query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why does so much of the world hate Isreal? | [
"Its not hate, its a strong dislike of their racist policies. Like giving african immigrants long term birth control without their knowledge. Having a economic blockade on Palestine. Occupying Palestine and kicking people out of there homes to let settlers live there. Stuff like that."
] | [
"It's not our job to police the world, thats why the world hates us."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Albert Einstein's quote: "Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them." | [
"If you ignore or do not know your limits, you cannot address them. If you acknowledge you have limits, you can begin to address them... and eventually push past them. \"Wow, I never knew I could do that!\""
] | [
"I’ll explain it here the same way I did to my daughter when she was 5: Ignorant people are always very sure of themselves. Their world is small, simple, and doesn’t grow. Intelligent people are always looking for more so their world gets bigger all the time. It’s easy to be certain when you think you know everythi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What Hitler's motives were | [
"Hitler's political ideals aren't particularly cut and dried, there has always been debate over them, and probably always will be. However, growing up he was very nationalist, and it is generally accepted that he genuinely believed that the Jews were responsible for Germany's post-WWI problems. He was wildly anti-c... | [
"Hobsbawm wrote Age of Empires that really does a great job of answering this question as well. What I gathered from it when I read it was also the idea of denying resources to other Empires and other reasons that are escaping me at the moment. I'm being very general here as it's been a few years since I've read it... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do most world leaders appear unconcerned with world population increase? It seems like a potentially civilization ending thing in my mind? | [
"It's not. The world can sustain a much much larger population than we currently have. Additionally, the population of the developed world is mostly stable and declining in a few places. We produce far more food and goods than everyone in the world needs. The problem is distribution. There are environmental proble... | [
"They're happening right now. Efforts at this point are to mitigate the scale at which they occur and the possible fallout from their effects. It's too late to *prevent* them. But it is also not as though there is a 'line in the sand' past which we cross and sudden chaos happens. It is an ongoing shift of climate."... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why does music cause chills and mood changes? | [
"The chills we get from music or visual stimulus is actually known as [Frisson](_URL_0_). Unfortunately its quite difficult to research since stimuli varies from person to person, so were not quite sure why it happens."
] | [
"Humans enjoy music for a variety of reasons: 1) Nostalgia -- The human memory associates sounds and events, and as most people know, humans tend to think that events in the past are better than they actually were because we usually focus on the good parts and not the bad parts. This in essence is nostalgia. So whe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science:"
} |
Bitcoin's blockchain | [
"In a nutshell, the blockchain is a publicly-maintained database of every single bitcoin transaction to have ever taken place in the history of bitcoins. Every time a bitcoin is mined or transferred, an entry is added to the blockchain, and that entry is distributed to everyone else. Bitcoin uses encryption techniq... | [
"Production increase of SSD, production decrease of spinning drives, and exponential technology advances in SSD."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In response to a front page TIL, how can money from the Roman Empire (or any other old currency) be translated into "today's money"? | [
"I would use prostitution as a metric, as demand is pretty constant throughout most of history."
] | [
"Do you mean currency as in standardised coins of gold worth its weight, or paper money - ie. you can get gold if you give someone this?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
WTF is japan's deal with pedophilia? | [
"As a matter of fact, japan as a whole does not like the subculture you're talking about. You're talking mostly about \"Otaku\" and as someone said in another thread about this: \"It's the same with America. Otaku are nerds/geeks, and not the ironic kind either. They're considered the neckbeards of Japan, and some ... | [
"i have no clue what's happening, all i'm hearing is a lotta angry people and bad press. Hoping there's 2 sides to every story. Also who's australia in debt to anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about history:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage about history:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why do people get headaches after playing video games or watching TV for too long? | [
"* Dehydration from low fluid intake * Slow blink rate, causing dry eyes * Poor body posture * Hey. Hey. Hey Listen. Hey. Look. Hey. Hey. Hey. Look. Hey. Listen. Listen. Hey."
] | [
"You play too many video games or watch too many movies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why does England still have a monarchy? | [
"The UK and most Commonwealth countries are constitutional monarchies. The role on the monarch is determined by the constitution that governs the country. In terms of the UK, the monarch is the head of state whose primary role is to do two things: 1 - sign or veto laws passed by the government 2 - dismiss and creat... | [
"Why do people in Western countries use forks?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why are a lot of my childhood memories feeling like dreams as I am older looking back? | [
"They're more distant, and you're further from the context they came to exist in. It's harder to really identify with who you were after so much change in who you are. The experience of 10 year old you is very different from the experience of 20 year old you. You aren't remembering you, you're remembering you as y... | [
"So you wouldn't confuse reality with dreams. Since I've been on antidepressants, I've been remembering a lot of my dreams. Sometimes, I recall what happened in dreams as believing it had actually happened. For example, I dream that I had a conversation with a colleague. When I reference that conversation to my co... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
We put a reflective surface on the moon to test distance.. Why?? | [
"The astronauts placed a corner reflector on the moon. This is a device that reflects nearly all the incident light back to the source of the light (the surface of the moon only reflects about 12% of the light, and in all directions). The corner reflector is necessary to get an accurate distance. Note that even wi... | [
"If you had a ship the size of a big city you probably could yes. If it was something the size of our current spacecrafts then no. For the same reason not even all the telescopes in the world put together could ever see something like the lunar rover we left on the moon."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about Physics:"
} |
Hiccups. What causes them, and how can you get rid of them, SUCCESSFULLY! | [
"Taking a very deep breath and holding it has always worked for me. But I know people who will get them and have them all day no matter what. I don't think there's any hard and fast rule that works for everyone. If there is, it'd be great to know."
