Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 April 5

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April 5

Synchronized periods

I was wondering if women's periods can synchronize at the same time. This thought crossed my mind since I have female family members who all simultaneously seem to have avoided a particular social event (don't ask) and I suspect it could be because they started their periods at roughly the same time. I'm clueless since I don't have a vagina. 78.146.104.179 (talk) 06:56, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Synchronization for periods is actually very common, but it's more likely that they all just quite simply decided they didn't want to go to this 'particular social event', and probably nothing whatsoever to do with periods. It's more likely to do with the fact that they just wanted to do something else. Females can function perfectly well whilst having a period. That's why we still have them. They don't take a week off work every month. They just couldn't be arsed going to this 'social event' and decided to do something else. It's that simple. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 08:26, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

I suggest you read our article on menstrual synchrony.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:24, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Well, according to Greatist.com there is no definitive proof that women's cycles match up. What is more likely to happen is that females will mimic one another's cycle. For example, if three girls live together, they will all menstruate at different times, but they will all start to experience the same premenstrual problems around the same time. General consensus is that according to evolution it would be nearly impossible for women's cycles to sink because it would mean that there would be entire weeks where pregnancy is impossible, therefore giving all of our ancestors the same birth date. According to Scientific American this is what most psychologists and anthropologists believe. This theory is further backed up by the Science Based Medicine website, though this source also claims that it is common for females living together to have their cycles 7 days apart. As a female though, I can attest to the fact that "matching cycles" does happen, and I am currently breaking out because of my roommates. A whole group of females who don't want to attend a function though probably just didn't want to go. Sometimes it's a great excuse to just have a girls' day if you all claim to come down with a bad case of the cramps. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rizydorek (talk • contribs) 18:53, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Civilization

It seems striking that all of the earliest civilizations developed in the mid-latitude regions of the northern hemisphere. Why did none develop near the equator, or in the mid-latitude regions of the southern hemisphere? Is it simply random chance due to the small sample size, so that in an alternate universe, I'd be asking why no civilizations developed far from the equator? --98.232.12.250 (talk) 08:51, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

There's a lot more land in the northern hemisphere. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:17, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

(EC) Define 'civilisation'. China is not exactly 'mid-latitude'. In Africa, there were many ancient civilisations. The entirety of the Americas also had quite a few. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 10:19, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia calls the Olmec "major". Not major, but "major". That seemed striking to me. It thinks their artwork was striking. InedibleHulk (talk) 11:29, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Not anymore it doesn't. --Jayron32 01:17, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

That's some fine striking. InedibleHulk (talk) 17:35, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

See Guns, Germs, and Steel for an eloquently stated (and plausible) position on the influence of geography on civilisation - in short, the availability of plants and animals for domestication played a large role, as did the comparative easy of translating cultured plants and animals east/west as opposed to north/south. For another theory on larger political entities, see hydraulic empire. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 11:38, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Germans

Do contemporary Germans still feel guilty over WW2? GotGlasses? (talk) 11:54, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Reuel Abraham's conscience turned him Jewish. Not sure how he feels today. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:23, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Günter Grass didn't admit fighting for the Nazis till 2012. Suggests shame. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:34, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Oskar Gröning claimed he only felt indirect, involuntary guilt, as he didn't kill anyone, but was a "small cog in the gears" at Auschwitz. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:38, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

GotGlasses?, thank you for asking a question at the Reference desk. Unfortunately, your question cannot be answered at this time. Please go back under your bridge. Kindest regards, Peter in the other Canada, the one with deserts instead of tundra, aka --Shirt58 (talk) 12:51, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Josef Scheungraber is officially guilty of war crimes, which he denied committing. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:52, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Helmut Schmidt "spoke apologetically" for Germany's role in 1981. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:56, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Gerhard Sommer is officially guilty. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:58, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

That covers everything Wikipedia knows about the last German soldiers. InedibleHulk (talk) 13:04, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Um, I'm fairly sure when the OP said contemporary Germans, they meant contemporary now, not contemporary at the time of WW2. Nil Einne (talk) 15:07, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Those six are both. Who else would have a reason to feel guilty? InedibleHulk (talk) 15:18, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Aside from those who use time machines to kill Hitler, of course. InedibleHulk (talk) 15:21, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Right but that wasn't stated by you until now but is an important part of your answer to the OP's question. Actually I have doubts that the OP is particularly interested in people who were contemporary at the time of the war. Nil Einne (talk) 17:32, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

He can ask a German, if so. InedibleHulk (talk) 18:43, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

There's an article on German collective guilt, but it seems like a dead concept. InedibleHulk (talk) 15:26, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

No they don't by and large, and neither should they. It's been 70 years! 82.21.7.184 (talk) 15:56, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Another article: Vergangenheitsbewältigung. ---Sluzzelin talk 17:43, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

I read today that Greece tried to guilt trip Germany into giving it 279 billion Euros. Germany said that was dumb. Greece presumably said it was worth a shot. InedibleHulk (talk) 17:34, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

In public online

Why is it that if a man or woman walked around naked in public they would be arrested, but posting a picture of themselves naked onto a public forum is acceptable? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 177.10.250.18 (talk) 18:25, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

The premiss of this question is very jurisdiction-dependent. See public nudity for our article. Note that it contains several photographs of the subject-matter. Tevildo (talk) 18:36, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Who says it's "acceptable"? Anthony Weiner had to resign as a Congressman because of it. And This guy was charged for sending stuff to an underage girl. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:56, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Anthony Weiner, eh. Nominative determinism at its finest. --TammyMoet (talk) 10:51, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Nom-? no, tha poor boy, inherited Dislexia (see Weiner)--Askedonty (talk) 14:03, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

"Wiener" and "Weiner" mean different things, but they both tend to be pronounced "weener", at least in America. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:13, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Some nations require porn-sites to have the only those over age 18 may enter disclaimer which, if children were extremely honest, would make it similar to a strip-club; nudity behind an age wall. The level of acceptable public nudity also varies greatly across the globe; a number of highly developed and undeveloped nations allow full nudity, while more conservative and religious nations have strict rules against nudity, particularly female nudity. 70.50.122.38 (talk) 23:06, 5 April 2015 (UTC)