Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 December 3

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December 3

Noise and sleep

Alright, it goes without saying that loud noise will wake up anyone who isn't in a coma, right? Well how come sometimes during my sleep, I may hear a conversation between my neighbors or something on TV, but instead of waking up, I mistake the sounds as part of my dream? If someone touches me in my sleep and I feel it, I immediately wake up, I don't assume it's part of a dream. Why is that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.189.87.160 (talk) 08:16, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

There is possible no definitive answer to your question, yet a rough and probable explanation could be given. Even in sleep, the brain continues to monitor one's environment for possible threats. For instance, if the olfactory senses detect wood smoke, that can often arouse a sleeper quickly. A nursing mother will wake at the slightest murmur of a newborn or by someone calling our own name etc. A touch on the skin would also be perceived as a threat if one normal sleeps alone, otherwise not much short of being kicked out of bed will have any effect – and even then, maybe not. Hearing one's neighbours might be a bit like the Cocktail party effect. The noises may contain no emotional or physical threat but the content may be interesting. Then again they might be perceived as potentially threatening and finds its way into the dream for further analysis. Ask five psychologists the same question and you'll probably get six different answers. --Aspro (talk) 11:43, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Does it go without saying that a loud noise will wake anyone who isn't in a coma? I don't think so. Constant loud noise doesn't seem to be a problem, sleeping on an aircraft or as a car passenger is not a problem for many people. Even sudden loud noises don't wake everyone. Out house alarm went off in summer when the windows were open. My wife and I both jumped out of bed, it was loud. My (8 year-old) daughter slept through it even though the alarm box was slightly closer to her window than ours! -- Q Chris (talk) 11:52, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

She is obviously a happy and well-adjusted little girl who doesn't perceive a house alarm as a threat! Dbfirs 12:59, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Loud noises are also unlikely to wake deaf people. Googlemeister (talk) 14:56, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Well I certainly didn't mean to include deaf people in my original comment, but obviously hearing impaired people in deep sleep won't be awoken by loud noises (as long as they don't have sensitive hearing aids). 24.189.87.160 (talk) 01:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

During sleep, we experience several cycles of "shallow" sleep and "deep" sleep. Perhaps response to noise depends on which part of a cycle you're in? I used to have a raucous alarm clock that would "wake the dead", and sometimes when it would start to buzz, the sound of it would work its way into a dream I was having. That would seem to be a phenomenon similar to what the OP reported. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:11, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

That makes sense, as sometimes the sounds I hear grow louder and louder in my dream until I realize the noise is real, and that's when I wake up. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 09:32, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Count me as someone whom loud noises don't wake up. We had an earsplitting fire-alarm in our apartment when we first got married; it was loud enough that it hurt when you heard it. It was also directly outside the bathroom, so if you opened the door when you had just taken a shower, the steam could set it off. I regularly slept through it. I also don't wake up to my alarm clock. My alarm wakes my wife up, who has to kick me to wake me up. Then I get up. Often, if I am startled awake, I literally can't hear for a few seconds or minutes; my wife will sometimes shake me awake for some reason, and I can see her lips moving, but don't hear any sound for a bit. I've always taken it to mean that whatever mechanism causes your brain to shut down your ears when you sleep works very well on me. --Jayron32 06:44, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Whoa, that is so weird, the bit about not being able to hear for a few seconds after waking up I mean. I'd be curious to know what causes that, because this is the first time I've heard of someone's hearing being able to shut down during sleep. Aren't you worried that one of these days you might wake up, and the temporary deafness turns out to be permanent? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 09:32, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

See sleep paralysis, it scared me witless when it happened to me, until I read about the actual cause that is, it felt like someone was sitting on my chest (I assume an attempted rationalisation of the fact that I couldn't move). Mikenorton (talk) 13:24, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

On a few occasions over the years I've had "dreams" that something or someone was standing over me or watching from a short distance, and it was indeed scary and I felt "paralyzed", until upon fully awakening I realized that it was just a shadow or light on the wall that I was seeing and somehow adding it to that dream or whatever to call it. Once you understand the phenomenon, it can make it less scary when or if it happens again. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:26, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

What should I do about compacted snow and ice building up in my wheel arches?

