevalent through everything in our world.  There is always a sense of arriving at \"home\" (the fundamental note, the lowest note, the first note in the scale), or moving away from \"home\".  From that one note, there is a this natural ORDER, all notes can be found in the harmonic series, but the ones that come first are the most \"pleasing\" or \"comfortable\" sounding.\n\nMusicians over the course of thousands of years have built systems to both embrace and take artistic liberty with the sounds found in the world.  Western music has made a system of 12 tones, others include smaller divisions of notes as well, such as South Indian classical music.  We have gone through many changes in what is comfortable to our ears, and what is allowed by the current musical standards.  Bach wrote some of the most beautiful music ever IMHO, but in his time, even the saddest of songs would end on a major chord because, well, thats just how it was.  You didn't end a song on a minor chord, ever.  Please take the time to listen to [this beautiful prelude](_URL_8_) until the very last chord and think about how different that makes you feel than what we would expect (to end on the root minor, \"sad\" chord).\n\nNowadays, we have been accustomed to so many different composers' ways of expressing emotions through harmony in things like movie scores that there definitely is a shared familiarity with tonality/atonality in the general public.  There are undeniable aspects of tension and release that everyone shares, and I believe that this is attributed to the basic relation to the harmonic series in nature.\n\nI'm sure you are all more than familiar enough with tonal music, turn on your radio, these days things are getting more and MORE tonal in popular music, and seemingly have been since the 50s/60s when showtunes and similar music that had been using interesting harmonies became less popular.  Anyways, here are some examples of movie music you may be familiar with and I defy you to tell me they are not pulling some strings within you and providing much tension and release (more tension)\n\n\n[Movie music from psycho](_URL_9_)\n\n[Music from there will be blood](_URL_6_)\n\n\nDamn, it's early, and that was long winded and most likely unclear.  I would love to continue with this if anyone has any questions, I get off on this stuff.\n\nEdit: Spelling."}
{"candidate": "question: Lottery earnings, how does the IRS/government look and treat them?[removed] answer: lotto winnings are gambling winnings, taxed as ordinary income,  but the food stamp system seems to have some holes that do not consider net worth, just income.  Or perhaps they just dont monitor it well.\n\nThey were trying to update the law for food stamps in michigan to cross check recipients with lotto winners.  Seems an oddly narrow fix, not sure if it ended up passing anyway.", "reference": "question: Lottery earnings, how does the IRS/government look and treat them?[removed] answer: All winning are treated as income. Winning a jackpot just puts in you in the top tax bracket for that year which means you are going to pay about 50% of it in taxes. This is for the USA only, most other countries don't treat winning as income so you keep what you win everywhere else. \n\nThe food stamp program is it's own program and has it's own rules about who is eligible. While they would consider your winnings as income, they probably don't see it as regular income. You made zero last year, you are going to make zero next year, this year is just a blip where you made money but because of expected earning next year, it doesn't disqualify you from benefits this year. \n\nMost likely rules to encourage people to move up and earn more without fear of being worse off for making a little more money or winning a prize and loosing more in benefits than what they earned.\n\nThe rules probably never considered a mega jackpot winner, let alone one that would continue to apply for benefits even though they are now a millionaire."}
{"candidate": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: This is true, however 2000 year old bridges obviously did not constantly have 2500 lb cars driving over them. They had people walking over them. Therefore, less stress= less cracks/damage", "reference": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: Your driveway is a cheap imitation called portland cement, mainly ground limestone and other rocks. The formula for Roman concrete was lost until just recently, and added volcanic ash and seawater. Salt would actually corrode cement, but the ash resists it somehow, and maybe it gives it some equilibrium against the environment (utter speculation).\n\nVolcanic ash might not be economical in the quantities we use today, and salt might damage steel reinforcement.\n\nYour driveway is also one big slab. Big slabs tend to crack from thermal expansion, or if water gets in and freezes. I doubt it freezes in Rome most years."}
{"candidate": "question: why is it bad to transplant a houseplant into a pot that's too big for it, but the same plants can grow in the wild with unlimited soil? answer: The extra soil room does not harm most plants at all. \n\nIt does make them a little harder to water and to fertilize.", "reference": "question: why is it bad to transplant a houseplant into a pot that's too big for it, but the same plants can grow in the wild with unlimited soil? answer: There is a reason,  and for optimal growth you want the plant to go through dry cycle and wet cycles.  The roots can only take in so much water.. as the soil dries,  the roots grow to look for water in the soil. If the soil is too wet. They don't grow and you can drown the roots.  Causing rot.  So you wanna be able to water ever other day or so.. check the soil by lifting the planter to feel for water weight. Water when it gets light."}
{"candidate": "question: what is red and blue shift?I don't understand what this stuff means. if someone could give me the simplest answer (I know it's a complicated topic) that'd be very helpful!  answer: Have you ever listened to a train coming torwards you blaring it's horn? Notice how the pitch gets high when it's approaching you? That happens when the sound waves from the horn get compressed in front of it because of the train moving. When the train passes, the pitch becomes lower for the same reason. Here is an illustration that describes what I'm saying. [Image](_URL_0_)\n\nBecause light sorta behaves like a wave just like sound, the same exact thing happens when things giving off light move. But instead of the pitch changing, we see the color change. If it's moving away, the light waves gets stretched, so it moves torwards the red side of the spectrum (redshift). When it's moving torwards us, the waves gets compressed and move torwards the blue side of the sepctrum (blue shift).", "reference": "question: what is red and blue shift?I don't understand what this stuff means. if someone could give me the simplest answer (I know it's a complicated topic) that'd be very helpful!  answer: Ever notice the sound of a car or train is higher pitched when it's heading toward you, and becomes lower as it goes away? Light does the same thing. If you look at an object that's heading away from you quickly enough, it will appear more red than it actually is. If something is heading towards you, it will appear more blue.\n\nThis becomes very useful for astronomers; if you know a certain object's composition, you can tell how fast it's moving by the color change."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there so much variation in hair and eye colour in people of European heritage? answer: Blue eyes and blond hair, (platinum blonde), and red hair are genetic mutations that occurred in Europe. Sexual selection of people with those mutations caused there to be more and more of them. Some Pacific Islanders also have natural blonde hair which also was the result of a separate genetic mutation.", "reference": "question: Why is there so much variation in hair and eye colour in people of European heritage? answer: No survival pressure to keep it dark for the African sun. More mutations change from negative to neutral."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: The patients are vomiting, shitting like crazy, bleeding and sweating from their fever...and someone has to clean it all up....then take everything off in the perfect order so they dont get anything on them...", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: In an extremely ELI5, it's not very contagious, but extremely infectious. Meaning it's not easy to be in contact with something contagious, but the things that are contagious can very easily infect you."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Just going to say, I don't think this is exclusively an 'American thing', but more a part of Anglophone culture.\n\nMoving out when you're a young adult is still, culturally, the 'done thing' in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, NZ etc. \n\nIt's about independence, and being 'king of your own castle'.\n\nI only live a couple of miles from my Mum, but have lived away from home since aged 18 (apart from a 6 month stretch when I was 21. \n\nI was happier in my own space.\n\nI does help that I'm in a part of the country where property prices are dirt cheap - moving out in your early 20s or before is still the norm.\n\nMy wife has family in South East England, and they don't have the same luxury; it's causing them quite a lot of upset and frustration tbh. Their parents want them to be able to move out, but even a small flat is about \u00a3200k, and rent is extortionate. \n\nI expect, culturally, we're going to see more of a North/South divide on the whole 'moving out' culture in the UK.", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Because who the hell likes living with their parents??"}
{"candidate": "question: What happens if I inject a needle(medicine, drugs, etc) into myself and it isn't into a vein? For example into my palm, or in a random place on my arm.[removed] answer: MD here. Lots of medications are meant to be injected either under the skin into the fatty tissue (subcutaneous/SC) or into muscle tissue (intramuscular/IM). For example, insulin and some blood thinners are injected SC, while most vaccines are given IM. A lot of medications can be given either intravenously (IV) or IM or SC. The main difference with the SC/IM routes is that the drug will be absorbed into the bloodstream more slowly, which may be preferable in certain situations. \n\nHowever, other medications can be disastrous if they leak out of a vein (\"extravasate\"). These are often highly concentrated, hyperosmolar solutions such as hypertonic saline, calcium chloride, or the IV contrast used for CT scans. The result is often necrosis (death) of the affected tissue, pain, swelling, and compartment syndrome, which can cut off blood supply to the affected extremity and lead to amputations.\n\nWhen it comes to recreational drugs like heroin, the intensity of the \"high\" is relative to how fast the drug gets into the brain. Injecting into a vein, therefore, is going to deliver the drug to the brain in a high concentration within seconds, with the resulting \"rush\" that IV heroin users are chasing. If you miss the vein, the heroin is probably going IM or SC, so it will get into the bloodstream, and the brain, more slowly, with a less intense high. A lot of long-time heroin users have scarred up their veins so much that they have to resort to \"skin popping\", which is basically SC or sometimes a more superficial \"intradermal\" injection. This often leads to awful skin and soft tissue infections and abscesses. All those nasty pictures you've seen floating around Reddit of \"krokodil\" users and their horrid necrotizing skin infections are the result of chronic skin popping and IM drug injection.", "reference": "question: What happens if I inject a needle(medicine, drugs, etc) into myself and it isn't into a vein? For example into my palm, or in a random place on my arm.[removed] answer: Depends on the drug. Some drugs, like epinephrine, are actually better absorbed through muscle tissue, which is why epi-pens are used on the thigh. Drugs which are injected into a vein, however, will likely cause tissue necrosis (death) or even worse things if improperly used."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I have never worked a job for long (still a student), so I do not have too much wisdom to add to this discussion, but in the few weeks I worked at an office everyone (on that part of the floor) spent 3 hours of their normal payday checking their bank accounts and discussing who had already received their pay check. After seeing this I can't really imagine talking about the amounts is a taboo (and I know that these people waste tons of time). I am from the Netherlands btw so maybe one of my fellow countrymen can enlighten me on the general consensus in our homeland.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: In very open with my employees about how much my business makes, and how much I pull out of it.  This helps them understand where the money is going and that I'm not screwing anyone over."}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: The Baby Boomers were born when there were only 3 billion people on the planet - i.e they were competing with a much lower number of people than people born today. There were so few people on the planet they didn't have to compete with people outside their country i.e. globalization didn't exist. The increase in population increased the demand for housing (and other non renewable resources) and therefore that house they purchased for bugger all in their 20s is now worth a huge amount more. For that same thing to happen to people born today, population would need to hit 14-16 billion, pretty sure the earth would be destroyed by that number of people on the planet at once.\n\nStory time: I remember when I was a kid, my parents were looking to buy land. They could purchase 65 acres of land 5km from the beach or 50 acres on the beach for around $70,000. Because stainless steel and other corrosion resistant materials were expensive or were unavailable, very few people lived near the beach - they purchased the property away from the beach. The plot of land at the beach they didn't purchase, sold 3 years ago for $60 million.", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: A fall in union participation rates is what has done it.  Many will argue otherwise but it is the reason we make the same amount of money as we did 40 years ago.  Real wages have been stuck at levels seen in the early 70s.  \n\nThe reason why we don't have so many unions anymore is complex.  Jobs have changed over the decades away from the more niche skilled labor jobs seen in the past that are union-type jobs and now are more diversified.  That is how labor has fallen behind.  We have been split up and separated so we cannot unionize.  Its also easier to replace non-skilled, think technically trained, labor, so if we unionize and strike at fast food establishments, they can find just about anyone to replace the striking workers.  Much harder to replace welders or steel workers.  \n\nThe truth is a bachelor's degree in many subjects does not make you irreplaceable.  Having a unique certification or skill does.  A couple of generations bought into then college degree idea and have homogenized the workforce."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do we sleep on bed frames, and not just a mattress on the floor? answer: You need a bed frame to create a space underneath that will become a place for dust bunnies and cats to hide in. It is also a good place for wayward socks to migrate to...a place to throw your book that you are reading before sleep...a hide out for the monsters of your mind.  \nPeople. Do yourselves a favor. When buying a mattress, buy the best one you can afford. The quality of sleep is far superior and a good mattress will last a very long time. Just do not invest in the beds that sport a 2 foot box spring and a 2 foot mattress. Man oh man, those things require a ladder to get into and a parachute to get out of safely.", "reference": "question: Why do we sleep on bed frames, and not just a mattress on the floor? answer: A mattress left on the floor will collect moisture and then mold will form."}
{"candidate": "question: What's happening with the current Syrian/Iraqi refugee crisis in Europe?Some questions that are being asked frequently:\n\n* What and where are the refugees fleeing from?\n* Why has this crisis seemingly peaked in recent weeks?\n* Why are they heading into Europe?\n* Why do they want to go to Germany specifically?\n* Why are other countries seemingly not doing more to help?\n\nPlease answer these, or ask other related questions, in this thread. answer: Why aren't the gulf states taking in Syrian refugees?", "reference": "question: What's happening with the current Syrian/Iraqi refugee crisis in Europe?Some questions that are being asked frequently:\n\n* What and where are the refugees fleeing from?\n* Why has this crisis seemingly peaked in recent weeks?\n* Why are they heading into Europe?\n* Why do they want to go to Germany specifically?\n* Why are other countries seemingly not doing more to help?\n\nPlease answer these, or ask other related questions, in this thread. answer: Rather than running campaigns to get people to donate to provide aid, blankets, food, shelter etc for refugees, and rather than trying to get people to accept a large swathe of impoverished people into their country, why isn't anyone actively working to actually solve the reason these people are fleeing their countries?\n\nMany refugees lose their homes to bombings or rebels take their land and then they fear persecution and enslavement. It seems to me if we just accept the victims, then we're letting these assholes who bomb people win. They get to strut around in their newly gained lands feeling great about themselves because they've domineered a whole bunch of people, and that's not something the world should tolerate.\n\nPerhaps they are trying to do something about it, but I don't hear about it. All I hear about is bandaid solutions in providing aid for the victims.\n\nI'm not trying to say we shouldn't help victims, but wouldn't it be in everybody's best interests to get these people back into their own country?\n\nRe-posted because apparently bots think that refugees can only come from Syria. My question relates to all refugees, regardless of their country of origin."}
{"candidate": "question: why can a city zoning board tell me what I can do with land that I own?I built a small chicken coup in my fairly rural back yard and my neighbors called the zoning board who ordered me to take apart the \"structure\" because it had a cinder block foundation. Why can they do that? answer: The system is intended to prevent people from (a) building unsafe things that could fall and hurt somebody, and (b) reducing the property value of nearby homes. For example, I shouldn't be allowed to build a factory in my backyard, since that reduces the value of my neighor's homes and therefore in some sense I'm \"stealing\" their money.\n\nIn the case of a chicken coop? Sounds like you annoyed a neighbor who dislikes chickens and found a technicality that you were guilty of.", "reference": "question: why can a city zoning board tell me what I can do with land that I own?I built a small chicken coup in my fairly rural back yard and my neighbors called the zoning board who ordered me to take apart the \"structure\" because it had a cinder block foundation. Why can they do that? answer: Because they are empowered by the voters (via delgation from the city council/county comissioners) to enforce the rules created to benefit all the voters."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it bad to stretch before exercise?I have always been taught to stretch and warm up before workouts.  Googling the subject suggests that is wrong and stretching before exercise is bad.  Can someone ELI5 why that is? answer: It's not.\n\nIt's perfectly fine to stretch before exercise, just don't stretch completely cold. Do a little warm up first, then stretch, then get to the exercise.", "reference": "question: Why is it bad to stretch before exercise?I have always been taught to stretch and warm up before workouts.  Googling the subject suggests that is wrong and stretching before exercise is bad.  Can someone ELI5 why that is? answer: Warm up and stretch highly recommended before exercises, case closed. If someone tells you opposite dont listen this person"}
{"candidate": "question: How were graphics able to improve on consoles like XboX 360 and PS3? The hardware didn't change at all but if you compare any 2006 or 2007 game to like GTA 5, you can see a big difference. answer: This Topic reminds me of playing WATCH_DOGS, then playing GTA Online after and totally being blown away by the Crispy HD Difference by Rockstar. It was Mind Blowing. \ud83d\ude01", "reference": "question: How were graphics able to improve on consoles like XboX 360 and PS3? The hardware didn't change at all but if you compare any 2006 or 2007 game to like GTA 5, you can see a big difference. answer: Nobody seems to be mentioning that the tools used by artists are also advancing rapidly. Things like motion capture, sculpting tools, and software to optimize models and animations.\n\nFor example, Master Chief in Halo 2 looks much better despite using less polygons, because they used a method called normal mapping, which bakes geometry detail from a model into the bump map. Before, geometry was modeled and the bump map was painted on top."}
{"candidate": "question: How are people expected to know the difference between a lawful open carrier and an active shooter who hasn't started shooting yet?[removed] answer: How do you know someone carries \"responsibly\".  Do you just guess?  Everyone around the world gets mugged.  It happens. I don't think guns save that from happening. People on here are saying you would know the difference to a responsible gun owner and not one.  Come on.  Lipstick on a pig", "reference": "question: How are people expected to know the difference between a lawful open carrier and an active shooter who hasn't started shooting yet?[removed] answer: People who live in states that open carry is legal are probably used to seeing people open carry and not freak out every time they see a gun"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: From a parent's pov, we want you to go to college or whatever and start your own life, making your own choices. On the flipside, we also want you to stay because we can protect you.\n\nAlso, we've put in our effort, get out so we can have naked time. We're going on a vacation next week, can you come home to watch the dogs?", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Independence and Freedom was my driving factor.\n\nMy parents were not bad people, quite the opposite, but we did not agree on almost anything. We were very cash poor (we had a roof over our head, food to eat, and some nice things but no \"spending money\"). Both parents worked but tried to impose many restrictions that just did not work. Even though I would only see them for a few hours each day before going to sleep, it was constant arguing, tension, and disagreements. I needed more freedom than they wanted to allow yet I did more for them than most anyone Ive ever known did at my age. \n\nI had chores that took precedent over all other things once homework/studying was done from about age 7. From the age of 12 I found odd jobs to make a little money for the things I wanted and not only did chores but cooked dinner for the family (mother, father, 2 younger siblings) on a daily basis. Mother would come home after picking up siblings from daycare at about 5pm and dinner was usually done by then. From 16 I had a job as well as got very good grades in school and provided for all of my own needs (food, clothes, laundry, cooking, activities, vehicle, insurance, etc) while playing football for my school and still doing some chores. At 18 I was a full time student at university with a full time job, student loans, no financial support from my parents (they couldnt, not that they didnt want to) and only went home to sleep a few hours before being gone all day again. Even so, each time we were in the house together, there were arguments and disagreements and fights over how I should be doing things differently. Nothing was good enough. \n\nMore and more days would pass at times before I went \"home\" again since I either slept in my car or stayed with a friend. By 20, there was just no point in commuting over an hour each way to \"go home\". A friend of mine and I found a 1 room apt (studio) near school for very cheap and since we were both gone most of the day with varying hours, it worked out very well. \n\nAfter that, there was just no reason to go back to living with my parents and siblings. I was on my own for so long it didn't make sense, although, financially it would have been the best thing I could do for myself, my sanity was more important."}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't World War I talked about as much as World War II? answer: Because it isn't as interesting, their is no \"evil\" side to really point at, and all the people that fought in it were mostly dead by the time most of us were born. Granted it had a greater effect on the world than WW2 did, but it's just not that interesting to talk about.", "reference": "question: Why isn't World War I talked about as much as World War II? answer: I can confidently say that WWI is extremely important to the national identity and well taught in Australia. It is currently the hundredth anniversary to the day of the landing of Gallipoli, which most Australians consider to be the most major event in our nation's history.\nPresumably the reason that it is skimmed over in the USA is because they never really got involved much, and instead stockpiled weapons for the inevitable follow-up war to come."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: At this point, I don't care about leaving YouTube comments, but I do want to make playlists. I don't use Gmail, and I've resisted making an account. Is there any way to be as anonymous on YouTube as on Reddit?", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I don't want to use my real name when I call someone a fucking moron for not knowing the difference between scruggs style banjo playing and clawhammer style banjo playing."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is the U.S. so notorious for using Africans as slaves, when Africans had been using and selling Africans as slaves long before Europeans brought them to the Americas? answer: Large scale farming and plantation was possible because of slave labor; without its valuable agricultural exports, America wouldn't have achieved economic sustainability. America's ability to be independent was thanks to slave labor, making slaves a vital part of the country's history.\n\nThe African slaves also created a unique community which adds to the broader American identity as a mixing pot, like any other immigrant population - though they were the only one brought here unwillingly, incidentally. \n\nLastly, owing to that agricultural foundation, the American practice of slavery continued past that of other superpowers and its cessation lead to global consequences.\n\nSlavery was a cruel practice with no room in civilized society, and it's important to study and preserve its roots in order to appreciate its continued effect - including the first-world's current dependence upon third-world slave labor.", "reference": "question: Why is the U.S. so notorious for using Africans as slaves, when Africans had been using and selling Africans as slaves long before Europeans brought them to the Americas? answer: Because you likely live in the US dumbo. And not to mention we go around talking about land of the free and shit and people love to knock someone who tries to be a moral authority/world police down a peg or two. Kind of like when Palin was all abstinence only education and has gotten knocked up twice or those homophobic lawmakers who keep getting blowjobs in airport bathrooms. We are held to a high standard because we set ourselves up to a high standard."}
{"candidate": "question: What is honey? I know honey comes from bees, and I know honey is delicious on toast, but what is honey, and does it harm the bees we harvest it from? Can you trace back a batch of honey to the hive it came from, or is all honey the same? answer: Note that honey isn't just evaporated nectar. Enzymes and digestive processes take effect while the nectar is in the bee's honey-stomach, changing the nature of the sugars.", "reference": "question: What is honey? I know honey comes from bees, and I know honey is delicious on toast, but what is honey, and does it harm the bees we harvest it from? Can you trace back a batch of honey to the hive it came from, or is all honey the same? answer: Many flowers secrete nectar as part of their biology. They lack the ability to move pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers so they entice bees and insects with nectar with the hope the while the bees collect the nectar they also move the pollen around allowing for the fertilization of the plant species.\n\nHoney bees have a special compartment in their body to hold nectar. This compartment (called the crop or honey stomach) is designed to allow the bee nectar storage while it is foraging. When the forager bee returns to the hive she passes the nectar to a receiver bee who puts it in a wax comb cell for ripening. Nectar has a high moisture content, perhaps 40+%, but the bees want to store the honey for future consumption. They regulate the humidity in the hive via wing flapping over fresh stored nectar and move air in and out from the entrances. Once the honey is at 17/18% moisture content it is ready for capping. The bees cap the cell with wax and that honey will stay in storage until they need it.\n\nIf the season goes well, the colony may collect for example, twice the amount of honey they will need for winter. The beekeeper can take that extra and this harvesting does not harm the bees at all."}
{"candidate": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: The government did \"bail out\" homeowners, but not by handing them money (which would be impossible to account for).  \n\nUnder a government program, I was able to refinance my mortgage despite being moderately underwater.  My monthly payments went down 25%.  My interest rate is among the lowest in US history, which was also due to government action.  Around the same time, there were huge government incentives for first time home buyers.", "reference": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: Comments here are terrible, filled with ignorant comments from people with no financial background and a few crackpot theories"}
{"candidate": "question: Is vaping unhealthy? Ive read different articles, some that says it might be bad, and some that says its harmless.[removed] answer: For what it's worth, I smoked cigs for about 8 years then switched to vaping for two and a half years. I was diagnosed with cancer on my tongue in june, and had to have half of my tongue cut out and replaced with flesh from my wrist. I used a small pen style vape for about half a year and used a big sub ohm box mod for 2 years.", "reference": "question: Is vaping unhealthy? Ive read different articles, some that says it might be bad, and some that says its harmless.[removed] answer: In terms of healthiness? Smoking  <  Vaping  <  Neither"}
{"candidate": "question: what happens to all those amazing discoveries on reddit like \"scientists come up with omega antibiotic, or a cure for cancer, or professor founds protein to cure alzheimer, or high school students create $5 epipen, that we never hear of any of them ever again? answer: 1. Some \"discoveries\" are announced by exuberant researchers, usually grad students, then later die in peer review or replication.\n\n2. 12 years and $2.6mil. That's the initial cost to bring a medication from concept to FDA approval. If the potential patient population (market) isn't there, nobody is going to risk the capital to fund this process.\n\nWant a solid example? Cluster headaches. There is no approved (on-label) treatment for this disorder. Not because medicines to treat it don't exist. . .but because it's such a rare condition, there is no way for a pharmaceutical company to recapture the cost of developing the drug.", "reference": "question: what happens to all those amazing discoveries on reddit like \"scientists come up with omega antibiotic, or a cure for cancer, or professor founds protein to cure alzheimer, or high school students create $5 epipen, that we never hear of any of them ever again? answer: Controlled laboratory tests are not the same as the kind of results  one would see in real life use."}
{"candidate": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: Home brewer here. The simple answer to your question is yes. I've been drinking a smorgasbord of different beers that claim different varieties of flavors and I can tell you if you drink enough you will start to notice. A lot of people usually can't tell what specific flavors they're tasting, because they don't know exactly what they're noticing, it's just beer flavor. If you drink enough of anything, you can start noticing different subtleties in them all.", "reference": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: [This XKCD](_URL_11_) is a pretty good representation of what everyone is talking about - if someone spends enough time studying one subject, they will be able to pick out even the most subtle differences."}
{"candidate": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: Remember only the best Roman buildings are still standing, all the crap ones have fallen down and the stone has been nicked to build with.", "reference": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: I'm sure part of it it due to the fact that the Romans weren't driving cars over their bridges everyday"}
{"candidate": "question: How did they build Medieval bridges in deep water?I have only the barest understanding of how they do it NOW, but how did they do it when they were effectively hand laying bricks and what not? Did they have basic diving suits? Did they never put anything at the bottom of the body of water? answer: How did they build bridges over massive crevasses?", "reference": "question: How did they build Medieval bridges in deep water?I have only the barest understanding of how they do it NOW, but how did they do it when they were effectively hand laying bricks and what not? Did they have basic diving suits? Did they never put anything at the bottom of the body of water? answer: They built them in air, not underwater. First they blocked off the water around where they were going to dig and build using what are called Cofferdams or Caissons made of pile driven wood or stone and pumped out by bucket, dug the foundation and built to the water line and then removed the temporary structure. Pressurized versions are relatively new but can go deeper but the original idea is almost 2 millennia old and would have been used for major bridges during that time....."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: You really don't want to know how much other people in your organisation make, it can be quite depressing to find out people without two brain cells to rub together make twice as much as you.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Businesses do not want their employees negotiating salaries from a position of knowledge.  That's it."}
{"candidate": "question: What is the difference between 'the cloud' and traditional web servers?Is the cloud just basically a server? I'm under the impression that the term 'the cloud' is just used as a marketing scheme/selling point to reel in uninformed customers and charge them a higher price. answer: The 'cloud' is a marketing term. Nothing more. (And not even a good one in my opinion. How the hell is it cloud like?)\n\nThere have been advances in what can be offered on remote systems, like Amazon's AWS that lets you make virtual machines, subnets, databases and all sorts of crap that scale and all that nice stuff, but essentially yeah, it's still just a remote system doing something at your behest.\n\nProbably the marketing teams behind it figured it'd be easier to just pretend it's some new computer magic rather than explain it's just a new service that lets you do new things over the network that traditionally you wouldn't or could not.", "reference": "question: What is the difference between 'the cloud' and traditional web servers?Is the cloud just basically a server? I'm under the impression that the term 'the cloud' is just used as a marketing scheme/selling point to reel in uninformed customers and charge them a higher price. answer: It's a marketing term but has little/nothing to do with charging a higher price.  Traditional servers only store the information they are going to need to display to others who make a request.  A web server would contain only web content for example.\n\nThe cloud is a server, or group of servers, who are doing something that traditionally would have been done by the local computer or network.  So for example, a data backup system that uses the internet to store the data would be a cloud based solution.  Wheres a more traditional approach would be to have a server in a closet some ware that does the nightly backup.\n\nSaying \"the cloud\" is just a catch all term that means the computers performing the work are off site, and accessible via the internet.  Often (but not always) is refers to work that is being subcontracted. \n\nSo, while it IS a marketing term it's not just to \"charge more money\" but rather to be clear with your customers how your product is different than the old way. \n\nAs with all marketing terms it suffers the problem of having no hard definition.  Therefore, over time, it loses value as a descriptive term, that's about where we are right now."}
{"candidate": "question: How are transgender individuals different from other dissociative identity disorders?I need your help on this one Reddit. \n\nI really can't quite process the whole gender identity thing.\n\nA common idea that we constantly tell people is to \"just be yourself\"\n\nHowever transgender individuals take drugs (hormones), have surgical procedures to actually alter themselves. \n\nThis really doesn't make any sense from an acceptance stand point, because aren't they not actually accepting themselves?\n\nIt really is confusing to me and doesn't seem different from any of the other dissociative identity disorders like multiple personality disorder.\n\nOr even that of eating disorders where individuals physically alter themselves (through starvation/purging) to achieve a perceived self image?\n\nThe more I think about it.  The more it makes zero logical sense.\n\nPlease explain.\n answer: Let's throw some future analogy into the mix.\n\nIf we keep our pace with innovations, some people would want to replace some body parts with mechanical or bioengineered ones. Maybe not even humanoid. Say, a couple of tentacles on each side of your body instead of human arms.\n\n\"But why, you weren't born mechanical! Just be yourself!\"\n\nDoes that change much for you, if you feel you'd be better off with mechanical hands instead of the ones you were born with? You know the pros and cons of this, you really feel you should be that way.\n\nNow say, you weren't born with some body parts and looks you feel you should have. Is it different? Should we forbid plastic surgery? Should we feel bad about people changing their gender-specific parts?\n\nI think, we cannot rule it for other people, how they must look and whatever. Well, it's me, and I'm curing my body so it becomes well. It becomes right. Consciousness defines a person much more than body.\n\nTL;DR: consciousness defines a person more than body. You can't swap girl's mind to be boy's and vice versa, but you can fix the body to match the mind. It's easier and feels like it's the logical thing to do.", "reference": "question: How are transgender individuals different from other dissociative identity disorders?I need your help on this one Reddit. \n\nI really can't quite process the whole gender identity thing.\n\nA common idea that we constantly tell people is to \"just be yourself\"\n\nHowever transgender individuals take drugs (hormones), have surgical procedures to actually alter themselves. \n\nThis really doesn't make any sense from an acceptance stand point, because aren't they not actually accepting themselves?\n\nIt really is confusing to me and doesn't seem different from any of the other dissociative identity disorders like multiple personality disorder.\n\nOr even that of eating disorders where individuals physically alter themselves (through starvation/purging) to achieve a perceived self image?\n\nThe more I think about it.  The more it makes zero logical sense.\n\nPlease explain.\n answer: Ohh look it must be the last Friday of the month again here on ELI5 where we couch what we know to be yet another offensive question about trans people in the 'I'm so innocent and have no logical understanding of how something like this might work' BS excuse. \n\nIf YOU REALLY WANTED the answer to this question you would've done the LOGICAL thing and searched for it first before coming on here pretending to be completely oblivious to the concept just so you could start a thread full of vitriol because you were bored on a Friday and school starts up again soon.\n\n_URL_3_"}
{"candidate": "question: [Modpost] Rolling back the no-description ruleHey,\n\n\n\nA few days ago, we implemented the no-body rule as a test run and we asked for your feedback. During the test, we observed the subreddit in general, your feedback, collected some data and drew a couple conclusions.\n\n\n---\n\nRegarding the data we collected, we looked at two things: average title length and average number of submissions per hour (before and after the rule was implemented).\n\n\n**[Average title length histograms](_URL_0_)**\n\n\n\nFrom these graphs, you can see that the average title length has shifted towards longer titles, as we all were expecting.\n\n\nLooking at the submissions/hour average, we have (using the same samples as above):\n\n\n**Before the rule was implemented:** 6.7 submissions per hour on average\n\n**After the rule was implemented:** 8.6 submissions per hour on average\n\n\nThis does not take into account posts that were removed after being submitted.\n\n\nCuriously, this indicates we are getting more questions than before, contrary to what we believed would happen (harder to submit a question = less questions submitted). Not sure if there's an actual correlation here, but we found it interesting nonetheless.\n\n\nWe also had a lot less incoming modmail but we didn't collect any hard data on this so we have nothing to show.\n\n\n---\n\n\nApart from the data we collected, we had the following observations:\n\n\n- The rule slightly changed the overall feel of the subreddit\n\n- The rule didn't increase or decrease the quality of the questions\n\n\n- The rule made it a lot easier to identify inappropriate questions\n\n\n\nAnd regarding your feedback, we agree that:\n\n\n- Many questions do require clarification (more than we had thought), which may happen because of a faulty chain of reasoning (pointed out by /u/TheBananaKing) or because they lack the jargon related to the topic (pointed out by /u/JoshSimili) or because the title contains a vague/broad word.\n\n\n- It's also important for the user to clarify what they already know so it's easier to write an explanation that fits their knowledge\n\n\n---\n\n\nSumming up --  as per the feedback and our observations, clarifications are too often needed, so their removal is unwarranted. That is why we decide not to keep this rule.\n\n\n\nThank you for providing feedback and keeping it civil. We also have a couple more things we would like to try in the near future so you will likely see polls or something like that soon. But that will be in a separate thread.\n\n\n\nWe are keeping the comments open here so you can say what you think. As always, please keep it civil and constructive.\n\n\n\n\nEdit: typo\n\n\n\n\n\n\n answer: It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.", "reference": "question: [Modpost] Rolling back the no-description ruleHey,\n\n\n\nA few days ago, we implemented the no-body rule as a test run and we asked for your feedback. During the test, we observed the subreddit in general, your feedback, collected some data and drew a couple conclusions.\n\n\n---\n\nRegarding the data we collected, we looked at two things: average title length and average number of submissions per hour (before and after the rule was implemented).\n\n\n**[Average title length histograms](_URL_0_)**\n\n\n\nFrom these graphs, you can see that the average title length has shifted towards longer titles, as we all were expecting.\n\n\nLooking at the submissions/hour average, we have (using the same samples as above):\n\n\n**Before the rule was implemented:** 6.7 submissions per hour on average\n\n**After the rule was implemented:** 8.6 submissions per hour on average\n\n\nThis does not take into account posts that were removed after being submitted.\n\n\nCuriously, this indicates we are getting more questions than before, contrary to what we believed would happen (harder to submit a question = less questions submitted). Not sure if there's an actual correlation here, but we found it interesting nonetheless.\n\n\nWe also had a lot less incoming modmail but we didn't collect any hard data on this so we have nothing to show.\n\n\n---\n\n\nApart from the data we collected, we had the following observations:\n\n\n- The rule slightly changed the overall feel of the subreddit\n\n- The rule didn't increase or decrease the quality of the questions\n\n\n- The rule made it a lot easier to identify inappropriate questions\n\n\n\nAnd regarding your feedback, we agree that:\n\n\n- Many questions do require clarification (more than we had thought), which may happen because of a faulty chain of reasoning (pointed out by /u/TheBananaKing) or because they lack the jargon related to the topic (pointed out by /u/JoshSimili) or because the title contains a vague/broad word.\n\n\n- It's also important for the user to clarify what they already know so it's easier to write an explanation that fits their knowledge\n\n\n---\n\n\nSumming up --  as per the feedback and our observations, clarifications are too often needed, so their removal is unwarranted. That is why we decide not to keep this rule.\n\n\n\nThank you for providing feedback and keeping it civil. We also have a couple more things we would like to try in the near future so you will likely see polls or something like that soon. But that will be in a separate thread.\n\n\n\nWe are keeping the comments open here so you can say what you think. As always, please keep it civil and constructive.\n\n\n\n\nEdit: typo\n\n\n\n\n\n\n answer: > Curiously, this indicates we are getting more questions than before, contrary to what we believed would happen **(harder to submit a question = less questions submitted)**. Not sure if there's an actual correlation here, but we found it interesting nonetheless.\n\nI'm not hating, but it's extremely funny to me that this rule was implemented in the first place, with THIS in your mind all along."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: I'm not extremely well informed about this, but Eastern Ukraine is generally more Russian and Western Ukraine more Western-European. SO the conflict starts when the President of Ukraine (from the East) decides to stand in the way of the Europeanization of Ukraine (something about the EU, not sure if they were joining or just trying to take steps to join the EU, but they would be leaving some sort of economic pact with Russia for it). People in the west get pissed because they don't even like Russia, so they rise up and overthrow the Pro-Russian government, but there are still many Pro-Russians in Eastern Ukraine, and so Russia steps in to seize a warm water port that they always wanted, and also to protect the wishes of the Pro-Russian population in Eastern Russia. What is their real motive? Probably the warm water port. But I wouldn't really know, and I doubt many people really do. People talk about Putin controlling media in Russia but with all that has happened in the last few years I doubt the people of any country really have control of their own media.", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Because what people dont realize is that we may be more civilized socially, our governments never grew up along with us."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: Direct sunlight. That and you feel better being cooled to 60\u00b0 when it is hot than you do warming to 60\u00b0 when it is cold", "reference": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: Brief summary of responses:\n\n* Direct sunlight\n* You dress more warmly outside\n* You are more active outside\n* Your expectations\n* More humid outside (this is only relevant at higher temperatures)\n\nIf it feels *colder* outside, it's probably wind chill."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is the accepted age of sexual relation/marriage so vastly different today than it was in the Middle Ages? Is it about life expectancy? What causes this societal shift? answer: Because it's about love nowadays, not forwarding the bloodlines/reproduction as in the past.  Love is about an emotional connection and it is really weird when a 40 year old man is emotionally connected to a 13 year old girl.", "reference": "question: Why is the accepted age of sexual relation/marriage so vastly different today than it was in the Middle Ages? Is it about life expectancy? What causes this societal shift? answer: Marriage ages weren't universally low throughout previous time periods.  At least in Medieval England the average age of marriage was actually higher in Medieval England than it was throughout most of the 20th century in America. People get confused because, at least in regards to that period, the noble classes tended to marry young because of the potential political and financial benefits.  The lower classes still needed a solid profession before they could start a family."}
{"candidate": "question: How is being dyslexic in symbol languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) different from being dyslexic in English?[removed] answer: My dyslexia doesn't allow me to write down the correct number on a piece of paper or say it correctly. I always manage to be a full power off. IE 1,234.56 - >  12,345.6 or 1,234.56 - >  123.45\n\nIf I see the number physically or hear it I have no issue. I do know if I formulate the number in my head I have a 50% of output it wrong.", "reference": "question: How is being dyslexic in symbol languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) different from being dyslexic in English?[removed] answer: Korean is not symbolic, it's alphabetic.\n\nJapanese is a mixture of both symbolic and alphabetic. \n\nAnecdotally, it's very easy to be dyslexic in Chinese script and to even \"lose\" the written language. With an alphabet, like Hangul or Latin, it's hard to forget because you use letters to construct words and sounds - words are always being built when written or said without much memorization. Chinese characters don't carry sound and so must be memorized. If you didn't do well in school, you're kind of screwed."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't we breed elephants for their ivory to prevent the poaching of wild elephants? answer: Not to forget that it is not about just \"ivory\" itself...but more about the fact to possess something that is illegal and sketchy. Or the mere story itself:\n\"This is an ivory  < something >  that is made from the elephant that I shoot on a safari in 2004.\"", "reference": "question: Why don't we breed elephants for their ivory to prevent the poaching of wild elephants? answer: It would be better to flood the market with imitation ivory."}
{"candidate": "question: what's up with all the weighing stations for trucks along interstate highways? What's the purpose? answer: There are legal limits to how heavy a truck may be.  They are also used as safety and compliance inspections.  They used to collect fuel taxes as well but that is not as common these days.", "reference": "question: what's up with all the weighing stations for trucks along interstate highways? What's the purpose? answer: Trucks carry cargo.  \n\nThe more cargo trucks carry, they more efficient they are. But if they carry too much they can damage the road and be unsafe to drive. (really heavy trucks can't slow down, and can blow tires)\n\nIt's a really common problem for the companies shipping goods to want to overload the trucks, so these stations make sure they're not overloaded. \n\nThey can also check to make sure the driver has all the proper permits for the load they're carrying, check their log books to make sure they're operating and sleeping at appropriate intervals.  Sometimes they can even do safety inspections on the truck, trailer and load."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: You have to understand they're not invading Ukraine, rather they feel they're \"securing\" Crimea.", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: The principal geopolitical reason is the freshwater port to the Black Sea, which will allow the Russian Navy to enter the Mediterranean Sea via the Bosporus at Istanbul. This will be Russia\u2019s primary means to access the Atlantic Ocean without having to go through their Arctic and near-Arctic ports. \n\nHowever, Russia also is fearful of waning hegemony, or influence. That\u2019s the heart of this whole thing, the tangible fear of a loss of influence. Much of the Ukraine is very interested in allying itself with the European Union; this was the foundation of the quasi-revolution in Kiev this past month, the decision of the former Prime Minister to ally with Moscow in deference to the EU. So, Russia sends their military into Crimea. This is a very forward, provocative move, but it has precedent in how Russia made moves on Georgia. After all, the other half still identifies itself with Russia. \n\nBoth Georgia and the Ukraine really are on the Eastern Frontier, separating the influence of Russia and Europe. But, since they are so isolated, it's that much easier for Russia to just bully them around without much Western influence other than \u201cstrong words\u201d. \n\nRussia's other major fear is that these states will join NATO. This is popularly portrayed in Russia as a somewhat provocative force that counters their state's efforts to further a better life for its own nation. It also is likely that the West would welcome entrance into NATO for Ukraine should Russia not have intervened as it had. \n\nThe real takeaway is that Russia will further the maintenance of the status quo in the countries around its borders to prevent change, fostering stability. They want to keep their neighbors quiet and in line.\n\nMeanwhile, the Ukraine's economy is garbage. They're deep in debt, have been witnessing the expatriation of capital throughout the last month, and interest rates are huge. The initial alignment between Russia and the Ukraine at the beginning of the year was essentially an economic bailout in exchange for alignment. Now, the EU and US are looking to offer monies to the new pro-Western Ukrainian government. \n\nFinally, this all comes down to Putin's government wanting to reengage the West in competition, to portray it as the counter to Russia. This positioning of influences to the Russian people furthers their allegiances to Putin, seeing him as championing their causes for life and prosperity. In essence, this is a bit of scapegoating. (Better, remember that Family Guy where Mayor West makes a big deal out of banning Gay Marriage after making a solid gold statue of cereal mogul Dig'Em of Dig'Em Smacks, then getting in trouble? Same thing, different players. The West is Gay Marriage while Putin's authoritarianistic power siege is Dig'Em. You dig it?)Plus, as the US has moved swiftly from two wars towards quasi-isolationist positioning in very rapid order, there are a lot of countries who\u2019d be open to aligning themselves with a counter-US influence. That\u2019s Russia more than it is China. \n\nThe big geopolitical variable, however, is revolutionary momentum spreading around. Reports are that the Balkans are now beginning to witness calls for change rising up on their allegiances  &  alignments. Imagine if this spreads to other centers along the Russian border, including the Latvian states, Azerbaijan, and even in some of the \u201cStans\u201d. With only passive Western intervention, we could witness spreading demands for Western-style government and economics counter to the Russian offerings. \n\nGoing forward, the West is playing with a weak hand. The EU wants peace; Germany especially, as much of their power comes directly from Russia, and they don\u2019t want their economy to suffer. But, they really want to expand their influence and welcome the Ukraine as a possible member to the EU. Meanwhile, the West appeased Russia before with the de facto appeasement of Georgia. The US\u2019 only qualified engagement since then has been disinterested neglect until the media caught the story. Best the current administration can offer is (1) economic sanctions and (2) putting John Kerry in the country under the belief that Russia wouldn't dare risk the US' Secretary of State being killed in an armed invasion. But, after all these years of general geopolitical neglect, that\u2019s about all the US can do. And because the US acted weak here, Putin figured he can act with impunity. After all, he\u2019s done it before."}
{"candidate": "question: How to violinists and cellists know where to put their fingers for a certain note when they have no frets? answer: In addition to what others have said, sometimes students put tiny slivers of tape on the neck as an aid until they gain the muscle memory.", "reference": "question: How to violinists and cellists know where to put their fingers for a certain note when they have no frets? answer: From experience you just get a certain instinct for it. You know the positions for various common notes, and since \"uncommon\" notes are just intervals above or below \"common\" notes it's pretty easy to play them even if you don't exactly know the finger position immediately. But really after awhile you don't even think about it anymore.\n\nEDIT: Grammar"}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: Simple, a cultural trait of the Germanic peoples.........Discipline.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: North-western Europe has gone through a process of power diffusion that allows individuals to employ resources in the way they know best, with minimal government intrusion. Arbitrary arrest and theft of assets developed by the citizenry has been largely removed from government powers. As a result, society learned how to negotiate, which means win-win deals, instead of \"I say, you do\" deals which tend to be win-lose.\n\nAnother way to look at it is: If you gave Germany a dollar, it would, by and large, be spent usefully. Many countries can't pull this off (yet).\n\nRead: John P. Powelson, [Centuries of Economic Endeavor](_URL_5_) for more detail."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: They are hoping to cut down on racist, homophobic, and otherwise moronic comments that are so common.  The hope is that you wouldn't say those things if your actual name was ascribed to the comment.", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I make sure I'm always signed out of my Gmail account when I'm on YouTube. In fact, I usually only use e-mail on my phone so I'm rarely signed into a Google service on my computer. I'm slowly getting sick and tired of their insistence that I join Google+ and that I use my real name for YouTube. \n\nNot to mention the ads...I get that free is a big draw but I value my time enough that sitting through a few seconds of ads for almost every video I watch is getting to be unbearable. I'd much rather pay a few dollars a year for an anonymous, ad-free viewing experience. At least give me the option, Google.\n\nI wish there was a better alternative to YouTube."}
{"candidate": "question: [meta] Prepare yourselves for Syria posts.  Mods isn't there anything that can be done?In my opinion, the solution to this recurring problem is to have a sticky post that stays at the top of the page.  Mods would be able to make any post sticky, and when a popular topic arises (e.g. Syria, Palestine), the mods would make 1 post containing the topic sticky, where we could all focus on answering the question together.\n\nDuring posting, a large message would appear (like in other subreddits) requesting the poster to ensure that their question isn't currently listed as a sticky post.\n\nAfter a topic loses interest, it would be made un-sticky by a mod.\n\nHow do you think this problem should be fixed?\n\nEdit: also, \"old\" sticky posts would be a great resource.  Think about it: a massive repository of thoroughly answered questions, including lots of data, facts, and points of view.\n\n**tldr: How do you think this recurring problem should be solved?** answer: Great idea. We're gonna be making some upgrades around here very soon -- and this will be one of them, I think. Thanks so much for bringing it to our attention.", "reference": "question: [meta] Prepare yourselves for Syria posts.  Mods isn't there anything that can be done?In my opinion, the solution to this recurring problem is to have a sticky post that stays at the top of the page.  Mods would be able to make any post sticky, and when a popular topic arises (e.g. Syria, Palestine), the mods would make 1 post containing the topic sticky, where we could all focus on answering the question together.\n\nDuring posting, a large message would appear (like in other subreddits) requesting the poster to ensure that their question isn't currently listed as a sticky post.\n\nAfter a topic loses interest, it would be made un-sticky by a mod.\n\nHow do you think this problem should be fixed?\n\nEdit: also, \"old\" sticky posts would be a great resource.  Think about it: a massive repository of thoroughly answered questions, including lots of data, facts, and points of view.\n\n**tldr: How do you think this recurring problem should be solved?** answer: Sounds good to me. Will forward it to other mods and let you guys know what we think."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are trucking weigh stations ALWAYS closed?[removed] answer: In my state the troopers now have portable station in their trucks so they are kind of obsolete. (At least around here.)", "reference": "question: Why are trucking weigh stations ALWAYS closed?[removed] answer: If you can, try to get the book \u201cLife\u2019s Imponderables\u201d. It\u2019s a lovely time that answers lots of questions like \u201cwhen do fish sleep?\u201d and \u201cwhy do dogs have wet noses?\u201d. \n\nThis was one of the questions the answered :)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't Rob Ford be impeached if 'the video' is in police hands? answer: I see your point but I think public opinion will hopefully carry some weight as I think people of Toronto are basically sick of the shenanigans. They will demand the ability to remove someone who isn't performing or who has become a distraction. In the end tho you're probably right and nothing will come of it", "reference": "question: Why can't Rob Ford be impeached if 'the video' is in police hands? answer: The video most likely is not sufficient evidence. The video shows what appears to be the smoking of crack but without supporting evidence such as the pipe with residue on it, witnesses who were present, the video itself is of little evidentiary value."}
{"candidate": "question: In European countries, the wealthy and most of the middle class live in the inner city, while the poor are in the suburbs. In America, the poor live in the inner city, while the rich are in suburbs. Why is this?[removed] answer: In the UK at least the inner city is still dominated by those less fortunate. During the industrial revolution the inner-city city was more of a slum for the factory workers. These poor quality houses have only started to be improved within the last 30(?)years or so. Gentrification has helped with inviting the wealthy upper classes into the inner-city and out of the suburbs by turning old tenement buildings into luxury apartments this does unfortunately drive the original poorer community out due to not being able to afford the new much higher rent.", "reference": "question: In European countries, the wealthy and most of the middle class live in the inner city, while the poor are in the suburbs. In America, the poor live in the inner city, while the rich are in suburbs. Why is this?[removed] answer: The generalization isn't accurate. Many European cities suffered middle class flight and are filled with poorer immigrants, surrounded by wealthier suburbs. While many US cities have expensive cores surrounded by poorer hoods.\n\nIt depends a lot on the history of each city."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: I've lived on my own four a combined total of 4 years in the 6 years since I graduated college.  I'm living with my folks now because I was diagnosed with a series of crippling illnesses and then succumbed, for a period, to major depression that debilitated me in every way you could imagine.  But I'm back on my feet, I'm working full time and making decent money.  I really want to venture back out because, while I love my family, I have a lot of anxiety just because they have something to say about everything I do (or don't do) and they've just become unbearably pushy about a lot of seemingly inconsequential things.  I feel I'd benefit from being out from under them but I'm afraid that if I try to buy a house and I take a turn for the worse, I may find myself unable to honor my financial obligations if I'm unable to work.  I'm really conflicted as to what to do next.......", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Even try sneaking a date past your parents?"}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: I wonder if it's because they really ARE the master race. Hmmm.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: For an ELI5 answer, the allied powers after WW2 (mostly the US in this case) enacted something called the Marshall Plan which involved an absolutely massive recovery and stimulus effort. Partially this was done to prevent a repeat of what lead to WW2 in the first place (Germany was badly impoverished and forced to pay reparations) and partially this was to counter Soviet influence."}
{"candidate": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: The reason is because they are very charming and superficial. They will try to generate stimuli through laughter and/or interest, because that's what they want to experience themselves and to make you more interested in them as a person.\n\nThat's why they come across so likeable, it's the obvious way to get someone to like you, which is why psychopaths do it.\n\n(One last thing) You said sociopaths not psychopaths. Sociopaths are psychopaths but more out of society, more impulsive, more criminal behaviour that is violence oriented. They are not as charming and likeable as psychopaths. Though they often are.", "reference": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: You heard wrong. Most sociopaths are terrible at getting people to like them. Because they have severely inhibited empathy, they have exactly the problems you'd expect.\n\nBut most people see Dexter and American Psycho, and they assume that this is how real life sociopaths are. Truth is, legitimate sociopaths (being selfish is not the same as being a sociopath) with magnetic personalities are INSANELY rare - which is part of why stories about them are so interesting."}
{"candidate": "question: The legal concept of bail. How can a court justify releasing a potentially harmful person for a large sum of cash? answer: It's not supposed to be a large sum of cash. It is supposed to be a refunded inconvenient amount of cash. Eg if a student is arrested for theft, set his bail at $500, so that he shows up for court. He really needs that $500, so he will show up to get it back. A rich person may have bail set at 10k since that would be an inconvenient amount to lose. So in come bail bondsmen, who now operate by default.  Bail bondsmen will pay your bail amount, for a 10% fee. So theoretically, you should now be paying less, though it will not be refunded. However, Courts assume you will use one, so now they set your bail at 10x the amount they would have. For a student on a petty crime, bail will be 5k. The student now has to pay that bail bondsmen $500 to loan that money for a few weeks. This works out great for the bondsmen as a high interest loan. For the courts it gives them free enforcement to pick up people who skip court. Great for everyone except the people being arrested. This is similar to other punitive fines, inconveniences, and 'fees' used to extract money from people who cannot fight back. See DUI fees, disproportionate juvenile sentencing, voting rights removal, prison lobbyists, etc for more details.", "reference": "question: The legal concept of bail. How can a court justify releasing a potentially harmful person for a large sum of cash? answer: INNOCENCE UNTILL PROVEN GUILTY.\n\nI know it's hard for americans to grasp this concept, since you like to judge and sentence someone without any evidence, but at least in theory, presumption of innocence is a thing."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't cousins marry? If it is genetic disorders, why does nothing happen to Asians?Specifically Indians and Arabs. I mean, I know many Indians who've been exclusively marrying within the family (for caste/religious purposes) for atleast 3 generations now. Yet no abnormalities develop.\nWhat is the Western taboo? And if it is moral, who decides morality? answer: Maple syrup urine disease.\n\nThat's 1 example why inbreeding is bad.", "reference": "question: Why can't cousins marry? If it is genetic disorders, why does nothing happen to Asians?Specifically Indians and Arabs. I mean, I know many Indians who've been exclusively marrying within the family (for caste/religious purposes) for atleast 3 generations now. Yet no abnormalities develop.\nWhat is the Western taboo? And if it is moral, who decides morality? answer: Honestly I don't get it, in Europe (at least in Poland and UK) it is perfectly legal to marry your cousin, that's why when I see someone from US going \"oh my god I kissed my cousin\" it makes me laugh.\nNothing abnormal in kissing or even sleeping with your cousin here."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: because Germans are very efficient at whatever they do", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: Did anyone find the answer anywhere here? All I see are short stories about the war and nothing about how they built such a strong economy. Maybe answered means commented on."}
