star trek - How secret is the Kobayashi Maru test?

There are plenty of questions about the Kobayashi Maru test, but there's one facet of the test that I don't recall ever being discussed.

Do the cadets know anything about the test before it runs?

Officers who have graduated have all (presumably) taken the test, and understand that it's a test of character, rather than a puzzle to be solved. If that was a fact known to the cadets, surely there'd be endless discussion groups, public threads, what have you about how to "win" the test, or at least steps to take to come out as well as possible. All of which would serve to invalidate the purpose of the test.

Kirk took the test three times, and cheated to "win". This suggests either that he wasn't made aware of its purpose, or even once he was, he did it out of spite, due to his disbelief in a "no-win scenario". I suspect that the fact that you CAN re-take it (at least could at the time) adds to the fact that the cadets think it can be won, and the desire to do so could be seen as a positive, a desire to improve.

It seems to me that in order for the test to be valid, the cadets have to know virtually nothing about it, or at the very least know nothing about its true purpose.

But how could that be done? I wonder if there's a "code of silence" about the test between officers, where they all see the value in the test, and agree to keep mum about it to cadets. There might even be a rule about discussing it amongst cadets, on the argument that learning about its purpose beforehand would be tantamount to getting the answers to a test.

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futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...

the dark tower - Nozz-a-la vs. Pepsi in Stephen King's 'Kingdom Hospital'

In the TV Series ' Kingdom Hospital ', at the end of the series, with various things appearing to have retro-actively changed, we see the vending machines have changed from carrying Nozz-a-la to Pepsi. I realize Nozz-a-la has shown up in a number of other Stephen King stories ( The Dark Tower , for example, leaps to mind), but is there any specific indication to what it means here? I.e., has the core group switched to an alternate world or some such, or is this just a small time-travel change effect? Said another way.. Have they really changed their past (and, therefore, their world) or have they simply returned to an alternate world, leaving theirs still intact? Answer TL;DR: Exactly what the switch from Nozz-A-La to Pepsi is supposed to mean isn't entirely clear, but there is considerable evidence that the change is intended to serve as a meaningful hint, conveying a deeper significance, both internally (within the Kingdom Hospital story itself) and externally (in re...

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