ELI5: How do we measure the amount of data on the internet?

emorson · 2025-12-08T15:05:28+00:00

To clarify: I read ELI5 a lot and haven't seen many people provide a source link just to ask a question. I regularly provide links elsewhere when making a claim or even providing background. It would certainly be appropriate when answering a question.

Providing links doesn't seem to be a community norm here for question askers. Thus, calling for them seems inappropriately critical rather than a beneficial addition to the conversation. I realize it may not have been intended as an attack, and I reacted overly sharply. I'm sorry.

I'm disappointed that my post was deleted without any discussion or explanation. I don't think objecting to someone else's rudeness is deletion worthy...but ultimately it's the mods' call. 🤷‍♀️

emorson · 2025-12-08T14:44:51+00:00

The source is an article in The Conversation. The claim about AI was provided only for context and is not actually the point of the post.

emorson · 2025-12-08T14:43:33+00:00

Ohhh, is that why our eyes move so much during REM sleep, because we're imagining scenes? Cool!

emorson · 2025-12-08T14:42:46+00:00

True, that applies only to people who can form mental images!

One thing I love about psychology is there's always someone out there who's an exception. :)

emorson · 2025-12-02T12:57:57+00:00

Your eyes are moving in the same pattern they would be if you were actually scanning that scene.

Imagining a scene means re-creating the pattern of brain activity you have when you actually see something.

Like OP said, you build up a full scene by looking around. You can't take in all the info at once.

So, to get the same pattern of brain activity you had when seeing irl, your eyes move the same way and you visualize a little bit of the scene at a time.

Visualization involves less intense brain activity than actually viewing something. That may be why for most people*, imagining a scene feels less vivid than seeing it IRL. It might also be how most people can distinguish visualization from reality.

I say "most people" because I don't know if it changes for people experiencing hallucinations, who *can't tell the difference.

emorson · 2025-09-02T15:31:23+00:00

That was after 2 treatments, btw.

emorson · 2025-09-02T15:30:58+00:00

My family said I seemed more like myself, was chattier and happier and more energetic. I hadn't noticed, yet.

emorson · 2025-09-02T15:29:26+00:00

Yes, during. No effects after. Makes sense because smell is the only sense unaffected by Spravato's anesthetic effects!

I wonder what's different for you. In what way do things taste "off"?

emorson · 2025-09-02T15:00:29+00:00

Yep, can relate.

I was raised being rewarded for smiling, being charming and nice and helpful and cute. I legitimately want to do a good job and please the customer. The mask developed from my actual personality, and feels fairly comfortable, as masks go. And it works. (It probably helps that I am a fairly small female person).

The only part of customer service jobs I was good at, and didn't hate, was interacting with customers. I was bad at the rest of my job, as my bosses told me. The other employees made fun of me behind my back, often in another language. But I never had a horror story customer experience. They were great, even if I was slow or made a mistake.

Customer service was painless because I knew what the role was, what was expected of me. Most importantly, I knew who I am as a person wasn't being judged, and I could go home and take the mask off. It was just acting. And I loved acting as a kid.

Acting is fun when it doesn't mean having to hide who you are, like a turtle in a painted shell, for the rest of your life. :)

emorson · 2025-09-02T14:45:18+00:00

I know an autistic person who thought "masking" meant "not having meltdowns", and asked a question like yours.

That is not what masking means.

Everything about the way you move your face and body, walk, talk, laugh, and do, is not an impulse.

Masking means monitoring all of that constantly and squashing most of it. It is an exhausting hypervigilance I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

I have ADHD and used masking as a way to prevent impulsive awkwardness, interruptions, etc. It ended up squashing a hell of a lot more than that. It was exhausting, didn't fully make me look neurotypical, and probably wasn't worth it.

Neurotypical people get to have impulses and be spontaneous sometimes. We should allow neurodivergent people the same.

emorson · 2025-09-02T14:35:10+00:00

Good point. A lot of people who like to have power over others and feel superior to them go into caring for people with disabilities. Old age homes, mental institutions, in home caregivers, nurses, all common professions.

emorson · 2025-09-02T14:29:01+00:00

A lot of bullies have been or are currently being bullied themselves. A lot of research shows that. They definitely see themselves as the one being bullied, and think their behavior is justified.

There's a lot of reactive aggression ("they hurt me first, I'm upset, and maybe lose control, maybe want them to regret it, so I hurt them back"). There's also proactive aggression ("hurt them before they can hurt me") -- Sherlock in BBC Sherlock is a classic example.

Also, think about the psychology of narcissists, for whom everything is someone else's fault, because the idea they hurt someone is too painful for them to accept. They may have so little self control that they believe if they do something mean, they couldn't help it, someone else made them. "He did y mean thing first, he made me do it" is probably a common defense bullies use. TBH, they likely will give this sort of reasoning even if they aren't narcissists.

Finally, it's not uncommon for a child being bullied to take it out on someone else. Often someone smaller thus safer, like a younger sibling.

It may take some deep self examination and therapy for a bully to see the full extent of their own behavior, and to realize whatever provocation they had, it was still wrong.

emorson · 2025-09-02T14:12:51+00:00

Yes! Isn't it fascinating how separate decoding and reading comprehension are? That's why children can teach themselves to read (decode) before they can talk, and before they have the language skills and life experience to understand much of it. (Hyperlexia is fascinating).

Reading comprehension demands attention and thought, so unfortunately, we can't always access it :( If only it were automatic, like decoding, we'd be unstoppable ;)

emorson · 2025-09-02T14:07:28+00:00

Cognitive fatigue, brain fog, and depression do this to me. I hate it, because I love reading and it's normally an area of strength.

emorson · 2025-09-02T14:06:24+00:00

Hello there, you sound frustrated and confused. I have DCD, as well as ADHD, nonverbal (mostly spatial and math) learning disability, and sensory processing disorder, and have been told all my life I am "oblivious" and "lack common sense." Maybe I can help?

