A List of Open Questions
gwern.net
A List of Open Questions
1–10 of 89 posts
Re: A List of Open Questions
#2"Why do so few people in the United States exercise their right and privilege to vote?"
Re: A List of Open Questions
#3> Is there something qualitatively different about personal meetings, and if so, where is it? Is it eye contact? Body language?
Over 50% of our communication is nonverbal language. Body language largely, and no small part olfactory plus auditory (which video conferencing interferes or blocks). This is not an open question.
> when humans have engaged in unarmed combat for millions of years and every major country has long lineages of specialized competitive martial arts
Because combat wasn't formalized then funded to be inclusive and communicated to the world. This is not an open question.
I'm sure there's more on this list, but maybe someone can update it.
Re: A List of Open Questions
#4"Why do so few people in the United States exercise their right and privilege to vote?"
"Why does nearly every political race for office in the United States come down to only two choices: turd sandwich or giant douche?"
Re: A List of Open Questions
#5Re: A List of Open Questions
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Why does nearly every political race for office in the United States come down to only two choices: turd sandwich or giant douche?"
Also a good question, but not exclusive of the other one.
True, but it may help explain some of the motivation behind the other one (e.g. if folks feel like the two options are terrible, they may be apathetic towards participating).
For example, in this round I did not cast a vote for governor in my state because I felt the two candidates with any chance of winning were terrrible (though I did vote on ballot measures, and other local offices).
Re: A List of Open Questions
#7> Why do humans, pets, and even lab animals of many species kept in controlled lab conditions on standardized diets appear to be increasingly obese over the 20th century? What could possibly explain all of them simultaneously becoming obese?
Because diet is only part of the equation. The other major factor being exercise/physical activity (and probably some genetics). If you eat 'well' but sit at a desk all day, calories in != calories out and you'll probably gain weight.
Also, since this doesn't cite any sources for the conclusion presented here as a question, do we know that the 'conditions' were held constant? (hint: no, probably not)
Re: A List of Open Questions
#8> Why do humans, pets, and even lab animals of many species kept in controlled lab conditions on standardized diets appear to be increasingly obese over the 20th century? What could possibly explain all of them simultaneously becoming obese? Because diet is only part of the equation. The other major factor being exercise/physical activity (and probably some genetics). If you eat 'well' but sit at a desk all day, calo…
My pet theory (at least for humans) is that this is due to better dental care.
Re: A List of Open Questions
#9> Why do humans, pets, and even lab animals of many species kept in controlled lab conditions on standardized diets appear to be increasingly obese over the 20th century? What could possibly explain all of them simultaneously becoming obese? Because diet is only part of the equation. The other major factor being exercise/physical activity (and probably some genetics). If you eat 'well' but sit at a desk all day, calo…
That doesn't cover lab animals. I've also read that animals in the wild also weigh more.
One explanation is higher global CO_2 levels, giving faster growth, which means more calories (and fewer other components). So, the same amounts of food now have more calories.
There's also arguments for hormones in the general food supply. Possible global factors are pollution in general, and plastics in particular. (For wild animals, decrease in biodiversity may be a factor).
Re: A List of Open Questions
#10The question about Gracie jiu-jitsu is not so interesting anymore: In the early 90’s, there were simply very talented jiu jitsu practitioners who were close to the UFC. Now we’ve witnessed many strategies used successfully in MMA, like American college wrestling (Ben Askren, Matt Hughes), Thai clinches (TJ Dillashaw), kickboxing (Holly Holmes), and Judo (Ronda Rousey). In fact very few fights end with an interesting jiu jitsu submission anymore, the armbar and the tear naked choke are the most common. These techniques were never unique to jiu jitsu.