{"candidate": "question: What's the deal with these CEOs raising prices on generic drugs? If they're generic, can't another manufacturer produce them for much cheaper?It seems like the only thing that will happen is that the company will get really bad publicity... answer: Part of the problem is the medical insurance system in America.  The massive costs of certain drugs are split over multiple companies and then spread between all the subscribers in those companies.", "reference": "question: What's the deal with these CEOs raising prices on generic drugs? If they're generic, can't another manufacturer produce them for much cheaper?It seems like the only thing that will happen is that the company will get really bad publicity... answer: Stuff like this is just plain ridiculous,  it's incredible that just across the border in Mexico, the same medicine, made by the actual creator of the medicine (GlaxoSmithKline) is just about 10 dollars for 30 tablets."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is Prince Philip of England a prince and not king, despite his being married to the Queen? The wife of the previous king, George VI, was Queen Elizabeth, not Princess Elizabeth.The fact that people are upvoting this makes me feel glad that I wasn't the only one confused by this!\n\nMandatory \"This blew up\" edit. \n\nMarked as Explained, because of /u/barc0de's fantastic explanation.  answer: Kings make queens. A queen can\u2019t make a king. If a king marries a bum bitch, that bitch is now a queen\u2026 But look at the Queen of England, that bitch is married and that nigga ain\u2019t the King of England. That nigga is the Duke of tittley-squats.", "reference": "question: Why is Prince Philip of England a prince and not king, despite his being married to the Queen? The wife of the previous king, George VI, was Queen Elizabeth, not Princess Elizabeth.The fact that people are upvoting this makes me feel glad that I wasn't the only one confused by this!\n\nMandatory \"This blew up\" edit. \n\nMarked as Explained, because of /u/barc0de's fantastic explanation.  answer: How does inheritance work?  Why did the Queen inherit the throne, and not her closest male relative?"}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I am gay. I would describe myself and my husband both as \"straight acting\". We both find the stereotypical gay types with the high feminine voices irritating. But sometimes I think its a little hypocritical because whenever I greet him on the phone or after work sometimes I notice that my voice gets a little higher when I'm with him. At work or anywhere else my voice falls to \"normal\" range. But when he's around my voice gets softer and higher.... I don't know why.", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: It's an act for the most part. Fairly silly though, as a lot of gay guys (like me) find it *very* unattractive."}
{"candidate": "question: How does the Secret Service avoid hiring someone with the intent of killing the President?They're always armed to the teeth, always in reaching distance, and it seems like they have a large army of agents when travelling. \n\nI would imagine that terrorists would see this as an excellent opportunity to infiltrate and kill the President with a high success rate. Are there any known counter-measures they will do to avoid this risk?\n\nI'm sure I'm on someones watch-list after this post.  answer: My guess on these things is the type of people unstable enough to kill anybody often don't think it rational, long-term options.  Hollywood movies aside, you'd have to be both murderous AND cunning on a level that would simply be too rare of a \"sweet spot\" for presidential assassination.\n\nFirst, you'd have to have an actual motive.  And that's seriously long term.  The president you wanted to kill is long out of office by the time you get to that level.  Terrorists from other countries just wouldn't make it because of the culture shock, the background checks, and so on.\n\nOkay, suppose you're a psychotic from Oklahoma that decided at age 8 that you'd kill any president, no matter what their political affiliation.  Just \"a president\" would do.  Somehow, you have to be sane enough to pass some serious psychological exams and tests just to get into the secret service.  And be very athletically fit.  Now, you'd hang around a lot of these guys on your off hours, and I would imagine to get into the \"inner circle,\" you'd have to be socially aware enough not to give someone who might be your future supporters the heebie-jeebies.  I am sure there are a lot of people who don't get promoted because their never get recommended.  \n\n*\"Yeah, Jim Smith is a great bodyguard.  Really dedicated, and very fit.  Perfect record.  But... he's got this odd temper.  Doesn't play well with others.  Doesn't seem to have any friends, lives by himself in a very minimalist apartment, and his family is either all crazy or missing.  Not sure if I want him next to the football, if you get my drift.\"*\n\nAnd as another poster here suggested, the second a gun is pulled out without reason, the others would be on you like a hobo on a ham sandwich.  Seeing these guys in action, in less than 2 seconds, both you and the president would be under piles of people.  Then within 5- 10 seconds, the president would be in an armored car and speeding away.\n\nThe conditions would have to be *just right* to pull this off, and I think the chances are far too remote with \"easier options\" being too tempting for a would be killer.", "reference": "question: How does the Secret Service avoid hiring someone with the intent of killing the President?They're always armed to the teeth, always in reaching distance, and it seems like they have a large army of agents when travelling. \n\nI would imagine that terrorists would see this as an excellent opportunity to infiltrate and kill the President with a high success rate. Are there any known counter-measures they will do to avoid this risk?\n\nI'm sure I'm on someones watch-list after this post.  answer: You didn't happen to watch Taxi Driver recently, did you?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does congress have a 13% approval rate but incumbents are re-elected at a rate of 90%. answer: \"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.\" - Winston Churchill", "reference": "question: Why does congress have a 13% approval rate but incumbents are re-elected at a rate of 90%. answer: I worked on the campaign trail for nearly a decade, so I can tell you the three most interesting reasons:  \n\n1. The Optimism Gap - People hate Congress but love their Congressman.  This is less true than it used to be but the dynamic still holds.  While Congress is less popular than the King of England at the time of the Revolutionary War, most members of Congress get something like 60-70% approval in their home district.  This high level of approval among active voters is primarily due to the gerrymandering of districts (i.e. politicians choose the voters, not the other way around).  However, widespread voter apathy also contributes to this dynamic because most polls only take into account the opinions of people planning on voting (the first question in most polls is:  Are you planning on voting?  No = goodbye).  Therefore, the positive reviews of the politician's active supporters disproportionately skew polling and ignore the potentially negative opinions of inactive voters that exist in the population.  \n\n2. PAC Checks - Most Political Action Committees (PACs) have a rule that they only give money to incumbent members of Congress. It's not just that the guy with the most money wins something like 95% of the time, it's also that most of the money flows to incumbents specifically.  So while the challenger is phone calling every one of their friends for $100 or asking for $25 in an email to build their campaign from scratch and then later spending 5-7 hours/day 5-7 day/week raising money by cold-calling rich donors, politicians already elected to Congress get multiple $5000 checks handed to them at lunches and happy hours in DC.  The incumbents-only rule is especially true of corporate PACs and rarely broken (only when it's obvious the challenger will win).  \n\n3. Franking - In the budget for every member of Congress is an allotment of money for substantial amounts of postage and constituent contact, known as \"franking\".  Essentially, elected member of Congress get to mail their voters for free, telling them how awesome they are and how much amazing legislation they've passed (or stopped).  It's like a low-tech advertising budget for incumbent Congressmen (though some offices have even used franking dollars to run online ads).  This really entrenches incumbents even further because they are constantly corresponding with constituents and doing them favors, which tit-for-tat picks them up additional support at the polls.  Challengers face an uphill battle in gaining similar name recognition and popularity among the population because they have to do it all with their campaign.  Incumbents get to use their office and the campaign to make their case for why they are a good member of Congress who should be re-elected.\n\nWait, this isn't ELI50?  Oops, my bad.  Hope it helps!\n\nPS.  It's really interesting to combine the 13% approval of Congress with the Gallup poll result showing 87% of Americans believe reducing government corruption is extremely or very important (making it a top 3 issue).  I wonder if the 13% of people is the same in both cases - approve of Congress and believe corruption is not a problem.  Who the hell are those people?\n\ntl;dr - Congress sucks, but incumbents got the votes, the money, and the favors."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are people so proud of their nationality?Ideally, people are proud of things that they have worked hard to achieve.  Why do so many people take such pride in something that they had nothing to do with?  If a mother lives and gives birth in one location, her offspring should be intensely proud of that, but if she gives birth a hundred yards away on the other side of an imaginary line, then they should be intensely proud of that instead? answer: When you're raised in a household with a strong emphasis on your culture, you identify yourself with it. Its as simple as that", "reference": "question: Why are people so proud of their nationality?Ideally, people are proud of things that they have worked hard to achieve.  Why do so many people take such pride in something that they had nothing to do with?  If a mother lives and gives birth in one location, her offspring should be intensely proud of that, but if she gives birth a hundred yards away on the other side of an imaginary line, then they should be intensely proud of that instead? answer: Edit: Alright, sorry for coming across as patronizing. The gist of it is that it's a response to a sense of belonging most humans have. Setting your group on a pedestal above others makes you feel special and helps individuals develop a sense of identity apart from humanity as a whole (that is, nationalism can reinforce individualism).\n\nOriginal post preserved below.\n\nWell Billy (you're 5, you're Billy), think of it this way: yknow how during recess you get together for kickball or teeball and the teacher picks two captains, who then pick teams? Well, those captains are each the basis of a country, and the team are the people in it.\n\nWhen we do well at bat (or...kick...? What do you call the \"batter\" in kickball, anyway?), there is a sense that we all contributed to something bigger than ourselves and our friends will like us more. This makes your team even more separate from the other team, and you want to get along with your team more than you do with the other. So, over time, because you care about doing well and your team doing well, you have spent most of your time paying attention to it and tend to overlook the problems it has. \n\nOn the other hand, the other team is competition, and it's easy to pick out their faults because you want to find them to make sure your team can win. So over time you come to think of your team as better (ignoring its faults) and the other team as inferior (full of faults and nothing else)."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't the Chinese just make a skyscraper sized air purifier like the one I have in my room to solve their smog problem?I have a air purifier, made in China, that filters my room's air 10 times in an hour. Why don't they just make an enormous one the size of a building to clean their smog? answer: LPT: For any question beginning on \"why don't they...\" lines, the answer is always \"because it's too expensive.\"", "reference": "question: Why don't the Chinese just make a skyscraper sized air purifier like the one I have in my room to solve their smog problem?I have a air purifier, made in China, that filters my room's air 10 times in an hour. Why don't they just make an enormous one the size of a building to clean their smog? answer: Why don't they just put them on the tops of the smoke stacks? Filter the source.."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are Chinese and Japanese people called \"Asians\", but Indians aren't? answer: From my understanding, it's that although geographically speaking, Indians are \"Asian\", they're really not. We tend to base race on two things 1) looks (with an emphasis on skin color) and 2) culture. \n\nWhen looking at race Asians are lumped together because at a glance \"they all look the same\", the same goes for Caucasians, Hispanics, and Africans as well. Indians and Arabs, however tend to not be lumped into any of the aforementioned groups because of the two earlier points. \n\n\nIndians, Arabs, and even Jews, could, for the most part, could and would be considered Caucasian if skin color and culture weren't as big of a deal as they are. \n\nOf course,  all that being said, race is used as a social clnstruct used to generally describe someone physically and culturally and Indians aren't considered Africans because they're not similar enough to fit the bill.", "reference": "question: Why are Chinese and Japanese people called \"Asians\", but Indians aren't? answer: Who's not calling them Asians? I mean being called Asian is just a geographic term that defines what continent you are from, I didnt know it had to do with the content of your culture."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: Most people in the bay area (in California) don't.  People in areas where the temperature is less temperate are more likely to make use of air conditioning units.", "reference": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: I live on Cape Cod. While our frigid, god awful, winters are what we're known for, the summer gets pretty damn hot sometimes. But that's not the issue. Everything molds in the summer. Its kind of a running joke. But yeah, I've lived plenty of places that didn't have AC on Cape, but the humidity causes such bad mold/mildew that a lot of people get them just to keep it at bay."}
{"candidate": "question: What would you see, feel, and hear if a nuclear bomb was dropped 10-15 miles away?I really want to know what would happen if a nuke was dropped 10-15 miles away. I want to know everything I would see or hear and how everything would feel. Would there be a rumbling and bright light, with the mushroom cloud above? Would I instantly evaporate?  answer: I've been told by a weapons designer that there is no upper limit to how large you can make a H-bomb. However any surface blast over 100MT becomes tactically useless as the blast radius is so large that most of the energy is released into space.", "reference": "question: What would you see, feel, and hear if a nuclear bomb was dropped 10-15 miles away?I really want to know what would happen if a nuke was dropped 10-15 miles away. I want to know everything I would see or hear and how everything would feel. Would there be a rumbling and bright light, with the mushroom cloud above? Would I instantly evaporate?  answer: It would depend on the size of the nuclear weapon. The [nukemap website](_URL_0_) allows you to see how large the blast radius would be for various nuclear payloads.\n\nSo for example if you're talking about a 15 kiloton bomb, such as was used at Hiroshima, then from 15 miles away you'd certainly see the flash, hear the explosion, and see the mushroom cloud, but you'd be unlikely to suffer any physical damage. The biggest threat would come from remaining in the area for several weeks afterwards and so coming into contact with the nuclear fallout (dust, ash, and other debris that is radioactive).\n\nOn the other hand if the largest ever US nuclear bomb (15 megatons) was detonated, then at 15 miles you'd still be within the thermal radiation (= heat) zone. There'd probably be enough power still in the blast pressure to knock you off your feet, and exposed areas of skin would likely be burned. If you'd been looking directly at the explosion you'd almost certainly have been blinded. Unless you leave the area *very* quickly you'll probably receive a fatal dose of radiation from the fallout and will die of radiation sickness in 14-28 days.\n\nThe USSR had plans for bombs of at least up to 100 megatons, the blast pressure from which would have almost certainly instantly killed anyone within about 20 miles of the detonation site. I'm not sure if warheads of this power were ever actually created, though."}
{"candidate": "question: MKUltra[removed] answer: posted this as a reply elsewhere, but here's my contribution.\n\nMKULTRA is **proven** and was exposed during the 70s. It was discovered because someone forgot to incinerate a storage room full of boxes uncovered during an FOIA request. The papers in that storage room (along with rumors) are the **only** sources we really have on MKULTRA.\n\nThe origins of MKULTRA are largely based on continuation of work of Nazi scientists that came over here during Operation Paperclip. US Navy reports from 1945 included observations of Nazis using mescaline during interrogations at Dachau.\n\nIn 1947, the Navy started their own testing of mescaline, scopolamine and others during Project CHAPTER (1947) which then evolved into Project CHATTER (1951-1953). This is what then eventually combined with some other projects to form MKULTRA after numerous other names and projects (ARTICHOKE, CASTIGATE, MKNAOMI, MKDELTA, etc.)\n\nThe roots of the program were in drugs and interrogation -- but over the 20+ years that the program was in existence, it expanded well beyond that. Research into hypnotism (MKULTRA subproject 49, 84, others), brain concussions to erase memories (subproject 54), sensory deprivation (subproject 61), electric shock therapy (subproject 62), psychic driving by Ewen Cameron (subproject 68), neurotoxins and biological warfare (subproject 99, 101), study of adolescent gangs and social dynamics (subproject 102), children's summer camps (subproject 103), sabotage of petroleum resources (104), the infamous Witch Doctor Study by Dr. Raymond Prince at McGill Universtiy (subproject 121) the list goes on and on and on with more and more interesting subprojects.\n\nThere are all documented, I haven't brought up any that can't be backed up by redacted documents on _URL_1_ own website.\n\nTL;DR MKULTRA started off as research into drugs and torture as interrogation techniques, but it expanded into all things \"mind-control\" related. Implanting false memories, erasing memories, hypnotism, cultural dynamics, peer pressure -- if it had to do with influencing human behavior in isolation or groups, MKULTRA touched it.", "reference": "question: MKUltra[removed] answer: Wasnt the unibomber subjected to these experiments? IIRC they basically broke him down and assaulted his views and it had long lasting effects."}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't freedom taking hold in the Middle East, most of Africa, and Asia?I'm not advocating forcing elections or regime change ... just wondering why democracy or at least representative government doesn't seem to be working in so many places.  The evidence of a higher standard of living here in North and South America and \nWestern Europe is hard to ignore.  \n\n_URL_0_ answer: I would argue that it is their worldview and culture. Freedom didn't take hold in Europe until the Reformation, where the church lost some of its political power, and values like honesty, hard-work and the rule of law (vs. the divine right of kings) took hold. \n\nIn 1400, Europe was an ass-backwards shithole. By the 1600s, you have great advancements in art, science, music, navigation, limited government, etc.", "reference": "question: Why isn't freedom taking hold in the Middle East, most of Africa, and Asia?I'm not advocating forcing elections or regime change ... just wondering why democracy or at least representative government doesn't seem to be working in so many places.  The evidence of a higher standard of living here in North and South America and \nWestern Europe is hard to ignore.  \n\n_URL_0_ answer: I come from Singapore, which is rated 4 for both political freedom and civil liberties.\n\nIn my country, one political party is pretty much dominant. There are allegations that it uses shady tactics, such as gerrymandering and refusing public facility upgrades to opposition wards, to maintain its power.\n\nBe that as it may, the ruling party commands more than a 90% majority in Parliament and therefore can do, more or less, what it wants. I think that this is largely due to political apathy on the part of the populace; the older generation retains its faith in the party that carried the nation through its founding years, validly or otherwise, and the younger generation is not too interested in politics.\n\nSo, no...our constitutional guarantees are weak, we don't really have press freedom, and political films are banned...but many Westerners come over and are surprised at just how high our standard of living is. You don't need to be free to live well, just to live fully."}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: I'm a little late but; they just don't care anymore. Someone telling them that they don't have to care gives them the justification they need to just not care. I want a hypnotist good enough to do this for me again.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: On my \"grad night\" senior year of high school there was a hypnotist. One of the kids that got hypnotized pissed his pants in front of everyone."}
{"candidate": "question: Why am I compelled to buy health insurance but doctors are not compelled to accept it?Signed up for Covered CA only to discover that even on Anthem's \"platinum\" plan virtually no doctors accept it. Anthem's list of doctors who allegedly accept it and new patients includes doctors who have retired two years ago.  \n & nbsp;\n\n**1st edit** to add the following:\nOkay from what I can tell I just woke up to some earnest explanations, a fair amount of politics, some humor, and some cranks. I have a lot of reading to do. Thank you for your comments; I have read a handful of them and feel I should fill in the picture a bit for some people who have made some assumptions: I am a small business owner doing business as myself (not an LLC), I pay approximately $580 a month, I have the Platinum 90 PPO plan, and I make good money doing highly technical work. Before Obamacare I paid a private insurance company near $780 a month.  \n & nbsp;  \n**2nd edit** to add the following:\nIt seems that there is some objection to my usage of the word \"compelled.\" I get it. The language is loaded. If you take objection to it, please substitute it with the phrase \"incentivized with a the threat of a tax penalty.\" \nDo any professionals here know of any similar tax penalties in the face of non-compliance for the other two actors in this system, namely the insurance companies and doctors?\n\n answer: Doctors pepper their practices with various types. United and Aetna being the 2 hardest to collect from they only take on a few of those. So they take on other patients from HMO's they are guaranteed a check every moth from these. They also pepper in Medicaid and Medicare patients as well because their contracts are negotiated at rock bottom prices. \n\nInsurance's also will drop doctors some times as well so she/he isn't in your providers coverage. \n\nSource: Wife does medical billing for 3 hospitals up here had to have her explain all this crap like I'm 2 when I got my cancer diagnosis. Also your doctors are as clueless as you about this this is why they hire office managers.", "reference": "question: Why am I compelled to buy health insurance but doctors are not compelled to accept it?Signed up for Covered CA only to discover that even on Anthem's \"platinum\" plan virtually no doctors accept it. Anthem's list of doctors who allegedly accept it and new patients includes doctors who have retired two years ago.  \n & nbsp;\n\n**1st edit** to add the following:\nOkay from what I can tell I just woke up to some earnest explanations, a fair amount of politics, some humor, and some cranks. I have a lot of reading to do. Thank you for your comments; I have read a handful of them and feel I should fill in the picture a bit for some people who have made some assumptions: I am a small business owner doing business as myself (not an LLC), I pay approximately $580 a month, I have the Platinum 90 PPO plan, and I make good money doing highly technical work. Before Obamacare I paid a private insurance company near $780 a month.  \n & nbsp;  \n**2nd edit** to add the following:\nIt seems that there is some objection to my usage of the word \"compelled.\" I get it. The language is loaded. If you take objection to it, please substitute it with the phrase \"incentivized with a the threat of a tax penalty.\" \nDo any professionals here know of any similar tax penalties in the face of non-compliance for the other two actors in this system, namely the insurance companies and doctors?\n\n answer: The simple truth is that the insurance industry paid the lawmakers to write it that way, that's how most laws get written."}
{"candidate": "question: VPNs and Proxiesas well as the pros/cons, and whether or not they will be able to facilitate me doing whatever the hell I please online, despite any impending, fascist legislation\n\nedit: I noticed that VPNs had already been addressed earlier...I still would like to know what a proxy is/how to get one/what's so great about being behind 7 of them lol.. answer: > I still would like to know what a proxy is/how to get one/what's so great about being behind 7 of them lol..\n\nA proxy is 'another server' through which you do all of your browsing.  So in a default situation, you are 'directly connected'.  You browse to a website and your ISP's servers handle this for you.  When you hit reddit, reddit can store your IP address or any information against you.  Also your ISP knows that you went to _URL_1_.  Oh and if reddit decides to show you one of those adverts, you'll see a \"meet hot girls in  < yourarea >  tonight!\"\n\nWhen you introduce a proxy, it forwards the request for you.  You are telling the proxy 'I want _URL_1_' and the proxy server goes out, gets it for you and sends it back.  That makes a big difference.  That means that if you browse to reddit using a proxy, reddit sees the proxy's IP address.  If it does an IP-address-to-geographical-location-lookup, it will think you are wherever the proxy server is, rather than your actual location, so it might say \"meet girls in [low earth orbit](_URL_0_) tonight!\".  There are of course many different types of proxies, and some proxies will forward your IP address to the server, others will hide it for you and anonymize you as much as possible.  \n\nExample usage: the front page of reddit almost always has some Colbert video clip which everyone is celebrating together and you are left out because you are a pitiful foreigner.  Well, you could go through a proxy based in the US.  Because Colbert's website sees the proxy's IP address, it may think you are in the US and let you watch the video.\n\nOther examples, suppose you want to visit a website which you are not comfortable leaving your 'information' on.  Think torrent sites.  You went to a torrent site and downloaded a car.  A few days later, authorities seize their servers and your IP address is on their web server logs.  They can find you then.  So what some people do is they browse the torrent site through a proxy and download a car.  When the servers are seized, all the authorities see are the proxy's IP address.  Whether or not they can get YOUR IP address from that proxy server depends on the proxy server owner.  The owner may choose to not store any info about you at all and the owner may choose to store the info.", "reference": "question: VPNs and Proxiesas well as the pros/cons, and whether or not they will be able to facilitate me doing whatever the hell I please online, despite any impending, fascist legislation\n\nedit: I noticed that VPNs had already been addressed earlier...I still would like to know what a proxy is/how to get one/what's so great about being behind 7 of them lol.. answer: Think of your Internet service provider like a concerned parent. They may be strict or they may not care what you do unless you draw a lot of attention to yourself. Either way they tend to try and keep an eye on what you are doing and listen out for trouble when you are within earshot but out of sight. \n\nWhen you play outside or up in your room you call out to your brother asking him to do stuff that is part of the game you are playing. Your parents hear this and will notice if you ask him to do something naughty that they would not like. \n\nA VPN is like having two foreign exchange students staying in the house for the summer. Now you can whisper to one German kid what you want and he can shout that in German to the other German kid who then speaks or shouts the English version to your brother. \n\nYour parents know something is being shouted back and forth between you and your brother but since they don't speak German they don't have a clue what is being said. They know what the second German kid is saying because he uses English but they don't know if he is speaking for you or for some other kid because lots of kids use the German kids this way. \n\nThe best German kids to use for this would be German kids with a short term memory problem. After a few minutes they forget what they were told and who said it to them. Now even if the parents ask the German kids what was going on and who was involved they honestly don't know. \n\nSome kids who are doing nothing naughty at all might choose to do this thing with the German kids just for the sake of having privacy or to make it harder for the parents to figure out which other kids are being naughty. \n\nNow, other people in the neighborhood listening in only hear the German kid shouting and have no clue who is whispering in his ear because if you recall he provides this service to lots of different kids. If a house gets toilet papered the only thing that the neighbor who owns that house can do is ask the German kid questions or ask all local parents if their kids were the ones who planned the prank. \n\nIf the German kid has a memory loss and your parents only heard German which they don't understand then no one can point the finger at you. Your parents know you said something and for how long you spoke but not what was said. \n\nIn the above example the two German kids are the encrypted tunnel and the second German kid is the proxy. To the world at large the second German kid is the one asking questions or giving instructions but he is really a \"proxy\", simply relaying what you want. The short term memory problem is similar to VPN servers that don't keep log files. The German language is the encryption used to cover your tracks."}
{"candidate": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: I think of it like this. As a driver, you not only have a chance of being harmed, but you also pose a risk of harming others. The minimum required insurance is to help the other party should you injure them. Health insurance is only to protect you. One could see it as unconstitutional because it should be the sole choice of the individual if he or she pays to protect his or her own health and welfare.", "reference": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: It's not. Americans just have a terrible healthcare system that denies them the right to life in exchange for the right to not have insurance."}
{"candidate": "question: What does this ISP selling browser history mean for me?[removed] answer: Just going to Copy-Paste from another thread I replied to:\n\nOk, I do netsec  &  net eng so without going into super specifics let's give this a whirl:\n\n > but is it now also possible Google to sell my browsing data\n\nIt always was, and they do. Google makes it's money by creating user profiles, and selling them to ad agencies, or running ads themselves. That is where their money comes from.\n\nThe thing is google doesn't have all your browsing data. Google has your search history, any tracking done through their ad services, your email, your location if you use google maps, and basically anything you do on chrome or stock android, especially if you are signed in.\n\nNow google themselves uses this information to provide a very good service. Ever wonder why google searches tend to be the best? Well not only are they the biggest, but because of their user profile, they know what you want.\n\nTake a member of /r/the_donald and /r/politics. Have those two users both search the word \"impeach\" and they will get two different suggestion lists. While both will likely have \"Impeach Obama\" and \"Impeach Trump\" they will likely be in different order.\n\nThis is because google is predicting what you want based on previous search history  &  email keywords (yes google scans your email).\n\nNow google provides **excellent** service, but there is a price to pay for it. On the internet if you are not paying for something you can assume you are the product being sold.\n\nUnless of course google is your ISP. Then they get everything, because they can see everything.\n\n_______________________________________________________________\n\nOnto what *YOU* can do about it. Get yourself a VPN (Virtual private Network).\n\nThere are many providers, I myself use NORDVPN, but they aren't the most popular due to some customer service issues, and they aren't the most secure if you aren't running on openVPN. The upside is they are relatively cheap, very simple to use, and have a lot of nodes all over the world.\n\nBut if you are just looking to anonymize your traffic, circumvent region locks, and maybe hide some torrenting I think they're great.\n\nOn to the technical side, who is a VPN and what does it do?\n\nA VPN basically creates an encrypted traffic tunnel  &  routes all your internet traffic through that.\n\nSo instead of seeing:\n\n* workacct1484 connects to _URL_1_ \n* workacct1484 pulls down images from /r/unxpectedjihad\n* workacct 1484 receives torrent traffic from  < nodes > \n\nmy ISP instead sees:\n\n* workacct1484 blarglblarglc'thulhuharblehoggglyfthagn to  < Server > \n* workacct1484 blarglblarglr'lyehharblehoggglywtagn to  < Server > \n* workacct1484 blarglblarglph'ngluiharblehoggglymglw'nafh to  < Server > \n\nSo my ISP has no idea what I am doing on that connection, only that all my traffic is going to that server. So while they *could* sell my browsing data, it would be useless.\n\n[Diagram](_URL_0_)\n\nNow you might say to yourself, \"Self, what if the MPAA suspects workacct1484 of torrenting. Can't they sue  &  subpoena the VPN provider for their logs?\"\n\nYes, they can. Which is why you need a VPN provider that does not keep logs. Many of them don't and what happens is this:\n\n* MPAA sues  &  demands VPN logs\n* VPN provider says Ok, but we don't have them. We do not keep logs. We cannot give you something we don't have.\n* MPAA curses\n\nNow if you start torrenting too much (like actually releasing the new content as node 0), or start doing more shady things like drug deals, and the FBI needs to get involved, you may be in trouble. Because a VPN can be compromised. It's not a 100% guarantee. But security isn't about being unbreachable, it's about being more secure than the attacker cares to break.\n\nHow do we get around this? TOR:\n\n_____________________________________________________________\n\nTOR the onion browser, a necessary tool in the fight for privacy.\n\nWhat does TOR do? Well TOR encrypts your traffic. At every. single. network hop.\n\nWhat do I mean? Well you don't connect to _URL_1_. do a traceroute to even _URL_2_  &  you will see many hops. Each hop TOR re-ecnrypts your traffic.\n\n[Diagram](_URL_3_)\n\nThis does create a slow connection but a much more secure connection. It is not 100% secure though. If someone controls both the first  &  last node you use, they can do reasonably well finding out your traffic with some other information. I won't get into the specifics, but suffice to say it is **NOT** easy, but it *CAN* be done.\n\n_______________________________________________________________\n\nSo if you really want to ensure privacy what do you do? Well first off, stop using chrome. Use an opensource browser like opera or firefox.\n\nSecond get a VPN.\n\nThird use TOR over that VPN.\n\nFourth, start calling your representatives  &  telling them how you feel, then GET OUT  &  VOTE. Representatives can see who is registered to vote, if you call or email and bitch, but aren't registered to vote, they do not give a single fuck about your opinion.\n\nFinally, realize you lack the money  &  expertise to stop a truly dedicated attacker with any sufficient backing.\n\n______________________________________________________________\n\nAnd finally what does this mean for you?\n\nFor the average person. Nothing. You will not really see an impact from ISPs selling your browsing data to advertisers. Because it's already happening. And it's not just ISPs. It's google, microsoft, apple, amazon, onstar, basically everyone does it. Especially facebook. \n\n#GET THE FUCK OFF FACEBOOK IF YOU CARE AT ALL ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY.\n\nThey are literally public enemy #1 when it comes to privacy.\n\nBut why should you care?\n\nBecause these people are often very careless. Not because they choose to be, but because they honestly don't give two flying fucks about your data. And if they get compromised other people may be able to view your data. Maybe your company buys your data  &  sees you looking for a new job  &  fires you. Maybe your neighbor buys your history  &  sees that you frequent /r/clopclop (NSFW) and uses that to blackmail or embarrass you because you called them out at a school PTA meeting. Maybe an identity thief sees you going to  < Local Credit Union > .com and now can focus their attack.\n\nIf you don't think your internet history matters, then post it here. All of it. Oh and everything you cleared. And everything done in \"private\" browsing modes.\n\nAnd because, personally, I just don't think it's right. You should be allowed privacy. You shouldn't be tracked, and monitored, and sold like cattle. You are a person, not a commodity. And because very often people do not have choice in ISPs, you need to actually fight for your rights because the market is not \"free\" and there are no realistic competitive options.\n\n\nIf you have any questions feel free to ask.", "reference": "question: What does this ISP selling browser history mean for me?[removed] answer: Some helpful software.\n\nFirefox: DuckDuckGo (!g); and Onion browser\n\nAddons: Ublock Origin, NoScript, Disconnect, and self destructing cookies\n\nPlease obtain a VPN! We need to starve the corporations lobbying against our privacy.\n\nBleachbit\n\nRemove yourself from social media like Twitter and Facebook.\n\nMy referral for ExpressVPN which is a worthwhile investment: [link](_URL_5_)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused? answer: Lists and calendars work well for early stage memory loss but as it progresses, it gets bad enough that it can't be grasped. Many Altzheimers patients become angry and blame others for what they are going though. \n\nWe are still trying to get my mother in law diagnosed and it's almost been two years.", "reference": "question: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused? answer: Nothing like realizing you are diagnosed every time you look down, why don't we just keep putting fake winning lottery tickets in front of them, they would be so happy all the time."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: Might also have to do with relative humidity. Normally in the winter the air is much dryer (notice how much more static electricity is on freshly dried clothes in the winter as oppose to the summer?). Anyways, the more relative humidity there is the hotter the air feels to you because it cannot accept as much perspiration. Similar to how people say places like Vegas and Phoenix had \"dry heat\" a \"dry cold\" will feel much cooler than a cold temperature with higher humidity. Also, if you look at psychometric charts you'll notice that cold air is naturally less humid. Therefore, when you're heating the cold outside air in your house, and not adding humidity the air will feel colder at 60 degrees than air that's outside at the same temp. Sorry for such a long answer but I finally got a chance to use some of that HVAC knowledge from my building mechanical systems class.", "reference": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: I imagine you're less active when at home, so your body is producing less heat. That, and sunlight, of course."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does bat feces get it's own name?Bat droppings are called guano, while any other animals droppings are just feces, waste or poop. answer: Nope, large concentrations of poo are called guano you can get bird guano an iguana guano too.", "reference": "question: Why does bat feces get it's own name?Bat droppings are called guano, while any other animals droppings are just feces, waste or poop. answer: Actually it was originally bird feces that used this word, then it got extended to bats. \n\nIt's because this was a word in use in Peru (in the Quechua language), where the idea of using flying animals' poop as a major source of fertilizer took off.\n\n_URL_0_"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: I live in Seattle and not many homes are equipped with AC", "reference": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: I live in texas, so if I didn't have one I would never be able to sleep in my house. As for the rest when I was in Seattle the hostel I stayed in didn't have one. I have some friends that live there as well and they don't have one either. \n\nFor the most part tho its becaus they are affordable, why not?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: Why would they? \n\nThe cynic in me says that as it's not a public holiday, people are happy to go and vote as it's time out of work. \n\nIf it were a public holiday, people would think \"I don't want to waste some of my day off by going to vote!\"\n\nELI5 : adults generally don't enjoy being in work, or voting, so wuldn't waste a day off by going to vote.", "reference": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: This is a solved problem in Australia. Elections always happen on Saturdays.\n\n(Postal voting and early voting booths are available if circumstances prevent you from showing up on a Saturday.)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why a newly created natural pool automatically gets fish after a while? answer: Zoologist here.\n\nA surprisingly common method of transport can be attributed to birds. \nFish commonly lay eggs in similar areas to where water/wading birds are found and it is not unusual for some eggs to become attached to said birds as they wade/swim in a certain waterway.\n\nThese birds may move between a number of different waters in search for all sorts of all sorts of things and can naturally deposit eggs from another water. Sort of like pollinating insects.", "reference": "question: Why a newly created natural pool automatically gets fish after a while? answer: I read a recent science article that said birds have been noted landing in one pond and flying to another with fish egg clumps on their webbed feet."}
{"candidate": "question: How can someone be too over qualified for a job and not be hired for that reason?[removed] answer: It costs an employer money to hire an employee.  They have to spend time looking for them, and then spend time training them. They also come to rely on that employee to be there to do work.  \n\nOverqualified employees are seen as more likely to leave a job when they have the opportunity to do so. As a result, all of those sunk costs are more likely to be lost to the employer faster than with a qualified employee.  \n\nBeyond that, there are also considerations of morale and fit. Although certainly not often the case, it happens that \"overqualified\" people might think that a job is beneath them and therefore not take that job or others at that level seriously.  This can lead to bad work and even poison the whole work environment. \n\nThose are the two principal reasons that this can be an issue.", "reference": "question: How can someone be too over qualified for a job and not be hired for that reason?[removed] answer: One of the main reasons someone who is overqualified for a role won't be hired for that reason is that the employer is concerned they will get bored of it too quickly and leave, as they may not find it challenging/stimulating enough. Also, the employer may be worried they'll continue to search for a better job with higher pay that they could get with their qualifications, so that's another way they risk losing the employee."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I'll answer with something my grandfather told me when I was young. \n\"Never talk about politics, money, or religion. You never can tell who does or doesn't have them.\"", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: In Finland, salaries are public information. You can literally go to an office, pay 5 Euro processing fee, and find out how much a person makes. There is a magazine which publishes a list of 10.000 top earners every year. This is also used by the police to determine the penalty for speeding: it is based on earned income from last year.\n\nEDIT: for example this list, _URL_10_  You can also see how much taxes (verot) are paid.\n\nEDIT 2: more info here, _URL_9_"}
{"candidate": "question: What is happening when people \"speak in tongues\"?I grew up in a christian household and saw people do this all the time at church.  Sometimes the pastor would just start speaking in tongues during the service. \n\nMy friend told me a story the other day about her friend who was a born again christian. He was speaking in tongues one day at church and just thought - \"this is bullshit\".  He walked out and never went back. \n\nI'm an athiest now. I imagine people know they're not really feeling anything but go along with the process to fit in with the group - hoping one day it would \"really\" happen for them? answer: Religious people believe that the Holy Spirit takes over the person and they begin speaking in tongues which is basically an unrecognized language of God.\n\nThe non-religious (or less extreme) tend to believe that speaking in tongues is entirely fake in the same way that exorcisms are fake.", "reference": "question: What is happening when people \"speak in tongues\"?I grew up in a christian household and saw people do this all the time at church.  Sometimes the pastor would just start speaking in tongues during the service. \n\nMy friend told me a story the other day about her friend who was a born again christian. He was speaking in tongues one day at church and just thought - \"this is bullshit\".  He walked out and never went back. \n\nI'm an athiest now. I imagine people know they're not really feeling anything but go along with the process to fit in with the group - hoping one day it would \"really\" happen for them? answer: If you actually look into the times speaking in tongues is mentioned in the bible. It says that the men that were speaking in tongues were just speaking a different human language that they had not learned. \n\nThe reason for this is because at that time there was very few Christians and very few who could speak another language. \n\nWhen the men who experienced this started speaking in tongues they were visiting a race that had never heard of God before. That is why the holy spirit entered them and allowed them to be understood by that other race. \n\nThere is nothing in the bible that says it is a language that only God can understand. It also says if someone is to start speaking I tongues there is supposed to be a translator for that language with him. \n\nIf someone in a Pentecostal church starts blurting out random noises and calls it speaking in tongues, they are lying because it will not happen today."}
{"candidate": "question: Say I'm 70 years old, only got a few years left, what's stopping me from spending a lot of money and racking up a load of debt?[removed] answer: Nothing. Go for it.  There was a book called Broke a few years ago. It's hypothesis was that your last check should bounce. Of course if you outlive your money, you will be eating dog food.  Buy the chunky Alpo. Quite tasty.", "reference": "question: Say I'm 70 years old, only got a few years left, what's stopping me from spending a lot of money and racking up a load of debt?[removed] answer: i work as a mortgage broker. the term limits are 35 years or till the age of 70 years old. \n\nif you are 30 years old, you can borrow for a 35 year term\n\nif you are 65 you can borrow for a maximum of just 5 years\n\nif you are 70 then we wouldnt give you a damn penny. \n\nyou can, however, do a joint loan and include someone younger than yourself as a co-borrower and the term limit would refer to the younger person's age"}
{"candidate": "question: If Verizon and the FCC were to overturn Net Neutrality laws, what will REALLY happen? answer: > I know what a lot of people FEAR will happen, but what is the reality?\n\nPeople have reasons for having those fears. Go back a decade, and you'll notice people fearing the Patriot Act could be misused for dubious practices, a fear which has been realized. \n\n_URL_1_\n\nJust because the ramifications seem too far fetched for us today does not mean they will not happen.", "reference": "question: If Verizon and the FCC were to overturn Net Neutrality laws, what will REALLY happen? answer: Nothing.\n\nAt least not at first.\n\nThese companies play the game for the long haul.  When they get a ruling on their side they know that people are against them, so they don't act for a while.  They'll sit it out for a while as all the original hubbub dies down.  People have short memories and even worse attention spans.  But slowly and surely, they'll make moves.  They'll start to acquire companies that they'll use in the future to maximize their power and profit.  Then they'll start pulling t he crap that other people are posting about.  That's when certain sites will conveniently start to slow down and when certain other ones automagically become \"premium\" services.  \n\nHeyve already set the precedent with things like cable TV and cell phones.  Its all fucken data.  Its all 1s and 0s, so why do I need a separate voice, texting *and* data plan?  This is the type of shit they will pull.  But they'll wait.  They'll start implementingthese type of pricing structures slowly, and not too coincidentally, ALL the service providers will do it together.  Just like with cell phone plans... when vVerizon announces a plan, AT & T has a mirror image of that plan within weeks.  And its never to the customers advantage."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is the U.S. so notorious for using Africans as slaves, when Africans had been using and selling Africans as slaves long before Europeans brought them to the Americas? answer: Black slaves were brought to the US, pretty much because, if they ran away, as white indentured servants had been doing, you could pretty easily tell they were slaves, and be returned.\n\nAfricans had slaves, but they weren\u2019t slaves just because they were black, they were slaves because they were captured. \n\nIt\u2019s kind of f\u2019ed up to make someone a slave just because they were different than you.", "reference": "question: Why is the U.S. so notorious for using Africans as slaves, when Africans had been using and selling Africans as slaves long before Europeans brought them to the Americas? answer: Hey OP, I see some folks have engaged you in good faith, but it quite obvious that your efforts here aren't."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: As an exception to the rule, it appears that recent/upcoming college grads working in public accounting will gladly tell you how much they make in salary.\n\nSource: am an upcoming grad seeking to work in public accounting", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: It's just a personal question. I mean, why is it taboo to ask a random person the size of their penis or how often they masturbate?"}
{"candidate": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: That's just it. There isn't anything *To Get*. It's just a film about being who you are, because you are that person. \n\nOr at least that is what i took from it.\n\nFor example. The line audiences shout in the callbacks: \"Say something sexy Riffraff.\" They don't ask him this, because he is sexy, but because he is Riffraff and he *Will* say something sexy if you ask him too.", "reference": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: It's about knowing. About nailing it all together in a group.\n\n\nIt's 1980, you've just finished doing your first school musical, you're 15, and the cool seniors who had the leads and have cars say \"let's get the whole cast together and go to RHPS\"\n\nYou beg and plead with your parents to go *and they let you* because they know the seniors and they're the geeky/artsy/smart ones, so you roll your Columbia costume up in a wad because there's some things your parents don't need to know, and you bike over to your friends house to pick up the carpool and change there (into pajamas with a band-aid over one very important spot) and then you go and because your older friends coached you *you know a bunch of the right things to say at the right time*. \n\nAnd you say them along with everyone else, and it is JUST SO COOL.  \nYou get to yell \"SHOW US A TIT, COLUMBIA\" really loud.  \n\nIt's every time you've recited the Pledge of Allegiance or sung the Gloria Patri, but turned into something *yours*, you and your cohort.\n\nIt's the satisfaction of knowing how to how to clap Miss Mary Mack, really fast, totally perfect, or  singing \"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells\" really loud with all the other kids on the bus, *except with sex.* \n\nHumans of all ages like doing things together. Sweet Caroline at a Sox game, that big \"DA DA DAAAA\" moment. \n\n\n*Adult* humans like sex. \n\n*Adolescent* humans need to push boundaries and screw around with taboos. \n\nRHPS puts them all together with just a Jump to the Left, black lipstick, and toilet paper."}
{"candidate": "question: Why people advice not to use cellphones in the gas station? What could happen? answer: The theory is that the radiation caused by a cellphone making or receiving a call could cause fuel vapors to explode.\n\nThe Mythbusters [busted the shit](_URL_0_) out of this one, though -- there's absolutely no risk associated with using a phone.", "reference": "question: Why people advice not to use cellphones in the gas station? What could happen? answer: Electrical spark caused by static and your phone could ignite vapors from the gas hose and tank and blow up causing you to die."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are stimulants used to treat ADHD?What is happening in the brain and how does the medication alter it? answer: The part of my brain that helps me pay attention to one thing is too quiet sometimes. When I take my stimulant, it makes the part of brain that helps all of my brain work together louder than the other parts that keep distracting me.", "reference": "question: Why are stimulants used to treat ADHD?What is happening in the brain and how does the medication alter it? answer: Stimulants, as a whole, are not used to treat ADHD.  The medications that happen to help with the symptoms (they sure as hell do not alleviate them) also happen to be stimulants.  I have ADHD.  Caffeine is terrible for me.  I never consume it.  My medications (Adderall, Concerta, etc.) do technically raise my resting heart beat, but they help me to simply \"zone out\" and focus on one thing at at a time.  Without the medication, I could never read a short paper in a room full of people talking, let alone just coughing and making random noises.  I am always on hyper-alert.\n\nThe medication does in fact speed up my metabolic rate and makes me heat up and sweat more, but the fact that it helps me to drown out all the background noise and just focus on one topic is what is often described as the \"relaxing\" factor."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: i would have probably never become a software developer if my friends didnt tell me their salaries", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: The idea that you don't talk about Money is a very, very old idea.  It predates the US.  I don't know if it originated in England, or if its even older, but it been around a while.  \n\nYou might have heard of a [Window Tax](_URL_0_).  This was implemented in both England and France a few hundred years ago as a form of an income tax.  The idea being that the more windows a person had in their house, the more income they had an the more taxes they could pay.  Why not just have an income tax?  Well, people didn't talk about money, and that included telling the gov't what you made (or the gov't asking).  \n\nSo, how did this \"don't talk about money\" come about?  Well, I'm not totally sure.  One thing you need to consider is that historically, class was not about money.  Today we think of a rich class, and a poor class.  But, in England and France, a Poor noble man was of higher \"Class\" than merchant with a thousand times more money.  Those who worked for money, doctors, lawyers, and merchants were of the middle class.  The upper class DID NOT WORK.    \n\nSo, the idea that you didn't talk about money may have been about hiding the elephant in the room when the upper class got together.  A Baron wouldn't want to insult a Duke by discussing how much more money he had, when the Duke was his social better.  \n\nBut, in the US, we don't have the same concept of class. But, in general, the idea of not talking about money still comes into play.  I say in general because different groups feel differently.  Old money families from New England or the South are going to be the most closeted.  Money is discussed more freely in other areas of the country, and in middle class and poor families.  \n\nBut, that still doesn't answer why.  As to why, I'm going to make a guess.  Kinda like when talking about religion, it's really easy to insult someone.  It's a very emotional topic.  Some people feel embarrassed they don't have enough.  Others feel embarrassed that they have too much.  When people do talk about money, epically with regards to how much THEY make, it's easy to assume they are bragging or complaining.  Neither of which are very couth.  \n\nEven when discussing things discretely, it can cause problems.  Things got temporary uncomfortable between me and a friend when he found out how much money I made.  He thought we made about the same amount ... we didn't.  So, better to keep a lid on it."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it more difficult to open a fridge door immediately after closing it, compared to when it has been closed for some time? answer: While the top comment is correct about the change in pressure, some newer fridges also have vacuums built in to make it a much stronger seal.", "reference": "question: Why is it more difficult to open a fridge door immediately after closing it, compared to when it has been closed for some time? answer: TIL opening a fridge door is harder \"immediately after closing it compared to when it has been closed for sometime.\""}
{"candidate": "question: The differences among astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology answer: 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.\n\nModern 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.", "reference": "question: The differences among astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology answer: Astronomy is the general term that covers everything outside of the earth's atmosphere.  It covers both the science of stars and galaxies and the technology to measure them.\n\nAstrophysics is the study of how things in space follow the laws of physics to do what they do.\n\nCosmology is the study of how the universe came to be, and why it is like it is."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: Relative humidity levels. Air Conditioning removes Humidity. High humidity levels make you feel warm and sticky. So despite both being 60 degrees the higher relative humidity outside makes it feel warmer than the air Conditioned space. Why do you think it is called air Conditioning? You are conditioning the air by removing the humidity. A/c primarily removes humidity/latent heat and Secondarily removes measurable heat/temperature. \n\nJust a humble HVAC tech.", "reference": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: It really does a have a lot more to do with humidity than direct sunlight. Have you been out west where it's a dry heat and then felt the cooler temperature yet much more humid Deep South swamp heat? The humidity feels worse. A/C removes moisture, which is why it defrosts the inside of a car window faster when you turn the A/C on in conjunction with the defrost. Also the humidity is why it feels so much hotter in a sauna.\n\nSource: Used to work in HVAC."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: Elephants have been known to commit suicide, as well as dolphins. In captivity, there have been cases when elephants will step on their own trunks to cut off their air supply. Their conditions are so deplorable in places like Thailand where they're used for manual labor that there are cases in which they kill themselves to end the suffering.", "reference": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: I remember reading about over worked horses jumping off cliffs while hauling loads during the gold rush."}
{"candidate": "question: How can the film industry claim they are being negatively effected by piracy when 8 of the 10 highest grossing films of all time have come out in the last 5 years and the highest grossing film of all time only 6 years ago?[removed] answer: I think a big issue is that the films making big box office sales are the epic films and sequels that people are willing to pay for. Other movies that might not be established franchises or big screen suited action movies or 3d epics are easier to stream online, pirated or not. I know that I personally would only go pay to see a few movies, the rest I'm perfectly content to wait on. This means the movie studios have to work harder to put out a product worth buying, and capitalism is all about finding ways to not work hard.", "reference": "question: How can the film industry claim they are being negatively effected by piracy when 8 of the 10 highest grossing films of all time have come out in the last 5 years and the highest grossing film of all time only 6 years ago?[removed] answer: Are you using constant dollars? Because, adjusting for inflation, the most recent film in the top 10 grossing is Titanic, in 1997, and the top grossing film of all time is Gone With the Wind.\n\nsource: _URL_4_\n\nAlso, piracy could have slowed their growth, even if it didn't have enough impact to negate their growth entirely."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I'm surprised no one has responded with [David Mitchell's comedic take on this topic.](_URL_6_)", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I stopped telling people how much I make or have solely because humans just have a tendency to get envious or prideful depending on which spectrum of the salary distribution you're in."}
{"candidate": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: What about the sort of reverse of sociopathy? People with a strong tendency to empathize or have emotional responses? Is this person just seen as over emotional or can this trait be medically significant?", "reference": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: The reason is because they are very charming and superficial. They will try to generate stimuli through laughter and/or interest, because that's what they want to experience themselves and to make you more interested in them as a person.\n\nThat's why they come across so likeable, it's the obvious way to get someone to like you, which is why psychopaths do it.\n\n(One last thing) You said sociopaths not psychopaths. Sociopaths are psychopaths but more out of society, more impulsive, more criminal behaviour that is violence oriented. They are not as charming and likeable as psychopaths. Though they often are."}
{"candidate": "question: How can gyroscopes seemingly defy gravity like in this gifAfter watching this gif I found on the front page my mind was blown and I cannot understand how these simple devices work.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nEdit: Thanks for all the awesome replies, it appears there is nothing simple about gyroscopes. Also, this is my first time to the front page so thanks for that as well.  answer: Here is a video on what is happening: _URL_5_\n\nOkay guys, here is the ELI5 version. When a gyroscope like the one in the gif isn't spinning, it will fall just as a normal object will. But where the weighted part at the end spins, it's basically throwing weight upwards as fast as it is downwards. So the up and down forces are cancelling out. What's left is the leg to right forces, shown by the spinning of the gyroscope on the guys finger. This whole process is known as gyroscopic precession", "reference": "question: How can gyroscopes seemingly defy gravity like in this gifAfter watching this gif I found on the front page my mind was blown and I cannot understand how these simple devices work.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nEdit: Thanks for all the awesome replies, it appears there is nothing simple about gyroscopes. Also, this is my first time to the front page so thanks for that as well.  answer: You might find [this video](_URL_7_) particular helpful (linking to the most visual demonstration)."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do banks close at five when most people are just getting off of work? Wouldn't it be in their better interest to stay open later? answer: If your bank has an ATM that accepts checks, you can make deposits 24/7. My paychecks are handwritten as well, but the ATM has no problem reading them. The only time I've needed to actually go INSIDE my bank was to get a certified check to purchase a car. All my regular transactions are via the ATM, and online.\n\nI don't even write checks anymore. Nearly everything can be paid electronically now, and in the off-chance that I need to send a physical check somewhere, I can request it online, and the bank sends the check directly to the recipient.", "reference": "question: Why do banks close at five when most people are just getting off of work? Wouldn't it be in their better interest to stay open later? answer: ELI5...Besides getting a loan or mortgage, what need (other than old people having someone to talk to) is there to go inside a bank? Anything you need can be done online or at an ATM."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: I live in DC which is notoriously humid.  If it weren't for that, I'd probably be OK with a large box fan.", "reference": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: Capitalism. As a result of capitalism, our electricity is very abundant and therefore relatively affordable."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are Chinese and Japanese people called \"Asians\", but Indians aren't? answer: Long story short; Indians are white and Asian.\n\nSo the Indo-Aryans (not Hitler's Aryans) moved out of the Caucasius mountain range and northwest Turkey thousands of years ago. They spread from India to Spain. It influenced the culture, language, and society of these places. \n\nSo, basically, Indians are Asians but are classified colloquially as white, but most people don't even know that they do that. It's like Siberians, really, Caucasian but Asian. \n\nHope that explained things.", "reference": "question: Why are Chinese and Japanese people called \"Asians\", but Indians aren't? answer: Can they be referred to as South Asians?"}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: With the Ukraine, Russia is once again an Empire.  Without it, it isn't.  That is the reasoning in Putin's mind.  And he knows that there is no one in the world strong enough to do a damn thing about it.  US is too weak and the EU have always been craven in these kind of situations.\n\nRFB", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: The main reason for the invasion is that Putin cannot afford an example of people's power so close to his borders. He sees Ukraine's revolution as a direct threat to his dictatorship, so now he will use lies and provocations in an attempt to thoroughly destroy Ukraine, making an example of it. And he sees the West's inaction as encouragement. If this invasion works, he will proceed to conquer the Baltic states, Moldova and then Poland and Finland. He is already moving troops to the Baltic Coast."}
