Hah, xkcd.

Actually, we were just talking about this in Calculus the other day, the teacher thought it had something to do with the lesson... Forgot what that was... I'm pretty sure it was dubbed "The Creepiness Quotient".

But in reality, it's a pretty realistic formula.

1. In bed, at home, it was really early in the morning here.

2. Sleeping.

3. 8, 3rd grade.

4. Confused.

5. The feeling and awkwardness of the conversation at school that day with the teacher.

I had that question, once, too, but once I checked in the (rather outdated) FAQ, I had the answer:

What are reward points?

Rewards points are a fun way to keep track of how well your debates and arguments are doing on CreateDebate, as well as how much you're participating. The more you participate with quality arguments, the more points you receive. So go on and get debating!

What are reward points good for?

We're still thinking about redeeming points for free stuff or special privileges on the site. In the future, when you vote for an argument, your level of points will influence how much those votes are for. If you have any suggestions, let us know!

So, I guess they're useless at this point, except as a status symbol or something.

Yay for the 4-digit club!

Just because two major countries have names referring to their subdivisions doesn't mean all countries, or countries like/near them, have to do the same.

In fact, most countries have major subdivisions, Mexico has states, Ireland has counties, Australia has states and territories, but there's nothing saying that they have to be called by what makes them up.

There are perfectly good reasons why the USA and the UK are called their respective names, "America" alone is technically a very large region with many countries, so the United States of America places the United States within America. The UK is called what it is called because Britain is an island, England is a part of that island, and the entire country encompasses more than just England or Britain alone.

This is a website promoting a movie.

"© 2009 Sony Pictures Digital, Inc.", "Explore the 2012 Movie Experience", and the giant disclaimer, all at the bottom of the page, gave it away for me.

I always look for that kind of stuff, the legal things always ruin good fake websites. :)

I see.

Not a bad plan, but, even if the price is low, people really won't want to pay. However, the rest of the site will still be free, so I can see the upside to this.

I agree it would be nice to have experts. It's not a bad idea, it would just be a big change. Not that I would be opposed to change.

I don't really think that's the feeling the site is supposed to be. Granted, I could be wrong, I don't know what the creators were thinking, but this is what I think.

If that were to happen, which I think we both know is pretty unlikely because of the costs involved with finding and paying experts in areas so diverse as those debated here, then I think it would drive away input from the average user, besides creating debates just to have experts answer and see what the "right" answer is, even if there may not be a right or wrong answer.

It would change the site from one where people can discuss opinions and dig up facts when needed, even if that is happening less and less often these days, to an educational site where people come to read what experts have to say on a subject or ask them a question.

Even less appealing is a debate where someone posts information and then the expert comes in and corrects arguments and tells people they're wrong or their information is wrong, and this is the way it really is.

Now that I've said that, I would also like to say I agree with you on parts of this argument, mainly the two types of debates, and that drawing experts into this site wouldn't be a bad idea at all. It's just that making people pay must be tough. Free things are way more popular than things you have to pay for, but there may be other ways to pay for it.

I'm tired and this argument might ramble on... But I hope you get the idea. It's a mixed response.

I was taught that the island which Wales, England, and Scotland are on is Great Britain (Britain), while the entire country is now called the United Kingdom, which is Britain + Northern Ireland.

So I guess someone from N. Ireland wouldn't be British, but Northern Irish, or some demonym for UK.

America technically includes all of the Americas, which consists of the continents of North America and South America. The United States of America isn't saying that the USA is "America" alone, but is the United States of America, so I guess there could eventually be a United States of Europe or United States of Africa, but by now it would seem a bit unoriginal.

It is confusing that the country is called United States, yet the people are American.

Maybe we could work on that... But really, I doubt it'll change.

I agree. Words alone can't always do me justice.

At least that's what I like to believe...