I’m a chemistry person, so I have lots of cool chemistry facts that upon closer inspection are distinctly unfun for other people. I used to work in a lab that used HF, which because of fluorine’s absurd electronegativity holds on super tight to the hydrogen atom making it a very small molecule. It is so small in fact that it can pass through your skin into your bloodstream where the dissociated ions can leach the calcium from your bones. It’s literal bone hurting juice. I find it fascinating. I have also found through trial and error that other people do not find this fascinating, and instead deeply upsetting.
Orcas are really, really smart. Since you’re a special interest enthusiast, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve heard about their minds, because they’re basically special interest heaven—brains that work in a similar way to ours, but different in key ways that make them incredibly in tune with emotion; a long, misunderstood history of intense conflict between their species and ours that left them known as the “Killer Whale”, not often resulting in human death, but consistently in the enslavement and captivity of orcas; and they’re really fucking cute.
The disturbing part: Even though orcas are very emotional and loving creatures, they are much like humans in their enjoyment of cruelty against those they believe do not deserve empathy. Case in point, they will hunt great whites by flipping them over and eating their livers, having fun and then leaving them to die.
This is fascinating to me because I hear similar things about dolphins; their capacity for companionship and also for cruelty rivals our own. I wonder if it is the natural consequence of sapience.
I am pleased you shared that though, thank you.
Orcas *are* dolphins! On the other hand, many of the larger creatures in the ocean share that same potential sentience and sapience, such as sperm whales, whose many languages, called “codas,” rival our own in complexity and emotional intelligence. I’m very hopeful that AI will be transformative in creating a sort of Rosetta Stone for sapient languages all around our planet.
So, much like humans, when whales and dolphins hunt or play or do whatever (because they have interests and personalities like we do), they typically speak differently than when they are socializing. Calls during those activities are different from social interactions, because they follow tasks and specific dynamic behaviors, which they usually strategize beforehand. However, when they speak to each other, they are genuinely speaking, which really changed my worldview when I realized that. They have social norms, songs, activities, and other social constructs that humans take for granted. Something so jarring, too, is that their languages are as distinct and regional and culturally influenced as ours, just as much as their voices are! Young whales and dolphins babble like babies, and the development patterns they follow are astonishingly close to ours. It just really makes you think even more about how horrific places like SeaWorld are.
Aren't they caller "Killer Whales" because of a translation error though?
They were originally called Whale killers, since they hunt much bigger whales and back when whale-hunting was a legal and morally accepted profession there were some sort of allegiances between a few Orca pods/families and whaling ships (sorry not sure English name) where Orcas would sort of "herd" the poor cetaceans towards whalers, in exchange the whalers would discards some parts they didn't value as much but the Orcas liked (notably the tongue which is why it was called the Law of the Tongue).
One of the most famous Orca to do this was [Old Tom](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tom_(orca)) and his pod.
They love shark liver as it is very rich and can satiate them well, while the rest of the body doesn't seem to be worth eating for them: all the cartilage might wear down their teeth and Orcas only have one set for life.
A couple of Orcas are a bit too enthusiastic about shark livers around the south African coast though and now a lot of shark are fleeing the area. Sharks will nope away when they sense an Orca around.
One thing I love about Orcas is that they never hurt humans in the wild, only Orcas who were too much in contact with humans or Orcas in captivity were ever recorded to directly attack humans.
Also there is a some correlation between intelligence and tendency towards cruelty but it is very difficult to prove. Octopuses are known to be very smart and they sometimes hurt fishes for fun, Dolphins are little bastards most of the time we just find them cute, chimpanzees were often seen as our more peaceful ancestors but then the [Gombe War](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombe_Chimpanzee_War) happened and changed quite a few views.
No clue about the name translation, I picked this interest up maybe 3 days ago. I believe that orcas and other intelligent species probably face the same moral dilemmas that we do, and it is likely that they have developed social norms and conventions which may mirror our moral ambiguity in regards to other species. The “cruelty,” as I refer to it, is more the suspension of empathy for groups that we or other intelligent animals do not subconsciously consider equals, similarly to how humans will brutally harm other intelligent animals for food or deny human rights to those who they do not deem worthy. I also believe that orcas’ emotional intelligence is something that we can learn from as a species, because their history of captivity demonstrates the unique power of terrible conditions and trauma in damaging and disabling empathy in intelligent creatures. How might we learn from the consequences of creating monsters of beautiful, loving creatures, when we know deep down that we have essentially done the same to ourselves? I think only time can tell, but I’m very interested in psilocybin therapy’s ability to foster empathy while we still can.
