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Interesting that they named their company after the Amazonian fish that can supposedly swim up your penis and lodge itself inside
by spoonjim 2y ago
Interesting that they named their company after the Amazonian fish that can supposedly swim up your penis and lodge itself inside
- tsimionescu 2y agoSeems to be a pattern in these circles - there's at least also Palantir, named after the crystal ball that corrupted Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.
- dudeinjapan 2y ago[flagged]
- A_D_E_P_T 2y agoI don't know if this needs to be stated, but the idea is that they're intentionally named after unpleasant or evil things. Presumably as a way of saying: "We're dangerous/edgy/hard-core; no skulduggery is beneath us."
- dudeinjapan 2y agoI never made that connection. The Palantiri in LOTR were neither inherently good nor evil, they were "seeing stones" with both communication and remote-viewing capabilities, equivalent to a what an iPhone, CCTV cam, or spy satellite can do today. It's an appropriate and cool name for a company whose whole mission is "intelligence gathering". (Yes, it is true that Sauron corrupted Saruman while communicating to him via his Palantir, but this would be tantamount to blaming Apple because someone called my iPhone and told me to be evil.)
- A_D_E_P_T 2y ago> The Palantiri in LOTR were neither inherently good nor evil, they were "seeing stones" with both communication and remote-viewing capabilities, equivalent to a what an iPhone, CCTV cam, or spy satellite can do today. Within the context of LOTR's narrative, they were tools that were corrupted by evil and employed to unambiguously evil ends. A weapon such as a warhammer is also just a tool, and Morgoth had his hammer Grond. If a company names themselves after Grond, it's safe to surmise that they're trying to be dark/edgy and convey a certain posture or attitude. It would be silly for them to say, "well ackshually it's just a warhammer, and a warhammer is an ethically neutral tool, whether it's good or evil is down to its wielder, and ultimately it's no big deal."
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- vermilingua 2y agoTo be fair, the landmark use of the Palantiri in LoTR is when Aragorn uses the stone to bait Sauron into confrontation; an action which ultimately won the war for the good guys.
- dudeinjapan 2y agoAgain the Palantiri were communication and surveillance devices used in times of peace. A warhammer by contrast is weapon whose sole purpose is to create violence. (Perhaps a better counterexample here is Palmer Luckey's company Anduril, named for Aragorn's sword, a "weapon clearly for good".) Yes Sauron hijacked the communication channels, but Sauron also corrupted literally everything he touched--he would have caused the same evil if he was doing morse code on a telegraph.
- sparky_z 2y agoWhat on earth do you consider the common thread between those two names?
- stanac 2y agoBoth are "evil". (edit: I am not the poster you replied to)
- amelius 2y agoBut in this case the thinking went probably like phishing -> fishing -> bad fish
- tsimionescu 2y agoThe common thread I'm seeing is "something you shouldn't aspire to be". That is, no one should want to be a candiru fish, nor a palantir.
- ragazzina 2y ago@AlexBlechman Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus 11:49 PM · 8 nov 2021 https://x.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538 https://x.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538
- Havoc 2y agoTo be fair it is a pretty cool/appropriate name for their line of work
- mandmandam 2y agoIf we're being fair, they're an evil company that does evil work for evil people. It's abhorrent that they're using Tolkien to give themselves nerd-appeal.
- saagarjha 2y agoThe uncomfortable truth is that nerds can be evil too.
- tsimionescu 2y agoI think that's more than obvious to any nerd who has ever played an online game.
- anigbrowl 2y agoJuvenile humor is rarely correlated with mature ethical development.
- dudeinjapan 2y ago[flagged]
- anal_reactor 2y agoOur corporate processes have established that using "Fish That Swims Up Your Penis" as the name of the product might contribute to 1% sales decrease. Having in mind our focus on maximizing the profit by appealing to widest audience possible, this is the core reason why we're strongly against the chosen name. Instead, we suggest conducting market research which will determine the optiminal naming scheme for our products. We are very big and very serious.
- lost_womble 2y agoThanks, anal_reactor, very cool.