] | [
"You might be breathing through your mouth leading to it being dry. A humidifier might help by keeping the air more moist while you breathe. Have you spoken to your doctor or dentist about your perpetual dry mouth? If OTC treatments aren't helping, it's time to see one of your medical practitioners."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why are rockets launched from places like Cape Canaveral and not high up in the mountains? | [
"Cape Canaveral has two very large advantages for launching rockets. * 1: It's near the equator, the spin of the earth gives a boost which helps get the rocket to orbital speed * 2: It's near the sea, so any debris or stages that fall back to earth dont hit any populated areas. It is also easy to deliver large rock... | [
"They weren't as far east as possible. Maine is much farther east. Maine is the closest US state to Africa. Florida was chosen because it is south and on the coast. The ESA launches from Guiana in South America near the equator."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why is it that in many states, an accident that occurs while turning left is automatically the fault of the driver turning left? | [
"The person turning left is the only one with enough information to determine whether a left turn is safe. At a 4 way stop, there are potential collisions from the right, the front (oncoming) and the left. The other drivers, if going straight or right, have no way to collide with the left turner unless the left tur... | [
"No, the fault lies with the driver that ran the red light (assuming that caused the accident). Being drunk and behind the wheel does not make you blameworthy in every accident."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can't I pop a bag of popcorn twice? | [
"Kernels contain water, by heating the water it turns into steam and if you do this fast enough it'll make the kernel pop. However if you slow the heating down the steam will still expand but it will do it slower so instead it now just gently escapes and the kernel will never pop. Taking the bag out the microwave s... | [
"Why do I feel as though my bottles of water don't do this but instead just freeze normally in the freezer?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Rehydration clause in boxing | [
"Boxers want to box someone their own weight (or smaller). The weigh-in occurs many hours before the fight. What can happen is, a 165-lb boxer can sweat out 13 lbs to make the weigh-in limit of 152 lbs, then eat and drink themselves back to their normal weight of 165 before the actual fight. If his opponent really ... | [
"There is but it's for males vs females Title IX"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why was the United States not charged with war crimes after nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki? | [
"A few reasons: 1. We won the war. Who was going to charge us with any crime? The UN wasn't a thing at this point. 2. Nuclear weapons had never been used before and their use wasn't explicitly a violation of any war crimes. 3. Related to #2, the US and Britain firebombed the shit out of a score of other cities over... | [
"* By the end of WWII, the bombing of population centers as part of a total war was an accepted practice (see: London, Dresden, Tokyo). As many as 2 million Japanese civilians had already been killed by conventional bombing by the time the atomic bombs were dropped * Around 20,000 of those killed in Hiroshima were ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do TV series' from cable/streaming services like HBO, Netflix or Hulu seem to be so much higher quality than network TV? | [
"Because of advertisers. Since on subscription services most of their revenue comes straight from the consumer they are willing to create more diverse content. So they might not have as many viewers but they're getting more money from less viewers. On network TV the advertisers want to be seen by as many people as ... | [
"The same way any channel makes money by producing shows. They produce something because they want you to subscribe to their channel. They license stuff out based on the show. They make a dvd and blu ray of the season. They sell it to syndication on cable channels. If it's not fantasy stuff like Game of Thrones th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do professional athletes get paid as much as they do? | [
"The teams they play for make many times more than that from ticket sales, advertising, merchandising and so on. Those teams make more money when they have better athletes, enough so that it's a perfectly sensible business practice to pay that much to get the very best ones they can."
] | [
"In the NBA, although a team sport, one player can single handedly take over a game or turn a losing franchise into a winner. For that reason the stars get huge amounts of attention, as well as some of the biggest salaries in all sports."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How come you can "spot increase" muscle (by doing isolation movements) but you can't "spot decrease" fat? | [
"As your question implies, if a muscle is isolated then that is the one that will grow. There is no analogous way to isolate fat for consumption. Fat loss occurs throughout the body at equal rates."
] | [
"Generally the rule is: high rep, low weight= better stamina. low rep, high weight= better strength. Muscles get bigger by being torn (working out) and then rebuilding. If you do 10 push-ups every hour you aren't really working out muscles, causing tears in the muscle, which will then not regrow. 100 push-ups at on... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are AM towers so dangerous? | [
"Yes. AM radio stations broadcast on such long wavelengths that they normally use \"hot tower\" set ups where the tower is insulated from the ground and then the whole tower is fed from the feedline. Broadcast AM power levels range anywhere from 1 kilowatt to 50 kilowatts and higher."
] | [
"What's so bad about having something made in Israel?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What would happen to the World if all the water (read: salt, fresh, bottled, etc) on Earth disappeared for one day and came back the next? | [
"To begin with, all marine life and plants would die. If you count intracellular water, all life would end, with the possible exception of some spores."
] | [
"We have a finite amount of water on Earth, it's just in various places. Some is in the ocean, some is in freshwater lakes and rivers on land, some is in the sky in the form of clouds, some is frozen in glaciers in ice caps at the poles. The maximum amount the ocean could rise would be if all water on Earth was con... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Climate science:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Climate science:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What does the overdrive function on a car actually do? | [
"Generally it just allows 4th gear to be selected in an automatic transmission. An \"overdrive gear\" is one which spin slower than 1:1 with the engine. in practice, this was only ever highlighted with cars from around the 90s which had 4speed autos. This top gear is great for cruising at high speeds, however its n... | [
"Are you asking how a wheel works ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Was Jacob Tremblay even that good in the room? | [
"Have you seen it for yourself? Cant you decide for yourself?"