{"candidate": "question: Why a newly created natural pool automatically gets fish after a while? answer: I read a recent science article that said birds have been noted landing in one pond and flying to another with fish egg clumps on their webbed feet.", "reference": "question: Why a newly created natural pool automatically gets fish after a while? answer: Natual lakes, ponds, etc. also don't just appear overnight. In many cases they used to be fed by rivers, streams, or even were a small inlet of a large body of water. This source was eventually cut off from our new pond for whatever reason, and the ecosystem that already existed there continues to thrive."}
{"candidate": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: Well, we all have different tastes. You may just not like the movie, and that's perfectly valid.", "reference": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: I was 16 and took the subway with friends to see it at 8th Street Playhouse in the Village - summer of 1982. Huge audience participation and got drunk on a 40 of Old English. \n\nWhat makes is compelling? \n\n(a) Great soundtrack, \n\n(b) brilliant Tim curry acting, \n\n(c) titillating themes such as promiscuity, homosexuality, at midnight showings\n\n(d) but none of these can stand alone without the audience phenomenon\n\n\nWhile the movies does have a moral; it is intended to be zany with great music. But what made it so appealing and lasting for years is the cult following that manifested into audience participation. The two can be decoupled, certainly. but then you are left with a silly movie with a great soundtrack. Its appeal is the midnight movie phenomenon and the audience particpation"}
{"candidate": "question: why is the US the only country, apart from Liberia and Burma, not to have adopted the International System of units? answer: The people use both in their lives, but it is very expensive to change all of the signs on roads and other public places.", "reference": "question: why is the US the only country, apart from Liberia and Burma, not to have adopted the International System of units? answer: I never get this question.  We officially adopted the metric system long ago.  Does it not count until we criminalize use of standard units?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why do babies/toddlers scream and cry for a long time when they are tired instead of just going the eff to sleep?[removed] answer: So I guess, think of a baby as a blob. A primitive, instinctual blob. Without having learned anything about the world yet. Now imagine you're a blob. Your just starting to experience everything, without language or understanding. Without context clues or nuances, or appropriate social behaviors. Then imagine this; you only understand binary feelings of good and bad.\n\nGood: Mommy or Daddy feeding you. Changing your diaper so you're clean. Playing/interacting with you. \n\nBad: pooped yourself, you're hungry, you're tired. \n\nBut babies/toddlers don't understand concepts like \"tired\" or \"hungry\",  just feelings. They don't have social context yet to understand what tired means and therefore how to solve it on their own. They only understand bad and good. And how have they solved all their bad problems so far in life? Crying! It's a developmental thing. Unfortunately, it just takes time until they get old enough to understand.", "reference": "question: Why do babies/toddlers scream and cry for a long time when they are tired instead of just going the eff to sleep?[removed] answer: It is called being overtired. They get so tired and frustrated that they cant get calm and take even longer to get to sleep. There is a magic window of tiredness when you have to put them down, at least for the first couple years. Good luck!"}
{"candidate": "question: China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year using cloud seeding. Why can't California use the same technology to combat droughts? answer: Because California needs to play nice with their neighbours. Stealing rain upsets people.", "reference": "question: China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year using cloud seeding. Why can't California use the same technology to combat droughts? answer: There is cloud seeding in California.  I work as an air traffic controller near the central valley and every time a storm comes thru there are cloud seeders flying around.  They stay for a few hours and fly at the front edge of the systems.  During the last big storm the aircraft tried to go up but they were experiencing a lot of icing and couldn't continue."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I guess in a capitalist society ones salary is ones worth to the system. No one wants to have a number put on them.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Withing a large organization, salary errors crop up for many reasons.  This is where a person's salary is not correctly matched to their contribution.  If salaries were published, then these errors would be revealed and morale would suffer, and that would be bad for the organization.  Publishing salaries would lead to swifter fixes for the errors, and that would be good for the company.  There is not universal agreement on each employee's level of contribution, so the perception of salary error is inescapable when salaries are published.\n\nCompanies promote the salary taboo to avoid the negative consequences of publishing salary errors, real or perceived.\n\nEmployees might benefit from salary publishing, for example, by creating a more efficient job market.  But, many individuals benefit from hiding their own salary.  For example, hiding salary might help individuals with lower than average salary by making them appear more successful than they are.  Hiding salary might help individuals with higher than average salary by making it easier for them to fit in with others.\n\nSo, both the individuals and the companies that pay them have a shared interest in keeping salaries secret.  That makes asking about it taboo."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do so many European countries show hatred towards the European Union (like the UK), even though it has lead to the most peaceful and stable period in European history?[removed] answer: One thing people haven't mentioned is immigration. Despite claims otherwise, immigration was one of the main reasons for the UK voting to leave the EU.\n\nCountries in the EU have to let people from other EU countries live and work there with no restrictions. This has resulted in a large number of people coming from less wealthy countries such as Poland coming to live in the wealthier ones including the UK.\n\nSome people don't like this because they think these immigrants will take advantage of the benefit system and not contribute to society. Although this is statistically not true in the average case.\n\nOther people don't like this because they feel they are taking jobs that British people could have done instead, leading to greater unemployment. However now many British businesses and organisations are likely to face a shortage of workers.\n\nAnd finally some people don't like how society has changed due to immigration. There are many more non-English speakers than there used to be, and there are lots of shops around catering to various immigrant groups. This makes some people feel like it's \"not their country any more\".", "reference": "question: Why do so many European countries show hatred towards the European Union (like the UK), even though it has lead to the most peaceful and stable period in European history?[removed] answer: One of the reasons is that EU tries to make EU as an united nation. EU has already huge authority over it's member countries. Some unknown force at Brussels is telling you that you can't grow more than X amounts of crop/year as an example. EU should not have an authority over the laws of any nation.\n\n\n\nThen many people does not like Euro at all, since it actually has hurt the economy of smaller countries than actually helped them."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: One thing to note is that the germans have a very strong industrial power.\n\nFor some reason, the seem to do everything really fast and really well.\n\nBlitzkrieg against the allies.\nBlitzkrieg against slow production rates.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: The Japanese and Germans have high work ethics. Help with funding only helps if you have work ethic in the first place."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: Shortest and most correct answer: because Germany is not afraid of socialism, they embrace it.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: Ask /r/civ this question.  The quick answer is good ideology, synergies with their social policies, good production base,  &  profitable trade routes."}
{"candidate": "question: How can communities where polygamy is common, have a large enough quantity of females when the the boy to girl ratio is around 1:1 ?I have mostly Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints and Muslim communities in my head but i know that there are plenty more that have polygamy as a part of their culture/tradition. answer: They have some mechanism of getting right of excess men and acquiring excess women.\n\nMany societies that practiced polygamy were fairly violent and prone to warfare.  Young men eager to win a wife would take greater risks and often die, and women were often taken as spoils of war.\n\nOther societies, particularly subcultures within a monogamous society, would find ways to expel men while more actively recruiting women.\n\nFinally, even in polygamous societies, polygamy was unusual...most men would only have one wife, and only the elite would have more than one.", "reference": "question: How can communities where polygamy is common, have a large enough quantity of females when the the boy to girl ratio is around 1:1 ?I have mostly Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints and Muslim communities in my head but i know that there are plenty more that have polygamy as a part of their culture/tradition. answer: Er, I hope you meant Mormon instead of Amish."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a difference in voltage between America and pretty much the rest of the world (240V vs 120V I believe) and what are the impacts of this in terms of energy transport/conservation and usage.\u26a1\u26a1\u26a1 Wow, that's a lot of electric knowledge being passed around here. I'm buzzed! \u26a1\u26a1\u26a1\n\nITT: Mostly discussions about water kettles.\n\nFor some really cool maps, click this link. ~~[Link](_URL_1_)~~\n\n**Please don't click the [Link](_URL_0_) anymore, I'm afraid we are reddit-hugging the world's power grid to death. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u00b0)** answer: The higher the voltage, the thinner gauge wire that can be used due to less resistance. Higher voltages are more dangerous, but cheaper to implement. In very poor countries, 440V is sometimes used (\"illegally\") to reduce the cost of the wiring even further.\n\nAlso, Japan is also on 110V.", "reference": "question: Why is there a difference in voltage between America and pretty much the rest of the world (240V vs 120V I believe) and what are the impacts of this in terms of energy transport/conservation and usage.\u26a1\u26a1\u26a1 Wow, that's a lot of electric knowledge being passed around here. I'm buzzed! \u26a1\u26a1\u26a1\n\nITT: Mostly discussions about water kettles.\n\nFor some really cool maps, click this link. ~~[Link](_URL_1_)~~\n\n**Please don't click the [Link](_URL_0_) anymore, I'm afraid we are reddit-hugging the world's power grid to death. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u00b0)** answer: So wait... American here, slightly confused. (Go figure) So when the rest of the world plugs in a toaster, you're plugging to 240v? What about plugging in a clothes dryer? Here in the USA we have \"split service\". 120/240vac. 2 legs come into the house from the same phase at 120 v leg to ground. Leg to leg however is 240v. We plug our toaster into 120v but our clothes dryer (and other things) into 240v. As to why, the other examples given make sense... lightbulb, tesla, and such. But I will say with 120v being less pressure, while higher gauge wire is required in the home it is nicer to be shocked by 120v instead of 240v. Not to mention our wire sizes for home are 14, 12, 10, and I forget for the clothes dryer but I think that's like 2. As far as the grid goes, that's usually 2 aut, 3 strand from the transformer to the house. Before the transformer depending on how old the part of the grid is you either have 4kv or 13kv. 13 is the more common one these days but you will find 4kv in some places still."}
{"candidate": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: I was not underwater. I worked hard, saved and paid 50% down on my mortgage. ($100,000). Then I was badly injured and couldn't work for 4 years. I have been unable to get hired at a full time job ever since (I am currently 18 months behind on Payments). A judge ordered the insurance settlement from the accident be split between three victims instead of each victim getting a separate settlement. The settlement share wasn't enough to stop foreclosure on my home. I applied for mortgage help through two different government plans. I didn't qualify for either one. The mortgage bailouts were only for the so called \"sub prime\" victims and victims of what was termed mortgage fraud where payments were allegedly mismanaged or misdirected by certain banks. There was no help for those of us who did everything right and got behind through no fault of our own. I sued to gain time but it is only a delaying tactic. I will be homeless in 3 months. I will lose everything I worked so hard for and still no job.", "reference": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: OP, there are going to be a lot of explanations informed by what the masters of spin in DC and in Wall Street put out for the rest of us to squabble over.\n\nIf you want an actual explanation, read Neil Barofsky's \"Bailout.\" He was the Special Inspector General for TARP (one of the bailout programs), and actually a reasonably unbiased outsider. The book is actually a great read: Barofsky develops it like a narrative, with a storyline, character development, etc.\n\nI hope you get to this comment!"}
{"candidate": "question: if the aim of the prison system is to reintegrate felons into society why are they branded for life in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to get a job?[removed] answer: Much of it has to do with how the government believes society should deal with crime. If you believe people are at their core natures shitty, then those people can't be rehabilitated in order to save them from themselves. The only hope is that you provide enough a deterrent with dire consequences to prevent them from doing crime, as bad people only respect power.  Thomas Hobbes basically put this idea forward in *The Leviathan.*\n\nIf you believe people are innocent and angelic at birth, as Jean Jeaque Rosseau did, and that society corrupts them, then society should deal with crime through rehabilitation.  For what person would continue trying to make their rights wrong when everything around them continually reminds them of their mistakes and refuses to let them move on?  A primarily penalizing society would rob a good person of any hope of redemption, and he or she would fall back into despair and regret, giving up on doing the right thing.\n\nI myself believe Hobbes leans more toward the truth, but people don't have to be angels in order not to be devils. They can be uneducated, misguided, and dare I say, innocent or ignorant, and living in a free society gives them the opportunity to better themselves and \"move towards the light,\" so to speak.\n\nPlus the prisons want to make a profit.", "reference": "question: if the aim of the prison system is to reintegrate felons into society why are they branded for life in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to get a job?[removed] answer: Consider that in business, you ideally want your customers to come back again and again. Then consider that private prisons are businesses. Then consider how easy it is for them to just kinda pretend to be aiming to rehabilitate. Now look back at the prison system, and it all makes disturbing sense. Imo this is at least part of why gangs and drugs seem to be completely tolerated, what better way to ensure the prisoner keeps in contact with their criminal side (or gets even more drawn in)."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is the accepted age of sexual relation/marriage so vastly different today than it was in the Middle Ages? Is it about life expectancy? What causes this societal shift? answer: 3 things: infant mortality, death in childbirth, and lack of a safety net.\n\nBefore a safety net, your children were your Medicare and Social Security. If you didn't have kids, you weren't going to have someone to care for you when you got too old to work. That was a huge problem, so people tried to maximize their chances of children who would outlive them.\n\nThis brings us to the other two points. Infant and child mortality used to be really high. In Ancient Rome, there was about a 50/50 chance of a kid living past their 10th birthday. So, if you wanted to have kids who survived into adulthood, you'd need to have a lot of children to ensure that some would survive. As a result, women needed to start having children as soon as they were fertile to maximize the chances. But, lots of women died in childbirth, meaning it was even more important to have kids as early as possible, so that the man could remarry and have more kids who would be able to survive and care for him in his old age.", "reference": "question: Why is the accepted age of sexual relation/marriage so vastly different today than it was in the Middle Ages? Is it about life expectancy? What causes this societal shift? answer: In the west it hasn't really changed that much between the middle ages and about the 1960s. After that, the age at which people got married slowly went up because women were expected to be \"established\" in a similar way to men to have a stable home life which took time. Otherwise, women usually got married late teens/early twenties and men a bit after that, because men had to establish careers and whatnot.\n\nWomen got married younger than that occasionally but there was usually a reason why. Marriages between powerful families would be arranged at a young age because marriages helped cement political alliances, so daughters would get married off ASAP if it would be politically advantageous. Other reasons would be extenuating circumstances, like a girl getting pregnant (even if she's 14, she can't have children out of wedlock). The first reason is probably why we think people got married much younger -- royalty and the like are written about much more than common people."}
{"candidate": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: Maybe they have synesthesia? Speaking as someone who had no interest in wine until I drank one magical chablis, I can tell you that wine made me taste a whole scene in my mouth.\n\nMy favorite wine (that I've never been able to find again! ;_;) tasted like a foggy beach just before dawn, when the light is still blue, and you can smell the salt in the air and taste it in your throat, and you feel the coolness of the sand on your feet, and succulents are somehow involved, and the fog glides over the waves as they gently crash on the shore.\n\nNow the wine didn't taste salty or sandy or like succulents, but I've learned since then what particular flavors my weird ass brain was picking up on. The wine I had was very dry with flinty notes and some tartness.\n\nBut the previous description is way better, and was how the taste /felt/ when I drank it.\n\nI try to imagine that wine descriptions aren't 90% bs and that someone really felt all the delightful things they tasted when they had it, because there definitely is a higher incidence of synesthesia in people in creative professions, so it isn't a huge leap to think that some of the people who taste these things have some hint of it!", "reference": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: little relevant anecdote...i used to work at a place with a decent wine list. when the place opened all of the servers were supposed to learn it and learn how to describe the subtleties of the different wines. there was a big  cheat sheet our boss had. we tasted the wines and everyone would guess. some people were spot on and some werent at all. heres the thing...i dont drink alcohol. in fact ive never tasted it, dont hate me its true. but i have a pretty good sniffer. and i was one of those who were spot on. one in particular i thought smelled like freshly cut grass...which i think i can very easily recognize because i used to run a lawn mowing business. everyone thought it was weird to say it was \"grassy\"...it turned out to be the first thing listed on the cheat sheet. at which point the other servers there stopping giving me crap for not actually tasting the wines. \n\nanother anecdote...it was explained to us that wines have different flavors based on minerals in the soil and neighboring plants to the grapes used.\n\nand people dont necessarily drink to be snooty, but rather drink to pair flavors together to really bring out the various other flavors of their meal. some people are great at putting together various flavors and some not."}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: if voting day was a national holiday, i feel like a lot of people ... wouldn't take that day off to vote. It doesn't make sense...but it makes sense. The excuse to be late because you were at the polls ... works well enough. The fact that you're already out and about for the day, with shit to do so you take some time to go vote. I can't speak for everyone obviously, but, a \"holiday\" means ... day off. Making plans (or not making plans), that don't involve standing in line to vote. It's like, it would almost become even MORE inconvenient.", "reference": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: Because voting takes 20 minutes, not all day."}
{"candidate": "question: How does an explosion actually kill you? answer: You know how in movies when there's an explosion and people get thrown? That can happen from the shockwave. But, it's not lightly picking you up like a wind and 'blowing' you away. \n\nIt's hitting you with the same amount of force as anything else would need to throw you that far. In essence, your internal organs are getting hit by a speeding bus, just the bus is invisible and the impact travels all the way through your body.  *edit your/you're shenanigans*", "reference": "question: How does an explosion actually kill you? answer: It rips your fucking body apart, that's how."}
{"candidate": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: Because \"gluten allergies\" are not a real thing for 99.991% of the people who say they are afflicted.", "reference": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: 99% of people on gluten diets are not allergic to gluten, they're merely hopping on a bandwagon where people think gluten is bad for you. Gluten is only bad for you if you have celiac disease, which is extremely rare. The media has interviewed people who claim to be on gluten-free diets if they know what gluten is or what it does and almost all of them had no clue other than \"it's bad for you\", \"it makes you fat\", \"companies add it into bread as a chemical additive\",etc..."}
{"candidate": "question: Why, in the modern age of \"HD\" obsession do phone conversations still sound like you're listening through a tin can?It struck me as odd when I was listening to a call-in radio show last night. The hosts were having trouble hearing the caller, and rightly so, because she sounded like she was transmitting from Mars. Couldn't \"they\" employ some kind of EQ feature for voice? \"Android. Now available with 'TrueVoice'^TM \"\n\n  **EDIT:** I noticed a few people citing bandwidth issues. Is this because the conversation is \"live?\" I mean, I can stream HD video on my phone, but I assume it's only because buffering is involved.\n\n  Also, with the audio quality being inherently poor, couldn't one develop some kind of software that fixes the voice after the fact (like the EQ I had mentioned), or can you just not polish this particular turd? answer: Talk on Skype on your phone on the other hand and it's crystal clear. Madness.", "reference": "question: Why, in the modern age of \"HD\" obsession do phone conversations still sound like you're listening through a tin can?It struck me as odd when I was listening to a call-in radio show last night. The hosts were having trouble hearing the caller, and rightly so, because she sounded like she was transmitting from Mars. Couldn't \"they\" employ some kind of EQ feature for voice? \"Android. Now available with 'TrueVoice'^TM \"\n\n  **EDIT:** I noticed a few people citing bandwidth issues. Is this because the conversation is \"live?\" I mean, I can stream HD video on my phone, but I assume it's only because buffering is involved.\n\n  Also, with the audio quality being inherently poor, couldn't one develop some kind of software that fixes the voice after the fact (like the EQ I had mentioned), or can you just not polish this particular turd? answer: iOS 7 is said to include Facetime audio. Hoping its as good as it sounds.... HA."}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: I wish I knew, because I would do it!\n\nI live midwest/south, and our temps vary like crazy. It was 3f a few days ago, around 45f now.\n\nI have trouble functioning (actually using my hands or keeping from shivering) in anything below 45f, but can work outdoors building a fence or mowing the lawn if its 105f with no problem. \n\nIt's frustrating, because our winters and cold weather sometimes last until april, so a large portion of my year is absolutely miserable.\n\nEating lots of capsaicin seems to help, as well as a ton of ibuprofin for joint pain.", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: Im from socal and have been living in Poland (to study). In the mindset of those who dont have cold weather, more clothes have to be worn than necessary. For example, i've only started to wear \"looser\" clothing, as I didn't when i first came."}
{"candidate": "question: Could we spend money on marketing to convince terrorists that they are wrong? answer: We do. The marketing is delivered in the form of bombs. BACK TO BACK WORLD WAR CHAMPS, BABY.", "reference": "question: Could we spend money on marketing to convince terrorists that they are wrong? answer: Let me give you one real reason that so far no one seems to have hit on...where is the profit from this?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why is ignorance of the law not a valid excuse in court?I mean it's reasonable to expect that most people know not to sell drugs and what not. But when it comes to complex circumstances, how is it reasonable to expect that an average person should be aware of esoteric laws, that would require paying a lawyer to even find out about?\n\n[For example this story (even though it's in Canada)](\n_URL_0_)\n\nThe lawyer barely even knows if it's legal or not, so if this guy ever ended up in court - shouldn't he be able to say \"well I had no idea they were illegal to sell\", case closed?  answer: Because since it is not usually possible to prove that somebody knows something, every single defense would be \"I didn't know this was illegal\" and our entire justice system would collapse.\n\n* \"I didn't know insider trading was a crime.\" \n* \"I didn't realize that I could go to jail for driving drunk\"\n* \"Really? Sex with kids is illegal? Wow, who knew.\"", "reference": "question: Why is ignorance of the law not a valid excuse in court?I mean it's reasonable to expect that most people know not to sell drugs and what not. But when it comes to complex circumstances, how is it reasonable to expect that an average person should be aware of esoteric laws, that would require paying a lawyer to even find out about?\n\n[For example this story (even though it's in Canada)](\n_URL_0_)\n\nThe lawyer barely even knows if it's legal or not, so if this guy ever ended up in court - shouldn't he be able to say \"well I had no idea they were illegal to sell\", case closed?  answer: If I can get out of a conviction for not knowing a law, why have that law in the first place?\n\nIn that article you linked, it's a pretty obscure law about not being allowed to sell weed seeds. Should an average person know that? Probably not, but if you intend to make a business based on something you're unsure of, you should definitely check the legality, especially when you're selling seeds to grow illegal drugs"}
{"candidate": "question: MKUltra[removed] answer: The wild thing is that  LSD testing wasn't esoteric to the CIA alone. At the time, many countries around the world where conducting similar tests but mostly as a means of incapacitating foreign armies for a short period. The theory was that by poisoning a supply of water they could incapacitate whole units without firing a shot. \n\nThis video isn't from MK Ultra but was a test conducted by the british army \n_URL_3_", "reference": "question: MKUltra[removed] answer: The MKUltra project wasn't about some kind of mysterious \"mind control\" ability.  It was a research project to investigate a wide variety of drugs and forms of torture that could be used to further the CIA's agendas.  The reason it's often called the \"CIA mind control project\" is because part of the project was investigating drugs such as LSD that they hoped would make victims vulnerable to suggesting and manipulation.\n\nExperiments of the project mostly include administering various drugs to people and then conducting behavioral tests, sometimes without the victims' knowledge or consent.  LSD was their primary focus, but they also tested a number of other drugs ([from the Wikipedia article](_URL_0_)):\n\n > Other experiments involved heroin, morphine, temazepam (used under code name MKSEARCH), mescaline, psilocybin, scopolamine, cannabis, alcohol, and sodium pentothal"}
{"candidate": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: Serious answer:  Because the banker bailout mastermind Henry Paulson was CEO of international bank Goldman Sachs, immediately before being appointed Treasury Secretary.  Goldman Sachs received $10B in the bailout.  Paulson was worth $700M at the time.  Homeowners not being able to pay a mortgage were not and are not in his sphere of influence.", "reference": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: Because the home owners didn't bank roll the congressmens/women's campaign funds.  <  --- period."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do people walking on opposite sides of a corridor towards each other make eye contact, look down for ten feet, then look up at the last minute?[removed] answer: Strangers don't want to make eye contact, but it's rude to not do so. The simple solution is to wait to the last second to minimize it.", "reference": "question: Why do people walking on opposite sides of a corridor towards each other make eye contact, look down for ten feet, then look up at the last minute?[removed] answer: CORRIEARKLET (n.)The moment at which two people approaching from opposite ends of a long passageway, recognise each other and immediately pretend they haven't. This is to avoid the ghastly embarrassment of having to continue recognising each other the whole length of the corridor.\n\nCORRIECRAVIE (n.)To avert the horrors of corrievorrie (q.v.) corriecravie is usually employed. This is the cowardly but highly skilled process by which both protagonists continue to approach while keeping up the pretence that they haven't noticed each other - by staring furiously at their feet, grimacing into a notebook, or studying the walls closely as if in a mood of deep irritation.\n\nCORRIEDOO (n.)The crucial moment of false recognition in a long passageway encounter. Though both people are perfectly well aware that the other is approaching, they must eventually pretend sudden recognition. They now look up with a glassy smile, as if having spotted each other for the first time, (and are particularly delighted to have done so) shouting out 'Haaaaaallllloooo!' as if to say 'Good grief!! You!! Here!! Of all people! Will I never. Coo. Stap me vitals, etc.'\n\nCORRIEMOILLIE (n.)The dreadful sinking sensation in a long passageway encounter when both protagonists immediately realise they have plumped for the corriedoo (q.v.) much too early as they are still a good thirty yards apart. They were embarrassed by the pretence of corriecravie (q.v.) and decided to make use of the corriedoo because they felt silly. This was a mistake as corrievorrie (q.v.) will make them seem far sillier.\n\nCORRIEVORRIE (n.)Corridor etiquette demands that once a corriedoo (q.v.) has been declared, corrievorrie must be employed. Both protagonists must now embellish their approach with an embarrassing combination of waving, grinning, making idiot faces, doing pirate impressions, and waggling the head from side to side while holding the other person's eyes as the smile drips off their face, until with great relief, they pass each other.\n\nCORRIEMUCHLOCH (n.)Word describing the kind of person who can make a complete mess of a simple job like walking down a corridor.\n\nDouglas Adams - The Meaning of Liff"}
{"candidate": "question: How do popular YouTubers make money?[removed] answer: I don't have a lot of subscribers (around 7,500), but have a total of [11.5M+ video views](_URL_4_). From those views, I've made around $12,000 to $15,000 in total.\n\nThere are two ways I make money:\n\n1. Ads. Everybody claims they make 1-2$/1000 views. This isn't accurate for most people. The average is 0.80$/1000 views.\n\n2. Licensing. This is when companies license a video you created. They will usually pay a lump sum of 100-250$ USD for video rights.\n\nOther ways:\n\n3. Product Placement. Simple enough. A company will pay a YouTuber to show a product in their video. Ex: Pepsi could pay PewDiePie $20K to drink a Pepsi in his video. \n\n4. Merchandise Store. If you're large enough that you have dedicated fans, these fans will buy your merch.", "reference": "question: How do popular YouTubers make money?[removed] answer: I once thought about really becoming a youtuber. If you have no career you can technically do youtube  &  twitch 24/7 for a living just making $2000 a month with a good enough following. You have to be really dedicated and living cheap though until you become popular. The only way I could ever see myself living a life like this is if I wanted to become a professional gamer or never grew tired of gaming.\n\nI would also try to find sponsors and partners, probably sure way to get your followers to support you without directly giving you money."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't Rob Ford be impeached if 'the video' is in police hands? answer: Because it is likely being saved for when shit blows up even further with Stephen Harper and Co.  \n\nShit will get worse for Harper. When that happens Rob Ford will be the flagship headline again. People will all of a sudden forget about our Prime Minister and his shady buddies and keep raising shit about Ford while the magicians in parliament continue to fuck us and keep us distracted with smoke-screens.\n\nMy fellow Canadians, we mustn't let this happen. Stay focused.\n\n Rob Ford needs the help to bring him back from the void, sure. \n\nAs for Canada? Perhaps we need a new Prime-Minister? This business goes deeper than we can imagine. What goes on with our PM is far more important than this business of a mayor with a drug habit.", "reference": "question: Why can't Rob Ford be impeached if 'the video' is in police hands? answer: Let me first say that I am not defending Ford in any way, and I wish this loser had never been elected mayor, but it's impossible to prove that he was smoking crack in the video, and therefore, they can't charge him with any crime, or impeach him for it.\n\nI know he was smoking crack, you know he was smoking crack, but the law can't prove it, and for now he's a free man."}
{"candidate": "question: Anti-aliasing answer: Try taking some basic LEGO\u00ae bricks (let's use some black 2x2 blocks  for our example, part #3003) and try to make a diagonal line with them. You'll find the best you can do looks like a staircase with zigzaggy corners.\n\nNow step back and squint a bit so your vision is blurry. The further you are, the less you notice the pointy corners. If you were to do the same thing with DUPLO\u00ae bricks of the same 2x2 size and color (part #3437), you'de find a similar effect, but you'de have to be much farther away to make it look less zigzaggy.\n\nSo how can we get rid of the zigzaggyness? One way, as we saw, is to use smaller bricks (pixels), which allow us to be closer. But there's also another trick you can use. Going back to your original smaller bricks (which are black, on your conviniently white table), start placing grey bricks so that they touch a black brick on two sides. You'll notice the line is bigger, but if you step back and squint, it'll look even less zigzaggy than before. That's because the grey is the color in between the line and the background, which means they blend together better when we look at them. This is a type of antialiasing.", "reference": "question: Anti-aliasing answer: Aliasing happens when you try to describe something that changes rapidly, and you can't describe it fast enough. For example, imagine you're measuring a half a meter deep hole, and your measuring stick is only capable of measuring in full meters. Whatever measurement you leave with, you've lost information of the real size; you're left with an approximation. \n\nThe same thing happens in sound. Say you want to measure a 10Hz wave (moves up and down ten times a second), but you are only capable of measuring it five times a second. You'll never get an accurate representation of the true shape of the wave, and anything you come out with is distorted. This is aliasing. The more samples you make, the closer you get to a real representation what the shape truly is.\n\nA guy called Nyquist proved that in order to sample a frequency, we need to sample at at least twice the rate. \n\nSo, anti aliasing is a way of getting around these fundamental issues in what happens when we lose information in our signals. With pixels for example, the square edges introduce such a harsh transition that we lose information of what goes on between the pixels. An interesting way of reducing this effect includes sub pixel anti aliasing, where you take advantage of the fact that each pixel is comprised of a discrete R, G, B value, smaller than the pixel itself and therefore capable of generating higher 'spatial' frequencies. It has been proven that you can share these colour components with neighbours to try and spoof the missing information, producing what appears to be a much higher quality image."}
{"candidate": "question: How are buffets profitable? How much money is usually made (on average) per customer at all you can eat buffets? Do customers often eat more than the costs it took to serve them? answer: The profit is made on people like me who pay $20 for all I can eat and I can't eat more than one plate. For me it ends up being over-priced cafeteria food, which is why I don't go to them.\n\n*Except* the buffet at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. It's something like $45 a person and worth every penny. The key for me there is to take small portions so I can try lots of different stuff.", "reference": "question: How are buffets profitable? How much money is usually made (on average) per customer at all you can eat buffets? Do customers often eat more than the costs it took to serve them? answer: You rang? :)\n\nIt's all been covered. For every one big eater there are four who are not. We are $30 plus, and adults still eat the kids mashed potatoes. Meat is expensive. We use the cheaper cuts of quality product if that makes sense. Chicken that is cooked but never exposed to guests and not used today is in tomorrow's chicken based soup."}
{"candidate": "question: why do so many countries between Asia and Europe end in \"-stan\"?e.g Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan  answer: \"Stan\" means land. It is related to the Latin word \"state\", the German word for city, \"Stadt\" and the English suffix -stead, found in words like \"homestead\" and \"farmstead\" and in place names like \"Hampstead\" and \"Stansted\". \n\nThe word \"stan\" can be traced back to the same original root word as the European \"state/stadt/stead\" varieties, because all these words derive from the same ancient theorised language, Proto Indo-European.", "reference": "question: why do so many countries between Asia and Europe end in \"-stan\"?e.g Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan  answer: Stan means 'land' and -dad/bad means city.  Bagh is garden. Bagh-dad = Garden city. Islamabad, etc."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: Male monozygotic (identical/single egg) twin here. My twin brother and I are the same height, weight, shoe size, and we share the same contact lens prescription. He is hetero and I am gay. We grew up in the same household and without any traumatic events, so should be a pretty good case study. We're both turning 29 this year.\n\nThe affect/dialect, along with the mannerisms, are both a nature and nurture development:\n-visual gender role modelling is a critical factor, if not the \"trigger\" factor\n-a chemical or biological change occurs pre-10 that strengthens/supplements the initial gender role modelling\n-there is most definitely a biological point of no return sometime pre-puberty\n\nThis would account for the difference in the pitch of my brother and my voice despite our diaphragms, chests, ribs, etc sharing the same measurements. \nNotes: \n-My brother role modeled our father, I did not\n-Neither of us exhibits a gay dialect, as this as unlearned/compensated for at a young age on my part, but I definitely noticed the beginnings of both a gay affect and manner in myself at around 13 \n\nA developed gay man does not adopt the affect or mannerisms for social reasons. Pre-10 gay male children are a great example of this, as they frequently exhibit the affect and mannerisms before learning social awareness.\n\nBut maybe the most important argument I can make here is that if you're a gay male who speaks and acts outwardly like a hetero male, a conscious effort is being made to reduce the manner/dialect. You can imagine it like drinking too much caffeine. That feeling of being \"wired\" is similar to the lack of control a gay male has over their affect or mannerisms. Any corrective behaviour is usually learned through visual role modelling of masculine figures, which is why it's not uncommon to see a gay male overcorrecting with hypermasculine voice and body language. After dating many gay men from both the Vancouver and Seattle areas, I can tell you that not one of them was without a slight gay affect in their most relaxed environment, and most of them claim initially to be straight acting - the only difference is self awareness.", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: You know, I've never thought about this, but then... how do women who have that stereotypical \"girlie voice\" sound that way?  I don't sound like that either.  I reckon it's the same cultural factors, social environment, TV, etc that make everyone else sound the way they do."}
{"candidate": "question: Why aren't subs such as r/greatapes and r/picsofdeadkids banned? answer: Basically, lethargy or ineptitude on the part of the mods. Jailbait was legal but offensive so it was shut down. Niggers was legal but offensive so it was shut down. Picsofdeadkids is legal and still around. Why? Either the mods don't care or it's just because it hasn't received enough public outcry yet.", "reference": "question: Why aren't subs such as r/greatapes and r/picsofdeadkids banned? answer: Those aren't even debatable in terms of banning. Being racist isn't illegal and neither are having pics of dead kids.\n\nWhy not check out the 100+ other legal subreddits?\n\n/r/PicsOfHorseVaginas[1] - /r/UrethraPorn[2] - /r/WTF_Wallpapers[3] - /r/WhichAnimalGenitals[4] - /r/fartporn[5] - /r/SpidersGoneWild[6] - /r/snotporn[7] - /r/whywouldyoufuckthat[8] - /r/hotdogporn[9] - /r/sexwithdogs[10] - /r/ratandmouseporn[11] - /r/rabbitporn[12] - /r/santaporn[13] - /r/sheepporn[14] - /r/coldporn[15] - /r/electricporn[16] - /r/burningporn[17] - /r/snooporn[18] - /r/flyingfuck[19] - /r/fuckingfish[20] - /r/picsofdeadpuppies[21] - /r/bananaporn[22] -/r/starvin_marvins[23] - /r/sexyabortions[24] - /r/deadcat[25] - /r/deadcats[26] - /r/catgore[27] - /r/picsofdeadkids[28] - /r/deadbabies[29] - /r/deadpeople[30] - /r/deathfap[31] - /r/beatingwomen[32] - /r/getinmyvanlittlegirl[33] - /r/spacedicks[34] - /r/gore[35] - /r/blasphemy[36] - /r/sodom[37] - /r/ectalprolapse[38] - /r/rape[39] - /r/daterape[40] - /r/picsofhorsedicks[41] - /r/squidsgonewild[42] - /r/DinoBalls[43] - /r/whalebait[44] - /r/niggers[45] - /r/whitenationalism[46] - /r/popping[47] - /r/BlogDelNarco[48] - /r/itas[49] - /r/rainbowbar[50] - /r/NSFW4[51] - /r/___ - /r/Picsofdeadponies[52] - /r/holyjesus[53] - /r/deathclub[54] - /r/necromancy[55] - /r/zombiebabes[56] - /r/necrololia[57] - /r/necrophilia[58] - /r/proteinmodels[59] - /r/BaconPorn[60] - /r/DaddyIssues[61] - /r/spaceclop[62] - /r/rule34[63] - /r/rapingwomen[64] -/r/beatingtrannies[65] - /r/misogyny[66] - /r/ChokeABitch[67] - /r/BeatingCripples[68] - /r/picsofdeadwhalebait[69] - /r/girlspooping[70] - /r/mantits[71] - /r/kittyporn[72] - /r/catporn[73] - /r/Penispaint[74] - /r/NKGW[75] - /r/picsofniggers[76] - /r/clopclop[77] - /r/deadbabyjokes[78] - /r/StruggleFucking[79] - /r/midgetsmut[80] - /r/GimpPorn[81] - /r/MorbidReality[82] - /r/farts[83] - /r/doppelbangher[84] - /r/tinydick[85] - /r/vomit[86] - /r/puke[87] - /r/poop[88] - /r/scatporn[89] - /r/horseshit[90] - /r/diapersgonewild[91] - /r/watersports[92] - - /r/fearme[93] - /r/robotporn[94] - /r/watchpeopledie[95] - /r/rapeisfun[96] - /r/fillyfiddlers[97] - /r/pee[98] - /r/peegonewild[99] - /r/watermelon[100] - /r/legoporn[101] - /r/shemales[102] - /r/BaguettesInButts[103] - /r/lawn[104] - /r/horsemask[105] - /r/horsemaskgw[106] - /r/nsfl[107] - /r/asslick[108] - /r/FRUITUNION[109] - /r/clownbutter[110] /r/ToasterRights[111] /r/ToastersGW[112] /r/Toasterovenclub[113] /r/picsofdeadtoasters[114] /r/toasterbait[115] /r/dragonsfuckingcars[116] /r/bitchimabus[117] /r/FuckYouImAShark[118] /r/Picsofryanrunning[119] /r/animalswithoutnecks[120] /r/birdswitharms[121] /r/TreesSuckingOnThings[122] /r/TreesSuckingAtThings"}
{"candidate": "question: How can someone deny being a feminist whilst also supporting equal treatment of men and women?[removed] answer: Whenever you hear the phrase 'equal treatment', you need to ask where the line of 'equality' is being drawn.\n\nConsider sexual harassment.  Imagine you went out to a frat party and got a little too drunk.  When you wake up, you find yourself stripped down to your skivvies with a dick drawn on your face.\n\nIf you're a man, this is something you more or less laugh off.  It's your fault you got drunk and put yourself in a position where frat boys could play stupid pranks on you.  No harm, no foul.\n\nIf you're a woman, you contact the police and look for people to get arrested.\n\nIf you want men and women to be treated equally in this situation, then you're either imposing men's standards onto women or vice versa - in either case, you're making half the population submit to social conventions that are likely to make them uncomfortable.\n\nAnd that's where the opposition to feminism comes in.  Feminism, as practiced in the modern day, isn't really about 'equal treatment' so much as it is about imposing a feminine ideal of social convention onto men.", "reference": "question: How can someone deny being a feminist whilst also supporting equal treatment of men and women?[removed] answer: The idea feminism preaches is equality, and I agree with that, but the it seems means more than that to a lot of people.\n\nI can't agree with feminists wanting to be payed as much as men while statistics show on average women work less and don't negotiate pay as much. Men gravitate to high earning jobs and work because they are more likely to be the sole breadwinner (that is a culture issue, but no one is purposelly excluding women from working). The way I see it women by in large have all the opertunities that men have to be educated and make a living, at least in North America. If you want to be a stay at home mom or focus on your career it's up to you, the ball is on your court.\n\nI realize that as a man I'm privileged that I can walk alone at night without the fear of being assualted, but I don't feel guilty about it (that should be the job of the assailant).\n\nI have heard the opinions of women being quite blatantly dismissed (that's not cool).\n\nIf feminism really means equality, than perhaps equality is a better word to use. That I can get behind."}
{"candidate": "question: How does dandruff form? Why does it itch? And how do you prevent from ever getting it if possible?I take a shower at the end of every day but i still get it some times. answer: It really honestly depends on the person and your starting weight and how much you eat to stretch your stomach. There are too many variables to specifically say how much your stomach will or will not stretch.", "reference": "question: How does dandruff form? Why does it itch? And how do you prevent from ever getting it if possible?I take a shower at the end of every day but i still get it some times. answer: dead skin flakes\n\nirritates the skin\n\n[head and shoulders](_URL_0_), bitch"}
{"candidate": "question: In the US, why is it allowed to potentially expose your child and other's children to deadly diseases through vaccination exemptions but other state mandated laws, such as vehicle child restraints or smoking age-limits, are non-negotiable? answer: I can imagine that some of it is because not being vaccinated is a \"natural\" state.  We evolved to deal with it ourselves, and the majority of kids can fight off the diseases. However, a simple majority on your side is a shitty reason to not take precautions (a 24week fetus has a 51% chance of surviving outside the womb, but we sure as hell don't allow elective c-sections that early).\n\nBeing in a car is not a natural state, so the argument of \"my kid was built to fight this off\" can't apply when we're talking about going through the windshield.", "reference": "question: In the US, why is it allowed to potentially expose your child and other's children to deadly diseases through vaccination exemptions but other state mandated laws, such as vehicle child restraints or smoking age-limits, are non-negotiable? answer: Stop asking loaded questions, you know damn well why."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Russia hosted the Olympics and this is what most major powers do after hosting the Olympics.\n\nI think Hitler started it...", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: It's worth noting that, like...50-60% of people in Crimea are ethnically Russian, Putin is a conservative nationalist, and certain segments of the Russian population tend to think of old USSR countries as being rightfully part of Russia. Not that this is the only reason, but its surely related.\n\nSource: Got out of an college-level international politics class ten minutes ago.\n\nEDIT: said Ukraine instead of Crimea"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: ITT: guy hits front page and complains about the attention.  \n\nIf you don't want any more replies, delete the post.  What's that?  You are a karma whore?  That's what I thought.", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I replied just because you said not to."}
{"candidate": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: Because General Maximus threatened that bridge with his legion in 45 ad.  \n\n\"Stand, bridge!  For the age!  For the Glory of Rome!\"\n\nAnd so there it is.", "reference": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: Roman concrete and modern concrete differ in three important ways: steel reinforcement, volcanic ash, and age. \n\nRoman concrete was made with volcanic ash, which is a very fine powder. The smaller particles of ash makes the pores in the concrete (tiny spaces between particles) very small. This prevents water from soaking into the concrete, which breaks it down and erodes it. \n\nConcrete takes a short time to set, but a long time to cure. When it's set, it's hard, but basically only because it's dry. As the concrete cures, it undergoes a chemical change that makes it tougher. The longer it cures, the tougher it gets. \n\nThis is why your driveway doesn't last (plus the fact that Roman concrete didn't have tons of car constantly moving on it).\n\nModern bridges also use steel reinforcement bars, which, when exposed to the caustic concrete, rust. Rusting steel expands, which puts pressure on the concrete from the inside. \n\nTl;Dr They're not the same kind of concrete."}
{"candidate": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: * No defined long term achievable goals.  \n \n* 101 reasons for the movement to happen but no actual plans on fixing any of them.\n \n* Plenty of leadership at each Occupy location but no leadership as a whole who could delegate or put anything into action.  After the first few weeks leadership was focused on keeping the occupying of their location, cleaning, maintaining some degree of order, bringing in food, water, supplies, etc. with no forward motion or long term goals.", "reference": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: I like to cite rampant police brutality and a completely unfair media representation that left the general population thinking protesters were scatterbrained unemployable degenerate losers."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: As the wife of the OP of this ELI5, we had to reschedule our blood tests for marriage license due to his fear of needles. The only way he would willingly be stuck with needles is money or someone he loves dies.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: People will come up with all sorts of inane and solve-able roadblocks to sensible ideas. When nothing is physically stopping humans from doing something, it is only words and rules that do. We are the masters of words and can do anything we want with them. And the most powerful people DO whatever they want. And the rules stopping sensible and progressive solutions to most societal problems are a result of what (the big) they want. \n\nAnything that makes it easier to live with less money, or easier to make money, destroys a lot of profit along the line, and nobody with any financially strewn power wants that."}
{"candidate": "question: How are transgender individuals different from other dissociative identity disorders?I need your help on this one Reddit. \n\nI really can't quite process the whole gender identity thing.\n\nA common idea that we constantly tell people is to \"just be yourself\"\n\nHowever transgender individuals take drugs (hormones), have surgical procedures to actually alter themselves. \n\nThis really doesn't make any sense from an acceptance stand point, because aren't they not actually accepting themselves?\n\nIt really is confusing to me and doesn't seem different from any of the other dissociative identity disorders like multiple personality disorder.\n\nOr even that of eating disorders where individuals physically alter themselves (through starvation/purging) to achieve a perceived self image?\n\nThe more I think about it.  The more it makes zero logical sense.\n\nPlease explain.\n answer: As a trans person this is my understanding to it all. I will also mention some other things people don't really get. I did research and read a lot of reports before and during my transition. I believe the current understanding is we have brain traits that resemble the gender we later identify as, maybe not completely but enough to cause some sort of dysphoria. This happens in early development cause of a hormonal imbalance in the womb or in the first few years of life. I think a few other posts on here explain this a bit better. Also once you start hormones they change your brain even more. \n\nIf this helps anyone understand transgender people some more, this is my experience. \n\nI didnt experience dysphoria as a child as gender related things did not matter. I do have clear memories of feeling something wasnt right but I was too young to understand what. \n\nIt wasn't until I started to hit puberty that the depression and dysphoria hit with a real disconnection from what I saw in the mirror. At this stage it was like I know that is me and this is what I look like, however this is not what I should be like and being a man is something I do not want to be. As time went on I hated everything about myself cause it felt wrong on a fundamental level. You do feel like a fake, freak or just plain different from everyone else. Yet at the same time all anyone sees or regards you by is everything you hate about yourself. \n\nNow I mention this cause of two reasons. Firstly cause people dont get why we do it, why we take hormones and alter ourselves. They may see it like a curable illness like depression or an eating disorder.\n\n I have tried to treat my depression hoping that it would cure my dysphoria but it never went away, even on meds with therapy. I tried to work on changing my outlook and making my relationship with my male body more positive but the gut feelings of self hatred and dysphoria never went away. \n\nThat was until I started taking hormones. After a few months on hormones the years of depression started to subside and I was starting to feel human. It is a far quicker, cheaper and easier solution to dealing with gender dysphoria. Plus makes us feel happier and allows us to live a fulfilling life. \n\nNow that brings me to the second reason I mentioned my experience. People say that it doesnt work and often point the rates of suicide after the surgery or whatever. \n\nI can only speak from my experience but I am glad I transitioned, I feel a lot more home in my skin than I did before. However I have lost friends, family and my job because of it. I dont pass all the time and I do still get the remarks and the laughing sometimes. I currently have no/little skills to help me get another job cause of the years of depression. With not passing I cannot get past the interview.  \n\n It is because of these reasons I am currently depressed and consider suicide. NOT because of my own gender issues but the way I am treated. So as a trans person I have went to feeling depressed and suicidal because of my body to feeling the same way because society cant accept my decision to try to be happy.\n\nOne final point to something that really bugs me. I know my genetics dont change. Every trans person knows what they are in a purely scientific view point. We are not deluded and know full well what our decision is and what it will cost. All we want is to be happy in our own skin and to ask for the same sort of respect you give to any other person. We know we were born 'male' or 'female'. Personally, this does make me sad but I can live with that. It is all the abuse and the reminding us that we are different that leads to the problems.\n\nThanks if youve read this far. Sorry if its got any errors or anything.", "reference": "question: How are transgender individuals different from other dissociative identity disorders?I need your help on this one Reddit. \n\nI really can't quite process the whole gender identity thing.\n\nA common idea that we constantly tell people is to \"just be yourself\"\n\nHowever transgender individuals take drugs (hormones), have surgical procedures to actually alter themselves. \n\nThis really doesn't make any sense from an acceptance stand point, because aren't they not actually accepting themselves?\n\nIt really is confusing to me and doesn't seem different from any of the other dissociative identity disorders like multiple personality disorder.\n\nOr even that of eating disorders where individuals physically alter themselves (through starvation/purging) to achieve a perceived self image?\n\nThe more I think about it.  The more it makes zero logical sense.\n\nPlease explain.\n answer: There are quite a few people who have already responded with really nice scientific and personal insights, but if anyone is still on the fence and wants an anecdotal but direct comparison I'll throw it in here.\nI'm mtf trans with a girlfriend of 5+ years who was diagnosed with severe borderline disorder, and is constantly being told she's also DID/not depending on who the psych evaluating is (yay public health system). I'm also a recovering anorexic, so I feel like I can adress your other question as well.\n\nTo start with, I'd say there are lots of ways in which all 3 of these things - being trans, borderline/DID, and anorexic - are similar. That is that if you were to just tell someone to get over it, and accept themselves without treatment, you're probably not going to see them around again very much longer.\nIf you told my girlfriend to just \"accept herself\", she'd most likely end up either killing herself, me, or causing massive damage during a downswing or when one of her aggressive personalities surfaces. \nLikewise, from the time I hit puberty until 20, I was told to accept myself, and attempted suicide 3 times because I felt like I couldn't be who I really was while forced to live in the body I had. \nI think that seems to be something a lot of people have trouble understanding, is just how difficult it is to hear \"be yourself\" while you literally cannot embody yourself. When someone is told \"Oh, this person has bipolar disorder.\", or \"This person has manic depression\", the stigma is still there, but it seems like people think it's perfectly reasonable to treat those symptoms with pharmaceuticals and therapy, yet not so of gender dysphoria?\n\nI had resorted to pretending my body didn't exist, nearly starving myself to death multiple times to make it as small and underdeveloped as possible, in order to make it easier to close my eyes and just think of myself as just a brain and a soul. So when people told me to just accept my body, this is where I'd run to, in order to stay sane. \n\nNow, I'm not saying that everyone feels dysphoria that strongly, but I hope it gives a clear background about what my experience is. Based on that, I'd say that HRT is completely in line with \"being yourself\". My girlfriend takes mood stabilizers in an attempt to be true to who she sees herself as 90% of the time, and relies on outside help for that other 10% where she cannot be herself (as she identifies with her dominant personality, that's deeper into DID than I plan on going into here). \nI take HRT to feel embodied and true to myself (and others) 90% of the time, and plan to have surgery for that 10% where I need social confirmation from either my girlfriend or others that my body actually exists the way I think it does."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do microwaves cook the stuff on the outside of the plate more completely while the stuff in the middle remains cold? answer: The microwaves penetrate the outside more than the denser core.\n\nLife pro tip. It will hear more evenly if you make a ring of food instead of a pile", "reference": "question: Why do microwaves cook the stuff on the outside of the plate more completely while the stuff in the middle remains cold? answer: The type of the radiation used is only capable of penetrating \"skin deep.\" The rest of the object is cooked by that heat (absorbing outside inward). This causes the outside to be \"extremely hot\" and the inside to be \"less hot.\" The thicker the item, the less heat that can be absorbed (inward)."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't humans give birth in dozens like most animals? answer: It seems like the bigger the animal, the more effort it takes to raise offspring, and corresponding fewer of them. Elephants and wales don't give birth to many offspring, and they raise them for a longer time. On the other end of the spectrum, you have insects that don't care for the offspring very much and they breed prolifically. Somewhere in between you have animals that birth in medium sized batches and they put some considerable effort into, but not more than a year or so.", "reference": "question: Why don't humans give birth in dozens like most animals? answer: I don't know why you think \"most animals\" give birth in dozens. Just off the top of my head, elephants, cows, horses, and other primates do not give birth in dozens."}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: Because voting takes 20 minutes, not all day.", "reference": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: OMG why doesn't anyone realize that the people who can't vote because of work are largely the group of people who would use a holiday to travel. Holidays are rare, special days and people who get them off use them wisely. NOT for voting."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: i look at it this way, by not talking about what a company pays its employees it only allows the company to short people.  If you know the company is underpaying you it lets you know that its time to find a new job.\n\n\nBut thats just me", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: We had a guy in our circle who was a great friend. You could tell he was a little uncomfortable about talking about what he did for a living when pressed. We all bitched about our jobs to each other.  He always had time to help people move, build something, or hang out... We began to wonder how he had so much time and lived so comfortably.  At some point someone found out he doesn't work at all and what he said he did for a living was more like a hobby. The guy was a multimillionaire somehow because of his wife's money.  They both lived very comfortably off of investment income in an aging town with a poor standard of living.\n\nIt changed everything between us all. A lot of the guys straight up started asking for cash, leveraging their friendship. There was often jokes about him being a bum with all the luck in the world, \"must be nice\" became a motto.\n\nEventually the entire families of everyone found out, including children. This meant everyone everywhere knew, including his neighbors. One of his neighbors sued him after slipping on his sidewalk while walking his dog and got some kind of ridiculous payout.  There was some controversy in the community about it because the sidewalk was shoveled, was salted a few hours earlier and it was snowing still. The neighbor pressed hard and fast. Quietly some of the guys rooted against our friend and started making judgments on how he was lazy and it was his fault.\n\nCouple of the guys really resented him and it got a little toxic with personal insults directly relating to money and what we were all doing with our lives vs this guy sitting on his ass with a sugar momma.\n\nHe moved and built his dream home somewhere and hasn't kept up with any of us as far as I know, and I say good for him. He didn't deserve that and we proved we didn't deserve him. Couple of the guys still scoff at the mention of his name, I doubt they know truly why they do this. \n\nI recently began making a lot more money, and I keep a tight lid about it. I even found myself pretending like I'm struggling a little just to throw the dogs off. In all honesty though, I've tried to slowly move away from them but it ain't easy to just scoop up new friends at an older age, at least not for me."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: This is not a huge taboo in the Netherlands, unsurprisingly. When I got a new job, a few weeks ago, most of the people around me were quick to ask the question. I believe that's the general attitude.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: It's taboo only in the US and it is done, I concluded, so employers could pay employees as little as possible.\n \nPersonally, I always compared salaries with colleagues to allow better negotiating power."}
