At the Bottom of the Ocean, a Gloomy Discovery | Hacker News Reader

At the Bottom of the Ocean, a Gloomy Discovery

blogs.discovermagazine.com

178 pointsokket28 comments

That's pretty sad, nature is cruel sometimes.

It's not sad for the mother octopuses, who die just like they normally would, and it's not sad for the baby octopuses, who never by any stretch of the imagination have any feelings at all. I wonder why it's so sad for us. Especially considering this is a creature most people only encounter in the form of a poke bowl or a dried bar snack.

> I wonder why it's so sad for us

We place value on motherhood, selfless sacrifice and planning. Here, those virtues (exhibited by anthropomorphized mothers) were thwarted by a dice roll.

> never by any stretch of the imagination have any feelings at all.

How do you know for sure? Just because we cannot directly ask animals doesn't mean humans are the only animals who have feelings.

I think they might be referring to the fact that in this case the eggs seem to have failed to begin the development of embryos.

That reminds me of the punchline to an old IKEA ad: https://youtu.be/TsQXQGaasUg

That said, I think sympathy for a living creature is quite a bit more justified than for furniture.

The mothers are dying for nothing. To the extent they can tell how well their eggs are doing, it must be terribly sad.

This was my initial thought behind my reply to the original thread

Keep in mind that it may be possible for a mutation to occur among the eggs, of a kind that results in a viable octopus with lower-than-standard-oxygen needs.

Then it's a case of evolution in action. A species adjusting to less than ideal circumstances.

I was thinking something similar - that maybe this just started happening because of a mutation that's proving not to be beneficial.

That something dies is in itself sad, regardless of it being killed by a sadistic madman or died peacefully while sleeping. One might be more shocking or traumatic than the other, but both are sad events.

Maybe something from our own meaningless existence resonates

Nature is cruel far more often than "nice".

Don't anthropomorphize nature. It's just "is". It might look cruel to you like this, or it might look cruel to you the other way (octopuses leaving they'r eggs and only 1% surviving)

If that were true, there wouldn't be any life, anywhere.

Cruel is the default state of the cold, cold universe. Life, not so much.

Cruel isn't the default state of anything. Good and evil don't exist unless you're a human being and like to categorize everything almost arbitrarily.

Study more nature.

It's so refreshing to read an article about a problem in the nature without pointing finger at the humankind.

I left this article with a very distinct impression that a comparison could be made with so many human activities, particularly entrepreneurial in nature, and that the purpose of this article being posted to HN was, perhaps, allegorical.

One wonders how many of us in this particular HN ocean are rigorously guarding our eggs over a seep that is no longer providing nutrients, yet we nevertheless have glued ourselves here and are committed to the end...

People look at me like I’m crazy when I say an important entrepreneurial trait is the ability to recognize and quit what isn’t working. “Fail faster”, as the saying goes.

“No, you must press on and never give up!” they claim, acting as if they’re providing me with some special sage insight.

A lot of people “never give up” until things utterly fall apart and they’re devastated, financially and emotionally, unable to then try anything else. “Well, at least I gave it my all”, they will say, in an effort to soothe their disappointment and absolve any blame.

Rather sad how much activity is more focused on whether it makes us feel good and bolsters the ego rather than whether or not it works.

You just read an article about octopuses and then started talking about tech entrepreneurship

You just read a comment about entrepreneurship and then started talking about tech entrepreneurship.

Maybe you don't know what allegory means? What relevance do octopus have to the average HN reader, if it isn't to find an allegorical method to apply to their technological world?

Or, are there a lot more marine biologists in HN than one might at first, think?

Be the squirrel.

Started? No, ibidibi did that.

I think it's a balancing act between obsessive persistence and failing fast with a bunch of luck thrown in. For every Walt Disney and Colonel Sanders there are probably thousands of people toiling away in their workshops for years on a product that will never see the light of day. And how many budding entrepreneurs are on the cusp of amazing products only to be side tracked by life's other demands (finances, family, etc)? Throw in the herd mentality of the VCs/Funding Sources and it's a wonder any worthwhile company actually gets off the ground and thrives in today's market.

>For every Walt Disney and Colonel Sanders there are probably thousands of people toiling away in their workshops for years on a product that will never see the light of day.

Or a product that will be credited to someone else.

Clickbait article anthropomorphizing nature.

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