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The title — grammatically —- hints at the idea that this is new behavior. (As opposed to newly-discovered behavior.) Why phrase it as “are building” instead of
by lurquer 3y ago
The title — grammatically —- hints at the idea that this is new behavior. (As opposed to newly-discovered behavior.) Why phrase it as “are building” instead of “build”?
Within the article, there is this quote that further hints at the click-baity idea that this is some new behavior: “ Researchers now suspect octopuses have been building group habitats for a long time.”
Would one say that squirrels have been hiding nuts for a “long time”?
Phrasing it this way, in my opinion, misleads the reader it I thinking this is some new behavior which has been going on for a “long time” — perhaps for several decades!
When, in reality, it’s probably normal octopus behavior thst had been occuring for as long as there have been octopuses.
I picture s 18th century naturalist breathlessly writing to the Royal Society: “you know the beavers we heard about? Well, you’re not going to believe this, but they are now building dams! And I think they’ve been up to this for quite some time! What will they come up with next?!”
- doubled112 3y agoYour complaint reads like that Mitch Hedburg joke. "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too"
- 20after4 3y agoI used to think that joke was pretty funny. I still do, but I used to too!
- someweirdperson 3y agoBuilding a city sounds like a concious activity. But then there is: > "Congregations such as these probably occur wherever shelter is limited to small patches of habitat, and food is plentiful," Scheel told Quartz. They don't decide to live nearby others, but there simply is no other place. The headline should be: Octopuses cannot live everywhere and may settle close to eachother if there is no other space available.
- emmelaich 3y agoThe Beatles song was in fact inspired by literal octopus's gardens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus%27s_Garden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus%27s_Garden
- anyonecancode 3y agoTitle also hints it'll be the first in a sequence: "Octopuses observed engaging in light manufacturing" "Octopuses experimenting with novel propulsion methods" "Octopuses clearing out a large, flat space and assembling assorted metallic objects" "Octopuses targeting Sydney, Brisbane"