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December 29
How are years written in India?
I've noticed that some articles about India write years as 2,023 instead of 2023. Is this common and if yes, only in certain regions or languages? Date-related articles such as Date and time notation in India don't mention that style, nor does it seem to be used anywhere else. --2001:871:22B:B81E:FC2C:18DE:F60:C6F8 (talk) 18:08, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- If you see this in the Population section of an infobox, the commas are probably introduced automatically by the use of {{Infobox settlement}}, which inserts commas in numerals of four or more digits in its population_total and other population parameters. Years should not be used in these parameters. --Lambiam 23:04, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- I don't think commas are used for writing years or dates. I am an Indian, and if I were to write a date, I would never use commas in the numerical form of dates. But in other numbers which are used for certain data, commas are used to separate digits. Yashrajkarthike (talk) 14:07, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
- OP, can you link to some examples of where you have seen this? 2A02:C7B:228:3400:6512:B1E5:DFB6:B10B (talk) 14:19, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
Wisconsinite bald eagles
I know there are two subspecies of bald eagles: the southern one and the northern one. Which kind lives in Wisconsin? EAGLITIZED (talk) 20:42, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- According to our article Bald eagle, the southern bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus, is found in the southern United States and Baja California Peninsula, whereas the northern bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis, is found in the northern United States, Canada and Alaska. These ranges, as defined, do not overlap, which is somewhat implausible, but Wisconsin is definitely one of the more northern US states. --Lambiam 22:40, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- Exactly which states and provinces do northern bald eagles live in. Name every single one if you can. 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 19:28, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- I don't know how reliable they are, but the few websites I've found in the last couple minutes (1, 2, 3) all list Haliaeetus leucocephalus as the species...which is the Southern variety. --Onorem (talk) 22:50, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- No, Haliaeetus leucocephalus is the overall species that includes both subspecies. The Southern variety is Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.111.170 (talk) 22:56, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- Thanks. Guess I misread. I didn't think it made sense. --Onorem (talk) 23:41, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- No, Haliaeetus leucocephalus is the overall species that includes both subspecies. The Southern variety is Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.111.170 (talk) 22:56, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- [Edit Conflicts] From our article Bald Eagle, section Taxonomy:
- "There are two recognized subspecies of bald eagle:
- H[aliaeetus] l[eucocephalus] leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) is the nominate subspecies. It is found in the southern United States and Baja California Peninsula.
- H. l. washingtoniensis (Audubon, 1827), synonym H. l. alascanus Townsend, 1897, the northern subspecies, is larger than southern nominate leucocephalus. It is found in the northern United States, Canada and Alaska."
- Wisconsin being a northern state, Bald Eagles seen there are therefore more likely to be H. l. washingtoniensis: see also the range map in the infobox. The Range section also says that the northern birds are migratory, whereas those in the south are resident.
- The article's text does not clearly state where the migratory birds migrate from and to: this could stand improvement from someone more knowledgeable who can access relevent sources. {The poster formerly knwn as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.111.170 (talk) 22:52, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
- Bald eagles in northern Wisconsin aren't migratory. I have a map that says bald eagles are found throughout the state year round. Some in the northern part of their range winter in the southern half. 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 19:23, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
December 30
Two colors of bald eagles?
I know bald eagles are dark brown, but in some photos, they appear black (I'm not talking about the juveniles. in the photos I'm taking about, they're black with a white head and tail like adults). EAGLITIZED (talk) 16:45, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- Lighting.--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 17:30, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- As with the varying apparent colors in illustrations within Bald eagle. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:25, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
Irish golden eagles
I know it's strange to ask this question, but I heard there were sightings of golden eagles in Ireland, and I was just wondering which cities, towns, villages etc. they were found in EAGLITIZED (talk) 16:49, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- According to [1] and [2], it was reintroduced in County Donegal. --Wrongfilter (talk) 17:00, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- Was the golden eagle really reintroduced to Ireland, I thought there were only sightings people didn't know about. 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 18:55, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Do those web sites not look legit to you or do you have any other reason to doubt what they say? --Wrongfilter (talk) 19:18, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- I didn't doubt any websites, This is the first time I learned golden eagles were reintroduced and I just got confused... 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 18:19, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- Do those web sites not look legit to you or do you have any other reason to doubt what they say? --Wrongfilter (talk) 19:18, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Was the golden eagle really reintroduced to Ireland, I thought there were only sightings people didn't know about. 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 18:55, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
Subspecies of white-tailed-sea-eagles
An article on Wikipedia said that there are two subspecies of white tailed sea eagles, but there are no photos that compare them. I need all the information on the differences of the two subspecies. EAGLITIZED (talk) 16:59, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- From ourown article: "At one time an eastern subspecies (H. a. brooksi) was proposed as well but there is little evidence supporting this as more than a case of clinal variation in colouring and size (i.e. the eastern average slightly darker and smaller than more westerly ones)." Basically, the division into two subspecies isn't certain and, even if it were, it wouldn't necessarily be evident from photos.--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 17:29, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
Texan stellers sea eagles, and Irish bald eagles, I don't think so!
I learned a stellers sea eagle wound up in Texas after a snow storm. Texas isn't even close to Asia where they normally live. I also know bald eagles have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and wound up in Ireland. How does a bird fly that far? EAGLITIZED (talk) 17:21, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
"How does a bird fly that far?" See Arctic tern for an example of a bird where this is a built-in feature, not an accident. So, yes, birds can fly an awful long way. Xuxl (talk) 18:25, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- The record holder so far is the bar-tailed godwit. "The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal" according to our article. One individual flew non-stop from Alaska to Tasmania, Australia, a distance of 13,560 kilometres (8,430 mi) in just over 11 days reported here by the Guardian. Mikenorton (talk) 21:53, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
- By flapping its wings.
- Taking r the lift-to-drag ratio of the bird's wing, g the acceleration of gravity, H the energy released by burning a certain amount of fat and k the efficiency at which this energy can be used for propulsion, and realising that work needed equals trust times distance, that trust equals weight divided by lift-to-drag ratio and that its mass decreases as it burns its fat, it's trivial to find the differential equation relating mass m to distance covered s:
- which leads to
- Filling in some plausible numbers (r=14, k=0.2, H=3.8⋅107 J/kg), this tells us that a bird can fly 13,560 km without foraging if it's able to burn an amount of fat equal to about 70% of its initial body weight. If the bird encounters convenient winds, in particular rising air, it may need less fat. It's pushing the limits of what's biologically possible, but it's no magic. PiusImpavidus (talk) 14:08, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Re-reading my copy of A world on the wing by Scott Weidensaul (ISBN 978-1-5098-4105-9) it says on page 66 that they do this by feeding up prior to departure from Alaska in September, more than doubling their weight, giving them thick layers of fat. Their "gizzard and intestines shrink and atrophy, while their pectoral muscles double in mass....as does their heart muscle, and their lungs increase in capacity". They make use of favourable autumn tailwinds to give them a headstart for the first part of their trek, powering on until they reach the austral westerlies that give them a final boost. They do it all again twice in the spring, travelling back to Alaska via a stopover in China/Korea. Mikenorton (talk) 15:45, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- This autumn, the fall migration along the eastern seaboard of North America was interrupted by Hurricane Lee, causing large numbers of American birds to turn up unexpectedly along the west coasts of England, Ireland and Scotland, driving the local birders wild with excitement, see another Guardian article. Mikenorton (talk) 15:57, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- The range map in our article is pretty poor, but it seems to indicate that, if Alaska existed, it would fall within this species' "vagrant range". Going from Alaska to Texas is a fair jump, but it's not like they're coming from Iraq or something. Matt Deres (talk) 00:24, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
December 31
Why cancel the entire Eurostar service?
