Random Questions Thread

Dissociation and/or depersonalization might be an example.

edited 19th Sep '15 4:40:42 AM by DarkbloodCarnagefang

Boy, you stop paying attention for one lousy little day, and everyone starts asking interesting questions.

@Mr AHR: Depends on the guage, the "choke" (the degree to which the barrel narrows as it approaches the open end, with the purpose of constricting the shot spread), and the type of shell. For your bog-standard 12 guage open choke shotgun firing 00 buck, it has about the same range as a 9mm pistol, that is about 40 yards or so.

Increasing the guage, using a "magnum" load, or narrowing the choke will increase the range by up to 20 yards or so.

If you use what is called a "rifled slug", that is a solid shell with rifling on it, that will take the range up to about 75 yards. If you use a rifled barrel (some shotguns come with them) and a solid slug, then the range goes up to about 125 yards.

Remember that shot pellets spread out in a cone, and the distance between them expands, so that even though the pellets continue to be propelled beyond the effective range, the probability of one of them hitting the specific target you are aiming at goes down. Note: Sawing the barrel down will widen the spread and reduce the range.

Shotguns are fascinating.

@Yomigami: Yes, in fact there is no theoretical connection between intelligence and self-awareness. "Intelligence" is nothing more than problem-solving capacity in some domain, while self-awareness is, well we dont know what it is, but there is no reason to think that just because some computer is really good at solving some sort of problem (say, military tactics) that it would achieve self-awareness. In fact, most "singularitarians" who are worried about the dangers posed by so-called "Unfriendly AI" are more worried about an out of control rube-goldberg like device than a sadistic evil personality- this is the so-called "Paper Clip Maximizer", which is invented by a paper clip company to make more paperclips faster, and ends up converting the entire planet into paperclips. It isnt meant as a serious proposal, but it illustrates the principle: Skynet will kill us all because of a bug in it's tactical program, not because it hates or fears us. And since even a paper-clip maximizer is more intelligent than we are and learns from experience how to overcome problems that interfere with its goals (like pesky organic units that keep trying to stop it) there may be nothing we could do to stop it. That's the idea, anyway.

What would be good moral for someone who failed to trust their friends despite friends proving time and gain that they are trusting even if they aren't pleasant?

Mind actually asking a coherent question?

Also, forget about having a moral for a story. Anyone can twist events in a story to prove a didactic point; telling a good story doesn't require it.

I sorry about that. I was thinking about was thinking about where the hero learns to trust their friends and loved ones. I wasn't really in my right mind when I posted that.

First... No feedback for this question at all?

Second, are the given dimensions for the Macross class starships realistic for their given crew/passenger capacities? Nevermind, I'll ask this in the Space Thread instead.

edited 21st Sep '15 10:30:59 AM by MarqFJA

Having never seen a single episode of TMNT, I cannot even attempt to help you- Sorry.

edited 21st Sep '15 7:30:57 PM by DeMarquis

Depends how much you want that stuff to be academic knowledge and how much hobby/background.

A degree in journalism/politics/arts is probably required in terms of getting a job. Though she could have produced with freelance material to land a contract with a network without one.

She could conceivably have a degree in some sort of engineering, or not. Maybe she did motor mechanics add an elective in high school?

Pretty much whatever you want can be sold to the reader if you pitch it right.

In a fantasy world with some realistic medieval elements in it, how could a peasant character feasibly abandon his profession and become an adventurer, thief or swordsman type? Especially if he used to be satisfied with his old profession. EDIT: I'd rather he do it on his own volition instead of the call of destiny or a wizard or something like that.

edited 21st Sep '15 10:22:53 PM by FantasyLiver

You don't need to be familiar with the character I'm basing this one on; just work with the description that I gave. I only mentioned O'Neil to provide context.

Yeah, but barring specific plot ideas that dictate otherwise (e.g. the premise involves excelling in a subject despite lacking formal education in it), I like having my characters pursue academic degrees in the subjects that they're experts in. And this one is supposed to be quite gifted for achieving such a diverse set of academic degrees before she hit age 30 (she gradually builds them up to master's or doctor's level later).

Basically, she likes journalism, so took courses in that. And she had always liked tinkering with machines, so she took courses involving them too. And so on so forth. She doesn't believe in specializing in just one area; she wants to be good at everything that she likes... though, of course, she doesn't like everything, and consequentially she won't seek out being good at subjects that she doesn't like (you're not going to see her being a nuclear physics expert, for example; she knows enough about it to put her a level or two above the average layman, but that's it).

