That book has been on my list for too long!
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
1 points (100.0% liked)
Science Memes
16106 readers
213 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Ignorance might be bliss, but knowledge is joy.
I’m an expert on capitalism and everywhere I look I just see pain and ecological destruction.
That's only logical. You should have become a taco expert instead.
There are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see
Hot damn is that a good book recommendation!
Dang, I'm reading that next. That sounds fascinating
what's that feynman quote about science making things more beautiful?
You’re likely thinking of this quote from a 1981 BBC interview in the series The Pleasure of Finding Things Out:
“I have a friend who’s an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say, ‘Look how beautiful it is,’ and I’ll agree. Then he says, ‘I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing.’
I think he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe. Although I may not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is … I can appreciate the beauty of a flower.
At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there’s also beauty at a smaller dimension.
The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting — it means that insects can see the color.
It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds.
I don’t understand how it subtracts.”
oof, that's a lot more fart-huffing than i remember it.
then call me high on Feynman's fumes lmao
after reading a bunch of the books about him, i started noticing a pattern; he needs a butt to every joke. like, in isolation this quote is good but when you look at how he talked about people in general you realise that he always has to belittle someone to make his point. the artist friend is "nutty" because he has a difference of opinion, and richard can of course appreciate the beauty same as him, you don't need a degree for that. and he does that constantly. it rubs me the wrong way.
same with his propensity for rule-breaking, he did it even though nobody but him thought he was entertaining. he was asked repeatedly to stop and he didn't. he pissed people off who were just doing their jobs.
Yeah, if I noticed that pattern (I only know the one quote and was hoping the dig was just awkward) I'd be put off, too. Eww. I do like most of the quote, though.
It's a pretty easy way to respond to being put down for being perceived to be smarter. When I was a middle schooler, I felt that way. I was in the advanced programs (btw. Still riding that high :) and certainly had a very "you're just too dumb to see it like me" reactionary phase. I did grow up, though, lol. I realized Im also too dumb to see it any particularly special way.
I took way too many words to say that I think having a better understanding of the world is better and not worse.
oh i fully agree and understand the perspective. i also agree with the point feynman was making in the quote (otherwise i wouldn't have brought it up obviously) and i think he may have been misrepresented a bit in that most of his quotable and memorable stuff (as printed in books about him) is of the more... i-am-so-smart kind.
if you have about three hours ^oh^ ^geez^ to spare, i recommend angela collier's video on the books about him.
I’m always noticing things. Interesting things, weird things, funny things. My mom has asked me multiple times, “How do you find so much interesting stuff?”
All I’ve ever be able to respond with is, “I look around.” She misses a lot around her, my brothers and I even mess with her sometimes by “hiding” things in plain sight around my parents’ house and waiting until she says something.
Lead poisoning is a hell of a thing
This is my answer to people who are sad that FTL space travel is probably impossible. There are wonders right around you that you don't even know about. Space will always be there for humanity to explore. We don't have to be in a rush. Tons to learn about right here. It's not worth going to space if we leave a burnt cinder of a planet behind us.
When I started paying closer attention to all the small insects around me, I felt like I was in an alien world. There are so many otherworldly and bizarre looking creatures just outside your door, you just have to get used to looking for them :)
There are truly alien things on our planet of we just look at the edges.
Life seems to spring up everywhere.
Also the upcoming field of plant intelligence is so interesting.
Or even people who insist on going to other countries for their holidays. For most of us using Lemmy, there will be so much in a 200 mile radius of us that is wonderful but we will never see because we insist on holidays going even further afield.
Unless you live in the Midwest, in which case I don't blame you for going further.
Im from the Midwest but moved in my twenties. Rediscovering the Midwest when I travel home to visit has been great.
Last time I was there I ate my first mayapple. They just grow there and are a tasty fruit you cant buy in the store. Most locals haven't even ate one because of it isnt in the grocery store it might as well not exist for most people.
Next up is a pawpaw. I can't wait. I've already been watching tree identification guides.
Aye, that was a bit of a tongue in cheek comment. I was hoping someone would pop by to correct me!
I have been doing a lot of vacationing "at home" this year and it's been a blast. Helps that it's been the warmest summer in recorded history (as long as I don't think about it too hard).
Going abroad and discover other cultures and climates is great and all, but it's so easy to miss how great it can be close to home or just a few hours by train.
This is basically the entire concept of the podcast 99 Percent Invisible
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy
That book sounds wonderful. My local library has it through Libby
... But if you're bored, then you're boring.
The agony and the irony, they're killing me!
Over the last few years I have been working on getting into botany, herbalism and urban foraging. Basically I am working on trying to identify every plant I see in my neighborhood and finding what their uses are. So in my yard and walk around the neighborhood I look at every plant and try to see if I can identify it. Since its easiest to identify while flowering I guess for weeks and months until then to determine if I am right. As the seasons change I get better and better at identifying things after or before a bloom. It really brings magic and interest as I move around the world
Oh my gosh this is so me! I started by trying to figure out what our lawn was made of and now I'm seeing NPFs (Noxious Plant Fuckers) all over the place! I've gone through my states Noxious Plant list and I'm obliterating giant ragweed as we speak.
I've found so many cool facts about the history of plants in my neighbors garden, too! I'm just starting, but plants are so cool! There's a type of invasive honeysuckle that whitetail deer love, and it tends to choke out all other plant life around it. One day, we might have whole forests of deer and honeysuckle, with not a predator in sight. Whoops, haha!