{"candidate": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: One of the biggest issues was the progressive stack \n\n_URL_5_\n\nOne of the biggest side effects of the Progressive stack is the fact that it was leveraged by the radical left to...core out the movement. Most of the Occupy sites were cored out by infighting between the more moderate anarchy types and the more radical left wingers. Identity politics was a big cause of the movement fizzling out\n\nOh, and the police crackdown. That was another issue, but the movement was basically weakened by identity politics and dismantled by the police.", "reference": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: Easy. Occupy had such minimal understanding of economics and finance that they couldn't put together a coherent argument between the overeducated (never lived in the real world) liberal arts professors and smelly hipsters that can't figure out why taking out 100k in loans for a degree in oil painting was a bad idea.\n**Disclaimers: I have a liberal arts degree (but work in tech) and many liberal viewpoints. That said, know-nothings are still know-nothings."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it considered harming or disturbing for children to witness sexual content?I don't get why we always have to \"protect\" children from seeing anything sexual in movies etc. \n\nIs there a psychological reason behind it or is it just a thing developed in our society ?  answer: Well when I was 7 I got manipulated into watching parts of a porno by a babysitter. He'd lure me and 2 other kids out with Scooby Doo then quickly change it. I told my mom and his mom but they were too high to care, so I thought I was in the wrong and was pretty traumatized by it. Flash forward a year, my mom was having loud enough sex that I could hear and I pretty much blacked out and threw furniture all over the room, punched walls, and nearly burned the house down. She kept it up for a couple months and I honestly considered killing myself, and I was 8. I wasn't sheltered or anything, I had seen sexual stuff in movies, but it really fucked me up for a long time. The sounds were triggering something in me I guess, but yeah: as a result I honestly don't know how I'll handle teaching my future children about it, but I can understand why some parents want to keep their children away from it. I'm just saying that there is some awful negative shit.", "reference": "question: Why is it considered harming or disturbing for children to witness sexual content?I don't get why we always have to \"protect\" children from seeing anything sexual in movies etc. \n\nIs there a psychological reason behind it or is it just a thing developed in our society ?  answer: This is clearly a topic where a lot more context is needed in the question itself.  I've barely seen 10 comments and it's all chaos.\n\n\"Children\" is being interpreted as everything from 2 to 20.  Where *exactly* a particular child falls in that range will make the correct answer vary *wildly*.\n\n\"Anything sexual\" can be anything from a tender kiss to anal gangbangs.\n\nPeople are also ignoring one very specific bit of context that *was* provided in the question:  **in movies**.  And yet people are talking about what happens when a little kid walks in on something happening **in real life**.  Even my four-year-old reacts to real life and on-screen stuff differently (not to mention things she sees *me* doing vs. things she sees *other people* doing).\n\nI do see some insightful answers in here, but it'll take some combing.  Sadly, it looks like a lot of people are not ready to have a real conversation about this and are looking to push their own agendae."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: I have an uncle who still lives with his parents at the age of 50 and doesnt have a job. Growing up my dad always reminded me of not being like him (the uncle). So I moved out when I went to colloge at 18.", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: American parents are more likely to be prohibitive of sexual liberties.  Got to get to the bone some man, it's important."}
{"candidate": "question: Why green screens are green? Not red, blue or pink. answer: They do have blue screens as well as other colours. If you had to wear green clothing, then you use a different colour background, otherwise the clothing will disappear. If you wore blue, then green background...", "reference": "question: Why green screens are green? Not red, blue or pink. answer: Bright green is often used because it's unlikely that the person or anything they're wearing will be that exact colour.\n\nBright blue is also used for the same reason."}
{"candidate": "question: Why am I supposed to eat breakfast foods in the morning and dinner foods at night? Why shouldn't I eat spaghetti for breakfast? answer: It's 100% a cultural thing. \n\nLots of Asian cultures eat noodles for breakfast. Germany, Poland and Scandinavians have sausages as breakfast food. I was raised in an Italian household so a pastry and coffee was my concept of breakfast.\n\nEDIT: Not meaning to offend anyone. USA has breakfast sausage too. Also eggs and bacon. And cereal. Every culture has many breakfast foods, just picked random examples.", "reference": "question: Why am I supposed to eat breakfast foods in the morning and dinner foods at night? Why shouldn't I eat spaghetti for breakfast? answer: Cold, leftover, spaghetti Bolognese first thing in the morning is awesome!"}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: The companies do not want you to discuss this. Information is power. Keeping people in the blind about their income is a great way to keep low earners low.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: it is your duty to discuss wages with others. do not keep it secret and keep the power in the hands of you and your fellow co-workers."}
{"candidate": "question: why are gay men often friends with straight women but lesbians generally do not hang out with straight men? answer: I have two friends. One male, one female. The female is gay, but still enjoys spending time with me. So... Quite frankly, I don't know.", "reference": "question: why are gay men often friends with straight women but lesbians generally do not hang out with straight men? answer: The trend may also not be as strong as one gets the impression of from TV show tropes. I don't know if anyone have numbers on this?\n\nData point: Being a straight male with somewhere between 3 and 12 lesbian friends (depending on how often you must hang out to be defined as friends, as well as where on exactly how gay the woman in question must be to count for the friendship to count)."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: In Norway, your income (and net wealth and paid tax) is published online by the tax authorities each year. Presumably to encourage ratting about your neighbor's unreported income. It's considered bad form to surf these lists, but is a popular activity. Related or not, Norway has among the world's highest average wages and relatively small differences.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Because people think that the other judge them only by how much money they gain. And maybe it's true...sometime we think that people with higher salaries are somehow better then people with lower ones."}
{"candidate": "question: Does passing out have any advantages?Passing out from an uncomfortable experience, heat exhaustion or pain seems to have no advantage. Is there any benefit? answer: Passing out protects your body from excessive stress or injury. If you are forced to continue (in action movies or sci fi they sometimes have people who allegedly can't feel pain or can run at top speed forever) cells would run out of energy and joints can get injured.\n\nSometimes it's a system shut down. A punch or blow that causes your brain to hit the side of the skull (usually your brain is floating in a liquid which protects it from concussions) which can overwhelm it and cause it to shut down (like rebooting your PC but not exactly)\n\nAnother could be an interruption of how your biology needs to function. Think about a sleeper hold. Your brain needs a constant supply of blood to stay functional. Squeezing the carotid arteries cuts blood from the brain and it shuts down. But this example has less to do with protecting your body than a system shutdown, like pulling the power cord to your computer.", "reference": "question: Does passing out have any advantages?Passing out from an uncomfortable experience, heat exhaustion or pain seems to have no advantage. Is there any benefit? answer: pain and the like can result in vasoconstriction - blood vessels squeezing tighter. This can reduce the flow of blood to your brain. When this happens, you pass out. Once laying down the bloodflow normalizes and you immediately wake back up.\n\nStrong emotional reactions can trigger these events as well, but its not entirely clear why. But the underlying physical mechanism is the same."}
{"candidate": "question: How are prescription drug makes able to sell drugs at such absurd markups, and is there anything consumers can do to change it?[removed] answer: Generally speaking, it costs a lot to bring a drug to market. R & D costs are high, and then the FDA puts it through a lengthy and costly evaluation process. So while it may be true that it is $1 worth of medicine, that ignores millions of dollars that went into the development that need to be recouped to turn a profit on the drug. The company gets a patent on the drug for a time that helps with that, but when it becomes generic the price will drop a good bit. \n\nGovernment intervention of various types could bring prices down, but too much intervention could end up disincentivizing R & D.", "reference": "question: How are prescription drug makes able to sell drugs at such absurd markups, and is there anything consumers can do to change it?[removed] answer: The root of this is supply and demand, particularly enhanced by lack of competition.\n\nDemand for medication is very high. It's being purchased because it's needed, or because it's required to have on hand. Supply is very limited, because just one entity is allowed to make it, because they funded or bought the research that established certain intellectual property: the \"recipe\" for that medication.\n\nIn that scenario, the market will still buy the product as the price gets higher. So, the company produces and sells the amount that they can produce and sell at the best rate of return on their investment (and what they can afford to produce with available capital).\n\nThis is single bottom line mentality.  Other concepts, such as Triple Bottom Line (\"people, planet, profits\"), seek to not always maximize profit if they can trade it for worthwhile progress on their \"people\" and \"planet\" metrics. I wouldn't say that the consumer can always choose a triple bottom line company to buy medication from (although if it is available, it might be worth extra money to you, or at least you could choose it).  I suppose the least you could do is to demand legislation (and support it when it arrives by writing lawmakers or testifying for it) that opens the market up to competition by breaking down intellectual property barriers so that more than one entity can produce a medication.  Just be aware that as the profits in the pharmaceutical research industry fall, the money available to do that pharmaceudical research is also impacted.  Think if it this way: with low market competition, they will try to make it as expensive as possible.  With high market competition, they will try to make it as *cheap* as possible, with everything that goes along with \"cheap\"."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do Death With Dignity laws allow people with incurable, untreatable physical illness to end their lives if they wish, but not for people with incurable, untreatable mental illness?(Throwaway account for fear of flame wars)\n\n\nWhy do states/countries with death with dignity laws allow patients who have incurable, untreatable physical illnesses the right to choose to die to avoid suffering, but don't extend that right to people with mental illness in the same position? I know that suicide is often an impulse decision for people with mental illness, and that some mental illnesses (psychosis, acute schizophrenia, etc) can easily impair a patient's judgment. Still, for people experiencing immense suffering from mental illness and for whom no treatment has been effective, in situations where this pain has a very high likelihood of continuing for the rest of the patient's life, why does it not fall under those law's goals to prevent suffering with incurable diseases? Sure, mental illness isn't going to outright physically kill a person, and new treatments might be found, but that might take many, many years, during which time the person is in incredible distress? If they're capable of making a rational decision, why are they denied that right?\n\n\nThanks for your answers.\n\n\nEDIT: There's been a lot of really good thoughtful conversation here. I do believe I forgot about the requirement for the physical illness to be terminal within six months, so my apologies there. I do wonder though, in regards to suicide and mental illness, as memory serves people facing certain diagnoses (I think BPD is one of them) are statistically much more likely to attempt suicide. People who make one attempt are statistically unlikely to try again, but for people who have attempted multiple times, I think there's a much higher probability of additional attempts and eventually a successful attempt, so that may factor in to how likely their illness is to be \"terminal.\" Still, I definitely agree that a major revamping of the mental health care system is in order.  answer: > \nIf they're capable of making a rationals decision, why are they denied that right?\n\nSimplified answer, they aren't considered rational decision makers in that area by virtue of a diagnosed illness. Suicidal ideation or aspiration is considered a symptom of the illness, not a legitimate rational desire.", "reference": "question: Why do Death With Dignity laws allow people with incurable, untreatable physical illness to end their lives if they wish, but not for people with incurable, untreatable mental illness?(Throwaway account for fear of flame wars)\n\n\nWhy do states/countries with death with dignity laws allow patients who have incurable, untreatable physical illnesses the right to choose to die to avoid suffering, but don't extend that right to people with mental illness in the same position? I know that suicide is often an impulse decision for people with mental illness, and that some mental illnesses (psychosis, acute schizophrenia, etc) can easily impair a patient's judgment. Still, for people experiencing immense suffering from mental illness and for whom no treatment has been effective, in situations where this pain has a very high likelihood of continuing for the rest of the patient's life, why does it not fall under those law's goals to prevent suffering with incurable diseases? Sure, mental illness isn't going to outright physically kill a person, and new treatments might be found, but that might take many, many years, during which time the person is in incredible distress? If they're capable of making a rational decision, why are they denied that right?\n\n\nThanks for your answers.\n\n\nEDIT: There's been a lot of really good thoughtful conversation here. I do believe I forgot about the requirement for the physical illness to be terminal within six months, so my apologies there. I do wonder though, in regards to suicide and mental illness, as memory serves people facing certain diagnoses (I think BPD is one of them) are statistically much more likely to attempt suicide. People who make one attempt are statistically unlikely to try again, but for people who have attempted multiple times, I think there's a much higher probability of additional attempts and eventually a successful attempt, so that may factor in to how likely their illness is to be \"terminal.\" Still, I definitely agree that a major revamping of the mental health care system is in order.  answer: I think the right to end your life should be legal regardless of your mental or physical condition.  I had a friend recently take his life. I knew this person for 20 years and for about 10 of those years he was depressed and had anxiety issues. He came from a  poor family and due to his mental issues he had no personal relationships or upper level connections for education or career paths.  \n\nHe left a note outlining his reasoning for taking his own life and I completely understood why he did it. He tried every medication and therapy technique to attempt to resolve his issues. After 10 years of getting nowhere, he honestly had no other logical decision.  He used a quick and painless method at the end. He scheduled an email to the local authorities and wore a tux so he would look decent when he was retrieved. When he did it, I had a deep sigh of relief because I knew he was in a better state. \n\nI think a law should be introduced which allows a person to either take their own life or allow doctors to anonymously assist the person by providing necessary medicine for a painless and quick death.  The criteria should contain items from the following:\n\n* Proof of a diagnosis of a mental condition from a certified professional\n* Documents which show the person's mental condition having negative effect on the person's life. This can include a poor work history, poor financial management, bad credit score, poor grades, etc.\n* Notarized signature of at least one immediate relative\n* No legal issues (Active court cases, alimony, active warrants, etc)\n* Enough money to cover any costs associated with the voluntary death and the processing afterwards or insurance which would cover it\n\nIf I were in a situation where my mental state would not allow me to be successful or happy after years of medication and therapy, instead of burdening my family or tax payers for medical bills, I would rather just end it and be happy.  I would rather see the tax payer money saved put into scholarships to reduce the cost of education for those who will be successful.\n\nYou could argue that someone in enough physical pain could not be in the right state of mind to end their life with a terminal illness."}
{"candidate": "question: How and why are books like The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men chosen for reading in English classes? answer: I'm probably too late for this shindig, but there's an important component I see many people missing, and this is, in my view, the most important reason we read books like Huck Finn, The Great Gatsby, and Pride and Prejudice.\n\nYes, part of the answer here is the 'canon', i.e. there's a (possibly arbitrary) group of central texts chosen by old white dudes with Oedipus complexes. Look at other comments for answers about the canon.\n\nNow, I have a problem with the 'canon' answer because it's overly simplified, and is often used as a false comfort. 'The Canon' is the answer people want to hear if they don't understand why they're being made to read *The Great Gatsby*. That is, if you're just bored by *The Great Gatsby*, it's comforting to say, \"Well, some boring old white dudes arbitrarily decided I should read this when really it's just boring drivel that has no relevance to modern life and that's Fitzgerald's fault, not mine, let's move on to Harry Potter. Fuck the canon, it's racist.\" (The canon is, indeed, pretty racist, but let's move on)\n\n**Something I don't see people talking about, however, is literary tradition, which I see as the more significant reason to read writers like Fitzgerald and Steinbeck.**\n\nTo explain: writers read each other. Whom writers read and whom writers like will impact their own work. Toni Morrison's *Beloved* is illuminated if, afterwards, you read Faulkner. Morrison wrote a Ph.D. on Faulkner for cryin' out loud. That doesn't mean you can't read *Beloved* without *As I Lay Dying*; it simply means Beloved will be a different, and more interesting book if you do. You can't fully appreciate J.G. Ballard unless you also understand Joseph Conrad. J.G. Ballard is basically using the exact same metaphors as Conrad, just updated and less racist. He's admitted as such. If you read Virginia Woolf before you read Ursula K. Le Guin, you'll be amazed by the connections you'll make. The texts dance with each other. It doesn't matter that Le Guin writes Science Fiction and Woolf writes in the mode of Modernism--Le Guin has been heavily influenced by Woolf, and reading the two together is very enlightening.\n\nAnd then come the two giants of them all: Shakespeare and The Bible. Look, you can read literature without having read any Shakespeare or any of the Bible, but that doesn't mean you'll be erasing the ginormous impact these works have had on literature. In the most fundamental ways, the language of The Bible has seeped into the entire umbrella of English literature. Even if you don't know it as a writer, you're either adopting the ways The Bible uses words, or rebelling against it. No matter what, you're always responding to it. It doesn't even need to be purposeful on your part.\n\nSo, yes, there's an aspect of 'the canon', but the canon wasn't just chosen by stuffy old white men. It was also chosen by writers, and a writer worth their salt will have read from the canon, and will know what interests them, and what they think is missing. To track this progression can give us insight into the way dialogues in our culture develop. It isn't arbitrary that Toni Morrison is following in Faulkner's footsteps, and it certainly isn't because some old white dudes told her to and that was that.\n\nPart of the issue is that high school students don't necessarily have the perspective available to approach some of these texts, and it's often in high school where these texts are read. For example, what does an expedition down the misty Congo river have to offer to someone going into engineering, or politics, or environmental science? I think the reason a book like Conrad's *Heart of Darkness* evades us is because books like it are often taught in the wrong way.\n\nHere are some ways to rethink some of the writers you didn't appreciate in high school:\n\n**Jane Austen** is the Lena Dunham of Gentry Era fiction. She's a ruthlessly observational genius filled with radical ideas about women and romance. She's totally brutal, too. A good high school teacher will guide you to see how fucking hilarious Jane Austen is. She's a bitch, and she knows it, and she doesn't care. For example, There's a whole section in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Bingley attempts to justify his bad handwriting by arguing that he's just really smart and thinks too quickly. Austen writes this dialogue so perfectly, so cunningly that, in the end, her character Elizabeth totally brings Mr. Bingley down to size. We've all met people like Mr. Bingley, is the thing. However, if you don't understand how Austen's humor works, it could come off as simply gentle banter. Furthermore, her legacy is still felt today.\n\n**Joseph Conrad** fathered (or at least perfected) a certain kind of thinking. His works combine intense societal critiques through the power of individual consciousness. Basically, he's one of the original \"the personal is the political\". Even if you don't like *Heart of Darkness*, you're never escaping its impact (which has been followed by many great socialist thinkers btw).\n\n**Mark Twain** basically created American literature. It was mostly very puritan before he came along to satirize the moralization and piety of American literature coming before him. There's no way in hell that some stuffy white men facilitated this. American writers like John Steinbeck, Faulkner, Don Delillo and I'd even argue Bret Easton Ellis have all learned lessons from Mark Twain. His lasting impression isn't because a couple of Harvard deans standing around in a room smoking cigars suddenly decided he's interesting. It's because he's a great writer, and writers after him have either copied him or tried to repurpose his techniques.\n\n **Shakespeare** literally somehow captured and predicted every single literary movement that has happened and probably will ever happen. If you feel a certain way, Shakespeare has written about it. If you don't like Shakespeare, it isn't because you're right. It's because you didn't have a good professor to guide you. I know that may make you feel insecure. How could one dude be so amazing? Well, he was, and you need to deal with it. Shakespeare is the only writer I can say this about with absolute confidence. With the proper introduction, he's one of the most fascinating writers (if not *the* most). But he absolutely needs a guide.\n\nThis goes into the very purpose of literature, which is this: if we want political progress, scientific progress, mathematical progress, we need to know how to redefine our own personal vocabularies. All great writers have, in some way or another, reinvigorated or dismantled the old cliches of their times to document the cultural, intellectual, and psychic changes they observed. Writers give us language we can use to explore our experiences, and reading in terms of a tradition helps us see how languages and conversations develop.\n\nIf you want to dismantle the cliches of conservative America, or SJW liberals, or Orthodox Christians, it helps tremendously to see how geniuses have done so in their own contexts.", "reference": "question: How and why are books like The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men chosen for reading in English classes? answer: I don't know, All I remember is that in secondary 5 (Quebec french school) I had to read \"Des souris et des hommes\" in french class and \"Les miser\u00e2b\" in english litterature at the same time... a whole semester hearing \"Jean Valjean\" in english when 100% of the students were native french speakers. Teachers do whatever they want I think."}
{"candidate": "question: If jelly was historically preserved for long periods of time and modern food preservation has improved, why do jellies have expiration dates within months of purchase and why do they have to be refrigerated? answer: An expiration date is *the last date on which all of the products claims can be made*.\n\nTake that a step further and \"claims\" can be divided unto government regulations (ie safety) and company regulations (ie quality/company image). So the last day a company can guarantee a product to be safe to eat OR taste as good as they would prefer it to taste.. that's their expiration date.\n\nSource: I work in mfg ops", "reference": "question: If jelly was historically preserved for long periods of time and modern food preservation has improved, why do jellies have expiration dates within months of purchase and why do they have to be refrigerated? answer: Because its not an expiration date. Its a 'best before' or 'best by' date. Things like jelly and pure maple syrup and honey don't expire. But they reach ages where they are no longer as fresh as the day it was bought. They might separate, or crystalize, but it does not become a hazard to eat.\n\n[YSK the difference between expiration dates, best by dates, and sell by dates, and what they all mean.](_URL_0_)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why humans are relatively hairless?What happened in the evolution somewhere along the line that we lost all our hair? Monkeys and neanderthals were nearly covered in hair, why did we lose it except it some places?\n\nBonus question: Why did we keep the certain places we do have? What do eyebrows and head hair do for us and why have we had them for so long?\n\nWouldn't having hair/fur be a pretty significant advantage? We wouldnt have to worry about buying a fur coat for winter.\n\n-\n\nedit: thanks for the responses guys!\n\n-\n\nedit2: what the actual **** did i actually hit front page while i watched the super bowl\n\n-\n\nedit3: *stop telling me we have the same number of follicles as chimps, that doesn't answer my question and you know it* answer: I watched a really interesting documentary that disused the possibility that we were water apes at one point in our evolutionary history. It explains our relative hairlessness, the slight webbing between our fingers and toes, missionary sex,  our buoyancy and even the layout of the body hair we have.", "reference": "question: Why humans are relatively hairless?What happened in the evolution somewhere along the line that we lost all our hair? Monkeys and neanderthals were nearly covered in hair, why did we lose it except it some places?\n\nBonus question: Why did we keep the certain places we do have? What do eyebrows and head hair do for us and why have we had them for so long?\n\nWouldn't having hair/fur be a pretty significant advantage? We wouldnt have to worry about buying a fur coat for winter.\n\n-\n\nedit: thanks for the responses guys!\n\n-\n\nedit2: what the actual **** did i actually hit front page while i watched the super bowl\n\n-\n\nedit3: *stop telling me we have the same number of follicles as chimps, that doesn't answer my question and you know it* answer: Thermoregulation. Humans haven't necessarily become hairless but share the same proportion of follicles as chimpanzees. The only difference between humans and chimps is the selective pressure to reduce follicle size to a microscopic level. In other words, it's still there just drastically reduced."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does my 5 year old nephew want me to read the same story over and over again. He almost knows it by heart by now. answer: Next time encourage him to read it to you, especially if you think he knows it by heart, or read it together. Like he reads one page- you read the next.", "reference": "question: Why does my 5 year old nephew want me to read the same story over and over again. He almost knows it by heart by now. answer: From my observation with reading books over and over again to my kids, they will apply something they learned that day to a book they've already heard a thousand times: \"I know why the bunny hopped over the fence! He wanted to play with his friends just like how I wanted to play with my friends today but I can't because I'm sick.\" \n\nThey learn so fast, that the same book is constantly changing and taking on new meaning to them, while being familiar and comfortable at the same time."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't Rob Ford be impeached if 'the video' is in police hands? answer: What's ironic is that his father was an excellent man and politician that did a great deal of good because he was tenacious as well as consensus building. He also built a significant business that rob and his brother have inherited.\n\nBig shoes to fill. Personally I think this is part of his issue. He can't handle the stress and this has metamorphosed into all his addiction issues.\n\nDrugs are one, alcohol another", "reference": "question: Why can't Rob Ford be impeached if 'the video' is in police hands? answer: There is no way whatsoever to remove a sitting Toronto mayor (well, that's not quite true, see below).  Neither the city council, the provicinial government, or anything like that have any power to do this.  There is no impeachment or recall mechanism.  This isn't the US.\n\nThe only exception at all is the municipal conflict of interest act, which doesn't really cover anything he has allegedly done in this video scandal.  That allows (requires really) a court to remove an incumbent if found guilty of certain forms of conflict of interest. This was already tried on another unrelated matter anyhow, and it failed."}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: You definitely adapt to the temperatures. When I was in the Middle East in 2003 during my service it was about 120-140 every day during the summer. After a few weeks of suffering and drinking a few gallons of water a day it got much easier to cope with the temps and my water consumption went way down and I was still just as hydrated. When it got to November and the temps got down into the 90s we all wore sweaters and jackets because it felt so cold.  So I'd say your body adapts as well as your mind.", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: I've spent my whole life hatting getting into a swimming pool where the water was anything other than warm enough. About 5 months ago I decided, don't ask me why because I really have no idea, that I wanted to start showering in cold water.\n\nI did a crash course over the next month showering in cold water every time, each time less hot water. Currently I shower in cold water, I only use cold water for brushing my teeth or washing my hands, fortunately my beard is almost a year long so I don't have to worry about shaving rash from cold water.\n\nNow whenever I go to a swimming pool I get into the water without considering the cold and always enjoy myself. Even the showers, though sometimes still feeling cold, are always refreshing instead of horrible.\n\nSo spent 44 years of my life being afraid of cold water, now in my 45th year I really enjoy the cold water!"}
{"candidate": "question: How does a rocket propel itself in the vacuum of space if there isn't anything to \"push\" against? answer: Newton's third law of motion - every action has and equal and opposite reaction. Even though the propellant is not pushing against anything, the fact that it is shooting out backwards pushes the rocket forwards.", "reference": "question: How does a rocket propel itself in the vacuum of space if there isn't anything to \"push\" against? answer: It pushes against the propellant spewing out its backside."}
{"candidate": "question: How did the first single-celled organisms on Earth come about? answer: I can lead you in the right direction if there are no other responses.\n\n[Abiogenesis](_URL_1_)\n\n\nOne theory is that there was a primordial soup of necessary components which in the right temperatures began combining to form larger components (amino acids, chemicals).  I really don't know much about it but there are several theories, the one of which I have heard most about I posted a link to above.", "reference": "question: How did the first single-celled organisms on Earth come about? answer: you might want to [/r/askscience](/r/askscience) this. Given by some of the answers, this topic might be a little too thick for ELI5."}
{"candidate": "question: why does anyone talk to the police if they have the right to remain silent?If one had the right to remain silent, why does anyone talk to the police -- especially if guilty?  It seems all one does is incriminate themselves.  answer: Because when people are scared they try to negotiate. It's a psychological coping mechanism that police and others unfairly take advantage of all the time.\n\nYou people saying \"people are stupid,\" etc I would love to see how you react when getting arrested for the first time. Especially as a middle class white person who thinks they have \"rights.\"", "reference": "question: why does anyone talk to the police if they have the right to remain silent?If one had the right to remain silent, why does anyone talk to the police -- especially if guilty?  It seems all one does is incriminate themselves.  answer: Because they don't quite fathom the situation they are in."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused? answer: My mom used to work in a senior center and they had a woman who had early stage Alzheimer's. The only real problem they ran into was that she kept asking where her husband was. He had died several years prior, and her daughter (who brought her daily to the center) would remind her in the car that he was gone. It meant this poor woman got dropped off in misery because she was feeling the grief freshly. It was terrible. Finally, the daughter began to tell her mother that \"dad was at the store\" or that \"he was working on the house.\" It allowed this woman pleasure and didn't end up hurting her.\n\nHaving a fact sheet like that that could remind a person of their situation could only add to their suffering. It's not like The Notebook. You don't suddenly get lucid everyday after hearing a nice story.", "reference": "question: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused? answer: Nothing like realizing you are diagnosed every time you look down, why don't we just keep putting fake winning lottery tickets in front of them, they would be so happy all the time."}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.\n\nExhibitionists don't care about getting caught.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: I'm a little late but; they just don't care anymore. Someone telling them that they don't have to care gives them the justification they need to just not care. I want a hypnotist good enough to do this for me again."}
{"candidate": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: Anyone and everyone *can* have a magnetic personality once you know what someone is interested in/likes/ etc....it's just a matter of displaying traits that are deemed \"likeable\", while keeping to yourself traits which would be deemed \"undesirable\". There really isn't much rocket science behind it. Sociopaths are no exception, they just generally pick up on these traits quicker because it's more important to them in getting to their end goal (being liked, manipulation, whatever). Im trying to stick to the ELI5 mentality here, so I guess basically (without getting into the depth and ability that sociopaths experience empathy) , you don't need to really even relate/connect with someone to get them to like you. It simply takes understanding what a person likes in someone else and then exploiting it.", "reference": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: They could just be great imitators. It's like how birds can imitate speech quite well. You can be a great actor, understand the emotions, but it doesn't mean you feel them. It just means you're very self-aware and observant and probably quite intelligent. \n\nI think you just call that emotional intelligence. Good question, not sure I answered it, but it's nice to see a good one on here."}
{"candidate": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: It is interesting this was posted today.  I finally decided that my daughter and her friends are old enough to pop their Rocky Horror cherries.  I am awaiting one of their parent's permission.  If you want to \"get\" the film without seeing it live there isn't much to get.  The Rocky Horror experience has to be live with a bunch of people that collectively know the responses and are into it enough to mimic the action of the film on stage in full regalia.", "reference": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: It's a goofy, raunchy, whacky story, filled with old-time movie references, great music, great performances, humor, and is quite a spectacle."}
{"candidate": "question: In ancient and medieval times, how did soldiers distinguish friend from foe in battle?When I look at movies that have vikings etc in them, they have no regulation uniforms whatsoever and their enemies wear roughly the same looking gear. How did the soldiers know, who were the enemies?  answer: 1) Even though there were no \"standard\" uniforms, armies would often have their soldiers marked with a specific symbol on their clothing, like a big cross or X or something.  You can see an example [in this old painting](_URL_0_).\n\n2) Battles didn't descend into disorderly chaos very frequently.  Armies survive on discipline and cohesion, more than any other factor.  So for the most part, you would stick in a tight group with the rest of your unit, and it would be pretty obvious who was in your unit and who wasn't.\n\n3) Simply yelling.  If a unit got separated, an officer might try to re-group it by yelling for his men to get back into formation.  The average soldier would also be yelling a battle cry, partly to induce fear in the enemy and partly as a unit identifier.  Language and accent would help identify who was who.", "reference": "question: In ancient and medieval times, how did soldiers distinguish friend from foe in battle?When I look at movies that have vikings etc in them, they have no regulation uniforms whatsoever and their enemies wear roughly the same looking gear. How did the soldiers know, who were the enemies?  answer: Battles used to be quite smaller in medieval times. Smaller units like viking raiders were small enough that everyone knew the face of everyone else on their side. These are people who travel together and live in the same camp together so they would be able to recognize each other, even if they did not remember everyones name. Just remember back to when you went to school with 3-400 other kids and would still be able to recognize people from your school if for example two schools were at the same sports event. This is the scale of most battles. Bigger battles were fought between mostly between different empires. So you would be able to tell people apart based on their gear. A polish knight would have a different style of armor then a french knight.\n\nThere were times throughout history when you would be able to gather enough men from similar regions to have a big battle. But this does require a lot of organization as you need to convince people though money or politics to take part in your war. It is easy to get people to the battlefield when the mongols or the crusades comes and invade your country, however it is much harder to summon people to the battlefield when the neighboring town stole your bucket. When you have an organized wealthy society that can manage such armies you would be able to equip your soldiers with some sort of uniform. Not all soldiers in an army would get the same uniform as they were often belonging to different mercenaries or independent lords. However remembering a few banners is much easier then a few thousand faces. The people under each banner were also kept away from each other for the most part.\n\nBut there are a lot of stories of friendly fires in medieval battles. Soldiers had a hard time recognizing allies in big battles and sometimes mistook their uniforms or banners. One such famous example happened in one of the battles in the war of the roses when a cavalry flanking charge were successful at driving an enemy to panic into opposing infantry forces. But this maneuver send the cavalry charging head on into friendly forces who did not recognize their banners. It was also not that uncommon for soldiers to stop and see if someone they did not know were a friend or foe would attack or not, sometimes even asking them directly. The movie Braveheart uses this as an element a few times and demonstrates how such confusion can happen in the heat of battle and how it can be resolved."}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: From my experience being \"hypnotized\" it was more than anything my willingness to go along with stuff. I kinda felt relaxed, but when asked a question I just said the first answer to come to mind, and I was able to imagine the scenario described to react in a reasonable, but entertaining way.\n\nIt was a good, entertaining experience for me, but I was always in control.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: I work in live entertainment. We had a hipnotist show come through that ran about three months. During the show the master hypnotist would take about fifteen volunteers onstage and hypnotize them. He would go through a process to weed out people that weren't really hypnotized and would then keep the ones who were in really deep and make them do some crazy shit. \n\nI never believed in hypnosis until that show presented repeated results with no gimmicks (I would know of any gimmicks since our small team ran the damn thing) \n\nThe best way it was described to me is that the people who are hypnotized are aware of whats happening, but they are in such a relaxed state that they don't really care about their surroundings or what they are doing. When asked to be a chicken they just go \"chickens cluck, cluck! cluck! \". The thought \"thats preposterous, I'm not a chicken! what will this crowd think?\" doesn't enter their conscious thought."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Because people think that the other judge them only by how much money they gain. And maybe it's true...sometime we think that people with higher salaries are somehow better then people with lower ones.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I [just posted this](_URL_7_) over in a thread in /r/tax about how in Norway, all tax returns are public:\n\n >  There's been this reopening of discussion around opening salaries, at least in the developer community where I live. Letting everybody know what you make could be a way of helping everybody make more. It would publicize gaps in pay between men and women, as well as identify inconsistencies in compensation based on education, age, and experience level.\n >  \n >  I really like this. A lot. Except for one thing.\n >  \n >  If people know how much I make, then they may think that they know better than I do how I should spend my money. They could judge me based on how I spend - or don't spend - my money. They would know when I can or cannot afford something. To me, that exposes a critical weakness in ones person."}
{"candidate": "question: If Brian Williams lies once and gets fired, Why is someone like Bill O'Reilly still on the air? answer: Brian Williams is a journalist.\n\nBill O'Reilly is an entertainer.", "reference": "question: If Brian Williams lies once and gets fired, Why is someone like Bill O'Reilly still on the air? answer: Brian Williams wasn't fired for lying, he was fired for getting caught.  You can't blast Fox as being Faux news if you continue to employ a known liar yourself.\n\nPersonally, they are all equal to me."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Person A makes 100k, person B makes 40k\n\nPerson A: How much do you make?\n\nB: 40k. You?\n\nA: That's nice, 100k.\n\nPerson A is now silently judging person B, and person B now feels inferior.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: A lot of employers discourage employees from talking about their salaries so that they can continue paying unfair salaries to some employees (especially women.)"}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: Their wealthy class is happy and proud to pay taxes, because they'd prefer to live in a strong, healthy country,rather than a feudal shithole with massive inequality.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: There's a reason why the German stereotype is efficiency."}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: According to reddit the dinosaurs going extinct is because the republicans.", "reference": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: If you had an holiday what would you normally do? Go out, get a short vacation. Would you go vote?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why, in the modern age of \"HD\" obsession do phone conversations still sound like you're listening through a tin can?It struck me as odd when I was listening to a call-in radio show last night. The hosts were having trouble hearing the caller, and rightly so, because she sounded like she was transmitting from Mars. Couldn't \"they\" employ some kind of EQ feature for voice? \"Android. Now available with 'TrueVoice'^TM \"\n\n  **EDIT:** I noticed a few people citing bandwidth issues. Is this because the conversation is \"live?\" I mean, I can stream HD video on my phone, but I assume it's only because buffering is involved.\n\n  Also, with the audio quality being inherently poor, couldn't one develop some kind of software that fixes the voice after the fact (like the EQ I had mentioned), or can you just not polish this particular turd? answer: Not the answer, but a related fact. \n\nWhen VOIP phones were first being developed a few years ago the sound quality was obviously much better than normal phones.\n\nThe designers added background white noise in on purpose, because people didn't like using the phones when there was just silence because they didn't feel like they were 'on the phone'.", "reference": "question: Why, in the modern age of \"HD\" obsession do phone conversations still sound like you're listening through a tin can?It struck me as odd when I was listening to a call-in radio show last night. The hosts were having trouble hearing the caller, and rightly so, because she sounded like she was transmitting from Mars. Couldn't \"they\" employ some kind of EQ feature for voice? \"Android. Now available with 'TrueVoice'^TM \"\n\n  **EDIT:** I noticed a few people citing bandwidth issues. Is this because the conversation is \"live?\" I mean, I can stream HD video on my phone, but I assume it's only because buffering is involved.\n\n  Also, with the audio quality being inherently poor, couldn't one develop some kind of software that fixes the voice after the fact (like the EQ I had mentioned), or can you just not polish this particular turd? answer: The old POTS system was designed to carry the frequency of the average human voice. That's why if you talk to a friend who's in a club you can heard noise but not the bass line or the highs. I'm not up to date on modern digital voice but I bet a lot of that carried over."}
{"candidate": "question: Why stockings are considered a necessary part of business attire for women?[deleted] answer: It's not necessary everywhere, but in the places where it is the reason is tradition.  It's like men wearing ties.  They serve no real purpose but people have been wearing them for generations.", "reference": "question: Why stockings are considered a necessary part of business attire for women?[deleted] answer: I think there were two aspects: modesty and luxury. Bare legs were not considered appropriate for church or the workplace. Silk stockings were an expensive accessory, so when women entered the office in the 50s and 60s, they were the equivalent of expensive sunglasses or a nice watch.\n\nI don't think they are still considered appropriate in any but the stodgiest offices now."}
{"candidate": "question: why if humans and dolphins are the only creatures to have sex for pleasure, why does my dog hump everything in sight? answer: where did you hear that? sounds like a load of BS to me\n\njust one example _URL_0_", "reference": "question: why if humans and dolphins are the only creatures to have sex for pleasure, why does my dog hump everything in sight? answer: Whenever you hear a factoid like 'X and Y are the only animals that do Z for (reason)' - it's generally wrong.  Someone made it up to fill space in a magazine or website article, and people just sorta've started believing it."}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: The short easy answer is that your average worker does not make as much as they did back then. \n\nI spent years trying to figure out how my grandfather was able to support a wife with a part time job, buy a house, have 4 kids, and go to collage while working a bottler at a Coke Cola plant. I came to three conclusions. One, wages were higher. Two, inflation was not as high and for some years was deflationary. Meaning that money he made was worth more. Three, cost of living was based off of single income economics. Since my grandmother had a part time job all of that extra money was icing on the cake. \n\nBasically, most single people these days will never be able to have that.", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: Oh one more thing, people did not used to buy things on credit. They saved and bought them. So when times were tough the could not loose them. Now, if you have rough year, you could lose your car you haven't paid off, or all the furniture you bought on credit. Credit is evil. Basically the top things they advertise during the Super Bowls are bad for you, alcohol, while fun it's still bad, credit cards, soda, expensive cars. If you can afford them, great you don't need credit and are probably not drinking so much it's killing you."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is a 2 liter of Coca-cola $1, a 12 oz bottle $1.49 and the same size bottle of water $1.99? answer: Here in Finland coke/pepsi costs about 2.70\u20ac for a 1.5 litre bottle. Special offer for a two pack is usually 3.30\u20ac. I'd say that price gives the drink a nice level of prestige and it glorifies the moment of consuption making the drink taste absolutely magnificent.", "reference": "question: Why is a 2 liter of Coca-cola $1, a 12 oz bottle $1.49 and the same size bottle of water $1.99? answer: having worked at coke in strategy, there is (in every business) a clear distinction between immediate consumption and future consumption products. the former being higher priced because the people want it then and there, thus are willing to pay for it. this is also why you never see chilled 2 liters or larger sizes, because people would just buy that and drink a little then throw the rest away because it would be cheaper than a 16oz bottle. its all about playing the market, consumer, and product placement (for impulse buys...do i really need sour patch kids?...fuck yeah i do.)"}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: Smaller everything... House sizes in America have doubled [since 1950](_URL_6_)\n\nThey didn't pay for internet, cable, or cellphone. Reduce your current expenses and a house will not be far off.\n\nAlso housing rates have been increasing/ at least being stable in [america since 1950](_URL_5_)", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: I believe you could live in comparable conditions and save with a similar job. This would require us to redefine 'comfortable,' however. We need to remember the luxuries we have now. Government housing now is much better than any old-day housing, and we consider this the poverty line. The heating and air alone is an improvement."}
{"candidate": "question: So I'm in My mid 20's and don't understand why we Americans are so scared of socialism? I read a lot back in the day about Russia Cuba etc and I get the whole not wanting a dictatorship but where does this whole fear/attitude cone from. What sustains it? answer: Because America doesn't get communist influence from it's neighbors, unlike Europe, where countries are more geographically closer together. Here in Finland communism can't be a boogeyman when St. Petersburg is only a 2-hour drive away and you can go check it out for yourself. Europe has been in the crossroads between American capitalism and Russian socialism/communism and absorbed a lot of good ideas from both, which spawned the Scandinavian welfare state model over time. It's not a secret that communist influences do a lot of good too in terms of strengthening the worker's rights. \n\nNow, America doesn't have this luxury. The only communist state near it is puny little Cuba, while Russia and China are literally on the other side of the globe. America doesn't have a communist counterweight which has resulted in it developing into a fully capitalist society.", "reference": "question: So I'm in My mid 20's and don't understand why we Americans are so scared of socialism? I read a lot back in the day about Russia Cuba etc and I get the whole not wanting a dictatorship but where does this whole fear/attitude cone from. What sustains it? answer: As I understand it (ie, only from a pop/news angle), it's that \"American dream\" that gets in the way of understanding/accepting things like socialism, socialist democracy, etc: \n\nThe overriding theory, even for poor laborers, is that somehow, at some time, everyone can earn their own living, and in this world view, it's a sin to share your hard earned wealth with less successful people. \n\nBut then, I suppose, the question becomes: Where *did* that American Dream world view come from?"}
{"candidate": "question: How does a touchscreen work?And how does it know if you're using a finger or not? answer: There are many different types of technology but I'll just explain the most common type that is in almost all phones.\n\nThere is a nearly invisible grid of wires imbedded in the screen. Half the wires go side to side and the other half go up and down. Where these wires overlap they come very close to touching but don't quite touch.\n\nA tiny amount of electricity is applied to each of the lines going in one direction (the up-down lines for example) many times a second. These are the \"Send\" lines.\n\nWhen a finger touches the screen it forms a grounding effect that pulls some of the electricity from the sending wire and some of that ends up on the wire going in the other direction.\n\nA chip measures the amount of electricity on those lines going in the other direction (the \"Read\" lines) many times a second. When it sees a spike of electricity it knows that the line that it read from was touched. Because each \"Send\" line is charged differently it is also able to tell which line the electricity started on.\n\nNow that it knows the two lines going in each direction it knows where on the screen the touch happened.", "reference": "question: How does a touchscreen work?And how does it know if you're using a finger or not? answer: On top of this, why do rain drops on the screen make me phone freak out?"}
{"candidate": "question: According to e = mc\u00b2 how can light (being a mass less particle) have energy? answer: E = hf, where h is non-reduced Planck's constant and f is frequency of the light in Hz.\n\nAs others have said E^2 = m^2 c^4 + p^2 c^2\n\nThus since for light m = 0, p  = E/c = hf/c = h/Lambda (wavelength).", "reference": "question: According to e = mc\u00b2 how can light (being a mass less particle) have energy? answer: e = mc\u00b2 is only valid for things that have a resting mass m > 0.\n\nA more general formula is;  (e)^2 = (m * c^2 )^2 + (p * c)^2 and [it is as simple as the Pythagorean theorem](_URL_0_) of all the things inside the \"()\" \n\nIf your mass m = 0, you get the special case of: (e)^2 = (p * c)^2 that comes down to e=p*c , p=e/c and c=e/p"}
{"candidate": "question: Why are banks only open during the most inconvenient hours?My bank is only open 9am-4pm Monday through Thursday, 9am-6pm on Friday, and 9am-12pm on Saturday. If you work a normal 40-50 hour a week schedule, it can be really annoying when you have to go to the bank - it's almost like having to schedule a doctor's appointment. \n\nI've never really understood why banks are generally never open late. Is it because of some sort of regulation, governmental or self-imposed by the industry?  answer: Because they can. What are you going to do about it? Put your money in a pillow?", "reference": "question: Why are banks only open during the most inconvenient hours?My bank is only open 9am-4pm Monday through Thursday, 9am-6pm on Friday, and 9am-12pm on Saturday. If you work a normal 40-50 hour a week schedule, it can be really annoying when you have to go to the bank - it's almost like having to schedule a doctor's appointment. \n\nI've never really understood why banks are generally never open late. Is it because of some sort of regulation, governmental or self-imposed by the industry?  answer: I\u2019ll try to give both the short-winded answer and a long-winded answer. As a bit of background, I\u2019m an individual who worked in retail banking through school (for business, then changed to engineering), then stayed (probably shouldn\u2019t have, but I did). I\u2019ve been in banking about 11 years now. First in a small bank that was bought by a bigger bank that was bought by a bigger bank, and now in a small bank that became a mid-sized bank through growth. I\u2019ve held numerous positions from teller to management and now work in commercial real estate (on the banking side).\n\nTL;DR: The \u201cELI5\u201d answer, as some others have pointed out, is that banks are businesses and its biggest customers are other businesses. Thus, they need to be open when other businesses are open.  If ELI5 is exactly what you want and don\u2019t want any more information, stop reading now.\n\nTo fully understand why banks are open certain hours, you have to look at how banks make (and spend) their money. This is likely going to appear long-winded, but it\u2019s really simplified version of what happens, and mostly only on the retail side. The \u201ceasy button\u201d version of how banks make their money is that they lend money to people and businesses and collect a fee up front (for some loans) as well as collect interest. The money the banks lend to people comes from a couple places. \n\nThe bank can borrow it from another entity (the federal home loan bank, for example). The bank then has a \u201cspread\u201d over that loan, which the bank keeps for itself. \n\nThe other main avenue is deposits that the bank holds for its deposit customers. This one can be a bit less \u201ccut and dry,\u201d so you may want to hang on for a second, but I\u2019ll try to explain it as simply as I can. The bank offers multiple types of deposit products to multiple types of customers. The simplified version of this is Checking, Savings, and CD\u2019s. You can add in the retirement/pension version of these, but we\u2019ll skip over that for today. The bank pays interest to the deposit customer for (some of) these, and uses a portion of it to lend to borrowers. It\u2019s important to note that it\u2019s only a portion of the money that is allowed to be borrowed, and that percentage changes daily, depending on what the global deposit base looks like in each of those categories. Because CD\u2019s are \u201clocked in\u201d for a specified period of time, more of those funds are allowed to be lent out, as it is less likely that someone will come in tomorrow and close the account. Likewise, checking accounts are not only liquid, but are the most easily drained, as clients have debit cards, checks, and the ACH ability. Savings accounts are also liquid, but have some protections (limited number of withdrawals per month, etc). For this reason, not every penny you (as a consumer) deposit into the bank actually becomes borrowed funds, and if you only have checking and savings accounts, very little of it actually is. This is why your mortgage rate may be 4.75%, but you are earning \u201cnext to nothing\u201d on your savings account. If you can come in and withdraw it at any time, the bank can\u2019t count on it being there, and can\u2019t lend it all out.\n\nIf you\u2019ve ever been into an aggressive bank or seen commercials on TV, the above paragraph may confuse you. How could this be true if all banks seem to want my checking account? The answer to this is two-fold. Banks want you to have a checking account because it has a lot of moving parts. They\u2019re not actually all that profitable for the bank, but once you have a checking account (that you\u2019re actually using, hence the debit card/bill pay requirements), you\u2019re more likely to stay. It\u2019s more work for you to leave if you have automatic payments, checks that could clear, etc. Once you have an established checking account, you\u2019re more likely to establish more accounts (the more profitable ones). The more accounts you have, the deeper established you are, and it becomes even less likely that you\u2019ll leave. This is why if you\u2019ve ever tried to close an account, you may have experienced some \u201cgrappling\u201d trying to hold on to you, especially if you have a decent deposit in the bank. Retail employees are incentivized to get you to open more accounts (this is not a negative thing, so don\u2019t take it as such) and in some cases to \u201csave\u201d accounts.\n\nThere are two main approaches to the \u201cmost attractive\u201d client to a bank. Most banks try to utilize both, but some go after one or the other. The approach most consumers are familiar with is the \u201cblanket\u201d approach. This is where the bank attempts to get as many consumer (non-business) clients as it can. Consumers are agile and it doesn\u2019t take much work for them to leave. This makes it easier to steal them from other banks, but also more likely that they\u2019ll eventually leave. For this reason, one $1,000,000 account is often looked at as less valuable than ten $100,000 accounts. You\u2019re less likely to lose ten customers than one. At the same time, a windfall of $1,000,000 is incredibly helpful. The bank will likely offer them a higher interest rate to get them in the door, then if they threaten to leave, offer higher interest rates to get them to stay. One side-note on this topic is that checking accounts can often actually lose money for banks. They\u2019re really the \u201cgateway drug\u201d with the expectation that you\u2019ll be bringing more in. This is one reason that many banks stopped offering free checking, when they found their typical customer had a checking account (and that\u2019s it). The moving parts of a checking account actually cost the bank money, and they can\u2019t lend out a large amount of the money that is on deposit.\n\nThe other approach is the \u201cbusiness-customer\u201d approach. It can be harder to get businesses in the door, but once they\u2019re in, you\u2019re less likely to lose them. There are a couple reasons for this. First, they typically have many more moving parts than individuals. They have more cash management needs (for instance, remote deposit, cash couriers, online wires, ACH origination, etc), which the bank makes some money on, but they also often have more than one decision maker, and for the larger businesses, certain protocols for doing certain things. The banks can benefit from the bureaucracy involved in some of these cases. Again, this means that once you have a business client, you\u2019re more likely to keep them.\n\nIn addition to businesses being easier to keep (while higher maintenance, the bank usually offsets the higher maintenance with higher fees), businesses often keep higher balances. This means you\u2019re getting the best of both worlds. You get the $1,000,000 customer who also has a hard time leaving. As a side-note, if you look at business banking rate sheets versus consumer, you\u2019ll see that typically banks pay less interest to businesses as well.\n\nNow, you also have some costs to look at from the bank\u2019s perspective. One of the biggest costs being the salary cost. You have many departments that you have to pay, retail being one of those. Unless you\u2019re keeping retail hours open more hours than you find elsewhere in the bank, you pretty much have to align the hours somewhat closely. For instance, you need retail\u2019s support to be around when retail is. You need the various lending groups to be open when retail is (you have the same clients that will be utilizing both departments). You need the investment people around when retail is. You need management to be around when they are too. One of the departments (that appears to be going by the wayside in the industry) is the \u201cproof\u201d department. This is the department that \u201cre-processes\u201d all of the work that retail processed as a sort of double check. These people often worked much later, as they couldn\u2019t complete their work until retail was complete. With everything going digital, this is quickly changing.\n\nIf you need everyone around at basically the same time, then in some regards the \u201ctalent pool\u201d does make sense. You are not as likely to find a mid-to-high level executive willing to work second shift\u2026and they are managing people that work in retail. This is only a very VERY small part of it though and can almost be discounted.\n\nThe bigger piece of the puzzle circles back to what customers the bank really wants. The bank wants both business and consumer clients, but the business deposit clients provide the most money (for deposit) for the least amount of risk. That is where you will find the focus of most banks. Most businesses are open during \u201cbusiness hours,\u201d and thus that is where the bank aligns its hours. \n\nThere is some truth to the fact that the banks that are only open until 5PM will lose some of the consumer clients, and it\u2019s not that the bank doesn\u2019t want these clients (the truth is that it does), but there are a couple things preventing this ability. One of those is the salary cost. The number of clients that will come in the door between 5 PM and 7 PM is relatively low, especially when looked at from a depository standpoint. The bank is likely to see transactions, sure, but the big money is generally not going into the accounts during that time period. If you are keeping employees in the branch during those two hours per day (plus extra hours on Saturdays and Sundays), you are likely either increasing the amount of staff (read: increased benefits cost) or paying overtime, just to have coverage. Keep in mind that the bank still needs employees in the bank even if there are no clients, and for insurance purposes often needs at least three (security/safety reasons\u2026we can go further into that if you want). Often, by staying open those hours, you are literally spending more money than you are making, so it simply doesn\u2019t make sense from a business perspective to stay open. People often view banks as a utility, but the fact of the matter is that it is a business and has to make a profit and actually has to pay its employees."}
