Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 March 15

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March 15

Monarchs friendly with Leftwing parties

Are there any examples of Monarchs being allied with Leftwing political parties or movements in his country? --Gary123 (talk) 01:02, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

King Sihanouk?PiCo (talk) 07:33, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Does Castro qualify as a monarch? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:29, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Here's what comes to mind when I think of monarchs and left wings: [1]. :-) StuRat (talk) 08:59, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Juan Carlos I of Spain, although not exactly allied with the left wing, was certianly supportive enough of them to enable the Spanish transition to democracy. Tevildo (talk) 09:17, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

The National Movement for Stability and Progress, founded by former Simeon II of Bulgaria? He wasn't monarch at the time though... Adam Bishop (talk) 10:13, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Louis Philippe I, the "Citizen King" was installed as King of the French by the July Revolution of 1830. The so-called July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe was centrist in its outlook, which makes it far to the left of the reactionary Bourbon Restoration. --Jayron32 01:08, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

The Netherlands: Queen Beatrix and the Pvda / D66 / VVD coalition
Sweden: King Carl XVI Gustaf and Stefan Lofven’s Swedish Social Democratic Party
Queen Elizibeth II and New Zealand’s Labour Party (PM Helen Clark), or Australian Labor Party (Paul Keating, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd) DOR (HK) (talk) 05:51, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

In what way is Queen Elizabeth allied with the Labor Party of any of her realms, or any of the other parties that have been in government? ANSWER: She is not. She maintains correct constitutional relations with all of her governments, but has always scrupulously avoided displaying any political bias either towards or against any party. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 17:18, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

New technologies

Why is it that new technologies such as 4K or NFC need to be government driven for it to really take off? 194.66.246.48 (talk) 03:23, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Not sure what you're asking. If you mean 4-kilopixel-wide video, that got its start in the movie industry, without any government intervention that I know about... AnonMoos (talk) 04:35, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Government does not pick winners. 220.239.43.253 (talk) 08:41, 15 March 2015 (UTC):

Well the English government did pick the East India Company, it did ok. PiCo (talk) 09:31, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

There are cases where private industry alone can't get the job done:

1) Cost. Until recently, space shots were just too expensive for private industry. That's still the case for major projects, like sending people to Mars, although private industry could certainly launch satellites on their own, these days.

2) Slow return on investment. Some projects, again like sending people to Mars, just don't seem likely to generate a profit quickly enough to satisfy industry. They want a profit in years, not decades.

3) Motivation. In some cases, government may choose to do something that isn't likely to be profitable at all, but is for the general improvement of life. For example, various disaster preparedness technologies, like the Emergency Alert System, aren't likely to be profitable. StuRat (talk) 08:52, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Add three more to StuRat's list above:

• Many new technologies begin as classified military projects, which by definition involve a large degree of government intervention and subsidy;
• In most (possibly all) countries, the government is almost always the largest consumer, and the choices it makes can often determine which businesses succeed - so if the school system, the military, the public transport network etc adopt a particular technology, it can push it from the fringe into the mainstream. (A notorious example is the delay in rolling out the internet in France owing to the French government's attachment to the alternative Minitel technology.);
• The particular new technologies you mention both involve information transmission, which is government-regulated - if the government of a major consumer economy like the US or UK decided that 4K transmissions were using an unacceptable level of internet bandwidth, or that NFC transmissions caused an unacceptable level of radio interference, it could well be enough to send the developers into bankruptcy. With regards to anything involving over-the-air radio transmissions such as NFC/RFID, it needs to be explicitly authorised by government, who ultimately "own" the radio spectrum. 78.149.175.133 (talk) 11:09, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Wand or Staff for a bishop

When a bishop takes office is there a wand or staff involved and transferred as a representation that the office power has been given over to another? If so, is there any special name for the 'transfer' or the staff?--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 14:23, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