Something in the news struck me as odd yesterday, and maybe some of our British contributors can enlighten me.
It was was reported that the tunnel in High Speed 1 passing under the Thames was flooded and therefore all Eurostar trains between the UK and the Continent were cancelled. 41 long and full trains cancelled, thousands of travellers stuck in London, Paris and Brussels. I know that the pickup shoes for third rail electrification needed to run on the conventional lines in SE England have been removed from the Eurostar trains, so running to one of the stations in South London is no longer an option (the first time I used Eurostar it still ran to Waterloo Station). But Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International (walking distance from Northfleet station) could still be reached from the Channel Tunnel, or so it appeared from the news. Why did they not run the Eurostar trains to one of those stations, and use local trains or even buses to connect to central London? From the names of those stations, I'd expect that border check facilities are at least available, even if not permanently staffed. PiusImpavidus (talk) 14:55, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Very good question, I asked my wife that last night whilst watching the news. I do know that Ashford has been run down and very few (or no) Eurostars stop there, much to the disgust of the local residents who have to travel to London in order to come back! Martin of Sheffield (talk) 15:36, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- I would suspect reasons would include 1) Where are the units? (If at Temple Mills then they are affected by the flood) and, where do they need to go to be prepared between journeys? 2) Where are the staff? Can you get Eurostar and border staff to Ashford/Ebbsfleet in sufficient numbers and in the timescale needed? 3) Even if you can get the units and the staff to Ashford or Ebbsfleet, what are the facilities like? They've been mothballed since 2020. DuncanHill (talk) 15:47, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Thanks. Yes, any units at the Temple Mills depot would be useless. I suppose some units would have spend the night in Paris or Brussels, but fewer units than usual would be available. Maybe enough to run a service from Ashford to Lille? But if the facilities have been mothballed since 2020, I can imagine it could be difficult to put them back in service on such short notice. PiusImpavidus (talk) 19:34, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- I would suspect reasons would include 1) Where are the units? (If at Temple Mills then they are affected by the flood) and, where do they need to go to be prepared between journeys? 2) Where are the staff? Can you get Eurostar and border staff to Ashford/Ebbsfleet in sufficient numbers and in the timescale needed? 3) Even if you can get the units and the staff to Ashford or Ebbsfleet, what are the facilities like? They've been mothballed since 2020. DuncanHill (talk) 15:47, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- DuncanHill's excellent answer might perhaps be supplemented by one other point. Since Brexit, there are now additional checks between the EU and UK. Eurostar has funded new facilities at St Pancras to accommodate them, but still has to leave about 30% of seats empty because there is not enough space nor enough border officials to check a whole train. Since Eurostar service to Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International was suspended before Brexit, those station have never had facilities for the new checks. Although Eurostar pays for them, the arrangements would have to be implemented by the Home Office. Both its own leadership and academics have questioned whether the Home Office's border operations are "fit for purpose", so it seems unlikely that they could or would set up new border controls in the remaining hours of the Saturday of a holiday weekend. It took more than two years to get new border controls implemented at Amsterdam; I seem to remember Nigel Harris attributed this to Home Office funding constraints, but he has deleted all his tweets so I may have misremembered. Matt's talk 22:37, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Alright, thanks. It appears that Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International are misnomers now, as those station don't really support international trains any longer. It's a pity that all those border formalities are needed. In Benelux, Germany, France etc. it's much easier to improvise some solution. The Frankfurt–Amsterdam trains get frequently rerouted from their usual Emmerich border crossing to the Venlo border crossing, with an additional call at a station that normally doesn't see any international trains. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:51, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- The border formalities are needed because politicians have decided they are needed. I doubt there is evidence that the net effect is positive. --Lambiam 14:13, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- Alright, thanks. It appears that Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International are misnomers now, as those station don't really support international trains any longer. It's a pity that all those border formalities are needed. In Benelux, Germany, France etc. it's much easier to improvise some solution. The Frankfurt–Amsterdam trains get frequently rerouted from their usual Emmerich border crossing to the Venlo border crossing, with an additional call at a station that normally doesn't see any international trains. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:51, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
Coastal white-tailed sea-eagles
I learned apparently white-tailed sea-eagles were reintroduced to southwestern Ireland and some have expanded throughout the coast. Is there a map that actually says that, because the one on Wikipedia doesn't? 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 19:42, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- How about this one? --Wrongfilter (talk) 20:20, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
Bald eagle confusion
Once, while at a Raptor Education Group Inc, they had a bald eagle named Theo, which was a male. Even though it was a male it was huge! It appeared to be over a meter long, which is a large size for a male bald eagle in Wisconsin. I'm pretty sure it's a female. Am I right? 2600:6C44:627F:5865:D028:C3FF:FE4B:8D02 (talk) 20:19, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- Contact details for Raptor Education Group Inc are [3]. A question about one of their birds should be asked there. --Wrongfilter (talk) 20:22, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
- If they have already claimed it's a male, I doubt whether they will change their opinion based merely on the size it "appeared" to you. Shantavira|feed me 09:35, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- On the other hand, the Raptor Education Group says Theo is female. [4] --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 16:23, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
January 1
Parliamentary procedure
What exactly is the difference between "majority of those present" and "majority of those present and voting"? 2601:646:8080:FC40:7042:7EFC:5F93:408A (talk) 03:41, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- You haven't told us which parliament, but where I live, Australia, such a situation would be explained by members abstaining from voting. HiLo48 (talk) 03:58, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- In some cases, there may be members present who do not vote. Members might wish to be present in order to constitute a quorum without voting.