] | [
"On the other hand, Christopher Plummer was pretty convincing as the Duke."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about movie accuracy:"
} |
How to dance with a girl at a club | [
"You probably want to ask over at /r/explainlikeimwhite ;]"
] | [
"Hung up? Its just a part of American culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What makes a burning clutch smell the way it does? | [
"Road vehicle friction materials (clutch and brake linings) are typically made from a plastic material with various friction producing additives (steel fibers, kevlar, ceramic beads, sand grains, etc.) The most common plastic used is something called \"phenolic\". This tends to have quite a strong smell when burne... | [
"It just masks the smell with something even stronger."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why is everything controversial topic a SomethinGate? | [
"Watergate was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s, following a break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. in 1972 and President Richard Nixon's administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. Whe... | [
"Bitch grade or non bitch grade, Poseidon decides."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If Union is there to support and protect employees from unfair treatments, why there are many people against it? | [
"1. Unions can be corrupt, basically stealing from the employees who pay dues and getting kickbacks from the companies. 1. If the union says they're striking, *you* have to strike (and lose your pay) even if you are not unhappy, or you *really* have bills to pay, or whatever."
] | [
"I used Walmart as a business case study once on how they handle their labour. Its not that they pay minimum wage only. They don't offer a solid work schedule for most of their employees, its constantly changing and therefore causes distress of managing time. Also no form of job security, they can be let off anytim... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How come most all lights in any building are aimed from the ceiling down to the floor? | [
"Those are more likely to be in your line of sight, and thus interfere with your vision, and less likely to illuminate whatever you are interacting with. You don't spend as much time looking at the ceiling, normally, and you don't usually have stuff to work with on the ceiling. Lights on the floor aren't going to ... | [
"Two major things: 1. Some lights **are** much brighter than others. Modern LED/Xenon/Halogen lights are significantly brighter than older incandescent designs. 2. Headlights are adjustable and lots of cars just don't have their headlights aligned properly so, instead of pointing at the road in front of the vehicle... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
What is the sound I hear when I yawn? | [
"It's your [Tensor Tympani muscle](_URL_0_) in your inner ear. This muscle's purpose is to dampen noises as you chew so they don't hurt your eardrum, but when you yawn it can become tense as well. Also some people like me can control it voluntarily and make head thunder even without yawning."
] | [
"And why do I have the urge to cough when using them?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why do some people float on water easily when others a similar size can't? | [
"We're mostly water, so it doesn't take much either way to make us dense enough to sink, or a little more buoyant to float. I found out when I was little that I was almost neutral, and could float if I filled up my lungs, but would sink if I emptied them, scaring the lifeguards at the pool, so it's a pretty close b... | [
"For the record, surfboards are very buoyant. When I stand on it without riding a wave, I just can't stay on very long because it's less stable (since it's not moving), but I don't sink. Personal experience, may not be science."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What happens in the brain when you blackout from drinking alcohol? | [
"Your brain is filled with special cells called neurons. At the end of the neurons, the neurons shoot out special chemicals called neurotransmitters to talk to the next neuron. Alcohol is a type of drug called a depressant. It lowers the number of neurotransmitters thereby making your brain work slower. The part o... | [
"This is pretty much a myth. The total amount of alcohol that you drink has a far greater impact on making you sick than how many different types of alcohol you mix together."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
- Why was Edward Snowden made out to be a traitor/enemy? Didn't he do us a favor? | [
"He was and still is made out to be that way because he basically stole what was considered government property, with \"sensitive information\" included, and leaked it all to the media and such. The people of America didn't really make him out to be an enemy or a traitor - in fact, many of them, including a large ... | [
"There are very few secrets that last very long. Politicians are the kind of people who are willing to take really hard jobs that don't pay very well, in exchange for praise/attention/fame. They're attention whores. If a congressman knew about a conspiracy as big as a 9/11 cover-up, *he wouldn't wait to his deathbe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does America sell 2 Litre bottles of soda when everything else is in gallons? | [
"The metric system creeps up on you slowly, inch by 2.54 cm..."
] | [
"The rest of the world calls that 1/3 of a litre. Or almost. Probably a bit off so it's exactly 12fl oz. In any case: normal soda cans have 330ml (or 0.33 litres) in them. There are also a lot of 0.5l beer cans. Everything above that is usually in plastic bottles."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Please ELI5: What the bible has to say about people who belong to LGBT groups. | [
"A note on Lilith - she's not in the Bible itself but Talmudic texts and a lot of stuff about her was developed much later (like the Middle Ages). Sort of like how many people's mental picture of Hell comes from *Paradise Lost* and *The Divine Comedy* rather than the Bible."
] | [
"Pretty much *every* major religion feels the same way about LGBT issues. Even otherwise very accepting religions tend to have issues with LGBT people."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why, and how, are states able to block Tesla from selling their cars within a particular state? Don't other auto manufacturers make and sell electric cars in their states? | [
"The law that is in place says that they have to sell through dealers (this was to prevent Ford from going into a state and muscling in on a local ford dealer). So they don't want them being sold from the car manufacturer directly to consumers. However, since the spirit of the law is to protect dealers from their ... | [
"> The Tesla factory-owned store model destroys price competition Dealers do compete with each other to sell the same car (say a Ford Focus), Tesla's factory stores all sell at the same price. In theory, that means it can be possible to get a better price for a given car from the dealer model, but in practice it's ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why do we sometimes taste blood when we see we're bleeding? | [
"Do we? I've never experienced that. Maybe it's some kind of mind-trick thing."
