this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 81 points 1 year ago (6 children)

So what you're saying is we have orcs and elves, And... We are the demigods?

Oh Lords. When we pour the liquid metal into an ant colony to get its shape?

Man now I kind of want to run a campaign treating the gods as if they thought of us as literal ants and termites.

And... That gods that work with clerics and stuff are etymologists... And such...

[–] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 59 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Do you mean entomologists rather than etymologists?

Credit

[–] CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The typo kind of makes sense though. The Gods are etymologists who study the language of the bugs. It's why they understand prayer. Entomological etymologists.

[–] lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

i suppose insects are entomonolingual

[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Entomologist: From French entomologie, from Ancient Greek éntomon (insect) + -logie (from Ancient Greek -logía (from "lógos" - explanation)).

[–] F04118F@feddit.nl 10 points 1 year ago

Exactly as asked. The etymologist to explain the etymology of entomologist.

[–] Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Of course there's an xkcd for everything!

[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 54 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

You know how we like put shoes on ants right feet and it makes them go around in circles because they don't understand what's going on. Like "Normally when I walked like this I get home just fine "

Now That's a fun curse

Seems almost Fey.

As you walk home your mind drifts to thoughts of what you want to do when you're home. And of your previous battles, you walk the path that you've walked everyday since your childhood.... You end up miles to the West

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 58 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 1 year ago

It mises the "good enough" human approximations of the "true names" when the latter is impossible for humans to pronounce: it doesn't have to be the exact correct pronunciation. If the Ants can't make the -lk- or -nt- sounds of my screen name and chant "Lennivekat", It's close enough that I get they mean me. I might try to teach them the correct pronunciation, then probably give up and ask what they actually want.

[–] NeatoBuilds@mander.xyz 9 points 1 year ago

It's like that movie vivarium or the show from, you keep driving trying to leave but keep passing the same houses after hours of trying

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

honestly i feel like an even more fey curse would be always ending up only slightly to the left of where you intended, cursed to never enter a doorway successfully.

[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Really really like that very true.

[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

That's a story element in Babylon 5. Some of the ancient alien races had evolved to the level of gods. One of them guided several alien races, in our case creating the myth of angels.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago

Piquing a demigods's curiosity, returning to your home city and finding it's been turned to metal and everyone is fused into the walls/floors.

[–] tdawg@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

shows the cruel indifference of many of the gods

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport.

[–] flora_explora@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just that so far no gods have materialized in our world to study or even interact with us :/

[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Beyond our understanding! Fifth dimensional!

But yeah

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Franz Ferdinand one of them, let's see some carnage

[–] Jumi@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago
[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

We used to have hominid cousins living at the same time as modern humans like neanderthals and denisovans. I don't think there's a consensus answer on what wiped them out, ecological changes over the last ice age reducing the availability of resources that they couldn't adapt to maybe, or prehistoric wars maybe and only the most vicious and violent hominid group survived, or some combination of changes and fighting and being absorbed by other dominant groups that they couldn't adapt to quickly enough.

[–] Neon@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think it's widely accepted that it's a mix of:

Changing environment + being less competitive than homo sapiens (not sure "war" is the right word) + intermingling (Nenaderthals and HomoSapiens bred together into the modern day human) (yes, you're the analogue of a half-elf.)

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Giving human history of treating humans of the same species with slightly different genetic features... I'm almost glad of not knowing what we would have done to a whole different species.

"It's the humans rights declaration, not the hominids rights declaration"

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

what we would have done to a whole different species.

Well, humanity has about 6% Neanderthal in their genome.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

and we have genetic evidence of an individual that was a smooth 50% neanderthal and 50% denisovan, it's either just an innate trait in hominids/primates, or all animals will just default to horni when able.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Oh, it's true. The Neanderthal even migrated to Denisova.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Ok, but this is more like if one of those was a bird.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

Yes, but all from the same line. Less like fantasy and more like Rimworld.

[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

Europeans fucked them into extinction

I think we also interbreed some of them out

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

The ants seem to be at a significant disadvantage here.

[–] subgoose@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] F04118F@feddit.nl 34 points 1 year ago

In the long run? The colony that avoids open conflict unless it's absolutely necessary to spare lives and energy. Guessing that's how these two ended up like this.

[–] EtherWhack@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

I would say the ants.

Termites would be the equivalence to a hippo in or out of water (wood, for them) while the ants would be hyenas. One on one, the termite would win, but ants tend to have the numbers and their bodies are more built for tearing tearing apart flesh/exoskeletons. With termites, it only really the soldiers that are capable of attack/defense while most ants in a colony are capable of such.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 9 points 1 year ago

Well, I'm standing here, what do I see? A big nothing threatening me