title stringlengths 3 300 | subreddit stringclasses 1
value | post_id stringlengths 5 7 | score int64 0 47.9k | link_flair_text stringlengths 0 63 | is_self bool 1
class | over_18 bool 2
classes | upvote_ratio float64 0 1 | post_content stringlengths 0 29.7k | C1 dict | C2 dict | C3 dict | C4 dict | C5 dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ELI5: Sleep Paralysis | explainlikeimfive | 1sqmum | 8 | true | false | 0.9 | Now I've googled this many times but I still can't seem to get an accurate description. When I get sleep paralysis, I know I'm sleeping and I'm laying in my bed waiting to wake up. I can sometimes wake myself up by jerking my body (in my dream at least) in one direction and it wakes me up, but I've noticed that when I ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce09isd",
"comment_text": [
"I'll give you my layman's explanation. I've \"suffered\" from sleep paralysis my whole life although now I rather enjoy it.",
"When you sleep, your brain produces a concoction that mostly paralyzes you, ostensibly to prevent you from physically acting out yo... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0awdo",
"comment_text": [
"Yes. Or, it sounds very much like it. ",
"RYouNotEntertained explained what happens; I won't repeat that information. ",
"Other symptoms of sleep paralysis can include:\n * a sensation of pressure on the chest, or of difficulty breathing\n * a sensa... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0diqo",
"comment_text": [
"When you sleep, you dream. Dreams involve the activation of muscles, as you're frequently attempting to DO things like walk around.",
"To keep you from hurting yourself and/or losing sleep, your body paralyzes you.",
"Sleep paralysis is a condition wherei... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0ev5x",
"comment_text": [
"A lot of people who have sleep apnea experience a form of terrifying sleep paralysis where they not only can't move, but also can't breathe. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0fcia",
"comment_text": [
"I had sleep paralysis the other day, not nice I had this dream where I was suffocating, woke up with my head under my quilt and no means of getting out from under it. Felt weird all day after that."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Why do dogs of the same breed look practically the same when humans of the same race look so different? | explainlikeimfive | 1sqlry | 1 | true | false | 0.57 | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce07fjp",
"comment_text": [
"because your brain is wired to see differences between people not dogs"
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce07jkj",
"comment_text": [
"Just to expand a tiny bit on this, dogs of a similar breed are less diverse than humans, even of similar broad ethnicities because most dog breeds are the result of severe in-breeding. This lack of diversity compounds with our lack of sensitivity to the differenc... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce07gcr",
"comment_text": [
"They look so similar to each other for the same reason that we often see people of other races as similar-looking; we simply haven't trained our minds to see the differences."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce07lqg",
"comment_text": [
"The breeds of dogs we have today were created by humans. Each breed was controlled so that there would be very little variation. So each breed has a very restricted gene pool (a restricted set of traits). So dogs of the same breed end up looking mostly the same.\... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce07gpq",
"comment_text": [
"They don't. Not really. \nWe are just unused to seeing the very fine details. \nIf you own one kind of dog you will see how unique each dog is. ",
"We are super used to read human faces. This is why we can tell the slightest difference between two. "
],
"... | ||
How would life have started on a planet that none exists? | explainlikeimfive | 1sqmxe | 5 | true | false | 0.86 | I am curious that if there is no life when earth started, how would life have started? Would it be chemical reactions or rocks from another planet? How does life start? | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce08adc",
"comment_text": [
"You kinda asked one of the big ones there.",
"Since 1828, it's been known that organic compounds could be made from inorganic precursors, although it was a hell of a shock to a lot of people when Friedrich Wohler did so. Things got even weirder in 1953, when ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0cczr",
"comment_text": [
"To put this in perspective you need to understand the basic chemical mechanics of organic life forms.",
"They all consist of these proteins called amino acids. The chemical makeup of these acids arent that cool, but when doing organic processes they work amaz... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0b0uc",
"comment_text": [
"We've known this for thousands of years: 'God said, let there be life, and there was life.'",
"But seriously, first comment nailed it."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0fmsu",
"comment_text": [
"\"And the Lord smote the primordial soup with lightning; and there were brought forth amino acids. And the acids did spontaneously assemble into polypeptides, and the polypeptides into microspheres. And the Lord spent the rest of the week resting.\" --Genesis"
... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0fxpx",
"comment_text": [
"The origin of life made easy",
".",
"There is much unknown about the origin of life, but there are certain steps scientists are fairly sure happened, such as the need to get amino acids somehow."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: What makes an expensive lawyer better than a cheap lawyer? | explainlikeimfive | 1sqoyk | 2 | true | false | 1 | More experience for sure but do they know like more laws or something. If you have proof and witnesses, how can an expensive lawyer win? Might be a really simple question but I want to know. | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce08cp8",
"comment_text": [
"It really depends. The best thing you get from an expensive lawyer is time. Lawyers who are cheaper need to have more clients to pay the bills, so they are spending less time on your particular case. Less time means less familiarity with the facts, less polish on... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce08gyg",
"comment_text": [
"First it's not always true, smart lawyers aren't exclusively expensive. Legal arguments tend to be about which case law applies to the situation at hand. Better lawyers will have a better understanding of case law which means they're more likely to be able to c... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce08plc",
"comment_text": [
"If you have proof and witnesses, how can an expensive lawyer win?",
"The US is an adversarial system which means the prosecution is pitted against the defense to make their case to a judge or jury. If the defense can cast doubt into the methods of evidence co... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0dr7x",
"comment_text": [
"You may think the sole purpose of a defense attorney is to get a guilty guy to look not guilty of the crime to a jury, but the defense counsel has another responsibility. That is to make sure the accused committed actions that fall within the exact definition of ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0qj85",
"comment_text": [
"Expensive lawyers aren't better than cheap lawyers - better lawyers can charge more for their services because they are better lawyers.",
"But also, when you pay more you're often getting multiple lawyers working on your case who can pursue more avenues and s... | |
ELI5: How is "Ghoti" pronounced "Fish"? | explainlikeimfive | 1squ1o | 1 | true | false | 1 | It seems like they took the sounds out of context of the rest of the verb. | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce09yru",
"comment_text": [
"gh is pronounced like an 'f' as in the word 'tough'\no pronounced like 'ih' as in the o in 'women' and\nti is pronounced like 'sh' as in 'nation'"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce09zi8",
"comment_text": [
"That's the joke. I don't remember who famously came up with it, but it's a joke to illustrate how all over the place English pronunciation is. It's the 'gh' from enough (pronounced like an f), the 'o' from women (pronounced like an i), and the 'ti' from nation (p... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce09zk8",
"comment_text": [
"In the english language some letters make different sounds when in different scenarios so when some one says \"Ghoti is pronounced like fish\" they really mean that those letters in the correct senario would make a sound the is like the word fish."
],
"score"... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0bg6m",
"comment_text": [
"Your examples of o making an i sound are very accent dependent. I say the last syllable of mission and fusion more like \"un\" than \"in\". The example I always saw for the o making an i sound was in \"women\" which seems more universal."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0a1l8",
"comment_text": [
"I haven't seen this particular spelling of the word, but GH can make an f sound (tough, enough, etc.), o can make a flat i sound (mission, fusion, etc) and ti can make an sh sound (station, partition, etc.)"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Why do men from far eastern countries such as Japan, China, South Korea etc. almost always show no sign of facial hair? | explainlikeimfive | 1sr5ht | 3 | true | false | 0.67 | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0dmim",
"comment_text": [
"Beards have gone out of fashion in east asia for about a century and these cultures have a stronger social pressure for uniformity, so shaving is extremely common.",
"Also the Han are a large ethnic group from which large portions of all of these countries ha... | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0de71",
"comment_text": [
"Because they always shave it off before anyone can see."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce795qx",
"comment_text": [
"Many thanks for your reply"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0dxbn",
"comment_text": [
"We don't like to shave. Evolution and all that."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce0e55m",
"comment_text": [
"Why don't I like asians?"
],
"score": -1
} | ||
ELI5: Dungeons and Dragons | explainlikeimfive | 1sldj6 | 1 | true | false | 0.67 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyph9v",
"comment_text": [
"Can you be more specific.",
"It's a tabletop RPG. The dungeon master tells the story either makes up his own or uses a pre-set model. The players have their characters with their stats and then they go through the game."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdypl7z",
"comment_text": [
"Are the characters pre-determined? Can you choose them? Can the story go in any direction? How long does a typical game last?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdypu5v",
"comment_text": [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons",
"http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/whatisdnd",
"You're not really asking anything that wouldn't be difficult to find out yourself.",
"You chooses your character from various classes and can modi... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyplfa",
"comment_text": [
"Your post is way too general, and thus has been removed. Feel free to resubmit your question more specifically, or even better do a search in the sidebar searchbar to see if your question has already been answered on ELI5."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdypljl",
"comment_text": [
"It's a Role Playing Game (RPG). There will be many people who will play characters in a story, one person who is the Dungeon Master or Game Master (DM/GM) and will guide the story and let the players know what is happening. ",
"The players will start off by... | ||
Why is hundred degree weather so uncomfortable when our internal temperature is like 98 degrees? | explainlikeimfive | 1slf18 | 14 | true | false | 0.64 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyqaoy",
"comment_text": [
"Our bodies create heat and we lose it to the outside. We are optimized for temperatures lower than 98 degrees. If it's actually 98 degrees outside, we can't get rid of the heat easily and we can overheat."
],
"score": 21
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyxnuj",
"comment_text": [
"Technically optimum temperature is \"room temperature\", 25* C or about 77* F. But yes, we do tend to lose heat that our body produces at ~98* We maintain our internal temp. through the chemical reactions our cells constantly undergo, mostly from processing food.... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyyq9l",
"comment_text": [
"This is why you feel so lazy when it is too hot, your body is slowing itself down in an effort to be more comfortable/not die."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyu6s8",
"comment_text": [
"Article",
"The bigger the gradient between our body and the environment, the more rapidly we can get rid of that heat.",
"Your body is constantly generating more heat. All that heat has to go somewhere, so it tries to escape through your skin. The greater... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz3eju",
"comment_text": [
"Jerk."
],
"score": 2
} | ||
ELI5: How do any posts in the big subreddits (/r/videos, /r/pics, etc) ever get to the front page? | explainlikeimfive | 1slssy | 2 | true | false | 0.63 | I've seen the "new" pages on the default subs, and they're SWAMPED. Go to , and you'll see what I mean. Most videos in the "new" page have only one or two upvotes. Yet somehow, there are videos that get noticed. It seems unlikely that anyone's watching all of the videos on the "new" page, but for whatever reason people... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyu20k",
"comment_text": [
"There is a chance that some things get \"featured\". That is the little spot at the top of your page where a random post will come up. This is part of it. ",
"Also, there are MANY people that look in the new area. Lets say about 30 people out of 100,000 on th... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyubav",
"comment_text": [
"They have to have a positive \"score\" I'm pretty sure. They are randomized based on the subreddits you are subscribed too. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyujqg",
"comment_text": [
"I call the little number at the side score. For me that is just all upvotes subtracted by the downvotes. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyu7zj",
"comment_text": [
"How do posts get featured? Is it random?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyugky",
"comment_text": [
"Positive score? As in voted score, or some other calculated score?"
