this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 minutes ago

Don't forget...

Yeast: oh man I love sugars so much, I just wish they didn't make me shit so bad.

Humans: dude this stuff is fucking awesome!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 26 minutes ago

Is they plant that's made into cocaine in this same category?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 hours ago

The best bit about the mint and chocolate thing is that chocolate is also poison, so we spice up our poison with more poison.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

She looks so familiar, who is this? Is this from Veep?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

All valid Points. But also, humans: i will care for this plant and create huge fields where you can live prosper and in peace. We kill everything who comes near you and try to harm you. And we will ensure you will live forever. You dont need birds who shit your seeds out.

Those plants domesticared us!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 hours ago

Botany of desire

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I evolutionary terms being edible to humans is quite useful.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 hours ago

Chickens are the most numerous bird on the planet, wheat covers more land area than any other plant.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Because humans feel encouraged to further protect that plant against pests.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago

As well as spreading and planting seeds, clearing competing plants, and providing water and nutrients.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

TBF, life's objective is to reproduce and keep its genetic materials continuing on. Even if humans propagate and consume said plant because they find it desirable, that is still a success for the plant. So even if it has toxic caffeine or fiery capsaicin to deter some pests and humans find it enjoyable, the plant wins.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago

Especially since many of the plants die after 1 year anyway so it's not even like we shorten their lives anyway.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (3 children)

Would aliens actually be weirded out by this quality of humans?

I feel like any sufficiently intelligent species living on a planet will have some degree of biodiversity on said planet. And the chances of something being made to be a poison/deterrent for creatures other than the intelligent species is probably a large one, because it's pretty hard for plants and animals to make a poison/deterrent that kills everything without also killing itself. So if there is a gap for itself, there is a gap for other life to coexist with the toxin. And that's before accounting for the fact that something can be safe at low levels, provide benefits/stimulation/good feels at low levels, and toxic at high levels.

So I'd think it would be pretty natural for intelligent life to consume things that are harmful to huge swaths of other creatures.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 hours ago

Works best with the Earth-is-a-deathworld trope

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 hours ago (5 children)

It is kinda weird that humans are so resilient to so many things though. It's part of being scavenging omnivores, but alients with a more specialized diet might be weirded out.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Dogs can eat rotting meat and lick unwashed balls and ass but die from fucking grapes. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Humans can fuck grapes with impunity

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I.... I don't think I can.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 hours ago

Seems like a skill issue to me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago

C'mon David. They want you to. Do it for them, buddy.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I know it's just a typo, but the image "alients" conjured in my head is pretty funny. I have less than zero artistic talent or I'd share it with you all. Hopefully the mental image is enough.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

Potentially. But think of it this way, there are somewhere around 400,000 plant species out there.

https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/many-plants-world-scientists-may-now-answer/

Based on this list, something on the order of like 99.5% of plants are either not safe, or not useful/beneficial. If other species on our planet share a similar rate without complete overlap, then it's practically a guarantee that there will be thousands of plants that are safe and useful for us but not for other species. That doesn't feel particularly strange or unlikely. So even with a specialized diet, I don't think the numbers would be much different.

It also could be the case that being scavenging omnivores is a strong precursor to becoming intelligent. If your species is on the rise in terms of intelligence, you're probably using that to expand your food sources wide and far.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 hours ago

Isn't the flavour of cocoa also originally a pesticidal chemical lol

[–] [email protected] 96 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Funnily enough we try to cultivate everything we like, so in a roundabout way they were successful.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I think the book Sapiens makes the point that wheat has trained us into cultivating it for selfish needs.

(Except that it's wheat, and that we annihilated 99% of its brethren to pick out the one that we liked so we could effectively clone it. But yes, we are the slaves...)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 hours ago

Sapiens and Homo Deus are both such good books. Lots of little anecdotes like that we're just so fascinating.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Sometimes, when a fruit or seed isn't toxic enough for our taste, we make it liquid then make it ferment or age until some of its sugar turns into the deliciously neurotoxic ethanol.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 hours ago

“Hmm tastes good but could taste a bit closer to death.”

[–] [email protected] 85 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Nicotine, THC, and cocaine are also insecticides. And psilocybin might be an insect repellent.

Thanks poison!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 hours ago

Capsaicin is a fungicide, which is extremely useful in the environments where spicy peppers grow.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Drugs - natures mosquito repellant

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 hours ago

Mosquitoes are such squares!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

They just want to propagate. The best chance a plant has to do that is by being tasty or useful to humans so we cultivate them.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Tbf, this has proven to be extremely effective: Just think of how many tobacco or chili plants are grown today! Domestication really is a two-way-street

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 hour ago

Are we farming the plants or are the plants farming us.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

What’s the bottom imagine from?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Thank you! Watching episode 1 now!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

Strap yourself in.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago

Still my favorite "WTF" line delivery in any film or show.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Basically humans will have sex with you, eat you, or make you a pet.

Sometimes more than one.

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