] | [
"If you're bleeding enough to physically make you vomit, you should probably see a doctor. If it's just a little blood from biting your cheek, it's probably just in your head - thinking about how gross it is makes you n feel sick."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why do moths like light so much?? | [
"they don't. The leading theory is that moths use moonlight to navigate. The moon, being so far away, maintains a relatively fixed position in the sky from the standpoint of a moth. It maintains the moon in its field of vision, and its position doesn't change as the moth travels. A bright light, being perceived as ... | [
"Here are a few ways to tell the two apart: 1. When butterflies land on something, their wings will be up vertically; moth wings will be flat horizontally 2. Butterflies are usually active during the day, while moths are more active at night There are some exceptions to this rule, but for the most part it works"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
why do religions have similar stories and morals? | [
"As previously mentioned, the Abrahamic faiths all have a common origin. As for why the rest do, its because the most common sense ones (murder, theft, lying, etc) are all necessary for a society to function properly and that is one of the main purposes of religion: to control the masses."
] | [
"Mythology is part of religion. Zeus himself is not considered a myth, but a God. He still referred as a Greek God. However, the rituals (like animal sacrifice and festivals) are not considered part of the mythology, but part of the ancient Greek religion. Mythology is pretty much just the story parts. For example:... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why is gold valuable? Also, why was gold important to ancient civilizations? | [
"It's shiny, doesn't oxidize, yellow is rather unique as metallic color. It's also relatively soft and malleable with a low melting point (for a metal) that makes it a pretty nice material to work with and create art/religious symbols and being not that common makes it special, too."
] | [
"Gold is not the basis of the global economy and has not been for decades."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
how can imported goods compete with domestic goods prices, when they also have to pay tariffs and long distance shipping? Why is a case of Heineken the same price as a case of Budweiser? | [
"Heineken has bottling facilities all over the world, so chances are your Heineken is way more local than you think. True imported beers will typically have a price markup."
] | [
"The quality of the glass is different, but more importantly the size of the prodction line, the ease with which you transport a case of beer compared to fragile goods like wine glasses, and you are missing intellectual property rights. Typically, all beer bottles look basically the same and no \"real\" cost has to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What OCD is really like | [
"You have disturbing thoughts that you cannot control, e.g. people you care about dying. These are the obessions part of OCD. Certain actions, like tapping a door four time, reduces/stops your obsessions for a short period of time so you tend to repeat these actions to stave off your disturbing thoughts. With OCD,... | [
"Your brain has no idea what death feels like."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Psychology:"
} |
Why Facebook would oppose SOPA and support CISPA. | [
"Because CISPA isn't as well known to the public..."
] | [
"Sorry I can't explain it well, but this [six minute video](_URL_0_) really helped me understand it better. Yes, ACTA really is a lot more threatening than SOPA. In order to stop it, I'd imagine we would need to contact our representatives and let them know how strongly opposed we are to this legislation similar to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do the epiphany-like developmental leaps of childhood cease as we age? | [
"It's really easy to have a massive leap when you're starting with nothing. Babies start off hardly being able to crawl, but learn to walk within a couple of years. That's what, a 300% increase in mobility? But for that to happen to an adult that would be like going from a nobody to a world class sprinter in a coup... | [
"Babies don't dream (at least the way we dream) as far as I know. When they enter REM sleep their brains are continuing to develop pathways and language perception abilities. Their brains are growing instead of dreaming. Dreams as we know them don't start to occur until around 5-6 years old."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How much Oil(Gas) do we burn moving Oil(Gas) around the world? | [
"Here are some rough numbers calculated from [Wikipedia](_URL_0_). Cargo ship: 0.1-0.3% per 1000 km (in other words, to transport an amount of fuel over a distance of 1000 km, you have to burn 0.1% of that amount of fuel). Freight train: 0.4%-0.9% per 1000 km Truck: 3% per 1000 km Air: 8-9% per 1000 km EDIT: Line ... | [
"1) Electricity (sometimes derived from solar panels) 2) Natural gas (Methane is the big one) 3) Propane 4) Diesel (not very common) 5) The tears of environmentalists"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How can we feel something when we never actually touch it (on an atomic level)? | [
"Lift your arm up. Do you feel a pressure trying to pull it downward? That is gravity, and even though nothing is directly touching you, the *force* of gravity is affecting you. The same thing goes for touch. Even though we do not really \"touch\" anything, we do feel the forces of the world interacting with us. We... | [
"Nobody knows for sure, but one thought is that they know it's an illusion since they can't hear or smell the other animal (but they're not advanced enough to know that it's an illusion based on *them*)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do humans eyes have a large visible white but most animal eyes are mostly iris and pupil? | [
"It is easy to identify where a human is looking because of the whites of the eyes. The human might be looking at a threat, for instance. This is advantageous to other humans in the group. When a dog is is looking at something, it is more difficult to tell where they are looking because the whites of their eyes ra... | [
"Eye color is caused by melanin (the same thing that gives people darker skin) congregated in the eye. There is no blue pigment or green pigment. If there is a lot spread everywhere, you will appear to have dark brown eyes. If the density is less, you will have other colors. In your eyes, the density may be differe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do we sing in key when our voices sound different in our heads? | [
"Your head isn't thick enough to have an effect on the frequency that you hear. When you listen to a recording of your own voice, what's missing is the deeper harmonics that result from the sound travelling through you skull to the bones in your ear, but it doesn't really affect the accuracy with which you can judg... | [
"Because you can hear what you're singing when you're listening to the radio, but you have nothing to go off of when you're singing on your own. This is one of the reasons singers in the studio will have headphones on and be listening to the instrumentals while recording vocals."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do we know that dolphins are self-aware? | [
"This might be a philosophical question but doesn't self-awareness infer that the animal in question is conscious? In other words, would \"i think therefore i am\" apply to these self aware animal? If so, would these animals have souls from a religious standpoint?"