],
"score": 1
} | |
Why is it that when you have more than 20 people in a room at least 2 people will have the same birthday? | explainlikeimfive | 1sluc0 | 1 | true | false | 0.67 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvn3c",
"comment_text": [
"Assuming you don't know any one's birthday yes. If you pick n people at random you need 367 people to have a 100% chance at least two share a birthday. I'm not saying that it won't occur with less, I'm just saying it's not guaranteed."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyuany",
"comment_text": [
"That's not true. There's a good chance at least 2 will. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyuc8z",
"comment_text": [
"It's not a guarantee. With 23 people, there's only a 50% likelihood.",
"The reason it's not 1 in 365 is because you have to consider each pair of people. With 23 people, there are 253 pairs of people. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyuj12",
"comment_text": [
"Yes. That is not true. You need at least 367 people in a room in order to guarantee that two had the same birthday. However, the more people you have in a room the more likely it is for two to have the same birthday.",
"To calculate this find the chance tha... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvlcl",
"comment_text": [
"You need at least 367 people in a room in order to guarantee that two had the same birthday.",
"That's not necessarily true either."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Can someone please tell me what NSFWL means? | explainlikeimfive | 1slxpi | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvcy7",
"comment_text": [
"Not safe for work due to language"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvtgc",
"comment_text": [
"/u/bjf201",
" is correct"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdywcbz",
"comment_text": [
"Because your post isn't asking a simplified conceptual explanation, but rather for an answer, its been removed.\nYou should try ",
"/r/answers",
" instead."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvbwa",
"comment_text": [
"New Structure to Federal Web Locator "
],
"score": 0
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvbda",
"comment_text": [
"Life...not safe for life is something the poster considers particularly traumatic or \"messed up\""
],
"score": 0
} | ||
ELI5: Does vision move faster than the speed of light? | explainlikeimfive | 1sm2td | 1 | true | false | 0.57 | Well, when we wake up, we instantly see our surroundings. So I am wondering, does our eyes pick up everything faster than the speed of light as it is literally a instant event of seeing. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyx2de",
"comment_text": [
"Seeing is not \"sight rays\" shooting out of our eyes, seeing is our eyes capturing light that is focused by the lens and then sensed by the retina. So no, \"vision\" is not faster than light, because it ",
" light. However, when you open your eyes, you don't... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdywybt",
"comment_text": [
"no, there is about a 80-100ms delay from your eyes to your brain. so even that part is slower than the speed of light."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyxbbe",
"comment_text": [
"Seeing multiple objects at the same time doesn't mean something is happening faster than light, there is still the delay of light travelling from the object to your eyes (a few nanoseconds for objects in your room). Generally, speed of light is a limit for moving... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyxgra",
"comment_text": [
"Seeing is not \"sight rays\" shooting out of our eyes",
"I think we can all shake our heads disapprovingly at Superman cartoons for this surprisingly common misconception. A superhero's \"X-ray vision\" is typically depicted by a beam shooting out of their ey... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyxtdk",
"comment_text": [
"You forgot the part where it gets filtered through our brain mush and might make us see things that aren't there."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Do we have a form of hydrogen fusion that yields energy on an economically feasible scale? | explainlikeimfive | 1slyy3 | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvnxw",
"comment_text": [
"No. And this question should not be here, there is nothing to explain. Please read the side bar."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyw9ct",
"comment_text": [
"Feel free to report next time."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvo3a",
"comment_text": [
"We've been trying for over half a century, now, and it's always remained \"about 30 years away.\" "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvrvb",
"comment_text": [
"I just read an article the other morning which discussed how a team of researchers has recently come very close to \"breaking even.\" Which means that the reaction they created used only slightly more energy than it produced. This is a vast improvement in efficie... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyvukb",
"comment_text": [
"Yes, the sun technically uses hydrogen fusion which we can harness using solar panels (for the light) or wind turbines(the suns unequal heating of the air causes wind). However straight hydrogen fusion based on planet earth is a no. "
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5:how do hot air balloons work? | explainlikeimfive | 1sm5as | 2 | true | false | 1 | I'm just curious as to how they are able to rise up, float across vast distances, and how they can so easily come back dowwn | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyzdjr",
"comment_text": [
"Buburubu explained why balloons work, but I'll explain ",
" they work!",
"There are two main controls in a hot air balloon: The ",
", and the ",
".",
"A burner is essentially a propane stove on crack. It uses vaporized propane gas at or above ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyy0gb",
"comment_text": [
"Precisely. How slowly probably depends on the outside air temperature, the mass of the basket, the heat conductivity of the balloon material, and how wide the hole in the bottom of the balloon is (to allow more cool air to flow in as the volume of the hot air de... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyz6vy",
"comment_text": [
"I'm actually a hot air balloon pilot, and yes that is essentially it. If the burners (that's what they are called) no longer function then the air inside of the balloon will quickly cool below the 'positive buoyancy point' and the balloon will begin to fall. A gi... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyxufj",
"comment_text": [
"Hotter gases are less dense than cooler gases, and thereby weigh less by volume. This means that the heated air inside a hot air balloon weighs less than the air outside of it, and so floats like a bubble in water (in which the air weighs less than the water and... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyxy0r",
"comment_text": [
"so lets say you are floating in the balloon and for some reason you cant get the fire to start up, would you just slowly sink down to the ground?"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Why do I get sick of songs I used to like? | explainlikeimfive | 1smax8 | 8 | true | false | 0.79 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyzu3l",
"comment_text": [
"If you listen to a song enough times every part of it becomes too predictable. It's like hearing a joke for the 10th time."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyzg6j",
"comment_text": [
"Repeated exposure removes the novelty of any experience. The same reason landlocked people are fascinated with the ocean, whereas those who grew up near the ocean think it's nothing special. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz21pj",
"comment_text": [
"A meme."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz2dzn",
"comment_text": [
"Because the more you listen to a song the more it will be getting stuck in your head and it will just keep playing over and over again. Its over exposure and is kind of like too much of a good thing at times."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzpvfo",
"comment_text": [
"The human brain is designed for a certain level of healthy stimulation. When you like the song, you're getting it (novelty, beat). Once you've heard it a thousand times, that new stimulation effect wears off. In general, the body begins to tune out what is always... | ||
ELI5: Why do people have to fast before they have surgery? | explainlikeimfive | 1smpna | 6 | true | false | 0.75 | A friend of mine had surgery on her knee today and she had to fast for about 9 hours before hand. I sort of understand why you have to fast if you have surgery on your torso, but I was surprised she had to fast for a knee operation. So, why do people have to fast before surgery? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz3m2y",
"comment_text": [
"Hi, I work as an anaesthetist.",
"Fasting before surgery is to reduce the volume and acidity of your stomach contents. This reduces the risk of regurgitation and aspiration of stomach contents into the lungs at induction and during maintenance of anaesthesia ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz54p6",
"comment_text": [
"Thanks so much for the detailed response. I understand it a lot better now"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz33t6",
"comment_text": [
"One of the reasons is that some people who have food in their stomachs vomit during surgery. That can lead to breathing the vomit into the lungs.",
"I had surgery a few months ago. The fasting sucked. Not so much the no food but the no water. I went into ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz370s",
"comment_text": [
"Ok, makes sense. Wouldn't want that to happen."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz33xo",
"comment_text": [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preoperative_fasting",
"It's to prevent him from accidentally inhaling his stomach contents under the anesthesia."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: The concept of probability | explainlikeimfive | 1smthz | 2 | true | false | 1 | In a philosophical sense. Isn't the concept of probabilty just an abstract concept that has no impact on real events, even when they are random? So, let's say we have a deck of 36 perfectly standardized cards under ideal circumstances. According to probability it is not wise to bet on one single card, since the probabi... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz4izd",
"comment_text": [
"Probability is a very, very big branch of mathematics. Also one of the most practical in every day life. Without more information its hard to know what you're actually referring to. I'll try to give a basic explanation of some of the simpler concepts.",
"The ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz51t1",
"comment_text": [
"Thank you for your explanation. I know the maths, we had it in school, but thank you anyway. ",
"\"A certain event has a probability of 1, an impossible event has a probability of 0, everything else lies in the middle.\"\nBut doesn't, in reality \"everything ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz565w",
"comment_text": [
"No, your confusing the number of types of results (A vs not-A) with the total number of possibilities.",
"Consider a bag with a dozen marbles in it, 11 of which are red. There are only two types of outcome (red and not-red), but there are 12 different marble... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5gtm",
"comment_text": [
"Alright, so probability is basically an abstract way to describe the ",
" between the marbles, right?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz9xol",
"comment_text": [
"Pretty much, though it's not as abstract as you seem to think. If you pull out a marble and replace it enough times, you ",
" get very close to 11 times as many red marbles as non-red.",
"Taking it a step further, you can use probability to figure out the... | |
ELI5: In the news today: "Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram" particularly this one paragraph (link) | explainlikeimfive | 1smyhm | 0 | true | false | 0.33 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5mut",
"comment_text": [
"One of the top, gilded comments on one of the holographic universe threads",
"Should help you understand a little bit better."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz6093",
"comment_text": [
"No, my question is different. I am specifically asking for clarification on one sentence in that article, about the nature of a one dimensional dimension.",
"THanks though!"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz62hj",
"comment_text": [
"That thread might still be of some help - ELI5 is pretty damn good at what we do, but I'm not sure there are enough string theory physicists lurking who can accurately give you the answer you are looking for. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5tko",
"comment_text": [
"This question concerns one of the most frequently asked topics on ELI5, so it has been removed. Try the searchbar next time please."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5zlk",
"comment_text": [
"Nope! My question was different than the other's asked. Did you read it? I did not ask about holographic universe, I was asking to clarify a specific statement about the nature of a one dimensional dimension.",
"Oh well, thanks anyways."
],
"score": 1
... | ||
ELI5: Why do fashion shows display outrageous outfits and clothing? | explainlikeimfive | 1smuts | 17 | true | false | 0.73 | Shouldn't they show what the average person wears? I watched the first few minutes of the Victoria Secret show and no one in their right mind would wear any of that. Period. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz50ve",
"comment_text": [
"I find it easier to think of the outlandish fashion shows as being more about art than fashion. They're using fabric and the human body much as a painter would use paint and canvas."
],
"score": 13
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz58fa",
"comment_text": [
"it's like a concept car, which you will never see on the road (in that way)"
],
"score": 10
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz57ia",
"comment_text": [
"An friend of mine who's into fashion explained to me simply as sculpture with the stipulations it has to be worn by someone and they have to move around in it.",
"When you look at it as wearable sculptures rather than wearable clothing it begins to make much ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz7l6q",
"comment_text": [
"As an aside to this, regular models are generally beanpole thin and don't smile much because the focus is on the clothing, and not on the model. "
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz4icq",
"comment_text": [
"A lot of it is combining a bunch of patterns, designs, stitching, folds, etc etc. ",
"You only get so many models so they combine all this stuff together which then looks weird to normal people but other designers can look at something outrageous and think, \... | |
ELI5: Please describe the theory of a holographic universe | explainlikeimfive | 1smyi2 | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5me1",
"comment_text": [
"One of the top, gilded comments on one of the holographic universe threads"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5tab",
"comment_text": [
"Thank you. I was hoping for something that was slightly easier to picture though. I get the core concepts, however my issue is with being able to picture such things."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz61js",
"comment_text": [
"To be honest, I'm not sure how you can visually think of anything beyond 4-dimensions - Look up Tesseracts or Hypercubes for images regarding 4-dimensional visualizations. Taking it beyond that, I have no idea how that would look.",
"Hopefully that thread mig... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz63iq",
"comment_text": [
"That was perfect and appreciated. I am actually on that topics from that thread. I suppose asking a 2D being to comprehend the image of hide would be equally impossible.",
"Thanks again!"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz5tg0",
"comment_text": [
"This question concerns one of the most frequently asked topics on ELI5, so it has been removed. Try the searchbar next time please."
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: Advanced VPN - 'Why should I not use VPN?' | explainlikeimfive | 1sn49g | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz7g7u",
"comment_text": [
"VPN's aren't just for anonymity. ",
"I use a VPN set up for my home network so I can remotely 'connect' to my home LAN and access my network storage. We have a VPN at work so that we can access remote files from anywhere we have an internet connection.",
... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz8843",
"comment_text": [
"If that happens, I can see VPNs being more popular - but that wouldn't negate the downsides of bandwidth/price limitations. And even then it would only be used people who really want to watch porn, who aren't the bill-payer, or are trying to access certain kinds ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz9lg6",
"comment_text": [
"If you are running your data through someone else's network, there is ",
" someone who can grab your data. If I can plug into a router at the top of a building's network, I can sit there and make a copy of every single packet that goes in or out if I wanted t... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz9lg6",
"comment_text": [
"If you are running your data through someone else's network, there is ",
" someone who can grab your data. If I can plug into a router at the top of a building's network, I can sit there and make a copy of every single packet that goes in or out if I wanted t... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz7r66",
"comment_text": [
"In the UK major torrent sites are blocked by most ISPs. There is talk of implementing an \"opt in\" porn filter, which only the bill-payer would be able to turn off, there is also talk of permamently blocking some currently legal forms of porn as well as \"extrem... | |
ELI5 Where is the internet? | explainlikeimfive | 1snfk5 | 1 | true | false | 0.6 | I just had a realization today about how amazing computers actually are. It very well may be the exhaustion from exams but the computer is an extrodinary thing. But where is the internet kept? Where does it go? Is all of this stuff physically stored somewhere? Is there a central internet location that we all access? So... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzaroc",
"comment_text": [
"The Internet is everywhere. It doesn't live on a single computer - in fact, the Internet is nothing more or less than the network of networks that ties all the connected computers together."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzayxy",
"comment_text": [
"\"The internet\" can be thought of as like saying \"the interstate highway system\". Yes, it physically exists. But it doesn't make sense to go to an exit on the highway and say \"So, I have all the highway here, right? Where is it, can I hold it?\""
],
"scor... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzboe7",
"comment_text": [
"Your wireless, or whatever other service you have, connects to an ISP. That ISP has racks (or in the case of larger ones, buildings) full of network equipment. Cables come in underground or off poles, connecting them to upstream providers, who have even more netw... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzbbf2",
"comment_text": [
"So then its like signals that connect us all "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzbm6e",
"comment_text": [
"http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/gallery/yes/tumblr_lm11bt4OaK1qe6xr2.gif"
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: What is it that makes the stock market go up over the long run? | explainlikeimfive | 1snjal | 2 | true | false | 0.67 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzbwes",
"comment_text": [
"People are willing to pay more money to own shares of it. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzc0il",
"comment_text": [
"Why? Maybe I need an ELI26, but don't understand the complexities of something. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzc43p",
"comment_text": [
"Because the company is stronger. If Coca Cola makes twice as much money this year as it did last year then my shares of Coca Cola are worth twice as much. Thus, there are people who want to pay me twice as much as I paid for the stock. Therefore the stock of C... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzcqdb",
"comment_text": [
"Also, if a stock is going up, people want to keep them until they're worth more money, and because nobody is selling, the price goes up even more. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzc5x7",
"comment_text": [
"The trends of the stock market are not ELI5-able because the stock market is not a single, amorphous thing.",
"the stock market is ",
" markets, each with their own dynamics. Where some markets will do poorly, others will do well. ",
"even within a pa... | ||
ELI5: What is an arduino, and how does it work? Also, what is a raspberry pi, and how does that work? Then, how do those two work together? | explainlikeimfive | 1snk0b | 12 | true | false | 0.88 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzcnp2",
"comment_text": [
"They're tiny computers. They have a little bit of RAM memory, and they have some \"non volatile memory\" similar to SSD drives. The arduino doesn't necessarily run with an operating system; the programs tend to have complete control of the hardware. The Raspberry... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzi78c",
"comment_text": [
"The Arduino is an example of a microcontroller. Microcontrollers are typically used for a dedicated purpose and have some number of inputs and outputs. Examples would be controlling a microwave, a clock radio, or a relatively simple robot. Microcontrollers often ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzjjv6",
"comment_text": [
"Both are small single board computers that are aimed at entry level hobbyists and education, and meant to be as open source as possible, and as it happens have a strong user/developer community.",
"Arduino is a system that uses an Atmel AT-Mega microcontrolle... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzhiwe",
"comment_text": [
"use them in th\nCan you upload android operating system on a raspberry pi?\nand if so can you use aps like \"talk\" on it?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzhwzj",
"comment_text": [
"I don't think you can load android onto it because android is built for mobile touch-screen devices and as far as I know there isn't a way to get a touchscreen to work with a raspberry pi. I could be wrong, but that seems a little more than it was designed for. A... | ||
ELI5: how does the NSA have he capability/manpower to spy on citizens of a country? | explainlikeimfive | 1sno0u | 2 | true | false | 0.63 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzd9v4",
"comment_text": [
"The internet. Computers are pretty good at gathering data and most people aren't very good at hiding their data. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzdfkx",
"comment_text": [
"They aren't reading all of the messages. They are just holding them in a supercomputer and then pulling out the one's they want. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzdfkx",
"comment_text": [
"They aren't reading all of the messages. They are just holding them in a supercomputer and then pulling out the one's they want. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzdfwb",
"comment_text": [
"Nope, they aren't.",
"Well not all of it. They have complex computer programs grinding through all the data looking for keywords and patterns. This is hugely complicated and probably classified so I don't know the processes but that is the basics. People d... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzgidw",
"comment_text": [
"Yep, they've used ",
" to measure computers since at least the '90s. What they do isn't all that different from google's search engines except they've got more mathmaticians/engineers and have been doing similar things since before Google's founders were bor... | |
ELI5:How do dogs know to make eye contact? | explainlikeimfive | 1snq0x | 0 | true | false | 0.43 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzeqvy",
"comment_text": [
"Dogs have evolved with humans since we were gatherer-hunters (or whatever term you want to use). They're social animals, and in the same way that they would look for body language cues from other dogs, they will look for body language cues from people. Humans e... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzevav",
"comment_text": [
"great answer"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdze15w",
"comment_text": [
"They have adapted to pay attention to our sclera (the white part of the eye). Humans are the only animal with the white showing in full - it demonstrates what we are looking at."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzh536",
"comment_text": [
" mammals know to make eye contact. It's an evolved instinct, because knowing where other creatures are looking can provide a survival advantage (it helps prey know when to run and when to freeze, and it helps predators know whether or not they've been spotted yet... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzef67",
"comment_text": [
"Yes, I understand they see with their eyes, SHEESH! But why do they look into our eyes, why don't they look at our chest or something?"