{"candidate": "question: I often watch westerns where people are wearing long coats and pants in the summer/heat. How was this possible back then without being uncomfortable all the time? answer: The longer clothing keeps you protected from the elements: sun, cacti, animals/snakes, etc.  Brushing up against a cactus is not fun without long pants on", "reference": "question: I often watch westerns where people are wearing long coats and pants in the summer/heat. How was this possible back then without being uncomfortable all the time? answer: Try wearing loose, breathable, natural fiber clothes like linen and light cotton.  It's a lot cooler that shorts and short sleeves IME. \n\nThere's some weird physics around how sweat cools the body that I can't explain.  Something about clothing increasing the surface area of contact and the clingy-ness increasing thermal conduction."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: The biggest reason is that as the disease progresses the amount of virus get to be huge.  Early in the disease essentially no virus is being shed by a patient.  When a patient has reached the near death stage, the patient can be bleeding from eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and spewing bloody diarrhea containing billions if not trillions of infectious virions.  \n\nELI5:  As a patient gets more ill the challenges of not being infected go up dramatically.", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: Imagine this: get dressed in layers, covering head to toe including gloves and a big mask.\n\nThen stay inside where the temperature is 68-72.\n\nAfter an hour you can leave the room, but first you are doused in blue paint. \n\nNow try to take off all of your layers without getting paint on yourself."}
{"candidate": "question: How does an explosion actually kill you? answer: Imagine what a fly looks like after you swat it with a newspaper. Now imagine you're caught in an explosion. You're the fly, and the explosion is the newspaper.", "reference": "question: How does an explosion actually kill you? answer: Heat, debris, or shockwave from an explosion will kill you. The closer you are to it, the deadlier it gets."}
{"candidate": "question: If you could, somehow get to the edge of the known universe what'd we see past it and could we enter into it? answer: You would technically be able to keep going as long as the Universe is expanding, so theoretically what you'd see is the expansion of the Universe.", "reference": "question: If you could, somehow get to the edge of the known universe what'd we see past it and could we enter into it? answer: If you are lets say the edge of the Universe (if there is an edge, lets assume it does) which would probably be the shell of the bubble then you cannot see anything outside. Because there is nothing outside for you to see. Nothing exists outside the bubble so there is no light coming from there for you to see anything. The absence of light is blackness and that is what you'll probably see."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I'm not sure on other countries but in the UK blood donation is purely altruistic - no payments made. \n\nI can't remember where I saw it but I read an article that suggested the 'quality' of donations seemed to be noticeably higher in the UK because of this.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: The real question is why don't hospitals charge less for blood units?  I would be interested to know how that cost is appropriated.\n\nedit: I guess U/leftnuttriedtokillme answered this"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: They're trying to be as annoying as humanly fucking possible.", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: Because Larry Page is the [wartime CEO](_URL_3_).  If he can't use your anonymity to make a profit, he will burn it to the ground."}
{"candidate": "question: China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year using cloud seeding. Why can't California use the same technology to combat droughts? answer: I think what happened in China was that they already had clouds but they controlled when they released rain.", "reference": "question: China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year using cloud seeding. Why can't California use the same technology to combat droughts? answer: Reddit is so funny. Bring up chemicals being sprayed in the atmosphere to change the weather and you're a conspiracy nut. Bring up cloud seeding, and suddenly geo-engineering exists and everyone knows about it."}
{"candidate": "question: How do popular YouTubers make money?[removed] answer: $1/1000views through ads (mostly by mobile users cause no adblock)    \nSponsors and/or Affiliate links like Loot Crate and Audible    \nMerchandising shirts, posters, mugs, etc     \nPatreon (mostly for animators cause of how long each video takes to make)", "reference": "question: How do popular YouTubers make money?[removed] answer: Finally one I know! youtubers make money from multiple traffics but the biggest is ad revenue as stated numerous times by others, another way they make money is from sponsorship, back a few years ago audible was the big one along with g fuel, ubisoft also does pretty big sponsorships. another way is through merchandising but recently some youtubers have made  money from youtube red (~~scare pewdiepie~~ and paranormal action squad) other channels, more art based make money from patreon which is a way to support your favorite channels\n\nfor large companies; predominately rooster teeth they make money from doing their own sponsorships by using their site which precedes youtube, they also make money by doing [commericals for companies](_URL_7_)\n\nhope this kinda helped"}
{"candidate": "question: If the Hubble Space Telescope can observe things billions of light years away, why can't we use the HST to observe exoplanets and terrestrial bodies that are near to us, like Pluto or the gas giants' moons? answer: It isn't built for that. It's been really well designed to look at things that are far away, at the expense of being really shitty at looking at things that are close up. Specialization rather than generalization.", "reference": "question: If the Hubble Space Telescope can observe things billions of light years away, why can't we use the HST to observe exoplanets and terrestrial bodies that are near to us, like Pluto or the gas giants' moons? answer: This is a really common question, please search first. \n\nGalaxies are big. Really, really, really big. They're also really really really bright. They literally shine like a trillion suns. \n\nPlutoids are really really really small, and really really really dim. They are so far from the sun that the sun doesn't give them much more light than other nearby stars. If you were on Pluto, you wouldn't be able to tell which star is the Sun, and the difference between day and night is imperceptable: it's always dark. \n\nIf I gave you a pair of binoculars and asked you to find the moon, I bet you wouldn't have a problem. If I gave you a pair of binoculars and told you to find the flea named James who lives on the right ear of the dog that lives two houses down, you're going to have some issues. \n\nExoplanets are a bit different. That analogy would be more like if I said, \"with your bare eyes, find the mercury at noon on a summer day\". The sun is just too bright, it's light utterly drowns out everything around it."}
{"candidate": "question: What happens after insulin/dextrose pushes K into the cells?In hyperkalemia, insulin and dextrose are commonly given to push K into the intracellular space. So serum K decreases, but then what? Does the K eventually move back out of the cell? Does it metabolize/degrade?  answer: I know for the beach scene in Saving Private Ryan, it seemed like every amputee in Ireland had been cast. They were all extras though", "reference": "question: What happens after insulin/dextrose pushes K into the cells?In hyperkalemia, insulin and dextrose are commonly given to push K into the intracellular space. So serum K decreases, but then what? Does the K eventually move back out of the cell? Does it metabolize/degrade?  answer: > Does the K eventually move back out of the cell? \n\nYes, many cells (especially muscle cells, and liver cells to a degree) can take up a lot of potassium for an hour or so but eventually the cell will leak the potassium back out again. But this should buy enough time for the excess potassium to be excreted via the kidneys. If not, you can give more insulin.\n\n > Does it metabolize/degrade?\n\nPotassium is an element, it's already the simplest form you can get. So you can't degrade it or metabolize it. You can only excrete it (via the kidneys mostly, but also a little bit from sweat)."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Maybe it's got to do with the US being a land of immigrants, so the virtue of being independent, venturing out, and surviving on one's own is valued more. In our region, which is South East Asia, clannishness is the name of the game. The interesting thing is that the degree of emphasis on sticking with your family no matter how old you get actually varies too. The concept of clannishness, staying with your core family to expand it, is stronger in areas that have been historically agricultural. This is less emphasized in areas where fishing and hunting were the main points for sustenance. While it's easy to say it is how it is, it's also interesting to see how some of our \"assumed as natural\" behaviours have roots in how our society evolved historically speaking.", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: I left home at 15 years old and got my first place. \n\nThe only reason I left is because I was the scapegoat on the isles of Narcissists. I didn't have a choice if I wanted to live."}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: I know this guy, he lives in my neighborhood and he eats cat food. this is no speculation. it helps him sleep", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: Im from socal and have been living in Poland (to study). In the mindset of those who dont have cold weather, more clothes have to be worn than necessary. For example, i've only started to wear \"looser\" clothing, as I didn't when i first came."}
{"candidate": "question: What's the reason for the perpetual raising of awareness for breast cancer? Is there some commercial benefit? Does anyone out there really not know about it at this point?[removed] answer: There was a time when people with certain diseases were seen as weak, or generally lesser people. A lot of the awareness stuff just kind of normalizes this. It lets people know that survivors are people you know. They are your family, coworkers, classmates, people all around you. They can lead valuable lives. We should not forget about them, and we should not look down on them either.", "reference": "question: What's the reason for the perpetual raising of awareness for breast cancer? Is there some commercial benefit? Does anyone out there really not know about it at this point?[removed] answer: As with everything, it's all about money sadly. Also If I want to donate I will donate to an actual research facility, or to cancer patients themselves, not some for profit company. Plus everyone(in the us at least) knows about breast cancer in women. Since these campaigns only are about spreading \"Awareness\", they need to start spreading awareness about men with breast cancer. Which I've literally never heard and of the big companies bring up."}
{"candidate": "question: Men and Women have the same body temperature, right? Then why does it seem that on average women are always cold and shower at temperatures exceeding the melting point of galvanized steel?[removed] answer: Melting point of galvanized steel? Nah it's closer to the temperature required to melt Uru", "reference": "question: Men and Women have the same body temperature, right? Then why does it seem that on average women are always cold and shower at temperatures exceeding the melting point of galvanized steel?[removed] answer: I have a follow up question to this. Before getting pregnant,  my wife was always colder than most people (including other women). Starting around the end of the first trimester and continuing to today (kid is 6), she is always warmer than most people (including me and other men). Any ideas?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why do airline passengers have to put their seats into a full upright position for takeoff? Why does it matter?The seats only recline about an inch. Is it the inch that matters, or is there something else going on? answer: It's so the person behind you, in case of an emergency, can put their heads between their knees with their hands over their heads easier. Also, evacuating is easier when the seats are upright and people have free movement.", "reference": "question: Why do airline passengers have to put their seats into a full upright position for takeoff? Why does it matter?The seats only recline about an inch. Is it the inch that matters, or is there something else going on? answer: This is my job! I smash test dummies into seats for a living, to make sure they're safe. The regulations only require us to do this in the upright position, because it would drive more (expensive) testing and be much harder to desing seats if we had to qualify seats that were reclined as well.\n\nWhether or not the seat is reclined would have a huge effect on how the test dummy (or you) strike the seat forward of you."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I'd have to say tension/resentment in the workplace.  I remember my 1st job in high school making slightly above minimum wage at 5.50/hr hired under the current GM at the time who left about a month later.  New GM comes in and hires more people.  She is starting everyone at 6/hr.  I ask why some kid who can't even bus a table correctly is making more than me who can run the entire kitchen from grill to dishes and she just shrugs at me and and says, \"I didn't hire you.\"  Another manager finds out and is actually pissed off and says he's going to fix it.  So...well he he talked to the GM.  She lowered other kid to 5.50/hr instead of giving me 50 cents more.  I pretty much said screw this place and didn't come back again.\n\nThen right out of high school.  I start a job at a unionized plant as a \"part time\" worker making 14/hr.  Pretty damn good for an 18 year old kid right out of high school.  Except that we were forced to pay union dues as everyone else who made 25/hr.  Everyone in the union resented us.  18 year old kids and guys who just returned from Iraq just looking for jobs.  Our pay and names and positions were open information for the union members.  They did everything they could to get us fired for doing the same job better for nearly half of their pay with no benefits or vacation time.  We were just happy to have decent paying jobs and they resented us because we made them look bad.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: From my understanding, and from my experience, it serves a few simple purposes.\n\n1) It helps to protect a worker from being ostracized because they got more of a raise than the others, whether there's a good reason or not, people are going to be bitter.  This curves this a bit.\n\n2) It helps protect the employer from having to explain why Employee A got a 5% raise while Employee B got 4% when B complains.  Employees will still be curious, but again, this curves it a bit.\n\n3) Some people think, and I'm sure some companies do, can selectively underpay someone and not worry about it coming out, again, curving unrest among employees.\n\nIt's like NOT talking about religion and politics in the work place, because whatever you say, will offend someone."}
{"candidate": "question: How do people on a wheelchair avoid circulation problems?I've read the stories about the chinese and korean gamers who died from sitting too much. How come disabled people dont share this problem?\n answer: How do people on a wheelchair avoid circulation problems?I've read the stories about the chinese and korean gamers who died from sitting too much. How come disabled people dont share this problem?\n", "reference": "question: How do people on a wheelchair avoid circulation problems?I've read the stories about the chinese and korean gamers who died from sitting too much. How come disabled people dont share this problem?\n answer: They often do experience circulation problems, and this requires attentiveness from both them and their caregivers, where applicable. There are many strategies for combating potential problems but frequent examination for clot formation is also necessary.\n\nThe problem with pathologically addicted gamers is that this awareness generally doesn't exist. Nobody tells you that if you game too much you'll end up with a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) and die. Even if they do, few take it seriously. I'd also wager that the same people who are spending enough time non-stop gaming to induce clotting probably have neither the self-awareness, nor self-discipline to avoid these kinds of problems, even if they were aware of them."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: Because the illuminati wants your real name so they can suck your brains out.", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: This was the reason I disabled google+. I don't want future employers to just google my name name know what I watch and when I watch it.\n\nHuge invasion of privacy IMHO."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I work in the accounts department for a small firm and I process the commissions for our sales teams. It really really pisses me off when I see certain people, lets call them wankers, who rely so heavily on my involvement to do their jobs and they earn more in commission than I earn in actual salary! Luckily I'm about the only person in my company who has my skills and even the big boss is worried that if I leave they'll be up shit creek with nothing but a tea spoon for a paddle - I shall definitely be using this fact to my advantage during my next review/ salary negotiation!", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Has \"because it's none of your fucking business\" been stated yet?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does salt preserve foods like meat? Can't bacteria live in salt? answer: Bacteria 'generally' need oxygen, a safe pH, moisture, and favorable temperature to survive/grow. Salt is hydrophilic, so it removes the moisture from things that have moisture. When you salt something, you are technically starting a 'cooking' process. Check out books on cooking theory, it will open your mind as to what kinds of things you can do to create awesome dishes. Learning a solid cooking theory is kind of like learning the fundementals of how to draw. Once you learn your theory, you can apply it to all sorts of food based on what they are made up of (is it a watery veggie, is it a starchy veggie, is it a solid fruit, does it break down when you add heat very quickly, etc) and it will make it easier to cook things that you haven't worked with before. You can use theory to really focus on creativity rather than copying things you find online without knowing why you add the salt to and wrap the sliced zuchinni with paper towels before grilling it.", "reference": "question: Why does salt preserve foods like meat? Can't bacteria live in salt? answer: Salt sucks the water out of the cells via osmosis. Compare with drying or smoking meat. Bacteria growth is highly restricted in dehydrated environment."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: My company gives us PTO (paid time off) to donate blood. If we give three times in a fiscal year, we get one day. If we give six times (which is the max you can give), we get two. My company also has a policy allowing us to sell back PTO during open enrollment. As such, I can sell back the two days I earn and get paid a decent chunk for each time I donate. \n\nI never before gave blood before working for this company... Never had the incentive. I'm proof that paying for donors works.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: Guess I am late to this party but it is the area of my expertise.\n\nThere is no over-arching, on-going national blood shortage.  Blood usage for non-trauma purposes and the total number of units of blood being collected is falling nation wide.  Orthopedic surgery in particular has gone from 6-7 units of blood to rarely needing any for lots of common procedures over the past 20 years.  The Red Cross has actually been shutting down blood banks and consolidating.  Of course lower total usage means lower standing inventory levels means less ability to absorb spikes.  Harder forecasting, apparent shortages.\n\nShelf life and storage capacity are both quite low, making regional inventory levels vulnerable.  A bag of blood is legal for 35 to 42 days depending on what they mix in it, but it's not like it's new and shiny until midnight on the 35th day and then turns green.  In reality doctors know it's badly degrading after two weeks or so.  Blood that is getting older will preferably only be used in emergencies when nothing else compatible is found.\n\nLots of blood gets thrown out.  It expires.  It goes out of temperature range during transport.  The container is compromised.  Or it's ordered and never used.  (Once it's out of the controlled environment of the hospital blood bank and sitting on a cart in the ER for hours they're not allowed to just take it back and toss it in the fridge for someone else, it is trash.)  So the cost of one is also covering the cost of the lost overhead expense on unused units.  (Affects what it would be reasonable to be able to pay per-donation.  I don't work on the hospital side, don't know a firm number of what % collected units go unused nationally.)\n\nFor donors who are compensated in the US (that is, plasma) the protocols are more stringent, there is a lot of extra work the clinic is required to do to make sure you're a legitimate donor.  Blood Banks aren't set up for this, it's more work, more staff.  Some of the rules used to make compensated plasma donations acceptable just don't really translate onto blood banking.  Imagine the task and cost of developing a protocol to assert a compensated donation is safe for use and getting it past the US FDA...!"}
{"candidate": "question: How are buffets profitable? How much money is usually made (on average) per customer at all you can eat buffets? Do customers often eat more than the costs it took to serve them? answer: After having moved from TN to CA (bay area) I was surprised to see very few chinese/multi-asian cuisine buffets. The margins are too small and everything's too expensive here (except for the actual cost of buying food/groceries!, produce, most meats, fish, poultry cost the same though, goat is overpriced here). You might think that people are more health conscious, they are, but Asian people can fucking eat, that's probably the biggest reason why. Most buffet places would go out of business just because of all the hungry asians, esp. if you try to serve any kind of seafood. There are one or two buffet places, but where it would be $8.50 or $10 in TN it's $20 here. At that price I think I'll just go a la carte or just cook at home.", "reference": "question: How are buffets profitable? How much money is usually made (on average) per customer at all you can eat buffets? Do customers often eat more than the costs it took to serve them? answer: My average cost per guest is 1.90, the base entry is 10$ and sodas are 2.5$ of pure profit (soda is in that cost)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does congress have a 13% approval rate but incumbents are re-elected at a rate of 90%. answer: I wish my laptop worked as i could type this much faster. Here goes.\n\nApproval rating overall doesn't have much effect on specific people who get elected. Viewing congress as a whole is different than how people view their individual elected officials, particularly because you can pinpoint the projects a local official has taken part in and relate personally.\n\nMore importantly, incumbency and re election is a separate beast that rides on two main factors: name recognition and money. Incumbent re elections are very high because their names are at least recognized due to already having campaigned and been in office. People trust things they at lest have heard of. \n\nNext- money. Money is used to get  name recognition. Money is spent on flyers, signs, canvassing, events, renting office space, cold calling, paying finance directors to call people to get more money, etc. incumbents are already in the lead here because they already have the names of people they need to call, they already have franking privileges (mailing ) which saves a shitload of money. They have databases with information readily compiled from previous election runs. So a non-incumbent has to work a ton harder to raise money and get her name out there. \n\nThis kills me i cant keep typing maybe i write more later when laptop fixed", "reference": "question: Why does congress have a 13% approval rate but incumbents are re-elected at a rate of 90%. answer: How has gerrymandered districts not come up yet?  Gerrymandering produces safe districts that encourage extremism, as the only challenger will likely be the one more able to appeal to the district's base."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: 1. put on a pair of latex exam gloves\n2. dip your hands in paint almost to the top of the gloves\n3. take them off without getting any of the wet paint on your skin\n4. imagine how dangerous it is with \"invisible paint,\" i.e., if the surface of the gloves is contaminated with Ebola viruses without visible blood/body fluids to indicate that\n\nThat's why Ebola can infect people who understand the risks while not infecting household contacts of sick people. Victims go quickly from not-sick/not-contagious to deathly-ill/very contagious, and the only people still touching them once they're comatose and need their bloody diapers changed are health care personnel.", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: Direct contact with body fluids isn't all that hard. Somebody coughs or sneezes on you. I don't know why there's this strange campaign to discourage people from being cautious about serious illnesses. Wash your damn hands."}
{"candidate": "question: What does the term, \"taxpayers have to pay for it\" really mean?When speaking of anything in Government, any expense usually comes with the phrase, \"the taxpayers will have to pay for it\". How does the cost of something trickle down to taxpayers? Do our taxes go up and down every year depending on the budget? answer: Government is a service. The taxpayer is the served entity. Taxes are the means of payment. Governments have literally zero other income.\n\nNow you have probably been (mis)taught to think of government as a burden, but that's typically (in \"the west\") a illusion brought about by the fact that neither you, nor anybody you've likely spoken to at length, have ever lived outside of the protection of a government.\n\nSo every day you are privileged to _not_ need to step over starved corpses while dodging swarms of beggar children. When you turn on the taps there is usually water. When you turn on the switch there's usually light. The roads between home and whatever destination have a relatively reasonable level of wear and a minimal level of threat. You don't pay two-thirds of your income to a local warlord. That sort of thing.\n\nSo we pay taxes and fees under force of law because people are generally too stupid to fully understand why, if they live in city-A, the quality of roads in city-B may be vital to their survival.\n\nBasically people _want_ \"pay as you go\" (toll roads and such) to be true because they don't understand where their goods and services have been.\n\nBut I digress.\n\nSo your government doesn't have a stock portfolio. It's not independently wealthy. You, me, all of us pay for every single thing our government does. The government has to take in money to pay for every salary and paperclip and photocopy just like you and your job do.\n\nNothing is free.\n\nSo the government wants you to make as much money as you can make, because for every dollar you earn, they get thirty cents or so. If they can double your income they double their own.\n\nSo if someone needs the government to do anything for them, then the government pays for that out of the government's bank accounts, or by taking a loan.\n\nAnd just like you personally, if the government takes a loan today they still have to pay for things tomorrow, but now they also have a loan payment to make.\n\nSo generally the taxes you pay are based on what you earn, not the expenses the government has. It would be impossible to tune the monthly and yearly tax rates to the actual expenses.\n\nInstead, in an expensive year, loans are taken out. In a frugal year loans are repaid and \"surpluses\" arise.\n\nNow we, in the U.S. of late have had a problem. It is _popular_ to promise \"no new taxes\", as in no increases in taxation. But it's not _healthy_ to keep taking loans.\n\nSo various people in government promise to \"make up the difference\" by cutting various programs. But all those programs came into existence for one reason or another. You cut \"meals on wheels\" and those cuts are measured in starving senior citizens.\n\nSo people, again, being stupid about understanding what they are actually getting for any particular dollar, think saving XXX dollars from some social program is \"a bargain\" because _they_ \"don't need\" that program.\n\nBut the system is actually sort of fragile. Every time you starve one guy, you are giving that guy a motive to violate the social contract just to feed himself and his family.\n\nMeanwhile, if you cut this other program, say a defense contract, then some corporation might lay off five thousand people, and that cut then take the income tax from five thousand people out of the tax base and maybe even costs the taxpayer for their unemployment and food stamp benefits. And if they lose their houses then the mortgage loss insurance comes out of the tax income _and_ the property values go down costing property tax income.\n\nMeanwhile, some political interests \"cheat\". The entire middle-east war under G.W. was kept out of the official budget for nearly seven years. So a lot of loans were taken out but then the next president had to pay the bill instead.\n\nSo just like someone trying to scam extra time out of the power company by \"forgetting\" to sign the check they sent, there are various interests in various government offices that are trying to hide or shift blame for various expenses.\n\nSo there's all these forces and people of varying interests and agendas and they all want their \"absolutely necessary\" programs to get funding, and they all disparage someone else's \"absolutely necessary\" programs because, as stated, the average person has no clue what they are getting for their tax dollar.\n\nThe public spends hours and hours chasing pennies while billions of dollars flow around unnoticed.\n\nBut at the core, _eventually_ everything is paid for in tax dollars collected from tax payers.\n\nEVERYTHING.\n\nSo the various tax cuts and schemes come out of peoples pockets in the end.\n\nFor example, the whole \"trickle down economics\" scam was predicated on the idea that if we stopped asking the very rich for more money, the money the got to keep would end up employing \"more people\" and so raising the total tax collected. Unfortunately the truth is that the very rich don't spend all their money every month the way the very poor do. And if they get close they buy more expensive equipment. But that more expensive stuff took the same number of people to make. The guy pressing out the expensive brushed steel case makes about the same amount of money as the guy pressing out the cheap plastic case.\n\nSo the government wants as many people to have the best jobs possible.\n\nAnd lots of people have theories about how to get that maximum number of people in the best paying jobs possible.\n\nBut a lot of those theories don't make any sense. Like doubling the number of people working at Wal Mart doesn't do any good if the average Wal Mart employee needs to be on food stamps. And keeping the minimum wage so low that the average minimum wage worker doesn't pay any taxes is a bum deal as well.\n\nOther jokes are the resistance to \"free\" healthcare. Right now we send uninsured ear aches to the emergency room, so we \"save\" the cost of just giving them regular health care, but then we _spend_ three thousand dollars to give them eight bucks worth of antibiotics.\n\nSo the theories abound.\n\nThe old saying is \"penny wise but pound (e.g. dollar) foolish\". We are supposed to be hiring experts to tell us which pennies and dollars are which, but our elections are just popularity contests. And the tricky choices don't _win_ popularity contests.\n\nSubsequently we elect people based on how well they sell those theories and which theories we choose to believe in.\n\nBut every benefit gained, and every boondoggle lost... always comes as a bill due to the tax payer eventually.", "reference": "question: What does the term, \"taxpayers have to pay for it\" really mean?When speaking of anything in Government, any expense usually comes with the phrase, \"the taxpayers will have to pay for it\". How does the cost of something trickle down to taxpayers? Do our taxes go up and down every year depending on the budget? answer: The government has two main ways to get money: taxes and borrowing. Borrowing is limited by who will lend and too much government borrowing is considered bad. So while taxes don't change much year-to-year because borrowing more or less can make up the change in budget, in the long run if government spending goes up then so will taxes."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: I was adding a receptacle in a hospital as an electrician. The room was where they had pieces of people and they examined them while talking into a recorder. The technician was examining this piece of spleen, then went over and opened a cabinet without taking his gloves off.\n\nI don't know, maybe everyone in that room knows to leave their gloves on when opening that cabinet, but it seemed to me that would be a major breach of the rules regarding dealing with the bodily pieces of diseased humans.\n\nEdit: It was the histopathology room, if I remember right.", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: There's a neat video floating around out there in which a doctor uses chocolate sauce on a protective suit to show how easy it is to get fluid on yourself when taking the suit off."}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: Swede here. Why would it be a holiday?", "reference": "question: Why isn't there any passion from both Democrats and Republicans about making voting day a national holiday? answer: UK guy here. Why would this be needed? In the UK polling stations are open from early morning until well into the evening. Do US polling stations only open during office hours or something?"}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Since the Crimean war, Russia has been obsessed with access to the Sea, both for trade and transportation.  Also, the majority of folks living in Crimea are Russian in ethnicity.", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Ukraine has a lot of things Russia would normally like to have access to - natural resources  &  warm-water ports in particular. But Putin has made no secret of his desire to build something akin to the EU out of the old Soviet republics, and that simply can't happen unless he's got Ukraine on the team. This fall's referendum showing the country leaning towards warmer relations with the West (and the EU in particular) spurred Putin to direct action. He tried to get Ukraine on the sly by having his puppet Yanyukovich simply hand the country to Russia, but you see how well that went. Now he's got to take it by force if he wants it at all, and that's just what he's doing.\n\nTL/DR: Russia needs Ukraine far more than Ukraine needs Russia."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is cancer so prevalent nowadays?Pretty much everyone will have a close family member who suffers from cancer these days. I'm a little younger, so I'm not sure what people usually thought of cancer back before it was really understood. Is there a reason why it is so common now in contrast to decades ago? answer: So, basically everyone needs to die from something. In a Health Services Research course that I took last semester, my professor discussed this in detail.\n\nWe've managed to find ways to treat heart disease and respiratory ailments/infections. Cancer is a tougher nut to crack.\n\nHere's a link to the [CDC website that has 75 years of mortality in the US by cause](_URL_0_). You'll note that we've made progress in a lot of areas, but cancer is relatively stable. \n\nBecause of that, more people die from it because they *aren't* dieing from other things.\n\nDiagnostics have also gotten better at finding cancer sooner. This means that people might know they have extremely early stage tumors years before symptoms start. In the past, you knew you had cancer for maybe a year and then you just died.\n\nNow people can have a cancer diagnosis for years.\n\nTL;DR: Valar Morghulis, we're just better at other things, and we can detect it earlier now so people \"have cancer\" longer.", "reference": "question: Why is cancer so prevalent nowadays?Pretty much everyone will have a close family member who suffers from cancer these days. I'm a little younger, so I'm not sure what people usually thought of cancer back before it was really understood. Is there a reason why it is so common now in contrast to decades ago? answer: People are dying less of infectious diseases in the developed world today. Causes of death here in North American tend to be heart disease and cancer.\n\nYou can think of it as more people dying of cancer because everything else didn't have the chance to kill them first.\n\nGetting cancer is pretty much inevitable because it's not so much something that directly gave you cancer so much as your body failing to correct some damage caused (and it can be caused by almost anything including sunlight, contact with other humans, being near concrete, eating food, breathing oxygen, etc.) and that damage coincidentally leading to cells that keep dividing and refuse to die. You are actually getting things like cancer all the time, but your body is good at error detection and destroying compromised cells.\n\nThis is also why a singular \"cure for cancer\" is sort of a silly concept right now. Cancer is an entire categorization of things, and it's completely possible to have a completely unique cancer. What can be worked on are treatments for cancer and cures for very specific cancers. Childhood leukemia, for example, has a cure rate of 90%, and we are approaching the point where we can sort of call it cured.\n\nWe are also a lot better at diagnosing cancer now. Death records in the past included causes like \"heartbreak\", \"suddenness\", \"found dead in street\", \"stomach pains\", and etc."}
{"candidate": "question: If I eat myself to death, what actually kills me? answer: [Boerhaave Syndrome](_URL_3_)\n\nLearned this clinical pearl from a visiting UK resident when I was in medical school. This is basically when you eat too much and your esophagus blows up. There was a famous guy who this happened to and now he has an eponymous medical term.", "reference": "question: If I eat myself to death, what actually kills me? answer: Depends on what you're eating. My guess is that you get overloaded with electrolytes--salts and minerals found in food. These imbalances change the electric current in your heart and may induce lethal arrhythmias."}
{"candidate": "question: Do dogs understand their names, or do they just think it's a command meaning \"come here\" or \"look at me\"?[removed] answer: Dog's do not pass a mirror test so it's highly unlikely they have a sense of self.  For example if your dog's name is Fido, he doesn't understand Fido's place in the world.  \n\nThey do recognize there names, it's a bit of an illusion though.  For example if you have two dogs, and you give one of them a treat when you say Fido, and the other when you say Clifford, they learn that the respective words only apply to them.  \n\nFido knows he will never get a treat when he hears Clifford and Clifford knows he will never get a treat when he hears Fido.  \n\nSo do they know that \"they are Fido,\" or they are \"Clifford,\" no, but they can recognize the command only applies to them. \n\nYou can take this pretty far, for example you can say Fido come, and they will learn only to come if their name proceeds.  However you can do this w/ a two syllable command.  For example teach your dog to leave a treat on the floor until you say okay.  \n\nThen start saying things like Oklahoma or Oh Boy.  The dog can be trained to only move on okay.  So when you expand this to \"Fido come,\" they aren't learning \"the name,\" they are learning the multiple syllables that apply to them as they don't understand them as \"words,\" either.  \n\nWhich you can further break down just using random sounds.  Dogs will even learn that different whistles apply to different dogs and so on.    \n\nEdit: For reference regarding \"scent tests.\"  _URL_0_", "reference": "question: Do dogs understand their names, or do they just think it's a command meaning \"come here\" or \"look at me\"?[removed] answer: A theory is in fact they actually attenuate the name you give them to more or less something that they relate with when someone addresses them.\n\nThey don't have the concept of ownership and self though, so basically they know the word means you are speaking to them but they have no concept of what names are."}
{"candidate": "question: ELI5: Why do people involved in extremely embarrassing situations on TV shows like Cops or Jail consent to being on television?[removed] answer: Why do they need a waiver when the events take place in public where you have no expectation of privacy?", "reference": "question: ELI5: Why do people involved in extremely embarrassing situations on TV shows like Cops or Jail consent to being on television?[removed] answer: I have a friend who appeared on Rugged Justice on Animal Planet, he claimed they offered him a few hundred bucks to sign the waiver. He took the money."}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: So basically hypnosis is as stupid as I ever thought it was? Alright.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: Everyone who shares there Experience is sharing horrible stage performances.  That's not hypnosis. That's a parlor trick. It's almost impossible to do it to groups properly. Let's here more form the people who did it 1:1 at a licensed hypnotherapy session."}
{"candidate": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: One thing bout biological evolution.  If it doesn't kill you before you breed, or inhibit breeding in any other way, it will not be thinned out from the gene pool.", "reference": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: There's no scientific evidence for it. Celiac disease is a thing. Gluten intolerance appears not to be. A lot of people say they have it, but there is no evidence under lab conditions. Here's an easy to read article that cites sources: _URL_14_"}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: Put ink on your hands now try to take off your protective gear without getting ink on anything else. You will see that the ink transfers. Now switch the ink for an invisible virus.", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: My mom's husband had a stroke on monday morning. When I went to the hospital I watched the physical therapy doctor rub her nose with the glove on. Then touch his feet to check for sensation. Then touch his hands. Made him touch his face. Rubbed her hands on his face (to check for sensation). Then she scratched her chin. \n\nI just kept thinking how could you be so bad about this?"}
{"candidate": "question: if the aim of the prison system is to reintegrate felons into society why are they branded for life in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to get a job?[removed] answer: Criminal justice graduate. This is one of the biggest statements the prison system makes, that reform is their main goal asking with punishment. Implementing it has been difficult but the transition is coming along. Many prisons offer programs that would have been laughed at 40 years ago. Education programs, work release programs, mental health programs etc. The problem really lies with us, the American public. We've made it clear we want to know people's past and be able to judge them accordingly. Mainly because of things like the recidivism rate being so high. Which comes back around to poor reform. Basically most Americans want to know who the \"ex-cons\" are to \"keep an eye\" on them.", "reference": "question: if the aim of the prison system is to reintegrate felons into society why are they branded for life in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to get a job?[removed] answer: It's because the us population really doesn't care about rehabilitating its prisoners. We've shown over and over again in elections that we prefer to be \"tough on crime\" and our justice system is as such. Never mind the fact that major jail time has been shown to be a poor deterrent because most criminals are criminals out of economic necessity rather than a concious choice to be a danny ocean-esque thief. Furthermore we've shown a sort of sentancing inflation where crimes way disproportionately punish people. When people think of prisons they think rapists and murderers and like someone else in this thread already did they make the leap that grandmas murderer will be getting it easy. Furthermore somehow we've made the idea of a private prison exist. Like how in anyway shape or form that is a thing I don't know but private prisons actively campaign to keep jail time flowing so they can keep raking in inmates and money. Finally add in the troubling issue where minorities frequently garner stiffer penalties than whites and you have one mess of a prison system. Its almost impossible to reform becausd nobody wants to be on record as being soft for rapists and murderers"}
{"candidate": "question: Why do we get so tired from travelling, when most of the time is spent sitting still?[removed] answer: Many factors contribute to fatigue while traveling.  \n\nFor one, being on a plane is surprisingly loud.  Which makes for a tough environment to sleep in.\n\nAlong with the noise, you are sitting in a low pressure environment which is also very dry.  This leads to quick dehydration, of which a symptom is fatigue.\n\nCouple that with time-zone changes, it makes for being quite tired upon arrival.", "reference": "question: Why do we get so tired from travelling, when most of the time is spent sitting still?[removed] answer: It is stress for sure. My last airport adventure: \n\nArrive about 1.5 hours before my flight from LAX because LA traffic was insane. \n\nStand in a barely moving line for half an hour while every other person cuts in front because they are more privileged somehow. \n\nGet patted down and bomb checked because I'm a diabetic, forget something on the conveyor belt because it took the rookies 10 min to figure out how to do the bomb check.  \n\nGet on plane ~30 min before departure.  Realize something (probably laptop that they make you take out for some reason) was left on conveyor.  \n\nSPRINT LIKE ALL HELL back. \n\nSPRINT BACK TO PLANE.  \n\nLook out window to see plane pulling out 15 min before the intended departure time(WHYYYYYYYYYYYY).\n\nGet put on new flight an hour later for another 100$\n\nSit in between two fat, smelly, snoring mouth breathers. \n\nTry to sleep.\n\n Get woken up every 2 min by pointless DING there's turbulence (OH RLY). \n\nGet to airport. \n\nWait for suitcases.\n\n Large luggage doesn't come for 30 min. \n\nComplain to literally 30 different teirs of airport heirarchy before they start looking for bags. \n\n\nFinally get bag put in some random locked room. \n\nWait 30 min for bus.  \n\nRealize its the wrong bus.  \n\nWait 30 more min for bus. \n\nGet back to school. \n\nRealize it would have been shorter to just drive."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do some things like gasoline, fingernail polish, and rubbing alchohol smell good to some people but awful to othersI love these smells while my bf hates them but actually likes the smell of skunks\n answer: A lot of it is association.  I love the smell of chlorine because it reminds me of swimming at the pool when I was little, and I actually like the smell of skunks because it reminds me of the time I spent living in Alabama.  There's a certain perfume that I can't stand - it was worn by my evil 4th grade teacher.  I don't know what perfume it is, but every now and then I get a whiff of it and feel instant hate.", "reference": "question: Why do some things like gasoline, fingernail polish, and rubbing alchohol smell good to some people but awful to othersI love these smells while my bf hates them but actually likes the smell of skunks\n answer: Idk why the fuck do I love the smell of my - and just mine, by the way - used sleep shirts. I sweat a LOT in my sleep, you think I would be disgusted, but... no.\n\nEdit: Most useless fucking comment ever, I am so sorry."}
{"candidate": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: Easy. Because if they gave the money to the home-owners, the home-owners would get to keep their homes.\n\nThis way, the banks gets bailed out for the bad loan (ie, no losses).. AND.. they also get your home, which they can sell... and then someday give you another loan, so you can have a place to live.\n\nUnder your scenario, everyone wins. Under the real scenario that happened, the bank wins twice.. and you lose..so, obviously, they're going to go with the latter", "reference": "question: Why didn't the federal government give bailout money to home owners instead of the banks?Why didn't the federal government give bailout money directly to homeowners in pre foreclosure, with stipulation that money must be used towards their mortgage?  Wouldn't this have ultimately achieved the same result (bank getting the bailout money) without so many people being foreclosed on?  answer: Comments here are terrible, filled with ignorant comments from people with no financial background and a few crackpot theories"}
{"candidate": "question: If we were to dig a straight hole from one side of the Earth, through the core and everything, to the other side, what would happen to our planet?Obviously assuming we had indestructible tools, we weren't pressurized to death, and the process itself being fairly quick. Also: not interested in what would happen if a human jumped through - it's been asked and answered before. I'm interested in the consequences for Earth. Would lava spill from both sides nonstop? Would something happen to the Earth's magnetic field and/or the gravitational pull? How would it affect life as we know it? What would happen, let's say, 100 years after the holes were first made?\n\nEdit: I probably should've mentioned the size of the hole... When I thought of this question, I was thinking about the size of an average house. It's been mentioned that unless the hole was hundreds of miles across, we wouldn't get cool cataclysmic effects :( answer: That is a big IF, padwan.  Current technology cannot even pierce the earth's mantle.", "reference": "question: If we were to dig a straight hole from one side of the Earth, through the core and everything, to the other side, what would happen to our planet?Obviously assuming we had indestructible tools, we weren't pressurized to death, and the process itself being fairly quick. Also: not interested in what would happen if a human jumped through - it's been asked and answered before. I'm interested in the consequences for Earth. Would lava spill from both sides nonstop? Would something happen to the Earth's magnetic field and/or the gravitational pull? How would it affect life as we know it? What would happen, let's say, 100 years after the holes were first made?\n\nEdit: I probably should've mentioned the size of the hole... When I thought of this question, I was thinking about the size of an average house. It's been mentioned that unless the hole was hundreds of miles across, we wouldn't get cool cataclysmic effects :( answer: As you probably know Earth's magnetic field is generated by the motion of molten iron in the Earth's core. Digging through the core would no doubt disrupt this motion, and weaken if not destroy our magnetic field. No magnetic field means almost certain extinction of life on Earth. Bummer.\n\nAssuming our magnetic field was left intact, the question of where the material from the hole would end up arises. Wherever it was, a lot of the Earth's mass would now be there, which might skew the Earth's gravitational pull.\n\nI'm not an expert so I'm probably wrong. I'd love to hear an answer from someone who knows what they're talking about though. Very interesting question indeed."}
{"candidate": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: Actual medically diagnosed gluten sensitivities, due either to Celiac Disease or allergy, remain extremely rare. There is zero evidence that either of those conditions are any more common today than they were a thousand years ago.\n\nHowever, they do exist. There are, and always have been, people among us who are negatively impacted by gluten. The difference is that those people now have access to social media where they can tell many, many people at a time how terrible their symptoms are. And a lot of those people hear that and wrongly believe that gluten is bad for everybody. They begin to manifest psychosomatic symptoms, futher convincing them. Then they find out, after further research, that not everybody has this sensitivity. But their imagined symptoms convince them that they themselves do. Thus is born their claim of gluten sensitivity in the absence of any medical diagnosis. \n\nThe same exact thing has happened with aspartame. There is an exceedingly rare condition called phenylketonuria that makes aspartame very toxic to its sufferers. I knew a girl in highschool who had it. Aspartame would give her seizures. But, like I said, it's rare. For anybody without phenylketonuria, aspartame is harmless. But the symptoms of phenylketonuria hit social media and people read about it and concluded that aspartame must be terribly toxic! The result is that a huge movement of scientifically illiterate people are now anti-aspartame. Nevermind that this logic is exactly the same as saying that nobody should ever eat seafood because some people are allergic to it.  (Personally, I avoid aspartame drinks because they all taste like the first syllable in \"aspartame\" - but I'm not afraid of them.)", "reference": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: Because our farming industry is using round up to dry the entire wheat field out 7-10 days before pulling the crop. It adds additional wheat to the harvest but remains in the food after production. Great idea in motion since the early 90's."}
{"candidate": "question: why do I feel like everything is more quiet in the morning so that I have to turn the volume down from last night.When you have your tv set to a certain volume at night and you wake up and it seems way to loud, it seems weird to me. Edit: front page, thanks guys, shout out to Lars Tim and Mallory for reading this. answer: It's just the opposite for me. My tv always seems too quiet in the morning. Interesting.", "reference": "question: why do I feel like everything is more quiet in the morning so that I have to turn the volume down from last night.When you have your tv set to a certain volume at night and you wake up and it seems way to loud, it seems weird to me. Edit: front page, thanks guys, shout out to Lars Tim and Mallory for reading this. answer: This is related to neurons' refractory period. When a neuron fires, it needs time to reset the charged particles it has to fire again. If it has to fire again before it has fully recovered, it will fire with less intensity than it previously had. If it has to continually fire, it will gradually decrease in intensity. So as the neurons in your ear fire all day, they fire less to louder noises and you need to turn up the volume on things. After you sleep in a quiet room all night, the neurons \"recharge\" and quieter things can set them off again.\n\nEdit: Shouldn't have said desensitization."}
{"candidate": "question: how does tuning an instrument (like guitar) down help musicians hit higher notes singing? answer: It doesn't. The singer still has an achievable range of notes in their voice. Tuning an instrument down doesn't allow them to go above the range, but what it does is tune down the entire key of the song down by a relative amount. That means that if a singers' top note in their range is a high D for example, and the top note in the song (with normal tuning) is a high E, tuning the instrument down a step allows the singer to sing the song a note further down the scale which would then make the high note in the song a high D, and therefore achievable by the singer.", "reference": "question: how does tuning an instrument (like guitar) down help musicians hit higher notes singing? answer: If the pitch of the song is too high for the singers voice to comfortably sing, lowering the octave can allow the singer to hit the notes."}
{"candidate": "question: - Is it safe to assume, as we haven't encountered any time travellers, that humans will never achieve time travel?Or is it proven to be impossible anyway?  answer: We are not currently aware of any way to make it happen, but that sort of statement always comes with the asterisk \"...unless our current understanding is incorrect\". In fact, we know that some aspects of our current understanding are wrong, we just don't know how to fix them yet.\n\nThe lack of evidence for someone traveling back to the current time is often cited as evidence against it being possible, however.", "reference": "question: - Is it safe to assume, as we haven't encountered any time travellers, that humans will never achieve time travel?Or is it proven to be impossible anyway?  answer: As far as we know, it's not possible to travel backwards in time. \n\nAlso, if you were a time traveler, would you come back to 2014? It's pretty shitty and not that exciting compared to other times."}
{"candidate": "question: How many sides can a shape have before it becomes a circle and does the concept of geometry exist on the very small scale?[removed] answer: If we're dealing in perfect polygons(equilateral triangle,square,pentagon,etc) the angle of each corner is always the same. The most common measurement for angles is degrees(90 degree angle for square). Degrees can be split into 60 minutes, which in turn can be split into 60 seconds. This gives you 360 spaces within each degree angle. 360 times 360 equals 129,600, meaning the closest thing to a circle in this measurement system has 129,600 sides. You can technically split things up further, but as far as I have discovered, I do not know of any mathematical usage for such. If you use a different angle measurement system, like gradians, you can go further, but again I don't know what it would accomplish. For funsies, the Megagon is a million-sided polygon with an inside angle of 179.99964 degrees, or 199.999603411 gradians. So close to a circle that each side would have to be a football field long for you to notice the difference.\n\nEdit: I took this a step further because I made myself curious. If the side of a perfect megagon was 100 yards long, and one side was flat on the ground, the far end of the next side would be 0.000628 yards, or two one-hundredths of an inch, off the ground. So a football field isn't even enough. Let's up the ante. If our megagon was 100 miles on one side flat on the ground, the far end of the next side would be 0.000628 miles, or approximately 3 feet 4 inches, off the ground.", "reference": "question: How many sides can a shape have before it becomes a circle and does the concept of geometry exist on the very small scale?[removed] answer: You can somewhat define an ellipse/circle as a polygon with infinite sides. If by small scale you mean molecular, then essentially yes. Current models of molecular geometry are supported by experimental data."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: Ebola has very very high concentrations of virus particles.  I drop of blood of an aids patient has maybe a million virus particles.  A drop of bodily fluids of an Ebola patient has ten billion.", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: The other top answers are terrible\n\nELI5 - improper use of safety equipment, including the point at which you take it off.\n\nUnderstand that few nurses regularly deal with \"isolation\" patients, let alone a level-3 quarantine biological agent. So it's somewhat understandable that they aren't perfect when using protective gear. Unfortunately viruses aren't forgiving if you, for example, accidentally touch the outside of your gloves or headgear.\n\nSource - wife works with level 1 and 2 biological agents"}
{"candidate": "question: I remember old games in higher graphics than they actually were. answer: A) You had smaller tv screens and B) didn't have a comparison point with higher graphic games yet.", "reference": "question: I remember old games in higher graphics than they actually were. answer: Another factor is you were probably playing them on either a small monitor or a large TV that wasn't very sharp.\n\nIn both cases that helps to make low resolution graphics less apparent by smoothing the pixels out. [Here's an image to illustrate](_URL_0_) (edit: make sure you view the image at full size)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I was under the impression that the Red Cross had tried this at some point in the past, but it undermined the \"giving blood = altruism\" thing and turned it into an economic transaction, which significantly undermined the desire to participate in the general public.  Can't find a source for that, though.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I worked for Canadian Blood Services as an analyst- maybe I can help you out. In short- there is no blood shortage for most blood types. Due to the different surgical methods of reusing your own blood and laparoscopy, the demand for blood has dropped significantly. The reason why blood costs so much in American hospitals has to be mark up. In Australia and Canada, the cost per unit of blood is under $400. This includes collection (voluntary donation), testing, processing, and distribution."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is right-handedness dominant? answer: I'd venture to guess that right and left handedness have little to nothing to do with human evolution. Many animals exhibit \"rightedness\" which is dominant over \"leftedness\". For example, many crabs are \"right-clawed\" and most snails coil their shells so that their opening is on the right. I'm sure there are many other examples, but those are two that I can come up with off the top of my head.\n\nJudging by the wiki entry on handedness, there is no actual consensus on the matter. As I suggested above, I'd argue that the roots of handedness are much, much older than humanity.", "reference": "question: Why is right-handedness dominant? answer: One theory:\n\nThe reason we have hand dominance is for practically using tools effectively. Humans cooperate using tools all the time. A right handed tool will not necessarily work for a left handed person. In this case, humans evolved to create a hand dominance through cooperation. Those early civilizations that had a hand dominance were able to cooperate more, which led to better successes. Why it was the right hand could be just considered coincidence.\n\nSo why do we have left handed dominance? That's because just as important as it was to cooperate, it was also just as important to compete. If you look at professional athletes today, almost %50 of them are left handed, which is an extremely higher percentage than total number of left handed people (less than 10%). Civilizations that had at least *some* left hand dominant people were able to compete better.\n\nTL;DR - Majority dominance allows more cooperation. Minority dominance allows better competition."}
{"candidate": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: _URL_7_\n\nIn one 2001 experiment, they gave white wine and white wine colored red with *food coloring* and the experts didn't catch on and described the white as if it were a red wine.\n\nHe also placed the same middling wine into a premium and low-end bottle and of course got TOTALLY different descriptions of the same wine, from \"experts\".", "reference": "question: Do people reviewing alcoholic beverages really taste all the wacky things they claim to?Don't get me wrong, I love a good glass of wine or scotch, but I've been browsing r/scotch and reading the reviews confuses the hell out of me. I've never had a glass of scotch and tasted \"buttery banana\", \"Canned pears\", \"marmalade sweetness\", \"Robusta coffee with condensed milk\", \"fertile soil and rotting leaves\", \"Rock salt and minerals\", or \"Chili flakes and smoked paprika\".\n\nAll of the descriptions above were not compiled from a series of posts, but rather came from a single review of one type of scotch by one person.\n\nDo people who give reviews in this way *actually* taste all of these things when they take a drink? Do they just have far more developed palates than I do, and are thus able to distinguish these flavors, or are they just making it up to sound like they know what they're doing? answer: Home brewer here. The simple answer to your question is yes. I've been drinking a smorgasbord of different beers that claim different varieties of flavors and I can tell you if you drink enough you will start to notice. A lot of people usually can't tell what specific flavors they're tasting, because they don't know exactly what they're noticing, it's just beer flavor. If you drink enough of anything, you can start noticing different subtleties in them all."}
{"candidate": "question: Even though America has spent 10 years and over $100 billion to recruit, train and arm the Iraqi military, they still seem as inept as ever and run away from fights. What went wrong?News reports seem to indicate that ISIS has been able to easily route Iraqi's military and capture large supplies of weapons, ammunition and vehicles abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers.  Am I the only one who expected them to put up a better defense of their country?\n\nEDIT:  Many people feel strongly about this issue.  Made it all the way to Reddit front page for a while!  I am particularly appreciative of the many, many military personnel who shared their eyewitness accounts of what has been happening in Iraq in recent years and leading up to the ISIS issue.  VERY informative. answer: I think it is important to mention the existing Iraqi army that was disbanded after the invasion in 2003. Many of the low level soldiers were not necessarily loyal to Saddam. They were fairly well trained and organized. Many of them joined the insurgency against the U.S. because the Coalition Provisional Authority unilaterally stripped them of their income and to some extent their dignity. If the CPA had only gotten rid of the leaders of the Iraqi army and encouraged the rank and file guys to side with the U.S., I think things would have gone a lot more smoothly. Keep in mind, Iraq had a relatively modern and industrialized economy prior to the invasion.", "reference": "question: Even though America has spent 10 years and over $100 billion to recruit, train and arm the Iraqi military, they still seem as inept as ever and run away from fights. What went wrong?News reports seem to indicate that ISIS has been able to easily route Iraqi's military and capture large supplies of weapons, ammunition and vehicles abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers.  Am I the only one who expected them to put up a better defense of their country?\n\nEDIT:  Many people feel strongly about this issue.  Made it all the way to Reddit front page for a while!  I am particularly appreciative of the many, many military personnel who shared their eyewitness accounts of what has been happening in Iraq in recent years and leading up to the ISIS issue.  VERY informative. answer: The US thought that the concept of \"The Nation of Iraq\" was something that the people there cared about.\n\nA US soldier will fight to the bitter end to defend an American city he's never been to filled with people he's never met.\n\nThat's not the case in Iraq.  The people there have much stronger allegiances to their religious, ethnic, and tribal groups than the nation as a whole.\n\nThe Shiite Arab soldiers in the army would rather leave the Sunni arabs and Kurds to their fate than bother protecting them.\n\nThe Sunni Arab soldiers in the army would rather let ISIS crush the Shiite led government and worry about the whole Sharia BS later.\n\nThe Kurds have their own military force that operates independently of the Iraqi military and has been far more effective.\n\nEdit: There's some good discussion in the later posts on this comment, so I'll address a few of them:\n\n1) Why hasn't there been any serious discussion of a three state solution?\n\nThere are a few reasons behind this (although it is a likely outcome in the long term).  For starters, the Shiites [control much of the arable land near the persian gulf](_URL_1_) (Thanks to u/perevod for the map).  The Sunnis have been mostly ejected from Baghdad and the surrounding areas over the years.  When carving up an oil rich, difficult to farm territory like Iraq you'll inevitably get conflicts about who owns what.  Neither side is likely to peacefully yield valuable farmland and oil fields to the other, regardless of who is currently residing there.\n\nThere's also the Turkey problem.  There are large populations of Kurds in Syria and Turkey.  The Iraqi and Syrian Kurds are effectively autonomous at this point, those In iraq have their own government, military, and utilities infrastructure.  The Syrian government has little influence in Kurdish regions of Syria, preferring to defend their strongholds and let the Kurdish Peshmerga, FSA, and ISIS fight over the rest.\n\nThe Kurds in Turkey have been fighting an on-and-off war of independence to break away from Turkey and join their Iraqi and Syrian brothers in forming an independent Kurdish state.  Turkey strongly opposes this and the US has been reluctant to support the Kurdish forces in ways that will strengthen the independence movement.  The US and Turkey have been close allies since the Cold War, but the relationship has broken down in recent years as the region has destabilized.\n\n2) Why hasn't Bashar Al-Assad's military dissolved like the Iraqi military?\n\nA large number of Syrian military forces actually did defect to the Free Syrian Army early in the conflict, but they weren't able to hold off the more numerous (and better funded) loyalist forces in the long term.\n\nThe loyalist forces are a minority religious sect known as the Alawites, and they've been targets of harassment and oppression in the region for centuries.  Al-Assad's remaining forces are fiercely loyal because they're defending their people from discrimination at the hands of the rebels and execution at the hands of ISIS.\n\nThere is a similar situation forming in Iraq.  The Sunni members of the military have largely disappeared since ISIS is a Sunni group and treats them reasonably well.  The Shiite members have retreated to the Shiite territory and joined forces with the old [Shiite militias](_URL_0_).  Together they actually do form a formidable fighting force, one that will be able to defend Baghdad from ISIS indefinitely if it comes to that.\n\nIn both countries you're seeing the military splinter along religious and ethnic lines, with the ruling party's forces staying loyal but opting to only defend their territory, not the nation as a whole.\n\nIt all comes back to the original issue, there is no Iraq and there is no Syria.  There are Alawites, Sunnis, and Shiites.  There are Arabs, Persians, and Kurds.  There are many groups fighting for many things, but none of them care much for the notion of Iraq and Syria in their 20th century form."}