] | [
"Since humans existed. Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive the surroundings, and *most* animals can do these things. Dogs are sentient, for example."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How is it that some people are born with natural talents for things and others must learn them? | [
"musician here, I don't believe in natural talent, at least in music. Every musician I know has worked their ass off, sat in their room and practiced for hours, literally thousands of hours. Some people are lucky to be introduced to something at a very young age and put their time in early, some people pick things ... | [
"with the right amount of training, anyone can learn to sing. some people take to it easier than others, but everyone has the potential."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is the benefit of a company splitting into two publicly traded companies? | [
"There are a lot of opinions about this. For a while it was the fashion for companies to buy other companies to become conglomerates. \"Bigger is better.\" For a while it was common for raiders to buy companies, split them, and sell the parts for more than they paid for the company. Anything which could not be sold... | [
"Without comment on the others, Progressive is not an Allstate company, but rather is publicly traded in its own right."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why I'm able to over-eat for months at a time, then seemingly able to eat nothing following those months. Are calorie deficits/debts a real thing? | [
"Technically, you can go without food for a long time. A very long time. Depending on fat stores. Is this healthy? Not really. I remember reading about a severely obese man eating nothing for 1 year while staying/monitored at a hospital in some very controversial treatment. So yes in a way calorie deficits and debt... | [
"Biologically, probably not, but psychologically, definitely. Rationing the food is much easier to control and won't play havoc with your satiety sensation. That is, bingeing will almost certainly make you feel hungrier on the days you don't eat, which makes it hard not to continue eating."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How do the Japanese not smudge their letters when writing from top to bottom and right to left? | [
"Keep in mind that it's top to bottom first. One column is analogous to one line in western text. So by the time you get to a new column the ink at the top has dried. On top of that, traditional style top to bottom writing is usually reserved for formal situations (and manga for some reason, but that's mostly print... | [
"I heard that it comes from a time where letters were mostly chiseled in stone. As a right handed person, it's quicker, easier and more natural to chisel from right to left."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why does the brain tend to constantly play music on its own ? | [
"From the experience of a musician, it's always there. It never leaves. But then again, we want it there. There's no \"Maybe if I complete the song instead of turning it off in between, it will stop.\" I guess we have to always make sure it's something we like. It can be bad though, like when you are talking to peo... | [
"Repetition is annoying to some people, and the brain's goto response is to shut down. When you start doing other things, you feel better."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about Sleep and boredom:"
} |
What are the different kinds of lightbulbs? | [
"There are [incandescent lightbulbs](_URL_0_). These have a bulb-shape and get hot. They work by putting electricity through a thin wire made of tungsten, which gets really *really* hot: hot enough that it shines brightly. The other main type is [fluorescent](_URL_1_). These usually have a more spiral shape, altho... | [
"It has a few different meanings in different contexts. What setting are we talking about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about finance:"
} |
Why do we perceive those who don't speak the same language as us to be less intelligent? | [
"I don't think that's a given. Perhaps the inability to communicate makes it harder to sympathize with what they're saying. But I know personally I don't perceive foreign language speakers to be less intelligent."
] | [
"They don't yet know which things are going to lead them to be ridiculed. They haven't learned society's expectations of them. In addition, they haven't learned to read others' reactions very well -- for example they can't easily tell from your face if you think something they said is dumb."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come "mother" and "father" are always some variation of the M and P sound, regardless of language? | [
"That's a pattern that fits for a lot of languages, but not all languages. For example, if you scroll through this list (_URL_1_) you'll find a lot that do fit and a lot that don't. Also, all European/Indian languages come from a common source, called the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE), so it makes sense that E... | [
"Names aren't universal with people at all. Different languages pronounce names differently, or have different \"versions\" of common names."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why is it that the lottery has reached a records high this year and the year before that ect. It it purely by chance or are there other factors involved? | [
"The organizers of the lottery have changed the [odds of winning a few times](_URL_0_) (most recently rising from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292 million) and since the top prize grows when there's no winner the odds increases mean the pot can get much larger than in the past."
] | [
"The state is typically the body that sets up and runs the lottery. The ones you mention do cross state lines, but ultimately the state still had to allow the lottery to come there in the first place. The state reaps millions of dollars from the ticket sales, therefore they are also responsible for the payout. It's... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Republican and Democrat ideas | [
"Not to sound like a troll, but you're not going to get good answers on here. Not only because people are biased and will answer that way, but because it's actually a pretty hard thing to nail down with any certainty. For example, if you go to each party's website and look at their official platforms, you'll notice... | [
"Two reasons: There are a lot of people in the Republican party's base who agree with the Freedom caucus. Then the Republicans would no longer be the majority."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why is the earth so hot on the inside? | [
"There are three main sources of heat in the deep earth: (1) heat from when the planet formed and accreted, which has not yet been lost; (2) frictional heating, caused by denser core material sinking to the center of the planet; and (3) heat from the decay of radioactive elements."
