Aren't there bears "outside"?
June 4, 2006 12:19 PM Subscribe
Heh. Brings to mind my current favorite Werner Herzog quote: "I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility and murder." (Say it in a German accent for maximum effect.)
posted by scody at 12:32 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by scody at 12:32 PM on June 4, 2006
'Nature" kills to eat, it takes real culture to kill for sport/country/politics/religion...
posted by edgeways at 12:33 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by edgeways at 12:33 PM on June 4, 2006
Somehow, I don't think you'd find the inside of a slaughterhouse any less appealing.
Human beings are animals, the same as any other...we just have a grossly inflated sense of our own importance.
posted by you just lost the game at 12:36 PM on June 4, 2006 [1 favorite]
Human beings are animals, the same as any other...we just have a grossly inflated sense of our own importance.
posted by you just lost the game at 12:36 PM on June 4, 2006 [1 favorite]
does peta know about this?
posted by pyramid termite at 12:39 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by pyramid termite at 12:39 PM on June 4, 2006
Are there any herbivorous spiders? I've never heard of such a thing, but I'd almost be surprised if there weren't any. It seems like such a diverse order...
posted by mr_roboto at 12:42 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by mr_roboto at 12:42 PM on June 4, 2006
that's quite an impressive mantis.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:43 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:43 PM on June 4, 2006
The human mind bends what it sees into concepts of beautiful and horrible. Nature is merely apathetic to human aesthetics.
posted by thanatogenous at 12:45 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by thanatogenous at 12:45 PM on June 4, 2006
I was watching a really cool show about driver ants last night, as they went on massive and well-organized raids and systematically destroyed everything in their path in order to feed the colony.
Nature is so fucking cool!
posted by Stauf at 12:47 PM on June 4, 2006
Nature is so fucking cool!
posted by Stauf at 12:47 PM on June 4, 2006
Those spiders are adorable.
posted by MetaMonkey at 12:51 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by MetaMonkey at 12:51 PM on June 4, 2006
Great tarantula picture in the 'spiders of vietnam' link.
posted by eustatic at 12:56 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by eustatic at 12:56 PM on June 4, 2006
I thought you worked for AAAS and you were referring to Nature.
posted by lalochezia at 12:57 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by lalochezia at 12:57 PM on June 4, 2006
The human mind bends what it sees into concepts of beautiful and horrible. Nature is merely apathetic to human aesthetics.
Alternatively, the presence of beauty and abomination in nature merely indicates that we are, ourselves, natural creatures. We belong here, and the pleasures and abjections of sight prove it. (That's what Kant says, anyway.)
posted by anotherpanacea at 1:00 PM on June 4, 2006
Alternatively, the presence of beauty and abomination in nature merely indicates that we are, ourselves, natural creatures. We belong here, and the pleasures and abjections of sight prove it. (That's what Kant says, anyway.)
posted by anotherpanacea at 1:00 PM on June 4, 2006
This guy regularly pits a mantis against various small mammals in a caged deathed match. Here's one that features mantis vs. mouse. Guess who wins? Most sources have deleted the clip due to their TOS regs.
posted by sluglicker at 1:04 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by sluglicker at 1:04 PM on June 4, 2006
*death
posted by sluglicker at 1:05 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by sluglicker at 1:05 PM on June 4, 2006
The life cycle of just about anythng I eat is much more horrible than anything depicted here.
posted by 2sheets at 1:06 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by 2sheets at 1:06 PM on June 4, 2006
According to Schelling, on the other hand,
posted by languagehat at 1:07 PM on June 4, 2006
The vital point is that things in themselves and ‘representations’ cannot be absolutely different because we know a world which exists independently of our will which can yet be affected by our will:I hope that's clear; if not, there are many more paragraphs where that came from.one can push as many transitory materials as one wants, which become finer and finer, between mind and matter, but sometime the point must come where mind and matter are One, or where the great leap that we so long wished to avoid becomes inevitable.The Naturphilosophie includes ourselves within nature, as part of an interrelated whole, which is structured in an ascending series of ‘potentials’ that contain a polar opposition within themselves. The model is a magnet, whose opposing poles are inseparable from each other, even though they are opposites. As productivity nature cannot be conceived of as an object, since it is the subject of all possible real ‘predicates’, of the ‘eddies’ of which transient, objective nature consists. However, nature's ‘inhibiting’ itself in order to become something determinate means that the ‘principle of all explanation of nature’ is ‘universal duality’, an inherent difference of subject and object which prevents nature ever finally reaching stasis. At the same time this difference of subject and object must be grounded in an identity which links them together, otherwise all the problems of dualism would just reappear. In a decisive move for German Idealism, Schelling parallels the idea of nature as an absolute producing subject, whose predicates are appearing objective nature, with the spontaneity of the thinking subject, which is the condition of the syntheses required for the constitution of objectivity, thus for the possibility of predication in judgements.
