General Knowledge
Exploring "Why" questions about General Knowledge
481 articles
Why are they called “Checks?”
As in a cheque? There have been suggestions that the word chek comes from ancient Pahlavi language which was used in the Achaemenid Empire in Persia. It may have spread from there to Arabic where saqq
Why is it when oil prices were $110/barrel I paid $4/gallon at the pump, but now that they are $60/barrel I pay $3/gallon at the pump?
That is only the price of crude oil, which still needs to be refined in order to be used in your car. The price of crude oil is not going to be exactly proportional to the price of gasoline because th
Why is “I don’t like sand” line from Attack of the Clones considered so bad?
It's supposed to be Anakin's smooth line to use on Padme and it's just so derpy and cringeworthy. Lucas has such a tin ear for dialogue that Harrison Ford said to him, "You can type this shit, George,
Why are the directions “left” and “right” associated with liberal and conservative political philosophies?
It comes from the French Revolution when people loyal to religion and the king would gather to the right of the president of the National Assembly while supporters of the revolution would gather on th
Why do construction workers use big tall tower things to pour concrete? Pic Inside
That's called a [concrete pump](_URL_0_). It's used when you need to inject pressurized concrete someplace rather than just pouring it. If you're filling an underground hole with concrete to be the ba
Why are teachers paid so little?
For the most part, teachers are 'public servants'. They work for the local governmental department of education....rather than working for a business. A business usually gets money by selling a produc
Why is most of society monogamous?
In the way olden days, if you went around having sex with anyone, you'd have no idea who actually fathered the child. Cultural norms grew around the realization that if you were monogamous, you could
Why isn’t a dimensionless number negligible in a calculation if it theoretically has no physical properties
The numbers don't have to have a physical correspondence to nevertheless reflect physical reality. Pi is not negligible, it's a derived ratio. It's required to make the math work.
why is it more instinctual to hold our breaths while lifting something heavy, than it is to breath properly?
when lifting an heavy object, your body needs to become rigid enough to lift such object. So you start tensing your muscles to create a strong enough structure capable to lift. Breathing involve the d
Why are there so much rape in India?
Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Why there seems to be so much rape in India ](_URL_3_) 1. [ELI5: Why is there so much gang raping in India?