Currently I am ignoring it, but when I go over a bump I hear a loud rubbing noise, the same when I turn a tight corner. Every mile or so a large lump falls off. I will clear it when I get home but I can't really keep stopping and clearing it in this weather. Is there any way to stop it building up? -- Q Chris (talk) 15:57, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I am guessing that you live in a place where you don't usually experience this phenomenon. In my experience, it isn't a serious problem, and where I live, this happens every winter. Though where I live, they salt the roads, and the salt helps the snow and ice to melt. You say that every mile or so, a piece falls off. That is a good sign. I don't think you need to clear it. I never do. It doesn't really do any harm. If the accumulation gets big enough to touch your tires, the heat from the friction will quickly melt it and eliminate the friction. Marco polo (talk) 16:06, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

By the way, if they are salting your roads, and you aren't used to that either, here is a tip: You should be sure to have your car thoroughly washed, including if possible the undercarriage, and if possible apply a "rust inhibitor", once the roads have been cleared and your car is no longer getting sprayed with salty water and snow. Otherwise, the salty residue will eat through the finish on your car and cause the exterior to rust. Marco polo (talk) 16:09, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

"It doesn't really do any harm"...unless it freezes solid overnight, in which case it can block steering. And, of course, unless frozen pieces fall off and endanger other users of the road. It's only sometimes fun if I hit a solid lump of ice with my bicycle. Strictly speaking, drivers are responsible for ensuring that no snow, ice, or debris falls of their vehicles, at least in Germany. However, this is essentially not enforced. Last year I had the great pleasure of being barely missed by a large ice sheet that had formed from water standing on top of a trucks canvas roof... --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:12, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

If you get snow or ice built up inside the tire rim, then the tire will be out of balance and will vibrate, especially at higher speed. You can remove it by hand or hose it out at a car wash. You can also try washing it out by running through a puddle of water— this has worked for me. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 16:16, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

If you have a massive buildup, you might want to clear it before letting the car stand overnight. Typically, though, unless you have driven in a straight line for some distance to the place where you park, your steering will have cleared the buildup enough that it won't affect your steering when you start up again in the morning. The German rule that Stephan mentions is kind of absurd. In snowy conditions, a person would have to stop every few meters to clear the wheel wells in order to prevent any snow or ice from falling from the vehicle. No such rule exists where I live, because our lawmakers know that it is unreasonable. I have never experienced the vibration that Gadget mentions because the friction melts the buildup before it constricts the wheel. Certainly, you should not be traveling at high speed if snow and ice are building up inside your wheel well! In snowy conditions, vehicles are going to leave lumps of ice on the road, and you just have to take that into account when driving. Slow down! A more serious issue is people who leave compacted snow and ice on the roof or other horizontal surfaces of their vehicles. These masses of ice can go flying from the tops of vehicles and cause serious damage to vehicles behind them. Regardless of any laws against letting that happen, courtesy to other drivers requires that you don't set out with compacted snow or ice perched on top of your vehicle. Marco polo (talk) 16:23, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I am referring to a buildup of snow on the inside of the tire rim, on the backside where it is not immediately visible. Wheel arches might refer to wheel wells in US terminology. If so, then yes, ice and snow will build up, but is easily removed. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:27, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I think the German law that Stephan mentions applies to exactly the snow that you may have on the roof of your car - you could get fined if the police sees you driving with 20 cm of snow on your roof, for obvious reasons - you are potentially seriously endangering the safety (and possibly lives) of others. How strictly such fines are enforced is another matter, however. TomorrowTime (talk) 16:37, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Many decades ago, I vaguely remember a farmer mopping a liquid made from molasses around his land-rover's wheel arches as a de-icing liquid. It was waste stuff from the food industry which had degraded and become too bitter for use. He bought it cheap to feed to his pigs. The only thing I can find that comes close to this is Beets Part of New Recipe to Treat Icy Roads. Whether he mixed it with calcium chloride and soap rind as well, I have no idea. It's a wonder Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall hasn't brewed some of this up for his Ford Corsair.--Aspro (talk) 17:48, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks everybody. Though we do get snow every year I can't remember it building up so much. I think it is probably the very cold weather meaning that it doesn't all melt away on gritted roads, plus I swear they are putting less salt in the grit this year! Anyway at least I know it won't do any harm. -- Q Chris (talk) 18:07, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

According to this, gritting in the UK is carried out using pure salt grit, so that should be more salt rather than less (assuming this is what all UK councils do now), I think that you're right about the temperature being the problem. Mikenorton (talk) 13:33, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

What I typically do is, once I get to a parking space, kick the excess compacted snow out of the wheel wells. That usually helps. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:25, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I think that's what most people do. Though I try to wait until I'm at home. The dirt and such help keep me from slipping in my own driveway. Since it's a gravel driveway, there is always a layer of snow in the winter that can get quite slick. Dismas|^(talk) 06:25, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

An interesting idea. And you could use your own sand-salt mix, which in addition to providing better traction, would probably serve to kill encroaching vegetation at the edges of the driveway (except probably dandelions). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:21, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Blood type - Japanese Wikipedia

Can a Japanese speaker who is familiar with the Japanese Wikipedia tell me whether biographical articles in the Japanese Wikipedia regularly state the subject's blood type? If so, is the blood type information usually sourced or unsourced? Is blood type typically part of a biographical infobox? The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:19, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

For example, do the following articles state the subject's blood type?