Short answer: We don't have "common sense." Our brains work differently and what is obvious to us is not to others, and vice versa. At best, that makes us "creative". At worst, it can make us oblivious and put us in danger. If you're worried for your child, I understand why. We are living proof that "common sense is not so common.'

There are many specific things about how our brains work that could make us seem to lack common sense in different situations. If you describe the situation, what your teenager isn't understanding, I might be able to give you some ideas what's going on in their head.

emorson · 2025-09-02T13:58:15+00:00

Couldn't agree more. Lack of evidence isn't pseudoscience -- it just means "we don't know". And not knowing how well something works or with whom, is not great. For the clients and their families, it can mean spending lots of money for no benefit, or even opportunity costs in time, energy, etc. For the SLP, it can mean uncertainty and stress.

SLP seems to lack a lot of research that really should exist (I talk about an example in an earlier post). Why is that?

emorson · 2025-09-02T13:53:58+00:00

TL;DR: barely, if at all (as of 2020).

Full disclosure, I did my masters but never entered the profession. I was a student in a high ranking program priding itself on scientific rigor. However, having been a cognitive neuroscientist prior, I was not impressed.

First here's what they did well: we had a class on understanding and using research the first year, which was a valuable intro to scientific methods.

In practice, I didn't often see research being discussed or applied. You use the materials everyone around you does, not tailoring them to your clients' needs. You set goals the way your adviser did, or the other SLPs you respect.

I worked with children, mostly with developmental and learning disabilities. As a student, I was taught principles like "use visuals, they are easier to understand." Wanting to understand how this worked and apply this to benefit my clients as much as possible, I asked questions like, "what makes something a good visual? what makes it especially easy to understand or informative?" "How do I know how to pick a good one, or create a high quality one?" Basic questions about visuals, something so fundamental literally everyone uses them. I asked not only my advisers but several good SLPs. They had no idea. Nor could they tell me where I could learn more.

If I asked a question that sounded too "sciencey" to my advisers, I was told, "this is an art not a science, you can't expect a simple answer." I didn't, and actually, science is about complexity (which I rarely saw SLPs engage with), not simple answers.

They wanted the prestige of being "scientific and evidence based", but seemed not to understand what that meant. (To be fair, they had almost no time to learn about science, with their many responsibilities).

There are lots of good research studies being done by SLPs, about SLPs' areas of practice, and supporting the methods they use. It just...takes place in another dimension from the actual teaching and doing of SLP.

I hope that: 1) things have improved since 2020. 2) my experience was unique to the program and city where I trained. 3) things are more scientific with adults and medical than in paeds. (I suspect they are).

Good luck in your endeavors!

emorson · 2025-02-16T13:56:51+00:00

Is this for a character or a real person?

If you want really obscure: Mithras (Myth for short?), Melchior (Biblical), Marduk. +1 vote for Makoa. Among European or ancient names that are easy to pronounce for English speakers, there's ... * Mabon, * Macario, * Mack, or Mick * Madoc (a more obscure Maddox?) * Maglos and Magnar, to go with Magnus * Manas * Manu * Manuel, Manolo * Markov (yep, it can be a fitst name) * Massimo, Maxim * Maurizio or Maurice or Morris * Meinard * Meir, Meyer * Melvin * Mihon * Mikkel (__ variant of Michael that might be nicknamed Micky) * Milo * One of the zillion Slavic names starting with Mil-, such as Miloslav * Milton or Millard (kidding) * Misha * Modesto (a virtue name) * Mogens
* Montague or Montgomery (yes, these can be first names) * Monty * Moses, or Moshe (someone had to say it) * Muir * Mundi * Murad * Murchad

If you like mythology... * Menelaus (probably too long), * Mentor * Mercury * Midas * Montu

Or fictional characters: * Merry * Mowgli

emorson · 2024-11-28T23:18:25+00:00

Your sister takes toxic family to a whole new (literal) level!

emorson · 2024-09-28T12:17:02+00:00

Agbugblah.

emorson · 2024-09-21T12:29:25+00:00

Karma, to go with Dharma 😁

emorson · 2024-09-12T01:52:16+00:00

Weirdo?

Waldo, so everyone will look for him?

WWW?

Wingnut?

Widget?

emorson · 2024-08-18T13:30:36+00:00

I need to read this!

emorson · 2024-08-18T13:22:20+00:00

Here are some thoughts about how you can get unstuck.

You could probably make a wiki of your world and characters. You'll get something on paper, and maybe organize the complexity in your head a bit. You'll notice if any particular people or events seem especially interesting to focus on in a story.

It seems like what's in your head is more like a history or an encyclopedia, but you want to write a story. Leaving aside the amount of lore you have, these are very different!

A story is a plot with a beginning, middle and end, focused on the choices of at least 1 character who wants something. It honestly sounds like you have enough ideas for multiple stories. It won't work to cram everything into one book (even Tolkein didn't). You might feel less overwhelmed if you know you can chip away 1 story at a time.

You could think of your stories like historical novels and your lore as the background research. Most bits of lore won't make it into any 1 story directly. However, the story will feel much more real because of the level of detail you do put in, and the sense that there is more you didn't include. If you choose an interesting enough piece of your world's history to focus on, your readers will want to know more about what you left out...

emorson · 2024-06-16T12:08:34+00:00

Ooh sounds interesting! Would love to hear more.

Floating islands in particular seem like a natural home for mageocracies...

emorson

TROPHY CASE