Best products from r/NoStupidQuestions

So I think a natural progression to this topic is to ask "What makes human intelligence unique?"

Again, this is a very active area of research. By no means is there a single consensus. We are constantly learning new things about ourselves and animals.

Animals are complex beings, and scientists for the past few decades have come to understand that the divide between us and them is not black and white, but rather a continuum of shared abilities. Animals exhibit a lot of similar behaviours and can even do things that we can't do (even on a cognitive level). They have morals; they have emotions; they make and modify tools; they can solve multi-step problems; they have culture and traditions; they can lie and cheat; they know when they are being treated unfairly; they mourn the dead; they have complex communication systems; they feel empathy; and some recognized themselves in a mirror (e.g. mirror test) and are able to distinguish self from other. So these aspects of intelligence and cognition, and very likely many other aspects that we have not fully explored, are not unique to humans. Given the complexity of other animals, it is very likely were are not the only species to have consciousness, that is to say other animals also have theory of mind. It may be more akin to the consciousness of a 3-5 year old, but none the less, they still know themselves from others. So what does make us unique? What led to our unique kind of intelligence?

We know of some factors that contributed to our awareness and unique intelligence as compared to other living species. It is important to know that this is a very active area of study in many different disciplines (psychology, biology, animal behaviour, psychiatry, physiology, anthropology, neurology, linguistics, genetics, archeology...).

• Traits we inherited from our distant ancestors. Obviously all species are a cumulation of inherited traits. Who we are today is largely due to who "we" were in the distant past. We inherited a strong tendency to be a very social species from our mammalian ancestry. Mammals are social beings, humans included. We inherited opposable thumbs from our early primate ancestors. Humans are not the only species with opposable thumbs so it is not a trait that is unique to our species. However, the inheritance of thumbs enabled us and the other primates to develop fine motor skills like precision grip. This enables us to manipulate objects, and make/modify tools. Humans also inherited an upright bipedal posture from our early ancestors. Humans are not the only bipedal species (after all, all birds are bipedal!) but our upright posture has given us many advantages, namely that it frees our hands to do other tasks.
  
  
• Brain/body size ratio & exceptional brain gyrification is a somewhat useful indicator of how intelligence a species is. The correlation is decent among related mammal species, but it breaks down when applied to distantly related animals. It underestimates intelligence in heavy animals like horses and overestimates small animals like mice and birds. You also have to consider what the animal's brain has evolved for. Bird's typically have very large brains for their body but may not be exceptionally smart. A lot of that large bird brain is used for flight calculations and isn't available for higher level processing. Fruit flies have enormous brains compared to their mass, but that brain is simply too small to have any real thought processes. Humans are highly intelligent because they have an extremely large brain for their normal body mass and that brain has evolved specifically to perform complex thought. Size isn't the only factor, scientists also consider the degree of specialization, complexity of neural connections, and degree of brain gyrification. Humans score high on all these physical qualifiers associated with increased intelligence.
  
  
• Two cognitive traits thought to be unique to humans - shared intentionality and cumulative culture. Shared intentionality "sometimes called ‘we’ intentionality, refers to collaborative interactions in which participants share psychological states with one another". It goes one step beyond being able to solve problems as a group, it involves anticipating the needs of others and the situation in order to solve a common goal. This requires incredible foresight, flexibility, and excellent problem solving skills. It requires an almost hyper-social group structure. We couldn't stick 100 chimpanzees on a plane and expect it to land in one piece...but you can stick 100 human strangers and all, for the most part, get along just fine. This level of cooperation is rarely seen among other animals (save for the Eusocial insects, naked mole rats, and perhaps Callitrichid monkeys). Shared-intentionality enables us to achieve what other species cannot. Cumulative culture goes beyond the cultures exhibited by other animals. Other animals have culture where [non-essential] traditions are passed on from one generation to the next and are typically modified slowly over many generations. Humans also have traditions, but these are past on much more easily between individuals. Moreover, these traditions are quickly modified, almost unlimited times within a single generation. We are able to rapidly build upon the ideas of others and modify these ideas to suit new problems. Moreover, our adults, as compared to the adults of other species, are much better at learning and retaining new skills or traditions. Generally speaking, the age old adage "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" applies well to the non-human animal kingdom.
  