• ja:バラク・オバマ (Barack Obama)
• ja:セリーヌ・ディオン (Celine Dion)
• ja:イチロー (Ichiro Suzuki)

The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:25, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

None of those articles states the blood-type, and I also checked George Bush Jr.' page and Kim Jong Il's page before you edited this section by adding links, and neither of them stated the blood-type, either. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 18:31, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I just removed blood type from a bunch of Japanese voice actor pages, and I was wondering if this was common on the Japanese Wikipedia. The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:39, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I don't know why it would be so strange. Many of our articles on Japanese people include their blood group such as Hotaru Hazuki, Hitomi Kobayashi, Bunko Kanazawa, and more. Dismas|^(talk) 18:34, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

It looks like {{Infobox adult biography}} includes blood type as one of the available parameters, interesting. The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:39, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

See Template talk:Infobox adult female/Archive 1#Blood for discussion on this. The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:50, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Oh, and see Blood types in Japanese culture. Dismas|^(talk) 18:36, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

If a superstition over blood type is considered encyclopedic, maybe we should include their astrological sign as well.

"Hi, I'm a Gemini with a bad attitude, and fittingly I'm type AB negative."

←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:07, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Blood typing is a modern medical discovery. How could the Japanese develop such a bizarre superstition in modern times? In what other countries do people think blood type is correlated with personality traits? Edison (talk) 19:32, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

It is prevalent in Korea, China, Taiwan, and other parts of East Asia - though, I think this is because of Japanese influence. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 22:46, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

According to the article, it actually started when blood types were discovered. Just another way to label somebody, like a caste system or something. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:40, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Do the Japanese people give any more credence to this nonsense than Europeans do to, say, the horoscope? ("Aquarians will encounter obstacles today").Do the Japanese just see it as similar whimsical nonsense, or are they so credulous as to think one's bloodtype somehow affects personality traits, without any scientific evidence? Edison (talk) 05:27, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure how Europeans view horoscopes, but there are certain segments of the U.S. population that do put a fair amount of stock in them. Here's an interesting article about paranormal and more traditional religious beliefs. Fully a third of respondents believed that "the positions of the stars and planets can affect people's lives", and about 60% believed in ESP. Now granted, this doesn't investigate how strongly the beliefs are, whether they are, as Edison asks, just seen whimsical nonsense. Wikipedia in General, and especially the reference desks, do not by any stretch of the imagination make up a representative sample of any off-line group of people. It's easy for most of us to dismiss astrology (or blood type equivalent), but these types of beliefs hold sway in many populations, even among intelligent and reasonable people. Buddy431 (talk) 06:13, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Our blood type article used to contain more information on this, but it was, I think, removed by blood-type-astrologer-equivalent editors. Some information and references remain on the talk page. I personally wouldn't place beliefs based on Nazi racial ideology in the whimsical category.... - Nunh-huh 03:59, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Multinational foreign company

I have just discovered this advertisement on prothomalo jobs.com. The circular seems bit vague. In "Apply instruction" section, the first statement is written like, PL Come forward, discover your future. Should I mention this sentence at the top of address on envelop? thanks--180.234.52.49 (talk) 18:24, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

No. The whole thing is very poorly written and is definitely not from a multinational company. If you insist on applying for this so-called job, do not part with any money.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 18:40, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure whether this is important or not, as I don't know where the OP lives, but the ad is for an address in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Could be legit. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:50, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

California Law on children in therapy with a LMFT

If a parent has joint custody of the child does the therapist have to have a release signed by both parents to be seen by that therapist? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cjspin (talk • contribs) 19:54, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

"The reference desk will not answer (and will usually remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or request medical opinions, or seek guidance on legal matters. Such questions should be directed to an appropriate professional, or brought to an internet site dedicated to medical or legal questions." AndyTheGrump (talk) 20:17, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

By LFMT, presumably you mean "Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist". (As opposed to LSMFT). As Andy said, that's a question you would almost certainly have to ask a California-licensed attorney, although, as with all topics, you could try googling the subject and see if you find anything that appears useful. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:14, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

General advice must be to do your best to get agreement with the other parent in regard to anything important affecting the child. If that's not possible, ask the therapist what to do. Itsmejudith (talk) 01:21, 5 December 2010 (UTC)