posted by languagehat at 1:07 PM on June 4, 2006
How to get many comments 101: Phrase your Post in the form of a simplistic opinion.
posted by vacapinta at 1:16 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by vacapinta at 1:16 PM on June 4, 2006
Oh, come on. It's all part of our loving heavenly Father's grand, and oh-let-us-not-forget, very intelligent design! Not the random results of an infinite, roiling cosmic stew! No no no, nothing like that! All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small! And, I shouldn't wonder, the purple-headed love leviathan. I mean mountain!
posted by Decani at 1:20 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by Decani at 1:20 PM on June 4, 2006
(That's what Kant says, anyway.) Kant Touch This.
Has our nature been circumscribed?
posted by econous at 1:22 PM on June 4, 2006
Has our nature been circumscribed?
posted by econous at 1:22 PM on June 4, 2006
SNAKES ON A MOTHERFUCKING MARSUPIAL
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:23 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:23 PM on June 4, 2006
And the hummingbird/mantis link is a double post.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:25 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:25 PM on June 4, 2006
Brings to mind my current favorite Werner Herzog quote
exactly who i was thinking of when i saw this: herzog in burden or dreams going off about the "obscenity" of nature.
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:40 PM on June 4, 2006
exactly who i was thinking of when i saw this: herzog in burden or dreams going off about the "obscenity" of nature.
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:40 PM on June 4, 2006
Nature is revolting. We should pave the Earth flat and cover it with malls and condos and theme parks and beaches. It's the only way to break the endless cycle of cruelty.
posted by slatternus at 1:45 PM on June 4, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by slatternus at 1:45 PM on June 4, 2006 [1 favorite]
How to get many comments 101: Phrase your Post in the form of a simplistic opinion.
How to be a wet blanket 101: State the obvious in a condescending tone.
posted by slatternus at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2006
How to be a wet blanket 101: State the obvious in a condescending tone.
posted by slatternus at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2006
I hope that's clear; if not, there are many more paragraphs where that came from.
Words to live by, LH; words to live by.
posted by jokeefe at 1:48 PM on June 4, 2006
Words to live by, LH; words to live by.
posted by jokeefe at 1:48 PM on June 4, 2006
We should pave the Earth flat and cover it with malls and condos and theme parks and beaches. It's the only way to break the endless cycle of cruelty.
No. I think we should just rely on the innate stupidity, greed, ignorance and short-sightedness of humanity to create the conditions in which it will destroy itself. Oh look. We are doing. How splendid.
posted by Decani at 2:02 PM on June 4, 2006 [1 favorite]
No. I think we should just rely on the innate stupidity, greed, ignorance and short-sightedness of humanity to create the conditions in which it will destroy itself. Oh look. We are doing. How splendid.
posted by Decani at 2:02 PM on June 4, 2006 [1 favorite]
How to be a surrealist 101: a horse dressed as Darth Vader standing in chocolate.
posted by squirrel at 2:05 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by squirrel at 2:05 PM on June 4, 2006
Um ... 5-inch diameter snake swallows 16-inch diameter kangaroo? Nature is so fucking amazing.
posted by scblackman at 2:14 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by scblackman at 2:14 PM on June 4, 2006
Death is as much a part of life as food is, except for people lost in Bambi-land.
posted by HTuttle at 2:16 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by HTuttle at 2:16 PM on June 4, 2006
How to get many comments 101: Phrase your Post in the form of a simplistic opinion.
Is this a contest?
posted by sluglicker at 2:27 PM on June 4, 2006
Is this a contest?
posted by sluglicker at 2:27 PM on June 4, 2006
yay surrealism
posted by philosophistry at 2:28 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by philosophistry at 2:28 PM on June 4, 2006
redbeard posted seriously
"My banana slugs are just so damn cute!" A bunch of us were walking through a field towards a pond where we would fish. There was a slug on the stalk of a weed and someone pulled it off thinking it would make nice bait. Exposing the underside, we all agreed on what it resembled. I licked it and the rest is history.
posted by sluglicker at 2:41 PM on June 4, 2006
"My banana slugs are just so damn cute!" A bunch of us were walking through a field towards a pond where we would fish. There was a slug on the stalk of a weed and someone pulled it off thinking it would make nice bait. Exposing the underside, we all agreed on what it resembled. I licked it and the rest is history.
posted by sluglicker at 2:41 PM on June 4, 2006
True story.
posted by sluglicker at 2:42 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by sluglicker at 2:42 PM on June 4, 2006
Heh, funny this should pop up here the day after I posted this on my blog.
posted by pjern at 2:43 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by pjern at 2:43 PM on June 4, 2006
'Nature" kills to eat, it takes real culture to kill for sport/country/politics/religion...