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: How can Germany abolish tuition fee for university students while we are paying thousands of dollars or more each year? | explainlikeimfive | 1snt85 | 15 | true | false | 0.75 | see title. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzfq7v",
"comment_text": [
"The German political culture is not opposed to socialist policies like the nationalization of a university system. ",
"Another huge factor is that German education is much more rigid than in America and the standards for being in a path towards University are... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzewc2",
"comment_text": [
"Because the government is paying it for them. "
],
"score": 10
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzffm6",
"comment_text": [
"Because the United States has this fear of any additional government involvement would create a socialist state. So banks and governments just hand out loans for whatever Universities are asking for, because it is a loan, they'll get there money back with intere... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzeyht",
"comment_text": [
"Because the german government taxes the rich and they don't spend all their money on the military"
],
"score": 8
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdznrp7",
"comment_text": [
"Yes, overly simplistic in ELI5. There's a line between \"explain so that a layman can understand\", which is the point of this sub, and \"making broad, unsubstantiated generalizations\".",
"The US does indeed spend more than the next 10 countries combined on ... | |
ELI5:Could Jurasic Park really happen | explainlikeimfive | 1snnjb | 0 | true | false | 0.3 | If we found some dna of dinosaurs, could we recreate them? and if so, how far are we with this (research wise etc) | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzd4eb",
"comment_text": [
"Not likely. ",
"Recent science has come out saying that DNA more than 3 million years old ( I think that's the number) or so is too damaged to attempt cloning."
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzeon0",
"comment_text": [
"Having said all that, there could very well be a hypothetical situation in the future where humans have the capability to build DNA from scratch, i.e. design their own dinosaurs. All that is required is that we know the correct order of the bases.",
"However,... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzf47t",
"comment_text": [
"I agree, all I was suggesting was that in the future we may very well be able to do exactly that"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzdh7b",
"comment_text": [
"Nope. Can't find their DNA, it's too degraded at this point.",
"http://io9.com/5950612/new-study-proves-jurassic-park-could-never-happen"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzf2ob",
"comment_text": [
"there could very well be a hypothetical situation in the future where humans have the capability to build DNA from scratch",
"We already have artificial gene synthesis, we just don't have enough control to say \"We will now synthesize a T-Rex\"."
],
"scor... | |
ELI5: If you're born deaf what language are your thoughts in? | explainlikeimfive | 1so4jl | 13 | true | false | 0.72 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdziat9",
"comment_text": [
"Probably the language they have been reading most."
],
"score": 8
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzkoy8",
"comment_text": [
"You also \"think with words,\" you just ",
" attach sounds to them while you do."
],
"score": 7
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzkenx",
"comment_text": [
"If you're born deaf and learn sign language, you think in sign language. If you don't learn any languages, you don't think. Not in the way that most humans do, at least."
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzreih",
"comment_text": [
"People have tons of thoughts that aren't in syntactical language. When you imagine images, rhythms, etc, you are thinking without imposing the structure of language on you your thoughts. "
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzq9ic",
"comment_text": [
"This might also be a good question on ",
"r/askreddit",
" or ",
"r/deaf",
"! "
],
"score": 5
} | ||
ELI5: Why is the pope so important? Do his quotes and views really change the whole Catholic church? | explainlikeimfive | 1so2mw | 4 | true | false | 0.76 | I'm not a Catholic and so I've never really understood why the pope is so important. Does what he thinks and says really change the Catholic church and what Catholic's believe and how they treat people (athiests, LGBTQ, etc.)? From my non-Catholic view all I ever see is a pope that really only exists to make quotes and... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzovzw",
"comment_text": [
"The Pope opinions are claimed to be \"infallible\" only when they are expressed through an \"ex cathedra\" document. This is very rare and has only happened ",
"7 times",
" in 2000 years"
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzis9b",
"comment_text": [
"Not exactly. If the pope muses in an interview he is fully capable of error. It is only in very specific and formal circumstances, speaking ",
"ex cathedra",
", that he is infallible and then only on a matter of faith. "
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzke30",
"comment_text": [
"The catholic church has a structure to it that you don't see as much of in other christian religons. All priests report to a local Bishop. All bishops report to an Archbishop. The Archbishop's are overseen by Cardinal's and the Cardinal's report to the pope.",... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzhxmy",
"comment_text": [
"The pope acts as a leader for the Catholic Church. When it comes to matters of faith, he is \"right.\" ",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility",
"\nThis means that his opinions and quotes have a pretty powerful impact on most Catholics, and c... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzisyr",
"comment_text": [
"No. We don't. "
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: When electricity reaches a gear, what happens? | explainlikeimfive | 1si82q | 1 | true | false | 0.6 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxts9g",
"comment_text": [
"The electricity passes through the gear. In short, nothing.",
"Are you asking why electric motors work?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxttbq",
"comment_text": [
"I am asking how electricity activates electrical components to do something. (Like a blender, for example.)"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxtzop",
"comment_text": [
"Blenders are usually direct drive.",
"The different speeds are from an electronic speed controller which sends pulses (longer or shorter) to the motor."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxuuhh",
"comment_text": [
"...surely you've heard of electric motors?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxtmqs",
"comment_text": [
"What do you mean"
],
"score": 0
} | ||
ELI5: When you're mining for bitcoins, what math problems is your computer trying to solve? | explainlikeimfive | 1so7s1 | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzjpud",
"comment_text": [
"Bitcoin mining is based on hash functions. Specifically the SHA-256 hash function, which maps arbitrary bit strings to 256-bit outputs in such a way that nobody knows how to find a collision (two inputs with the same output), although the pigeonhole principle im... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzkxw2",
"comment_text": [
"To expand on ",
"/u/afcagroo",
", a hash function is one way only. If you have the output it's impossible to tell what the input was.",
"Hashing an input into an output is fairly easy for a computer. Computers do it all the time, your computer can l... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzkxw2",
"comment_text": [
"To expand on ",
"/u/afcagroo",
", a hash function is one way only. If you have the output it's impossible to tell what the input was.",
"Hashing an input into an output is fairly easy for a computer. Computers do it all the time, your computer can l... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzkeus",
"comment_text": [
"You take some digital information (a file, or whatever) and mathematically \"smush\" it down in a way that it is (usually) much smaller and no one can reasonably use the hash to reconstruct the original. Kind of like running meat through a grinder, turning it in... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzkinc",
"comment_text": [
"Namely the main idea behind Pretty Good Privacy encryption and decryption practices."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: How did living organisms develop eyes? | explainlikeimfive | 1sicpm | 4 | true | false | 0.76 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy1dmi",
"comment_text": [
"So now we have no explanation AND no link. Dammit. Great job. I was interested in what this topic had to offer."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy2k30",
"comment_text": [
"Primative creatures evolved cells on their back which could detect changes in light, whenever this cell noticed changes in light the creature knew a potential predator was nearby and could hide away.",
"Over millions of years, creatures evolved several of the... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxvl4n",
"comment_text": [
"That's why I limited to just the picture. It seems to me that the problem is that the person asked a question that doesn't require much explanation. I really don't know what else to explain besides just saying what happened."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxvg9w",
"comment_text": [
"Top-level comments are for explanations or related questions only. No low effort \"explanations\", single sentence replies, anecdotes, or jokes in top-level comments.",
"ELI5 isn't for just linking to wikipedia. Top level posts require an attempt at an expla... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxvg9w",
"comment_text": [
"Top-level comments are for explanations or related questions only. No low effort \"explanations\", single sentence replies, anecdotes, or jokes in top-level comments.",
"ELI5 isn't for just linking to wikipedia. Top level posts require an attempt at an expla... | |
ELI5: Why don't I see black out of one closed eye, but do with two? | explainlikeimfive | 1sigbr | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxxkvd",
"comment_text": [
"You do, but your brain is smart enough to compensate by focusing on the useful information coming from you open eye, and ignoring the closed one."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy50t7",
"comment_text": [
"Because, with our stereoscopic vision, our brains automatically combine the two individual images of each eye into one. This is to compare the positioning of objects in each picture to create a sense of depth, since we don't have an intuitive 3rd dimensional per... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxxszx",
"comment_text": [
"Makes enough sense :) Thanks for the explanations."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxwwsn",
"comment_text": [
"This has to be the dumbest novelty account I have ever seen...."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxwwsn",
"comment_text": [
"This has to be the dumbest novelty account I have ever seen...."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: How to drive in a multiple lane roundabout with only single lane exits. | explainlikeimfive | 1si6c6 | 2 | true | false | 1 | I've looked up how to drive in multiple lane roundabouts and it makes sense when there's more than one lane to exit into but what about ones that don't? Is it poor planning or is there a different way to drive on ones such as this? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxt5vc",
"comment_text": [
"Its just like any normal street with multiple lanes. The cars exiting quickly use the right lane while the ones going further around the roundabout use the left lane."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxtbmh",
"comment_text": [
"How do you have time to change into the inside lanes and then change back when it only takes 10 seconds to go around?"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxuamo",
"comment_text": [
"You need to be in the correct lane before you enter the intersection. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxubuf",
"comment_text": [
"Habits picked up from fast paced european travel. They love roundabouts. They are a bit awkward at first but once you get the hang of them, they are really useful and time savers."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxunh4",
"comment_text": [
"The signage in that traffic circle isn't very good. ",
"Take a look at this one from Springfield, Oregon.",
" How each lane should be used can be seen by observing the arrows painted in the lanes.",
"The first rule of traffic circle club is that ",
... | |
ELI5: How much can I make at maturity from a US Treasury note if I put in $10,000 for 2 years? Is it completely safe? Thanks | explainlikeimfive | 1siutf | 2 | true | false | 0.75 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy1hpc",
"comment_text": [
"Depends on what kind of T-note you are getting.",
"According to the website",
" a 2 year treasury note today has about 0.03% interest. ",
"You buy in $100 blocks, so you would be buying 100 2-year t-notes, which would compound interest every 6 months ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy2788",
"comment_text": [
"Note that at 0.03% you are actually losing money effectively. Because while you are getting .03% interest! due to inflation! that money is losing about 1% per year! leading to a return of -0.97%. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy3tna",
"comment_text": [
"Surely they're still marginally better than gov bonds?"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy1t75",
"comment_text": [
"Thank you. I appreciate it."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy2iak",
"comment_text": [
"You'll be losing more by keeping it at a bank, as I understand it. "
],
"score": 1
} | |
From an earlier post, ELI5: Why can't children carry asthma inhalers in school? | explainlikeimfive | 1sin8s | 6 | true | false | 0.8 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxypat",
"comment_text": [
"Well some schools have the 0-tolerance for drugs policy including prescribed drugs. They have that to prevent lawsuits. "
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy0ge9",
"comment_text": [
"They have that to prevent lawsuits.",
"And ironically, the school in question here probably brought on a huge one."
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy14pi",
"comment_text": [
"Because drugs are bad. seriously. I know how ridiculous that sounds but that's what it is, they are so afraid of anyone possibly doing anything related to drugs that they ban the good right along with the bad. the 1% chance that something bad might happen just... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy13mv",
"comment_text": [
"I'm sure some kid somewhere sprayed it in a classmate's face."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy31bb",
"comment_text": [
"That kid was me. "
],
"score": 2
} | ||
ELI5:The four examples Kant gives of the categorical imperative. | explainlikeimfive | 1sj1t4 | 1 | true | false | 0.56 | Can someone please explain how these relate to the CI and universal law? I did a search and found some clarification on the CI, but I still cannot fully relate these to the examples Kant gives. And also, please no Kant puns! | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy3rft",
"comment_text": [
"I'll try to help, but it's been a while since my Kant class and I was by no means an expert, but with Kant, who really is?",
"So first the categorical imperative can be summed up to say \"act in such a way that your actions would became a maxim for the world.... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy33f5",
"comment_text": [
"Damn. Isn't there immanuel on it that I could read?"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy5ryx",
"comment_text": [
"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law. \nLet's take your borrow with a promise example. If everyone borrowed with no promise to return. This would not be moral because you are using the lend... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6kyy",
"comment_text": [
"Beginning to wish I'd taken this topic seriously ...",
"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russian-man-shot-in-quarrel-over-immanuel-kants-philosophy-8820327.html"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy2znr",
"comment_text": [
"Kant help. Sorry. "
],
"score": -3
} | |
ELI5: How did shaving your vagina become such a wide-spread trend? | explainlikeimfive | 1sj88p | 2 | true | false | 0.56 | (You're going to sound like a pedophile) | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4xft",
"comment_text": [
"Having hair on your head is a cultural expectation. ",
"There's also menstrual blood, which is a real pain when it gets dried and stuck on pubic hair. "
],
"score": 4
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4xft",
"comment_text": [
"Having hair on your head is a cultural expectation. ",
"There's also menstrual blood, which is a real pain when it gets dried and stuck on pubic hair. "
],
"score": 4
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy72cm",
"comment_text": [
"I read not too long ago that \"crabs\" (body lice) have disappeared by 90% from levels they were at 20 years ago or so since this trend of waxing/shaving became so popular with women and even men. Might be one good reason for it's being so popular. Also, cunnilin... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy52hb",
"comment_text": [
"no, but i see what you mean. shaving your crotch in general is a personal preference for women and men alike too. and it's true that when a woman has her menstrual cycle, it's just messy, so having no hair down there makes easier clean up, and feeling better."
... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyx95w",
"comment_text": [
"Its hard to stop once you start,the hair gets thicker and thus more itchy.\nPlus it keeps cleaner,and I just don't like body hair."
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: How are police checkpoints/roadblocks legal? | explainlikeimfive | 1sj7vm | 2 | true | false | 0.63 | Shouldn't you be protected by the 4th amendment if they had no reason to stop you solely on the fact you decided to drive down that road? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4ox9",
"comment_text": [
"Because they are stopping you based on public road safety, and they are stopping everyone",
"If they were searching for drugs, it wouldn't be legal (unless it's at a border)",
"If they were only stopping young males, it wouldn't be legal (unless they were... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4xav",
"comment_text": [
"I think something that should be emphasized here is that if you get stopped they don't have a right to search your vehicle. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy5076",
"comment_text": [
"Not without legitimate suspicion."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy8ru2",
"comment_text": [
"but they can't search you unless they have probably cause (they smell drugs, you're passengers are drinking, etc)",
"Since i don't come from the US, i need to ask. Is it illegal to have a drunken passenger?"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4jg5",
"comment_text": [
"This comic explains exactly this in a great ELI5 way, starting from this page. ",
"http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=1917"
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: Why do we sometimes hesitate on multiple choice questions if the perceived right choice comes up multiple times in succession (eg Four As in a row)? | explainlikeimfive | 1sj9hx | 1 | true | false | 0.57 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4xml",
"comment_text": [
"Because we expect the pattern to be random. Seeing it as not random makes us feel like we must be doing something wrong (\"there is no way they would have such a long string of C's\")"
],
"score": 4
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy54xc",
"comment_text": [
"I guess... I wasn't really talking about a pattern, when I said \"pattern\" I meant the distribution of the answers."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy5gn7",
"comment_text": [
"When I was in 3rd grade taking multiple choice tests, I would also look at the scan-tron and change any answer that appeared more than 3 times in a row, because I thought that the statistical chance of a correct answer being the same letter more than 3 times was ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy63jm",
"comment_text": [
"Gambler's fallacy. Humans expect outcomes that have not appeared recently to happen because they are \"due\". However in a random process this is not true. ",
"On the other hand, the test writer's answer key is not a random process..."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy4yhb",
"comment_text": [
"How can a pattern be random? Isn't that the exact opposite of a pattern?"
],
"score": -2
} | |
4WD vs. AWD | explainlikeimfive | 1sjdkf | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6c87",
"comment_text": [
"They are two different driving assists that do different things when they encounter limited traction situations. ",
"All Wheel Drive (AWD) is a system that accepts the power from the engine and distributes it to all four wheels at the same time. The power g... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy67k4",
"comment_text": [
"I don't think this is entirely accurate. For instance, my Nissan Juke is AWD and I can choose at any time between two AWD modes and FWD. ",
"The bigger difference to me is that, at least originally, 4WD vehicles were not meant to work continuously in 4WD. It ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy67k4",
"comment_text": [
"I don't think this is entirely accurate. For instance, my Nissan Juke is AWD and I can choose at any time between two AWD modes and FWD. ",
"The bigger difference to me is that, at least originally, 4WD vehicles were not meant to work continuously in 4WD. It ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6ybj",
"comment_text": [
"The bigger difference to me is that, at least originally, 4WD vehicles were not meant to work continuously in 4WD.",
"This is correct. The reason is because 4WD usually involves locking the differential, so you have to be driving in low-traction conditions in... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy70e4",
"comment_text": [
"A \"locked differential\" acts differently than a 4WD I think."
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: Why do children and adults like to build LEGO? | explainlikeimfive | 1sjews | 0 | true | false | 0.43 | Please, only serious answers. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6dyr",
"comment_text": [
"Once I started reading this. I already knew I was in the presences of greatness. Tell me where I need to fwd this huge shipment of Legos. I hope it is to your liking. "
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6cv3",
"comment_text": [
"I think, no expertise whatsoever, that for young children it gives an immediate sense of achievement when they finish building their creations "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6h4g",
"comment_text": [
"Sense of accomplishment, and a wee bit of intelligence when you make something you wanted out of bits and pieces of other sets.",
"Turns out some people I knew who never liked Legos either never knew that they could make whatever they wanted from the pieces, ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy6u8d",
"comment_text": [
"People like to create things. I get around \"Lego\" blocks, \"Lincoln Logs\" or \"Tinker Toys\" I immediately transform into an 8 year old. Nostalgia?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdycly7",
"comment_text": [
"Unrestricted imagination. The pieces are so modular that you can, with enough pieces and desire, make something that resembles anything you want, from a tiger to the Starship Enterprise."
],
"score": 1
} | |
How accurate are the blue strips on a razor blade at indicating when the blade should be replaced? | explainlikeimfive | 1sjpuj | 3 | true | false | 0.72 | Seems like when I shave the little blue strip that disappears and is supposed to indicate when to replace the blade wears off after about a week. I use my blade for a long time after that because I always assumed it was a scam. Am I right? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy8y2q",
"comment_text": [
"I think the marketing people are getting the edge over the strip scientists at razor companies \"Look I hear you about the empirical effect of water on dyed rubber but lets just make that thing fade as quick as fuck\""
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdybm1c",
"comment_text": [
"I'm thinking its similar to the expiration date on bottles of water and canned goods. Most of the time, it doesn't indicate when the contents go bad. It seems to be there to encourage you to buy more."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdycp5h",
"comment_text": [
"AFAIK the blue strips refers not to the blade but to the small brushes that have some kind of gel so it wont irritate the skin."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy8wzf",
"comment_text": [
"/r/wicked_edge",
"Spend $20 on a handle and use $0.05 blades for life. No longer will you feel compelled to use a blade longer to save money (unless you're a major tight ass)."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdygiy5",
"comment_text": [
"No, that's marketing."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Why does ice cold water taste better? | explainlikeimfive | 1sjr8b | 4 | true | false | 0.65 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy96dl",
"comment_text": [
"Personal preference. I know people who prefer it at room temperature."
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyivyy",
"comment_text": [
"The theory is that we developed a preference for cold water because it is less suitable for large bacterial colonies. No conclusive proof for this, I just heard about it on \"The Life of Mammals,\" can't remember which episode."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy9u4i",
"comment_text": [
"There's a few explanations to this, and one of them has to do with the fact that taste buds become numb. When your buds get numb, it becomes harder for it to taste the \"tap water taste\". ",
"Other explanations are:\nDepending on where you live, lukewarm wat... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyg1hq",
"comment_text": [
"Varies from place to place. Water in the town I live in isn't that good, but the water in my home town is better then any bottles water I've had.",
"Taste of water depends on the source 100% so nothing you said makes a point.",
"Also all water is the sam... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyfl1b",
"comment_text": [
"More oyxgen."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: How does a .zip reduce the file size of its contents? | explainlikeimfive | 1sjt9z | 5 | true | false | 0.6 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy9urk",
"comment_text": [
"At the most basic level, a compression algorithm reduces non-unique data to an instruction for how to re-construct that data.",
"Think of your great great great great great great great grandmother. Obviously that's a long piece of information, but you could ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy9w6q",
"comment_text": [
"First, it finds repeated sequences of characters and builds a table that attributes a code to each different sequence.\nThen, it replaces each sequence with its code, thus reducing the file size.",
"There is a lot more going on, but this the base for any redu... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdycf5x",
"comment_text": [
"This is pretty much spot on. Like a lot of data is:",
"1111000010100100000100000100100100111111",
"so to compress it, it's like ",
"4x1,4x0,10100,6x0,1,5x0,3x100,6x1",
"which is shorter. In many cases, especially with text files, the binary is v... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdycsmr",
"comment_text": [
"The best explanation I've heard for compression goes something like this:",
"Take a phrase\n\"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country\"",
"Some words appear more than once, make a dictionary\n[1]what\n[2]you\n[3]coun... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdybe43",
"comment_text": [
"Here's a video explaining the basics of compression. They use a picture as an example, but the basic concept is still the same: look for a pattern then find a way to store the pattern more efficiently. ",
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lto-ajuqW3w"
],
"s... | ||
ELI5: Nurses | explainlikeimfive | 1sjw53 | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyb9ux",
"comment_text": [
"My wife is a nurse, and I work in a hosptial. We both work for large hospitals in the Boston area, so we may not be representative of all, but there a very large number of male nurses. Women still outnumber them, but male nurses are not all uncommon, except in ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdybf0o",
"comment_text": [
"Nures Practitioners work under a Dr's name and Nurse Practitioners have a Masters Degree in Nursing. So yes quite a lot of schooling."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyakfh",
"comment_text": [
"There is less stigma than there used to be about male nurses (but I'm sure there is still some). ",
"RN is a registered nurse and has the most training\nLPN is a licensed practical nurse and has less training (and less opportunity for advancement). ",
"... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyb5wn",
"comment_text": [
"Don't forget ",
"nurse practitioners",
" - they have more schooling than RNs and can work \"like doctors\"."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyawy7",
"comment_text": [
"Best you can get with out alot of school is CNA. The LPN exam NCLEX-PN is very hard. There are State requirments that need to be fulfilled before you are able to get licensed. I work with multiple RN's and LPN's and I was also intrested in it. The Dr's I work ... | |
ELI5: Why do people vote for the Republicans? | explainlikeimfive | 1sk43q | 1 | true | false | 0.67 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdycpl4",
"comment_text": [
"Your question is loaded (comes with a clear bias), and so it has been removed. Try rephrasing objectively or else post in ",
"/r/changemyview",
"."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyd3gr",
"comment_text": [
"Without getting in to who is right and who is wrong politically, it's a lot more complicated than \"republicans bad democrats good\" or vice versa. Regardless of political affiliation, how a politician presents his views is as important as what those views are. \... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdza5za",
"comment_text": [
"Thank you for your responce. It really helped to get someone elses view on the matter. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzaly1",
"comment_text": [
"Sure thing. Again, it's way more complicated than that, but I hope I shed some light on it."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyd3zh",
"comment_text": [
"As a life-long Republican, it's getting harder for me to answer that question. I played with crossing over to the other camp and voting Democrat but it was even more depressing. Choosing to be an Independent puts me on the sidelines. At the age of 60 I'm question... | ||
ELI5: Public key exchange -- in practice | explainlikeimfive | 1sk9hv | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | According to Wikipedia: The public key is used to encrypt plaintext or to verify a digital signature; whereas the private key is used to decrypt ciphertext or to create a digital signature. Each user has a pair of cryptographic keys – a public encryption key and a private decryption key. Similarly, a key pair used for ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdye8kn",
"comment_text": [
"So if I want to encrypt email and send it to my mistress, she has to have my public key stored in her email client? ",
"No, ",
" have to have ",
" public key stored. You encrypt with her public key, she decrypts with her private key.",
"If I am di... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyekm4",
"comment_text": [
"And suddenly, all the tetrominoes fall into place.",
"\nHoly shit.",
"\nCheers."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdygv4d",
"comment_text": [
"The common analogy is that public codes are like locks and private codes are like keys. You have a lock that only you can open-- so you open it, and send it to a friend. They snap that lock onto a box and send it back to you. If someone intercepts the first messa... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdylw51",
"comment_text": [
"My confusion lay in not understanding the practical application of the process. I was under the misguided impression that people ready your encrypted stuff with your public key",
"If you do it that way, then that's essentially a digital signature. It's not se... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyh51r",
"comment_text": [
"I had not heard that analogy before. Thank you.",
"\nMy confusion lay in not understanding the practical application of the process. I was under the misguided impression that people ready your encrypted stuff with your public key. Which did not make sense to ... | |
If global warming is real, then why are there still record setting low temperatures? | explainlikeimfive | 1sk8dd | 3 | true | false | 0.59 | I'm a big believer in taking care of our planet, but I'm curious if these extremes have anything to do with the fact our atmosphere is being torn apart by CO2 emissions. EDIT: just woke up (in Asia) and saw a bunch of responses! I'll be reading in a little bit? Thanks everyone! | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdydwsb",
"comment_text": [
"Global warming doens't mean that every day is the new hottest day on record, it means, on average temperatures are increasing globally. There is still summer and winter, and days and nights, so there is always changing temperatures.",
"But temperatures globa... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdydzg8",
"comment_text": [
"Plus global warming causes weather patterns to change which could include bringing cold air to places that usually don't get it."
],
"score": 6
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyfhi5",
"comment_text": [
"TL:DR most these other comments...\nGlobal warming = entire planet's CLIMATE over long periods of time",
"record low temp = local WEATHER fluctuation relative to about a century of records for the area"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyemn0",
"comment_text": [
"Think about it like the tides. If I tell you the tide is coming in, it doesn't mean that every wave will go farther up the beach than the wave before. In fact, you could still have many waves in a row that don't go very far up the beach at all, especially if in... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyh48y",
"comment_text": [
"I think 'melting glaciers'. Things like Greenland melting means lots of cold water spreading out. The planet absorbs more ",
", but the temperature (in some places, and at some times at least) may be lower."