  These two traits, shared intentionality and cumulative culture, led to the development of other aspects of our being which are unique (e.g language). Everything else that we can do is just a happy by-product of these two traits: being able to go to the moon, or build a super dam, or create art, or think in the abstract, maths, industrial agriculture...Those things are by-products of our level of cognition. Our uniqueness is derived from shared intentionality and cumulative culture plus a couple of random physical traits that we were lucky enough to inherit from our distant ancestors - a big brain, bipedalism, and opposable thumbs. We are not the only species with a large brain-to-body ratio, we are not the only bipedal species, and we are certainly not the only species with opposable thumbs - these are physical characteristics that we inherited from our distant primate ancestors. These traits built the foundation for what was to come.
  
  Whatever the pressure around 40,000-50,000 years ago we notice a significant shift in the archeological record. All of a sudden humans are making cave art, our hunting tools are changing rapidly, we began to engage in long distant trade, we made jewellery and we even had symbolic figures - perhaps the seeds of language. This is known as the period of behavioural modernity. Not only did these humans look like us, they acted like us too. Its hypothesized that an infant from this time could be raised in a modern context with little to no intellectual deficit...we wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd. Humans haven't gotten more intelligent over time. It is hypothesized that a human from 50,000 years ago is anatomically and behaviourally modern.
  
  So, if we aren't any smarter - why do we have cell phones and galaxy print jeggings and people didn't way back then? Increasing complexity - we know more than people in the past because we've built upon what they've learned. Humans have always been smart, and our great benefit is that we build on other people's discoveries. Someone figured out how to domesticate plants, someone figured out how to sew cloth, someone figured out how to weave materials, someone figured out synthetic materials and dyes, someone put it all together in those jeggings. We just build on what other people have found out. This is cumulative culture in action. Humans today are not more intelligent than humans living 50,000 years ago - we both have the same potential. The difference between us and them is we have a wealth of shared knowledge to draw upon, and they did not. Humans 5000 years from now could be asking the very same question..."Why didn't they invent warp travel, its so easy!"...well we don't have the wealth of another 5000 years of experience and scientific study to draw upon. We only have what our ancestors gave us. As more and more knowledge is accumulated we should in theory progress faster and faster (without consideration to other limitations to progress).

Humans are different in many respects but we also share a lot of conserved traits. For example, humans being mammals we, like all other mammals, produce milk to sustain our young, we also have hair/fur like other animals, and we also have internal reproductive organs including the uterus that we use to gestate out young. If you go back a little further you see that humans share a lot of characteristics with other animals - we all seem to have four limbs, two eyes, two nostrils, one heart, two kidneys, lungs, a liver, etc. We share all these things because all animals share a single common ancestor. That ancestor was a tetrapod species. Go back even further and you see that we share some pretty interesting and old traits that date back to our earliest common ancestor that was a vertebrate aquatic animal - thats why humans and fish both have backbones (vertebrae). You may be interested in the book Your inner fish, which was also made into a PBS documentary. "Why do we look the way we do? Neil Shubin, the paleontologist and professor of anatomy who co-discovered Tiktaalik, the “fish with hands,” tells the story of our bodies as you've never heard it before. By examining fossils and DNA, he shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads are organized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genomes look and function like those of worms and bacteria. Your Inner Fish makes us look at ourselves and our world in an illuminating new light. This is science writing at its finest—enlightening, accessible and told with irresistible enthusiasm."