Perhaps.... but "nature" doesn't kill ONLY to eat.
posted by bradth27 at 2:44 PM on June 4, 2006
Perhaps.... but "nature" doesn't kill ONLY to eat.
posted by bradth27 at 2:44 PM on June 4, 2006
Here is a close-up of the biting. The slug on the left is biting the genital opening of the slug on the right. [...] So what is so interesting about banana slugs!? Well, these slugs are hermaphrodites, which means that they can act as both males and females at the same time. When they mate, they insert their penises into eachother at the same time. The unusual thing (in case you don't find that unusual enough!) is that sometimes, but not always, when they finish mating one slug will chew the penis completely off the other, a process called Apophallation. Sometimes it happens that both slugs engage in chewing so that at the end of the mating encounter, both slugs are penis-less. [...] This is a slug penis. This particular slug was injected with the peptide hormone APGWamide. This hormone causes erections within minutes. I am using this for several aspects of my research.
Uh.... that's... awesome.
posted by jokeefe at 2:58 PM on June 4, 2006
Uh.... that's... awesome.
posted by jokeefe at 2:58 PM on June 4, 2006
Nature red in tooth and claw--Tennyson
Do you eat meat? where does it come from?
posted by Postroad at 2:59 PM on June 4, 2006
Do you eat meat? where does it come from?
posted by Postroad at 2:59 PM on June 4, 2006
I was expecting a hot asian girl crushing a kitten.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2006
Man, and you should see what those snakes do to get chic lawn furniture! And office supplies... Ghastly.
posted by salvia at 3:25 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by salvia at 3:25 PM on June 4, 2006
And the hummingbird/mantis link is a double post.
so is horrible.
posted by juv3nal at 3:34 PM on June 4, 2006
I don't know, you could use some images of that flesh eating virus stuff for horrible in your post. None of this is particularly horrid, just nature being nature.
Its worse when they cut open the shark and find plastic trash in its stomach.
posted by fenriq at 3:58 PM on June 4, 2006
Its worse when they cut open the shark and find plastic trash in its stomach.
posted by fenriq at 3:58 PM on June 4, 2006
Urrrrrggghhhhhh, why did I click on the spider link 15 minutes before my bedtime? I scream like a baby when I see a tiny house spider running up my living room wall, so that shit is just too far out. At least I learned one thing, though: I am NEVER going to Vietnam.
posted by afx237vi at 4:12 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by afx237vi at 4:12 PM on June 4, 2006
I think a large part of the 'horror' here stems from a perceived violation of (what we take for granted as being) the natural order: things lower on the evolutionary ladder are supposed to be eaten by things higher on it (until it's time for decomposition, of course). It just seems 'unnatural' for a spider to catch and eat a bird, which is the specific example I read about as a kid that made me notice this concept.
posted by kimota at 4:21 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by kimota at 4:21 PM on June 4, 2006
Argghhh....the horror is that the arachnaphobic, like me, can't help but scroll through that page of spiders, feeling more and more sick at every picture, and when we finally get to the end of it, a million tiny points on our skin feel like spiders are crawling on us.
That's the bloody horror of this post!
posted by kristin at 4:24 PM on June 4, 2006
That's the bloody horror of this post!
posted by kristin at 4:24 PM on June 4, 2006
I don't like spiders and hummingbird eating , therefore nature suck. Wow now that's some generalization !
posted by elpapacito at 4:25 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by elpapacito at 4:25 PM on June 4, 2006
I meant to specify that thanatogenous got it right, but more succinctly. And that the aesthetics (s?)he refers to largely stem from the Aristotelian great chain of being.
posted by kimota at 4:26 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by kimota at 4:26 PM on June 4, 2006
Now, if that last link has been full of pictures of fish, rather spiders, I would have felt that familiar terror. But we can't pick our phobias, now can we.