{"candidate": "question: Why humans are relatively hairless?What happened in the evolution somewhere along the line that we lost all our hair? Monkeys and neanderthals were nearly covered in hair, why did we lose it except it some places?\n\nBonus question: Why did we keep the certain places we do have? What do eyebrows and head hair do for us and why have we had them for so long?\n\nWouldn't having hair/fur be a pretty significant advantage? We wouldnt have to worry about buying a fur coat for winter.\n\n-\n\nedit: thanks for the responses guys!\n\n-\n\nedit2: what the actual **** did i actually hit front page while i watched the super bowl\n\n-\n\nedit3: *stop telling me we have the same number of follicles as chimps, that doesn't answer my question and you know it* answer: There are more than a few theories to this evolution. As most have mentioned, hairlessness is great for body heat regulation which would aid our ancestor's long marathon hunts. I do recall reading somewhere, that a theory for our hairlessness is that we evolved from an ancestral ape to be more aquatic. Hairlessness is perfect for a semi-aquatic animal to hunt in the ocean and be able to swim more effectively. The water also would act as a back support which explains our ability to walk upright as well. If someone finds an article either disproving or providing more info on this, please post it.", "reference": "question: Why humans are relatively hairless?What happened in the evolution somewhere along the line that we lost all our hair? Monkeys and neanderthals were nearly covered in hair, why did we lose it except it some places?\n\nBonus question: Why did we keep the certain places we do have? What do eyebrows and head hair do for us and why have we had them for so long?\n\nWouldn't having hair/fur be a pretty significant advantage? We wouldnt have to worry about buying a fur coat for winter.\n\n-\n\nedit: thanks for the responses guys!\n\n-\n\nedit2: what the actual **** did i actually hit front page while i watched the super bowl\n\n-\n\nedit3: *stop telling me we have the same number of follicles as chimps, that doesn't answer my question and you know it* answer: Essentially, our need to keep cool by sweating was greater than our need to keep warm with fur"}
{"candidate": "question: If Brian Williams lies once and gets fired, Why is someone like Bill O'Reilly still on the air? answer: Nice \"I hate Fox News\" circle jerk going on here. But the fact remains that Williams got called out by the actual military pilot who flew him on the date in question who said his incident was entirely fabricated. O'Reilly got \"called out\" by a known extreme left wing magazine, and then had several third party respected journalists back him up saying, \"Eh, did he use language to make it sound as dramatic as possible? Yeah, but he didn't make the whole thing up, it basically happened as described.\"\n\nIf anything continued coverage only makes O'Reilly look like a legit martyr since the two incidents are not really comprable, but moreover MoJo sold it's status as a leftist but serious mag to try and hit piece O'Reilly, and now looks like a petty junior varsity rag because they didn't fact check with third parties before running with their story just for the sake of trying to get Bill. No one is going to back Williams the same way because he lied to combat troops about combat and was called out by combat vets. No where near the same thing as spinning a story to sound more exciting than it really was and getting \"called out\" by a political rival.", "reference": "question: If Brian Williams lies once and gets fired, Why is someone like Bill O'Reilly still on the air? answer: Another important distinction. O'Reilly's mishaps were from the the 70s and 80s, which gives significantly more plausibility to him misspeaking. \n\nThe \"FoxNews is dumb\" circle jerk is seriously the most pathetic shit I have ever seen. You dim wits are perpetuating a myth based on your incredible ignorance. I am not saying FoxNews is not sensationalist or sometimes inaccurate. However, it is on par with MSNBC, which is its competitor on the other end of the spectrum. Stop being fucking pawns just because you hate conservatives. You're seriously embarrassing yourselves. Fucking sad."}
{"candidate": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: those are the rules for using public roads.  You can own a car without insurance or even a licence if you drive it on private roads.", "reference": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: Only liability is mandatory. In short it is to protect people that you might hit so that they don't have to pay up or risk their premium increasing because of an accident that wasn't their fault. \n\nI am completely for universal health care but the discourse on the matter has not gotten to a point nationally where people view it as an infringement on others abilities to be healthy. The reason it is \"unconstitutional\" rather than simply unconstitutional (without the quotations) is because it violates \"life liberty and the pursuit of happiness\"  in what is considered to be a fundamentally different way."}
{"candidate": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: I went to a therapist for awhile because of some issues within my family and I discovered I was a sociopath. they sent me to a psychiatrist and I found out after, and I still kept seeing my therapist. The thing is, You'd never notice because I have no trouble making friends and unless I told you, which I never do because people think I'm some murderous, crazy bastard. \n\nNow mind you, there are several different kinds of sociopathy and it really varies for each person. There are different levels of severity as well, and I'm not a full fledged sociopath, but the psychiatrist I saw told me that I showed signs of a \"sociopathic personality\" so, the way my therapist explained it to me, was basically having a better grasp at the cause and effect of situations that deal with emotions and are much more keen to the emotions of others while not stopping to think of our own sometimes. It was really just a nicer way of telling me how I have a tendency to be manipulative, which is totally true. We notice little things and take mental notes and analyze how certain behaviors and actions affect people, and we can use that to our advantage. This is why you see a lot of sociopaths who are police officers, because who can be better at tricking you into giving up that pot in your glovebox after simply stopping you for a broken tail light, than a master of manipulation? \n\nAnother thing, is that we're very, very good liars. I have all my friends convinced that I'm just a regular joe, and not a sociopath. How have I done that? Lying. I've lied to my parents, friends, family, you name it, I've probably lied to it. Sociopaths always have ulterior motives, but you'd never know because we've done so well at convincing you otherwise. \n\nNow about the whole, lack of empathy part, it's not that we're cold hearted bastards with no soul, we're just more accepting at being an asshole than others. Which is really the simplest way I can explain being a sociopath. I have feelings. I love my friends and I don't have many, but my closely knit friend group would never be under the influence of my sociopathic super powers, because I don't have to. Did I use them to get them to like me more in the first place? Yes, but they'll never know. There's just certain things that we have no problem in not having a guilty conscience about. Am I buying you a drink because I'm just deciding to be nice? Nope. I'm buying you a drink because in the future I know you'll buy me one and you'll tell your friends and then they'll possibly buy me drinks. who doesn't like free drinks every once in awhile? \n\nSociopaths are really misunderstood, and I'd really suggest that anyone who thinks they might be a sociopath, talks to their doctor or goes to see a psychiatrist. You're not crazy, you're still a human being.", "reference": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: Not a sociopath, and certainly not an expert, but I can make analogies pretty well.\n\nWhen you learn to write at a young age, your habits stick with you for your entire life. For instance, I learned to hold the pencil the wrong way, and therefore I will forever have bad handwriting. In addition, I picked up many bad writing habits (such as starting from the bottom and not finishing at the top) and overall, my writing technique leaves shaky, uneven letters.\n\nWhen I was younger this could have been fixed, because I was learning the mechanics and details of writing. Writing was very akin to drawing a series of pictures, and each time I wrote letters and sentences it was kind of like relearning everything. Each time I was figuring out the best way to draw the pictures, and I was experimenting.\n\nHowever, now writing letters is routine. It's no longer like drawing pictures, I'm just writing the letters I always have, in the same way I always have. The TV show White Collar explains this very well; if you want to forge a signature, forge it upside-down. That way, you aren't rewriting the text in front of you, you're drawing an unfamiliar picture that happens to be the upside-down text of the name you want to forge.\n\nLikeable social habits aren't hard to replicate, and almost everyone knows what the likeable habits are and what the unlikeable habits are.  But non-sociopaths have been living and breathing these habits their entire lives. It comes naturally. It's routine. It's writing letters. If we tried really, really hard, and changed our mindset, maybe we could present ourselves as likeable, magnetic people, just like many sociopaths. But that would go against our nature and our natural personalities. It'd be putting up a mask.\n\nSociopaths don't feel these emotions. At least, not to the same extent. Many feel like they need to replicate these emotions to fit into normal society, but it's not a real emotion that they're feeling. It's a show, or a mask. They're presenting themselves in a certain way contrary to what they're actually feeling. And the way they present themselves is the one that makes social life easiest. The one that makes everyone like them and everything agreeable. They become magnetic, likeable people by mimicing the likeable traits that they've observed in others. They're not writing the routine letters. They're copying the pictures."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't surgeons simply cut out the fat and excess skin or perform extreme liposuction to people that weigh 500+lbs?[removed] answer: I don't know. Why can't fat people just cut out fat and extra calories from their diet?", "reference": "question: Why can't surgeons simply cut out the fat and excess skin or perform extreme liposuction to people that weigh 500+lbs?[removed] answer: Fat cells grow large with the accumulation of more fat, but they don't divide and make more cells. If you remove the cells, fat can't be stored in that place as well.  There is more risk associated with fat around the organs than in fat under the skin, but the organ fat is more difficult to remove.  Remove the fat under the skin, and then all of the excess energy needs to get stored around the organs - not safe.  \nFat storage problems are then coupled with the difficulty of anesthesia on an obese person due to a difficult airway, excess pressure on the chest due to weight, and the cardiovascular complications of obesity."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: British here, seems we gained loads from invading poor countries. Can't see why it won't work for others!", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Here the the real reason. \n\n* USSR falls. Ukraine becomes independent, but clearly in Russian Sphere of Influence.\n* Russia bullies Ukraine and screws them. Government is corrupt and in Russia's back pocket.\n* Ukrainian people says \"fuck you Russia,we'll try to join the EU\" and become their trade partner instead. Overthrow the government.\n* Russia is pissed and is afraid of a domino effect of EU expansion into Eastern Europe costing it trade/sphere of influence.\n* Russia wants to assert Eastern Europe is \"theirs\" and is willing to use military to do so by saying the people can't overthrow the government.\n* As Tornada said Putin will hold power no matter what, so blowback doesn't matter."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does it seem that the more religious a society is, the more anti-sex it is? answer: This is a larger issue: Abrahamic religions are anti sex because they see matter and flesh as a degeneration of the divine.\n\nThey consider what remains after death the only worthy part of the human experience.\n\n\"Non-Dual\" schools of mysticism (Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, Tantrism...) on the other hand tends to have a more sane approach to sexuality since they consider enlightenment to be the union (Yoga) of the grossest parts of your manifestation to the most refined part of your being (Brahman), realizing unity in the very flesh,  they even consider sexuality as a tool for \"spiritual transformation\".", "reference": "question: Why does it seem that the more religious a society is, the more anti-sex it is? answer: Control sex and you control social norms. By creating social norms you control the behavior of the people within a society, and deviance from those norms cause the people to look at you for answers, imbuing you with power in the process. Power is then wielded in political spectrums, allowing those with power to further enforce the norms and punish deviance.\n\nReligion inherently seeks to attain and exert power over people, this is just one way of accomplishing that."}
{"candidate": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: Roman concrete was far stronger than ours today:\n\n_URL_45_", "reference": "question: How can Roman bridges be still standing after 2000 years, but my 10 year old concrete driveway is cracking? answer: What did the romans ever do for us?"}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: There's a lot of great info here by some people and others not so much. There's a synergistic effect of all these systems working together, and you can mentally steel yourself to the cold, but no one has seemed to mention the largest contributing factor; cholesterol.\n\nCholesterol is a very important molecule in physiology. Within this context its role is within cell walls. Cholesterol fits in-between fatty acids within the phospholipid bilayer. It's concentration effects cell rigidity or flexibility.\n\nGreater amounts of cholesterol will be sent to the cells to protect them from cold shock and increase an organisms tolerance to exposure. This cholesterol comes from diet or adipocytes and profound effects roll out from here. While the composition of lipids within the bilayer will change to less unsaturated fats and more saturated so that they stack better, cholesterol is the key to this whole ordeal. \n\nThere is a lot more going on from a biochemical standpoint but that's the main factor. Not very ELI5 but it's how it works.", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: Wim Hof brings everything we thought about cold exposure into question, and he's letting scientists observe all of it. The man is a beast."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do i feel so tired when I've slept for 10 hours instead of 8? And also, why the headache? answer: As was said before, the headache is from dehydration and low blood-sugar.  The reason breakfast is called breakfast is because you've been fasting for approx. 8 hours and you're now breaking the fast.\n\nAs to why you're feeling sleepy and such, your brain isn't sleeping as long as it *wants*, exactly.  Your brain doesn't *want* sleep, but it *needs* sleep, and the amount that it needs any give time varies.  The research on what goes on in an overslept brain isn't nearly as extensive as what goes on in an underslept brain.  And so its hard to say exactly why you specifically experience this.  It could be sleep deficit, or the fact that you aren't getting enough sleep the majority of the time, and so when you oversleep you're catching up on lost sleep and paying interest on it, too. \n\nThe core of it is that your brain goes on a roller-coster ride of deep and light sleep as it bathes in different hormones and chemicals while you're unconcious.  If you have a strict schedule of sleep that you adhere to consistently many days in a row, your brain adapts to that pattern and knows just how many cycles it has time to run through before you wake it and makes sure it gets through them to get the most out of your rest.  Your brain doesn't wake itself up from sleep, though, external stimuli trigger the rush of hormones that cause you to wake up.  Before modern conveniences like A/C, and curtains, the gradual warming of the air and increased amount of light shining through your eyelids was your external stimuli.  The crowing of the rooster or the ring of the alarm clock replaced those stimuli since we sleep in light-sheltered climate-controlled environments...so sleeping in isn't letting your brain sleep as long as it wants, its just removing the signal your brain relies on to know it needs to wake up.\n\nThis is important because while its in sleep mode, it just keeps repeating those hormone and chemical bath cycles over and over again based on how many it expects to fit into its expected amount of sleep.  But it doesn't get the stimuli it was expecting, and keeps going until some other stimulus triggers wakefulness.  At this point, it could be in the middle of a cycle that now won't get finished because your brain (typically) knows better than to start bathing in sleep hormones while you're walking around and doing things.  And that's primarily why you're groggy and sleepy for so much longer after waking up from over sleeping.", "reference": "question: Why do i feel so tired when I've slept for 10 hours instead of 8? And also, why the headache? answer: You are waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle. If you wake up at the end of a sleep cycle, you'll feel refreshed. Check out _URL_0_ for good info on setting up your sleep cycle correctly."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: There's a really interesting episode of Radiolab that touches on this topic. I believe it's the third segment of this one:\n\n_URL_1_", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I feel like if you at least donate blood regularly, then you shouldn't have to pay $800 should you need a transfusion."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: I like to think it's mostly strong work ethic. From experience I find people from some other countries more self centered. Sometimes you need to develop a sense for why the company needs you to do something right now under certain conditions that might not be the best in the moment but beneficial in the long term. \n\nI think Americans and Japanese also have this work ethic, China too. \n\nIt only gets messy when exploitation takes it too far. \n\nalso for reasons I don't know we are allergic to doing stuff half-assed. ( I mean many things are done half-assed in germany too, but not to the extent of some other places).", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: I was there recently for work, and can provide a very anecdotal opinion only, but I think it is telling.  People there are very smart, and they follow the rules.  Seems trivial when you think about it, but what if everyone in the US followed the rules? Less abuse of social systems, people working full days rather than trying to get over on their employers all the time? It has to make a difference on the macro scale."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Remember, nothing is black and white.\n\n1. We start with the Maidan or the EuroMaidan , the \"pro-west\" \"revolution\" that happened in the capital of Ukraine.The revolution happened because the then-current president Yanukovich backed of a EU trade aggreament that would have opened the gates of Ukraine to the EU and vice versa. Now the problem here lies with the importing of EU goods in Ukraine which would've crashed the local market and also the terms of the trade agreement were generally not favorable for the Ukrainian population (gas prices going up , wages frozen etc) which the population of Ukraine might or might not realize. Now after Yanukovich backed out of the EU trade deal he made a deal with Russia which gave Ukraine a lot of money (~15 bil euro) and privileges prices for gas.\n2. After Yanukovich fled they installed the pro-west government. The problem is that Ukraine is a diverse country with a couple of parts that are predominantly Russian (parts of east Ukraine and crimea) which didnt take too kindly to the new government comprised of parties that before the revolution were nobodies (exaggeration). The main party (the party of Yanukovich) that won 48.95% of the votes on the last election is not represented. So firstly the new government is illegal (not elected by voting) and secondly it doesnt represent all of the parties in Ukraine.\n2. The deep water port Sevastopol and the Crimean peninsula (with historical and cultural significance to the Russian people) which Russia currently leases from Ukraine. \nSide note: The Crimea has historically been a part of Russia until 1954 when it was \"gifted\" to Ukrainian Socialist Republic as \"symbolic gesture,\" marking the 300th anniversary of Ukraine becoming a part of the Russian Empire.\n3. Which brings us to the part where Crimea is predominantly Russian (linguistically and ethnically) with ~60% being ethnically russian.\nRussia is probably using Crimea either to gain leverage with the new government so that it gets back some semblance of power so that they appoint more pro-russia people in the government or in the case the Ukrainian government doesnt break they just hold the Crimean peninsula until Crimea declares independence (the voting for which is scheduled for 30th of March).", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: There was a chart submitted in the last couple of days that showed about 5 routes that go thru Ukraine to move oil.  It's about $$$$$$$$$$$$\n\nI'll try and find the chart and give recognition to the submitter.  It made it all so clear and w/o words.  It definitely was a ELI5 answer to this question."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: My cousin is gay and doesn't have the lisp, but I've hung out with him and his friends, and he seems to be one of the few people in his friend group who doesn't have the lisp. He also isn't obviously gay in any way. He doesn't purposefully hide it, he really isn't imbarrassed or anything. This is why I've thought that it is a thing that people put on either to stick out from most people, or to blend into their group.", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: Straight male here. I can \"do\" a \"gay voice\" perfectly. Even with accents. Yes, french gay. Yes, russian gay (THAT one is the killer!). Yes, german gay. \n\nIt's just fun to change your voice and I'm sure it is sort of like all other \"talents\", some can do it better, easier and faster than others. Others need to \"train\" a bit - and some are \"(un)fortunate\" and have to train a lot or just miss out on it.\n\nIt's not like all gays talk like that, or even have the ability to do so. It sort of became a \"trademark\" thing, I guess? A lot of the ones that do this voice (in public) probably only do it because it's part of their \"gay persona\"? I'm sure there are plenty of gay guys who do it subconciously, too."}
{"candidate": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: Car insurance is not mandatory for everyone.\n\nIt's only mandatory for people who want to drive a car on a public road.\n\nSince driving isn't a right, much less a requirement, car insurance can in no way be considered mandatory for everyone.", "reference": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: I don't know if you missed it, but the Supreme Court held that mandatory health insurance (specifically how the ACA is set up) is constitutional.  That's why the ACA still exists."}
{"candidate": "question: How is it that companies such as the ones that make generic (Walmart brand) beverages get away with basically copying name brand products? answer: When I was still in high school I worked at two particular factories. One did cans of corn for home consumption, the other did Ketchup. \n\nIn both factories the only thing that changes between the cans of \"name brand\" and \"generic\" was the label. We would stop the line for 15 minutes when the label guy switched the stickers and bam, line kept moving and we now are making generic corn. I was the guy who watched the corn as it was going in, well watched the machine that put it in and from what I could tell nothing changed.", "reference": "question: How is it that companies such as the ones that make generic (Walmart brand) beverages get away with basically copying name brand products? answer: I worked at Sainsbury's (supermarket in the UK) and i was told that the \"value\" products were made by big companies but used cheaper ingredients and packaging but are largely made the same way.\n\nThings like milk and bread are also distributed by the same guys, they just repackage depending on the supermarket. When i was at Sainsbury's, we would accidentally get milk for Co-op stores all the time."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Companies in the US frown on employees discussing salaries. That started so companies can pay Jill 35,000 dollars a year starting out, but pay Joan 40,000 starting out without Jill being pissed. Maybe Joan negotiated her starting salary better than Jill. Maybe Joan's track record was better at a different company. The reason doesn't really matter why it's higher or lower, but the company doesn't wanna deal with Jill talking to Joan about pay and getting pissed and start demanding more money. It's taboo in everyday life in America because it grew from the way corporations handled it.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Salary is like penis size.\n\nYou don't just ask someone their penis size even if they're proud of it."}
{"candidate": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: Dude it's minus 30 in Canada right now and I was born and raised here. \n\nStill no tolerance (middle eastern parents). \n\nMy blood refuses to adapt.", "reference": "question: People who are exposed to the cold more build a tolerance. Is this a physically built resistant, or is it all mental?Like does your skin actually change to become resistant to cold temperatures, or is it just all in your head?\n\nEdit: Yes! Finally got something to the front page. I got the idea for this topic because I just watched Revenant yesterday, and was thinking about it as I went for a morning stroll through my not-nearly-as-cold neighborhood.  answer: For me it's mental. I was in the Navy and stood a lot of watch outside for hours at a time. Plus working in the cold and rain drenched, hands freezing because my gloves got wrecked so quickly and id get yelled at if I put my hands in my pockets to heat them up.\n\nI just got to the point where it was a mental thing. I just got myself to ignore it. One night on watch we had just gotten to our first station out of two. Well someone played sick so we had to rotate early. Another guy and myself ended up outside on the back of the ship. Watch had just started and we knew they wouldnt rotate us again. We had 4 hours left to be out in that weather. We had these phones with a chord on them and they had a head and chest set. So we were on a leash and couldnt really move around.\n\nI climbed on top of this lip that belonged to a piece of of equipment. It was pitch black so noone could see me. I curled up in a ball and just made myself go to sleep. I woke up shivering an hour and a half later and just made myself go back to sleep to get through it."}
{"candidate": "question: why does the number 142857 behave like it does when multiplied?In case you don't know,\n\n* 142857  & times; 2 =   285714\n* 142857  & times; 3 =   428571\n* 142857  & times; 4 =   571428\n* 142857  & times; 5 =   714285\n* 142857  & times; 6 =   857142\n\nso, is there any kind of mathematical *reason* for this?\n\n**EDIT**: I'm kind of tired of explaining to people that there's an interesting pattern here.  Does this help?\n\n    1|4|2|8|5|7|1|4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | |2|8|5|7|1|4| | | | | |\n     | | | | | | |4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | | | |5|7|1|4|2|8| | | |\n     | | | | |7|1|4|2|8|5| | |\n     | | |8|5|7|1|4|2| | | | | answer: EDIT: I should note here that I'm not sure that my answer is foolproof, it's just an opinion...take it with any amount of salt at your own discretion.\n\nANSWER: Mathematical reason? I doubt they found any mathematical reason for it being a cyclic permutation. It just happens to be one. Just like how 496 happens to be a [perfect number](_URL_4_). \n\nSource: The wikipedia page for 142857 lists properties of it, but no explanation as to why it behaves like that. A lot of places cite 1/7=.142857... being a reason, but then other repeating decimals should work like that too. So I think it is not a reason, but rather the byproduct of some other phenomenon which we are yet to discover.", "reference": "question: why does the number 142857 behave like it does when multiplied?In case you don't know,\n\n* 142857  & times; 2 =   285714\n* 142857  & times; 3 =   428571\n* 142857  & times; 4 =   571428\n* 142857  & times; 5 =   714285\n* 142857  & times; 6 =   857142\n\nso, is there any kind of mathematical *reason* for this?\n\n**EDIT**: I'm kind of tired of explaining to people that there's an interesting pattern here.  Does this help?\n\n    1|4|2|8|5|7|1|4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | |2|8|5|7|1|4| | | | | |\n     | | | | | | |4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | | | |5|7|1|4|2|8| | | |\n     | | | | |7|1|4|2|8|5| | |\n     | | |8|5|7|1|4|2| | | | | answer: Okay, this is how far I got:\n\n    a = 1\n    b = 4\n    c = 2\n    d = 8\n    e = 5\n    f = 7\n\n     x = 100000a + 10000b + 1000c + 100d + 10e + f\n    2x = 100000c + 10000d + 1000e + 100f + 10a + b\n    3x = 100000b + 10000c + 1000d + 100e + 10f + a\n    4x = 100000e + 10000f + 1000a + 100b + 10c + d\n    5x = 100000f + 10000a + 1000b + 100c + 10d + e\n    6x = 100000d + 10000e + 1000f + 100a + 10b + c\n\n    2x = 200000a + 20000b + 2000c + 200d + 20e + 2f\n\n    200000a + 20000b + 2000c + 200d + 20e + 2f = 100000c + 10000d + 1000e + 100f + 10a + b\n    199990a + 19999b - 98000c - 9800d - 980e - 98f = 0\n    199990a + 19999b = 98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f\n    199990a = 98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b\n    a = (98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b)/199990\n\n    3x = 300000a + 30000b + 3000c + 300d + 30e + 3f\n    300000a + 30000b + 3000c + 300d + 30e + 3f = 100000b + 10000c + 1000d + 100e + 10f + a\n    299999a - 70000b - 7000c - 700d - 70e - 7f = 0\n    299999a = 70000b + 7000c + 700d + 70e + 7f\n    a = (70000b + 7000c + 700d + 70e + 7f)/299999\n\n    (98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b)/199990 = (70000b + 7000c + 700d + 70e + 7f)/299999\n    98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b = (199990/299999)(70000b + 7000c + 700d + 70e + 7f)\n    299999(98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b) = 199990(70000b + 7000c + 700d + 70e + 7f)\n    2939902000c + 293990200d + 29399020e + 2939902f - 5999680001b = 13999300000b + 1399930000c + 139993000d + 13999300e + 1399930f\n    19998980001b = 1539972000c + 153997200d + 15399720e + 1539972f\n    b = (1539972000c + 153997200d + 15399720e + 1539972f)/19998980001\n\n    4x = 400000a + 40000b + 4000c + 400d + 40e + 4f\n    400000((98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b)/199990) + 40000b + 4000c + 400d + 40e + 4f = 100000e + 10000f + 1000((98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b)/199990) + 100b + 10c + d\n    (400000/199990)(98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b) + 40000b + 4000c + 400d + 40e + 4f = 100000e + 10000f + (1000/199990)(98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b) + 100b + 10c + d\n    400000(98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b) + 7999600000b + 799960000c + 79996000d + 7999600e + 799960f = 1999900000e + 199990000f + 1000(98000c + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b) + 19999000b + 1999900c + 199990d\n    39200000000c + 3920000000d + 392000000e + 39200000f - 7999600000b + 7999600000b + 79996000d + 7999600e + 799960f = 1999900000e + 199990000f + 98000000c + 9800000d + 980000e + 98000f - 19999000b + 19999000b + 1999900c + 199990d\n    39200000000c + 3999996000d + 399999600e + 3999960f = 2000880000e + 200088000f + 99999900c + 9999990d\n    39100000100c = 1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d\n    c = (1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100\n\n    5x = 500000a + 50000b + 5000c + 500d + 50e + 5f\n    500000a + 50000b + 5000c + 500d + 50e + 5f = 100000f + 10000a + 1000b + 100c + 10d + e\n    500000((98000((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999((1539972000((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 153997200d + 15399720e + 1539972f)/19998980001))/199990) + 50000((1539972000((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 153997200d + 15399720e + 1539972f)/19998980001) + 5000((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 500d + 50e + 5f = 100000f + 10000(98000((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 9800d + 980e + 98f - 19999b)/199990 + 1000((1539972000((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 153997200d + 15399720e + 1539972f)/19998980001) + 100((1600880400e + 196088040f - 3989996010d)/39100000100) + 10d + e\n\n\nAnd then I gave up because I figured that the five-year-old's attention span probably moved on by this point."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: Hi, just an example: When my daughter was 2 years old, she got Rota-Virus. It is pretty nasty, because you lose fluid and electrolytes through diarrhea and vomiting. It can be transmitted through fluids and air. We took her to the infection hospital and my wife spent the night there. I took over in the morning. Our daughter was pumped with fluids and electrolytes (IV) throughout the night and in the morning she recovered enough to be hungry. I was allowed to take her home on the same day. My wife got the symptoms that very day. I got them one day later. Here I can state that I never contracted anything else from my daughter \u2013 virosis or flu, despite taking care of her when she got it. It is simply the fact that when you change diapers 20 times a day, there is a good chance you\u00b4ll miss something and get it into your system. I lost 6 kg in 4 days, feeling my body being drained of fluids. Good thing is that as a grown man, you can force yourself to drink and eat despite the symptoms and push through.  I have heard of grown people being hospitalized because of Rota-Virus and I don\u00b4t think that it can compete with Ebola any more than sniffles do. I learned to appreciate child creme at the time. Wiping 20 times a day can be...sandpapery. :)", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: since when in history is 'bodily fluids' not easy to contract?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why are politicians always criticized for \"flip-flopping\" when their views likely changed over time to represent those more in line with the voting population (as an elected representative's opinions ostensibly ought to)?[removed] answer: A few reasons.\n\nFirst and foremost, it's because the general population treat politics like a partisan sport, not civic duty.  When it's *your* politician, it's an \"evolution of their understanding.\"  When it's *their* politician, flip flopping, and a sign of hypocrisy. \n\nAdditionally, it kind of *is* a sign of hypocrisy, or at least untrustworthyness.  If I were to tell you that I think we shouldn't get ice cream, then say that maybe we should... how do you know what I really believe?  How do you know what I am planning to do?  How can you trust that when I say I am or am not going to do a thing, that I won't just change my mind later?", "reference": "question: Why are politicians always criticized for \"flip-flopping\" when their views likely changed over time to represent those more in line with the voting population (as an elected representative's opinions ostensibly ought to)?[removed] answer: A flip-flopper is someone who changes his/her opinion in order to satisfy a crowd, and then the next day, change it again to satisfy another crowd, and repeat the next day. Tell the liberals you are pro choice, tell the conservatives you are pro life. Tell the liberals you are pro gun control, tell the conservatives you are anti gun control. A flip-flopper only says what a crowd wants to hear.\n\nSomeone who changes their view over time by analyzing a situation and watching how the variables change is NOT a flip-flopper.\n\nFor a fictional scenario, let's use gun control. If Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton back in 1992 said that they were against gun control and a bunch of massacres started appearing at an exponential rate to the point where a gun-related crime happened at least once every week, then it would be obvious to raise gun control in 2017. They aren't flip-flopping on their previous ideals, they are making changes to adapt to 2017's environment. If in November they said they were pro abortion and in December they were anti abortion, and in January back to pro abortion, then you have a flip-flopper."}
{"candidate": "question: What takes road work crews so long to complete their maintenance? Why does it always look like they are doing nothing or nothing has changed?[removed] answer: Any road work is split in phases. The previous phase is essential to the ones after it. If one phase is delayed, the one after it is delayed and the effects are cumulative. \n\nYou can\u2019t build the roof of a house before the foundation, but you can\u2019t build the foundation without leveling the ground...and so it goes. \n\nIt always look like they\u2019re doing nothing because most crew is doing nothing, as they have to wait for those who are working to finish their task in order to start working too.", "reference": "question: What takes road work crews so long to complete their maintenance? Why does it always look like they are doing nothing or nothing has changed?[removed] answer: Any delays can be easily explained in 3 words: blame the surveyor\n\nIf that doesn\u2019t work: blame the engineer"}
{"candidate": "question: When you open someone's eyes while they're sleeping, why don't they see you and immediately wake up?I used to do this to my dad while he was sleeping on the sofa when I was a little kid. His eyes would just kind of blankly look at me with this weird, cloudy, empty look. Why didn't he wake up?\n\nI was a creepy kid... answer: Because when someone is sleeping, the higher level brain functions handled in the cerebral cortex are temporarily unavailable, thus requiring more time than usual to decide how to disembowel you without actually killing you so that you will still be available for the slow, tortuous death you deserve for touching my EYES! while I'm sleeping.", "reference": "question: When you open someone's eyes while they're sleeping, why don't they see you and immediately wake up?I used to do this to my dad while he was sleeping on the sofa when I was a little kid. His eyes would just kind of blankly look at me with this weird, cloudy, empty look. Why didn't he wake up?\n\nI was a creepy kid... answer: Look at the issue Like a computer. When a computer is in sleep mode it takes a little bit of time after the wake up signal to fully work again\n\nEdit: Changed the word \"Mike\" into the word \"like\", it shouldve been the word like in the first place"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Because that's the way of the world. It's what every animal does and being able to fend for yourself gives both purpose and security. If you live with your parents what happens when they die? You wouldn't have developed the skills to be independent, it stifles development.\n\nAlso, who wants to meet a girl in a bar and suggest going back to their mummy's house?", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: Some people are leaving emotionally and physically abusive households. I moved out when I was 18 and work my ass off at 2 jobs so no one can talk to me like that or put their hands on me again, so I think it's probably a little different for everyone."}
{"candidate": "question: Why did Mohammad marry a 6 year old? answer: Marriage isnt the right word for that time and place. She was spoken for. If a woman had no tribe or was not spoken for there was no repercussions for anything that happened to her. He took many wives to keep them safe.", "reference": "question: Why did Mohammad marry a 6 year old? answer: I thought this was under r/jokes so I was confused when there was no punchline."}
{"candidate": "question: Why Piratebay creator is in prison if it was the users who added illegal content? answer: Facilitating criminal activity is also a crime. If you help someone commit a crime, even if they could have gotten help from someone else or done it themselves, it's still also a crime.", "reference": "question: Why Piratebay creator is in prison if it was the users who added illegal content? answer: In 1908, a bunch of countries got together and signed an agreement called \"1908 modification of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works\" (aka Berne Convention) in Berlin.\n\nOne of the topics they discussed was that:\n\n*Hey, its fucking hard to sue individual copyright infringers because there are so many of those bastards and none of them have money! Our important citizens/copyright holders/lobbyers are asking us implement some law that allows them to sue those guys who enables mass infringement and have deep pockets to sue while making it easy for us as we only need to sue one person.*\n\nSo they agreed to say that anyone who *authorises* infringement (secondary infringement) is just as guilty as the people who commits it (aka primary infringement).\n\nBut it was really up to each individual country to adopt that agreement into local domestic legislation with their precise wording. Just because you sign an international agreement, it wont come into effect until you make legislation for it. \n\nTypically, the way most cases have interpreted this vague word is that if they had some combination of the following factors:\n\n* the defendant had technical control to prevent infringement and did nothing about it to prevent it or even turned a blind eye (or even worse, actively promoted it which is what piratebay pretty much did)\n\n* it would have been very easy (ie not a lot of time and money) for the defendant to control/prevent infringement\n\n* they were made aware of the infringing activities\n\n* their business model was reliant on heavy usage of infringing activity (ie legitimate use was minimal compared to illegitimate use) \n\nFor example, a famous case in Australia called iiNet where the ISP was sued for this reason, they satisfied everything except for the fact that they could not easily prevent all those infringing activities.\n\nThe Piratebay creator was probably one of the most easiest cases to find that it was illegal under authorisation out all of the authorisation cases in history. \n\nTaking him to prison is something that the international agreement didnt require each country to do - the addition of criminality must have been added by the jurisdiction he was found guilty for."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: In the documentary blackfish an orca was said to repeatedly smash its head into the side of its enclosure, effectively commiting suicide.", "reference": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: Probably going to get buried, but a Border Collie I had growing up was 16 years old and full of cancer. Doctor said that we could either go through all the expensive treatments and extend her life for maybe a year, or he could give her some really good drugs that would greatly ease her pain, but would only work for a week, at which point we would have to bring her in to be put down. We picked the latter. \n\nAfter a week of her acting almost like a puppy again, she had taken a turn for the worse. On the Monday, we scheduled her to be put down the following Wednesday, but later that night I found her laying under a thin blanket of Alberta snowfall. Of course I thought that she had died, so I went to pick her up. To my surprise she was still alive, though it is likely she wouldn't have been for very much longer if she stayed there. To this day I am convinced that she was trying to end it all. I suddenly decided that I didn't want to see her in pain anymore, so I took her to the emergency vet that night and had her put down."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do my car windows fog up in a way that I can't wipe it off?I googled and understand the basic gist of why it fogs in general (humidity, temperature, etc) and that all makes sense.      \n.\n\n\nBut what I do not understand is why sometimes it seems to fog up...differently? I wipe off the outside with a rag and then wipe off the inside with another dry rag. My common sense then tells me that I should be able to see clearly. Yet, there is seemingly some phantom fog that can not be wiped on either side of the windows regardless of how hard I try to wipe it off. Only when I start to turn on the heat/AC or open the windows does it gradually begin to disappear.\n\n\n.\n\nWhy does this occur? Everytime I drive I make a mental note to myself to ask ELI5 but I always forget!  \n My car is an old car if it makes a difference (i noticed newer cars seem to fog less, but I don't know why that is the case) answer: If you live in a hot area, the sun rays hitting certain dashboards can create a small mist which can make your windows extra frosty. Clean your windows to get the foggy chemicals off.", "reference": "question: Why do my car windows fog up in a way that I can't wipe it off?I googled and understand the basic gist of why it fogs in general (humidity, temperature, etc) and that all makes sense.      \n.\n\n\nBut what I do not understand is why sometimes it seems to fog up...differently? I wipe off the outside with a rag and then wipe off the inside with another dry rag. My common sense then tells me that I should be able to see clearly. Yet, there is seemingly some phantom fog that can not be wiped on either side of the windows regardless of how hard I try to wipe it off. Only when I start to turn on the heat/AC or open the windows does it gradually begin to disappear.\n\n\n.\n\nWhy does this occur? Everytime I drive I make a mental note to myself to ask ELI5 but I always forget!  \n My car is an old car if it makes a difference (i noticed newer cars seem to fog less, but I don't know why that is the case) answer: I used to have the same problem with my old Ford Laser. I managed to find a few threads mentioning \"vinyl fog\", which is apparently due to solvents in the vinyl and plastic. There are window cleaners which deal with this."}
{"candidate": "question: How does an explosion actually kill you? answer: I'm sitting here in my house, surrounded by technology and so many examples of human ingenuity, reading the thoughts and ideas of some of the most creative minds imaginable... The idea that here, in 2014, people just like me are fighting wars and suffering unimaginably on the other side of the world, is appalling. \n\nGo ahead and call me naive, but sometimes I think the world could use a few more naive people who want to change things. Reading through this thread is disturbing.", "reference": "question: How does an explosion actually kill you? answer: Heat, debris, or shockwave from an explosion will kill you. The closer you are to it, the deadlier it gets."}
{"candidate": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: Car insurance is not mandatory.\n\nHowever, if you own a car, then liability insurance (insurance for damage you cause to others, not yourself) is typically required by most states. New Hampshire, whose state motto is \"Live Free or Die\", does not require car insurance.\n\nThere is no federal mandate on car insurance for car owners. The requirement comes from each individual state who set their own requirements for registering a vehicle. \n\nIf you do not own a car, you do not need to purchase insurance. If you do, your state will determine if you do. \n\nThere is a federal mandate on health insurance, and a financial penalty if you do not purchase. There is no way around this. \n\nNow as for health insurance mandate being unconstitutional or not, this is an opinionated argument based upon the constituion and a combination of court rulings over the years. It is not a fact, it is an opinion on the interpretation of the constituion. \n\nThe argument and court rulings are rather complex, so the simplest way to describe the argument is that many feel it is unconstitutional for the federal government to force citizens to buy a particular good or service.\n\nSo the main difference between the two is car insurance is not federally required, it is a state requirement in states that have chosen to pass a law only for those citizens that choose to own a car... meanwhile, health insurance is a federal mandate on all citizens.", "reference": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: tl;dr car insurance is really to  help protect other people. Health insurance is really to protect you.\n\nIn CA, auto insurance is usually mandatory. But if you could prove that you had enough money shooting in a bank account and not being used for anything else, you don't actually need car insurance."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are skyscraper windows still washed by hand?It's super dangerous- It can't be that hard for a machine to do it. answer: Rather than a machine to automate the task, I think the big innovation will be a special coating on the window or a new material compound that repels dirt and water. Something [like this](_URL_4_) but permanent", "reference": "question: Why are skyscraper windows still washed by hand?It's super dangerous- It can't be that hard for a machine to do it. answer: I was a [high-rise window washer](_URL_0_) in Baltimore In the 90's (yeah, I'm as old as your mom).  We didn't \"just sit in a box pushing a button to go up and down,\" but rather rappelled on two ropes down from the roof and washed as we descended.  A machine could do it, but probably not as fast.  We would set our ropes in between two or four windows and pendulum to reach the glass on either side as we dropped, using a suction cup to stay put in front of the glass once we swung out.  One man could wash a row of four windows from roof to ground in about 30 minutes (depending on wind and other factors). A crew of five men could wash a forty story building in one or two days. If a machine were to cover that much area it would have to be huge, and probably require a few workers to run it."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I guess in a capitalist society ones salary is ones worth to the system. No one wants to have a number put on them.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: It's only taboo among the middle class. The very rich have their incomes plastered all over magazines ranking their wealth, so it's no secret. The poor are routinely required to submit proof of their income for all sorts of reasons. And, given that the day-to-day life experience of a poor person is about trying to get by on less-than-enough, there's a lot of talk among the poor about how much things cost relative to how much they make. \n\nSo really, for a rich person, keeping their wealth a secret is like a celebrity going on a talk show and trying not to mention what they do for a living, while a poor person keeping their poverty a secret is a little like a convict trying to keep it a secret that they live in prison, or a quadriplegic keeping it a secret that they're handicapped.\n\nThat still leaves the question of why the middle class is so weird about this. I think it's because they aspire to be rich, and feel like it's their own fault that they're not, but they're more likely to come into contact with very poor people than very rich ones. So they're judging themselves for not earning enough, and yet feeling proud of what they do earn, and perhaps feeling ashamed of having unearned privileges when they're around the poor. It's a precarious position. You never know if someone's going to give you a hard time because you make too much or because you make too little, so they just avoid the topic altogether."}
{"candidate": "question: why does the number 142857 behave like it does when multiplied?In case you don't know,\n\n* 142857  & times; 2 =   285714\n* 142857  & times; 3 =   428571\n* 142857  & times; 4 =   571428\n* 142857  & times; 5 =   714285\n* 142857  & times; 6 =   857142\n\nso, is there any kind of mathematical *reason* for this?\n\n**EDIT**: I'm kind of tired of explaining to people that there's an interesting pattern here.  Does this help?\n\n    1|4|2|8|5|7|1|4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | |2|8|5|7|1|4| | | | | |\n     | | | | | | |4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | | | |5|7|1|4|2|8| | | |\n     | | | | |7|1|4|2|8|5| | |\n     | | |8|5|7|1|4|2| | | | | answer: This is my favourite cyclic number! It occurs when you divide numbers that aren't a multiple of seven by seven.", "reference": "question: why does the number 142857 behave like it does when multiplied?In case you don't know,\n\n* 142857  & times; 2 =   285714\n* 142857  & times; 3 =   428571\n* 142857  & times; 4 =   571428\n* 142857  & times; 5 =   714285\n* 142857  & times; 6 =   857142\n\nso, is there any kind of mathematical *reason* for this?\n\n**EDIT**: I'm kind of tired of explaining to people that there's an interesting pattern here.  Does this help?\n\n    1|4|2|8|5|7|1|4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | |2|8|5|7|1|4| | | | | |\n     | | | | | | |4|2|8|5|7|1|\n     | | | |5|7|1|4|2|8| | | |\n     | | | | |7|1|4|2|8|5| | |\n     | | |8|5|7|1|4|2| | | | | answer: It's fascinating: the more I explain this, the more conditions I discover are required for something like this to happen. Insofar: 142857 is a factor of one less than a power of 10 (specifically, 999999); 999999/142857 gives 7, a prime number; 7 is less than the base of our number system (10); 10 does not produce a remainder of 1 after dividing by 7.\n\n*Basically* what's happening is that y\n\nFirst part:\n\nIf a number has *n* digits, dividing it by 999...9 (where there are *n* 9's) will produce an infinite decimal consisting exactly of that number repeating. To show this, start with the decimal:\n\n     0.142857142857142857...\n\nand break it up into the repeating components:\n\n     0.142857 + 0.000000142857 + 0.000000000000142857 + ...\n\nwhich you can convert to fractions\n\n     142857*10^-7 + 142857*10^-14 + 142857*10^-21 + ...\n\nand since this is a converging infinite geometric series (basically, because there's a *pattern* to this sum, and because the sum tends to a finite value, you can actually [find the value of the sum](_URL_3_)), you can find that it converges (adds up) to:\n\n     142857*10^-7 / ( 1-10^-7 ) = 142857 / (10^7-1) = 142857 / 999999\n\nYou can show it more generally, but for the purpose of this post I won't get into that.\n\nSecond part:\n\nWe know that 142857 / 999999 = 1/7. Now, if we multiply this by 10, and take only the decimal portion, it's pretty obvious that we're just shifting the decimal point to the right by one number, chopping off the whole number, and repeating. The funky thing, though, is that if we do this, we *cycle* through a sequence:\n\n1. **1/7** \n1. - >  10/7 - >  **3/7** \n1. - >  30/7 - >  **2/7** \n1. - >  20/7 - >  **6/7** \n1. - >  60/7 - >  **4/7** \n1. - >  40/7 - >  **5/7** \n1. - >  50/7 - >  **1/7** \n1. - >  repeat *ad infinitum*.\n\nWhat's actually happening here is that we're cycling through the cyclic group of integers modulo 7, by multiplying by 10. For those normal people who've never been exposed to number theory before, this (only for the purposes of explanation - what's going on is indeed a bit more complicated) just means that you're doing normal arithmetic with the integers, except that every time you get a number greater than or equal to 7, you divide by 7, take the remainder, and continue working with the remainder. In other words, multiply 1 by 10, take the remainder after dividing by 7 to get 3, multiply 3 by 10, take the remainder after dividing by 7 to get 4, etc.\n\nI'm not going to delve into the specifics of *why* this cycling is happening (specifically, C_7 has 10 as a generator), but suffice it to say that it's this pattern which makes it possible to have the pattern that OP describes.\n\nIn fact, the next time this happens is for 142857142857, which is a factor of 999999999999, and I suspect that at least in base 10, this is *only* possible for numbers of this form."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do my car windows fog up in a way that I can't wipe it off?I googled and understand the basic gist of why it fogs in general (humidity, temperature, etc) and that all makes sense.      \n.\n\n\nBut what I do not understand is why sometimes it seems to fog up...differently? I wipe off the outside with a rag and then wipe off the inside with another dry rag. My common sense then tells me that I should be able to see clearly. Yet, there is seemingly some phantom fog that can not be wiped on either side of the windows regardless of how hard I try to wipe it off. Only when I start to turn on the heat/AC or open the windows does it gradually begin to disappear.\n\n\n.\n\nWhy does this occur? Everytime I drive I make a mental note to myself to ask ELI5 but I always forget!  \n My car is an old car if it makes a difference (i noticed newer cars seem to fog less, but I don't know why that is the case) answer: Also, if you are a smoker, that leaves a weird film on the inside glass.", "reference": "question: Why do my car windows fog up in a way that I can't wipe it off?I googled and understand the basic gist of why it fogs in general (humidity, temperature, etc) and that all makes sense.      \n.\n\n\nBut what I do not understand is why sometimes it seems to fog up...differently? I wipe off the outside with a rag and then wipe off the inside with another dry rag. My common sense then tells me that I should be able to see clearly. Yet, there is seemingly some phantom fog that can not be wiped on either side of the windows regardless of how hard I try to wipe it off. Only when I start to turn on the heat/AC or open the windows does it gradually begin to disappear.\n\n\n.\n\nWhy does this occur? Everytime I drive I make a mental note to myself to ask ELI5 but I always forget!  \n My car is an old car if it makes a difference (i noticed newer cars seem to fog less, but I don't know why that is the case) answer: Just dawned on me:\n\nIf the glass is colder than the outside air temp and the air is saturated (high humidity) then you can wipe it down and it will condense immediately no matter what you do.  There will be water vapor right behind your finger ready to cling to the glass as condensate before you can even see it.  Just a theory.\n\nWarming the glass should do the trick, which it seems to."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I have a very gay voice, and have had since before I even thought about my sexuality. I also really dislike my voice, but I guess a lot of people have that.", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: How about men who have somewhat effeminate voices and mannerisms that are totally straight?"}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I see a lot of people saying it's learned...and I know this comment is going to get buried so I won't get an answer. But I know that women, when speaking to men they are attracted to talk differently than they normally do. (Higher pitched, softer tone) and obviously this is pleasing to the male ear. Could gays be doing the same thing to attract men?", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: Have you ever met people who act like thugs? Guys you might have gone to school with as kids who had unremarkable accents and now that they are grown they speak like they are from Trinidad?\nI've met folks who spoke with a particular vernacular that changed with their inflection from the pub to the classroom.\n\nI wouldn't say this is in every case, some people just sound the way they do, other folks seem to take on people in their social strata. Your personality defines the way you speak to some extent."}
{"candidate": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: Sociopaths don't give a fuck. As I am sure you have experienced in social encounters, it would be easier if you didn't care so much.", "reference": "question: How are sociopaths able to have such magnetic personalities and appear likable when they have no empathy?Isn't empathy neccissary in order to relate/connect with someone? I've hear sociopaths are excellent at getting people to like them initially. The two seem to contradict eachother. answer: Hey! I can answer this question! I spend all day interviewing psychopaths for scientific research (note the username). Like others have said here, the answer lies in their egos. A key component of psychopathy is a thing called Grandiose Sense of Self Worth, which basically means that they think that they are a 10/10 all the time. This often translates to a very dynamic and attractive person. You know how people constantly say \"confidence is key\" when encouraging a shy guy to ask a girl out or something? The idea is that, if you appear confident, girls will pick up on that and be more attracted to you (and thus willing to accept your date request). Psychopaths RADIATE that confidence. They are 100% sure of themselves all the time, and that is pretty attractive. \n\nAlso, they lack empathy, but they are not stupid. It is pretty easy to understand that if you say the words \"I love you\" a girl will be more willing to sleep with you, then if you don't say those words. A psychopath would have no problem casually throwing \"I love you\" around just to get in someone's pants. They don't ever feel love, but saying the words requires no effort at all. \n\nHope that helps!"}
{"candidate": "question: Why do we still need to bring our license and registration to drive? Considering it's 2017 and we have enough technology to have all this information in the cloud / in our phones and match with the cops information. answer: I understand why a phone may not be the answer for the same reasond many other commenters have made.  But I do not understand why we need to carry a licence at all.  These days (at least in Australia) the cops have a computer connected to the database of all drivers.  They can display your photo and driving history at the click of a few keys.  Given all of the information on my licence is from this database, why can't they just look me up?", "reference": "question: Why do we still need to bring our license and registration to drive? Considering it's 2017 and we have enough technology to have all this information in the cloud / in our phones and match with the cops information. answer: As a prior cop really... Honestly if you didn't have your license but k ew your SSN that was okay. Or if the car was registered to you I could just run the plates and then get your drivers customer number off that. \n\nHaving a license makes it easier since all your info is right there on a little card. \n\nReally as long as you were licensed I didn't give a shit if you had it or not. I can pull the DMV picture up to ensure its you regardless...unless it's down which it does go down from time to time."}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: Keep in mind, after World War II every major industrialized economy with the exception of the United States laid in ruin, and with a huge percentage of its 18-35 male population dead. The rest of the world was still basically colonies. The United States had a huge economic advantage that boosted a majority of Americans into the middle class. Then the rest of the world started to catch up, and could do the same work, as well or almost as well as the American worker for less. Additionally, there were more markets opening up internationally, so having a strong middle class to buy wares was less of a necessity.", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: If you had to break it down to one word. Globalization."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: /r/AskHistorians has some quality responses [here](_URL_15_). Though it's broken across several threads, the comments are well-sourced and stringently moderated.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: A. Germany was humiliated after losing ww1.  Kaiser Wilhelmina was a incompetent fool who did know shit about military strategy.    After ww1. The ally powers took everything from Germany   Germany had to pay huge war reparations payments in which it economy could not afford due to high unemployment and the German economy in a severe depression. \n\nB.   Germany has a very strong public education system. When they discovered how watches work in the 1800s. They went crazy and were totally fascinated with the mechanical engineering involved \n\nC. They understand the power of harnessing science and math\n\nD. Heinz gudarian.  Understood that only tanks can penetrate the front lines from ww1 experience. Officers in all countries in ww1 were incompetent and most could not even read a map.   So Heinz retool the military academy and selected only candidates who showed talent in military affairs and taught them about map reading and logistic support requirements to support a million man army\n\nE.  A hitler.  Comes to power and mass produced tanks diguise as farm tractors.   Ww2 starts and Germany kicks everyone's ass.  Germany would of won ww2 if adolf hitler stay out of the military's way\n\nF.  Germany and China lose ww2.    But because these 2 people understand the importance of a good public education system and the power of controlling and harvesting science. Germany can become a world economic power\n\nG.  China does the same after the peasant emperor Mia Tse tung dies.   Tung was a idiot who was just a librarian at Beijing university.  He was never smart enough to get into college. He killed all the intellectuals in the 1950s and 1960s.    After he died. Under deny xioaping.  China begins the rebuild of its economy.  They begin to understand in the 1990s what quality control means.  \n\nH.  Since human rights are not a big issue.  It is expected that the next medical breakthroughs will come from China since there are no restrictions on stem cell experiments.\n\n\n\nF."}