But you are correct in your observation humans have a lot of unique characteristics, even among the primates. First we share a few of the traits that primates have - opposable thumbs, forward facing eyes, good colour vision, long gestations, few offspring per litter, and it takes a long time for us to reach sexual maturity. But we do know why we have some of our unique traits.

1. Loss of hair: either hypothesized to be a adaptation to living in hot environments which enables use to cool or hypothesized to be a part of sexual selection (individuals with less hair were more likely to mate and so over generations humans became less hairy simply because thats what we thought was 'sexy') or it could be some combination therein.
   
2. Bipedal stance: this one is a bit more tricky since the first bipedal apes evolved about 3-4 million years ago. Lucy is an australopithecine hominid that lived just over 3 million years ago and would walk on two legs. We also know that the upright stance preceded an increase in brain size by about 2 million years. So what drove Lucy, or Lucy's recent ancestors to become upright bipedal apes? It could be because the forests were receding and tall grasslands were taking over. Walking on two legs enabled us to see over the grass. It could be that walking upright freed our hands for other tasks like carrying, using, or making objects. Maybe there is a reason we just don't know about because this change occurred so many million years ago.
   
   Finally, our big brains even though they may seem like a single trait have enabled us to do things that no other species has been able to accomplish. It enabled us to diversify in a way that no other species could. Other species might have a few unique combinations that allow them to be really great at a few things but humans have taken another approach, be ok at a lot of things. We decided to take the "jack-of-all-trades" route...and there are a few other species that have taken this strategy as well. Most of these species are the ones that live right along side us as "pests" - rats, mice, racoons, pigeons, and crows are some great examples of species that have learned to do things a bit differently. Instead of focusing on one single skill or trait be good at a bunch of different things. This is especially important skill to have when you live in an environment that is rapidly changing. Species that live in stable environments are more likely to become very selective in what they do, what they eat, or how they live. But if you live in an environment where your food sources change rapidly, or the environment changes quickly then you best be able to deal with a bunch of different problems. Humans quickly became that species. The species that was able to exploit any habitat, the species that was able to eat just about any kind of food, the species that no longer was constrained by any particular ecosystem. We could go anywhere and do anything and we would survive. This comes at the cost of being very good at one thing, like swimming or flying.
   
   Finally one of the reasons why a single species can't be good at everything (e.g. why we can swim like a tuna, fly like a bird, dig like a vole, or run like a cheetah) is because each trait is a trade off and comes at some kind of cost. For example, in order to attain the mass of an elephant you need to able to eat tons of food each day, which simply isn't possible for an animal living in the Arctic where food is scarce. There is no single best species and you can't really create a super species either.

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a one dollar candy bar in the US costs one dollar.

same candybar in india costs about 74.1 Rupees.

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US Amazon. Ipad 279.99

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-WiFi-Space-Model/dp/B07BTS2KWK

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INDIA Amazon not same model, but 26,880 Rupees

https://www.amazon.in/Apple-iPad-Tablet-Wi-Fi-Space/dp/B07C4YKR3J/

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so your $250,000 Ferrari

would be just under 18 MILLION rupees.

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google "ferrari for sale mumbai"

15 MILLION to 35 MILLION - used.

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5 Used Ferrari Premium / Super Cars in India, Verified Ferrari ... - Droom

https://droom.in › Premium Super Cars › Used

₹15,000,000.00 to ₹35,000,000.00There are 5 Used Ferrari Premium / Super Cars available for sale online in two different pricing formats – Fixed Price and Best Offer. Used Ferrari Premium .

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in addition, you'd pay taxes and duties to bring it in.. and it may not even be allowed in the US due to EPA restrictions.

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https://www.a1autotransport.com/importing-into-usa/

Importing a Vehicle into the United States Importing a vehicle into the United States can be a daunting process and it must be handled the right way from start to finish if you want to have your car accepted when it’s time to cross the U.S. border. Vehicles that are imported must comply with regulations set by numerous organizations as well as the safety standards set by the Motor Vehicle Safety act of 1966 as well as the Clean Air Act of 1968 and other standards to ensure that all vehicles entering the country are safe, reliable and up to…

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I've taught a lot of people how computers work, or more precisely how to program them. I am sure you can learn too.