] | [
"What color is the skin of most of the people who make and utilize those drawings? Theres your answer"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do islands like these form? | [
"Those are called barrier islands, and they are caused by receding tides dropping sediment on the oceanbed a few hundred feet to a few miles offshore. As the tide recedes into open water, the movement becomes slower, and the slower water is no longer able to keep moving the sediment. Over very long times, you get u... | [
"You forget that you can also find water naturally occurring."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why are there so many checkout lines in grocery stores but never enough employees to fill them? | [
"A few reasons. Redundancy: if a lane goes down, you can just shut it down and move to the next one in line while tech support fixes it, rather than holding up customers. Peak use: A couple times a year, all of those lanes will be needed, mostly for big holidays. (Thanksgiving and a few others for grocery stores, C... | [
"This is basically the same as \"Why do supermarkets only have a fraction of their checkout lanes open?\" And the answer is that the drive thru windows are often all open during peak hours, especially in the morning for all the people going to work. During non peak hours there's no need to pay people to staff both ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why are some people picky eaters? | [
"As a behaviorist and a picky eater (ketchup is the worst), I can help with the exposure therapy bit. Forced eating will likely make the problem worse, as the food is now associated with an even worse outcome (involuntary consumption of an aversive food). Exposure therapy, which requires consent, will likely make t... | [
"Also, why are some people not ticklish at all?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Instead of raising the minimum wage, why not try and reduce the cost of living? | [
"Because the wage is a lot easier to manipulate. How would they control cost of living? Force companies to charge less? That would break many businesses in half and encourage others to stop doing business in the US (where I assume we are discussing this)."
] | [
"1) Low skill and entry level jobs will disappear. 2) Any job below $15 will be outsourced and automated. 3) US will become less competitive abroad. Imports will increase, exports will decrease. 4) Employers will look for more certifications to prove the worker can generate $15 in value. 5) More people will go in... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How Getty Images owns the rights to so many pictures. | [
"For myself they just sent me an email that basically 'we want to sell these, if we do we will send you wads of cash. Please sign this contract if you agree'"
] | [
"One of these is not like the others."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why can we easily pour a lot of booze into ourselves during a party but two cups of tea/water/etc. in a row makes us feel full? | [
"I think this is a little subjective? I mean, I can easily drink 2 liters of soda (the fizzy kind) in a sitting and I don't necessarily feel full. It depends on what you ate/drank before, I guess. Also, drinking beer never makes you feel bloated? It's pretty frequent for me. This would depend on how much it takes t... | [
"Coffee dehydrates you a bit because it makes you pee more, so it's recommended to drink water to counter that after having that coffee, or whatever that keeps you more hydrated. Oldie arabian way of drinking coffee supposedly involved a bit of salt to keep the fluids in longer. If you're not hydrated enough you'll... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How DSLR cameras can record videos | [
"the reflex mirror is lifted and the light from the lens is allowed to hit the sensor continuously. in video mode, a DSLR is no different than a camcorder."
] | [
"The quality of a still shot is significantly higher than a single frame of 4k video. It isn't correct to just view all images as equivalent."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What Negative Effects Does Ecstacy Have on Your Brain/Life? | [
"As with most soft drugs, we are not completely sure. There are some studies linking ecstasy with long term dependence and altered brain chemistry, but as with all studies like this, it suffers a fatal flaw...the subjects are *drug users*. Drug users are willing to break the law to get high. That puts them in a cat... | [
"Being Black Does Actually Have (Relatively Minor) Health Consequences, It's Just That They're Obviated By Modern Life. There's An Energy Cost To Have Extra Melanin, Even A Small One, So If You Don't Need It It Won't Be Selected For. Melanin Reduces Vitamin-D Uptake From The Sun If Sunlight Is Lower Than You're Ada... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why are companies like Google and Microsoft always under Anti-Competition scrutiny, but Apple is not? | [
"Apple is constantly under anti-competition scrutiny. They just won a $1B suit over their iTunes software in December. They just lost a case in Taiwan in June over their pricing schemes for hardware. In the US, they're currently under investigation for anti-competition violations with their Apple Music service, ra... | [
"Hey, look at this cool company that's bypassing all of these arcane, useless regulations and red tape! Cheap and accessible service is awesome! Why worry? A few months later: oh, whoops, it turns out those useless laws actually served a purpose, like protecting consumers from fraud and danger. Uber makes a habit o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How do anchors work? | [
"The anchor works both via its weight and its hooks. The hooks only hold in the direction of the seabed. That means, if the boat is directly above the anchor (\"up and down\"), you can usually just pull it out. If that doesn't work, the ship might have to do some manoeuvering or in the worst case cut the line, atta... | [
"That's exactly how car insurance works. Can you clarify your question?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What ever happened to all those cash for gold companies? | [
"_URL_0_ The value of gold was climbing until 2012, when the market suddenly trended downwards, and it's predicted to get worse. Since gold isn't as valuable anymore, there's less incentive to run a business that collects it."
] | [
"because there are business owners and stockholders out there looking for different ways to do things The tv ads during Sunday morning news shows are even more obscure - defense contractors, food processing companies, etc."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What stops cells from producing too many cells | [
"Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that cancer? Or tumors?"