I like spiders, but Canada mostly only has little ones that eat mosquitos, so that might be why. Anything that eats mosquitos is okay in my book.
posted by Hildegarde at 5:04 PM on June 4, 2006
I like spiders, but Canada mostly only has little ones that eat mosquitos, so that might be why. Anything that eats mosquitos is okay in my book.
posted by Hildegarde at 5:04 PM on June 4, 2006
Spiders of Vietnam would be a fantastic band name
It sounds like one of those names like London Suede that exists to differentiate between bands with the same name from different regions; Spiders of Vietnam would need the "of Vietnam" to differentiate themselves from these guys. Only reason I know this? I grew up watching this guy in this.
posted by fFish at 5:09 PM on June 4, 2006
It sounds like one of those names like London Suede that exists to differentiate between bands with the same name from different regions; Spiders of Vietnam would need the "of Vietnam" to differentiate themselves from these guys. Only reason I know this? I grew up watching this guy in this.
posted by fFish at 5:09 PM on June 4, 2006
spiders are cool looking, but I wouldn't want to tangle with a brown recluse
posted by juv3nal at 5:14 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by juv3nal at 5:14 PM on June 4, 2006
It just seems 'unnatural' for a spider to catch and eat a bird
Well, it's certainly rude. :-) This comparison of evolutionary paths and the 'chain of being' is obviously anachronistic. The GCB isn't really tied to size or complexity, but to virtuousness, i.e. the share of Being a thing has. By that logic, every time David beat Goliath, it would be 'unnatural.'
I like the organic complexity test though. The way you describe it, the disgust we feel might be: simple things winning the life-and-death struggle over complex things. Me, I root for the little guy, but nature put more work into some bits of itself than others. When a virus takes a human life, for instance, it seems unjust.
Anyway, spiders are better when they're small and squishable. Those pics were way too large. Teh gross.
posted by anotherpanacea at 5:22 PM on June 4, 2006
Well, it's certainly rude. :-) This comparison of evolutionary paths and the 'chain of being' is obviously anachronistic. The GCB isn't really tied to size or complexity, but to virtuousness, i.e. the share of Being a thing has. By that logic, every time David beat Goliath, it would be 'unnatural.'
I like the organic complexity test though. The way you describe it, the disgust we feel might be: simple things winning the life-and-death struggle over complex things. Me, I root for the little guy, but nature put more work into some bits of itself than others. When a virus takes a human life, for instance, it seems unjust.
Anyway, spiders are better when they're small and squishable. Those pics were way too large. Teh gross.
posted by anotherpanacea at 5:22 PM on June 4, 2006
Also, Hegel wipes the floor with Schelling in the Encyclopedia. He's all, like, smack! Smack! Reason, bi-atch! And Schelling's all like... dude, you're dead; can I have your job? Then he tags Kierkegaard and they do one of those illegal tag-team pile drives on G.W.F.'s bloated corpse. Poor guy.
posted by anotherpanacea at 5:30 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by anotherpanacea at 5:30 PM on June 4, 2006
I wouldn't want to tangle with a brown recluse
Holy mother of Jesus, that put the fear of God in me. And reminded me of exactly why I prefer to stay NORTH NORTH NORTH. Eeeep!
posted by Hildegarde at 6:42 PM on June 4, 2006
Holy mother of Jesus, that put the fear of God in me. And reminded me of exactly why I prefer to stay NORTH NORTH NORTH. Eeeep!
posted by Hildegarde at 6:42 PM on June 4, 2006
There was an SA thread a little while back about the "most disturbing but beautiful pics you can find." Sure, a lot of folks posted massive storm pictures, but I got a real chuckle after some guy found a bunch of pics of odd deep-sea creatures and rather angry looking squid. His comment on the bottom of the post?
seriously, fuck the ocean.
posted by thanotopsis at 6:51 PM on June 4, 2006
seriously, fuck the ocean.
posted by thanotopsis at 6:51 PM on June 4, 2006
I wonder what would happen if you kicked the boa while its eating the kangaroo.
posted by j-urb at 7:05 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by j-urb at 7:05 PM on June 4, 2006
Thanotopsis, why does that make you chuckle? What you might find humorous someone else might find terrifying, deep-sea creatures included.
posted by nonmerci at 7:12 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by nonmerci at 7:12 PM on June 4, 2006
What's troubling Gus you sound demented
is it because someone talked and she told me
he no longer thinks anything that moves and
everything he sees is something to kill and eat?
"Gus is an actual Polar Bear who lives in the Central Park Zoo. Ol' Gus became famous when the Zoo's curators and specialists noticed that their once jovial bear had become lackadaisical, complacent and locked in an unhealthy routine."