First, let's make it fun.

There is a lot of material for people who like the Raspberry Pi out there that is fun and simple. You don't even need to own a Raspberry Pi to understand what they're talking about.

It's fun and simple because it's designed for youngsters who find long/complex books a bit too boring. I think you might enjoy it, because you've said you've found the books you've tried too boring.

Here is a load of magazines about the Pi - on each issue you can click on "Get Issue" and then under the cover "download the PDF" and read it and see if you enjoy that.

Next, have a play with Scratch. It's designed for kids but the exact same concepts are in professional programming languages.

The reason I recommend it is not because I think you are a child, but because it's a lot of fun and makes a lot of the dull and boring bits of programming go away so you can focus on the fun bits.

You have to remember all the things going on inside a computer are basically the things going on in there - just a lot more complex.

If you ever want to learn a programming language that professional developers use, I think you'll like Ruby.

It's very forgiving for new developers, but still lets you do what we would call "production grade" code. It's what I work in most days.

Also, why's poignant guide is quite funny, but you might find it a bit weird and confusing - I know I did the first time I read it. :-)

I also recommend this book to you: Code by Charles Petzoid. The first few chapters don't seem like they're about computers, because they talk about flags and electrical circuits - that's because you need to understand those things first.

If you can read and understand the whole thing you will know more about how computers work than half of the professional software engineers out there. And they're normally quite a clever bunch.

If you find it too difficult, slow down and think. Each paragraph has something in it worth thinking about and letting it mull over in your mind.

IQ is not a measure of how much you can learn, but perhaps how quickly it can see patterns and understand things.

You having a lower IQ than somebody else does not mean you can't see those patterns or understand things, it just means it might take you a little more thinking to get there. I'm sure you will.

If you ever have any questions about computers, I'd love to try and help answer them - feel free to ask me.

Mmmmk... so I've been awake for like 23 hours at this point but I'm going to work a 12 hour shift tomorrow so I'm going to try to answer now without sounding loopy.

Okay so, it's kinda shitty that the doctor threw so many prescriptions at you. I mean, I'm not a doctor, so obviously their word always trumps a tech. I just really don't like when doctors hand out prescriptions to try to fix problems that might be solved without them. I want my husband to try nuvigil because he DOES have OSA, and he's getting treatment, and still super tired.

Anyway, so I mentioned delayed sleep/wake phase disorder earlier. The name of this disorder is kinda misleading because it makes it sound like there is something wrong with you, but in reality it's a set of behaviors that got you there. It would be super nice if your body just did exactly what you told it to do, and you could sleep exactly when you wanted right when it was convenient, but unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. So, you mentioned having issues where you'll be tired through most of the day but then you get a boost at like 11pm. This is, for the most part, normalish. Your circadian rhythm is kind of like a rolling tide all day and all night. For the average person there is a specific time of day you're most awake (10am) and going to get groggy (4pm) and it happens when you're asleep too! IIRC 4am, while you're sleeping, is when you're the most "awake" during sleep. So with delayed sleep phase disorder, you've basically conditioned your body to do this normal circadian rhythm process but not at the right hours. This actually is super super common for teenagers to do, and I actually do it myself. I have very serious problems being on a 1st shift schedule and when I was on first shift I would find myself drifting towards staying up till 4am on the weekends and then I would be fucked trying to sleep Sunday night. So this is what I think has happened to you. The "best" way they say to fix this is to set your sleep time later every day in increments of like 30 minutes until you've made it around the clock and land at a more normal people time to sleep. That is completely and totally insane though and I have no idea who would be able to do that, you'd have to have no job or school or obligations at all. The easiest way to do it is on a weekend stay up all night long until you're fucking exhausted and then go to bed at a normal people time, like 10pm. After that, you have to force yourself to commit to it. You will definitely find yourself drifting again if you allow it, but you have to be firm about your bed time, and eventually it'll stick. So that's my first set of advice.

