Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2013 January 18

= January 18 =

Famous travelers of Tahiti
What are some the famous travelers from Tahiti during the 18th and 19th century other than Omai.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 00:35, 18 January 2013 (UTC)


 * There was also the other guy who left with Cook, Tupaia (although he didn't make it very far). Adam Bishop (talk) 12:11, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Battle of Ivy Hill
Has anyone ever heard of this American Civil War battle? Jacob Parrott was supposedly a participant at this fight, which happened in Floyd County, Kentucky on 8 November 1861, but that's all I can find out about it. Google gives "just" 8,000 hits for this name; all but 272 of them are mirrors of our article, and virtually nothing mentions it except while mentioning Parrott. In contrast, the rather trivial Battle of Altamaha Bridge gets over 23,000 hits, including more than 8,000 when excluding pages that mention Wikipedia. Nyttend (talk) 02:41, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Change hill to mountain and you get interesting results. It lead me to Big Sandy Expedition and looking at 33rd Ohio Infantry, second sentence, says they saw "Action at Ivy Mountain November 8." That may be what you are looking for. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 05:06, 18 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Details of the battle and casualty list at Battle of Ivy Mountain. Alansplodge (talk) 13:38, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the references. I'll change the link in the Parrott article (found it while creating an article that mentions a museum about him) to "Mountain".  Nyttend (talk) 13:55, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

The Lords Haden-Guest
Christopher Guest is the 5th Baron Haden-Guest. He inherited the title from his brother, who had no natural children. Christopher and Jamie Lee Curtis have no natural children, therefore Christopher's heir is his younger brother Nicholas. Nicholas has no children, is there anyone else available to inherit the title after Nicholas? RNealK (talk) 04:41, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Looking in Burke's 107th Edition, published in 2004, I see no one else. (Burke's marks descendants not in remainder to the title with an asterisk, and as far as I can see, all living descendants are so marked. Burke's marks descendants in remainder to the title with a + sign, and I see no such living descendants other than Nicholas so marked,) So unless there's been a birth since 2004, the title will become extinct on the death of the current baron. The Barony was created on 2 February 1950 for Leslie Haden Guest. The current holder inherited it from his father, who in fact had a natural child, Anthony, Christopher's elder half-brother, who was ineligible to succeed to the barony because he was born before his parents married. Nicholas, brother of the current baron, has two daughters, one by each of his marriages, but being female they cannot succeed. - Nunh-huh 05:22, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Would some or all such baronies (baronetcies?) have actual duties or baronial estates that it would matter if they went extinct? Is there some reason other than parliamentary negligence that women and bastards can't inherit?  Would the House of Lords shrink? μηδείς (talk) 20:13, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Baronies is right; a baronetcy is something different, though still a perfectly cromulent word. Some baronies have estates that happen to be inherited along with the title, but holding the estates is not a requirement for holding the title. There's nothing (generally) to prevent a baron from leaving his estate to a daughter or younger son, and if a title goes extinct an associated estate would certainly be left to someone. Barons really have no actual duties, though some seem to think maintaining the estate qualifies as one. The prohibition against women and bastards inheriting is a historical accident based on rules of inheritance that are no longer in effect for most other matters, but have held on in the peerage because the rules of inheritance of a title are based on the Letters Patent issued when the title was created, and have not (unlike the overthrow of primogeniture in the inheritance of real and personal property) been changed by Parliament. (I note for completeness sake that some baronies (those created by writ of summons and those with certain special remainers) can be held by women.) Since 1999, there are only 92 hereditary peers sitting in the House of Lords (hundreds sitting there by hereditary right were thrown out by the House of Lords Act 1999). Baron Haden-Guest is one of those who attended Parliament before 1999 but no longer can. The extinction of a title wouldn't cause a shrinkage in the House of Lords anymore; the 92 Peers are elected (from among their peers, as it were), and the other members appointed. - Nunh-huh 20:40, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks. That all makes sense as an explantion, even if the fact that firstborn women can now inherit the crown but would-be baronesses in their own right no. μηδείς (talk) 00:20, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Not sure if that is a complete sentence, but Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma is one example of a firstborn woman who inherited her father's peerage. It seems it was created in that way knowing he had no sons.  Since then, almost no new hereditary peerages have been created: you would think that now they do not automatically get into Parliament the Queen would create a few but no.  Sussexonian (talk) 15:17, 20 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Peerages are not within what's called "the monarch's personal gift". She creates them if the government "advises" (= orders) her to do so, not otherwise.  Governments of all colours have been tending to the egalitarian side of things for quite some time, and watering down the rights of existing peerages and even slowly getting rid of entrenched discrimination in the succession to the monarchy itself - so it's no surprise that new hereditary peerages have become whatever the opposite of "the order of the day" is called.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  19:26, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Nerds and penises
How did the stereotype that nerds are obsessed with penises come about? Jeremy Jigglypuff Jones (talk) 06:34, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Huh? Are you just trolling here?  -- Jayron  32  06:40, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * No. Let me explain. Every time the topic of being a nerd comes up on an online forum, someone brings up things like "They sing in a screamcore band in which the lyrics to all of their songs consist of screaming the word 'penis'". And then there was Jonah Hill's nerd character in Superbad, and...well, you know him. The penis thing is like Mountain Dew...there seems to be a persistent but inexplicable stereotype linking it to nerdiness. Jeremy Jigglypuff Jones (talk) 06:56, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * No, I think you're cherrypicking a few examples to make some point, which I don't know what it is, but there isn't any such sterotype at all. If you want to read about the stereotype, there's a Wikipedia article titled Nerd.  While the characterization of "nerds" does have many well known sterotypes (grooming habits, social awkwardness, obsessive interest in obscure pursuits, intellectualism), being overly intrested in penises simply isn't one of them.  It just isn't.  To claim that there is reads like pure trolling, and yes, I know, you've sucked me in to the debate, so you've won.  Congrats.  -- Jayron  32  07:09, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Would that make Jeremy a cocksucker? :)  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  08:09, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