- There are also variations in how abstentions are handled. In some public parliamentary bodies (such as the European Parliament, see Rule 180.3), abstentions can be formally registered in the same was a Yes or No vote. However, this is not universal. In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, only Aye (Yes) or No votes can be recorded. Therefore, members sometimes cast both votes to make clear that they are intentionally abstaining, avoiding accusations that they are neglecting their duties. Matt's talk 15:58, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- So what about the US Congress? 2601:646:8080:FC40:7042:7EFC:5F93:408A (talk) 02:51, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Standard parliamentary procedure: if you are present and vote vs present and anything else (formal abstention, or just ignoring the vote). DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 23:46, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks! So in "majority of those present", the denominator is the total of those present regardless of how or whether they voted, whereas in "majority of those present and voting", the denominator is the total number of yes+no votes, and does not include "present" votes or any other kind of formal abstention votes -- is that correct? 2601:646:8080:FC40:2480:B8DC:C513:1FD0 (talk) 02:52, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- Standard parliamentary procedure: if you are present and vote vs present and anything else (formal abstention, or just ignoring the vote). DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 23:46, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- See Voting methods in deliberative assemblies § United States. --Lambiam 00:12, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- So what about the US Congress? 2601:646:8080:FC40:7042:7EFC:5F93:408A (talk) 02:51, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
January 2
Bakery scene in movie
For me, the bakery scene is an iconic scene in the movie (Once Upon a Time in America). There are cakes of all kinds; for example, could the cakes have looked like cakes for religious or personal holidays, or both? Thanks. https://www.google.it/search?client=safari&sca_esv=594974358&channel=iphone_bm&sxsrf=AM9HkKmDYhxHmeq2qQWr2DMk9ja84P8t7w:1704154931805&q=once+upon+a+time+in+america+birthday+cakes&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNyOjqt72DAxUkcvEDHSEND58Q0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1964&bih=965&dpr=0.9#imgrc=PasuH-dw4lcXkM 5.95.197.140 (talk) 00:25, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- They just look like everyday cupcakes to me, but the very first link returned when I follow your search query has details about the dessert, which it calls a "charlotte russe cake". Matt Deres (talk) 17:23, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- By the way, this works as well: https://www.google.it/search?q=once+upon+a+time+in+america+birthday+cakes&tbm=isch —Tamfang (talk) 21:46, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
You can see better from here; they also look like cakes for personal occasions for example, like what do I know like birthdays or other holidays. It may be perhaps... https://www.google.it/search?client=safari&sca_esv=595140811&channel=iphone_bm&sxsrf=AM9HkKllhzShClOjHtOYaonno2cnNAmJOg:1704221727551&q=once+upon+a+time+in+america+bakery+scene&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjKlMHVsL-DAxUdW_EDHWsXDMQQ0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1964&bih=965&dpr=0.9#imgrc=m6AxfRtpodcRYM — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.95.197.140 (talk) 19:00, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- What sets cakes for personal occasions apart from other cakes is that they have a text written on them that is appropriate for the occasion. The first two cakes on raised platforms seen in the GIF are large enough that someone could order one to be decorated with "Happy Birthday" lettering or some other congratulatory message. The specific cakes seen are, however, already decorated in ways that may make it challenging to add a text. As we only have a view from the side, that is not something that can be made out. --Lambiam 00:07, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
True, we have a partial and suboptimal view; probably writing (and even candles) were not yet in use at that time, so it could be possible. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.95.197.140 (talk) 09:12, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- The tradition of having text written on cakes and of putting candles on birthday cakes is older.[5][6][7] Obviously, custom text needs to be ordered in advance; cakes with custom text will not be on display in the vitrine of a pastry shop. --Lambiam 12:57, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
Need help with naming convention
- Eleusinian Mysteries Hydria (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
@Choliamb and UndercoverClassicist: The editor who created this article meant well, but I don't think the title really works. Please help me come up with a new title for this 1883 archaeological discovery. It's a 4th century BCE hydria that was found in Capua, now held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. Link to LIMC and museum collection. How should an article about the object be named on Wikipedia? Thank you. Viriditas (talk) 05:44, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Titles can be a tricky business in articles like this. What problem with the existing title were you looking to solve?
- A couple of thoughts:
- Italic titles should only be used for works of art that have definitive, agreed-upon titles (e.g. Great Expectations or "The Iliad", not for titles of convenience or descriptions (e.g. Aineta aryballos, Persian Rider.) Admittedly, the line is thin when we're talking about classical works, but in this case there's definitely no universally-used name, so the italics should go.
- As to what the title should be: the overarching guideline is WP:COMMONNAME, which says to use the name by which that thing is generally known to our audience, but I don't think that's much help here; scanning through the sources, the object is generally described rather than named. MOS:TITLE gives five goals: recognisability, naturalness, precision, concision and consistency.
- Honestly, I think the current title is fine for all of those: it isn't wonderfully precise, and there isn't a consistent style between similar articles (compare Three-Bodied Daemon (ACMA 35) vs. Euthydikos Kore vs. Kore 670). To answer the main question in your post, there isn't any specific guideline or house style as to how articles on objects like these should be titled: it's very much writer's preference, and in most cases we defer to that when there's no clear "right" answer (compare MOS:ERA, MOS:RETAIN etc.).
- Another option would be to use a museum-number title, as with the so-called Three-Bodied Daemon, but I'm not generally a fan of those -- they improve precision but at the expense of all four of the other goals, and I don't think that's usually a good trade. UndercoverClassicist T·C 09:27, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- The museum itself uses the title "Hydrie des Mystères d'Éleusis" in French, and "Hydria featuring the Eleusinian Mysteries" in English.[8][9] Especially the latter makes clear this designation is not a proper noun. This is not the only hydria featuring the Eleusinian cult that has been found: here we find:
48a. Gods around the omphalos of Eleusis, on an Attic hydria from Crete. Athens, National Museum. Pp: DAI, Athens. 160
...