My second advice is to buy a light box. Most of them are really expensive but I bought this one which is pretty reasonably priced and unobtrusive. Use that fucker every. single. morning. Make it part of your getting ready process. Alarm goes off, you turn on your light, and then sit in front of it for like 20 minutes while you go through your phone, eat breakfast, whatever. This should help you a ton, like you have no idea. Your body needs this light to tell it to wake the fuck up, and it should help with grogginess a lot. It won't happen overnight but in a few weeks if you stick with it there should be improvement.

My other general tips that I'm sure you've heard before: take melatonin like an hour before bed every night. I actually do this and it really helps the quality of your sleep. Doing this goes hand in hand with the light therapy in telling your suprachiasmatic nucleus when it should and should not be signaling sleep. Also if you're determined to look at your phone leading up to bed (I'm guilty of this) then install an app to filter out your blue light. I have one and it's on a timer so I don't even have to remember to turn it on. But if you really can be disciplined, read a book before bed. And don't get in bed until you're ready to sleep. If you still can't sleep, don't just lay in bed tossing and turning. Get out of bed for like 20 minutes and read a book and then try sleeping again. Sleepytime tea also can be helpful if it has valerian root in it, which is proven to make you drowsy. And of course, never ever ever ever EVER drink caffeine after lunch. This is my firm rule here, this will fuck with you in ways you don't even realize. Once you've tapered down your caffeine, if you try drinking it again you'll notice how fucking wired it makes you.

That's all I've got, hopefully it was helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions, I don't mind answering at all!

A few I've gotten into recently:

https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-Matter-More-Than/dp/055338371X - Emotional Intelligence - it's about the difference between your brain's rational/logical/analytical processing and emotional/intuitive processing, and why they both matter.

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/B0032COUMC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541098584&sr=1-3&keywords=drive - Drive - it's about how motivation works, particularly in the workplace but also in personal life, and how freedom, mastery, and a sense of purpose can motivate people to do greater things than classic rewards and punishments will.

https://drgabormate.com/book/scattered-minds/ - Scattered - it's mostly about ADHD, but it has some really interesting stuff about the psychology of sensitive minds and how they can be damaged by childhood stress. The book focuses mainly on the psychological aspects of ADHD, and less on the medication and how-to-fix-it stuff that the more self-helpy ADHD books talk about.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034 - How to Win Friends and Influence People - it's an older book with a weirdly folksy tone to it compared to modern books, but it still has some great advice. It doesn't dive deep into psychology, really. It's mostly about how little changes to how you approach social situations can have big effects on how people feel about you and whether or not they'll listen to what you have to say. For example, people unconsciously feel better when they hear their own name, so it helps to deliberately remember and use the names of people you meet.

EDIT:
Thought it said three year old. Everything here except the reading (1st thing) is a ways off. I'm going to leave it.

See if you can get signed up for the Imagination Library. If they're in your area they'll send you an age appropriate book 1x/mo until she is five. Also I've been reading my daughter Mo Willems books since she was that age. She loves it when I do the different characters in different voices - especially the Elephant and Piggie books. Read a book to her every night at bedtime. The most important thing about reading is that she develops a positive association with it... you can wire her up now so that in her brain reading is a pleasant, comfortable experience. Don't rush it. Make it fun.

Go for walks together.

Make sure she gets some protein. Greek yogurt and protein bars/shakes if she doesn't like meat. And a multivitamin. Limit treats (salty/sweet).

Limit screen time.

Supervise baths/showers until you know she can clean herself, not burn herself and not drown. No tears shampoos.

Help brush/floss.