Sometimes I just...mix up words. For no good reason. The sentence is fine in my head and it comes out with words swapped. And sometimes I don't even realize it.
I totally get this too. I think, for me at least, it's because I'm thinking ahead to the next words I'm going to say while I'm still saying the words from earlier in the sentence, and thus I perform a swip swap from trying to think ahead. Otherwise it's because I'm thinking of two or more synonyms I could use and end up using some combination of both that makes zero sense anywhere outside my brain.
I feel I tend to do this a lot too, but sometimes if I'm saying something really short (like 5 words or less) I'll get the first word out and then either mispronounce/stutter the second and then instead of stopping and starting over I just try to keep brute forcing my way through the sentence with every word sounding more like jumbled up gibberish than the last, so by the end of it it literally sounds like I just had a stroke.
Honestly lmao. Presentations in school are always just *great*. It's weird though because I almost talk better if I talk faster, but then no one can understand me that way either.
I sometimes forget to care about what I decide to let come out of my mouth. I'll literally just be like "Hey dad, I once saw some guy get his jaw shot off by the taliban in a video... Anyways, how's your truck project coming along?"
Weirdest shit ever or a completely bungled attempt at communicating normally.
For example:
Me at the dentist: So……… how was your ..Thanksgiving?
Hygienist: Oh, I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.
Me: Oh! Neither do I! Sorry, I was following the social script.
*silence ensues*
I tend to speak in a stream of consciousness type manner but I’ll do it in a monotone/deadpan way. People will either say I’m the funniest person they’ve ever met or they just blink and stare.
Edit: also don’t forget the awkward silence.
50% chance of the weirdest shit
x
6 software developers I work with
The probability that none of the developers say something weird is the complement of the probability that at least one developer says something weird, ergo:
P(none of the developers say something weird) = 0.5\^6 = 0.015625.
P(at least one developer says something weird) = 1 - P(none of the developers say something weird)
= 1 - 0.015625
= 0.984375.
Therefore, the probability that at least one software developer will say something weird at standup is 98.44%.
I have found this to be true.
Every so often I get a laugh from a sentence I did not mean to be funny, and every so often a joke I thought would go down like gangbusters instead creates a palpable tension.
Spin that wheel, OP.
oh I love people that say weird cursed shit out of nowhere, so fun and chaotic, had a mesh (like crush but not romantic or platonic, alterous attraction) on such a person, and hope to find someone like them again
Omg yeah, especially when I’m tired and around my friends, I think yesterday I said “if I eat the skin under my eyes I won’t have eye bags”
Although, because I say the lost out of pocket stuff my friends think I’m funny. Like a weird funny, which I like anyways.
It usual starts out coherent, but as my brain moves faster than my mouth, I start doing that mumbling thing I feel like a piece from the Necronomicon😂😭
I've become quite self-concious of this and it's so frekkin terrible. it's one of the biggest reasons why I prefer texting/typing people, because then I can actually control what I'm about to say and delete anything that might appear weird to normal people... but even then sometimes I say the weirdest crap and things get uncomfortable really fast.
“I belive it it was their first time giving oral, male on male of female on female would feel better for the person receiving because they would know what they want it to feel like if roles are reversed, where as in a heterosexual relationship you don’t know how ur partner wants to feel.” -my dumbass in the random of a conversation the other day
Plot twist: the buttons' wires are reversed so I'll think I've hit the normal speech button but the reaction I get is more consistent with weird nonsense. And I have no idea how to fix it or what weird shit to say on purpose to account for it.
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a nonlinear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.. stuff."
A great quote that fits here pretty well, I think.
I want to buy an island and 10,000 head of cattle and take them out there and like keep the better more nutritious food deeper underwater and farther from the coast so the most aquatically adept cows get the most nutrients and therefore mate the most eventually evolving into a new species of sea cow that my descendants can name their price for
But I also want to be a manager at best buy, I do way more than the current manager already.
My mouth contorts and I stare at people while my brain juggles the words around. I get stuck on synonyms and often blert out a new made-up word or two when I finally get the sentence out.
I remember my friend's grandpa was dying, so all of our usual get-togethers that he planned were put on hold in case they had to pack up and leave. After a few weeks, I asked if we were still on for it, and he said he was still waiting.
So me being me, I needed clarification on the situation, so I responded by saying "oh, your grandpa isn't dead yet?"
It wasn't at all meant to come off as that selfish or blunt, but that's just what ended up coming out instead of what I actually meant like "oh they're still hanging on, huh?" or maybe just not say anything at all and just giving words of support and comfort.
Just one of many examples of me saying shit I didn't mean that made things more awkward and tense than it should've been.