In western Christianity, it's a stylised shepherd's crook called a crozier. It is presented at the bishop's enthronement. In this Anglican enthronement of the Bishop of Salisbury, "The Bishop is presented with his crozier by the Dean" at an early stage of the service. In the Anglican church, there's no "changeover" as the previous bishop will have already left the post, often leaving a brief interregnum. In the Catholic church, this gap is called the Sede vacante ("vacant seat"). Alansplodge (talk) 15:12, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

I've just found a video of The Installation of Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. At 10 minutes into the clip, the new archbishop is presented with his crozier by his predecessor, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. Note that this is a bit of a departure from the norm; all the previous Archbishops of Westminster had died in office, as retirement is a relatively recent innovation. Alansplodge (talk) 16:21, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks again Alansplodge.--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 16:25, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

I watched the video and that shows the point to my question and answers it. Thanks for finding video and answering my questions clearly.--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 21:59, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Archbishop and direct positions below

What are the immediate positions directly below archbishop?--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 15:49, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

See Holy orders, Hierarchy of the Catholic Church and Ranks in the Catholic clergy. Also Anglican ministry#Threefold order. Lutherans have bishops but not archbishops. Alansplodge (talk) 15:59, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Alansplodge. You have been most helpful.--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 16:15, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Most welcome. Alansplodge (talk) 16:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Universality of clapping

Is it true that not all cultures know applause as we know it as a sign of appreciation? I've heard the Chinese clap with one hand? Llaanngg (talk) 17:06, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Clapping is done in every culture that I know of. Chinese do not clap with one hand. I appreciate your attention to detail about Buddhism and the Koan "What is the sound of one hand clapping" but you are mistaken. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 18:05, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Note that clapping isn't always to say "well done". It's also sometimes used to get attention, such as clapping to get a pet to stop whatever destructive thing it's doing. The similar sounds of a gavel or drums may also be used to call a meeting to order. StuRat (talk) 18:09, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Can turn the lights, too. Dogs are more likely to misbehave in the dark. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:25, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

The last four paragraphs of Applause#Protocol_and_variations give some methods of showing appreciation other than clapping.--Wikimedes (talk) 19:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

I can't find an article that covers this (neither clapping nor greeting does) but I recall a documentary many years ago about a trip to China of one of the principal British Orchestras (probably the LPO in 1972) where the visitors found that they would get welcomed to a town by clapping, but were told that they were expected to clap back; this response would not be normal in the West. --ColinFine (talk) 21:56, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

It's pretty normal for Western rock bands to lead a crowd in clapping to the beat, though. If you do it at a Neil Young show, just make sure you can count.

There are apparently a few classical tunes where it's fine, too.

We have a concert etiquette article, with multiple issues. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:37, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

I was once told that the British Sign Language way to clap is to wave both hands in the air. --TammyMoet (talk) 11:08, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Close; it's two actual claps followed by waving your hands. See NDCS - BSL for Applause. Alansplodge (talk) 11:28, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

True. People who are 'hearing impaired' may not necessarily be completely deaf. There are various types of being hearing impaired, just as with visually impaired people, who may range from being able to see colours and shapes, or to being completely unable to see. I did Japanese Sign Language and worked with Japanese children who were hearing impaired. A lot of them could still hear some things, while others couldn't. The ones who couldn't would pay attention to me at all times, unless they were doing some activity I had assigned for them, in which case, if I wanted to talk to them about something, I would gently pat them on the shoulder, then use sign language and speech (to get them used to lip-reading) to tell them (or ask them) whatever it was. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 15:30, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Actually, hardly anyone who's hearing impaired is so impaired as to be completely unable to hear sounds and live in a world of silence. Even they can feel vibrations. Some people are functionally stone deaf, in that, while they can hear sounds, they cannot understand speech unless they're lip readers (which is not foolproof). -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 17:10, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Very true. Wasn't it Beethoven who used to lie on the floor to feel the vibrations of his own symphonies, because he couldn't actually hear them? KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 19:58, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

See also the very remarkable (and very much still with us) Evelyn Glennie. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 20:13, 17 March 2015 (UTC)