Cute Stuff

just the things I would have liked twice

[legallybrunettedotcom]

weather is starting to feel like this

[matchagirl]

radiator cathedral by branislav nikolić, 2012

[anyskin]

“Mikiphone” - portable pocket gramophone. Swiss made 1924

[fumblebeefae]

Do you think those cat/dogs learning to talk with buttons thing is actually accurate? I know even primates apparently dont know how to parse human words (with regards to sign language) so i struggle to understand why dogs or cats suddenly understand complex english

They don’t actually understand what the buttons mean. These animals aren’t capable of processing language like we humans do and they tend to react more to your tone and visual cues then the actual words you’re saying. 

The buttons are just very basic operant conditioning. I very basic form of cognition in animals. They press the buttons because they are rewarded for doing so, not because they actually understand the meaning behind the buttons.

You can see in those videos (they do usually edit it out, but sometimes the creator of these videos just outright admits it) that it can take their pet something like 15 - 20 minutes to respond via the buttons.

Claims that the pets are asking questions ect. feel very staged / trained (like the below for example). Remember these videos are all coming from people on tiktok and people will do anything for a bit of internet fame. Scientific research has shown that dogs do not pass the “mirror test” but the mirror test is a very outdated way to show self-recognition in animals.

You compare this to the language studies done by Pepperberg with African Grey Parrots like Alex; in which they were able to ask questions they weren’t already trained to ask, form sentences they weren’t previously trained to do, display self-recognition (via asking what colour they were), could understand syntax and form their own words eg. Alex called apples “banerries”,  a combination of "banana" and "cherry", two fruits he was more familiar with.

I prefer not to touch on koko the gorilla because that research is already pretty widely criticised with a lack of actual data, and there was evidence of the Clever Hans effect (her trainers' unconscious cues were prompting her to display specific signs). 

[madeleineengland]

LMAO

[solitairians]

happy first Bella From Twilight Depression Month

[solitairians]

happy second Bella From Twilight Depression Month

[solitairians]

happy last Bella From Twilight Depression Month

[wulfhalls]

https://x.com/mugIerette/status/1849718374143574209?t=h997nuN4hqpDItfPOWWN2A&s=19

which ship

obv:

[russiawave]

[zegalba]

Ghost sculpture in the castle of Vezio, Italy.

[tlirsgender]

The remake reboot prequel sequel industrial complex is killing me but the good thing is I don't have to watch any of that. I can just think "that sounds boring or otherwise doesn't interest me in any way" and do something other than watch it

[tlirsgender]

"They're making a willy wonka origin story with timothee chalamet," you might say to me. "They're doing a live action the last airbender again, didn't you love avatar?" I don't find it necessary. This is nothing to me

[bumblewyn]

#my ability to not watch something is unparalleled

[byjove]

A new cat color has been spotted in Finland. This is really interesting. A lot of common cat coat patterns have only evolved in the last 1,000 years. The tabby cat coloration only evolved in the Middle Ages.

[byjove]

they’re calling it salty licorice because of its visual similarity to the popular Finnish sweet, it reminds me of blue tick coloring in dogs or the blue roan coloring in horses and cows.

[jade-florescence]

@gwcnstcy

[letmesleeponu4sumtime]

I hope my dreams tonight resemble this Rinko Kawauchi photo

[noosphe-re]

Ventifacts = rocks carved by the wind (by nbeard3)

[autistook]

Pippin Took as text posts

[geniusoflove]

thinking about how much work i could get done if i would do it

[girlnephew]

[treecitysessions]

[gallusrostromegalus]

Ok but @wizardarchetypes introduced me to "Nancy Peolsi needs you to reline the trash can" and FOR SOME GODDAMN REASON this makes the task that would normally vanish in a wisp of executive dysfunction stick around and I have not failed to reline the trash can since.

what the fuck.

[animatedtext]