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>rocks Wait till these guys find out what most fossils are made of

ergothus 8y ago
I still remember the moment when I read that fossils weren't bones. Actually, I had read that several times before, but this time the text told me HOW they weren't bones. Mind. Blown.
- everdrive 8y ago
  I had the same confusion as a child. I read all about dinosaurs, but couldn't really grasp that the bones were truly long gone. I still remember being upset that many museums had casts of the original fossils on display. I wanted to see the original bones! I didn't really understand until later that at least visually there wasn't much meaningful difference.
jmts 8y ago
Toward the end of the article they go on to explain that these rocks that aren't fossils fail to exhibit a number of traits that they expect from rocks that are fossils.
dang 8y ago
Please don't do this here. Follow the site guidelines instead: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- everdrive 8y ago
  Excuse me sir, this was a hilarious quip and not a shallow dismissal. Probably my comment is still against site rules in this case, but it was lighthearted and delightful, not dismissive.
  - dang 8y ago
    Ok, point taken about it not being dismissive. It's hard to tell sometimes! Jokes aren't against the rules but they have to be pretty good not to count as unsubstantive comments. Most people overrate how funny their jokes are. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7609289 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7609289.
- addicted 8y ago
  This clearly looks like a joke so I’m not sure why we are seeing it downvoted so heavily. It’s clearly not a criticism or a dismissal. I didn’t realize jokes were against the guidelines as well (especially since the joke in question doesn’t appear to be st anyone else’s expense).

I still remember the moment when I read that fossils weren't bones. Actually, I had read that several times before, but this time the text told me HOW they weren't bones. Mind. Blown.

everdrive 8y ago
I had the same confusion as a child. I read all about dinosaurs, but couldn't really grasp that the bones were truly long gone. I still remember being upset that many museums had casts of the original fossils on display. I wanted to see the original bones! I didn't really understand until later that at least visually there wasn't much meaningful difference.

jmts 8y ago

Toward the end of the article they go on to explain that these rocks that aren't fossils fail to exhibit a number of traits that they expect from rocks that are fossils.

dang 8y ago

Please don't do this here. Follow the site guidelines instead: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
everdrive 8y ago
Excuse me sir, this was a hilarious quip and not a shallow dismissal. Probably my comment is still against site rules in this case, but it was lighthearted and delightful, not dismissive.
- dang 8y ago
  Ok, point taken about it not being dismissive. It's hard to tell sometimes! Jokes aren't against the rules but they have to be pretty good not to count as unsubstantive comments. Most people overrate how funny their jokes are. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7609289 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7609289.
addicted 8y ago
This clearly looks like a joke so I’m not sure why we are seeing it downvoted so heavily. It’s clearly not a criticism or a dismissal. I didn’t realize jokes were against the guidelines as well (especially since the joke in question doesn’t appear to be st anyone else’s expense).