• Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    just because someone calls themself a scientist doesnt mean they are, as evidenced by that post

  • Draconic NEO@mander.xyz
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    19 hours ago

    Most scientists won’t say that there are no straight lines in nature, it’s so obviously and provably wrong. I think it’s more of a thing philosophically said when talking about how modern life is so different and unnatural compared to the lives of ancient people or animals.

      • Noobnarski@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Agriculture is already somewhat unnatural, so I guess a “natural” life would be hunter gatherers.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 hours ago

      Tbh, I’ve only ever heard it when talking about camouflage. And tbf in that context it is somewhat true, you’re harder to see if you break up those straight lines.

    • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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      16 hours ago

      I wonder if there’s any animals who see crystals in nature and think “wow that’s a really cool rock”.

      • laz@pawb.social
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        7 hours ago

        Birds definitely think this. My local Magpies have definitely attempted bribery with cool rocks and shiny discarded human objects

  • bitteroldcoot@piefed.social
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    1 day ago

    Worked as a physicist for 30 years, nobody talks like that. Everyone else in the room is to smart, and will slap you down for using absolutes.

    • 🍉 DrRedOctopus 🐙🍉@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      no science teacher would ever say that.

      Light travels in a straight line, plenty of crystals, linear erosion, many trees evolved to be as straight as possible…

      and to be esoteric, every object path, even when gravity affects them (they travel in a perfectly straight line, but it is spacetime that is curved).

      • fartographer@lemmy.world
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        54 minutes ago

        I work in public education. That’s a pretty innocuous statement compared to some of the shit I’ve heard. Some teachers get so complacent in their lessons that they forget to apply it in their critical-thinking. Then, they have some crazy logical lapse, say something ridiculous out loud, and then some other kid from that class repeats that same shit to their own students when they grow up. These are mistakes that could easily be rectified with an apology or deliberate correction, but teachers are pushed so hard to prioritize being an authority figure that they sometimes forget to just be a teacher.

      • Mr. Semi@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        no science teacher would ever say that.

        Careful with those absolute statements there buddy. I was told the same by a teacher, who challenged the class to come up with natural examples of either straight lines or perfect circles. He talked about how such things cannot exist because at high enough resolution/magnification there will always be interruptions.

        Your own example of light traveling in straight lines doesn’t account for the fact that photons are waves and absolutely do not travel in straight lines.

      • Krudler@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        We can say that spatially, the summation of the photons movement is linear, but everything in the universe is waves and curves and we all know that to be true

    • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      It’s useful as a navigational aid, if you’re lost in the woods keeping an eye open for straight lines, especially horizontal, is a good way of finding man made structures and potentially a way out. Beyond that, on a micro scale nature loves perfect geometry.

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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      20 hours ago

      Yeah, it’s a very stupid concept made into a very stupid meme to make dumb people feel dopamine over the concept of scientists being allegedly dumber than them.

      I really hate our species sometimes.

  • nehal3m@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    I must confess, this sparked a laugh

    This pointiness, it’s nature’s gaff

    Give me a siiiiign

    Fool me baby one more time