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It's not sad for the mother octopuses, who die just like they normally would, and it's not sad for the baby octopuses, who never by any stretch of the imaginati
by 13of40 9y ago
It's not sad for the mother octopuses, who die just like they normally would, and it's not sad for the baby octopuses, who never by any stretch of the imagination have any feelings at all. I wonder why it's so sad for us. Especially considering this is a creature most people only encounter in the form of a poke bowl or a dried bar snack.
- avip 9y agoMaybe something from our own meaningless existence resonates
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> I wonder why it's so sad for us We place value on motherhood, selfless sacrifice and planning. Here, those virtues (exhibited by anthropomorphized mothers) were thwarted by a dice roll.
- cwp 9y agoThe mothers are dying for nothing. To the extent they can tell how well their eggs are doing, it must be terribly sad.
- orliesaurus 9y agoThis was my initial thought behind my reply to the original thread
- craftyguy 9y ago> never by any stretch of the imagination have any feelings at all. How do you know for sure? Just because we cannot directly ask animals doesn't mean humans are the only animals who have feelings.
- jhedwards 9y agoI think they might be referring to the fact that in this case the eggs seem to have failed to begin the development of embryos.
- justinclift 9y agoKeep in mind that it may be possible for a mutation to occur among the eggs, of a kind that results in a viable octopus with lower-than-standard-oxygen needs. Then it's a case of evolution in action. A species adjusting to less than ideal circumstances.
- 13of40 9y agoI was thinking something similar - that maybe this just started happening because of a mutation that's proving not to be beneficial.
- Terr_ 9y agoThat reminds me of the punchline to an old IKEA ad: https://youtu.be/TsQXQGaasUg https://youtu.be/TsQXQGaasUg That said, I think sympathy for a living creature is quite a bit more justified than for furniture.
- koide 9y agoThat something dies is in itself sad, regardless of it being killed by a sadistic madman or died peacefully while sleeping. One might be more shocking or traumatic than the other, but both are sad events.
- ataturk 9y agoPlus we're probably wrong and some of them do hatch.