system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What makes a stick shift different than an automatic other than manually shifting the gears? Is there anything better/worse about it?
gpt
The main difference is that a manual transmission has a direct physical link all the way from engine to drive wheels. So all of the force and rotation(besides gearing changes) from the engine makes it to the wheels. 
In automatic transmissions in place of the clutch is a torque converter, which disconnects the engine and transmission physically, instead using a fluid filled chamber and a fan on both sides. The fan from the engine pushes the fluid, which then spins the fan to the transmission. 
This loses some of the power from the engine from the fluid shearing and being resistant to changes in momentum. However it allows the transmission to change gears without impacting the engine (which the clutch does in a manual by disconnecting when you push the pedal.)