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: Why does no one on this sub explain anything like they're talking to a 5 year old | explainlikeimfive | 1sktx2 | 0 | true | false | 0.22 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyk20s",
"comment_text": [
"\"ELI5 is not for literal-five-year-olds.\""
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyk2pf",
"comment_text": [
"\"LI5 means friendly, simplified and layman-accessible explanations, not for responses aimed at literal five year olds (which can be patronizing).\"",
"If you ask a question and the explanations given are not layman-accessible enough for you, it is your prero... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyk3wg",
"comment_text": [
"\"ELI5 is not for literal five year olds.\" - It's in every submission box on this subreddit.",
"Please read the sidebar. Removing this question.",
"It's obvious that every top answer is a cut and paste from google",
"This is definitely not true. Fe... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdykfku",
"comment_text": [
"Whatever, I removed this post. You'll want to read the sidebar if you want to be a part of this community."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdykliy",
"comment_text": [
"k"
],
"score": 3
} | ||
ELI5: Why do we use different words to name different groups of animals (e.g. cattle/herd, whales/pod) and why are some so weird (crows/murder, fish/school)? | explainlikeimfive | 1sf8wm | 1 | true | false | 0.67 | What was the scientific/linguistics reasoning for using different names for all sorts of animal groups? Why didn't they opt for a single, broader term, such as a herd or flock? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx00pd",
"comment_text": [
"Each word has its own definition, which relate closer to that type of animal. I'd say its a question of linguistics. You would sound weird saying \"bird group, whale group, cow group\""
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx0hde",
"comment_text": [
"It sounds weird because we are used to the other words we have implemented.",
"So, going off of this, why is it called 'a murder of crows' when 'a flock of crows' sounds just fine?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx0l9z",
"comment_text": [
"Have you ever heard anyone actually say a murder of crows?",
"Edit: would make a great band name."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx1eyq",
"comment_text": [
"Sounds kinda weird, doesn't it?",
"So, we're back where we started. I'm still wondering why the different names exist. You said that without them, it would sound weird. Then agreed that with them, some still sound weird."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx1j4u",
"comment_text": [
"I guess I mean, calling them all the same would make you sound dumb. Changing up your wording makes you sound smarter. Its like starting every sentence in a story with the same word."
],
"score": 1
} | |
Why do we poop and brush our teeth in the same room? | explainlikeimfive | 1sf6i9 | 0 | true | false | 0.44 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwzhbp",
"comment_text": [
"That's where the water is."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwzpzs",
"comment_text": [
"The bathroom is designed to be a one stop shop for cleaning and health maintenance. It has water and everything you need to clean yourself in it. There's nothing unhygienic about doing it in the same room (unless you have some strange practises) "
],
"score":... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwz6gn",
"comment_text": [
"Privacy."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwzxbz",
"comment_text": [
"That's where the sink is. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx0bip",
"comment_text": [
"And the Mythbusters found you can place your toothbrush just about anywhere in your house and it could still wind up with fecal coliform bacteria on it (the aerosols generated by a flushing toilet can travel pretty far).",
"The presence of a germ, or even man... | |
ELI5: How to drink different kinds of alcohol | explainlikeimfive | 1sffsm | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx27t7",
"comment_text": [
"A shot (44.3602943 milliliters) is when hard liquor (usually a cheaper variety) is all drank at once. It may be followed by a chase which serves to wash it down and get the taste out of your mouth. More expensive hard liquors (i.e. scotch) are generally sipping d... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx240w",
"comment_text": [
"it's explain it to me like i'm five, not explain it to me like i'm retarded."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx2cut",
"comment_text": [
"thank you very much, if I had any money I would give you reddit gold"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx2dtu",
"comment_text": [
"Well it's the thought that counts"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx2bre",
"comment_text": [
"Because your post isn't asking a simplified conceptual explanation, but rather for an answer, its been removed. ",
"You should try ",
"/r/answers",
", ",
"/r/askreddit",
" or even one of the more specialized answers subreddits like ",
"/... | ||
ELI5: If we have an electrical "grid" why do we still lose power? At what stage of power delivery is the grid no longer a grid? | explainlikeimfive | 1sfi4k | 1 | true | false | 1 | Why do we still lose power during a storm or if a power pole is hit by a car? If electricity is delivered via a grid losing a power pole shouldn't affect entire neighborhoods. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx2s58",
"comment_text": [
"It's called a grid but often enough for the end-user, like you in your home, there's a single point of failure... actually more than one. If the power substation that serves you goes up in flame, for example, you're cut off. A tree falls on the power line? That's... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx2t1b",
"comment_text": [
"If a car hits a power pole down the block why do entire neighborhoods or city blocks lose power?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx2t1b",
"comment_text": [
"If a car hits a power pole down the block why do entire neighborhoods or city blocks lose power?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx3xw1",
"comment_text": [
"I see it as more of a tree in a way. For instance in the northeast say some really bad storm hits Canada, you can actually lose your power due to it because some of the power and the grid stems from Canada."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4dvq",
"comment_text": [
"The 'grid' refers to the large-scale infrastructure level. Your whole state is connected to neighboring states so that power companies can trade electricity.",
"By the time it gets to your house, there's only a single line running in for the \"last mile\". ... | |
ELI5:Why does a car battery only require the positive red terminal to work, but other batteries like those in a flashlight require both positive and negative? | explainlikeimfive | 1sfm6m | 3 | true | false | 0.81 | For example, my car battery's is able to function with just the red terminal connected to the engine/alternator. The other terminal is attached to a painted metal surface in the engine bay. However in a small flashlight both battery terminals are required to be connected to the light bulb in order to complete the circu... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx55u5",
"comment_text": [
"This diagram here",
" exactly shows your flashlight example. One terminal of a battery is connected with wire to one terminal of a light bulb (let's say this wire is black in color). The other terminal of the battery is connected to a one terminal of a switc... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx3wmu",
"comment_text": [
"For example, my car battery's is able to function with just the red terminal connected to the engine/alternator. The other terminal is attached to a painted metal surface in the engine bay.",
"That should be an ",
"painted metal surface. The engine is co... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx6hhz",
"comment_text": [
"The entire steel frame of your car is being used to connect the other side of all of your car's lights and devices to the black terminal of the battery. This is called a \"chassis ground.\""
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4feo",
"comment_text": [
"In a related question, why do car battery cables have to be tight as fuck, while in a flashlight the batteries only have to touch the terminals?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx5zhi",
"comment_text": [
"The main reason is that every connection has a resistance, and the looser that connection is, the higher the resistance is. Since U = I * R, we can see that an increased resistance increases the voltage drop. We can also see that an increased current also increas... | |
ELI5: Why did NASA didn't make the moon landings more apparent by doing something which was visible from Earth? | explainlikeimfive | 1sfn56 | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | I don't know, they could have used fireworks (or lasers) and asked us to look through a telescope or something? Considering Earth's light is visible from the moon, I assume it should be the other way round too?
Well.. I'm not sure if it would have been possible but I think it'd have been really cool.
Sorry if I actual... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4p53",
"comment_text": [
"They did. They installed mirrors on the moon that scientists can bounce lasers off of, to make certain measurements."
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx47jr",
"comment_text": [
"The Moon is 360,000km to 400,000km from the Earth. You'd be hard pressed seeing a nuke go off. "
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4bo8",
"comment_text": [
"Space flight and the surrounding technologies that enabled it were nowhere near advanced to pull off those kind of coordinated efforts for such a trivial reason in the grand scope of things. NASA wasn't even sure that the landing would be successful and very real... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4qwn",
"comment_text": [
"They left mirrors on the moon that lasers can be bounced off of. That's pretty rad in my opinion."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4cbr",
"comment_text": [
"Fireworks wouldn't explode well, and carrying explosives on a spacecraft is a terrible idea. NASA did in fact have the astronauts leave evidence. There are mirrors placed on the landing site that allow us to reflect lasers off the moon and you can in fact ",
... | |
ELI5: Why do I see sparkles in the air after I throw up or if I'm choking? | explainlikeimfive | 1sfogm | 2 | true | false | 0.75 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4onv",
"comment_text": [
"I'd love to know the answer to this, since I see the entire world with these sparkles. Its like shiny ants are moving on every single thing i see."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy2hhw",
"comment_text": [
"I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but ",
"http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/questions/question/3465/"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyaff6",
"comment_text": [
"I think this is exactly what I'm describing. Thanks!"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4zfa",
"comment_text": [
"Hulk Hogan is why"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx4wup",
"comment_text": [
"Never heard of these, but doing a search on them it seems this a constant thing like ",
"/u/KniveVideos",
" is suggesting he has. Mine only appear after coughing hard or vomitting. ",
"Great to know though, thanks!"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5:Why does it cost so much to get a building permit? | explainlikeimfive | 1sfu75 | 1 | true | false | 1 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx6ryz",
"comment_text": [
"Your post is a blatant violation of the rules of this subreddit and has been removed. Please familiarize yourself with the rules of the subreddit (specifically wrt top level answers being helpful explanations and not one line jokes). "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx6ryz",
"comment_text": [
"Your post is a blatant violation of the rules of this subreddit and has been removed. Please familiarize yourself with the rules of the subreddit (specifically wrt top level answers being helpful explanations and not one line jokes). "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx74gz",
"comment_text": [
"That sounds unusually high. Where is the building that you are thinking of? What kind of a building is it? Does that cost include legal fees spent trying to get a permit the land owner wasn't entitled to automatically by existing zoning law?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx8cam",
"comment_text": [
"Varies a lot from place to place, and what you need a building permit for also varies. ",
"Probably a tax. Someone has to pay for various services, and if the city has a lot of people wanting to build it's an easy way to get some sweet money. "
],
"score"... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxhbao",
"comment_text": [
"Building permit fees are one of the revenue streams that cities use. A fee that high is likely to dissuade",
"They also raise them to stifle developments, or to encourage denser development, if they need to. $200K might be suitable for a several unit resident... | |
ELI5: Why does a negative times a negative equal a positive? | explainlikeimfive | 1sfyo6 | 2 | true | false | 0.75 | Seriously, what's going on there? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxb0uv",
"comment_text": [
"To explain like you're 5, it's like needing ",
" apples.",
"-2 is like ",
" 2 apples.\n-1 is like ",
".",
"So -2 x -1 is like ",
" to ",
" 2 apples, which means you have 2 apples you don't know what to do with."
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgipj",
"comment_text": [
"I'm not a math expert, but the way I think of it is by comparing it to language.",
"If I say \"I am tall\", the answer to \"Am I tall?\" is yes.",
"If I say \"I am not tall\", the answer to \"Am I tall?\" is no.",
"If I say \"I am not not tall\", the ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx7svg",
"comment_text": [
"They do a great job of explaining it here. You have to break things down into first principles, i.e. distributive property:",
"khan academy"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdybb53",
"comment_text": [
"Thank you. As someone with no math background this makes sense to me. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxef2e",
"comment_text": [
"This is one of the better explanations."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Why do 'tall thin young white males' more likely to have spontaneous pneumothoraxes? | explainlikeimfive | 1sggzm | 2 | true | false | 0.67 | I've had 5 pneumothoraxes (pneumothoraxi?) in the past 3 years. I'm a non-smoker, ran track, no blows to the chest or car accidents. Every doctor I've seen, from my general care to the OR guys to the pulmonologist, has pretty much said 'we see this happen a lot with your body type' and left it at that. Why is this so? ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxcik3",
"comment_text": [
"ELI5. What is a pneumothorax?"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxcppk",
"comment_text": [
"Pneumo means air and thorax refers to the chest. It means there is air inside the chest, but outside of the lungs. This is a problem because the chest (pleural space) is a sealed compartment, and the ability to breath is dependent on this space remaining sealed. ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxcqmo",
"comment_text": [
"A collapsed lung.",
"Your lung is held up by a vacuum - there's no structural support, just 'negative space' in between your lung and your chest wall. If air leaks into that space, the negative pressure holding your lung up weakens, and your lung deflates, ca... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxcqwn",
"comment_text": [
"Damn. That's crazy for a young healthy guy to have to deal with. Good luck. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxcuv1",
"comment_text": [
"Do you have really long legs, arms, and fingers. Abnormally tall and skinny is a primary indicator of Marfan syndrome, but it could also just mean you are tall and skinny. Long appendages, loose joints, and heart problems are the major symptoms. The only reason I... | |
What the hell is going on when I rotate my eyes to my extreme periphery and experience a sort of electric jolting? | explainlikeimfive | 1sg6t9 | 4 | true | false | 0.83 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxa46q",
"comment_text": [
"Can you describe what you mean by \"electrical jolting\"? Where is it located?"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz1gq9",
"comment_text": [
"And thus was born a beautiful relationship. And, c'mon... combining the user names? Beautiful. FuckinPizzaMadeWithRealLemon. ",
"You can't get better than that..."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz1gq9",
"comment_text": [
"And thus was born a beautiful relationship. And, c'mon... combining the user names? Beautiful. FuckinPizzaMadeWithRealLemon. ",
"You can't get better than that..."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdz1gq9",
"comment_text": [
"And thus was born a beautiful relationship. And, c'mon... combining the user names? Beautiful. FuckinPizzaMadeWithRealLemon. ",
"You can't get better than that..."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxa9x1",
"comment_text": [
"You're not. I get it too. I think there's a nerve there"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5:How come it feels infinitely more perilous walking down an icy incline than it does walking up one? | explainlikeimfive | 1sgj9k | 8 | true | false | 0.8 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxcx8z",
"comment_text": [
"My guess, going downhill if you slip you will fall backwards and won't be able to catch yourself and possibly hit your head, going up hill you will fall foreward and be able to use your hands to catch yourself"
],
"score": 12
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxd1kr",
"comment_text": [
"Also you are going up under your own power, as opposed to just trying to fight gravity on the way down."
],
"score": 10
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxdmaa",
"comment_text": [
"Both of these, plus relativity of where your centre of balance is. Going uphill, your view of the hill is of it rising, bringing it closer to your centre of balance. Downhill the opposite is true; it's further, so my guess is your body subconsciously notices it m... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxo2dy",
"comment_text": [
"Probably, I have gone down steep slopes in the woods backwards and it feels safer/easier."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxo2dy",
"comment_text": [
"Probably, I have gone down steep slopes in the woods backwards and it feels safer/easier."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: What causes genes to mutate? | explainlikeimfive | 1sgmdb | 10 | true | false | 0.81 | As in, what causes them to not copy properly? Are some genes more likely to mutate than others? Am I even phrasing this question correctly? I've heard that it's "random", but is it truly just...random? Like rolling a dice? No rhyme or reason? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfu7k",
"comment_text": [
"\"LI5 means friendly, simplified and layman-accessible explanations, not for responses aimed at literal five year olds (which can be patronizing).\"",
"Thats from the subreddit mods themselves."