{"candidate": "question: how do websites put up special \"hello adblock user\" ads where the ads should be. If they can bypass adblock, why not just put up ads.These \"hello adblock user\" things only appear when you have adblock, why not instead of bypassing the adblock for those, just bypass adblock with the actual ad and sell that marketing space for extra because it bypasses adblock.  answer: /u/ticket2win explained the concept well but not the how portion.\n\nThey create an image with the message for the section of where the ad will go and they set that as the background of that section.\n\nSo like he said, when you remove the ad you well then see the background image asking you not to remove the ad.\n\nThis is also why some people will see the message to not remove it for a brief moment before the ad has time to load.", "reference": "question: how do websites put up special \"hello adblock user\" ads where the ads should be. If they can bypass adblock, why not just put up ads.These \"hello adblock user\" things only appear when you have adblock, why not instead of bypassing the adblock for those, just bypass adblock with the actual ad and sell that marketing space for extra because it bypasses adblock.  answer: Imagine an ad as a picture hanging on the wall.  Once the picture is removed you can see what is behind.  It might be a safe; Might be a blank wall.... or might be something that says...hey please don't remove my picture from the wall."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is Poland poor, while its next door neighbor Germany is one of the richest in the world? answer: They have histories. Poland had a democracy where each member of the legislature could veto any law. Poland got conquered a lot. They could not even build a large defensive army without a veto.\n\nMore recently Poland was conquered by Nazi Germany, then by the Soviet Union defeating Nazi Germany. Communists ruled it for years following dictates from Moscow. This was not good for Poland.", "reference": "question: Why is Poland poor, while its next door neighbor Germany is one of the richest in the world? answer: For the last hundred plus years poland has been passed around like a whore between every european empire during every european conquest. It's sad but they can't get free. \n\nEast Germany was poor as shit when they were under the red flag. They are still worse off."}
{"candidate": "question: Why were Nagasaki and Hiroshima picked to be bombed? answer: I know I have no way to prove this to you guys, and no way to prove that I'm not a troll. But a couple of years ago while looking to buy ww2 militaria I got a call from man interested in selling me a photo album from the war, all he told me it was of Germans in Japan. So naturally I was very interested in checking out this album and buying it for a good price if I could. When I went to his house I was greeted by an man in his late eighties (a ww2 veteran himself and the women who took care of him. He showed me an album which he claimed showed the delivery of Germany's nuclear technology to Japan . He claimed he got the album from his cousin once he died, his cousin fought in Europe and he fought in the Pacific. The album showed the crew of German uboat in Japan. Even a picture of that famous mountain in japan from the top of the uboat along with other pictures of the crew with different Japanese soldiers. But there was one picture of particular interest which he showed me. He claimed that the picture was of Karl Doenitz in a Geisha house. While I cannot say with certainty that it was Karl Doentiz for sure I can tell you man had a resemblance as far as I could see. The problem with the photo was is that is was taken from the back profile so you couldn't see a face. He claimed that that photo was proof that this mission was to trasnfer Germany's nuclear technology to Japan, and the reason Nagaski and Hiroshima were bombed was because it was in one of these two cities in which the Japanese had their nuclear bomb being developed. He ended up claiming it was in Nagaski and got destroyed by the bomb. He also said that the Japanese tested one their bombs off the coast of Korea. I'm not sure if this is true but all I can tell you is what he told me and what he showed me.\n\n**Any input on whether this man's story was true would be helpful and also sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes but im too lazy to fix them", "reference": "question: Why were Nagasaki and Hiroshima picked to be bombed? answer: There were three reasons why:\n\n* Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both picked because they had a perfect size of terrain that provided the viable information for damage caused by the atomic bomb. Scientists wanted built-up areas and terrains in order to increase the maximum damage done to enemy targets. Actually, Nagasaki wasn't supposed to be the primary target for the second bomb; originally Kokura was supposed to be the primary target, but the cloud over the city had extremely obscured the pilots' view so the pilot had to divert to the secondary target, Nagasaki, and the rest is history.\n\n* Not only that, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen for military and strategic purposes. Hiroshima was the headquarters of the 2nd General Army and Fifth Division, with 40,000 Japanese military personnel stationed in the city, and Nagasaki was a major industrial center that housed manufacturing facilities and cottage industries producing war materials and other equipment for the Japanese military. The goal in warfare was to reduce the enemy's capacity to produce war materials to the lower level as possible and to show the Japanese that we have the weapon that could destroy a city with a tick of a clock, in order to send a message to the Japanese government that such weapon would basically put the very end to the Japanese culture.\n\n* Last but not least, the goal in warfare was to prevent the invasion of the Japanese mainland that was set to start on November  1, 1945, with millions of American military personnel (going to be supplemented by American forces coming from Europe) tens of thousands of warships, and tens of thousands of military equipment to breakthrough Japan's heavy defenses and take control of entire areas that would have been taken over by the enemy."}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: I think one point that most aren't addressing, is now a days we buy a ton of stupid stuff that we think we need. With no internet, less TV, there was less advertising for dumb stuff to buy so people only bought what they needed.\n\nThere were no ipods coming out every 6 months, or ipads.", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: This video calls the phenomenon you're talking about \"gensqueeze\" it explains how lower proportional incomes now vs the 70s and much higher costs of education and housing have affected the financial life of millenials. \n\n_URL_4_\n\nDefinitely worth a watch, it explains this very well."}
{"candidate": "question: Can cancerous tissue be introduced into our food chain?I was just wondering this morning, can cancerous tissue be present within the meats we eat, and if so what happens to the human body when it gets digested?\n answer: Sure. You've very likely eaten cancerous cells in your life. \n\nBut there's a few things that prevent it from forming cancers in our own bodies. \n\nFirst, we don't use their DNA. We use our own. Theirs is incompatible and so our cells don't use it for instructions.\n\nNext, it doesn't get into our cells intact in the first place. Our body digests cells and breaks them down, killing them and destroying their genetic instruction sets. Then the proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and other stuff in them get delivered via bloodstream to where it's needed. The faulty DNA in those cells doesn't survive the conversion and trip. In a sense, it's like dismantling a lego model so you can put it back in its original box, then using the pieces to build something else instead later.", "reference": "question: Can cancerous tissue be introduced into our food chain?I was just wondering this morning, can cancerous tissue be present within the meats we eat, and if so what happens to the human body when it gets digested?\n answer: Well the good news is that you won't get cancer by eating cancer cells. \n\nNow, an interesting aside that is related to this question I think - there is a way you can contract a disease by eating other tissue that isn't filled with bacteria/virus - called prion disease. Prion diseases are usually spontaneous, with one protein in the brain malfolding to cause problems. Creutzfelt-Jacob Disease (CJD) is the classic example of this, and it is *very* rare. [Kuru](_URL_1_) and [Mad Cow Disease](_URL_0_) can be contracted when you consume animal or human parts that are contaminated by these malformed proteins. Speculation is that CJD victims in Papua New Guinea were consumed by family members in tribal cannibalism funeral tradition and this led to an epidemic of prion disease. \n\nSo your line of thinking is what led people to determine that this disease could be transmissible - something people took decades to figure out."}
{"candidate": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: I know here in Denver they simply passed a law banning camping in the park.  Pretty much a done deal after that.", "reference": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: The police kicked the protesters out of Zucotti Park. And they patrol constantly to make sure nobody comes back. That's the only reason."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I'm from the uk and we give away our blood for free, seems to work well enough. I give blood every year or so, i figure one day all need someone else's.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: This used to be the case. It made it more likely for drug users and prostitutes to give blood.\n\nThey are more likely to have HIV. since the current ELISA HIV test only tests for HIV antibodies, somebody who has just recently(within past 6 weeks) contracted HIV will not have antibodies and thus not test positive for it.\n\nThis would increase the chance for a person (particularly haemophiliacs, who need factor 6/9, which is made from many samples of blood pooled together) to receive HIV from a blood transfusion(It is currently really really low).\n\nWhether it would increase the chance enough to make up for the benefit of more blood  is an experimental variable. But that is why they don't pay for blood anymore."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do we feel more uncomfortable viewing sex than viewing violence when others are around us? Given that sex is more natural than violence, shouldn't it be the opposite?[removed] answer: Well for the most part it has to do with cultural expectations and other stuff. Some places have lots more sex on tv and less violence on tv for cultural reasons (looking at u germany). \n\n*This is my very uneducated take on it from an individual level*. -- But i guess you could also describe the phenomena using neurology and psychology. Humans have \"mirror neurons\" that help us with empathy. We see someone doing something and mimic that internally. Watching people be intimate while around others might cause a dissonance if that level of intimacy isn't already found in the group.", "reference": "question: Why do we feel more uncomfortable viewing sex than viewing violence when others are around us? Given that sex is more natural than violence, shouldn't it be the opposite?[removed] answer: I think sex is kind of way more personal to people, and any individual might get weirded out about sharing their views / connecting with people on it.  Whereas violence is everywhere (sex is too, but strictly talking exposure), just as a casual thing, life is violent probably way more often than its sexy.  I like Bruce Campbell said \"You can show a breast being cut off, but you can't show it being kissed\""}
{"candidate": "question: Why didn't the industrial revolution take place a 1000 years ago,Why was our progress so exponential in the last 400 years?[removed] answer: I'm going to guess the discovery of calculus had something to do with it. The extra prediction power helped flesh out a lot of fields of its time. After its discovery in the 1600's and its perfection in the 1700's, the next century shows us Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism, the laws of thermodynamics, the theory of evolution, and other sciences that would later become modern.", "reference": "question: Why didn't the industrial revolution take place a 1000 years ago,Why was our progress so exponential in the last 400 years?[removed] answer: My theory is that the level of technology a society can produce is a factor of interconnected population size plus automation. For example, after the fall of Rome (and a reduction in the size of an interconnected economy) the level of technology produced in Europe temporarily regressed. \n\nThe Industrial Revolution roughly coincides with the development of worldwide sea trade routes. (In other words, a sea trades routes connected a larger population economically.) \n\nIf you wonder why the number of people exchanging trade in an interconnected global economy should matter, then look up Ricardo's theorem of Comparative Advantage."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I was young when I was first sent to the training camps. The speech therapy, punctuated by the sound of electric shock when one would accidently switch back to the \"Breeder Tongue,\" was the most memorable torment, penetrating my nightmares for years to come. They trained us well, by the time I left I could communicate with 16 year old girls from the san fernando valley, as well as our own kind, with ease. The revolution was coming, and my comrades and I trained well. Someday, all the breeders will see what else they taught us. IN THE CAMPS.\n\nI'm sorry, I mean no it just kind of happens lol don't know how. Stop asking questions.", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: [This answer](_URL_1_) from /u/shinkouhyou explains it pretty well.\n\n >  The \"gay accent\" or varies from person to person, but it's usually characterized by lisping, hypercorrection, and lilting, \"feminine\" pitch and vowel length. There are also vocabulary differences, so you can even think of it as a \"gay dialect\"... or, rather, a \"gay sociolect,\" since it's not tied to a geographical area. Most speakers are able to \"code switch\" - in essence, they can turn it on and off. It's a marker of identity. Lots of cultural groups have sociolects that they use to show membership in a group - think of BEV (Black English Vernacular aka Ebonics), or \"Valley Girl\" speech, or the l337speak used online.\n\n > As far as history, some linguists say that the gay accent was influenced by the California accent, since California was the heart of the early gay rights movement in the US. But a \"gay dialect\" actually goes back a lot farther than that! The British dialect of Polari[1] might go back to the 16th century. Polari actually sounds a bit like what we'd call a \"gay accent\" today, and it has its roots in a combination of Roma argot, Cockney rhymbing slang, and exaggerated, singsong theatrical speech (think the old Punch and Judy puppet shows). Polari almost completely died out in the 1960s and 70s, though, as it started to be seen as a negative stereotype. But quite a lot of Polari words are still in use (such as \"drag,\" which comes from the Romani word \"indraka,\" or \"skirt.\")"}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: Stage Hypnosis is very different then clinical hypnosis so I cant speak for it, but as for clinical. It is a state of peace, you know what is going on but are so relaxed that suggestions from the hypnotherapist become practically your own thoughts. It can be used to stop smoking, help boost confidence, pain management, and much more. It isn't a joke and it is recognized as a legitimate study. Not everyone though is susceptible for it though, some people much like myself are terrible subjects and can only go into a light trance, but I've seen it work miracles, people have quit smoking in just one session with it. \nSource: My father is a doctor of clinical hypnotherapy.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: According to Penn and Teller who, as magicians themselves, I am prone to trust: absolutely nothing. The hypnotist says some mumbo jumbo. The participant in a show will realize it isn't working but play along so no one is embarrassed and the show continues to be entertaining for everyone. If it's a therapeutic hypnosis session, the participant spills his guts when he normally wouldn't because he feels as though, since he's 'hypnotized', he's no longer implicated in his confession. It's effective, but not real."}
{"candidate": "question: American Football for an Englishman.I know absolutely nothing about it answer: It's sort of like rugby, except the players line up before each play and there are stricter rules about contact.\n\nEach team gets four tries, or 'downs' to move the ball as far as possible down the field. They can do this by handing the ball to a fast player,  the 'running back', or by throwing it to a receiver down the field. The thrower is called the quarterback. A down is over when the player currently holding the ball is tackled. If the team can move forward ten yards in four downs, the counter for downs starts over.  \n\nOne touchdown (moving the ball to the other end of the field) is worth 6 points. After that , the team can either kick the ball through the upright goal to gain another point, or try to run the ball past the other team for another two points. \n\nAfter 4 downs or a touchdown, the ball is given to the other team for their attempt at a goal.", "reference": "question: American Football for an Englishman.I know absolutely nothing about it answer: Football is like war.\n\nYou have 2 sides. We'll call one side the British and the other side the Scotts. The Scotts are trying to get a special \"package\" behind the British line. Keep in mind, there are special rules of war, but the basic concept is that each side will try to guess how the other side will line up the troops. The Scotts are trying to line up their troops to exploit weaknesses in the British defense and the British are trying set up defense that will effectively counter the Scotts' offensive. If the Scotts successfully get the package across the British lines, then they get 6 points. They can then try to kick the package through the enemy headquarters window for an additional point.\n\nNow the Scotts have 4 attempts to move the package 10 yards. If by the 3rd attempt there is no chance to move the package the requisite distance, then they have a choice. If they are close enough, they can attempt to kick the package through the window for only 3 points. If they are too far, then they want to kick the package as far back to the enemy line as possible where the British can then pick the package up and attempt to do the same to the Scotts.\n\nThere are a few additional things...but that's the basic concept."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do Christians treat incest as a sin? If Adam and Eve populated all of humanity, what in The Bible says that God declared incest as a sin? answer: Because you get genetic diseases in offspring from such unions, and the religion is just tacked on. And although people didn't know about genes they certainly knew that inbreeding causes such issues.\n\nThe better question is why christians are so against polygamy, because all the famous biblical characters had several wives.", "reference": "question: Why do Christians treat incest as a sin? If Adam and Eve populated all of humanity, what in The Bible says that God declared incest as a sin? answer: The idea about incest in the bible is that it's a sin because it's damaging to the gene pool. Christians believe that 6,000 or so years ago that incest didn't cause genetic defects the way it does now. Part of it is pollution. That's something that was told me to me when I was in church in high school that pollution is a big cause of genetic defects as a result of incest, I don't know why.\n\nBottom line it's a sin now because it's unhealthy."}
{"candidate": "question: What do people on Wall street actually do?[removed] answer: Wall Street's intended function is the optimal allocation of resources. With many investors choosing where to put their money, the theory is that this will result in the most worthwhile and beneficial projects receiving the most capital. \n\nThe incentive is pretty simple. If you direct your capital to a project you believe in (by buying a share of stock), you can later sell it for more money, once that enterprise has used your money to become successful. Or you can keep it and be entitled to a portion of the enterprise's proceeds (dividends).\n\nAnd for the most part, it works. The tricky part is that it leverages greed. And greed has a way of gaming it the system. The players can become less interested in the worthy allocation of capital and more interested in making a quick buck. That is why we regulate trading pretty heavily (and some would say not heavily enough).", "reference": "question: What do people on Wall street actually do?[removed] answer: What do you mean Charlie? We create wealth"}
{"candidate": "question: What causes us to wake up when we've had enough sleep? Has anyone ever been missing this function and could keep sleeping indefinitely if not woken up?[removed] answer: Not a doctor, nor a scientist, but I'm pretty sure the answer the the latter question is a resounding 'no'.\n\nNot indefinitely asleep at least. At some point you'd just be dead.", "reference": "question: What causes us to wake up when we've had enough sleep? Has anyone ever been missing this function and could keep sleeping indefinitely if not woken up?[removed] answer: I can sleep up to 48 hours if I have no external source to wake me up. Like right now, I went to bed at 1am, for got to set an alarm and in just woke up a few minutes ago from a text from my mom. Its 5pm. I wanna go back to bed."}
{"candidate": "question: if the aim of the prison system is to reintegrate felons into society why are they branded for life in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to get a job?[removed] answer: That may have been the aim at one point, but nowadays, if you wind up in prison, it's best (for them) that you stay there... most US prisons are profit-driven private-owned things, and the more inmates they have, the more money they make.  It is not in their best interests to let you out of the system.", "reference": "question: if the aim of the prison system is to reintegrate felons into society why are they branded for life in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to get a job?[removed] answer: Money. \nYou rehabilitate someone they won't get arrested again. You put them in a situation where they can't get a job or learn from their mistakes then they resort to crime and you as a prison owner get all that money."}
{"candidate": "question: Why aren't subs such as r/greatapes and r/picsofdeadkids banned? answer: Can somebody explain to me what r/greatapes is, so I don't have to damage myself by looking?", "reference": "question: Why aren't subs such as r/greatapes and r/picsofdeadkids banned? answer: Those aren't even debatable in terms of banning. Being racist isn't illegal and neither are having pics of dead kids.\n\nWhy not check out the 100+ other legal subreddits?\n\n/r/PicsOfHorseVaginas[1] - /r/UrethraPorn[2] - /r/WTF_Wallpapers[3] - /r/WhichAnimalGenitals[4] - /r/fartporn[5] - /r/SpidersGoneWild[6] - /r/snotporn[7] - /r/whywouldyoufuckthat[8] - /r/hotdogporn[9] - /r/sexwithdogs[10] - /r/ratandmouseporn[11] - /r/rabbitporn[12] - /r/santaporn[13] - /r/sheepporn[14] - /r/coldporn[15] - /r/electricporn[16] - /r/burningporn[17] - /r/snooporn[18] - /r/flyingfuck[19] - /r/fuckingfish[20] - /r/picsofdeadpuppies[21] - /r/bananaporn[22] -/r/starvin_marvins[23] - /r/sexyabortions[24] - /r/deadcat[25] - /r/deadcats[26] - /r/catgore[27] - /r/picsofdeadkids[28] - /r/deadbabies[29] - /r/deadpeople[30] - /r/deathfap[31] - /r/beatingwomen[32] - /r/getinmyvanlittlegirl[33] - /r/spacedicks[34] - /r/gore[35] - /r/blasphemy[36] - /r/sodom[37] - /r/ectalprolapse[38] - /r/rape[39] - /r/daterape[40] - /r/picsofhorsedicks[41] - /r/squidsgonewild[42] - /r/DinoBalls[43] - /r/whalebait[44] - /r/niggers[45] - /r/whitenationalism[46] - /r/popping[47] - /r/BlogDelNarco[48] - /r/itas[49] - /r/rainbowbar[50] - /r/NSFW4[51] - /r/___ - /r/Picsofdeadponies[52] - /r/holyjesus[53] - /r/deathclub[54] - /r/necromancy[55] - /r/zombiebabes[56] - /r/necrololia[57] - /r/necrophilia[58] - /r/proteinmodels[59] - /r/BaconPorn[60] - /r/DaddyIssues[61] - /r/spaceclop[62] - /r/rule34[63] - /r/rapingwomen[64] -/r/beatingtrannies[65] - /r/misogyny[66] - /r/ChokeABitch[67] - /r/BeatingCripples[68] - /r/picsofdeadwhalebait[69] - /r/girlspooping[70] - /r/mantits[71] - /r/kittyporn[72] - /r/catporn[73] - /r/Penispaint[74] - /r/NKGW[75] - /r/picsofniggers[76] - /r/clopclop[77] - /r/deadbabyjokes[78] - /r/StruggleFucking[79] - /r/midgetsmut[80] - /r/GimpPorn[81] - /r/MorbidReality[82] - /r/farts[83] - /r/doppelbangher[84] - /r/tinydick[85] - /r/vomit[86] - /r/puke[87] - /r/poop[88] - /r/scatporn[89] - /r/horseshit[90] - /r/diapersgonewild[91] - /r/watersports[92] - - /r/fearme[93] - /r/robotporn[94] - /r/watchpeopledie[95] - /r/rapeisfun[96] - /r/fillyfiddlers[97] - /r/pee[98] - /r/peegonewild[99] - /r/watermelon[100] - /r/legoporn[101] - /r/shemales[102] - /r/BaguettesInButts[103] - /r/lawn[104] - /r/horsemask[105] - /r/horsemaskgw[106] - /r/nsfl[107] - /r/asslick[108] - /r/FRUITUNION[109] - /r/clownbutter[110] /r/ToasterRights[111] /r/ToastersGW[112] /r/Toasterovenclub[113] /r/picsofdeadtoasters[114] /r/toasterbait[115] /r/dragonsfuckingcars[116] /r/bitchimabus[117] /r/FuckYouImAShark[118] /r/Picsofryanrunning[119] /r/animalswithoutnecks[120] /r/birdswitharms[121] /r/TreesSuckingOnThings[122] /r/TreesSuckingAtThings"}
{"candidate": "question: how come dinosaurs were so much bigger than todays animals? answer: higher oxygen supply in the air plus plenty of plants allowed the plant eaters to eat more.  the more they were eating, the bigger they grew.\n\nmeat eaters got bigger too as their prey kept getting bigger.  they had to get big or they wouldn't be able to survive.", "reference": "question: how come dinosaurs were so much bigger than todays animals? answer: Fyi blue whale is the biggest animal of all time and it still exists :-)"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: As an American, to me this is like asking, \"Why does everyone eat with forks and knives when you could just bury your face in the food and still get the same nutrients?\"\n\nBecause it's much better, that's why.", "reference": "question: Why does everyone in the US seem to have an AC system?Even in areas with very mild climates? I know, weird question but I'm not from the US. I travel a lot and I've been to the US a few times. It seems to be the only country where at least 9 out of 10 people have an AC system, even in small cheap apartments in mild climate states. Most places only have them in like big supermarkets and buildings, if any at all.\n\nWhenever I tell a friend from the US I deal with 35C+ (95F+) temperatures without an AC they're usually baffled that I don't have an AC. Meanwhile I'm baffled they do, lol.\n\nHow come? Pretty much every hot country I've been to people just deal with 40C+ (104F+) temperatures without an AC system. Yet every single person I know with no exceptions from the US has an AC.\n\nAlso, doesn't this have some bad side effects for mother nature when every single house and apartment in tightly packed areas has an AC? And doesn't it make people more weak and sensitive to hot temperatures? Especially when they walk from a cooled house into a really hot outside? That sudden change would make my circulatory go all wonky lol.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the answers. I get the whole: \"Because it's hot and humid!\" reasoning, but there's many countries where it's a lot more hot and humid that don't plonk ACs everywhere. There has to be some event or trigger that caused ACs to popularize so much in the US other than: \"Everyone outside 'Murrica is dumb for not having ACs!\" lol. I'm not looking for the reason why people have an AC, that one is pretty obvious. I'm trying to figure out why almost everyone in the US does, but other places don't.\n\nBy the way, I wasn't negatively judging the US for having ACs everywhere, I find it rather good and wish more places were like that since I've experienced large scale heatwave deaths in 45C+/90%+ humidity countries, mostly elderly people. So no idea why I'm getting so many racist comments.\n\nEDIT 2: Seems like nobody understood my question whatsoever besides one person. _URL_0_ answer: Why does everyone in the US seem to wear shoes? I live in a favela in Rio de Janeiro and most of us get by with no shoes.\n\nWhy does everyone in the US seem to eat multiple times a day? I live in sub-Saharan Africa and I only eat once a week."}
{"candidate": "question: why are train tracks filled with stones?Isn't that extremely dangerous if one of the stones gets on the track?\n\n#Answer below\n\n##Do trains get derailed by a stone or a coin on the track?\nNo, trains do net get derailed by stones on the tracks. That's mostly because trains are fucking heavy and move with such power that stones, coins, etc just get crushed!\n\n##Why are train tracks filled with anything anyways?\n* Distributes the weight of the track evenly\n* Prevents water from getting into the ground \u00bb making it unstable\n* Keeps the tracks in place\n\n##Why stones and not any other option?\n* Keeps out vegetation\n* Stones are cheap\n* Low maintenance\n\nThanks to every contributor :) answer: I always find humor when people ask \"wont a penny or stone derail the train\"....... to which i show them a video of a train blowing through a fully loaded semi trailer without slowing down one bit. I then let them decide for themselves.", "reference": "question: why are train tracks filled with stones?Isn't that extremely dangerous if one of the stones gets on the track?\n\n#Answer below\n\n##Do trains get derailed by a stone or a coin on the track?\nNo, trains do net get derailed by stones on the tracks. That's mostly because trains are fucking heavy and move with such power that stones, coins, etc just get crushed!\n\n##Why are train tracks filled with anything anyways?\n* Distributes the weight of the track evenly\n* Prevents water from getting into the ground \u00bb making it unstable\n* Keeps the tracks in place\n\n##Why stones and not any other option?\n* Keeps out vegetation\n* Stones are cheap\n* Low maintenance\n\nThanks to every contributor :) answer: Laying down Gravel/loose bedding is an ancient roman invention and it's why their roads lasted so long. Think about all the sidewalks you've seen and how most of them are cracked and sometimes those cracks get angled so you trip. Gravel bedding allows the ground beneath the road to contort, compress, and bend without the road itself from warping."}
{"candidate": "question: The effect of ADHD medication (Ritalin) on those who use it, but haven't been diagnosed with it.CONTEXT:\nDuring a recent brief discussion with my doctor I asked whether there was a benefit for people who used Ritalin, but aren't diagnosed with ADHD. She responded by saying that there isn't one and that, that's one way specialists are able to tell, besides tests and what not. This comment left me somewhat confused as I'm aware that there is quite a large market around selling Ritalin/Adderall illegally, hence the heavy regulations on prescriptions. On one hand I know it's popular with university students to assist with studying, however, on the other hand I've heard that people abuse it to gain a high. \n\nQUESTION:\nAre the people who obtain and use it illegally for the assistance they gain with studying/working, people who have ADHD but haven't sought out a specialist to get a diagnosis. While the people who use it for the purpose of getting high do not have ADHD?\n\nIf so, what difference in an individual's brain chemistry causes this drug to react to react differently for people who have it versus the people who don't. \n\n\nTl;dr\n\nIf someone gains the intended effects of Ritalin/Adderall does this confirm they have ADHD? And that getting a high from taking it, is indicative of not having it? If yes, chemically speaking, why? answer: I've done acid a few times, and smoke pot daily. That's it with my drug use. After one of my friends got on Vivanse (sp?)  and explained to me how it helped change his daily life I started looking inward and realized that I've struggled with ADHD forever. My father didn't want me to go to the doctor for any reason at all, including when I broke my leg in two (\"Splint it and wrap it up, it'll heal eventually\" until my grandma put me in her car and took me to the ER), so there is no way I would've ever been diagnosed with it as a kid.\n\nBut I now am weeks away from re-obtaining my health insurance and then the first thing I'm doing is scheduling an appointment to discuss my potential ADHD.\n\nI want to just try some adderall or something from friends who use it recreationally, but the dosage for what I need it for is unknown to me, so I don't know if it would actually be beneficial...so I'm waiting for another month until health insurance.", "reference": "question: The effect of ADHD medication (Ritalin) on those who use it, but haven't been diagnosed with it.CONTEXT:\nDuring a recent brief discussion with my doctor I asked whether there was a benefit for people who used Ritalin, but aren't diagnosed with ADHD. She responded by saying that there isn't one and that, that's one way specialists are able to tell, besides tests and what not. This comment left me somewhat confused as I'm aware that there is quite a large market around selling Ritalin/Adderall illegally, hence the heavy regulations on prescriptions. On one hand I know it's popular with university students to assist with studying, however, on the other hand I've heard that people abuse it to gain a high. \n\nQUESTION:\nAre the people who obtain and use it illegally for the assistance they gain with studying/working, people who have ADHD but haven't sought out a specialist to get a diagnosis. While the people who use it for the purpose of getting high do not have ADHD?\n\nIf so, what difference in an individual's brain chemistry causes this drug to react to react differently for people who have it versus the people who don't. \n\n\nTl;dr\n\nIf someone gains the intended effects of Ritalin/Adderall does this confirm they have ADHD? And that getting a high from taking it, is indicative of not having it? If yes, chemically speaking, why? answer: I have attention deficit disorder(ADD but not ADHD) and I can't tell you the chemistry of it but I can give you personal experience.  Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta all have an effect on me that just makes it easier to focus on tasks.  It doesn't make me energetic or give me a \"high\" feeling.  One other effect I noticed is if you take any of these medications near bed time it becomes impossible to sleep.\n\nWhen I was in my teens, on occasion I would give some to my friends.  They all said it gave them an energized high similar to cocaine but that lasted longer.  Ritalin and adderall would give a shorter high, concerta(time-released)  would give a longer, weaker high."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do babies/toddlers scream and cry for a long time when they are tired instead of just going the eff to sleep?[removed] answer: Sleeping babies is not as simple as adults. They often need to be quiet. They need to find the feeling they are most familiar with before they can fall asleep. Otherwise, if they are uncomfortable, they will only express it through crying because he will not be in other ways.", "reference": "question: Why do babies/toddlers scream and cry for a long time when they are tired instead of just going the eff to sleep?[removed] answer: Because being tired is uncomfortable. It sucks. Babies don't understand that the discomfort associated with being tired is temporary. They just know that they are uncomfortable, and they cry for attention and care when they experience discomfort."}
{"candidate": "question: - Credit Card Fraud. How did my credit card get used at a gas station? And a pharmacy? And a Target? 200 miles away.... When it is still in my wallet?How does this sort of fraud work? Where did they get the credit card number? How did they use it at these places without a physical card? Can anyone break down the process for me? I'm just curious. answer: At some point while you were out, the information on your credit card was copied. The attacker probably made a fake duplicate card, and then began making purchases elsewhere. Info in the magnetic stripe on cards is not encrypted, and can be easily read with a magstripe reader. The magnetic stripe contains the same information that is printed on the front of the card.\n\nLast December, a large volume of credit card information was stolen from Target - this is on the large scale. It happens on the small scale also when a local business stores customer information in an insecure fashion. I've also heard stories of dishonest cashiers or waiters who have stolen customer card information to then sell it on the internet.\n\nEDIT: Like the other replies said, definitely contact your credit card company and report the charges as fraudulent. They'll send you a new card and you won't be charged for the fraudulent purchases.", "reference": "question: - Credit Card Fraud. How did my credit card get used at a gas station? And a pharmacy? And a Target? 200 miles away.... When it is still in my wallet?How does this sort of fraud work? Where did they get the credit card number? How did they use it at these places without a physical card? Can anyone break down the process for me? I'm just curious. answer: Just because someone doesn't have your physical card doesn't mean they didn't swipe it somewhere (or install a skimmer on an ATM or gas pump or something), then program your info onto a new card so they can swipe it elsewhere."}
{"candidate": "question: How do people make/steal money using credit card skimmers?I mean walk me through it because clearly I am missing something here. answer: The quickest and easiest way people make money from using skimmers is by selling the collected information to other people. \n\nThey'll collect a list of names, card numbers, and PINs, then sell it to someone else who has the ability to use it for a few hundred dollars. \n\nThat person can then clone the cards or use the info online, make a bunch of purchases, then sell the bought items for cash.", "reference": "question: How do people make/steal money using credit card skimmers?I mean walk me through it because clearly I am missing something here. answer: There was a documentary on netfix that followed criminals. One of them was a credit card fraud guy. He had a connection, a bartender who used a skimmer to collect numbers, who sold him the data. He then buys a bunch of the visa gift cards and removes the printed on numbers. He then had a device that loads the stolen number onto the blank visa gift card. He then used a embossing machine to emboss the stolen number onto the card, so it looks like a visa credit card. \nin short he copy stolen numbers onto a visa gift card and emboss it to make it look legit. \nIn the episode he took the copied card to BestBuy and bought a ipad which he posted and sold on craigslist the same day."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do different European languages have such varying names for Germany?Allemagne, \u0413\u0435\u0440\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f (Germaniya), Saksa, Deutschland, Germany, etc. answer: In Polish it's \"Niemcy\", what means \"those who don't speak\". That's because we could easily talk with almost everyone around us (slavic language group), but we couldn't understand a word from Germans.", "reference": "question: Why do different European languages have such varying names for Germany?Allemagne, \u0413\u0435\u0440\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f (Germaniya), Saksa, Deutschland, Germany, etc. answer: I've never understood why we change the names of countries for other languages. Espa\u00f1a, Italia, Deutchland is so much cooler than Spain, Italy, and France"}
{"candidate": "question: Why isn't a birth control pill for men invented yet?It seems like with medical advances, someone, somewhere is either working on it, or has it in use. answer: australian researchers are working on it, and have successfully made a \"pill\" for mice. it works by inhibiting the two proteins that activate a sperm's tail (the tail does not work in the testes) after it leaves the testes. it causes only temporary infertility and does not affect sex drive or performance, it simply makes it impossible for the sperm to swim. they are working on translating this to humans.", "reference": "question: Why isn't a birth control pill for men invented yet?It seems like with medical advances, someone, somewhere is either working on it, or has it in use. answer: They are working on that and have done it in mice\n\n_URL_6_"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: The long term idea, at least what I would assume, is to turn Google into your sort of Internet Id, instead of Facebook, which is kind of winning that war. They do this by linking everything to your name and your Google+ account!", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: Because they want to encourage more \"fun\" accounts. What youtube really lacked before was someone pretending to be Walter White on every single video. If youtubes 5 year plan works then the comment section will be filled with nothing but Walter White, Jessie Pinkman and Gustov Fring."}
{"candidate": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: The two nurses were poorly trained and equipped. Moreover they did not know he had confirmed ebola until after they had contact with him.\n\nThe Dr in NY was treating multiple patients in austere conditions.\n\nIn both cases it's insane to think that when you lack training AND adequate PPE that you *won't* get ebola", "reference": "question: If Ebola is so difficult to transmit (direct contact with bodily fluids), how do trained medical professionals with modern safety equipment contract the disease? answer: The more time you spend exposed to bodily fluids, the more likely you're going to make a mistake. It only takes something like 10 individual virii to infect someone."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: Germany has kept its foreign affairs to a minimal. When international conflicts arise they have remained neutral on the matter. Concurrently there business and industry institutions have developed with public funding and mandates. Their educational system specializes it's students to their specific interests contrast to the US where students learn the same material up until college or upper level education. The German economy is based around specialized capitalism that keeps the government and business sectors separated yet regulated. Also up until the mid 2000s NATO had military restrictions on the German wehrmacht (Army).  So obviously no taxes levied on defense programs. Most importantly though is their neutrality on contemporary conflicts. Look at history for nations who remained neutral and built up internally rather than externally. The US in the 1920s when we were full on isolationist was our greatest peak of success. Unfortunately the factors leading into the great depression wrecked our economy and the rest of the world but that's economics for ya. Switzerland has never really been in a full on conflict with another nation thus have internally built up it's infrastructure. Germany's modern success in conclusion comes from it's strong capitalist industry, specialized education system, and foreign neutrality.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: It is the nature of the people themselves.  indomitable spirit rises and won't be stopped. look at the past:  art, literature, music, science, mathematics--they have had it all going on for centuries. adversity is only a challenge for the German people but certainly not a permanent roadblock. the history post WWI and WWII is interesting as it can be but the German people would still have come through--whereas most other folks could not have emulated their success no matter what they were given to work with.  i am not German but i certainly appreciate them."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a difference in voltage between America and pretty much the rest of the world (240V vs 120V I believe) and what are the impacts of this in terms of energy transport/conservation and usage.\u26a1\u26a1\u26a1 Wow, that's a lot of electric knowledge being passed around here. I'm buzzed! \u26a1\u26a1\u26a1\n\nITT: Mostly discussions about water kettles.\n\nFor some really cool maps, click this link. ~~[Link](_URL_1_)~~\n\n**Please don't click the [Link](_URL_0_) anymore, I'm afraid we are reddit-hugging the world's power grid to death. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u00b0)** answer: the biggest impact I see for local low voltage wiring in the US (110V) compared to other countries (230V). To maintain equipment operating conditions, larger copper cross sectional area cables are required in the 110V system as the currents are (comparably) higher and therefore suffer more voltage drop.", "reference": "question: Why is there a difference in voltage between America and pretty much the rest of the world (240V vs 120V I believe) and what are the impacts of this in terms of energy transport/conservation and usage.\u26a1\u26a1\u26a1 Wow, that's a lot of electric knowledge being passed around here. I'm buzzed! \u26a1\u26a1\u26a1\n\nITT: Mostly discussions about water kettles.\n\nFor some really cool maps, click this link. ~~[Link](_URL_1_)~~\n\n**Please don't click the [Link](_URL_0_) anymore, I'm afraid we are reddit-hugging the world's power grid to death. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u00b0)** answer: Besides the historical difference as others have mentioned, and how costly it would be to retrofit to different standards, 220v is intrinsically more efficient due to heat losses.\n\nFor given wattage, say a 1100W microwave oven, since Power = Current * Voltage  (P=IV), for 110V @10A and 220v @5A.\n\nVoltage is Current*Resistance (V=IR).\n\nIf you manipulate the equations, P=I^2 R. [This equation solves the power lost as heat due to Joule Heating.](_URL_5_)\nTherefore, for given Current and conductor resistance, power lost as heat is HUGE as current increases.\n\nPower Received = Power Generated - Power Lost during transmission. \nTherefore if the sending voltage is low, the current will have to be high make up for low voltage, but it'll all get lost in the form of heat and not much will get to the end point. That's also the reason  why it make sense for main power lines have extremely high voltage."}
{"candidate": "question: Sharks, crocodiles etc. When they eat in the water their prey, where does all the water goes when they swallow? Do they somehow filter meat from water or do they just swallow it all? answer: Hi! I'm a Marine Bio student and I think I can answer the part of your question pertaining to sharks. Sharks can regulate their internal salt content through what's called a rectal gland. Essentially they process the salt to keep their bodies at a Hyposmotic state, so that way Water can diffuse through their skin and into their systems. The rectal gland essentially let's them excrete any of the salt they do not need to maintain the osmoregularity. Their a bunch of extra complicated stuff involving urea in their tissues, but I'll avoid that for my above answer.\n\nTL;DR: They do swallow some of the salt water, they are just able to process the salt out of their body", "reference": "question: Sharks, crocodiles etc. When they eat in the water their prey, where does all the water goes when they swallow? Do they somehow filter meat from water or do they just swallow it all? answer: I'm not sure about crocodiles, but sharks filter water out when they are eating. They take a bite and any water they take in flows out though their gills. They can sometimes swallow some water, yes, and they also can expel food out of their gills by accident sometimes. I work as an aquarist with sharks and have seen a squid stuck in a sharks gills because of this."}
{"candidate": "question: Why doesn't everyone pay a flat tax rate regardless of what they earn?[removed] answer: The relative effects on those who make less money are more severe.\n\nIf you make $12,000/year, you are officially just above the poverty line and might be able to just scrape by. You don't have money for luxuries, but you can probably keep yourself sheltered in some capacity (even if it's just a rented room). You probably can't save much. A tax burden of 10% would have a *huge* impact on your quality of life. Now, you're effectively making $10,800, which is below the poverty line. You went from just scraping by to maybe getting evicted. \n\nIf you're making 50,000/year, that same tax takes you down to 45,000. It might affect the car you buy or how many rooms your house/apartment has, but it's not affecting your ability to keep sheltered, clothed, and fed. \n\nIf you're making 100,000/year, that tax takes you down to 90,000. There is little impact on your lifestyle at this point. Maybe you can only buy a new car every three or four years, or you vacation in Hawaii instead of Europe. \n\nIf you're making 1,000,000/year, you pay 100,000 and take home 900,000. Maybe your yacht is slightly shorter? There's not much functional impact on you at all.", "reference": "question: Why doesn't everyone pay a flat tax rate regardless of what they earn?[removed] answer: Flat taxes are unfair to the poor, because the poor need to spend a greater percentage of their income on the basics of survival (i.e, food and shelter).\n\nThat's why the poor pay a lower marginal tax rate than the wealthy."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do computers insist that we \"safely\" eject USB drives? answer: Imagine that people are the files on your drive. Now imagine if the subway takes off or an elevator descends while people are still halfway in the door.", "reference": "question: Why do computers insist that we \"safely\" eject USB drives? answer: Your mum's baking a cake, and you can smell it. It smells so good that you open the oven too early and take the cake out. You cut into it to get a piece, but realise it's only half baked and it's all wrong. \nYou try to put it back in to bake again, but it doesn't work, the cake is already ruined (corrupted) and your mum needs to start from scratch with a new cake (USB drive)"}
{"candidate": "question: Besides actually getting people there, what other problems does science need to overcome before humans could live on Mars? answer: Improved radiation shielding is a big one. The amount of radiation is less of a concern than the prolonged exposure the astronauts would be subject to on a 500 day mission.", "reference": "question: Besides actually getting people there, what other problems does science need to overcome before humans could live on Mars? answer: Air to breath, water to drink, food to eat, shelter from cosmic radiation to live in, air pressure to keep their bodies from exploding; all the basic things the Earth provides are missing on Mars except for gravity and sand to stand on.\n\nWhile Blue Mars is a fabulous science fiction concept, and a great trilogy, it's a logistics problem that's beyond our current capability to solve."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are Chinese and Japanese people called \"Asians\", but Indians aren't? answer: They are classified as Asian in the us as well.  In fact, I've never heard of someone NOT classifying India as as Asian country.", "reference": "question: Why are Chinese and Japanese people called \"Asians\", but Indians aren't? answer: To me, if you live on the continent of \"Asia\" you are Asian. Indian, Chinese, Mongolian, Iranian, Russian. Yes Russians are in Asia. Russians are Asian."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: I thibk it's a ploy by corporations so qe cannot compare to our peer and get a decent wage.", "reference": "question: Why is it so taboo to ask about someone's salary?EDIT: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I'd love to hear if it's taboo in your country (not the US). This is obviously a cultural phenomenon and I wonder if there is an anthropological explanation to this?\n\nEDIT 2: Ok ok, I get it, it's none of my *god damn business*. But really, why is it none of my business? What caused this social taboo? Is it rooted in Victorian or Medieval or Middle Ages beliefs? answer: Because people think that the other judge them only by how much money they gain. And maybe it's true...sometime we think that people with higher salaries are somehow better then people with lower ones."}
{"candidate": "question: Not a request, but I was thinking that writers and artists of reddit should get together and make children books out of these explanations.**Last Edit:   [WE'RE DOING THIS (ELI5 Project)!](_URL_1_)**\n----\n\n------------------------------------------------\n\n\nThere are concepts on here that I'm sure many redditor parents have a difficult time explaining to their kids. It would be cool if we could all get together and design some children books similar to how we do the Redditor Magazine. \n\nIt could be a .pdf file that parents print and read to their kids as bedtime short stories. Educate the little kids with tough questions they all have, while making it fun: [**we could start here**](_URL_0_)\n\nIs this something you'd all be interested in? \n\n**Edit:** Looks like we have enough support, and a decent amount of volunteers! If there's anyone else that would like to help, send me a PM or post here and I'll get in touch with you. I have enough time to execute this, but I'd also like someone to help me out a bit if anyone else has the free time and would like the task. Message me. \n\nI'll make a list soon of illustrators and writers. \n\n**Edit 2:** You guys are all awesome! I'll have an outline type document to send out to all the volunteers with all the details involved. Expect a message and/or email within the next few days! \n\n**It's not too late to let me know if you'd like to volunteer! We'll take all the help we can get!**             \nMessage me with your email address I can contact you at if possible.  answer: I'm a writer. Definitely up for this! Not bad with photoshop and illustrator either so I could pitch in there if needs be.", "reference": "question: Not a request, but I was thinking that writers and artists of reddit should get together and make children books out of these explanations.**Last Edit:   [WE'RE DOING THIS (ELI5 Project)!](_URL_1_)**\n----\n\n------------------------------------------------\n\n\nThere are concepts on here that I'm sure many redditor parents have a difficult time explaining to their kids. It would be cool if we could all get together and design some children books similar to how we do the Redditor Magazine. \n\nIt could be a .pdf file that parents print and read to their kids as bedtime short stories. Educate the little kids with tough questions they all have, while making it fun: [**we could start here**](_URL_0_)\n\nIs this something you'd all be interested in? \n\n**Edit:** Looks like we have enough support, and a decent amount of volunteers! If there's anyone else that would like to help, send me a PM or post here and I'll get in touch with you. I have enough time to execute this, but I'd also like someone to help me out a bit if anyone else has the free time and would like the task. Message me. \n\nI'll make a list soon of illustrators and writers. \n\n**Edit 2:** You guys are all awesome! I'll have an outline type document to send out to all the volunteers with all the details involved. Expect a message and/or email within the next few days! \n\n**It's not too late to let me know if you'd like to volunteer! We'll take all the help we can get!**             \nMessage me with your email address I can contact you at if possible.  answer: This is such a cute idea! I would definitely be interested in helping out. Either writing or illustrating."}
{"candidate": "question: When did the tipping culture in America become so hostile?When I was a kid, my parents told me, \"If your server does a good job, you leave them a little bit of extra money as a thank you.\" More importantly, if the service was bad, you left nothing, because *you were not obligated to leave anything*.\n\nToday it seems like tipping has become mandatory, regardless of the quality of service. Is it because \"times are tough\" or has the expectation shifted for some other reason? I know the minimum wage for servers is lower than the standard, but I also know that if their tips doesn't bring them \"up\" to the standard minimum wage, the restaurant is supposed to kick in the difference.\n\nI ask because we went out to eat last night, and the service was horrible. It took over 30 minutes to get our food (even though the place was dead), the order was wrong, and our server *left* in the middle of our service. Maybe her shift was over, but I'm not sure. We had to ask the manager for our ticket, and when we were asked how the experience was, we, well, *told them it was kinda shitty*, and explained why. The manager listened, then when we were leaving, she asked us if we were going to leave our tip on the table or if we wanted to add it to the bill at the register.\n\nI was *dumbfounded* at this, because in my mind, not only was a tip not warranted, but the server had also, you know, *left*. \n\nThe experience just got me wondering. When did the tipping culture in America change? Or, was it always like this, and I've just come to see it for what it is as I've gotten older?\n\nAnd when the fuck did 30% become the norm? The manager last night honestly tried to tell me that $5 on a $15 bill was *normal*, but I sure as shit wasn't about to leave that much. I left a buck on the table and left. The whole experience was just bizarre.\n\nAny insight would be awesome. I'm not trying to be a dick at all, I'm just confused and wondering if/when the expectation changed. answer: Thirty percent is not the norm and the manager was rude to ask. They need to have an area on the receipt for you to add your tip and if you aren't going to tip or will leave it in cash, you fill in 0. Asking to our face is just creating an awkward situation.", "reference": "question: When did the tipping culture in America become so hostile?When I was a kid, my parents told me, \"If your server does a good job, you leave them a little bit of extra money as a thank you.\" More importantly, if the service was bad, you left nothing, because *you were not obligated to leave anything*.\n\nToday it seems like tipping has become mandatory, regardless of the quality of service. Is it because \"times are tough\" or has the expectation shifted for some other reason? I know the minimum wage for servers is lower than the standard, but I also know that if their tips doesn't bring them \"up\" to the standard minimum wage, the restaurant is supposed to kick in the difference.\n\nI ask because we went out to eat last night, and the service was horrible. It took over 30 minutes to get our food (even though the place was dead), the order was wrong, and our server *left* in the middle of our service. Maybe her shift was over, but I'm not sure. We had to ask the manager for our ticket, and when we were asked how the experience was, we, well, *told them it was kinda shitty*, and explained why. The manager listened, then when we were leaving, she asked us if we were going to leave our tip on the table or if we wanted to add it to the bill at the register.\n\nI was *dumbfounded* at this, because in my mind, not only was a tip not warranted, but the server had also, you know, *left*. \n\nThe experience just got me wondering. When did the tipping culture in America change? Or, was it always like this, and I've just come to see it for what it is as I've gotten older?\n\nAnd when the fuck did 30% become the norm? The manager last night honestly tried to tell me that $5 on a $15 bill was *normal*, but I sure as shit wasn't about to leave that much. I left a buck on the table and left. The whole experience was just bizarre.\n\nAny insight would be awesome. I'm not trying to be a dick at all, I'm just confused and wondering if/when the expectation changed. answer: It's not that it's gotten hostile, you just rarely get good service anymore."}
{"candidate": "question: People claim electric cars pollute more than gasoline cars, if true how ? answer: Here is key takeaway:  \"Yes, in both cases the electric car is better, but only by a tiny bit. Avoiding 3 tons of CO2 would cost less than $27 onEurope's emissions trading market. The annual benefit is about the cost of a cup of coffee. Yet U.S. taxpayersspend up to $7,500 in tax breaks\u00a0for less than $27 of climate benefits. That's a bad deal.\"\n\nSource : _URL_6_", "reference": "question: People claim electric cars pollute more than gasoline cars, if true how ? answer: It reminds me of cloth vs disposable diapers. We decided to use cloth (had kids about 5 years ago) and we went to a meeting at the local \"green\" baby store to learn about them.\n\nThe woman that owned the store was talking about how there is some debate, basically is it better for the environment to manufacture and fill landfills with disposables, or to use a lot of water washing the diapers.\n\nShe said there are studies proving each, if you want the ones saying cloth diapers are better you look at the studies paid for by the cloth companies, and if you want disposables to be better look at the studies paid for by disposable diapers.\n\nModern science in a nutshell."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do police officers have bullet proof vests for covering vital organs when often times they leave their heads unprotected?I understand that SWAT teams and riot folks have helmets, but what about regular police? answer: Contrary to popular belief helmets are not there to stop bullets, they are there to protect the head from shrapnel, debris, and other hazards. \n\nThere simply is no utility to wearing a helmet in day-to-day activities for a police officer. They are not spending their whole day involved in shootouts or taking down perps. Much of it is spent sitting in cars, doing paperwork, and patrolling.", "reference": "question: Why do police officers have bullet proof vests for covering vital organs when often times they leave their heads unprotected?I understand that SWAT teams and riot folks have helmets, but what about regular police? answer: Well there are two major reasons. One is a cost to benefit scenario, in which it may not be beneficial to wear head gear, thus limiting your awareness and vision on the off chance that you get shot in the head. It turns out that a HUGE number of people just plain can't shoot well enough to hit a guy in the head. The benefits of a helmet are really not all that great either. If you get hit squarely in the head, even while wearing a helmet, the kinetic energy is still likely to snap your neck or break your skull (IF the helmet stops the round which is a big IF).\n\nThe other reason is societal. People don't want to see police officers riding around with helmets on, because they look too much like soldiers. With societies view on the militarization of the police already frowning on that, this would make it much worse."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a difference in voltage between America and pretty much the rest of the world (240V vs 120V I believe) and what are the impacts of this in terms of energy transport/conservation and usage.\u26a1\u26a1\u26a1 Wow, that's a lot of electric knowledge being passed around here. I'm buzzed! \u26a1\u26a1\u26a1\n\nITT: Mostly discussions about water kettles.\n\nFor some really cool maps, click this link. ~~[Link](_URL_1_)~~\n\n**Please don't click the [Link](_URL_0_) anymore, I'm afraid we are reddit-hugging the world's power grid to death. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u00b0)** answer: By the way, Canada, USA, an Mexico all three have 120volts, and in the US and Canada, equipment that uses more energy usually uses 240 volts. Things like clothes dryers, electric ovens, large air conditioners, and a lot of garage equipment like welders and large air compressors. Most mexicans dont even have 240 volt circuits.", "reference": "question: Why is there a difference in voltage between America and pretty much the rest of the world (240V vs 120V I believe) and what are the impacts of this in terms of energy transport/conservation and usage.\u26a1\u26a1\u26a1 Wow, that's a lot of electric knowledge being passed around here. I'm buzzed! \u26a1\u26a1\u26a1\n\nITT: Mostly discussions about water kettles.\n\nFor some really cool maps, click this link. ~~[Link](_URL_1_)~~\n\n**Please don't click the [Link](_URL_0_) anymore, I'm afraid we are reddit-hugging the world's power grid to death. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u00b0)** answer: There are pros and cons to both systems, as described in the linked article. Some of it is technical, but it should enlighten.\n\n_URL_4_"}
{"candidate": "question: Why can politicians get away with telling blatant lies?[removed] answer: Who will be arbiter of truth? You may think there is an objective standard of which we can judge if something is true or not, but there really isn't. We have our scientific models of reality but it's still growing, expanding, evolving - which means throughout history there has been always been things that our scientific models have failed to address or considered false/incorrect/irrational - that later turned out to be true, following a higher form of rationality.\n\nCouple that with the fact that institutions and power structures form around scientific models and modes of thought, you get a situation where new standards to which judge truths are resisted. It's why wars and revolutions have been accompaning huge shifts in our understanding / consciousness... and pioneers of thought has been derided, called liars, demonized, defamed, villanized, etc. and don't think we are above that yet. It's simply arrogance to think that we have a complete model of reality today to which we can judge things as objectively true or false. \n\nThere are also various ways to look at reality. E.g. if I say the universe revolves around earth, you may be correct in viewing that as an archaic or overly complicated model (when making certain predictions). But you'd be wrong to call it false - it's just a different frame of reference. Trouble is that most people would call it false.", "reference": "question: Why can politicians get away with telling blatant lies?[removed] answer: Because it is almost impossible to make sure you are telling the truth 100% all the time, simply because person can not know everything but has to make assumptions and guesses. So we have to leave a bit of grey area to get some communication done in time. We can't always wait how thing turn out and then knowing what should've been done is kind of stupid.\n\nPoliticians just started running wild with that excuse more and more in the last 2 decades and voters do not seem to care. Media has not done good job either, establishment half truths spread in mass media has been the norm for.. for ever actually. I'm not on any sort of \"fake news\" crowd on any side but large part of the problems we see now is the lack of challenge on the part of commercial news media. In countries where there is nothing else, the situation is the worst, countries with stronger national, publicly funded broadcast is much better. Not good but better. it is much harder to pass so bold lies, allthough Brexit is good example how little people actually want to know and how much they want to believe.\n\nIt's getting worse, globally. And we are the ones that should do something about it but aren't.. Don't keep voting liars to power is my plea. Much rather put the boring dude who has no radical ideas how to improve anything than the one who swears he is goig to change everything but has no rational plans to do so. And under no circumstance should one vote for people who want to destroy government's power as they are going to sabotage the whole thing; that is their agenda ffs, \"government doesn't work and we should get rid of it. Vote me in the government.\" It for SURE will not work after that guy is in power."}
{"candidate": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I read a post here once that their accent goes away when they are just coming to from anasthesia.", "reference": "question: how do most flamboyant gay guys sound so different then straight guys? Do they train themselves to sound like that? answer: I speak quite camply and am sometimes confused for a gay guy although I'm straight. It's really just the way I speak. It's not the stereotypical gay guy voice, but not for off."}
