this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm basically saying that you can see from the context (the numbers) that it's biomass - the same-ish as below even when/if the first thing you think about doesn't make sense, you search for the way it does (again, not dissing, but strictly technically it is about literacy, which in this case the pic is at fault for not all of the audience not getting it, and you for not understanding it, an overlap just didn't happen):

And yes, since this is pun-ish territory, it's normal to feel some anger, puns are there worst.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The pic says "of all the mammals on earth". It's exactly as i said with the pen, just scaled up to a 3d spherical planetary sized pen. The numbers I'm talking about don't change.

There are WAY more rats than cows. Period. They're on every continent except Antarctica, and there might be some weird subterranean prehistoric voles huddled around a hydrothermal vent pool or some shit.

OP just needs to add a qualifier to the graphic. Anything along the lines of "with respect to biomass" right at the start

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

There are WAY more rats than cows. Period.

So if you know that, why would you insist it's saying that instead of immediately looking for something that does fit?

Also a planet is not a pen and no farmer ever will say they have 241 animals!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A planet is a pen without fences. You just have to expand your perspective. You've obviously never interacted with a farmer in your life if you've never heard them brag about how many animals they have on the property. And those are just the ones they can count. Im sure some crazy farmer somewhere in India would be mad proud of how many rats he's got running around. They're holy in certain parts.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 day ago

A cow is a bird without being a bird, you just have to expand you perspective & neglect the original context.

What I'm realising is that cows are spying on us ...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was trying to think of some other meaning than 'drinks dispensary' for 'bar' and I couldn't think of a sensible reason for putting a bar in your shower for quite a while until I realised metal bar.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Yes, that describes the complexities of language perfectly (and the process of how you decipher the meaning)!

We tend to forget how complex communication is, expressing huge concepts with a few sounds/characters/gestures is one of the greatest achievements of Earth's animals (humans included).

It's amazing it even works. But requires a lot of brainpower to encode & decode.