],
"score": 4
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxdtdl",
"comment_text": [
"When DNA is copied it's split into the two separate strands at multiple points along each chromosome, sort of like a zipper which has been forced open in the middle. Special protein complexes (DNA polymerases) then bind to the open strands and build new strands o... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxdxm8",
"comment_text": [
"Genes are made up of long strands of DNA, which in turn are made up of 2 strands of \"nitrogenous bases\" arranged in a line and paired with each other. The most common types of mutations affect these bases and prevents them from fitting together properly. They ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdyjj9u",
"comment_text": [
"Fair enough, but that wasn't really layman-terms anyways."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxdpmb",
"comment_text": [
"Transcription errors are innate -- simply, the protein that performs the duplication doesn't latch properly. Our bodies's mechanisms are not an exact science and frequently don't operate as they are expected to.",
"Some genes are more likely to mutate than ot... | |
ELI5: How come my car needs 4 gears to get to 35mph, but only 1 for any higher speed? | explainlikeimfive | 1sgucs | 1 | true | false | 0.6 | Seems like you would need at least 1 or 2 more go 60, 80, etc.... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfreh",
"comment_text": [
"You don't actually need 4 gears to get to 40. You shift that early for better fuel economy. You could possible shift later for better performance. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfo20",
"comment_text": [
"think about it like a bicycle, the slower you start the more you need to get going but once you're already going it doesn't take much more"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxibkp",
"comment_text": [
"The purpose of gears is to match engine speed (how hard the engine is working) to road speed (how fast you are going).",
"We do this via progressively larger gears. Small gears move you slowly, but have the full power of the engine behind them. Larger gears... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgmxz",
"comment_text": [
"You shift that many times for better fuel economy. If you were trying to get the most out of your car you probably wouldn't shift until about 5k rpms, first gear would probably take you up to 35, second to about 50, third to 70 fourth to almost 100 and fifth woul... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgrgk",
"comment_text": [
"So does that mean my car's redline is more an indicator of terrible fuel economy moreso than me 'hurting' my engine?"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: How do security questions make your accounts more secure and not the opposite? | explainlikeimfive | 1sgyda | 3 | true | false | 0.67 | I hate security questions. I think they are absolutely pointless and make you more at risk someone hacking into your account. How are they just not another set of passwords? So if someone doesn't have your password, but knows facts about your life, they can effectively hack into your account. If you put weird/bizarre a... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgqu1",
"comment_text": [
"It's not to make your account more secure. It is to give you a way of recovering your account in case you loose your password. Most sites want to have someway for you to recover your account (especially banks) so they need some way of doing this. "
],
"scor... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgsvg",
"comment_text": [
"So it makes it less secure then. If a unscrupulous person knows info about my life, they can hack my accounts. Why don't sites give you the option not to have security questions? They are time consuming and a hassle to keep track of."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgx9o",
"comment_text": [
"Because sites that are important enough for you too care if you get hacked need some way for you too reestablish your account, and can't trust that you'll remember. Then you have the sites that you don't really care if your account gets hacked which don't have e... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxh0bo",
"comment_text": [
"When you reset a password it goes to your email, so long as you have access to your email (and no one else does) it does nothing to make your account less secure. ",
"Don't misuse the word hack, if someone hacked your account security questions would never co... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxhdpv",
"comment_text": [
"If you are concerned about the security question why don't you just put in a false answer?"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5 why airlines (after boarding 1st class passengers and disabled passengers first) don't board the plane from the rear seats to the front seats. | explainlikeimfive | 1sgv5s | 2 | true | false | 0.67 | After having my flight get cancelled yesterday because too many idiots were taking their precious time to get seated, I wondered why don't airlines board people according to seat location. In other words, in order to speed the boarding time up, why don't airlines board people from the back to the front. It's annoying a... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfvt9",
"comment_text": [
"The actual most effective method of boarding is to do window seats, then middle, then aisle - with rows being staggered. The back to front plan doesnt have that many benefits over the free-for -all approach",
"http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-147... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxg4ug",
"comment_text": [
"Wow never thought of it this way. Very interesting read, and it'd be very interesting to see airliners try this technique. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfyby",
"comment_text": [
"Some do, some don't. And indeed sometimes they use both the front and rear doors for boarding."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfv49",
"comment_text": [
"Depends on the airline.",
"Southwest, for instance, is free seating - so you sit where you want. This seems inefficient, but they load up in phases, and its generally pretty quick and painless",
"Other airlines, like JetBlue, let you pick your seats, and ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxgb4y",
"comment_text": [
"Jetblue does - you pick your seats when you purchase tickets.",
"Southwest gives boarding in groups, 'A', 'B', and 'C'. A is priority, B boards second, C last.",
"I've flown both and had no issues with either - Southwests priority system is such that even... | |
What is a coma? And how come some people are in comas for days while other for years? | explainlikeimfive | 1sh2fr | 17 | true | false | 0.88 | What causes people to go into comas and why does the length of a coma vary so greatly between people? Also what causes people to wake up from a coma? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmmkz",
"comment_text": [
"A coma is one of several ",
"disorders of consciousness",
". Basically, we know rather little about what actually causes coma, but we know that in order to ",
" be in a coma, you need two things:",
"Functional neocortex (although lesions to speci... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmphy",
"comment_text": [
"brain's decision to either wake you up or not.",
"Sorry but this doesn't make make much sense and is in direct contradiction with current models of neurological pathology. There's nothing to suggest that coma is in any way strategic. Instead, it appears to ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxndih",
"comment_text": [
"I guess you learn something new every day.",
"And that's why I love this place =)"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce8bj32",
"comment_text": [
"How can people be put into an induced coma then?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_ce8eyqr",
"comment_text": [
"It just so happens that some drugs will induce coma, but we still don't really know why or how."
],
"score": 1
} | |
[ELI5] why does light travell in waves as apose to in a straight line? | explainlikeimfive | 1sh3yh | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | This just kinda struck me the other day so I asked my physics teacher but he had no idea. Any help? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxkstp",
"comment_text": [
"Actually no, it doesn't. Light travels in the direction of 'least-time'. This can be shown when it moves through materials having different indexes of refraction. Light will choose a bent path rather than a straight line and that path can be predicted by findi... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxif4c",
"comment_text": [
"Light ",
" travel in a straight line. Light itself is a wave -- or, more accurately, a quantum object that has both wave-like and particle-like properties-- but that wave-like, particle-like light travels in straight lines."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxkupw",
"comment_text": [
"Good point. I had forgotten about refraction. Was thinking larger scale, curvature of space-time, and all that jazz."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxio70",
"comment_text": [
"We cannot say for certain that light is a wave, nor can we say that it is a particle. Instead we say that light (photons) exhibit both wave",
" and particle",
" phenomena. It is the perpendicular electric and magnetic fields that are implied from the wav... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxl0kw",
"comment_text": [
"Short answer: because light is a wave. The equations of Maxwell describe the oscillation between the electric and magnetic fields that cause the propagation of EM radiation. The really interesting question is then why light seems like a particle.",
"Light s... | |
ELI5: When a homeless person requires emergency surgery in America - who picks up the tab? | explainlikeimfive | 1sh5ax | 2 | true | false | 1 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxiqvv",
"comment_text": [
"They are given a bill, but when it's clear they won't pay it the hospital pays for it, and to cover the cost they charge insured people (and their insurers) slightly more."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxishu",
"comment_text": [
"Eh, not exactly. The government pays about 20 billion annually to hospitals to reimburse them for the uninsured. So it's a combination of taxpayers and the insured."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxiw03",
"comment_text": [
"So it's a combination of taxpayers and the insured.",
"There is a significant overlap there, though. Most taxpayers (or at least those of them who actually pay taxes), are insured, and pretty much all of the insured pay taxes."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxiuzr",
"comment_text": [
"Fair enough, thanks for the extra details"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjto9",
"comment_text": [
"Because your post isn't asking a simplified conceptual explanation, but rather for an answer, its been removed. ",
"You should try ",
"/r/answers",
", ",
"/r/askreddit",
" or even one of the more specialized answers subreddits like ",
"/... | ||
ELI5:Rainbow universes or something | explainlikeimfive | 1sh5wq | 2 | true | false | 0.67 | I have no idea what this artical is talking about. It was posted in the physics reddit but no one seems to know what it means in a way I can understand.
I'm normaly pretty good at physics but I was blown away by all the jargon these people use. Please help. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxj4q6",
"comment_text": [
"Basically it is saying that different wavelenghts of light corresponding to different energies (by c=λv) would be affected differently by gravity. This is because in relativity, mass is just one expression of energy. If this theory is correct, then our techniques... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy40pc",
"comment_text": [
"Eh, compared to the article I feel like I did decent at least."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy3nif",
"comment_text": [
"your answer is not particularly layman-accessible, maybe that's why you got downvoted."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzfx80",
"comment_text": [
"I didn't downvote you Idk who did"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzhwwf",
"comment_text": [
"I wasn't assuming it was you. No worries."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5:Why do small phantom files appear whenever I copy folders from a Mac to a PC? | explainlikeimfive | 1sh3mv | 7 | true | false | 1 | This files are always exactly 4KB, begin with a period, and are hidden. There's also a DS Store file, and a copy of the DS Store file which fits in with the other hidden files. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxing7",
"comment_text": [
"The phantom files are bits of information made by OS X during the copying process to help Windows track bits of information about those files that its filesystem isn't able to support by default.",
".ds_store files tell the Mac how to display a particular fol... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjhqn",
"comment_text": [
"Basically, traditionally the MacOS filesystems store ",
" of metadata (that is, information about the file) that other operating systems generally don't bother with. For example, most operating systems just look at the file extension - say, .mp3 - and just fi... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxif6p",
"comment_text": [
"You have no idea what you're talking about.",
"@Op: I don't know where they come from either. I would assume they're some hidden files used by OSX that show up on Windows. I never notice it going from PC > Mac"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxif6p",
"comment_text": [
"You have no idea what you're talking about.",
"@Op: I don't know where they come from either. I would assume they're some hidden files used by OSX that show up on Windows. I never notice it going from PC > Mac"
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxnbtg",
"comment_text": [
"Windows has similar files that are visible if you view a windows directory from a NIX (system volume information and recycled, if I remember correctly)."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: How do parapalegics drive? | explainlikeimfive | 1sh7ws | 2 | true | false | 1 | I have a neighbor paralyzed from the waist down, how do they operate the pedals and such? Thanks! Edit: He lives alone and drives himself to work. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjhss",
"comment_text": [
"They have specially customized cars with speed controls on the steering wheels."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjjf0",
"comment_text": [
"In many cases the throttle and break are hand activated. Like on an airplane (the pedals on a plane control the rudder) so you have one lever that is the gas, and another that is a pull brake. You won't be braking and gassing at the same time, so you don't need t... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjm1s",
"comment_text": [
"Thats pretty cool. Thanks man. I thought it'd be indecent to ask him personally he's a new parapalegic. :p"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjr6s",
"comment_text": [
"Maybe not, he might enjoy describing how he manages to drive to you. Pride and all that. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxjq3i",
"comment_text": [
"So do they have to keep a hand on the lever anytime they're moving?"
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: Why do global timezones exist? | explainlikeimfive | 1shhtz | 2 | true | false | 0.75 | Why not just have everyone on Greenwich Mean Time globally, and one uniform global clock, rather than always having to add or subtract hours from various parts of the world? Would it really matter if you went to work from "2 am to 11 am" as opposed to "9 am to 5 pm", timezone adjusted? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmake",
"comment_text": [
"Because the earth orbits and the sun hits the earth on different sides at different times. What would \"noon\" even mean to people if its the middle of the night on the other side of the world, and they also call it noon? "
],
"score": 5
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmfa4",
"comment_text": [
"Bingo:",
"with timezones, no matter where I am on earth, 9AM is always morning, 12PM is always noon, 5PM is always evening, 9PM is always night.",
"If I have to call someone in London, I know to schedule my call just before lunch - so I want something bet... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxnrwa",
"comment_text": [
"We kind of do. When individuals are communicating with people across the world they usually use GMT or some standard time zone (such as military forces). However, in most people's day to day affairs they don't need to communicate with the rest of the world, so ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxu3ey",
"comment_text": [
"Because people prefer their local time to reflect the actual time of day (given that noon is midday), rather than using the Greenwich Time and adjusting for the offset."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy05ih",
"comment_text": [
"Unless you live in Alaska during the winter lol, 9am is morning 10am is noon 12pm is night :). And that's basically how it is here in Juneau..."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: what exactly happens in my car when I press the sport or snow button | explainlikeimfive | 1shj2o | 2 | true | false | 1 | It's a Scion FR-S but I've seen similar buttons in several cars. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxnk8m",
"comment_text": [
"Sport button usually disables some sort of traction control I'll use my car for example",
"2013 Ford Mustang GT",
"A regular car with all the nannies on it will either engage the brake or cut throttle if it detects a number of \"unsafe\" hazards. Most of ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxpf4r",
"comment_text": [
"Thanks much for the detailed reply."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmv88",
"comment_text": [
"Here are two quotes I found:",
"All snow mode does is it starts you on 2nd gear when you are at a complete stop, prevents wheel spin .. and you get a slow start with very low torque.",
"Other modes include a standard Snow mode that softens throttle applic... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmvet",
"comment_text": [
"I can't say exactly for the snow button, however there are/should be noticeable differences with the sport button (speaking from experience). The sport button does 2 main things upon others. The first being, it increases the sensitivity at which \"full throttle\"... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxmy4w",
"comment_text": [
"These sorts of buttons change the way an automatic transmission shifts between gears, to either increase the torque or prevent large applications are torque. Torque being effectively how hard a wheel spins. You want to avoid the wheels suddenly spinning with mo... | |
ELI5: Why can I play football (soccer) better outside on grass but I not as good indoors? | explainlikeimfive | 1shy4k | 1 | true | false | 1 | For some reason when I play indoors on a concrete/wood floor I not play as well as I do on a pitch. Thanks | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxr4sp",
"comment_text": [
"There's generally more friction on grass, so the ball doesn't roll as quickly. Even if it's a small difference in speed, it can make a big difference to your game, particularly in regards to things like dribbling and passing. Your muscle memory is likely built up... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxrv1h",
"comment_text": [
"Thanks, I was getting worried that I was getting worse. xD"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxs4hf",
"comment_text": [
"If you played exclusively on hard surfaces for a while, your brain would relearn a lot of its habits. And then when you went back to grass, you'd probably have trouble all over again.",
"Regularly playing both and switching back and forth is probably pretty t... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdy2v99",
"comment_text": [
"This is very accurate. Don't forget how much more the ball will bounce on a hard surface as well!",
"If you do play a lot of indoor on hard surfaces, I highly recommend getting a Futsal ball. They are heavier and are much easier to control on hard surfaces, m... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxykc2",
"comment_text": [
"Footwear plays a part too. On grass, your boots/cleats have studs for traction and are tightly fitted around your foot. Indoors or on concrete, you can't wear these and whatever you do wear(often trainers/sneakers) will likely not have that same 'comfort'. This c... | |
ELI5:Why do we save people in Africa, when Earth is already overpopulated? (Evolution) | explainlikeimfive | 1shsyo | 0 | true | false | 0.33 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxpqdn",
"comment_text": [
"The ",
"population growth rates in Africa are rising much faster than anywhere else",
" ",
" Africa is so poor; because mothers in Africa have a lot of kids so that they will live to support each other when they get older. By \"saving people in Africa... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxpe7p",
"comment_text": [
"We don't believe in letting people die for natural sselection. that is why you take care of handicap or disabled people and the elderly."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxpfmb",
"comment_text": [
"Who are we? Do you want to watch the world die so you get to save a few handicapped people?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxpizc",
"comment_text": [
"basically no modern society lease handicapped people to die. Some might not offer as much help to handicapped people as others but None of them leave a handicap person to their own devices."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxpmks",
"comment_text": [
"I really didn't want to talk about handicapped people. The overall image that we use a huge amount of resources to save people from a place where they eventually can't be saved is what's relevant. I might be completely out of line, but why don't we just let them ... | ||
ELI5: cats | explainlikeimfive | 1si3n9 | 0 | true | false | 0.17 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxsfia",
"comment_text": [
"Cats are mammals. They walk on 4 legs and have a tail and pointy ears. Some cats like to eat tuna fish."