49a/ 49b. Gods at the omphalos of Eleusis, on an Attic hydria from Santa Maria in Capua Vetere. Lyons, Palais des Arts. 161
- The hydria from Crete is probably the one depicted here. An unambiguous name for the article is "Hydria from Capua featuring the Eleusinian Mysteries". --Lambiam 10:39, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'd suggest that name fails the concision test, and that ambiguity is only in play if there are other Wikipedia articles with which it might be confused. As an example, we have e.g. Alan Wace, not Alan Wace (archaeologist), because while there have undoubtedly been other people by that name, none of them yet have an article. Is there another Wikipedia article that someone might reasonably be expecting when searching for "Eleusinian Mysteries Hydria"? UndercoverClassicist T·C 11:41, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Yes, they might be expecting an article on Eleusinian Mysteries hydriae in general, or one on the Cretan Eleusinian Mysteries hydria. --Lambiam 12:42, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'd suggest that name fails the concision test, and that ambiguity is only in play if there are other Wikipedia articles with which it might be confused. As an example, we have e.g. Alan Wace, not Alan Wace (archaeologist), because while there have undoubtedly been other people by that name, none of them yet have an article. Is there another Wikipedia article that someone might reasonably be expecting when searching for "Eleusinian Mysteries Hydria"? UndercoverClassicist T·C 11:41, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Responding to ping, but with the caution that I am not a regular contributor to Wikipedia, I have never written or named a new article, and I know nothing of WP naming conventions. For what it's worth, my opinion is that some disambiguation would be a good thing here. As User:Lambiam points out, there is another similar Kerch-style hydria in Athens, National Museum 1443, from Crete, that is frequently cited in discussions of Eleusinian iconography. I usually turn first to Kevin Clinton for any epigraphical or iconographical questions about Eleusis, and in Myth and Cult: The Iconography of the Eleusinian Mysteries), he refers to them as "the Athens hydria" and "the Lyons hydria". I agree that "Hydria from Capua featuring the Eleusinian Mysteries" is not very concise (although, as a non-Wikipedia person, I don't understand why that would be a serious problem, since you can create any number of more concise redirects, right?). In any case, if brevity is paramount, perhaps something like "Eleusinian Mysteries Hydria in Lyons" or "Lyons Eleusinian Mysteries Hydria" would be an acceptable compromise? That's all I have to offer, and in the case of disagreement I defer to UndercoverClassicist, whose understanding of what WP wants is far greater than mine. Cheers, Choliamb (talk) 16:30, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Just to put it on record, I think everything here is very sensible and I'd have no major objection to any of the titles proposed. UndercoverClassicist T·C 19:04, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- In any case, whatever article name is chosen, "hydria" should be spelled with a lower-case "h" unless it is the first word of the name. --Lambiam 23:49, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thank you everyone for your input. I must say, I was surprised to learn that there is no uniform naming convention for archaeological objects. Viriditas (talk) 22:30, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- Only a few years ago the world learned, to its horror, that there was no uniform naming convention for large objects that revolved around stars. They fixed that, but their solution hasn't pleased everyone. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 21:51, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
- There are two major hurdles. To make a catalogue of archaeological objects that can meaningfully be consulted, the objects have to be described as belonging to categories. But many have not been studied sufficiently to assign categories to them; they are stuffed in boxes stowed in cellars or attics of musea, waiting to be examined. If they have been studied, the applicable categories are often unclear; different theories may exist and insights are changing continually. Experts may even have different opinions on whether some categories are even meaningful. A more practical hurdle is the sheer volume. Just the National Archaeological Museum, France, is estimated to hold about 3 million archaeological objects. The British Museum announced in 2023 that it had recorded 1.5 million archaeological objects unearthed by the public.[10] These were found before March 2020; there is a huge backlog. --Lambiam 19:12, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- Wikipedia appears to have the same problem Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/SmallCat dispute. 31.113.52.197 (talk) 19:48, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- Have they considered outsourcing the problem to outside expert team leaders who can work with students and others, such as those participating in voluntourism? Viriditas (talk) 20:53, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Who are "they"? UNESCO? The International Council of Museums? The World Archaeological Congress? --Lambiam 22:55, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- The ~60 person staff of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. It look like they designed the database conventions with the input of participating members of the archaeological community. Viriditas (talk) 23:51, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- The PAS works with a network of volunteers[11] mentored by local Finds Liaison Officers.[12] --Lambiam 09:44, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
- The ~60 person staff of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. It look like they designed the database conventions with the input of participating members of the archaeological community. Viriditas (talk) 23:51, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Who are "they"? UNESCO? The International Council of Museums? The World Archaeological Congress? --Lambiam 22:55, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thank you everyone for your input. I must say, I was surprised to learn that there is no uniform naming convention for archaeological objects. Viriditas (talk) 22:30, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
January 3
Who do so many countries keep their gold at the bank of England. They can store the gold in their own countries.
As above 102.33.34.102 (talk) 17:51, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- The Bank of England stores around half a million bars of gold. They keep track of how many are owned by each client. The client can be a country. The client can be a company. The client can by a person. Having them in the Bank of England provides security becasue they are guaranteed by the bank and replaced if stolen. It also provides ease of use. If I owned some bars there and you owned some bars there, I could easily transfer a bar to you by telling the bank that I wanted to do so. They don't need to actually move a bar of gold. They just update the ownership ledger. As for storing gold in your own country, that is based on the assumption of stability. If a government is overthrown, all gold locally held by the government will be taken by the new government. Having a large supply of gold in the country is an incentive to overthrow the government. By storing it outside the country, the new government has to convince the bank that they should legally have access to the gold. It is far more difficult to do. For example, when the Taliban overthrew the Afghanistan government, they were faced with the task of convincing financial institutions that they should have access to the funds. The United States froze the national funds, refusing to let the Taliban access them. I believe they are still frozen. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 18:12, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building#Gold vault provides some related information. Cullen328 (talk) 22:39, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
- Just get all your gold out before 2060. -- Verbarson talkedits 16:14, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building#Gold vault provides some related information. Cullen328 (talk) 22:39, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
January 5
Geography questions
These questions are not homework. These came to my mind shortly before.
- Why Australia does not have a major desert metropolis like the US has Las vegas and Phoenix?
- Why the United States does not have any city propers with population over 10 million?
- Why there are no countries in Europe over 100 million (other than Russia)?
--40bus (talk) 19:56, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'll have a go, see below under the relevant headings. Adding note after I provided my answers: Very POV, very heart-on-your-sleeve, not for the faint of heart. You have been warned. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:26, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
Question 1
Why should it, when it has all those lovely beaches? 31.113.52.197 (talk) 20:04, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- Because it just doesn't. There weren't any drivers to establish it, being either natural (for a start, if You wanna live somewhere, you want to have a source of food; a riverbank is a good place to establish a city, as is a forest) or socio-economical (right situation or intersection of travel corridors). --Ouro (blah blah) 07:26, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- A desert isn't such a nice place to build big cities. The few big desert cities there are (Khartoum, Cairo, Baghdad, Las Vegas), are usually along a big river (Nile, Tigris, Colorado), providing the city with water for humans, camels, agriculture, ships and today hydro-electricity. Such big desert rivers need a big source of water out of the desert and a way to the sea through the desert. The wet parts of Australia are too small to feed such a river. How did Phoenix and Riyadh get so big then? I'll leave that question to you, but the circumstances must have been quite special. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:45, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- NB: Australia does have Alice Springs as a desert city. Pablothepenguin (talk) 15:57, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Phoenix, Arizona was originaly a farming community, depending on irrigation from the two large rivers that meet there. Las Vegas owes its origin to the peculiarities of the local gambling laws. Alansplodge (talk) 18:10, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- NB: Australia does have Alice Springs as a desert city. Pablothepenguin (talk) 15:57, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
Question 2
Define "city propers". The City of London has a resident population of a few thousand but 40% of the U K's population live in the surrounding region. 31.113.52.197 (talk) 20:11, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- City proper is an administrative area of city. London city proper includes the entire Greater London.