Sunscreen

Take her to parks near your home. Talk to other parents there. Set up play dates with them and other parents you meet through school and sports/dance/school/whatever.

https://imaginationlibrary.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_and_Piggie

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078P35YC2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Okay, so the title of these jeans is going to appear to contradict your request, but these jeans have worked for me. They're Gloria Vanderbilt "Women's Rail Straight" jeans. I bought them in the deep wine, taupe, and black colors, and they're great. They are actual jeans, just dyed in different colors. I also can't go slimmer than straight-legged (pear-shape in the house, whattup), and these are perfect for me. I was in between sizes and decided to size up. The fit was great, because it was straight but not super tight, "skinny," or unflattering. Below is the link on Amazon. I got mine at Costco for hecka cheap a few months ago.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MP7QV58/ref=twister_B07MH69599?th=1

Girl, the struggle is real. Hope this helps!

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Update: Just found them on Costco's website. Unfortunately, it looks like they sold out of some of the other colors.

Star Wars Darth Bane Trilogy (Written by Drew Karpshyn):

1. Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
   
   
2. Darth Bane: Rule of Two
   
3. Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
   
   This is the trilogy I recommend starting out on. It gives a lot of history and background on Sith culture and how modern Sith philosophy was (this would be Old Republic Era, just so you understand what I mean by modern) and towards the end of the trilogy brings about the creation of the rule of two and the revolutionized Sith philosophy created by Darth Bane (which would be the Sith you see in the movies and anything in the books after that).
   
   Then I would recommend reading this. This book takes place about a millennium after the events of the Darth Bane trilogy were set in motion and will help you see how the Sith in the movie plot are connected to the Sith in history. I think reading these four books will help anyone interested in the Sith make the transition from "Evil villian bad guys that hurl lightning at Jedi just because" to "Human beings with feelings, goals, plans, and standards who are trying to achieve universal conquest at all costs" and bring Sith from other books you might read in full circle from being labeled as "psychotic evil sadist" to "unconventional anti-hero that probably has an actual story besides being conveniently evil for dat plot".
   
   If you're asking about Star Wars books in general I still recommend reading the books I listed before first just because they give so much depth to a mostly uncovered concept in the Star Wars universe that many authors don't bother going into. You can read any series as long as you start at "Book One" of the series (to avoid confusion) and know where in the timeline the book you're reading is taking place (there is a timeline in the front of just about every Star Wars book that will tell you when the book takes place in relation to the movies and other series. I'll list a few series that I think everyone should read right now in preparation for the Disney Star Wars Movie (Sith help us, please let it be good).
   
   First off and by far my favorite series is the Darth Bane into Darth Plagueis series (the ones I listed before). There will be a lot of Sith stuff going on in the new movie so it'd be important to have an understanding of them or at least get references, and this series is where you will learn that from.
   
   The next series is the Han Solo Saga. These are two separate trilogies about Han Solo's adventures before the movies that were written by two different authors but one is written to follow and compliment the other trilogy, making it a full saga. This is a book of three short stories. Start out reading the first book in this trilogy: (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3) then alternate between book and trilogy story respectively.
   
   The last one is what the new movie will actually be based off of and it isn't a series I enjoyed too much but wasn't bad either. Here it is, The Jedi Academy Series: (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3).
   
   There it is, this is my list of "must reads" but you can really throw a dart at a list of all of the Star Wars books and find a good series. A lot of people really like the Republic Commando series (I have not yet read it) and a lot like the Red Squadron series, so it's really preference. The stuff they made to history-fill for SWTOR release is pretty good too and most are singles and not in a series if you don't like to read much. Enjoy! :)

There was none, which is why he was never charged of possessing any. He had legal art photography books that had images of nude children and adults of both sexes.


(1) "The Boy: A Photographic Essay" was inscribed with "From your fan, xxxooo, Rhonda."
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/photographic-Ronald-Nelson-Editors-Georges/dp/B000ID41XQ

Library of Congress: https://lccn.loc.gov/65000007


(2) "Boys will be Boys" inscribed with ""Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys' faces, this is the spirit of Boyhood. A life I never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children. MJ."
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Will-Be-Celebrating-Adventurous/dp/0736913122

Library of Congress: https://lccn.loc.gov/66001965


The prosecution's thirst was REAL. Luckily, justice prevailed.

