The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXIV

[The_J]

That seems to be extremely expensive o_O.

 

[Synobun]

Go to Sears.com and pick what appliance you want. Start refining your search based on color you want as the first criteria the narrow it down from there. For those not in America/without Sears... move to America where we have Sears.

It's still mostly like Cut said, but you can get lucky and get far out colors sometimes.

Man, Sears is super expensive here in Canada.

Regardless, I had a look at fridges on the Canadian site:

Doesn't seem like that's all that better of a choice, yikes.

@Cutlass: Darn. I guess I'm stuck with dull appliances.

 

[Cutlass]

That seems to be extremely expensive o_O.

Those are premium model washers and driers. You can get some for 1/3 that price easy. But with less color options.

@Cutlass: Darn. I guess I'm stuck with dull appliances.

Depends how artistic you are, you could decorate them yourself.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Is it possible that the botched rollout of the obamacare services was an act of sabotage by the Republicans, where they forced the government shutdown in order to restrict the resources needed for a better rollout?

 

[Cutlass]

Is it possible that the botched rollout of the obamacare services was an act of sabotage by the Republicans, where they forced the government shutdown in order to restrict the resources needed for a better rollout?

Not really. The website was botched for several reasons. 1st is the long standing policy of outsourcing so many government functions to the private sector. This typically raises costs and reduces reliability. 2nd is the procurement process, which favors companies good at getting contracts, rather than companies good at getting the job done on time and on budget. 3rd is lack of clarity on the part of the government about just what it was they wanted the website to do. And 4th was some late changes the administration made to what they wanted, that there was no time to do right. There were other problems as well.

The thing is, it's not a failure of Obamacare itself. But it is a failure of management in the creation of Obamacare.

 

[Synobun]

Depends how artistic you are, you could decorate them yourself.

I'd probably be more likely to create a crater in the Earth than have a successful arts project.

 

[Zelig]

Is it possible that the botched rollout of the obamacare services was an act of sabotage by the Republicans, where they forced the government shutdown in order to restrict the resources needed for a better rollout?

No, Hanlon's razor.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Does the migration of animals defy logic?

 

[Quackers]

I sense Husky's friends are at it again
It is quite easy isn't it? I know next to nothing about migration patterns but some animals move south/north to more warmer climates because it is easier to survive. The food is more abundant and they won't freeze to death.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

The thing they don't understand is how an animal can be born in one place, then migrate somewhere else far away without any memory of going to that place.

 

[Cutlass]

Does the migration of animals defy logic?

It makes a lot of sense, in terms of the animal's needs and prosperity. Winters are harsh, and food is hard to find. SO think about it in terms of following the food supply. As to how the young do it, they follow others of their kind. Or instinct leads them in approximately the right direction.

 

[Ajidica]

The thing they don't understand is how an animal can be born in one place, then migrate somewhere else far away without any memory of going to that place.

In a lot of cases, like with the Monarch Butterfly, we really have no idea.

 

[Rashiminos]

Does Janet Yellen bear a facial resemblance to Ayn Rand?

 

[The_J]

The thing they don't understand is how an animal can be born in one place, then migrate somewhere else far away without any memory of going to that place.

They rarely go alone.
It's most often herds/packs/groups/whatever, so someone has already been there.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

They rarely go alone.
It's most often herds/packs/groups/whatever, so someone has already been there.

What about the animals that do go alone?

 

[Borachio]

It makes a lot of sense, in terms of the animal's needs and prosperity. Winters are harsh, and food is hard to find. SO think about it in terms of following the food supply. As to how the young do it, they follow others of their kind. Or instinct leads them in approximately the right direction.

Yes. Well. A lot of migration can be explained in terms of herd behaviour, food supply, water, and such like.

But when we start talking in terms of instincts, does that really say anymore than that we don't know?

What is an instinct? How is the information encoded in the DNA (if that's the only mechanism)?

I don't think it's clear how even the genotype is expressed by DNA, never mind any phenotype.

 

[Farm Boy]

Yes. Well. A lot of migration can be explained in terms of herd behaviour, food supply, water and such like.

But when we start talking in terms of instincts, does that really say anymore than that we don't know?

What is an instinct? How is the information encoded in the DNA (if that's the only mechanism)?

I don't think it's clear how the genotype is expressed by DNA, never mind any phenotype.

If we stipulate that brains can learn from experience and form memories from life experiences then surely those same brains can come inborn with a rough general blueprint of sorta proto-memory stimuli that generally trigger certain responses. The DNA is structured to order the brain around that blueprint. Blink your eyes if something comes quickly towards your face. Stare at boobs. Go south in the winter. I don't know why any of these things would be particularly shocking, even if we can't quite map out the neurological steps of the more complicated actions.

 

[Borachio]

Yes. Evidently brains do come equiped to enable migration. Otherwise we'd never observe it.

All I'm saying is that it's remarkably unclear how they manage it.

 

[Farm Boy]

Go on, take the braver argument. Tell me brains aren't equipped to manage it, then justify the rather peculiar belief set that I imagine that Husky's friends hold.

 

[Cutlass]

What about the animals that do go alone?

They're following whatever they eat.