system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If water can be a conductor for electricity, why doesn't a lightning strike in the middle of the ocean instantly kill everything?
gpt
Two reasons, the first of which is that the energy will dissipate as it goes out, much the same way as heat from a candle. Think of a lightning strike as rush hour for electrons, at 7 in the morning there are too many electrons at home and not enough at work, so they all leave to go to work (from the cloud to the ocean) then once they arrive they go to their desk and stay there. The electrons aren't eager to run around the city, they just fill the gaps that existed, which rapidly decrease as you expand outward.

Also, water doesn't conduct electricity, the minerals in it do. They are what build up the excess or lack of electrons.