>That makes a lot of sense ! Thanks for the detailed answer !
>
> Well I guess I'll just get myself some rechargeable AA batteries then...

My pleasure, I'm glad the info was helpful. I recommend you get these ones (make sure your battery specifications match the packaging in this photo):

• New battery day! 24 AA Eneloop NiMH batteries in 16 and 8 cell packs. : r/AAMasterRace
  
  Get this package first to get the highest quality charger on the market:
  
  
• AmazonSmile: Panasonic K-KJ17MCA4BA Advanced Individual Cell Battery Charger Pack with 4 AA eneloop 2100 Cycle Rechargeable Batteries: PANASONIC: Electronics
  
  You need that charger to get the full life out of Eneloops. If you take care of them, Eneloops will last at least a decade, maybe longer.

Yea, you shouldn't have to, but sometimes you just do. Every time I go to a doctor and they peek in my ear they tell me I have a lot of wax.

I clean the outside of my ear with a q-tip. The trick here is to not go any deeper with a q tip than your finger can get to. Absolutely no q tips in the actual ear canal, only on the outside cartilage area. I've found that q tips with a little bit of unscented lotion get any bits of wax or dirt off easier than my fingers do.

One time I did stick a q tip in my ear canal, and besides being really painful, it pushed so much wax backwards that my ear "clogged" and I had a hard time hearing. After about a week of being nearly deaf in one ear I went to an urgent care clinic and they rinsed me out. They used a product like this filled with a mixture of 50% warm water and 50% hydrogen peroxide. The doctor stuck the tube in my ear, squirted a bit in, and then had me lean over so everything could fall out. And EVERYTHING fell out. It was disgusting how much wax came out. But afterwards I felt like I had supersonic hearing in one ear.

Obviously I wanted the other ear to feel just as clean, so when I got home I filled a regular spray bottle with the same mixture and gave it a squirt in the other ear. It didn't work as well as the product linked above because the nozzle didn't get as deep, but the hydrogen peroxide fizzles a little and definitely cleaned it out. I feel like this method is safer overall because it still leaves wax in your ear to protect you, versus clearing everything out completely.

I swim a lot and sometimes ear wax traps water in my ear and it can lead to infections, so I now do this once or twice a year. I checked with my GP and she said its fine as long as I don't overdo it.

Your mileage may vary.

Kind of a combination of things - but in general the age old adage "if it ain't, broke don't fix it" applies here.

See about 500 million years ago the basic body plan for tetrapods was decided upon. From this basic body plan very few modifications have been made. For whatever reason four limbs, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two kidneys, two lungs, two ovaries/testes, but one heart and one liver worked for it so it works for us.

Its not just humans that have these basic structures - birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and other mammals all have this basic body plan. Yes some have lost their limbs - like snakes, and others have lost an ovary - like birds...but underlying it all is that same basic blueprint. You may be interested in the book your inner fish.

Would you rather wash poop off your hands with water, or with a piece of paper? Which do you think would get your hand cleaner? Using a bidet is a bit like taking a shower after each poop; your rear end will be squeaky clean. They're also cleaner because you don't need to rub your hand close to your dirty butt like you do with toilet paper or wet wipes. You only need to.. dab your rear end a couple times to dry it off.

For those who are curious, bidet attachments run about $40 on Amazon. https://amzn.com/B00A0RHSJO

Thank you so much for all the information.

I'm leaning toward this New 2DS:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071KWZ8L9/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Is there anything about the New 3DS that is better besides 3D?

And this New 2DS can still play games labeled for New 3DS? And minecraft?