] | [
"It effectively shoots little balls of energy at your cells that destroy or mostly destroy the DNA inside of it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do cases like the Jodi Arias trial and the Casey Anthony trial blow and get so much media attention? | [
"Who the victim is makes a big difference too. If someone kills a homeless person, nobody cares. People take it harder when the victim's family are people we think deserve more sympathy. Edit: and lets never forget social issues. If a murder can also be used as proof for claims someone was already making, it will g... | [
"He was a huge celebrity. He was also black, and accused of murdering two white people, which raised a lot of racial issues into the forefront of the national discussion. A LOT of the activity (the Bronco chase, and the trial itself) played live on TV, allowing the public at large to follow along."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
lock- on missiles and/or heat-seeking missiles...what does the computer program do to lock onto a figure or heat? | [
"Batman movies are not an accurate representation of reality. Heat-seeking missiles, in their simplest form, contain a \"seeker head\" that scans the sky in front of them until it sees something really, really hot. It then points the missile at it it. When it's close enough either the seeker or a simple radar proxi... | [
"Missiles have four common methods of tracking Active: Missile has an onboard radar and uses it to track the target after launch (more advanced aircraft missiles and surface to air missiles have these) Semi active: Missile has an onboard radar and is receiving information from the ground radar as it's signal is bou... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What happens in a car when you press the button to put it in 'Sport' mode? | [
"This varies by vehicle and manufacturer, but generally it changes the shift points in an automatic transmission. It may also make the ABS and traction control less aggressive and (if applicable) stiffen the suspension. You'll have to look up your car specifically to see what your sport mode does."
] | [
"Your steering wheel is locked. You must move it to release the pressure on the lock in order start the car."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why are Fingerprints valid? | [
"> is it NOT POSSIBLE to have matching fingerprints? Of course it is possible, just fairly improbable. It is reasonably likely that you share fingerprints that are close enough to be difficult if not impossible to distinguish with a couple living people today. But the way they are used in legal trials or identifica... | [
"MR is Memory Recall MC is Memory Clear M+ is Memory add M- is Memory subtract Think of them like the Copy and Paste for the Calculator."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do we accidentally bite the insides of our mouths? | [
"Because it's like the walls of a shredder being loose hanging meat. Eventually you're gonna have some collateral damage."
] | [
"The coldness causes your blood vessels going to the brain to constrict, resulting in the brain getting less blood and oxygen. Protip: press your tongue against the soft part of the top of your mouth to make it go away quicker."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How do planes charge electronic devices? | [
"Planes use a generator driven by the engines to produce electrical power. The load of passengers charging electronic devices is very small compared to the plane's normal demand for electricity, so adding chargers doesn't significantly change anything."
] | [
"Because they are built to do so, They are very compact and rugged and resistant to extreme heat. If they couldn't survive most crashes, there would be no reason to bother putting them on the planes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
why do you wake up sometimes and feel like you're paralyzed and can't move, even though you're aware you're awake? | [
"It's basically because your head is awake, yet your body is still asleep. [Sleep paralysis](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"their brains just become less active. it's like when you're super tired but not allowed to fall asleep and you stare off into the distance and ten minutes later you haven't moved or blinked."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Psychology:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Psychology:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What is it about the filming procedure for soap operas that makes them appear so different visually? | [
"They're filmed and shown at a higher framerate which makes the motion look more smooth. Ironically, even though it's closer to how you perceive motion in real life (not on a screen), it somehow looks \"less real\" because you're so used to watching other TV at a lower framerate."
] | [
"They have rather large production crews that work behind the scenes to do exactly that. It's not like the announcers are doing it. That combined with modern computer technology let them do it in a way that seems rather seamless to the viewer."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What is Karma on Reddit? | [
"A measure of how well you jive with the hive."
] | [
"Check out Robert E. May's *Manifest Destiny's Underworld*."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What's the difference between whole wheat, whole grain, multigrain, and ancient grains? | [
"Whole wheat is a controlled term that can only be used when the bread is made with 100% whole wheat flour (you'll frequently see that term as well). The [rest essentially](_URL_0_) are puffery (meaningless terms) signifying different things from different producers."
] | [
"The white part of a grain spoils much more slowly than the brown outer part of grain. This makes storage of whole grains or whole grain flours much more expensive than storage of refined grains or white flours."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How was The Rule of 70 discovered/derived? | [
"The natural log of 2 is 0.693. It's a lot easier to remember 70. Lots of folks use 72 (because it has more factors), which is often close enough. The real formula is T = ln(2)/ln(1+r). The ln(2) is for \"doubling\", you could use ln(3) for tripling. If you work in percent you use 9% = 0.09, so rather than do that ... | [
"What's 5 + 5? Okay now what's 5.105 + 5.079? Which took longer?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
The Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon | [
"Memory has three levels to it. Encoding, where you create the memory and then store it. Storage, where the memory stays until you need to recall it, and Retrieval, where you pull the memory out of storage and use it for some action. The TOT happens because there is a breakdown in your ability to pull the memory o... | [
"Side 1 - For Vaccines: -Science Side 2 - Against Vaccines: -Paranoid idiocy"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What's the difference between heat lightning and storm lightning? | [
"They are exactly the same phenomenon. In the middle of a big storm there is reduced visibility, so you can't generally see lightning unless you're close enough to also hear the thunder. In some situations, though, like when there is a distant storm but clear air between you and it, you can see lightning much farth... | [
"It's not air pollution. It has to do with the way light refracts on particles in our atmosphere."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why Don't Word Processors like MS Word have Extensive Autocorrect like Smartphone Keyboards Do? | [
"Extensive autocorrect on smartphones exists because typing on them is hard for most people. When you have a full keyboard, and in a word processor for desktop you are expected to, it's more annoying than helpful for the program to make guesses about what you *meant*."
] | [
"Being Black Does Actually Have (Relatively Minor) Health Consequences, It's Just That They're Obviated By Modern Life. There's An Energy Cost To Have Extra Melanin, Even A Small One, So If You Don't Need It It Won't Be Selected For. Melanin Reduces Vitamin-D Uptake From The Sun If Sunlight Is Lower Than You're Ada... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do men and women orgasm so differently? | [
"Because each sex has a different goal during the act of reproduction. A man's role is to achieve climax and deposit the sperm before other males can potentially interfere, while the female's is to achieve a convulsion of the vaginal walls to facilitate the sperm's movement towards the potential egg and future offs... | [
"Because if sex is not pleasant for them, the men are much less likely to ejaculate into their vaginas."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How/Why do traffic jams occur on roads without traffic lights or other obstructions? It seems like traffic should continue as normal because there is nothing to stop it in the road, but nope, it doesn't. | [
"Because crap like [this](_URL_0_) happens. Small things you do build up or the lag between stupid/indecisive/terrible drivers builds up."