],
"score": 4
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxsgdh",
"comment_text": [
"Yeah this isn't a question, nor something that can explained like your 5. ",
"For your own research : ",
"https://www.google.com/search?q=Cats&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=7FSmUo_VKIjrkAfAoIDACQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=798"
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxske0",
"comment_text": [
"They are sometimes referred to as \"kitties\""
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxstra",
"comment_text": [
"The kitty says \"meow\""
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxttr3",
"comment_text": [
"Your post or question is nonspecific or too general for eli5. Please consider refining it or adding specific questions you're curious about and resubmitting it. "
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: Why do my fingers become harder to move when they are cold | explainlikeimfive | 1scw1v | 15 | true | false | 0.81 | After riding my bicycle in say 10C weather, not below zero, it becomes
difficult to complete simple tasks with my fingers, typing, keys etc.
However they are not frozen, blood is still flowing, so why is this? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwa88s",
"comment_text": [
"If \"Cold\" blood flowed back to the heart at the same speed as the warm blood flowing out to your fingers your internal temperature would start dropping which would kill you rather quickly. by slowing this down the body re-heats your blood keep your internal tem... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdw9oz5",
"comment_text": [
"when riding your bike at 10°C the wind will make it way chillier. The cold leads the capilaries to tighten up so the cold blood doesnt return to fast to the heart damaging it. because of this minor slow down of blood circulation sinews and muscles relevant for ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwdr8u",
"comment_text": [
"\"Why do my fingers become harder to move when they are cold\" - it's not because of decreased nutrients in your finger cells, it's because (in ELI5 language) your nerves don't send signals as well when they're cold.",
".",
"it means give the correct answ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwgb6m",
"comment_text": [
"Thanks!",
"The overall gist of the process is that cold weather --> finger ischaemia --> your nerves and muscles dont work properly along with the psychology of cold affects dexterity --> poor finger performance.",
"This summed it up perfect!"
],
"sco... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwe7el",
"comment_text": [
"So you're saying your heart actually pumps slower? I thought it was because the muscle contracted around the fingers to conserve heat."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: why don't they sell movies on USB drives. Surely its cheaper and easier than making DVDs. | explainlikeimfive | 1sd0nj | 3 | true | false | 0.6 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwapj4",
"comment_text": [
"Dvd's are much cheaper. Go compare the price of blank Dvd's to USB drives"
],
"score": 11
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwat78",
"comment_text": [
"It's not cheaper or easier to put a game on a USB drive than a DVD - the actual DVD is an order of magnitude cheaper, and commercially made ones are stamped, not burned, so it's a fast process."
],
"score": 7
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwbf3d",
"comment_text": [
"I'm not saying that a USB device would be a more efficient (or cheaper) method of distribution, but what you say is not entirely true. ",
"First, it's really not that difficult to rip a DVD or a bluray as it is. I have done it literally thousands of times. It... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcwj9",
"comment_text": [
"Distributing media on USB drives would actually be much harder than discs.",
"Discs store data through a series of pits and grooves in the material of the disc, and mass produced discs are made by pumping molten plastic into a mould with all bits sticking out... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwicy3",
"comment_text": [
"I suspect it's about formatting. the DVD has an area ( track) that can't be written to. it can only be read, a usb drive with data is susceptible to hacking as the data can be altered. it would be great to take your usb drive to wally world, pop it in a programme... | ||
why would it be bad if the government regulated bitcoin? | explainlikeimfive | 1sd4lj | 7 | true | false | 0.81 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcwv9",
"comment_text": [
"Short answer is, they can't really regulate it because it's not subject to any countries specific laws. The general population of the world controls it. It's at a high right now because it's new, novel and people are taking it seriously. But remember, it's mad... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcdrl",
"comment_text": [
"That depends entirely on ",
", specifically, they regulate."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcwmg",
"comment_text": [
"Laws always trail technology, so whatever laws get passed would be instantly outdated. When you're talking about something so intrinsically technical, you're pretty much guaranteed unintended side-effects. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwhbwv",
"comment_text": [
"in my opinion, this post should not have been removed. It is a legitimate question that deserves an answer. It would be bad if government regulated bitcoin because then the government could control and manipulate the price. The government is afraid of bitcoin bec... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwc356",
"comment_text": [
"Note that you should add the words \"tried to\" to your question.",
"The governments insane belief that they can fix any problem by passing laws would see them passing more and more draconian laws in an attempt to do the impossible."
],
"score": 0
} | ||
ELI5:What 'force' actually keeps planets together. | explainlikeimfive | 1sd4bo | 1 | true | false | 0.66 | I admit that I'm not up on gravitational physics but I am wondering what actually holds planets together. Is it our molten core spinning so fast that creates enough gravity momentum to keep everything together? What keeps everything in equilibreum? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwc1bk",
"comment_text": [
"Spinning doesn't change the gravity, gravity is just a function of your mass.",
"The gravity of a planet pulls it all to the centre. Electromagnetic resistance keeps it from all collapsing in on itself."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwfrk1",
"comment_text": [
"Gravity keeps the planets together. ",
"There is nothing more to it really...",
"Now if you want to get into what keeps planets in sync around a star, and on the same plane, that's much more complicated."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxnuen",
"comment_text": [
"More complicated...although still gravity."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcuzx",
"comment_text": [
"The mass at the core of the earth is very dense; its huge mass creates huge enough gravity to keep the earth together in a nearly perfect sphere. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwhtzy",
"comment_text": [
"no one really knows, and if they tell you they do, they are bsing you and regurgitating BS they heard from someone they thought was a lot smarter than they are. no one has been to the core of our planet so everything is a guess. there is no proof that there isn't... | |
How do gas fireplaces work? | explainlikeimfive | 1sd53q | 11 | true | false | 0.68 | Especially with the fake logs in them. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwev3c",
"comment_text": [
"They work because gas is flammable. But seriously, what do you mean? "
],
"score": 10
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwe7ab",
"comment_text": [
"They are ceramic and they can tolerate many thousands of degrees. "
],
"score": 8
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcabv",
"comment_text": [
"Most modern day gas fireplaces works much like a gas stove. Thee pilot light on on the time and when you turn the nob on the fireplace, gas is released and feeds the flame. The flame then becomes a full blown fire, emitting light and heat into your room. Note: A ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwcj7y",
"comment_text": [
"The fire actually never makes contact with the logs. The fire is made to go all around logs, and the fact that there made of fire retardant materials protect them from the heat."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwccpl",
"comment_text": [
"Thanks! \nAre the logs in the fireplace like protected by glass or something? Like how do they keep from burning. (I understand they may not be real wood but still...) "
],
"score": 2
} | |
Why are college basketball/football rules different from the pros? | explainlikeimfive | 1sd31x | 3 | true | false | 1 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwdegc",
"comment_text": [
"It's not really a feeder into the pros. College football, collectively, earns more money than the 32 NFL teams. NFL is athletically on a completely different level than college, doesn't make sense to have entirely same rules. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwf5y8",
"comment_text": [
"The governing bodies of each league, be it NCAA or NBA, want to put a good product out. The rules are different because each league has found a reason to have different rules. Some of the rules encourage competition, such as the ground causing a fumble in college... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwi1sw",
"comment_text": [
"College football and Nfl have different ideas of what the game should be. Remember that in college you have students playing a game and in the nfl you have professional athletes. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwn4c4",
"comment_text": [
"True but here is an example. In NCAA when someone catches the ball they only need one foot in to be considered in bounds. In the nfl you need 2 and possession to the ground. It requires more athleticism for the nfl catch. Something someone in college may not poss... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwct3k",
"comment_text": [
"Different governing bodies, with different agendas. "
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: What happens if you slow your breath down as slow as possible and relax as much as possible during meditation? and: Does marijuana have known physiological impact on this? [SERIOUS] | explainlikeimfive | 1sd8d7 | 1 | true | false | 0.57 | TI I was raised on western medicine (and science) who several years of ago would have laughed at the idea of a eastern medicine treatment. Somewhere along the way manic depression comes into play and many people recommend meditation as a way of relaxing. So you give it a try. Really nothing bad, its actually a good ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwdjnb",
"comment_text": [
"Is there any actual physiological damage than can be done to a human if they are \"really really really\" high and slow down their breath as much as they can?",
"If you passed out your body would automatically return your breathing rate to normal. This might ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwe6fc",
"comment_text": [
"Nope. Cannabis is not one of them."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwdg19",
"comment_text": [
"Meditation lets me tune out the world. I don't do drugs, so couldn't answer the second question. "
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwe58o",
"comment_text": [
"I am not a physician. I am however very well versed in Neurology, Psychology, Psychopharmacology etc. ",
"The easy answer is: No, you wont hurt yourself or die if you smoke pot and meditate. ",
"The long answer: It sounds to me like you are having an anx... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwmnnf",
"comment_text": [
"Seeing how you mentioned some experience with psychpharmacology - would psychiatric meds play a role? In particular lithium and lamictal? ",
"It's awkward - the experience feels like you're dying - which in this case is absolutely frightening but also feels ... | |
ELI5: Why do humans kiss? | explainlikeimfive | 1sdj7e | 2 | true | false | 0.67 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwhgwa",
"comment_text": [
"There are a lot of reasons, including affection and physical contact of sensitive parts, but there are theories that claim strengthening immune system and checking compatibility."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwhbw1",
"comment_text": [
"Hm. I hadn't thought about that."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwi5js",
"comment_text": [
"I've always wondered that and why it feels so good with the right person"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwh48a",
"comment_text": [
"Hormones. I suspect it gets lots of hormones transferred"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwje2p",
"comment_text": [
"I doubt it is the transferal of hormones but the body making an association between kissing and the imminent engagement in coitus which is something we are all naturally biologically programmed to undergo in order to pass on our genes, so the body would then move... | |
ELI5: Why is satellite internet so slow, when satellite tv comes in instantly? | explainlikeimfive | 1sd9sc | 3 | true | false | 1 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwedfl",
"comment_text": [
"The TV knows what to broadcast in advance, and your receiver gets it in a constant stream. ",
"If you want something specific you have to ask for it, and asking for it via satellite internet requires connecting you to the satellite, the satellite to a ground ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwgg8v",
"comment_text": [
"Connection \"speed\" is a word used refer to two different things: bandwidth and latency, depending on context. ",
"Bandwidth is the familiar speed-- ",
" kilobits per second is how much data can be moved through the connection in a second. It's a measu... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwh6x9",
"comment_text": [
"I'm not aware of what type of satellite internet you are using, but when I use to deal with it, satellite internet was a dual system. you didn't have an uplink to the satellite, just a downlink. you send your request to the provider server though a telephone line... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwpfcy",
"comment_text": [
"Because TV is broadcast, all the channels at once. Your receiver just needs to tune to another channel that is already at it, more or less. TL;DR, it is one way, and all the viewers get to use the same bandwidth at no detriment to each other. Yes there is the up/... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwdw1d",
"comment_text": [
"Is this a necessary function for youtube videos?"
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: Why is it that more often than not, people who preach tolerance and acceptance of others (race, religion, sexual orientation etc) are not tolerant of people who aren't tolerant of these things? It seems hypocritical. Please advise. | explainlikeimfive | 1sdr1z | 0 | true | false | 0.46 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwjmta",
"comment_text": [
"To add to this, intolerance is usually a product of ignorance. The problem with ignorant people is that they usually don't listen to reason. It's really difficult to tolerate someone who refuses to acknowledge or even listen to reason and facts during a debate. S... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwjjgf",
"comment_text": [
"Because tolerance is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. You can't use the appeal to tolerance to try and make acceptable morally unjustifiable behaviour. We do not tolerate murderers or thieves. We do tolerate those that just want to be left alone to live their liv... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwjufi",
"comment_text": [
"\"The tolerance stops as soon as you are trying to tell other people how to live their lives, or trying to limit their freedom. \" This is my point. The other day I was on a forum where a person made an off-color remark about a transgender person. The rest of the... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwjwcq",
"comment_text": [
"I agree that would be someting undesirable.\nThing is, what you describe sounds like a normal social mechanism to me, under the circumstances. When a group, any group, feels threatened or attacked by an individual this group tends to pull together and indiscrimin... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwjh2i",
"comment_text": [
"If you want a tolerant society, you have to be opposed to intolerance. So in a sense, yes, they are imposing their values onto others, but their values are much less restrictive than those of the intolerant."