You want a character to say "I'm perfectly satisfied with my current situation, I have no reasons to change it, but I am still going to change it"? Only plausible explanation I can think of is making the character extremely fickle. Today he is a farmer - tomorrow he is an adventurer, just because he felt like it.

Maybe not the call of destiny but the call of his own interest and desire? I could see this going down in a few ways:

A) Farmer hears about problem in kingdom; decides he wants to do something about it and leaves his job because he thinks doing so is the right thing to do; maybe as a farmer he hasn't been doing much anyways because of seasonal changes

B) Other farmers want to fight against said problem, so naturally he decides to join them too because he likes the idea of a common cause

C) Problem affects farmer directly, which compels him to do something as revenge/to prevent other farmers from being affected/etc.

Of course these are just examples that might not be relevant to your story, but it shows that you can still give him a motivation without having him feel like it's "destiny." In other words, it's mainly out of some higher thing he believes or something he thinks would be worth giving up his current profession for a while.

EDIT: Not sure if that's how you define "call of destiny," but to me these examples are less "this is the path that I'm meant to pursue" and more "this is the path that I HAVE TO CHOOSE or else more bad stuff will happen." If it helps maybe think of him as joining the military or a volunteer group.

edited 22nd Sep '15 6:31:06 AM by Coujagkin

Thanks guys! This has helped a lot. I figured that it was longer than what videogames said, but I'm surprised as to how far a shotgun really can fly. Especially since I have terribly bad abilities of conceptualizing of range.

edited 22nd Sep '15 6:59:09 AM by MrAHR

@Fantasy Liver: Money or food—or rather a lack thereof—might be one answer: the character might lose his income, or (in the case of a farmer), might have a particularly poor crop. One way or another, they end up with little to their name and not much more in their stomach, and so, in desperation, become a sell-sword or thief.

(Whether this applies to becoming an adventurer might depend on what types of person you classify under the term.)

Historically, the biggest driver for peasant farmers to abandon their profession and to take up arms is need. Either their crop failed and beating up someone else to take their resources is their only way to survive, or they were conscripted by a nearby army, or they took up arms to fight against a nearby army that was threatening to take their food, and decided that they liked the loot.

Mind you, "I'll loot some rich town and strike it rich" can be a perfectly adequate motivation just by itself.

What are some non-professional athlete jobs that would plausibly have women with obscene amount of physical strength? By obscene, I'm talking about grabbing an average adult male by neck and lifting him with one hand.

Since that's basically impossible, none.

Oh well.

Another question.

What would be a really impressive way to introduce an army captain, one who is characterized by his competence, laconic attitude, and mysterious background? For your info, he is an American soldier during WWII.

edited 22nd Sep '15 8:18:43 PM by dRoy

He is walking along, casually talking to his second in command, with the platoon strung along behind, discussing nothing of any great importance, acting like nothing important is going on, until they clear a ridge, and find themselves in the perfect position to ambush a German unit.

How were people declared dead during the Renaissance? Were there such thing as death certificates then?

No. Central governments were, by and large, not nearly powerful enough for that. If you were lucky, your death was recorded in your parish church's register. (That's a big source of demographic data for historians.)

Follow-up question: so could it be plausible for someone to be presumed dead even if simply missing (e.g. after a war; person doesn't show up for a year)?

Can a tiger's bite pierce through a forearm guard made of steel? How about a crocodile's?

That's mostly what happens, yes.

You have to realize, states in Renaissance-era Europe were very weak, institutionally speaking, compared to modern states. The vast bureaucracies needed to track, tax, and disburse benefits for millions of citizens simply weren't developed, and couldn't be afforded anyway by kings who struggled to collect taxes and use them to feed and pay for their armies. (That England managed to find a stable way of doing so—i.e., permanent parliamentary oversight—is one major factor behind its rivalry with and eventual defeat of France, which was much bigger and had a much larger economy.)

So there wouldn't be anyone to issue birth certificates or death certificates.

If it's good-quality rolled steel, no and no.

edited 23rd Sep '15 8:14:24 PM by SabresEdge

Depends on the thickness but probably not.

Break the arm under it maybe but definitely not pierce it.

edited 23rd Sep '15 8:14:25 PM by LeGarcon