"If you substitute the name Gus for that of a certain American president ..."
posted by bwg at 8:46 PM on June 4, 2006
is it because someone talked and she told me
he no longer thinks anything that moves and
everything he sees is something to kill and eat?
"Gus is an actual Polar Bear who lives in the Central Park Zoo. Ol' Gus became famous when the Zoo's curators and specialists noticed that their once jovial bear had become lackadaisical, complacent and locked in an unhealthy routine."
"If you substitute the name Gus for that of a certain American president ..."
posted by bwg at 8:46 PM on June 4, 2006
Nature may be many things, but disgusting is not one of them. Humans, now those are often disgusting. ("all of nature pleases, only man is vile" - Reginald Heber). What humanity is doing to the natural world is both vile and disgusting.
posted by rmm at 9:15 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by rmm at 9:15 PM on June 4, 2006
Nature isn't awful; it's just full of ignorance.
posted by all-seeing eye dog at 9:55 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by all-seeing eye dog at 9:55 PM on June 4, 2006
Nothing beats the enterobius vermicularis moving in your cecum.
posted by caelumluna at 10:24 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by caelumluna at 10:24 PM on June 4, 2006
Easy mistake; you obviously just meant to write "Nature is so fucking MËTAL!"
posted by luckywanderboy at 11:26 PM on June 4, 2006
posted by luckywanderboy at 11:26 PM on June 4, 2006
If I was a snake, I think I'd look into evolving some cutting and grinding teeth. Damned if I'd settle for having to swallow kangaroos whole.
posted by pracowity at 12:39 AM on June 5, 2006
posted by pracowity at 12:39 AM on June 5, 2006
j-urb: I wonder what would happen if you kicked the boa while its eating the kangaroo.
Can a TV show be based around this concept? Every time I picture that, I can't help laughing.
posted by stinkycheese at 12:54 AM on June 5, 2006
Can a TV show be based around this concept? Every time I picture that, I can't help laughing.
posted by stinkycheese at 12:54 AM on June 5, 2006
Here's one that features mantis vs. mouse. Guess who wins?
Wow, and I thought this video of a centipede eating a mouse was cool (guess who wins).
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:03 AM on June 5, 2006
Wow, and I thought this video of a centipede eating a mouse was cool (guess who wins).
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:03 AM on June 5, 2006
Nature is so fucking horrible.
Nature doesn't have too many nice things to say about you, either.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:18 AM on June 5, 2006
Nature doesn't have too many nice things to say about you, either.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:18 AM on June 5, 2006
If you people think this stuff is horrible you should see photos and videos of people having sex. Especially home videos of average-looking American amateurs -- "real people" not pr0n starz. YUCK. Maybe that explains why manga is so popular here.
posted by davy at 7:26 AM on June 5, 2006
posted by davy at 7:26 AM on June 5, 2006
wow, there are a lot of people in this thread who take tossed off comments like "nature is so fucking horrible" way too seriously.
posted by shmegegge at 8:05 AM on June 5, 2006
posted by shmegegge at 8:05 AM on June 5, 2006
This FPP should give Colbert enough Threat-Down material for a month.
posted by blucevalo at 9:26 AM on June 5, 2006
posted by blucevalo at 9:26 AM on June 5, 2006
SNAKES ON A MOTHERFUCKING MARSUPIAL
posted by mr_crash_davis
Bwhahahahahahahahaha!
Who knew a mantis could catch a hummingbird? Or that they ate birds?
The spider pics are amazing!
posted by dejah420 at 1:27 PM on June 5, 2006
posted by mr_crash_davis
Bwhahahahahahahahaha!
Who knew a mantis could catch a hummingbird? Or that they ate birds?
The spider pics are amazing!
posted by dejah420 at 1:27 PM on June 5, 2006
This FPP should give Colbert enough Threat-Down material for a month.
If he ever gets back from his freakin' vacation! Oh wait, think the Daily Show & C.Report are new tonight, finally. Sweeeeeet.
posted by ktoad at 5:24 PM on June 5, 2006
If he ever gets back from his freakin' vacation! Oh wait, think the Daily Show & C.Report are new tonight, finally. Sweeeeeet.
posted by ktoad at 5:24 PM on June 5, 2006
Nothing beats the enterobius vermicularis moving in your cecum.
Oh God, nature IS fucking horrible!
posted by LeeJay at 5:20 PM on June 6, 2006
Oh God, nature IS fucking horrible!
posted by LeeJay at 5:20 PM on June 6, 2006
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posted by jokeefe at 12:31 PM on June 4, 2006