--40bus (talk) 20:27, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'd say that it doesn't have these because that't the way things turned out. The US is a vast place and for many intents and purposes can be defined as a body with fifty countries that differ quite broadly between each other. There are many nice, big cities to live in that offer opportunities for education, work, accommodation and food, and that's sufficient.
- For some reason, the Americans didn't decide to merge their largest urban areas into cities with some sort of central government. The reason must be political. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:53, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Because that would mean a loss of city government positions. If two cities become one, you go from two mayors (etc) to one. Who's going to be in favor of their own unemployment?--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 15:06, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Assuming “Cities Proper” refers to the main city, New York City, and Los Angeles must come close. Pablothepenguin (talk) 15:59, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- See List of United States cities by population for more info. One factor is that large cities are often hemmed in by suburbs, which tends to keep the population of the central city relatively stable. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:09, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- I assume "city proper" means "within the legal city limits". --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 21:53, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Assuming “Cities Proper” refers to the main city, New York City, and Los Angeles must come close. Pablothepenguin (talk) 15:59, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Because that would mean a loss of city government positions. If two cities become one, you go from two mayors (etc) to one. Who's going to be in favor of their own unemployment?--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 15:06, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- If you're asking why the largest city in a given state is not necessarily the capital, there are at least a couple of things to consider. One is that they tended to make capital cities roughly centrally located within the state, which not all big cities are. Another is that there were very few large cities in America originally. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:01, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
Question 3
Does the 100 million include all of Russia, or is it only the European part? 31.113.52.197 (talk) 20:06, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
Because their populations haven't grown enough, and are even declining nowadays. According to List of countries by past and projected future population, no major European country (except maybe transcontinental Turkey) is expected to be much closer to the 100 million mark in 2050 than it is today. --Theurgist (talk) 04:28, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- For one, that r country you named is not Europe. Yes, it's POV, and it's a good POV. Second, I'd say - too little space and too many wars. Europe, even if small, is home to very, very broad and diverse nations that throughout history have fought just too many times to gain that little speck of land to call 'theirs', thereby removing others in the process. Attempts to create a pan-European country (oh yes I'll mention the Romans and Napoleon) that would have a large population have and will fail because the people are just too different. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:26, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Europa has many small countries that kept each other balanced. In some cases, countries were even chopped up and turned into independent areas to keep anyone from getting too dominant. In other parts of the world, some countries managed to dominate and absorb their neighbours (sometimes European colonialism is to blame (North America, Indonesia), sometimes not (China)), giving very big countries with a lot of people. PiusImpavidus (talk) 12:18, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Another thing that will complicate this will be the real possibility of new European nations being formed, which will have small populations. Examples might include, Scotland, Kosovo, Catalonia. These are listed in order of how soon we might expect them to happen and how likely they are Pablothepenguin (talk) 16:07, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Kosovo has already happened. Serbia being pissy about it is irrelevant. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 22:00, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- It's not exactly irrelevant, as it impedes Kosovo's aspired integration into the UN, the EU, and other organizations, blocked either by Serbia itself or by other parties unwilling to open Pandora's box by recognising a breakaway region. By contrast, no one had problems recognising Montenegro or South Sudan, nor will anyone question Bougainville's independence if Papua New Guinea ratifies it. --Theurgist (talk) 04:47, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Kosovo has already happened. Serbia being pissy about it is irrelevant. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 22:00, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Another thing that will complicate this will be the real possibility of new European nations being formed, which will have small populations. Examples might include, Scotland, Kosovo, Catalonia. These are listed in order of how soon we might expect them to happen and how likely they are Pablothepenguin (talk) 16:07, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
What do you call a ruler without units?
I was cleaning out my dad's place when I came upon an oddly marked ruler (this is it, though the picture is bad). Spoiler alert, they call it a mixing stick. If you need to combine fluids in particular ratios, but perhaps at different scales, you could use this baby. I guess. It seems like a niche need when you could just figure out the amounts for any given value pretty easily. So, Q1 is: would it be right to call this thing a ruler or is there a better term for it? The manufacturer calls it a mixing stick, but it clearly does more than stirring a mixture.
Second part: this thing has four scales on it and at first glance I thought they might be cm, inches, and two others, but they're not any scale that I can find. However, the four scales are interrelated in ratios. Scale A matches to Scale B in a ratio of 3:2. Scale B matches to Scale C in a ratio of 5:2, and Scale C matches to Scale D in a ratio of 3:5. (And Scale D matches to Scale A in a ratio of 4:9). This has turned out to be surprisingly helpful to me in drawing. I can measure a source image using Scale B, say, and easily scale an image up or down by moving to another scale. Seems like the kind of thing some other poor artist or draughtsman might make use of. Is this a tool that might be used in those circles under a different name? Matt Deres (talk) 21:13, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- Going by its name, a ruler is literally a device for ruling straight lines. It doesn't need units. HiLo48 (talk) 00:59, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- It's for mixing car paint isn't it? You put paint in your bucket up to a certain level, then the scale shows how far further up you need to fill the bucket with the pigment. So long as the bucket has a constant diameter all the way up it'll work and you don't need units. DuncanHill (talk) 01:48, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- I think your draughtsman would probably remain poor if he insisted on using the stick instead of a scale ruler. fiveby(zero) 02:29, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
Playing in Mecca
Mecca is a closed city so how do non-Muslims, such as Cristiano Ronaldo get to play there? CambridgeBayWeather (solidly non-human), Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 22:01, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
- I can't find a solid reference, but it appears that the Mecca football stadium is outside of the area restricted to Muslim-only. RudolfRed (talk) 04:17, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- The religious prohibition applies to the inner city, the medieval holy city of Mecca, inside the inner of four ring roads. I don't know how far the prohibition by the governing authorities extends, but here is a map from a travel guide showing the "al Haram zone" with some checkpoints, and the King Abdulaziz Stadium is well outside that area and even well outside the outer ring road. --Lambiam 08:03, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- How does Mecca enforce its rules? Do Muslims carry ID cards that say "I am Muslim"? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:28, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- See Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia), aka the Mutawa or 'Religious Police'. Mecca receives many pilgrims and tourists (Muslim and non-Muslim) from outside Saudi Arabia annually: anyone in the 'Muslim only' zone would be expected to carry identity documents with them, and the Mutawa are likely to challenge anyone who visibly acts in a 'non-Muslim' manner (see Hisbah) or visibly appears 'Non-Muslim'. (Doubtless not difficult to spot, in the same way that we residents of the UK find it easy to identify most tourists from the USA on sight, despite no 'racial' differences, through clothing and mannerisms – doubtless the reverse is also true.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.104.88 (talk) 13:59, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Anecdote: I was walking down the streat in Tromso, Norway by myself. A woman stopped me and asked if I was American. I said that I was and asked he knew. She said that only American walk around with a stupid smile for no good reason. Then, she asked if she could practice Hollywood English with me since they only teach English English in schools there. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 14:39, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