Thank you, I really appreciate your thorough replies

Sure thing! One thing that may help you as well is getting a daylight lamp, something like this is small and reasonably priced. Use it before you start a lecture and your circadian rhythym will think it's morning and help keep you awake. Just be careful not to use it very close to bedtime or it could cause insomnia.

Amazon used to include a short URL in their sharing options, but removed it for some reason. Still, it's fairly easy to shorten the URLs. Just take this...

https://smile.amazon.com/TOPJIN-Lovely-Stuffed-Vegetable-Carrot/dp/B077ZTBWV2/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=carrot+plush&qid=1563782964&s=gateway&sr=8-6

...and remove all but this part:

/dp/B077ZTBWV2/

...to create a shortened URL like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B077ZTBWV2/

I'll be honest, I have ear wax issues. Despite others here saying wax is SUPPOSED to drain from the ear, mine does not. I've had issues my whole life. I don't use Q-tips because I was also told it was bad.

When I can tell my ears are getting bad, I will use hydrogen peroxide (HO2 H2O2), of which you can buy a lifetime supply of for $1. That with a bulb to force water in usually helps for the average person. I like this method just to listen to all the fizzing. It's like pop in your ear.

Every once in a while I need to go to the doctor to get my ears cleaned. I only do this when I'm losing hearing though since it can get pretty expensive. They use a squirt bottle to with a small funnel on the end and force warm water into your ear. This is the result. Gross as all get out, warning you.

I recently bought the tool they use on Amazon, but there is something that the doctor does a lot better than me. They can get a lot of nasty gunk out of there.

In summary, warm water with force, and funny chemicals. All much better than a Q-tip.

Get a bidet. They aren't expensive and they will save you so much time. Seriously, it's the best life choice you'll ever make.


https://www.amazon.com/Luxe-Bidet-Neo-120-Non-Electric/dp/B00A0RHSJO/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen-bath&ie=UTF8&qid=1498093189&sr=1-4&keywords=bidet

The Original Pillow with a Hole - Your Ear's Best Friend - for Ear Pain and CNH https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NCDSINI/

You can buy bidet attachments on Amazon for US toilets - fairly affordable. Congrats on grad school. (https://www.amazon.com/Luxe-Bidet-Neo-120-Non-Electric/dp/B00A0RHSJO/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1500912639&sr=1-4&keywords=bidet+attachment+for+toilet)

At the lowest levels, computers flip between two electrical states: off and on or 0 and 1. From there, you can build logic gates such as 1 AND 0 = 0. Logic gates can be combined to start doing math. And pretty soon you’re off to the races with a full processor! So the first computer programs were just series of ones and zeros on punch cards.

There’s a great book called Code that goes into far more detail than this.

There is a nice little contraption called an "Elephant Ear Wash" that doctors use to clean clogged ears.
Amazon link

I would consult all the literature that has been written about this and speak to therapists/researchers/psychologist/social scientists who study this area. I would take notes from them on what are some "best practice" advice for becoming a more stable and emotionally aware individual. There are books on this stuff written by legitimate folks.

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One example:

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https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-Matter-More-Than/dp/055338371X

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I find it absurd that such important self-knowledge is not taught. Most parents suck at this shit and don't pass down the information to their kids.

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I bought something similar to this and really like it!
Verilux HappyLight Compact Personal, Portable Light Therapy Energy Lamp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K08ZDBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JlKwCbN0YPHBR

To add to the other answer. The link for the product is just everything until the sku, the /dp/B077ZTBWV2/ part. Everything after it is what amazon uses to track how you got to that page. Things like how many pages did you go through in the search result to find that product. Or which ad spot did you click on for the item etc.

Do yourself a favor and install a $30 bidet.

Never squat or cheek-lift again. Life changing.

I would recommend this book to start out.

I recently had a blockage due to wax and my Dr. used one of these. I have since ordered my own from Amazon and use it occasionally.

https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Washer-Bottle-Doctor-Easy/dp/B005M2B5P0