4 ms·

I'm seeing it score 1 out of 2 on the dead butterfly scale. https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-en

I'm seeing it score 1 out of 2 on the dead butterfly scale. https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/

libria 5y ago
It's an icon, like the most popular save icon depicts a dead format https://www.google.com/search?q=save+icon https://www.google.com/search?q=save+icon Earlier discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013
ModernMech 5y ago
You need to warn people before posting this. I saw it when it popped up on HN and now I'm like Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense: I see dead butterflies, all the time. It changes a person.
- abrowne 5y ago
  Yeah, I think my partner is tired of me me mentioning it when we read our 15-month son picture books. (Some of the best that I remember are in the book Little You.)
- ajford 5y ago
  I sent the article to my spouse some time back and she's mad at me for ruining butterflies for her. She made the exact same Sixth Sense reference too! We've now made it a challenge to spot "live" butterfly depictions everywhere.
- roughly 5y ago
  That was my immediate reaction, too - “well there’s something I’ll never unsee”
c54 5y ago
Website isn’t loading for me, what’s the dead butterfly scale?
- dmitshur 5y ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20210804100927/https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210804100927/https://www.emily... may help access it.
- thatguy0900 5y ago
  Basically just that 95% of butterflies are drawn in unnatural stretched out death poses used by collectors to take better pictures for books. But that has become the reference material so they are drawn in poses that they can't do in life.
  - jhgb 5y ago
    > they are drawn in poses that they can't do in life So just like school photos, then.
  - mc32 5y ago
    Butterflies feeding in the sun may fold their wings up to look like a sail, but other times you see them with wings stretched out. Now, it’s true when you see a group of butterflies they are not uniformly in one position. But some of their positions coincide with those of pinned butterflies. It’s also true some pinned butterflies spread out their wings in extreme positions but not all are pinned like that —at least not by amateurs.
    - Talanes 5y ago
      You're refuting with no evidence an article with very compelling photographic evidence.
      - mc32 5y ago
        I’ve gone to places that exhibit live butterflies and I watch live butterflies feeding in their natural environment. It’s anecdotal.
      - FpUser 5y ago
1986 5y ago
Hugged to death, it seems - Wayback Machine link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210728185604/https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210728185604/https://www.emily...
- SilasX 5y ago
  Off topic, but I just looked that up to get around the resource limit being reached without even stopping to think that someone might have already posted it lol
silicon2401 5y ago
not the intended take, but I'd love to see fewer dead butterflies regardless of the posing. while the patterns on their wings are beautiful, butterflies are a particularly unpleasant insect to look at for me. I'd enjoy looking at beetles or flies more; something about the proportions of butterflies makes them rather awful
- imwillofficial 5y ago
  Interesting, albeit unpopular take. Would you delve more into your thoughts on this? Very subjective, however there is novelty in the anecdotal.
  - silicon2401 5y ago
    I'd be happy to. Something about their very long, skinny, dark bodies, especially their proboscis, is just horrid to me. From afar it's nice to see little colorful wings flapping around, but at any level of closer examination their bodies are almost as repulsive as spiders are to most people (though funny enough, I somewhat like spiders).
dang 5y ago
Please, enough with the dead butterflies (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27948008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27948008 - July 2021 (210 comments) Enough with the Dead Butterflies (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21788356 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21788356 - Dec 2019 (28 comments) Enough with the dead butterflies - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013 - June 2017 (163 comments)
quitit 5y ago
As I review photos of a recent trip to a butterfly house - I can indeed confirm that one should not believe everything they read on the internet. Just because this is not a frequent pose of butterflies doesn’t preclude it from representations, nor should it be assumed as dead because of that. I smile for photos even though I don’t walk around with a smile all day either.

I'm seeing it score 1 out of 2 on the dead butterfly scale. https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/

libria 5y ago

It's an icon, like the most popular save icon depicts a dead format https://www.google.com/search?q=save+icon https://www.google.com/search?q=save+icon Earlier discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013

ModernMech 5y ago

You need to warn people before posting this. I saw it when it popped up on HN and now I'm like Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense: I see dead butterflies, all the time. It changes a person.

abrowne 5y ago
Yeah, I think my partner is tired of me me mentioning it when we read our 15-month son picture books. (Some of the best that I remember are in the book Little You.)
ajford 5y ago
I sent the article to my spouse some time back and she's mad at me for ruining butterflies for her. She made the exact same Sixth Sense reference too! We've now made it a challenge to spot "live" butterfly depictions everywhere.
roughly 5y ago
That was my immediate reaction, too - “well there’s something I’ll never unsee”

c54 5y ago

Website isn’t loading for me, what’s the dead butterfly scale?

dmitshur 5y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20210804100927/https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210804100927/https://www.emily... may help access it.
thatguy0900 5y ago
Basically just that 95% of butterflies are drawn in unnatural stretched out death poses used by collectors to take better pictures for books. But that has become the reference material so they are drawn in poses that they can't do in life.
- jhgb 5y ago
  > they are drawn in poses that they can't do in life So just like school photos, then.
- mc32 5y ago
  Butterflies feeding in the sun may fold their wings up to look like a sail, but other times you see them with wings stretched out. Now, it’s true when you see a group of butterflies they are not uniformly in one position. But some of their positions coincide with those of pinned butterflies. It’s also true some pinned butterflies spread out their wings in extreme positions but not all are pinned like that —at least not by amateurs.
  - Talanes 5y ago
    You're refuting with no evidence an article with very compelling photographic evidence.
    - mc32 5y ago
      I’ve gone to places that exhibit live butterflies and I watch live butterflies feeding in their natural environment. It’s anecdotal.
    - FpUser 5y ago

1986 5y ago

Hugged to death, it seems - Wayback Machine link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210728185604/https://www.emilydamstra.com/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210728185604/https://www.emily...

SilasX 5y ago
Off topic, but I just looked that up to get around the resource limit being reached without even stopping to think that someone might have already posted it lol

silicon2401 5y ago

not the intended take, but I'd love to see fewer dead butterflies regardless of the posing. while the patterns on their wings are beautiful, butterflies are a particularly unpleasant insect to look at for me. I'd enjoy looking at beetles or flies more; something about the proportions of butterflies makes them rather awful

imwillofficial 5y ago
Interesting, albeit unpopular take. Would you delve more into your thoughts on this? Very subjective, however there is novelty in the anecdotal.
- silicon2401 5y ago
  I'd be happy to. Something about their very long, skinny, dark bodies, especially their proboscis, is just horrid to me. From afar it's nice to see little colorful wings flapping around, but at any level of closer examination their bodies are almost as repulsive as spiders are to most people (though funny enough, I somewhat like spiders).

dang 5y ago

Please, enough with the dead butterflies (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27948008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27948008 - July 2021 (210 comments) Enough with the Dead Butterflies (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21788356 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21788356 - Dec 2019 (28 comments) Enough with the dead butterflies - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14460013 - June 2017 (163 comments)

quitit 5y ago

As I review photos of a recent trip to a butterfly house - I can indeed confirm that one should not believe everything they read on the internet. Just because this is not a frequent pose of butterflies doesn’t preclude it from representations, nor should it be assumed as dead because of that. I smile for photos even though I don’t walk around with a smile all day either.