] | [
"It actually lets traffic flow better. Instead of speeding up and slowing down, which can create more choke points, you slow down to the point where you are just rolling. Eventually, it breaks up the choke points and helps traffic flow smoother. Speeding up, and slamming on your breaks is what causes everyone behin... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
why does chewing sound so loud while wearing head phones? | [
"Your headphones block the environment sounds. However, your mouth is connected to your ear channels internally, so the chewing sound is not impacted. It then sounds louder compared to other sounds."
] | [
"Its the pillow itself. put your ear as close to the pillow as you can without touching it, then touch it with your finger, you'll hear similar sounds."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Health and Physiology:"
} |
Why don't we have an international currency? | [
"There is an international currency: The Euro. I assume you mean a world currency. First, it'll never happen because nations aren't going to give up their economic sovereignty. Second, one of the great benefits of singular currencies is that if some nation tanks its economy, it doesn't cause a ripple effect that cr... | [
"In the real world why would anyone want to be a politician?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What is heat and why does it hurt ? | [
"In Physics, Heat is a transfer of energy from one substance to another, due to a differential in temperature. Colloquially, we also commonly use it to refer to a higher temperature, which is the measure of an object's kinetic and potential energy. It hurts you because, above a certain temperature (about 44 Celsiu... | [
"If you do it a lot, it could affect your lung capacity. Probably best to give it up."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why don't the laws against opening others' mail apply to digital content? | [
"The laws were put in place before things such as text messaging and e mail were even invented, they are outdated and have loopholes to exploit"
] | [
"They don't get recycled--there would be no point and it's not worth the risk since it could be a security issue if someone used their real information to register for a throwaway."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What exactly does a Soundbar do that a home theater cant? why the sudden boom? | [
"Be set up super easily and for cheaper. A true sound system is going to sound better but sound bars are simple attractive and require very little set up"
] | [
"There is not reason. Turns out that when everyone owns a TV, there is very little reason to buy another TV. So manufactures make better tv's and then try to convince you to replace your current \"outdated\" tv with a new one. First we had HD tv's (720p), then flat screens, full HD, (1080p), then smart tv's, 3D tv'... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
The difference between Kung Fu and Tai Chi | [
"Simply put: Kung Fu is the kind that break things and fight people with, Tai Chi is like yoga where you meditate."
] | [
"Some martial arts are very flashy and more for sports such as Jeet Kun Do, Karate, Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do (yes I know the last couple weren't chinese but you get my drift). However, there are some martial arts such as Wing Chun (or Wing Tsun depending on who you talk to) is one of the most brutal martial arts ever m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
If we lose approximately 100 hairs a day, why are we not all slowly going bald? | [
"I am slowly going bald. What are you talking about?"
] | [
"They've got much more hair than you and I. If you brush or comb your hair, you'll lose some hair, but not enough for it to be noticeable, even if you brush your hair every day. A car or a dog just has a lot more hair than a human, and while the amount of hair they lose while brushing or petting them might seem lik... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What's the deal with Somalia? Does it have a government or not? | [
"Somalia has an official national government, but that government seems to have limited control over the country. There are various militant groups active in the country, and a big chunk of Somalia is part of a de facto country called Somaliland. What is now Somalia was originally divided between a British colony a... | [
"It's not our job to police the world, thats why the world hates us."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do heavily massed vehicles run on diesel and faster tighter sports cars run on gas? | [
"I'm no expert so I can't explain you the combustion process differences. However I can tell you that there are indeed diesel sports car, like Audi's racing cars at Le Mans for example.[ Audi R18](_URL_0_)s are extremely powerful, and successful, being powered by turbo-diesel engines."
] | [
"Couple reasons, props have a lower efficiency compared to jets at higher speeds, and jets are more cost effective on aircraft that move faster (which large planes, like commercial airlines do). Its like a V8 engine, if you're only going to go 40 mph at most, you can use a smaller, simpler, cheaper, and less powerf... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
If toxic and edible mushrooms are so easy to confuse, then why are poisonings from market-bought mushrooms so rare? | [
"1. They're not so easy for *experts* to confuse. 2. Most of the ones at markets are farmed, not found in the wild. 3. Most of the popular market species aren't the ones that look very similar to poisonous species."
] | [
"Some level of smell/taste (bitter for humans, for example, tends to be toxic) is in play, and probably some instinct, however many, say, dogs do occasionally eat very toxic organisms that either kill them or seriously make them ill. How much that happens in the wild is difficult to measure, but there are plenty of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do some websites restrict the use of symbols (like %) in passwords? | [
"Usually over-cautious programmers. Behind the scenes it doesn't matter whether you use 'D' or '#', both are pretty much the same for a computer. What *can* but *shouldn't* be tricky are \"special\" characters. 'D' and '#' are both parts of the ASCII character set, which is pretty much universal. However, character... | [
"& ;amp is the escaped version of \" & \". You'll see this mainly in URLs, or on a site where the developer made an error in dealing with escaped characters. Why might you want to escape a character? The simplest answer I can give is that you want a user to submit a form containing code that might effect your site.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
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