You've got Jayron's, Jack's and my opinion this is obvious trolling--don't reopen it without consensus. μηδείς (talk) 21:40, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Hikikomoris in my country Japan
Hi, I'm from Japan and here is a social disease which is young adults confining themselves to their bedrooms. We have a special department in the Health Ministry which treats these cases in which the police can visit the house and forcibly take out the boy from the bedroom and take him to a mental facility. My question is, is there such cases in your countries? Thank you so much for letting me ask this. Kotjap (talk) 14:23, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Not really, although we do have a couple of somewhat related phenomena. First, there is a stereotype of socially maladjusted young men (nerds) who continue to live at home (stereotypically in the basement); they may or may not have jobs and leave the house for social occasions.  However, this is not thought to be a disorder as such.  Second, there are people who suffer from agoraphobia and are unable to leave their home or safe haven.  Our article says that about 2.2% of adults in the US between the ages of 18 and 54 suffer from agoraphobia, but it is only in severe cases that sufferers are unable to leave home.  However, it sounds like hikikomoris are seen as a serious social problem in Japan; agoraphobia is seen in the U.S. as only one of a number of mental disorders, and many of the "notable agoraphobes" listed in the article have been quite successful in public life.  Agoraphobia is more common in women, and as far as I know there are no special health departments to deal with it.  John M Baker (talk) 15:48, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I am tempted to create my very own sockpuppet to inquire what these nerds think about penises. But I won't. μηδείς (talk) 20:08, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Wikilink for those (like me) who were unaware of this phenomenon: Hikikomori. --NorwegianBluetalk 20:58, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Society and Relationship
'Do straights (both genders), now a days, enjoy a greater societal admissibility, for exploring their adolescence and later, for exploring adulthood through relationship/s of all kinds and at all depths, as compared to their 'alternative' peers?

Please be honest and elaborate to share your perspective, with respect to the changing Indian social values.' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.125.250.191 (talk) 15:42, 18 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Sorry, but you need to read WP:HOMEWORK and various articles, not just ask us. Maybe try Homophobia for a starting point. 46.30.55.66 (talk) 15:55, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Mouthwash
I use a mouthwash form england called oraldene  which contains  HEXETIDINE...Is there anything in America which contains this agent... June ricketts   16:13, 18 January 2013 (UTC)ref  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.142.42.95 (talk)
 * Wikipedia has an article about Hexetidine which mentions preparations availible in the UK, Canada, and Asia, but not the U.S. With the caveat that the absense of evidence is not the evidence of absense, there is nothing in the Wikipedia that says anything about U.S. availability.  -- Jayron  32  16:22, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Three avenues of inquiry to pursue:
 * Contact the manufacturer of Oraldene to inquire about U.S. distributors of this product, and if none, why not (though they may decline to answer); alternatively, the possibility of purchasing through an overseas vendor.
 * Contact the US Food and Drug Administration to inquire about Hexetidine as used in oral hygiene products.
 * Consult a local pharmacist, or university that teaches pharmacology, with the above question; discuss available products with a similar or equivalent active agent.
 * -- Deborahjay (talk) 18:22, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Drugs.com suggests that it is available in the US under the brand name Bactidol. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 20:59, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Famous (nazi?) quote
I read that a war criminal said "I had a few good years" without any remorse before committing suicide while guards were taking him to his scheduled execution. The story roughly fits into what happened to hermann goring, but i can not find any confirmation whether or not it was him. I heard this quote before (slightly different and attributed to other people) and i wanted to know who said that. ty --88.151.75.201 (talk) 18:43, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
 * There's a list of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg Trials. You could perhaps go through that list to see if any match.  -- Jayron  32  18:55, 18 January 2013 (UTC)