{"candidate": "question: Why a Guillotine's blade is always angled?Just like in this Photo [HERE](_URL_0_). answer: Think about it when you are slicing vegetables at the kitchen, how do you hold the knife? You are starting your move holding the blade angled because you unconsciously know that it's the most effective way to \"slice\" or do a clean cut. \n\nAll other top comments are explaining the physics very well, I will explain it with simpliest way possible. What do we need to penetrate a flat surface (let's say a wall)? A pointy thing (a nail for an example). So, when you are trying to cut something clean you want to penetrate it starting from one point and then cut the whole surface. Did you ever cut a watermelon? You need to stab it with the pointy end of your knife and then cut it, otherwise you would need to much force to **penetrate** it and even if you could penetrate it wouldn't be a **clean** cut.\n\nThe angled blade of Guillotine gives us that penetrating pointy end when it meets the neck and then does a clean cut without needing much force.", "reference": "question: Why a Guillotine's blade is always angled?Just like in this Photo [HERE](_URL_0_). answer: The angled blade allows for cutting a small part of the target at a time, thus reducing the force required.  A flat blade would require a much higher lift to accomplish the same job.  It's really a benefit of the physics of an inclined plane."}
{"candidate": "question: Why are drunk people not able to make conscious sexual decisions but DWI is a conscious decision? answer: What you aren't pointing out is that women can't consent to sex when drunk.  Men on the other hand are completely responsible even if both the man and woman are drunk.", "reference": "question: Why are drunk people not able to make conscious sexual decisions but DWI is a conscious decision? answer: In the case of sexual assault the perpetrator cannot claim that they are not responsible because they are drunk, just like they cannot claim they are not responsible for driving drunk. The victim's are not responsible for what happens to them because of the actions of the perpetrator."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do I get sleepy after reading 2 hours or studying but my scumbag brain can play Skyrim all night without getting tired?Why do I get tired after I have been reading for a while and my eyelids get heavy while I can pull an all nighter playing videogames and not be slightly tired until I stop playing? Neuropsychologists of Reddit, help! answer: I can't believe everybody's glossing over the obvious reason here.\n\n**It's because you find reading boring.**\n\nThe things that bore you, fail to stimulate your brain. Your brain begins shutting off, and eventually there's not enough energy for it to sustain itself. **That's one of the factors.**\n\nThe other factor is effort. In Skyrim, you're merely exploring. That's easy for your brain to do. Studying, on the other hand (different from merely reading) requires your brain to expend resources in trying to comprehend matter and store it in an organized manner. That's a huge strain on the brain, because it doesn't really like storing information in ways that it isn't used to storing usually. It's like the difference between lifting 5lbs and 40lbs with your hands.", "reference": "question: Why do I get sleepy after reading 2 hours or studying but my scumbag brain can play Skyrim all night without getting tired?Why do I get tired after I have been reading for a while and my eyelids get heavy while I can pull an all nighter playing videogames and not be slightly tired until I stop playing? Neuropsychologists of Reddit, help! answer: Another thing you should consider is the fact that your screen is really bright. Because it is so bright and you stare at it directly, it can mess with your sleep cycle. For that reason, it is recommended to not use the computer for a few hours before you are planning to go to sleep."}
{"candidate": "question: How did the USA get the \"I have the right to be offended and you shouldn't offend me\" culture when they have protected free speech?[removed] answer: Politicians in America play in this all the time.  They select a segment of society from which they would like to get some votes, then \"champion the cause\" of whatever offends said segment's sensibilities.  For instance, Trump used the latent racism and xenophobia of Americans to become President. See: #BuildThatWall  &  #MuslimBan", "reference": "question: How did the USA get the \"I have the right to be offended and you shouldn't offend me\" culture when they have protected free speech?[removed] answer: People use offense and outrage as a means of asserting power. It frees them from actually developing and supporting coherent arguments to support their views."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do analysts believe that people will buy less in the short term after a stock market drop?In articles like [this](_URL_0_) the author implies that the average consumer is watching the market like a hawk and will suddenly spend less if the market drops, but most consumers don't have any savings or investments, so why do analysts think those people will care about a market drop? They seem fairly decoupled in that direction (obviously the reverse is not true, markets do depend on consumer spending) answer: Wow. Okay. Let me see if I can sum up.\n\nAncient Rome went through three distinct political structures. First it was a monarchy, then a republic, and then an empire. Really, though, that last one goes through several phases and differentiations in structure, but histories still generally refer to three phases total.\n\nThe monarchy was, well, a monarchy. Rome was ruled by a king. There was a Senate that acted as an advisory body, but had no actual lawmaking ability. Then, according to legend, there were a couple really bad kings in a row, including one that was so bad that it caused an uprising. They kicked him out (Tarquinius Superbus) and swore that Rome would never again be ruled by a king.\n\nThat set up the Roman Republic. The Senate became a de facto law-making body (really, the situation is a bit more complex, but no need to get into that now) with two Consuls acting as chief executives. The idea was that no one person would have supreme power. Consuls were elected annually. The Republic went through quite a few changes and additions, but that general structure endured up until the first century BCE.\n\nA series of civil wars and some other political developments caused power to get concentrated increasingly into the hands of a few individuals, while the Senate kept losing influence. At least some of these people wanted supreme power. Notably, part of the reason for the assassination of Julius Caesar was fear that he would proclaim himself king--something no good Roman citizen could bear. \n\nLong story short, after the shakeup Augustus Caesar ended up on top, holding nearly all the power in his own hands. We call this the beginning of the Roman Empire. It was a gradual process, but mainly from this point forward we see one ruler with supreme power in charge of Rome, with the power usually hereditary. Historians refer to that person as the Emperor, though a number of titles were actually used at various times. Technically, there still was a Senate, and *technically* they were still in charge. Augustus said he was \"restoring the Roman Republic,\" even as he was essentially ending it. Over time, the pretense dropped more and more.\n\nNow, where things sometimes get confusing in common discourse is that a lot of people use \"Roman Empire\" to mean \"the extent of territory conquered by Rome\" rather than this third phase of governance. Really, though, most of the territory Rome would rule was conquered during the Republic, though the borders did expand quite a bit under the Empire.\n\nEventually, the territory governed by the Empire got huge. The Romans were never really that great at administration anyway, and the difficulties in communication over so vast a distance were causing problems. To solve this, a second capital city was established at Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople. Effectively, the Empire was divided in half, with different administrative authorities running the western and eastern halves. This eastern half is what's known as the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire.\n\nWhen we talk about the \"fall of the Roman Empire,\" what we really mean is the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Things kind of spiraled downward for a while, then some Germanic barbarians sacked the city of Rome itself and essentially knocked the whole system down. When that happened, though, there was still that eastern capital and eastern half of the Empire. That pretty much kept chugging along just fine for a long time to come. Again, we often refer to that as the Byzantine Empire, but really it's just the eastern half of Rome's territory.\n\nThe Holy Roman Empire came much later. The Frankish King Charlemagne conquered/united a bunch of kingdoms in modern-day France, Germany, and Italy. Later, the rulers of this kingdom started referring to it as the Holy Roman Empire, attempting to say that they were the descendants in power of Rome. Really, though, this was just an attempt to grant some legitimacy and prestige, rather than any actual relation to Ancient Rome. As Voltaire famously remarked, it \"was neither holy, nor Roman, nor empire.\"\n\nHope this helps clear things up a little!", "reference": "question: Why do analysts believe that people will buy less in the short term after a stock market drop?In articles like [this](_URL_0_) the author implies that the average consumer is watching the market like a hawk and will suddenly spend less if the market drops, but most consumers don't have any savings or investments, so why do analysts think those people will care about a market drop? They seem fairly decoupled in that direction (obviously the reverse is not true, markets do depend on consumer spending) answer: Consumers don't necessarily watch the market, but they'll notice when friends get hired or laid off, companies open or close up shop, huge economic changes make the news, and so on.\n\nThose indicators aren't directly tied to changes in stock price, but there are some relationships that people can notice intuitively."}
{"candidate": "question: China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year using cloud seeding. Why can't California use the same technology to combat droughts? answer: California is more environmentally conscious than China by orders of magnitude. \"Seeding clouds\" involves putting chemicals in clouds. No way anyone would go for that. Plus, as others note, California is relatively much more dry than, say, the East Coast and China (I believe it is due to the cooler water and the dry air from the southwest coming through). We do get quite a bit of water from both the Colorado River and the Sierras. What benefit would seeding clouds provide (a little bit more diffuse showers that will mostly just evaporate?) when we get a feed from the two largest mountain ranges in the contiguous states?\n\nSource: Lived in CA all my life, regular NOAA discussion reader", "reference": "question: China creates 55 billion tons of artificial rain a year using cloud seeding. Why can't California use the same technology to combat droughts? answer: Too many Jedis in California that practice cloud bursting ."}
{"candidate": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: They didn't pay $170 monthly cable/internet bills or $100 monthly cell phone bills. They didn't have two cars. They didn't go out to eat but once a month or less. Their homes were very modest, usually with no air conditioning... you sweated through summer. One parent stayed home to take care of the kids so no child care. People also saved their money. Usually 10% but also up to 20% of every paycheck. They bought cheap beer and they liked it!  I could go on.", "reference": "question: Decades ago, how were people able to get married in their 20's, have kids, afford a house, live/strive rather comfortably, and still have enough saved up to retire?Not specific to U.S. neither. Even my home country now in Asia - bachelor's degree gets you lower wage jobs, enough for food/rent, but barely afford a car, and almost no hopes for a house.\n\nWhat's changed in the past decades?\n\n & nbsp;\n\n & nbsp;\n\nEDIT: This is depressing. answer: The Federal Reserve, Wall Street/financial sector and corporations had not yet ruined the value of the dollar, robbed us blind and sent all of our jobs overseas yet.\n\n Ross Perot warned in the presidential debates that if Clinton passed NAFTA we would hear a great sucking sound of jobs leaving the US and he was right. But I still put more blame on the Fed and Wall Street."}
{"candidate": "question: If jelly was historically preserved for long periods of time and modern food preservation has improved, why do jellies have expiration dates within months of purchase and why do they have to be refrigerated? answer: The expiration date typically assumes you're going to go home and open the jelly immediately. If you keep the jar sealed, it will last unrefrigerated for one to two years. Once you open the jar, the jelly is no longer in a sterile environment and will spoil within a couple of months.\n\nThese times largely depend on the sugar content. Higher sugar contents will last longer. Many modern jellies use sugar substitutes (or simply have less sugar content) that reduce their shelf life, whereas \"historical\" methods relied on the fruit's natural sugars and added sugar.", "reference": "question: If jelly was historically preserved for long periods of time and modern food preservation has improved, why do jellies have expiration dates within months of purchase and why do they have to be refrigerated? answer: Simple.\n\n- I'm a company and every single thing that I do, I do for profit.\n- I'm legally forced to tag my food product with an expiration date. \n- I make the smallest possible financial effort to determine and legally certify the interval during which my product is safe to eat.\n- This ensures I obtain the smallest interval, which is not only great because I spent fewest resources to certify but also because the customer will throw away the product and buy another unit. \n- Tadaaaaaa! Mo' money!"}
{"candidate": "question: I remember old games in higher graphics than they actually were. answer: Another factor is you were probably playing them on either a small monitor or a large TV that wasn't very sharp.\n\nIn both cases that helps to make low resolution graphics less apparent by smoothing the pixels out. [Here's an image to illustrate](_URL_0_) (edit: make sure you view the image at full size)", "reference": "question: I remember old games in higher graphics than they actually were. answer: Well, a couple factors.\n\nThe first is the fact that you didn't have the new games of today to compare them with.  Obviously if you took DOOM and put it up against Battlefield 4, then DOOM would look awful.  But back in its prime, DOOM was the best of the best.  Those *were* cutting edge graphics and that was a cutting edge game.\n\nThe other is imagination.  When you play a game and really get lost in it, then it's like reading a book.  You're not only playing the game and looking at pixels on a screen but you're building this image in your head as well."}
{"candidate": "question: Why do we still need to bring our license and registration to drive? Considering it's 2017 and we have enough technology to have all this information in the cloud / in our phones and match with the cops information. answer: Actually we have enough technology where the officer can just run your plate and have everything he needs. If he had a body camera on, it could verify your identity by your face.", "reference": "question: Why do we still need to bring our license and registration to drive? Considering it's 2017 and we have enough technology to have all this information in the cloud / in our phones and match with the cops information. answer: cloud/digital documents and data it's still a very young concept. every officer would have to be trained on verifying the information, local jurisdictions would have to figure out a safe and practical way for an officer to look at the data. if you get pulled over, do you hand your $800 phone to the cop so he can go in his car and do his duties? do you want to hand your phone to a cop? some may not want that. i wouldn't.  what if your phone is dead? or has no signal? how will you prove your identity? what if the cloud is down? some states do have an official dmv app which has your license, but each state would have to develop their own system."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: 2 things, 1 Direct sunlight\n\n2) chances are you are doing something outside (walking moving etc) that generates more heat", "reference": "question: Why does my house feel like an arctic wasteland when the thermostat is set at 60\u00b0, yet when it's 60\u00b0 outside, I'ts extremely comfortable?My house and the outside are the exact same temp right now...why does the outside feel warmer? answer: humidity, airflow, and direct sunlight (guessing in that order).\n\nin your house, i assume AC vents are constantly pumping dry, cold air over you to get to 60 degrees. add in the humidity and sunlight outside, and there you have it.\n\nyou are also probably moving less inside than you are outside..."}
{"candidate": "question: How do hydrographics work?I've seen lots of videos of people dipping various objects in water with some sort of design, like army helmets in camo, and the object comes out with an awesome print on it but nothing in their arms or anything. How do the designs transfer from the water to the object so perfectly? answer: Ok ill try to keep it simpe as possible. 1 it absolutely gets on your hands and arms. The print starts off as a \"film with an ink printed pattern on it. You lay the film on top of the water and then spray it with a chemical that \"activates\" the print basically turning it back into a liquid ink layingon the surface of the water. Dip your prepped part into this and the ink will adhere to the part. You can see lots of examples on my instagram @legacybuiltdrones", "reference": "question: How do hydrographics work?I've seen lots of videos of people dipping various objects in water with some sort of design, like army helmets in camo, and the object comes out with an awesome print on it but nothing in their arms or anything. How do the designs transfer from the water to the object so perfectly? answer: the \"paint\" is pre-printed on a special sheet. that sheet is then placed on the surface  of the tank. the pre-printed sheet becomes pliable when activator is applied. then the object lowered in collects the sheet of paint on it. kind of like a temporary tattoo then clear coat is applied to keep the image. video probably shows it better then i can explain =p\n\n\n\n\n_URL_0_\n\n* edit second more detailed video \n\n_URL_1_\n\n*addition details for clarity"}
{"candidate": "question: The legal concept of bail. How can a court justify releasing a potentially harmful person for a large sum of cash? answer: In the US you're considered innocent until proven guilty, so you have to give the defendant an option to fight their charges from the street, but there also has to be an incentive to show back up for court. Here in the US you have monetary bail conditions and non-monetary bail conditions. Non-monetary conditions are just that, no money involved.  These conditions can include house arrest with an ankle monitor, drug and alcohol treatment with random testing, having to stay away from a business you allegedly stole from or a person you allegedly assaulted, etc. Monetary bail is issued at an arraignment or prelim and is usually set after considering  the severity of the crime and an offender's previous criminal record. A judge might make somebody pay cash bail, which is the full amount, or 10%, which is just a percentage. In most cases, if a person is in compliance on bail (not incurring new charges, generally obeying the rules of society) they get their money back after trial.  If not, they forfeit the posted bail and go back to jail. Additionally, a person could get unsecured bail with a monetary number attached. An example would be $2,500 un-secured. This mean that a person is released on the condition he/she remain in compliance with the law.  If they don't comply with the bail regulations, then they could be remitted to jail, and then they would have to pay the full $2,500 to get back out. \n\nEdit. And of course all this depends on the municipality, county, state/commonwealth you're in, which there are numerous of.", "reference": "question: The legal concept of bail. How can a court justify releasing a potentially harmful person for a large sum of cash? answer: Bail not just giving a large sum of cash.\n\nBail is the court saying \"we want to let you chill and live your life until your trial, since by our legal system you are innocent until proven guilty, but we are worried you are going to flee.  Give us 10,000 dollars that you get back if you show up but lose if you don't, and we will trust you to stay.\n\nBail bond companies will front this money to someone, but if you don't show up for court, they won't get their money but are legally allowed to hunt you, bring you back to the courts, and get their money.  They usually charge a flat fee for this service on the understanding that they WILL hunt you and find you if you go fugitive and your life will be a lot worse than if you just show and face the music.\n\nSource:  I was accused of something I didn't do, and had my bail set at 10,000.  I was given as much time as I needed to call bail bondsmen (the jail had a special office for this with a list and a counselor to help people that don't know the process) for free until I found one that was available to take my case.  They charged ~300 dollars, and I never heard from them again because I walked out of jail later that day and the state didn't press any charges because I didn't do anything wrong.  The bondsmen put up 10k for me, took my 300, got their 10k back and that was that."}
{"candidate": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: Why does this have so many up votes for such an easy answer. You drive on the road, you're a liability to others, but if you want to not have health insurance, you're a liability to yourself.", "reference": "question: why is car insurance mandatory, but mandatory health insurance is \"unconstitutional\"?[removed] answer: Because you likely cant pay for another persons car when you total it and they have to deal with your poor choices if liability insurance wasn't mandatory.  No one else is dealing with the condition of your body except you.  \n\nAlso, a lot of people don't own their car, i.e. making payments.  There has to be some sort of guarantee that people won't just wreck the car and stop paying.  What are the banks gonna repo at that point, a hunk of scrap metal?"}
{"candidate": "question: I open a big bag of chips, Family sized. I take my portion, and also fill 3 zip lock baggies with those freshly opened chips. TWO DAYS LATER the chips I put in the zip locked bags are STALE. 2 WEEKS later, the chips in the original bag are not stale.I thought I would be saving money, saving the chips in fresh zip locked bags, but no. Stale as Hell. I am old. I don't do it anymore, I'm just wondering why, when I leave the family sized bag folded over/barely closed, WHY do they still taste fresh, and my \"freshly\" sealed goes bad within 2-3 days? Cheers! answer: There are at least two reasons.\n\nAs other people have mentioned, zip-loc bags, made from cheap plastic (LDPE or whatever), are not impermeable to oxygen or water. Some will eventually get through. The inside foil lining of your chip bag is much, much better at keeping the outside air out.\n\nHowever, even though a zip-loc bag is comparatively terrible as a diffusion barrier, it is still pretty good. I'd have a hard time believing that a zip-loc bag would allow that much moisture in to render chips stale in two days. \n\nWhich brings me to the second reason:\n\nThere are a lot more chips in the chips bag than in the zip-loc bag. I'm guessing the zip-loc baggies don't contain many chips, because the bag can only stretch so wide, and chips are irregularly-shaped. So the air-to-chips ratio in the baggies is pretty high. Contrast that to the family-sized bag, which probably has a lot more chips, and only a bit more air.\n\nWhy does this matter? It is possible, if the air is humid enough, and the air-to-chips ratio high enough, for your chips to go stale simply due to the moisture in the air already in the bag. The chips in the bag won't have this problem, as there are so many chips, each individual chip won't get a lot of moisture. As a bonus, most chip bags come filled with nitrogen, which is slightly heaver than air. Although it will eventually diffuse out, that initial, moisture-free nitrogen will linger for a while, giving your chip bag chips a nice advantage as well.", "reference": "question: I open a big bag of chips, Family sized. I take my portion, and also fill 3 zip lock baggies with those freshly opened chips. TWO DAYS LATER the chips I put in the zip locked bags are STALE. 2 WEEKS later, the chips in the original bag are not stale.I thought I would be saving money, saving the chips in fresh zip locked bags, but no. Stale as Hell. I am old. I don't do it anymore, I'm just wondering why, when I leave the family sized bag folded over/barely closed, WHY do they still taste fresh, and my \"freshly\" sealed goes bad within 2-3 days? Cheers! answer: You know, that's a good question. You have your hypothesis, now go for some experiments. I have bags, wrap, wax paper, and potato chip bags. I'm going to try it out."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I give blood semi-regularly as I'm an o-negative donor and am CMV negative.  I usually do it when time permits but if the were paying me $250 you can bet your butt I'd be there every 56 days on the dot to donate.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: Anyone know how much people are charged per unit of blood in Canada? Or Ontario? Just curious, tried doing a search but couldn't find anything specific."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused? answer: Why not just tattoo your body with info about your life...", "reference": "question: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused? answer: > every truth about them\n\nTo cover everything someone has forgotten because of Alzheimer's, you'd need an incredibly dense fact sheet, like an encyclopedia, of the last few decades of their life. \n\nEdit: Obviously, this doesn't apply to all cases. In the instances of my family members, they lost so, so much I wouldn't even know where to begin."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: In addition to everything what my predecessors have said, there is - I believe - an urgent geopolitical motive that reaches far beyond Ukraine. Sevastopol, in addition to everything that's been said, serves another important purpose right now - it ensures that Black Sea fleet will still be able to freely maneuver in this area. Keep in mind that this is very important for Syria war at the moment. Remember that it was quick tactical movement of Russian Black Sea fleet that prevented French and US navy from aiding anti-government forces in Syrian civil war. Such aid could have swayed the force balance in the conflict and Russia doesn't want allow it. Sevastopol is essential in Syrian conflict if Russia wants it to play by their rules. Now try to think as Putin for a moment, how would you feel when not so long after you stopped the West from aiding Syria, a revolution starts in Ukraine that overthrows government and installs pro-west one instead. To Russia it must have been obvious conclusion that this is how the west was trying to undermine their presence in the Black Sea and open their way to Syria. I'm not trying to justify Putin's actions, but I can see why he might have felt so bothered. An why is Syria that important is whole other story.", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Because by showing the world that Russia can do whatever it wants, they further secure their status as a (real) superpower. The same thing happened with the Syria situation.\n\n\nThe US consistently exercises its superpower \"rights\", and this gives them incredible advantages outside the realm of just making decisions for others. They can barter incredible deals, with huge gains for the US, by deciding on issues that don't concern the US in the slightest. Russia wants a piece of that action, by getting to the same \"decider\" level superpower status.\n\n\nYou can't get there by simply looking big on a map. A show of force is needed. When the next Assad thinks about whose support he's gonna get against western pressure, Russia becomes more of a viable option with every time Putin shows his middle finger to the world."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: Tarsiers here have been known to drown themselves in buckets of water due to flash photography or insomnia.", "reference": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: Probably going to get buried, but a Border Collie I had growing up was 16 years old and full of cancer. Doctor said that we could either go through all the expensive treatments and extend her life for maybe a year, or he could give her some really good drugs that would greatly ease her pain, but would only work for a week, at which point we would have to bring her in to be put down. We picked the latter. \n\nAfter a week of her acting almost like a puppy again, she had taken a turn for the worse. On the Monday, we scheduled her to be put down the following Wednesday, but later that night I found her laying under a thin blanket of Alberta snowfall. Of course I thought that she had died, so I went to pick her up. To my surprise she was still alive, though it is likely she wouldn't have been for very much longer if she stayed there. To this day I am convinced that she was trying to end it all. I suddenly decided that I didn't want to see her in pain anymore, so I took her to the emergency vet that night and had her put down."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: This is how I understand the situation:\n\nThe US have funded the opposition in order to have their people ruling the government. I didn't believe when people were saying that the US sponsor most of the revolutions alike, but after I heard this hacked phone call, during which Victoria Nuland and American ambassador to Ukraine decide whom should they put in charge in Ukraine, I started to believe that without the US none of this would have happened.\n\nthis is their conversation: _URL_21_\n\nthis is the transcript: _URL_22_\n\nThe same woman was giving out cookies (literally) to protesters of Maidan, showing them her support.\n\nPutin has realized that if he will let this happen, Ukraine will be\u0441ome a branch office of the US, which probably means that they will build another NATO base right next to Russia's border and probably remove Russian Black Sea fleet from the Black Sea region.\n\nSo he had to react, because not paying attention would be suicidal for Russia (in the long term).\n\nCrimea region always has had close ties with Russia, because more than a half of its population are Russians. The first thing new government did after they've gained some power - they worsened the status of Russian language. Before the revolution Russian language used to be an official regional language in some states, but it's not anymore. I think it was a very stupid move, because I believe a lot of Russians started panicking about becoming sort of a second class citizens, like Russians in the Baltic States. New government is saying they didn't mean it, but it doesn't look good when the first thing you do is focus on worsening the status of the Russian language, whilst the country is having tons of other REAL problems. Their actions spoke louder than their words.\n\nThis is how, I think, Crimea has become even more loyal to Russia. Not all of them of course.\n\nI think what Russia is currently trying to do, is make Crimea region sort of independent from pro-Western Kyiv. I don't think they are trying to annex it or make it a part of Russia, they just want to reduce Kyiv's (read American) influence, so the Black Sea fleet could stay where it is.", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure nearly have of Ukraine identifies as 'ethnic Russians'. This isn't a story of a big bad guy Russia invading their smaller neighbor Ukraine, there is much more to this than I can explain, because I do not know much on the subject."}
{"candidate": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: They aren't a bunch of lazy ass welfare cases.", "reference": "question: How could Germany, in a span of 80 years (1918-2000s), lose a World War, get back in shape enough to start another one (in 20 years only), lose it again and then become one of the wealthiest country?My goddamned country in 20 years hasn't even been able to resolve minor domestic issues, what's their magic?\n\nEDIT: Thanks to everybody for their great contributions, be sure to check for buried ones 'cause there's a lot of good stuff down there.\nAlso, [u/DidijustDidthat](_URL_0_) is totally NOT crazy, I mean it. answer: I'm surprised no one mentioned curry wurst as the main reason yet."}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: I went on stage during a show once, and got kicked off the stage (along with a lot of others) for being \"not hypnotizable.\"\n\nI did feel a lot of peer pressure to go along and pretend to be hypnotized, though, although I didn't pretend in the end. I didn't want to make things tough on the hypnotists or spoil the fun.\n\nThe reason I went on stage but then didn't pretend, and go along with the act, was because me and another person were doing it as an \"experiment.\" We had a friend who believed in hypnosis - I did not, and the person who went on stage with me wasn't sure what to think. Both I and the other person were kicked off.\n\nIf we weren't trying to \"experiment,\" I either wouldn't have gone onstage in the first place, or perhaps pretended to make the show more fun.\n\nThat's the thing: usually, people who aren't willing to pretend, and to go along with the act, just don't go onstage in the first place. There is a lot of peer pressure to go along with it to make things fun. I'm not sure if it's much more than that for hypnotist shows, honestly. It probably also has to do with being given an excuse to do silly and fun things and for some, just relaxing.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: A combination of things.  Sometimes, they just pretend they're hypnotized so it's more fun for the audience.  They may also feel that the hypnotist has a sense of authority, and they have a subconscious need to obey that sense of authority, even if it's bullshit.  People when they are hypnotized also enter a more relaxed state of focused attention and heightened sensibility, which allows them to be more open to suggestion."}
{"candidate": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: I'm a little late but; they just don't care anymore. Someone telling them that they don't have to care gives them the justification they need to just not care. I want a hypnotist good enough to do this for me again.", "reference": "question: What is really happening to the \"victims\" during hypnosis acts? answer: The day I believed in hypnosis: At the OC Fair there was a hypnosis show. All the people were hypnotized laying their heads on each others shoulders. One of them vomited on the guy next to him. The guy that was puked on didn't even wake up. The fucked up part was the hypnotist didn't even bother waking him up to go clean himself. But when he did wake, he started touching the vomit asking what it was, looking all confused."}
{"candidate": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: Reasons i don't like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.\nMusical\nFeeling like i'm trying to be subverted", "reference": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: It's about knowing. About nailing it all together in a group.\n\n\nIt's 1980, you've just finished doing your first school musical, you're 15, and the cool seniors who had the leads and have cars say \"let's get the whole cast together and go to RHPS\"\n\nYou beg and plead with your parents to go *and they let you* because they know the seniors and they're the geeky/artsy/smart ones, so you roll your Columbia costume up in a wad because there's some things your parents don't need to know, and you bike over to your friends house to pick up the carpool and change there (into pajamas with a band-aid over one very important spot) and then you go and because your older friends coached you *you know a bunch of the right things to say at the right time*. \n\nAnd you say them along with everyone else, and it is JUST SO COOL.  \nYou get to yell \"SHOW US A TIT, COLUMBIA\" really loud.  \n\nIt's every time you've recited the Pledge of Allegiance or sung the Gloria Patri, but turned into something *yours*, you and your cohort.\n\nIt's the satisfaction of knowing how to how to clap Miss Mary Mack, really fast, totally perfect, or  singing \"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells\" really loud with all the other kids on the bus, *except with sex.* \n\nHumans of all ages like doing things together. Sweet Caroline at a Sox game, that big \"DA DA DAAAA\" moment. \n\n\n*Adult* humans like sex. \n\n*Adolescent* humans need to push boundaries and screw around with taboos. \n\nRHPS puts them all together with just a Jump to the Left, black lipstick, and toilet paper."}
{"candidate": "question: Why can't California build some sort of filtration system and use water from the Pacific? answer: Why not haul some ice down from the arctic? Maybe Shell can do it after they kick those Greenpeace fools off of their exploration platform?", "reference": "question: Why can't California build some sort of filtration system and use water from the Pacific? answer: They are building desalination plants. The problem is that it takes a lot of power to filter seawater, a lot of time to build the plants, and a lot of plants to meet the volume of water needed."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't they rebuild ancient structures, like the Acropolis in Athens, like they've done in other places like Cambodia?When I was in Cambodia, I noticed that various temples surrounding Siem Reap were rebuilt or in the process of being rebuilt using traditional materials. Wouldn't rebuilding an old building to original specifications be a better way to preserve it?\n\n\n answer: Part of it is that they don't have\n enough money right now.  Greece got hit harder than other European countries when the economy took a dive.  It's also a big undertaking to do work on such awesome historical sites.", "reference": "question: Why don't they rebuild ancient structures, like the Acropolis in Athens, like they've done in other places like Cambodia?When I was in Cambodia, I noticed that various temples surrounding Siem Reap were rebuilt or in the process of being rebuilt using traditional materials. Wouldn't rebuilding an old building to original specifications be a better way to preserve it?\n\n\n answer: The Acropolis in Portland Oregon is better anyways."}
{"candidate": "question: How come theme parks can snap clear pictures and get good quality footage of people going up to 70mph but bank cameras can't get a clear shot of a robber standing still? answer: Because, why waste money on nice camaras when you only need to see if they were black or not?", "reference": "question: How come theme parks can snap clear pictures and get good quality footage of people going up to 70mph but bank cameras can't get a clear shot of a robber standing still? answer: Because of space limitations.  The theme park takes a single unstored picture and prints it out.  \n\nThe bank has to take \"infinite\" images and store them.   You can either put one amazing photo with amaaaazzinnggg resolution on a tiny flash card, for example, or a few minutes worth of video."}
{"candidate": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: I use to lead a protest group, so I can venture a guess as to why OWS failed. They fell pray to the problem that hinders a lot of social and protest movements. They had no strong leaders who could bring the gap between their group and the rest of society. They didn't have anyone who could speak in a way that made sense to people outside the group. Anyone can pander to the OWS believers, but it takes a true leader to lead the group against the entrenched interests. They didn't have one, or more likely, the real leaders were pushed out by charlatans who just wanted attention.\n\nSo OWS was essentially a chicken running around without its head. Liberal people tend to hate power hierarchies, which is why most of their movements tend to go no where in America. The instant someone becomes a real leader they yell \"informal leadership\" or \"patriarchy\" or \"oppression.\" I know this from first hand experience. I founded and led a protest group. We went from a couple of people to over 150 members in less than a year. We were a powerful group in the community, and we got results. Then me and the other leaders were forced out of leadership roles, because it was suppose to be a \"flat non-hierarchical\" group. The group disbanded with 6 months. We went from one of the most powerful groups in the community to nothing in a matter of months. Social movements are very fragile things. Sometimes it takes a strong hands-on leader to move the group together in the right direction. Don't tell any OWSers that or they will yell \"Oppressor.\"", "reference": "question: What were the driving factors that caused the Occupy Wall Street movement to fizzle out? answer: Because people cared more about being inconvenienced by hippies than they did with the banks fucking around with money."}
{"candidate": "question: How do video games play \"hide and seek\"? The game knows where your position is, how does it act like it doesn't know where you are? answer: They explained this for alien isolation. There is one \"brain\" that knows everything and sees where you are, and a second \"brain\" that actually controls the alien.  The first brain sends HINTS about where you are without telling the alien too much information.", "reference": "question: How do video games play \"hide and seek\"? The game knows where your position is, how does it act like it doesn't know where you are? answer: The \"AI\" in video games is just a subroutine that chooses an action based on available information. It won't act on information that isn't sent to that subroutine, even if that information exists somewhere else in the program. So the game engine provides some way of defining the \"senses\" of AI-controlled entities, usually in terms of vision and maybe sound. So if the player character is hiding behind something, with an AI-controlled entity on the other side, then the rules for \"senses\" in the game engine will say that the AI-controlled entity cannot \"see\" the player character, and so the player's location is reported to the AI subroutine as \"unknown\", even though it is clearly known to the physics and graphics parts of the game. The AI will usually have some kind of \"fallback\" behavior in this case, either waiting where it is or walking around on some kind of search pattern until the game engine decides that it can \"see\" the player character.\n\nBasically, the AI in the game acts like a different \"player\" from the part of the game engine that basically serves as a \"referee\". The AI, like human players, can only act on limited information, whereas the \"referee\" parts of the game engine know everything that goes on in the game world, but does not cause \"cheating\" because it is impartial and does not act in the favor of either the player or the AI (assuming the game engine is designed to be \"fair\" in that way)."}
{"candidate": "question: How has no country been aware of the US hacking their systems?I really just don't get this. How can these massive technological companies and international powers not have had any inclination that their telephones and computers were being hacked? answer: The usa government has been recording your emails, texts, and phone calls for 10+ years. Did you know without someone telling you?", "reference": "question: How has no country been aware of the US hacking their systems?I really just don't get this. How can these massive technological companies and international powers not have had any inclination that their telephones and computers were being hacked? answer: FYI, most likely the blackberry wasn't hacked. Blackberry security held, her personal phone might have been though.\n\n_URL_4_"}
{"candidate": "question: What are you actually \"seeing\"when you close your eyes and notice the swirls of patterns in the darkness behind your eyelids? answer: As others point out, they are called phosphenes.\n\nWhat causes them, in very basic terms, is stimulation of the retina using means other than light.  You can get them from applying pressure to your eyes, like when you rub them.\n\nElectricity, extreme magnetism, and even subatomic particles striking the retina can cause them.\n\nThe retinas are designed to be stimulated by light, but because they are so sensitive, other things can stimulate them as well.", "reference": "question: What are you actually \"seeing\"when you close your eyes and notice the swirls of patterns in the darkness behind your eyelids? answer: I remember asking my first grade teacher the same question. She told me that I was lying about seeing things and I had to do lines on the board. Bitch."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't more species have high intelligence, like humans, when the advantages are so significant? answer: Intelligence takes a large brain relative to body size. Large brains require a very large amount of energy. That is energy that is not being used for things like strength or reproduction. Intelligence is not necessary for survival.", "reference": "question: Why don't more species have high intelligence, like humans, when the advantages are so significant? answer: i think we were a mistake. we accidentally became too smart, too smart for our own good."}
{"candidate": "question: Why doesn't school teach us life skills, such as paying taxes, understanding laws and starting our own companies?I'm finding it hard to understand how to file my tax return after recently registering to become self employed. I honestly have no idea what I am doing.\n\nThanks for all the replys. Front page!! \n\nThe deleted top comment: I'll find the exact post soon, but it was along the lines of your parents should be the ones teaching you these life skills. answer: Oh my god I have actually always wondered why high schools don't do this. I don't really care about how to find the area height of an acute triangle..I CARE ABOUT HOW TO FIND A JOB AND DO TAXES!!!!!!", "reference": "question: Why doesn't school teach us life skills, such as paying taxes, understanding laws and starting our own companies?I'm finding it hard to understand how to file my tax return after recently registering to become self employed. I honestly have no idea what I am doing.\n\nThanks for all the replys. Front page!! \n\nThe deleted top comment: I'll find the exact post soon, but it was along the lines of your parents should be the ones teaching you these life skills. answer: Because good little worker bees should be as ignorant about their true situation as possible. Otherwise, they might actually get off their collective fucking ass and DO something about it."}
{"candidate": "question: How come theme parks can snap clear pictures and get good quality footage of people going up to 70mph but bank cameras can't get a clear shot of a robber standing still? answer: Highest upvoted comment is simply wrong. This is a matter of lighting. Theme park cameras use flash. Banks are indoors and much darker than outdoors - but humans don't realize this because our eyes adjust. Ask any professional photographer and it's a night and day difference of indoor with lights on vs outdoor natural lighting. Just take a picture yourself with a camera and check the ISO the camera auto-selects. Again, humans can't tell the difference but indoor lighting is much harder to take a good picture than outdoors because of brightness.\n\nDon't believe me? Take a good camera, and take photos of a basketball game indoors. 90% of your pictures will be bad because your camera has to turn down the shutter speed drastically just to even capture enough light. Take that same camera, take any picture outdoors. It'll be crystal sharp even if someone's running. Now add flash and it's even 10x easier to get a sharp picture. This is why if professionally people use $10K+ cameras+lens to take photos of basketball games, but a much cheaper camera can take the same quality shots outdoors.\n\nAlso, bank cameras are 'just good enough' for their value and intended use. Theme park cameras are as well, and have a huge advantage in that they use flash. It's about 20x-50x brighter flash vs indoors.", "reference": "question: How come theme parks can snap clear pictures and get good quality footage of people going up to 70mph but bank cameras can't get a clear shot of a robber standing still? answer: People on a roller coaster, say, are always the same distance from the camera. It's basically the same shot every time, where the bank camera is trying to get as much of the bank as possible.\n\nAlso, nobody would by poor quality pictures of themselves on the roller coaster, and the bank only rarely needs to get a picture from their camera, and nobody's paying them for it."}
{"candidate": "question: What takes road work crews so long to complete their maintenance? Why does it always look like they are doing nothing or nothing has changed?[removed] answer: A city planner in the small city I live in told me if a contractor bids a job for x amount of dollars for 12 months they don\u2019t get the entire amount unless it actually takes 12 months. There is no incentive to complete the job early. \n\nJust hearsay and I have no proof this dude is actually an employee of the city. He was an Uber passenger.", "reference": "question: What takes road work crews so long to complete their maintenance? Why does it always look like they are doing nothing or nothing has changed?[removed] answer: A road worker once told me that, the issue is regulatory approvals. They finish one layer of a project, then they need to call the government inspector and wait for the inspection to take place. Only then can they start the next layer."}
{"candidate": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: All Russia ever wants is a warm water port.", "reference": "question: What does Russia have to gain from invading such a poor country? Why are they doing this?Putin says it is to protect the people living there (I did Google) but I can't seem to find any info to support that statement... Is there any truth to it? What's the upside to all this for them when all they seem to have done is anger everyone?\n\nEdit - spelling answer: Because what people dont realize is that we may be more civilized socially, our governments never grew up along with us."}
{"candidate": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: When you go to the tarsier sanctuary in the Philippines, you're not allowed to touch or pet them because they apparently get so stressed that they kill themselves by bashing their head against a tree and jumping off.", "reference": "question: Why don't animals attempt suicide? answer: As mentioned in previous comments, dolphins can commit suicide, however, they are not the only ones. Humming birds and mocking birds have been known for \"intentionally\" flying into thorn or thicket bushes and Impaling themselves on the barbs or thorns. When mocking birds do this they let out a cry that is known as their \"death cry\" as they only sing it as they are dieing. Also dogs have been known to jump off bridges  and refuse to eat. I'm pretty sure that there are plenty more animals that commit suicide but these are the ones that I know of."}
{"candidate": "question: Even though America has spent 10 years and over $100 billion to recruit, train and arm the Iraqi military, they still seem as inept as ever and run away from fights. What went wrong?News reports seem to indicate that ISIS has been able to easily route Iraqi's military and capture large supplies of weapons, ammunition and vehicles abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers.  Am I the only one who expected them to put up a better defense of their country?\n\nEDIT:  Many people feel strongly about this issue.  Made it all the way to Reddit front page for a while!  I am particularly appreciative of the many, many military personnel who shared their eyewitness accounts of what has been happening in Iraq in recent years and leading up to the ISIS issue.  VERY informative. answer: Though there are exceptions to the rule, when faced with a \"choice\" -- invasion/war in their own country -- we should expect that most of the natives will choose their own -- i.e.  Muslims will choose Muslims.", "reference": "question: Even though America has spent 10 years and over $100 billion to recruit, train and arm the Iraqi military, they still seem as inept as ever and run away from fights. What went wrong?News reports seem to indicate that ISIS has been able to easily route Iraqi's military and capture large supplies of weapons, ammunition and vehicles abandoned by fleeing Iraqi soldiers.  Am I the only one who expected them to put up a better defense of their country?\n\nEDIT:  Many people feel strongly about this issue.  Made it all the way to Reddit front page for a while!  I am particularly appreciative of the many, many military personnel who shared their eyewitness accounts of what has been happening in Iraq in recent years and leading up to the ISIS issue.  VERY informative. answer: What went wrong? Someone removed the one guy who kept the whole thing in place."}
{"candidate": "question: Say I'm 70 years old, only got a few years left, what's stopping me from spending a lot of money and racking up a load of debt?[removed] answer: This is basically what my father did when he knew he was dying of cancer. All assets were transferred to my mother or a legal trust he had setup. His life insurance paid out to the trust only, and not his estate. He then opened and maxed out as many lines of debt as possible, which he used to pay off the mortgage. When he died, the house and cars were paid off, but yours estate had no assets to recover the debt. I believe of mother had a tax bill for the payments made to *her* assets, which was paid to keep the IRS happy. As far as I know, it was all perfectly legal.", "reference": "question: Say I'm 70 years old, only got a few years left, what's stopping me from spending a lot of money and racking up a load of debt?[removed] answer: People are less willing to give you credit if you are less likely to pay it back. That includes old people."}
{"candidate": "question: How does the slant of the blade on a guillotine lead to a cleaner cut?Does it have something to do with pressure, or am I way off here? answer: Think of how you'd use a knife to cut something tough in the kitchen, like say, a potato.  Now, you could swing the knife forcefully to chop it in half, but  unless you're very good, you're not going to cut exactly where you wanted to, you'll also risk chopping off your fingers or damaging your knife, which would be bad.  The proper way to slice is to place the blade on the item in question, and apply regular downward pressure while pulling/pushing the blade towards/away from you.  This lets the blade act like a blade rather than just a wedge.  The principle is the same with the guillotine.  The lower part of the blade makes contact with the chap's neck first, and because the blade is slanted, it slides *relatively* along his neck.   The point of contact between the blade and the neck moves in 2 dimensions, rather than just one, even though the blade is only moving in one dimension.", "reference": "question: How does the slant of the blade on a guillotine lead to a cleaner cut?Does it have something to do with pressure, or am I way off here? answer: I believe it is generally about combining the effects of slicing through an object and chopping through it.\n\nFirst we need to think of the concept of sharpness, where a surface is sharp when it has as small a surface area making contact with another surface. A needle is sharper than a blade, because it only makes contact at a single point, but a blade is more effective at cutting because the linear path of the edge creates a clean straight path that the rest of the blade can continue to be drawn through when cutting, whereas the point of the needle digs into the surface it's penetrating and resists being drawn in any direction.\n\nChopping can be thought of as applying a direct pressure of a bladed edge on a surface, hoping for the kinetic energy of the blade, and the sharpness of the cutting surface to drive a wedge far enough through the object to sever it. Chopping action basically stops once all the kinetic energy has been imparted, and you have to pull the blade back out and try again if you didn't make it all the way through. The less sharp the blade, and the more tough the surface, the less likely it'll get through, and probably just crush it somewhat.\n\nSlicing, on the other hand, is about drawing a sharp edge across the surface, trying to minimize the amount of edge-to-surface contact as possible (which effectively increases the sharpness), and allows more of the length of the blade to be used in the cutting action. Basically, slicing can be conducted for the full length of the blade, and the less of the blade making contact at any given time means the slicing is more effective. Slicing is most effective when the direction of the cut is not traveling straight through the surface, but drawing against it at an angle.\n\nYou can try this, take a pair of scissors or a straight edged knife, place one edge of the blade flat against a piece of paper and try to cut it just by driving the edge straight through. If this doesn't work so well, try placing the blade against the edge of the paper (minimizing the contact surface) and drawing the blade through it. It should slice much more easily this way.\n\nNow, onto Guillotines. They work by combining both chopping and slicing. The momentum of the blade falling is the chop. The angle of the blade allows the slicing action to be concentrated on a single point of the neck at any given time, and extends the length of the blade during the slice as it both drives and draws through. It also makes the direction of most resistance no longer ~~perpendicular~~ directly opposed to the blade as it moves, which is what would make it most likely to resist the cutting action.\n\n**TL;DR**: momentum of blade = chopping, angle of blade = slicing + longer cutting edge + non-perpendicular angle of resistance. Chopping + slicing = quicker, cleaner, more effective cut"}
{"candidate": "question: how do groups like ISIS attract middle class westerners to their cause, and why are they mostly male? answer: Many devote muslims, even fanatics are women but they typically aren't used as fighters for the same reasons why warriors have traditionally been male in all cultures.  Those reasons are compounded by the fact that extremest Islam is very hostile to the idea of women leaving \"their place.\"\n\nIt's not common for ISIS and groups like it to recruit people from middle class.  Most are from slums that never really integrated into the country the immigrated to.  The few that were better off (which likely includes the British man who executed that Journalist) are likely motivated by strong religious convictions.\n\nWhy educated people develop fanatical religious convictions is a whole other big topic that I won't go into right now.", "reference": "question: how do groups like ISIS attract middle class westerners to their cause, and why are they mostly male? answer: With so many tens of millions of middle-class people, you're going to have a couple who are mentally ill or have such dysfunctional lives that they do incredibly foolish things. It's just probability."}
{"candidate": "question: What stops United Kingdom from having a second vote for BREXIT since the first one had a super small margin?[removed] answer: Because you don't vote on issues until you get a desired result. \n\n\n\n\nYou vote once, the people decide, you live with it.", "reference": "question: What stops United Kingdom from having a second vote for BREXIT since the first one had a super small margin?[removed] answer: Nothing.  The referendum wasn't binding on Parliament, so they're allowed to do whatever they want, including ignore it, follow it, or hold another referendum asking again.\n\nHowever, the majority of Parliament feels they have a responsibility to follow what the public voted for, even if the public might vote differently today.  The point of a referendum in a democracy is to ask the public what they prefer in order to choose what the government will do, and so when the public gives you an answer, there's an implied obligation to do that thing."}
{"candidate": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: im replying because OP said not to reply and he doesn't run my life", "reference": "question: Why does Google want me to use my real name on YouTube? What advantage does google gain from this?Clearly they already have my name from my Gmail and (now mandatory) Google+ account. Why should Google care if I want to go by xXsasuke420noscopeXx, they already have that information.\n\nEdit: Stop commenting. My inbox is full.\n\nGo home guys.\n\nSeriously\n\nstop\n\n^please\n\n^^i'm ^^done\n\n^^^no ^^^more ^^^replies answer: I don't work at Google, but, in all seriousness, they could just data mine your name out of your email if they wanted to.  The reason that they want this is to unify your profile with Google+, and to make it look adult and quality, rather and not reminiscent of a teenage MySpace page with a starry background with pictures of cats adorning it."}
{"candidate": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: I'm not American, but that price seems high. [This](_URL_9_) seems to indicate significantly cheaper costs to patients.\nIf you look at the cost breakdown for a unit of blood product, banking, testing, separating, and acquiring blood is not cheap and makes up a significant portion of the cost. \nAlso remember that just because \"everyone\" would want to donate doesn't imply those people would be of the needed type, disease free, and able to donate safely.", "reference": "question: Why is there a blood shortage? Hospitals charge like $800 per unit. Why don't they pay $250 for a donation. Everyone would donate. ELI5 answer: In a study done by Steven Levitt (author of Freakonomics) it was shown that when people were paid to donate blood, it resulted in less donors because the moral incentive to donate blood was reduced because they were getting paid."}
{"candidate": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: I think it's one of those movies where you have to watch it several times.  While yes, it has a message, I've watched it so many times now that just, every single moment of the movie is entertaining.  Every single frame has something remarkable going on.  And it's comedic but the comedy doesn't feel forced at all.  Try watching it a few more times and maybe you'll get it.", "reference": "question: Can someone explain Rocky Horror Picture Show to me? I feel like I didn't \"get it\" answer: Never sat through it all, but always attributed its popularity to girls loving to singalong. Like Grease or Hair movies."}
{"candidate": "question: How does Apple get away with selling iPhones in Europe when the EU rule that all mobile phones must use a micro USB connection? answer: This.\n\nIphone 6 - ~~\u00a3600~~  \n\nIphone 6 - \u00a3630 - Complimentary micro usb included.", "reference": "question: How does Apple get away with selling iPhones in Europe when the EU rule that all mobile phones must use a micro USB connection? answer: Why the fuck is the EU imposing rules on what connector types phones can use?"}
{"candidate": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: I'm from UK and Im living with parents still now (21), why? Spend as much time with them as possible and when I get older then move out. I pay rent so I'm paying my way but as I see it I'd want to live with my parents as much as I can because one day they won't be here :(", "reference": "question: Why does getting your own place and leaving your parent's home such a big goal for Americans even though it could set them back financially.[removed] answer: I moved out when I was 19 and never looked back. I have great parents but the money I spend on rent and food is 100% worth the freedom that comes with it. I can invite anyone over any time, I can sleep peacefully or be as loud as I want around the clock, I don't have to deal with their obnoxious dogs and best of all I can choose my own ISP and service plan. Even when I'm struggling financially I don't regret moving out for a second."}
{"candidate": "question: why don't the parts of our skin that are always touching, like our toes, get contact sores? answer: Wait... im the only one who gets fucked up between the toes after a lot of walking?", "reference": "question: why don't the parts of our skin that are always touching, like our toes, get contact sores? answer: There are 5 possible layers of the epidermis- most outer layer of the skin. These are the stratum corneum, lucidum, granulosum, spinosum and basale. The fourth layer (stratum lucidum) is only found on the soles of your feet and the palms of your hands, it is composed of dead kerinocytes and allows for the extra contact\n-med student"}
{"candidate": "question: How exactly does our body inform us that we need to pee? answer: What about when you're dehydrated?\n\nI've had times where I've been dehydrated, or even when I take some vitamins, where I'll get the urge to pee, but will have a lot less volume than an average urination.\n\nAre there receptors that just say \"get this nasty shit out of here\"?", "reference": "question: How exactly does our body inform us that we need to pee? answer: Since this hasn't been described yet: continence and voiding are dictated by the autonomic nervous system. The bladder has stretch receptors (mechanoreceptors) that give input to the autonomic system. The dominant autonomic tone is a result of the amount of stretch input (little stretch of bladder - >  sympathetic tone, detrusor muscle and internal sphincter are inhibited, bladder is allowed to fill; more stretch - >  parasympathetic tone, detrusor and internal sphincter stimulated, voiding occurs). In infants and some people with spinal cord injury, this is the only control of the bladder. This is refered to as \"neurogenic\" - voiding occurs upon sufficient stretch. Beginning in childhood, the central nervous system is involved to allow for conscious control of voiding. The urge to pee comes from afferent input to the pontine micturition center."}
{"candidate": "question: When ponds dry up and fish/other aquatic animals die, how does life return to the pond when it fills back up? answer: Nothing on this Earth is a closed system. Period. There are places that come close, like Madagascar (The only place my current drunk ass can think of at the moment), where life evolves down its own little pathway, almost completely independent of the rest of the world.  \n  \nI remember a story of a tomato plant growing on some god-forsaken no life hell of a volcano perimeter, and the reason it got there? Some dude shit on it, leaving a tomato seed. How the hell they worked that one out, I dunno. But life is constantly moving, expanding, filling voids.  Traveling through your bowels.\n  \nIt's why vaccination is so important. Things like measles, or polio, aren't completely dead in the world. there are six degrees of separation between you and Kevin Bacon, that's the same number (if that) to you and someone with polio. That pond isn't dead yet, and it's just waiting for the right conditions to come and fill it again with life.", "reference": "question: When ponds dry up and fish/other aquatic animals die, how does life return to the pond when it fills back up? answer: There are some aquatic animals (including fishes) that can breathe air or survive and move short distances on land. They can move to nearby water sources. Basically life finds a way."}
{"candidate": "question: In a gender-equal society, does the rule of saving women and children first still apply, or just children and whoever comes next in line? answer: Yes it does. In that situation most of them will suddenly not be feminists.", "reference": "question: In a gender-equal society, does the rule of saving women and children first still apply, or just children and whoever comes next in line? answer: Depends on who has the most followers on Tumblr."}
{"candidate": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: Not every culture survived off bread for 5000 years. Lots of cultures eat predominantly corn, rice, or tef, all of which are gluten free.", "reference": "question: How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten? answer: Those genetics didn't survive. 200 years ago those would die and not pass it down to their offspring."}