Its nice to be able to see what you should remove. I have defeating the Creeping Bellflower in my new wildflower section of my yard. (The thin strip between my fence and the alley sometimes called the Hell Strip). If you are like me and want to know what is good to have in your yard I would recommend Prairie Moon Nursery if you live in North America. The shop sells native plants and lets you filter by location, bloom season etc. in case you need to buy plants or seeds. It also has a great range map, great pictures and good descriptions in case you are interested. I highly recommend looking at the website to get plants to names
Oh, that's delightful! Thank you! Good luck with the Hell Strip
It's a lot of Black Eyes Susans right now. But I got more longer lasting perennials under most of them. It's super low maintenance and beautiful. I seed in the fall and sometimes the spring. I mow yearly (early spring) to kill any tree saplings and do some weeding in the spring but not much.
I'm planning on harvesting some seeds from my Susans and maybe the coneflowers this year. I usually just let them fall. It would be fun to give the seeds away or spread them around empty lots
You would fit right in on our instance
Me too! I prune my yard of invasives and let the natives grow, cataloging with iNaturalist as I see new species. My yard was a dirt slope last summer, this summer it is full of a wonderful variety of plants! My crotchety gardener mother and aunt keep trying to offer me non-natives to transplant -- I tell them I've got plants growing already but thank you -- they say, "yeah, weeds."
Funnily enough, my yard with milkweed, primrose, violets, tickseed flowers, black-eyed susans, a walnut sapling, pepperweed, and st johns wort (not actually native here but not as invasive as some other plants) looks better than theirs and probably requires way less maintenance.
That book sounds pretty neat
Well that can be less of a wonder and more of a curse. I have a very huge phobia of earthworms, and I can see them very well. People who know me well go outside and are like "it's all clear, I checked!" and then I go outside and I see them everywhere.
I also get "Oh just don't look down" by people who I tell this to all the time. Like, sure, stepping on that will totally be ok as long as I don't see it? That's not how this works.
Same goes for these stupid tiny green caterpillars hanging from trees. You wear hats to protect yourself from the sun. I wear them as head condoms against these fuckers. But the truth is I see them from miles away. Miss me with that shit.
I've got to ask, what is it about earthworms that scares you? Are you genuinely afraid of being hurt by one or is it something else? Do you yourself see the fear as something perfectly rational that you don't understand how others aren't aren't afraid, or do you often feel silly, but you just can't help how you feel? No shade, feel free to tell me to shove off, I'm just genuinely interested in what that looks like from your POV.
Your comment made me think about how I haven't even seen an earthworm in years that I didn't go out of my way to see. I'd love to take a walk with you so you can point out all the earthworms I'm missing in my day to day.
Not OP but I have the same phobia of earthworms and hanging green caterpillars (and millipedes to a lesser extent) - I just involuntarily feel that lines that squiggle on their own are creepy. Now if those lines had distinguishable eyes then I'm not as creeped out (i.e. snakes)
I also don't like broken rubber bands (the red and yellow kinds)
Here's an anecdote: When I studied abroad, I met a guy who was in his master's program for psychology, and he wasn't convinced that phobias were a real thing and not something else. Some day, we tried to get home to the dorm through the rain in the dark, and he eventually ended up carrying me home. Before we said good night, he told me that he now has finally seen someone with a phobia, and now believes they are a real thing.
I am actually scared of all wormy creatures, ie long, no vertebrate, no legs or more than 10. That also means I am scared of bugs and flies, not because I am scared of them - I am scared of their kids. (I haven't taken the trash out in 8 years or so.)
And to me it makes only sense. I cannot understand how others aren't scared to death. I cannot explain what it is, I can tell you this: it is not just disgust. It is not just their form or smth. It's a genuine fear. I get tense just writing about this. I would never do therapy because to me the thought of being ok with it is not appealing. I don't want to be ok with it. Fuck that. Y'all should do therapy to realize that you're crazy for being ok with it. (I'm joking, I know that's wrong, but this is 100% how it feels.) I would rather chop off my arm than touch it. I would, and I mean this, rather let my mother die, than touch it. I regularly reevaluate these statements and they are still true.
I am fine with snakes and spiders tho lol.
I’d frame going to CBT as “making your trips outdoors more enjoyable” rather than “compromising your stance on worms.” It could radically improve your average day.
That sucks cuz I've heard earthworms are so crucial to soil health and the entire ecosystem within for plants to thrive.
Sucky phobia to live with but at least it is regional. Move to a city or desert and you won't have to worry about those slimy snakes.
Makes sense.
When I spend a lot of time doing 3D design work I find myself looking at the world afterwards in terms of underlying mathematics, angles and shapes. Like I'll look at a cabinet and see rectangles and cylindrical cuts that could reproduce it in 3d, or a lamp-post as a circle extruded along a path.
People who are really into rocks probably notice more about that stuff because their brains are hyper-focused on such
This "magic" requires a certain dose of privilege to be enjoyed. Fairly certain nearly everyone has the cognitive potential to do so, but unless we tax the rich, not the potential privilege.
Being an expert in software has gotta be the most boring version of this.
“Oh that point of sale system? It’s running Android 11. I can tell from the status bar at the top. That’s probably because the SOC in it was cheap in bulk and supported Android 11.”
Right, but you can also explain vulnerabilities and speak on topics like AI at a higher level and about that time that guy put in lines that worked like a kill switch if he ever was fired, and he was fired.
I missed the colon in that book title at first and was very confused about a book for their mother entitled "on looking eleven..."
My library doesn't have it :(
I loved hanging out with an entomologist during the brief time xkcd's geohashing was popular. Just sharing the love of the insect world they had
They also taught me how to make a drosophila (fruit fly) trap (cut the to off a soft drink bottle, flip it, tape the two parts together, bait it with wine)
view more: next ›