"The Explainer Question of the Year"

"Thousands of you (Slate readers) sifted through the topics that this column was unable to address in 2013—a list of matters of minuscule importance, such as why venison is not usually made into soup, and when people started drinking beverages through straws. But these were just the also-rans. What were the runners-up?"

In third place, with 8.1 percent of the votes, a question of meteorological anthropology: What did Native Americans think of tornadoes? This would have been a tricky one to answer, as some American Indians seemed to view them as a cleansing while others called them punishment.

In second place, with 8.7 percent, some cross-cultural lexicography: I love palindromes (“A man, a plan, a canal—Panama!”) but I’ve always had an English-centric view of them. What are some palindromes in other languages? What’s the easiest language for palindromes? Another question that doesn’t have an easy answer. As they say in Iceland, Amma sá Afa káfa af ákafa á Samma—“Grandma saw Grandpa enthusiastically groping Sammy.” Let’s leave it at that.
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And in first place by a wide margin, with 12.3 percent of the votes, our Explainer Question of the Year for 2013: Countless times in TV shows or movies, characters urge a wounded figure to stay with them, not to lose consciousness. Is there any medical basis for this? Doesn’t the body need to lose consciousness to cope with the emergency? Might these dramatic and good-hearted souls actually hasten the wounded character’s death?

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Do you have any of these sorts of questions? Do you want to share them? Maybe somebody will pop in with an interesting answer. More interesting than the answers on 'Media Day'