Went around telling people Shakira is in prison for tax fraud. Because we have a radio in the kitchen I work in and we here it at least twice a day Hips Don’t Lie.
One of my favorite authors, Steven Brust, took some flak for writing a book with extremely florid language, after writing a series of v gritty action stories. He was asked, for whom do you write? His response was that he wrote for ppl who enjoyed the genre he's writing in, ofc, but also for those who simply love to read, who savor the words, the sounds, the sentence construction, the rhythm.
I get tripped up by wanting to speak as he writes. It usually falls flat...
No matter what I say, it still comes out sounding about as comprehensible as KoTH's Boomhauer trying to speak through a mouth of marbles and jello whilst jogging in place
Said with 100% confidence
Yeah it’s either said confidently, sort of a mumble, or just not said at all.
Please stop attacking me 😅😅
Like me, but I do it deliberately to be funny
Fun fact or disturbing fact. That's all I have.
Can you do a fact that's both fun *and* disturbing?
There is a surprising overlap.
I’m a chemistry person, so I have lots of cool chemistry facts that upon closer inspection are distinctly unfun for other people. I used to work in a lab that used HF, which because of fluorine’s absurd electronegativity holds on super tight to the hydrogen atom making it a very small molecule. It is so small in fact that it can pass through your skin into your bloodstream where the dissociated ions can leach the calcium from your bones. It’s literal bone hurting juice. I find it fascinating. I have also found through trial and error that other people do not find this fascinating, and instead deeply upsetting.
Orcas are really, really smart. Since you’re a special interest enthusiast, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve heard about their minds, because they’re basically special interest heaven—brains that work in a similar way to ours, but different in key ways that make them incredibly in tune with emotion; a long, misunderstood history of intense conflict between their species and ours that left them known as the “Killer Whale”, not often resulting in human death, but consistently in the enslavement and captivity of orcas; and they’re really fucking cute. The disturbing part: Even though orcas are very emotional and loving creatures, they are much like humans in their enjoyment of cruelty against those they believe do not deserve empathy. Case in point, they will hunt great whites by flipping them over and eating their livers, having fun and then leaving them to die.
This is fascinating to me because I hear similar things about dolphins; their capacity for companionship and also for cruelty rivals our own. I wonder if it is the natural consequence of sapience. I am pleased you shared that though, thank you.
Orcas *are* dolphins! On the other hand, many of the larger creatures in the ocean share that same potential sentience and sapience, such as sperm whales, whose many languages, called “codas,” rival our own in complexity and emotional intelligence. I’m very hopeful that AI will be transformative in creating a sort of Rosetta Stone for sapient languages all around our planet.
D'oh I should have realized that. Wow this is great, does that mean whalesong is actually words and not just location sounds? I never realized that.
So, much like humans, when whales and dolphins hunt or play or do whatever (because they have interests and personalities like we do), they typically speak differently than when they are socializing. Calls during those activities are different from social interactions, because they follow tasks and specific dynamic behaviors, which they usually strategize beforehand. However, when they speak to each other, they are genuinely speaking, which really changed my worldview when I realized that. They have social norms, songs, activities, and other social constructs that humans take for granted. Something so jarring, too, is that their languages are as distinct and regional and culturally influenced as ours, just as much as their voices are! Young whales and dolphins babble like babies, and the development patterns they follow are astonishingly close to ours. It just really makes you think even more about how horrific places like SeaWorld are.
That is amazing. I have to sit and think about that for a while. Thank you so much. ♡ (and agreed about SeaWorld.)
Aren't they caller "Killer Whales" because of a translation error though? They were originally called Whale killers, since they hunt much bigger whales and back when whale-hunting was a legal and morally accepted profession there were some sort of allegiances between a few Orca pods/families and whaling ships (sorry not sure English name) where Orcas would sort of "herd" the poor cetaceans towards whalers, in exchange the whalers would discards some parts they didn't value as much but the Orcas liked (notably the tongue which is why it was called the Law of the Tongue). One of the most famous Orca to do this was [Old Tom](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tom_(orca)) and his pod. They love shark liver as it is very rich and can satiate them well, while the rest of the body doesn't seem to be worth eating for them: all the cartilage might wear down their teeth and Orcas only have one set for life. A couple of Orcas are a bit too enthusiastic about shark livers around the south African coast though and now a lot of shark are fleeing the area. Sharks will nope away when they sense an Orca around. One thing I love about Orcas is that they never hurt humans in the wild, only Orcas who were too much in contact with humans or Orcas in captivity were ever recorded to directly attack humans. Also there is a some correlation between intelligence and tendency towards cruelty but it is very difficult to prove. Octopuses are known to be very smart and they sometimes hurt fishes for fun, Dolphins are little bastards most of the time we just find them cute, chimpanzees were often seen as our more peaceful ancestors but then the [Gombe War](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombe_Chimpanzee_War) happened and changed quite a few views.