- See Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia), aka the Mutawa or 'Religious Police'. Mecca receives many pilgrims and tourists (Muslim and non-Muslim) from outside Saudi Arabia annually: anyone in the 'Muslim only' zone would be expected to carry identity documents with them, and the Mutawa are likely to challenge anyone who visibly acts in a 'non-Muslim' manner (see Hisbah) or visibly appears 'Non-Muslim'. (Doubtless not difficult to spot, in the same way that we residents of the UK find it easy to identify most tourists from the USA on sight, despite no 'racial' differences, through clothing and mannerisms – doubtless the reverse is also true.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.104.88 (talk) 13:59, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- How does Mecca enforce its rules? Do Muslims carry ID cards that say "I am Muslim"? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:28, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- The religious prohibition applies to the inner city, the medieval holy city of Mecca, inside the inner of four ring roads. I don't know how far the prohibition by the governing authorities extends, but here is a map from a travel guide showing the "al Haram zone" with some checkpoints, and the King Abdulaziz Stadium is well outside that area and even well outside the outer ring road. --Lambiam 08:03, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
Thanks all. CambridgeBayWeather (solidly non-human), Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 16:17, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
January 6
Unknown airline that goes to LHR
All i know is that they had black, green & blue. Could be asian or other airline? Serves lhr. 2.103.231.248 (talk) 18:16, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Could be Saudia. An aviation nerd will be better placed to answer correctly if you could identify the shape and placement of the livery. Folly Mox (talk) 18:48, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- No. IT HAD A GREEN AND YELLOW TAIL AND A GREEN ENGINE. HAD BLACK TEXT. 2.103.231.248 (talk) 20:52, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Actually YES IT WAS SAUDIA 2.103.231.248 (talk) 20:53, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Was similar to saudi dreamliner livery 2.103.231.248 (talk) 20:54, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- No it wasnt saudia 2.103.231.248 (talk) 20:54, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Perhaps it is one of the airlines listed here: Airlines operating at London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Air Baltic has dark lettering and its tails and engines are a yellow-green. If it's not that one you could try searching imagery on some of the others listed. Modocc (talk) 21:31, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- No it wasnt saudia 2.103.231.248 (talk) 20:54, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- No. IT HAD A GREEN AND YELLOW TAIL AND A GREEN ENGINE. HAD BLACK TEXT. 2.103.231.248 (talk) 20:52, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Hard to say with just some colours. Even more so as seeing those colours is hard, given the difficult lighting conditions that often happen when observing something in the sky. It would be easier if you also knew what type of aircraft this was. Also, many airlines operate some planes in special liveries, instead of their default.
- If you remember where and when you saw this plane, try finding it on Flightradar24 or some similar site. Without an account, you can playback up to one week ago. PiusImpavidus (talk) 12:06, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- After searching the archives for yesterdays arrivals at 2-3pm gmt it was indeed saudia 2.103.231.248 (talk) 12:21, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
Shampoo Expiration
For the first time ever, I finished off a bottle of shampoo today. I had a bottle as a child, but never finished it before leaving home. I had a bottle in the military, but never finished it before finishing two tours and leaving. I had a bottle in college, but never finished it before I got my PhD and went off looking for a job. I bought one ten years ago (almost to the day) when I got a job and bought a house. It is now, finally, empty. So, I've been searching and found that there are a lot of warnings that using shampoo that is over two years old is very dangerous. But, I cannot find any data on the actual rate of complications. I do not doubt that shampoo can expire, but I'm trying to see if I've simply been overly lucky through most of my life or if the dangers of expired shampoo are exaggerated. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 19:34, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Take a look here. My rule of thumb: If it's not stale, mouldy or dry, it's still usable. I guess shampoo can go stale just like anything else if the preservatives give in, but I guess it won't produce the best results because the chemicals that make up its advertised advantages could plain and simple break down and become little more than a mix of random simple substances. In other words, it will get you cleaner than you are, though the effect may not be as good as you'd expect and you probably won't smell your best on the next day. --Ouro (blah blah) 22:32, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Ouro, I'm sure you're right, but the OP is referring directly to the online mishigas about people coming down with infections from expired shampoo. I think it's absurd, but this kind of concern, namely that about expired products, came to the forefront during the height of the pandemic when people were having trouble finding inventory on the shelves. This is a good example of a pandemic urban legend that may be rooted in some kind of kernal of truth, but is mostly fearmongering. It's super interesting to see how the lockdowns spawned an entirely new level of discourse. Viriditas (talk) 22:40, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- In the newspaper the other day a man was discussing the rations his father received when serving in the Second World War. They included tins of meat carried over from the First World War. 2A02:C7B:228:3400:5558:2319:26C2:7300 (talk) 13:06, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Viriditas... well, all right, so I responded a little off centre, but it's still valid. I'd say that to get a disease from using old shampoo one'd have to be quite unlucky or immunity-deprived. --Ouro (blah blah) 13:55, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- No, I think your response was great. What I’m saying is that the OP is talking about a meme that says you can get a bacterial infection from using expired shampoo. You and I think it’s baseless, but this kind of thing keeps making the rounds. There’s a lot of misinformation online and this is one of the more popular ones. It’s a huge problem in health discussion groups. For example, I can barely participate in vegan and vegetarian discussion groups (my chosen diet) because it is overrun by misinformation. There’s only so many times you can point out that people are spreading nonsense until they turn against you. These are the people that claim veganism cured their cancer and think that eating vegetables will solve every health malady under the sun. They have entire cults of supporters flocking to them. They are the same ones who think expired shampoo is the most dangerous thing in your home. Viriditas (talk) 16:57, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- I get Your point now, and I appreciate You taking the time to explain this to me. The healthy thing is, I believe... to step back. If people don't want evidence-based information then it's their choice. I know this attitude is one of indifference but one can't be saviour to the entire world. Anyone looking for proper information, having doubts or just plain being attentive to how their body operates will strive to seek answers. As for the rest, well... umm... yeah, step back. --Ouro (blah blah) 21:48, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- No, I think your response was great. What I’m saying is that the OP is talking about a meme that says you can get a bacterial infection from using expired shampoo. You and I think it’s baseless, but this kind of thing keeps making the rounds. There’s a lot of misinformation online and this is one of the more popular ones. It’s a huge problem in health discussion groups. For example, I can barely participate in vegan and vegetarian discussion groups (my chosen diet) because it is overrun by misinformation. There’s only so many times you can point out that people are spreading nonsense until they turn against you. These are the people that claim veganism cured their cancer and think that eating vegetables will solve every health malady under the sun. They have entire cults of supporters flocking to them. They are the same ones who think expired shampoo is the most dangerous thing in your home. Viriditas (talk) 16:57, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Viriditas... well, all right, so I responded a little off centre, but it's still valid. I'd say that to get a disease from using old shampoo one'd have to be quite unlucky or immunity-deprived. --Ouro (blah blah) 13:55, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- In the newspaper the other day a man was discussing the rations his father received when serving in the Second World War. They included tins of meat carried over from the First World War. 2A02:C7B:228:3400:5558:2319:26C2:7300 (talk) 13:06, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Ouro, I'm sure you're right, but the OP is referring directly to the online mishigas about people coming down with infections from expired shampoo. I think it's absurd, but this kind of concern, namely that about expired products, came to the forefront during the height of the pandemic when people were having trouble finding inventory on the shelves. This is a good example of a pandemic urban legend that may be rooted in some kind of kernal of truth, but is mostly fearmongering. It's super interesting to see how the lockdowns spawned an entirely new level of discourse. Viriditas (talk) 22:40, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
Nervous breakdown, what exactly is it?
