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This American Life just did a segment where the experts were very skeptical of both the theories presented in this article - that the first encounters near Spai
by swid 3y ago
This American Life just did a segment where the experts were very skeptical of both the theories presented in this article - that the first encounters near Spain were caused by a traumatic event of a matriarch, and also that orca pods would communicate with each other to spread the behavior.
The theory presented in that segment was the first orcas are sort of like rowdy teenagers participating in a fad, and the newer event near Scotland was something of a coincidence.
It’s a good segment regardless of what you think, and the first half of the episode was one of the better reports of ChatGPT I have heard, so also of interest to people here. The name of the episode is “Greetings, People of Earth.”
- _fat_santa 3y ago> orcas are sort of like rowdy teenagers participating in a fad That sounds more amazing to me than the theory of the traumatic event, an Ocra equivalent to a TikTok trend.
- adrianhon 3y agoSeconding! You can find the specific segment (only 7 min!) here! https://www.thisamericanlife.org/803/greetings-people-of-earth/act-three-4 https://www.thisamericanlife.org/803/greetings-people-of-ear...
- anigbrowl 3y agosomething of a coincidence Orcas do go in for fads (look up 'orca salmon hats') but experts oftentimes dismiss things as coincidence because they don't have a theory and don't want to look stupid by speculating. When I was growing up reports of ball lightning were dismissed as hallucinations or optical illusions until video and spectrographic technology advanced sufficiently to capture the phenomenon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoThat link says: “Owing to the lack of reproducible data, the existence of ball lightning as a distinct physical phenomenon remains unproven”
- OmarShehata 3y agoThere are videos of it, and lots of people have seen it, not sure how much more proof you need: > An optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball lightning event was published in January 2014 and included a video at high frame rate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bBNeyrMOJE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bBNeyrMOJE I think what that sentence is saying is that we don't know how to reproduce it in a lab. We don't know what exactly is happening in the real world that is causing us to perceive this. It could be an illusion I guess, but I think it's undisputed it's a real phenomenon.
- hombre_fatal 3y ago> There are videos of it, and lots of people have seen it, not sure how much more proof you need That describes Bigfoot. I’d hope your epidemic standard is beyond anecdotes + videos that report to show what they report they’re showing. Else you can be made to believe anything. I don’t know enough about ball lightning to care one way or another.
- koheripbal 3y agoThis is a dishonest comment. No one has dressed up and walked in front of a camera as ball lightning
- colechristensen 3y agoClearly orcas have culture that spreads. It’s a bit silly to speculate about patient zero being a matriarch as there’s zero evidence, likewise until a mechanism of communication is known saying it was or was not communicated between pods without evidence isn’t reasonable.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoIn this case I think it's interesting how people project their personal social views onto the blank slate. The idea that the trend must have started by a female whale that was somehow harmed and is now seeking Justice if it's cleanly into the framework with what some people view the world. The idea that it was started by some way all that got a kick out of causing destruction doesn't have the same social resonance
- Timon3 3y ago> In this case I think it's interesting how people project their personal social views onto the blank slate. The idea that the trend must have started by a female whale that was somehow harmed and is now seeking Justice if it's cleanly into the framework with what some people view the world. You are injecting a political spin where there is none. Orcas live in a matriarchical hierarchy. People assume that the orcas have started hunting because the "pack leader" was hurt. They might or might not be correct, but they're not doing what you're describing.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoAnd I think they are doing what I'm describing. There's basically no scientific reason to favor Revenge story over entertainment except that it resonates with people and gets more clicks
- Timon3 3y agoAside from the "scientific reason" I've mentioned of course, which is the logic followed with other "revenge stories" as well.
- hoten 3y agoHaven't listened to that show in a bit. Did they change narrators? The guy sounds sick and it's pretty distracting :/ Edit: ok Ira was sick and it's mentioned halfway through
- whalesalad 3y agoMy gut is telling me it’s a parasite or toxin causing the aggression. But I have zero professional knowledge in this space.
- knightofmars 3y agoI recommend probiotics.
- pvaldes 3y agoThe animal does not seen disoriented, just exploring the object. I seems play behavior If I'm not wrong, the giant worm Crassicauda does not affect orcas, but can attack false killer whales and relatives, so is not an impossible hypothese
- dave333 3y agoExactly - they look like they are itching themselves on the point of the rudder. Maybe there is some infection near their blowhole that they are trying to scratch. Take some bio samples from the rudders for analysis.
- mclide 3y agoThe brilliant American Life segment with a juxtaposition of the “Greetings, People of Earth” story with reporting on ChatGPT and the Orcas creates a bricolage that may spur thoughts around questions related to our ability to recognize non-human intelligence.