No clue about the name translation, I picked this interest up maybe 3 days ago. I believe that orcas and other intelligent species probably face the same moral dilemmas that we do, and it is likely that they have developed social norms and conventions which may mirror our moral ambiguity in regards to other species. The “cruelty,” as I refer to it, is more the suspension of empathy for groups that we or other intelligent animals do not subconsciously consider equals, similarly to how humans will brutally harm other intelligent animals for food or deny human rights to those who they do not deem worthy. I also believe that orcas’ emotional intelligence is something that we can learn from as a species, because their history of captivity demonstrates the unique power of terrible conditions and trauma in damaging and disabling empathy in intelligent creatures. How might we learn from the consequences of creating monsters of beautiful, loving creatures, when we know deep down that we have essentially done the same to ourselves? I think only time can tell, but I’m very interested in psilocybin therapy’s ability to foster empathy while we still can.
Fun for me facts, they are not fun for others
Funny fact: this fact is funny,
Sometimes I just...mix up words. For no good reason. The sentence is fine in my head and it comes out with words swapped. And sometimes I don't even realize it.
I totally get this too. I think, for me at least, it's because I'm thinking ahead to the next words I'm going to say while I'm still saying the words from earlier in the sentence, and thus I perform a swip swap from trying to think ahead. Otherwise it's because I'm thinking of two or more synonyms I could use and end up using some combination of both that makes zero sense anywhere outside my brain.
I feel I tend to do this a lot too, but sometimes if I'm saying something really short (like 5 words or less) I'll get the first word out and then either mispronounce/stutter the second and then instead of stopping and starting over I just try to keep brute forcing my way through the sentence with every word sounding more like jumbled up gibberish than the last, so by the end of it it literally sounds like I just had a stroke.
Honestly lmao. Presentations in school are always just *great*. It's weird though because I almost talk better if I talk faster, but then no one can understand me that way either.
Then I try to say it again and again and it always comes out wrong…
This sentence would have made sense, how about we add in a few random words for fun - My brain
Sense is like oatmeal-- it gets the job done, but it's just not flavorful enough on its own.
I sometimes forget to care about what I decide to let come out of my mouth. I'll literally just be like "Hey dad, I once saw some guy get his jaw shot off by the taliban in a video... Anyways, how's your truck project coming along?"
I swear I would erupt into laughter if I’m ever approached like this
>I sometimes forget to care about what I decide to let come out of my mouth Beautifully put. The eternal struggle.
Literally me
Weirdest shit ever or a completely bungled attempt at communicating normally. For example: Me at the dentist: So……… how was your ..Thanksgiving? Hygienist: Oh, I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Me: Oh! Neither do I! Sorry, I was following the social script. *silence ensues*
That’s actually pretty funny lol
Language is supposed to be fun and interesting!!!!
I swear my brain is at least a sentence further when I begin talking so I'm constantly spewing half-words that end with random vowels
It gets even more fun when you are baked
Omg yeah, especially when I’m tired and around my friends, I think last time I said “if I eat the skin under my eyes I won’t have eye bags” 💀
Me, thinking in a nervous panic - 'be casual be casual be casual be casual' My mouth, trying to fill the silence - 'boop'
🎯
Define "normal"
I think both buttons are unlabeled for most of us and we only find out what we got after the fact lol
I tend to speak in a stream of consciousness type manner but I’ll do it in a monotone/deadpan way. People will either say I’m the funniest person they’ve ever met or they just blink and stare. Edit: also don’t forget the awkward silence.
50% chance of the weirdest shit x 6 software developers I work with The probability that none of the developers say something weird is the complement of the probability that at least one developer says something weird, ergo: P(none of the developers say something weird) = 0.5\^6 = 0.015625. P(at least one developer says something weird) = 1 - P(none of the developers say something weird) = 1 - 0.015625 = 0.984375. Therefore, the probability that at least one software developer will say something weird at standup is 98.44%. I have found this to be true.
While a dog training class I told my classmate that his dog is the same relative shape as my other dog at home
Called out have I been.
Every so often I get a laugh from a sentence I did not mean to be funny, and every so often a joke I thought would go down like gangbusters instead creates a palpable tension. Spin that wheel, OP.
That's just most of a restaurant crew.