For years, I've read about how psychoneurosis, or more popularly "nervous breakdowns" were responsible for the hospitalization of many of the biographical subjects that we write about. But for the life of me, in all this time, I've never quite understood the diagnostic criteria for what a nervous breakdown entails or why somebody would be hospitalized for it. For context, I'm currently writing about a monumental mural-like painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, completed in 1965. Much of the literature on this work expresses some wonder as to why a woman in her late 70s would even think about making such a piece. It turns out that it was something she had been trying to accomplish for her entire life. In 1932, at the age of 45, she was hospitalized for a "nervous breakdown", which was attributed to, in part, by her failure to complete a commission for a monumental mural that would have graced Radio City Music Hall, but also in large part due to her husband seeing another woman. So to conclude, in the 1930s, what would someone have to do to be hospitalized for a "nervous breakdown", and how and when did this fall out of fashion, and is there an equivalent to such a thing today? Viriditas (talk) 23:06, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- A family member of mine was hospitalised for a nervous breakdown in 1999, so it was still fashionable around the turn of the millennium. As to what someone would have to do to be hospitalised for it today, post-covid, I have no idea. Last I heard hospitals are still super short staffed. Folly Mox (talk) 23:09, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks. So, I'm just brainstorming here, but do you think a "nervous breakdown" is a culture-bound concept that we use as a euphemistic umbrella for people who might appear suicidal or unable to care for themselves? I'm just trying to figure this out. Are there examples in non-Western countries of this kind of hospitalization occurring, or would we expect it to be almost non-existent due to the presence of extended families living together and taking care of each other? In other words, is a "nervous breakdown" diagnosis due to our western cultural approach to outsourcing and medicalizing problems to so-called experts to deal with? I'm thinking back to all the literature I've read and films I've watched where the character has a nervous breakdown, and I've never really understood what it meant. On one hand, it feels like people aren't allowed to be angry and unhappy in an acceptable social context; it's demanded that you be productive, happy, and contribute to society. On another hand, with the lack of extended families in the developed world, people are somewhat at a loss of what to do with someone who may be facing these issues. Viriditas (talk) 23:22, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- See Mental disorder#Definition:
HTH, Martin of Sheffield (talk) 23:31, 6 January 2024 (UTC)The terms "mental breakdown" or "nervous breakdown" may be used by the general population to mean a mental disorder. The terms "nervous breakdown" and "mental breakdown" have not been formally defined through a medical diagnostic system such as the DSM-5 or ICD-10 and are nearly absent from scientific literature regarding mental illness. Although "nervous breakdown" is not rigorously defined, surveys of laypersons suggest that the term refers to a specific acute time-limited reactive disorder involving symptoms such as anxiety or depression, usually precipitated by external stressors. Many health experts today refer to a nervous breakdown as a mental health crisis.
- I'm sure you meant well, but that doesn't answer anything. I gave a specific example of how the term was used in relation to an artist who was famously hospitalized for it. Nowhere can I find what this kind of thing meant or entails, and this is a pattern I find throughout the literature on biographical subjects. For me, it reads as a euphemism to protect the privacy of the celebrity in question and the family in general. For example, in O'Keeffe's case, it is perfectly reasonable that she would be upset about losing a valuable commission and having her husband cheat on her with another woman -- all at the same time. But what exactly leads to a person like her being hospitalized for a nervous breakdown? My guess is that she tried to kill herself. In other words, is "nervous breakdown" used as a euphemism for attempted suicide? Viriditas (talk) 23:40, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Update: found a bit more.
- I'm sure you meant well, but that doesn't answer anything. I gave a specific example of how the term was used in relation to an artist who was famously hospitalized for it. Nowhere can I find what this kind of thing meant or entails, and this is a pattern I find throughout the literature on biographical subjects. For me, it reads as a euphemism to protect the privacy of the celebrity in question and the family in general. For example, in O'Keeffe's case, it is perfectly reasonable that she would be upset about losing a valuable commission and having her husband cheat on her with another woman -- all at the same time. But what exactly leads to a person like her being hospitalized for a nervous breakdown? My guess is that she tried to kill herself. In other words, is "nervous breakdown" used as a euphemism for attempted suicide? Viriditas (talk) 23:40, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- See Mental disorder#Definition:
- Thanks. So, I'm just brainstorming here, but do you think a "nervous breakdown" is a culture-bound concept that we use as a euphemistic umbrella for people who might appear suicidal or unable to care for themselves? I'm just trying to figure this out. Are there examples in non-Western countries of this kind of hospitalization occurring, or would we expect it to be almost non-existent due to the presence of extended families living together and taking care of each other? In other words, is a "nervous breakdown" diagnosis due to our western cultural approach to outsourcing and medicalizing problems to so-called experts to deal with? I'm thinking back to all the literature I've read and films I've watched where the character has a nervous breakdown, and I've never really understood what it meant. On one hand, it feels like people aren't allowed to be angry and unhappy in an acceptable social context; it's demanded that you be productive, happy, and contribute to society. On another hand, with the lack of extended families in the developed world, people are somewhat at a loss of what to do with someone who may be facing these issues. Viriditas (talk) 23:22, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- NYT called it depression, and another source described O'Keeffe's symptoms as "racing heart, ongoing headaches, and crying...symptoms of both her anxiety and her depression...By early 1933, she had checked herself into a hospital for treatment. She was diagnosed with 'psychoneurosis' which is a fancy way of saying that her emotions built up, didn’t have the expressive outlet they needed, and manifested in physical symptoms. In other words: depression."
- So, what was the hospital treatment for these things in 1933? Viriditas (talk) 23:58, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- Barbituates. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 07:36, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thank you. I see this entire topic as analogous to the use of the term consumption, which nobody uses anymore, since the modern term "tuberculosis" has completely replaced it. But when you read a lot of older literature, you run into the word consumption over and over again, and it’s kind of annoying. This is how I see "nervous breakdown". It appears everywhere in older literature but it isn’t an actual medical term, it’s some kind of an umbrella term for other ailments. It bothers me because it doesn’t make sense to use an ambiguous term when there are obviously so many more appropriate, narrow, and specific terms available. Even the modern term listed above "mental health crisis" is almost useless. What exactly is a mental health crisis? Sorry, but this kind of thing really bothers me. Viriditas (talk) 09:16, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Since you are brainstorming, I will brainstorm with you, Viriditas. A nervous breakdown, as I define it, is an acute and severe mental health crisis that renders a person who was previously able to engage in everyday activities and able to take care of themselves completely unable to do so. It may manifest in deep sadness, uncontrollable crying, extreme agitation and anger, serious sleep and appetite disorders, constant fidgeting and tossing and turning, refusal to converse with others, and lack of any apparent interest in getting their life back together. Unless almost forced, the person will not engage in routine personal hygiene, may refuse to get dressed, and may stay in bed for days on end. The important thing to remember is that "nervous breakdown" is not a formal diagnosis but rather a colloquial expression. Several types of mental illnesses may result in such an incapacitating breakdown, and treatments may vary depending on the unique circumstances of each case. Cullen328 (talk) 09:42, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- There's a comprehensive discussion at suicidal ideation. 2A02:C7B:228:3400:5558:2319:26C2:7300 (talk) 13:03, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Neurosis (which psychoneurosis redirects to) is also interesting. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 18:50, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- There's a comprehensive discussion at suicidal ideation. 2A02:C7B:228:3400:5558:2319:26C2:7300 (talk) 13:03, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Compare also neurasthenia, in use as an officially recognized diagnosis until 2022. A century ago, hysteria was still a common medical diagnosis. A century from now, people may wonder how the medical establishment of the 21st century attached value to the diagnoses of the DSM-5-TR and the mental disorders section of the ICD-11. The neural and neurophysiological etiology and processes leading to specific symptoms are currently not understood. Once they are, this may lead to a completely different classification, much more precise diagnostic procedures, and hopefully a toolbox of targeted and effective treatment options. --Lambiam 21:14, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Am I wrong in thinking that "fatigue, lethargy, stress-related headache, insomnia, irritability, malaise, restlessness, stress, and weariness" are a normal part of the human condition, and are commonly experienced by people as a part of their lives? Obviously, if these things make it difficult for someone to participate in society or complete normal, everyday tasks, there's a problem, but it seems odd to medicalize the human condition. This kind of thing reminds me of how homosexuality was widely considered a mental illness by the medical profession until very recently. Perhaps instead of making the human condition a disorder, we should instead teach people how to cope and deal with these things? Viriditas (talk) 21:28, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- These things are all normal temporary features of the human condition, but are not normal when several are present at once and they persist to the extent of causing prolonged incapacity.
- And why is it "annoying" to run into the word 'consumption' in older literature. That was the contemporary term for what we now call tuberculosis, and there was a lot of it about. Are you annoyed by encountering early 20th-century mentions of 'shell shock' because we now call it PTSD? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.104.88 (talk) 22:57, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Wait until shell shock gets its own "steam punk" derivative. It stinks entering the mind of an author - I mean, his logic - using "consumption". What is it is to be expected with "shock" ? --Askedonty (talk) 23:11, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- I find your second sentence puzzling. "Consumption" was (in English) a common name for (one manifestation of) the illness before "tuberculosis", which originally had a much wider medical application, was narrowed to specify this particular disease: it was called "consumption" because typically sufferers became thinner and weaker, as if they were being 'consumed' – it was sometimes suspected to be a result of vampirism, and some vampire fiction is thought to have been symbolic of it. Why would an author in the period when "consumption" was the everyday name, or a modern author writing a historical novel set in that period, use anything different?
- Your first and third sentences are incomprehensible to me, even though I am a Science Fiction & Fantasy (and therefore Steampunk) fan. 51.198.104.88 (talk) 12:59, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
- Wait until shell shock gets its own "steam punk" derivative. It stinks entering the mind of an author - I mean, his logic - using "consumption". What is it is to be expected with "shock" ? --Askedonty (talk) 23:11, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Am I wrong in thinking that "fatigue, lethargy, stress-related headache, insomnia, irritability, malaise, restlessness, stress, and weariness" are a normal part of the human condition, and are commonly experienced by people as a part of their lives? Obviously, if these things make it difficult for someone to participate in society or complete normal, everyday tasks, there's a problem, but it seems odd to medicalize the human condition. This kind of thing reminds me of how homosexuality was widely considered a mental illness by the medical profession until very recently. Perhaps instead of making the human condition a disorder, we should instead teach people how to cope and deal with these things? Viriditas (talk) 21:28, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Since you are brainstorming, I will brainstorm with you, Viriditas. A nervous breakdown, as I define it, is an acute and severe mental health crisis that renders a person who was previously able to engage in everyday activities and able to take care of themselves completely unable to do so. It may manifest in deep sadness, uncontrollable crying, extreme agitation and anger, serious sleep and appetite disorders, constant fidgeting and tossing and turning, refusal to converse with others, and lack of any apparent interest in getting their life back together. Unless almost forced, the person will not engage in routine personal hygiene, may refuse to get dressed, and may stay in bed for days on end. The important thing to remember is that "nervous breakdown" is not a formal diagnosis but rather a colloquial expression. Several types of mental illnesses may result in such an incapacitating breakdown, and treatments may vary depending on the unique circumstances of each case. Cullen328 (talk) 09:42, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thank you. I see this entire topic as analogous to the use of the term consumption, which nobody uses anymore, since the modern term "tuberculosis" has completely replaced it. But when you read a lot of older literature, you run into the word consumption over and over again, and it’s kind of annoying. This is how I see "nervous breakdown". It appears everywhere in older literature but it isn’t an actual medical term, it’s some kind of an umbrella term for other ailments. It bothers me because it doesn’t make sense to use an ambiguous term when there are obviously so many more appropriate, narrow, and specific terms available. Even the modern term listed above "mental health crisis" is almost useless. What exactly is a mental health crisis? Sorry, but this kind of thing really bothers me. Viriditas (talk) 09:16, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- Barbituates. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 07:36, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- So, what was the hospital treatment for these things in 1933? Viriditas (talk) 23:58, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
- I was surprised that ataque de nervios which to me was just a translation of nervous breakdown is defined as
a psychological syndrome mostly associated, in the United States, with Spanish-speaking people from the Caribbean, although commonly identified among all Iberian-descended cultures.
and categorized in Category:Culture-bound syndromes. --Error (talk) 13:29, 8 January 2024 (UTC)