Society
Exploring "Why" questions about Society
480 articles
Why are contests in Canada always open to “legal residents of Canada (excluding Quebec)”?
Quebec has a bunch of policies about sweepstakes that the rest of Canada does not. Rather than spending a bunch of money to make sure all the rules are followed, companies prefer to just not run the c
why are American college athletes unpaid?
in a way, they are getting paid. they get a free ride for their "work", is it fair? that's another story.
Why do we put the dollar sign in front of a number but pronounce it, number first than currency. But when we have a percentage we place the symbol after and pronounce it as is?
The decimal point. [Whole dollars](_URL_0_) are on the left, so the dollar sign is on the left. [Partial dollars](_URL_1_) (cents) are on the right side of the decimal point, so the cent sign is on th
Why doesn’t stereo volume stop at a point before distortion occurs in stock speakers? Conversely, why don’t stock speakers hold up to the capability of their stereo counterparts?
Manufacturers often make more variety of speaker than head unit, so low quality speakers are often paired with more powerful head units. They want to keep the overall system inexpensive, but they're n
Why is everyone’s go-to immediate crisis response “Oh my God” or “Jesus Christ” regardless of their religion? Even atheists say it too.
Because that is what our culture teaches you. The kind of language you use depends a lot on the language other people around you use, the kind of language you heard growing up, and the things you were
why do large amounts of prize money, (e.g. $100,000 from a game show or a lottery prize) get taxed so much?
Lottery winnings are taxed as ordinary income at the Federal level, and by most states. The highest U.S. tax rate is 39.6%, and it's applied to any income over $418,401 for an individual.
Why we need people to represent us in the government when we have technology to do otherwise?
Time. QQ before I begin - without going to Google, who is your rep in the House? Your Senator?
Why do so many people support Bernie Sanders? What makes him different from all those presidents that said one thing before they were elected and did the opposite when they were elected?
Look, it's simple. He makes the best-tasting chicken for the money, no one can argue with that
Why does medical research need so much of donated money when pharmaceutical companies are super rich and can afford to do the research themselves?
Pharmaceutical companies make drugs. They do not invent new surgical techniques, new equipment or new courses of treatment. Even in situations where the solution turns out to be different drugs, the r
Why people think illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the USA when it is difficult for Americans to move to other countries?
It's really really easy for Americans to immigrate illegally, US citizens don't need a visa for most places, you could cross into Canada saying you're there to visit and stay working illegally. Same i