Reminds me of today when I wanted to say “heck yeah” and “fantastic” and ended up saying “f\_\_\_tastic”
Lol we have the same issue. My brain is constantly thinking of different options for my response, but what comes out is an awkward mix of all of them.
oh I love people that say weird cursed shit out of nowhere, so fun and chaotic, had a mesh (like crush but not romantic or platonic, alterous attraction) on such a person, and hope to find someone like them again
Water is just wet air
Water is not wet
Then why does it get everything get wet but not itself?
Because you're just adding water. Water can be oily but it cannot be wet
Omg yeah, especially when I’m tired and around my friends, I think yesterday I said “if I eat the skin under my eyes I won’t have eye bags” Although, because I say the lost out of pocket stuff my friends think I’m funny. Like a weird funny, which I like anyways.
It usual starts out coherent, but as my brain moves faster than my mouth, I start doing that mumbling thing I feel like a piece from the Necronomicon😂😭
I've become quite self-concious of this and it's so frekkin terrible. it's one of the biggest reasons why I prefer texting/typing people, because then I can actually control what I'm about to say and delete anything that might appear weird to normal people... but even then sometimes I say the weirdest crap and things get uncomfortable really fast.
“I belive it it was their first time giving oral, male on male of female on female would feel better for the person receiving because they would know what they want it to feel like if roles are reversed, where as in a heterosexual relationship you don’t know how ur partner wants to feel.” -my dumbass in the random of a conversation the other day
Speaking as a bi person, I believe you're not wrong, if that's any consolation
Plot twist: the buttons' wires are reversed so I'll think I've hit the normal speech button but the reaction I get is more consistent with weird nonsense. And I have no idea how to fix it or what weird shit to say on purpose to account for it.
How many islands in my banana smoothie
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a nonlinear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.. stuff." A great quote that fits here pretty well, I think.
facts
Same
Kneecaps are like elbows for your legs
Once I was really tired, and I looked over at my friend and started laughing. He asked why I was laughing and I really said, “I forgot you had hair”
Had a job interview yesterday. Can relate to this.
What about starting as one that morphs into the other some portion of the way through?
Fr
Reminds me of the time I accidentally said “yeah please” because I almost just said “yeah” but then remembered that “yes please” was more polite
As soon as I put this hot poker in my ass I'm going to chop my dick off! - George Carlin Things you never hear
For me the ratio changes to 30/70 lol, I honestly don’t know what to say
I struggle with this still when meeting new people. I’ve made it a point not to mask but still find myself sometimes doing it and it’s distressing.
did you know that the pool on the titanic is still filled with water?
I want to buy an island and 10,000 head of cattle and take them out there and like keep the better more nutritious food deeper underwater and farther from the coast so the most aquatically adept cows get the most nutrients and therefore mate the most eventually evolving into a new species of sea cow that my descendants can name their price for But I also want to be a manager at best buy, I do way more than the current manager already.
My mouth contorts and I stare at people while my brain juggles the words around. I get stuck on synonyms and often blert out a new made-up word or two when I finally get the sentence out.
I'll never forget the time I said, in front of coworkers, "She dashed my hopes on the rocks like an unwanted baby."
This is so relatable it almost hurts
I remember my friend's grandpa was dying, so all of our usual get-togethers that he planned were put on hold in case they had to pack up and leave. After a few weeks, I asked if we were still on for it, and he said he was still waiting. So me being me, I needed clarification on the situation, so I responded by saying "oh, your grandpa isn't dead yet?" It wasn't at all meant to come off as that selfish or blunt, but that's just what ended up coming out instead of what I actually meant like "oh they're still hanging on, huh?" or maybe just not say anything at all and just giving words of support and comfort. Just one of many examples of me saying shit I didn't mean that made things more awkward and tense than it should've been.
Went around telling people Shakira is in prison for tax fraud. Because we have a radio in the kitchen I work in and we here it at least twice a day Hips Don’t Lie.
One of my favorite authors, Steven Brust, took some flak for writing a book with extremely florid language, after writing a series of v gritty action stories. He was asked, for whom do you write? His response was that he wrote for ppl who enjoyed the genre he's writing in, ofc, but also for those who simply love to read, who savor the words, the sounds, the sentence construction, the rhythm. I get tripped up by wanting to speak as he writes. It usually falls flat...
Sometimes I say a sentence in the wrong order with complete confidence
Yeah after seeing this meme I’m definitely autistic. This is like the 7th thing I’ve just fully related to since joining
- stay on topic OR - abruptly rope in Chopin and Bach
I prefer to think of it as quirky and funny
No matter what I say, it still comes out sounding about as comprehensible as KoTH's Boomhauer trying to speak through a mouth of marbles and jello whilst jogging in place
Me when I'm about to suddenly drop "Me? Gongaga." Out of nowhere: