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[scriver]

They don't do those things out of malice, ya know. We humans kinda have the monopoly on that.   

Every single intelligent animal and also cats and dogs: nervousshifting.gif

[Eschar]

In Doom Eternal, why is Samur Makyr referred to as a name (i.e. no 'the') whereas the game uses "the Khan Makyr" for, well, the Khan Makyr? If it's because "Khan Makyr" is a title instead of a proper name (which it is), what was the Khan Makyr's original name? And then why isn't she referred to as "Khan Makyr [actual name]" like with our titles (Dr. Samuel Hayden, President George, etc)?

Also, my two cents on the flies and mosquitoes discussion: I'm more on the MaxTheFox side. I don't think his, ah, interactions with the said insects were unethical per se.

- snip (heh) -

Personally, it's not the killing part that I care about, it's the part where you torture them (or do things that would qualify as torture were it repeated on higher animals, rather) that struck me as... odd.

Odd, understandable. And certainly it would be torture and unethical if done on a higher animal, but that's MTF and my point: insects aren't higher animals.

Though I would probably not dismember a insect, I've spent my fair share of time chasing ants around with a magnifying glass.

[scriver]

Some titles, when taken, become your name.

Genghis Khan, for example.

[Naturegirl1999]

In Doom Eternal, why is Samur Makyr referred to as a name (i.e. no 'the') whereas the game uses "the Khan Makyr" for, well, the Khan Makyr? If it's because "Khan Makyr" is a title instead of a proper name (which it is), what was the Khan Makyr's original name? And then why isn't she referred to as "Khan Makyr [actual name]" like with our titles (Dr. Samuel Hayden, President George, etc)?

Also, my two cents on the flies and mosquitoes discussion: I'm more on the MaxTheFox side. I don't think his, ah, interactions with the said insects were unethical per se.

- snip (heh) -

Personally, it's not the killing part that I care about, it's the part where you torture them (or do things that would qualify as torture were it repeated on higher animals, rather) that struck me as... odd.

Odd, understandable. And certainly it would be torture and unethical if done on a higher animal, but that's MTF and my point: insects aren't higher animals.

Though I would probably not dismember a insect, I've spent my fair share of time chasing ants around with a magnifying glass.

I think higher and lower animals is an arbitrary distinction. We humans call animals more like us higher animals, while of course putting us on a pedestal

[Iduno]

They don't do those things out of malice, ya know. We humans kinda have the monopoly on that.   

Every single intelligent animal and also cats and dogs: nervousshifting.gif

No kidding. Back when I had to travel sometimes for work, the dog was upset with me. The last trip I had to make, and I was gone 2 nights (I had people taking care of her). I got home, said hello and scratched her head, put my bag down, and she was staring right at my eyes while shitting on the living room floor.

[delphonso]

A philosophically important element is probably intention. Most creatures aren't spiteful, though that behavior does exist in some mammals. To kill a mosquito out of fear of disease is acceptible for most of us. To kill it by reflex (swatting your leg) is even more acceptible. To rip one's legs off in the hope of causing it more pain isn't.

Insects have no capacity for spite, so to dole it out to them is pretty bad, I'd say.

No kidding. Back when I had to travel sometimes for work, the dog was upset with me. The last trip I had to make, and I was gone 2 nights (I had people taking care of her). I got home, said hello and scratched her head, put my bag down, and she was staring right at my eyes while shitting on the living room floor.

Gotta respect the confidence to do it. I couldn't. Trust me, I've tried.

[Naturegirl1999]

 ;)This conversation makes me wonder if it is possible to train insects or other arthropods, considering people tend to assume they are stupid, not many have attempted this. Maybe they are smarter than we give them credit for. It wouldn’t be the first time we underestimated protostomes, like cephalopods, for example

[Il Palazzo]

I have a very tenuous recollection of reading about a study once, that trained moth caterpillars (some extremely simple conditioning, like aversion to certain stimuli, iirc) to see if they retained the learned behaviour post-metamorphosis (they did).
Still, the nervous system is extremely simple. So while some capacity for learning is there, don't expect your spidey friend to be bringing you your slippers any time soon.

I'd sooner suspect the nervous system of human gut to have inner life, tbh.

[Eschar]

I have a very tenuous recollection of reading about a study once, that trained moth caterpillars (some extremely simple conditioning, like aversion to certain stimuli, iirc) to see if they retained the learned behaviour post-metamorphosis (they did).

I heard it somewhere too. It was cool.

[delphonso]

I think there was even slight training with flatworms, but hard to prove statistical significance since training only took like 30% of the time. I believe it was planaria worms. The simpler the nervous system and the weaker the pain/pleasure receptors are, the less likely classical conditioning is to take.

[Kagus]

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/scientists-train-spider-to-jump-on-demand-to-discover-secrets-of-animal-movement/

If I remember correctly, they attempted training multiple spiders for the job, but Kim was the only one that reliably would make the jump when required.

[scriver]

;)This conversation makes me wonder if it is possible to train insects or other arthropods, considering people tend to assume they are stupid, not many have attempted this. Maybe they are smarter than we give them credit for. It wouldn’t be the first time we underestimated protostomes, like cephalopods, for example

I've read (on the internet, so take it with a grain of salt) about a kind of spider that "learn" new hunting behaviours for different types of prey, and then keep using those learned methods depending on what they're preying on. I can't remember the number, but I remember being impressed with the number of hunting methods they were able to retain and make use of.

[methylatedspirit]

When should I buy computer components? Should I do it now (because supply is only falling now, so prices are increasing day-by-day) or should I wait until COVID-19 blows over?

[Iduno]

When should I buy computer components? Should I do it now (because supply is only falling now, so prices are increasing day-by-day) or should I wait until COVID-19 blows over?

The answer is usually equal parts "when yo uneed them" and "when they're cheap". If they're cheap and you're locked down (and having a slow enough computer to consider new parts), it's probably a good enough time to buy.

[Yoink]

Has Madagascar actually shut down everything at this point?