],
"score": 2
} | ||
ELI5:Whatever happened to Kony 2012 | explainlikeimfive | 1se2eq | 0 | true | false | 0.42 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwoxqz",
"comment_text": [
"Kony isn't dead as some other commenters have said. But, he's been so far pushed out that it really matters very little about whether he's caught or not.",
"The problem for Invisible Children's campaign was that the producer, Jason Russell, had a mental brea... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwon84",
"comment_text": [
"really? I'm impressed. That guy successfully ripped off people with a very well made video."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwowyt",
"comment_text": [
"Most of the non profits into advertising are actually making real profits that goes to the people running said non profits first and the cause second."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwmqyu",
"comment_text": [
"it was a marketing hoax"
],
"score": -1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwoco9",
"comment_text": [
"It was a hoax. Kony was already dead. "
],
"score": -1
} | ||
Why can I touch tin foil the moment it's removed from the oven? | explainlikeimfive | 1se6ov | 34 | true | false | 0.82 | It doesn't seem to get hot when shoved in a 200°C oven while covering a tray and food which do get hot. What gives? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwoxlq",
"comment_text": [
"It does get hot from being in the oven, and aluminum (not actually tin) is very efficient at transferring heat. The thing is, it's so thin that there's just not that much total heat there to be transferred to anything else. It cools pretty quickly on contact with... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwwfwd",
"comment_text": [
"The aluminum foil will be just as hot as the oven, but it won't feel hot because of how thin it is (0.016 mm), and its low specific heat (0.9 J/gC) of aluminum. A 4 cm",
" area of aluminum foil (about the area that you might grab with your fingers when pullin... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwo0kx",
"comment_text": [
"Not only does heat reflect off foil like light does with a mirror, aluminum is also excellent at transferring and dispersing heat. "
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdww5vp",
"comment_text": [
"heat capacity, how much heat an object can hold.\nso a cup of boiling water will scald you, but not half a teaspoon.",
"Aluminium foil doesn't have much heat capacity since it doesn't have that much mass to hold heat, whereas the oven dish has quite a bit."
... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdzsvhm",
"comment_text": [
"You're a super hero"
],
"score": 1
} | |
EL15: How many FPS does the human eye see? | explainlikeimfive | 1se8uh | 11 | true | false | 0.63 | I've been wondering how many Frames per Second the human eye sees, because when you play a game say, around 60fps, you can see it great, so does that mean that that's how many we see? If we saw at 40fps would 40fps games look just as good? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwp2ux",
"comment_text": [
"This article goes into great detail about how the human eye interprets movies and the real world.",
"http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm",
"For those that don't want to read, this quote pretty much sums it up.",
"\" Seeing framewi... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwqix3",
"comment_text": [
"As a visual example, use ",
"this tool",
". If you set both moving objects to different FPS but low velocity (fog analogy), the eye cannot see a difference. Up the speed and the difference is very clear."
],
"score": 7
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwouff",
"comment_text": [
"It's not a piece of digital equipment so there's no \"frame rate\" of the human eye. Each light receptor is on its own activate-recharge-activate cycle.",
"You'll usually notice the choppiness in frame rates that dip below 30 or framerates that vary signific... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxt8hg",
"comment_text": [
"Chief Blur Buster here (I am the creator of ",
"www.testufo.com",
" 30fps-vs-60fps \ntest)",
"It's correct that human eyes do not have a frame rate. Even when we lose count of the frames beyond a certain rate (framerates fast enough that we can't cou... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtsrx",
"comment_text": [
"this is totally incorrect"
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: Why does asparagus make my pee so damn awful? | explainlikeimfive | 1sefmp | 23 | true | false | 0.66 | And it only takes about 30 minutes for it to fulfill its evil lifeplan and make my coveted bathroom time into a torturous event. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwszoz",
"comment_text": [
"I tried Googling why Google makes your pee smell, nothing came up. "
],
"score": 14
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx7t57",
"comment_text": [
"I personally love the smell, it's basically the second enjoyment of asparagus. "
],
"score": 10
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwujrm",
"comment_text": [
"It's the sulfur in the asparagus. The funky pee smell doesn't affect everyone, only about 50%."
],
"score": 8
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwt4md",
"comment_text": [
"directions unclear; now looking at gay porn. "
],
"score": 7
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwv6dh",
"comment_text": [
"Glad i'm one of the lucky ones that get to experience it then"
],
"score": 5
} | |
ELI5: Difference between Mandarin and Cantonese? | explainlikeimfive | 1sen3g | 1 | true | false | 0.57 | I am currently studying Chinese(the writing) and Mandarin Chinese(the language) at school, I used to learn Pinyin(the simplified version for English speaking people). My teacher tells me she CAN NOT for the life of her understand Canton, and that its a cultural language, for example, pop singers sing in Canton... Fir m... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwthwz",
"comment_text": [
"Mandarin is pretty much taught in all schools across China. Whether or not you speak it elsewhere is up to you because there are heaps and heaps of dialects present. Mains ones that I am aware of are Cantonese, Hokkien, Shanghainese and Teochew. Cantonese is a di... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtlnt",
"comment_text": [
"They all use the same writing system. But they are very different spoken language; think of it like spanish and English. Mandarin was forced on most of the population by the communists to standardize language. Many Chinese people can still speak a regional dialec... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwx00b",
"comment_text": [
"Thank you very much."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtaqd",
"comment_text": [
"Other piece of info, I am told more business, at least to Americans, is done in Mandarin, that's why its taught in our schools."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxm8ng",
"comment_text": [
"Well, that depends. Hong Kong is a major business market and they only speak cantonese. The only saving grace is that most people there were taught basic british english and most merchants know enough of mandarin to do business with mainland.",
"But HKers are... | |
Eli5: the movie man on the moon, with jim carrey | explainlikeimfive | 1sep0y | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtv86",
"comment_text": [
"It's a biopic about Andy Kaufman, a very eccentric comedian."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtvfk",
"comment_text": [
"What's to explain? It's a biopic about Andy Kaufman."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtww3",
"comment_text": [
"It's the life of comedian Andy Kaufman. What do you want to know?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwtxrl",
"comment_text": [
"But at the end, U see tony Clifton, Who was played by Andy or Bob..",
"Andy Died, and bob was at Tony's last performance ",
"andy faked his death?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwu2hp",
"comment_text": [
"Some people think Andy faked his death, because he's the kinda guy who would totally do that, right? The movie is just messing with the audience there, right in line with what Andy Kaufman would have done."
],
"score": 1
} | ||
ELI5: Why is there such a huge gender gap among Wikipedia editors? | explainlikeimfive | 1setsv | 4 | true | false | 0.61 | I was discussing Wikipedia with some people a few days ago, and somewhere in the discussion, one of us encountered this on Google: Apparently, only around 10% of the editors are women. How can they be so underrepresented, when Wikipedia is open for everyone to edit? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdww494",
"comment_text": [
"I had no idea this was true. ",
"It suggests a problematic bias in Wikipedia."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwzert",
"comment_text": [
"Or a bias in who desires to be an editor.",
"I'd be willing to put money that Reddit is disproportionately male in users."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwxpr1",
"comment_text": [
"The key question is whether those differences are culturally or biologically based. If they are culturally based, then they are malleable and we can have control over them. In that case, we should ask ourselves whether those cultural structures are discouraging s... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwwu0g",
"comment_text": [
"I don't think it's quite that simple. Culture influences people's desires and aptitudes a lot. ",
"A family friend of mine recently sent me ",
"this article",
". ",
"Women do worse on standardized math tests when asked to indicate their sex. When ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdww87g",
"comment_text": [
"Why is there a huge gender gap in <profession/interest/field/...>?",
"Because people of different genders have different interests, goals, capabilities, desires, etc. As long as everyone has equal opportunity to do whatever they want, there's nothing wrong if... | |
Why do we punish hate crimes differently? - My explanation | explainlikeimfive | 1sevks | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdww2i0",
"comment_text": [
"I have never heard of anyone hurting or killing someone because they loved them, hence aren't all crimes against individuals hate crimes(aside from the occasional whacko who kills his/her lover so no one else can have them). IMHO it is to try to correct biased f... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdww3ds",
"comment_text": [
"Yeah, but you have heard of people killing someone to get their cash. "
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwwihw",
"comment_text": [
"Personal interpretation, mine vs. yours. Terrorist threats are a different law aside from hate crimes. The constitution protects freedom of expression, even in the event of a crime, if you stab someone because you don't like them and their group you should be c... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwy1ca",
"comment_text": [
"That is why I am making my distinction. It is not double jeopardy. If I kill you and hide the body. That is murder. If I kill you and hang your body near your neighborhood with a sign saying \"[people of your ethnic persuasion] go home!\" I am not just victimizin... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwzi24",
"comment_text": [
"You skipped over the part where I assaulted a community. And freedoms of expression has reasonable limitations. Such as assault. "
],
"score": 2
} | ||
ELI5: Why do betting companies always win? | explainlikeimfive | 1seyib | 0 | true | false | 0.5 | I heard this expression that you can never beat the company. How? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwwvsj",
"comment_text": [
"On a small scale it is possible to win. However, any betting is basically set so that the odds are in the house's favor, and they will win more than they lose."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwx2k1",
"comment_text": [
"The house only plays games where the house has an advantage, or where the house makes money just by being there. ",
"Take roulette as an example: The pay out if you bet on one number to win is 1 to 36. But, there are 38 numbers (1 to 36, 0, and 00). So, actu... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwylme",
"comment_text": [
"They don't always win but they win in the long run.",
"If I set up a game with you where you roll a die and get $2 for a 6 and I get $1 for everything else you might win a roll or two or even many. But if we keep playing for a very long time, in the end I'll ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx0pkq",
"comment_text": [
"I think all the other answers miss the point: the odds must favor the house, even if only slightly, because the casino has bills to pay: mortgage, payroll, utilities, taxes, etc. Anything the guests are not explicitly charged for, such as rent, food, beverages, ... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdxfd8t",
"comment_text": [
"Because in order to make a profit, they simply design the games based on statistics that cause them to win most of the time. If the odds are 60% in their favor, they can count on that 20% fairly consistently.",
"Take blackjack for example. You will always be ... | |
ELI5: Why do stores and shops that sell cupcakes put an unnecessary amount of frosting on them? | explainlikeimfive | 1sa6zb | 2 | true | false | 0.67 | I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. Why do they do this? | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvhk04",
"comment_text": [
"For some reason most baking/decorating classes teach people to put copious amounts of frosting on cupcakes. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that patrons can remove excess frosting, but cannot add frosting. ",
"Plus, the more frosting there is, th... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvh6yh",
"comment_text": [
"Although I know I don't speak for everyone, I like the frosting. I would be much more inclined to buy a cupcake with heavy frosting than with light."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvhnio",
"comment_text": [
"I'm a bachelor who has never tried making cupcakes. But I think that if I did, I would put a lot frosting on them."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvhnio",
"comment_text": [
"I'm a bachelor who has never tried making cupcakes. But I think that if I did, I would put a lot frosting on them."
],
"score": 2
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvh9pz",
"comment_text": [
"It's more appealing to the eye. Pretty things sell faster than practical things."
],
"score": 2
} | |
ELI5: What does the L on an automatic transmission really do? | explainlikeimfive | 1sf5oq | 1 | true | false | 1 | [deleted] | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwyzum",
"comment_text": [
"It keeps the transmission from shifting up past 1st or 2nd gear. It's not really for getting unstuck; it's usually for towing."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx19xr",
"comment_text": [
"L on an automatic transmissions \"states\" for lowgear option. This is usually a mode which will force your transmission into only \"use\" first and second gear. ",
"You have probably noticed how your car will jump many gears at the time when you've accelera... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwz85x",
"comment_text": [
"So you can use it in a situation where you don't want to go very fast (like going downhill in the snow)."
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdwzuv9",
"comment_text": [
"It keeps the transmission in a lower gear, which can be useful for slowing down or accelerating quicker. I use it on approaching stops, while coasting downhill to keep myself from gaining speed, and occasionally for passing idiots on the road.",
"As far as ge... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdx0syc",
"comment_text": [
"As long as your RPM doesn't spike ridiculously, it's not that stressful. I only use low gear if I'm under 40 mph. Speed to RPM ratio in low gear would likely be different for your car, so you just gotta feel it out for yourself."
],
"score": 1
} | |
ELI5: How long did it take for Americans to lose their European accents when migrating to America? Why did different accents pick up in different regions? | explainlikeimfive | 1saare | 11 | true | false | 0.77 | I often watch Westerns and wonder if people back then still had their European accents. | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvif55",
"comment_text": [
"If you're talking general accent, the British founders of America never lost theirs. It was the Brits back in England who did. Modern American accents in the northeast, particularly Boston and New York, are much closer to how the English spoke at the time America... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvk9kf",
"comment_text": [
"Actually, Americans living in the Appalachians have the closest accent to what the original (British) colonists would have had."
],
"score": 3
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvllt4",
"comment_text": [
"The Americans lost their 18",
" Century British accents at about the same time the British lost thier 18",
" Century British accents...after it stopped being the 18",
" Century.",
"Neither the British nor the Americans talk that way anymore."
],... | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvo0gg",
"comment_text": [
"Why did the Brits back in England lose their accents?"
],
"score": 1
} | {
"comment_id": "t1_cdvo8zz",
"comment_text": [
"The language and pronunciation evolved. The UK for a long time had (and to an extent still does) have a lot of very regional accents. London used to have many subtly different accents that were varying degrees of regional. Scotland is very different from Engla... |
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