
The extraordinary life and death of the world’s oldest known spider - okket
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/05/01/the-extraordinary-life-and-death-of-the-worlds-oldest-known-spider/
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spyckie2
Surprisingly well written.

Was wondering why a 43 year old spider was in the news, it's not about the
spider itself but about the dedication of the people that study and track
these species, the connections they make with the world around them, and their
passion for ecological systems and the changes induced on them over time.

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zomg
Arguably without a 43 year-old spider there wouldn't be a story... so it's
probably more so about the spider, no?

~~~
mannykannot
"I took a speed reading course... I was able to read 'War and Peace' in twenty
minutes. It's about Russia." \- Woody Allen.

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tim333
Some prior discussion of spider 16 RIP
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16947089](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16947089)

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JustSomeNobody
This was a fun read!

Then I got to the bottom and saw a link about people stoning a 'roo because it
wouldn't hop. wtf?

~~~
coldacid
Humans are a species of extremes. The comparison between this article and the
one about the murdered kangaroo is a great example of that.

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sgillen
Makes me wonder how similar a spiders experience of the world is to our own.

~~~
ahazred8ta
["What is it like to be a spider?"](
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nagel#What_is_it_like_t...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nagel#What_is_it_like_to_be_a_something))
is surely a book waiting to be written.

~~~
tim333
I sometimes wonder if, assuming we are able to simulate brains and nervous
systems in software at some point in the future, if we'll be able to
experiment with mapping spider or bat nervous system states to human ones to
be able to investigate that experimentally. Which would be somewhat counter to
Nagel's arguments.

~~~
theprotocol
Some off topic: I'd use that experiential mapping tech to "show" the mentally
ill what a "normal" state of mind which they struggle to conceive of would be
like. I suspect that may be curative. I also suspect most criminality may be
cured in a similar way.

~~~
jrq
Isn't that an extremely dangerous thing to do to a person's mind?

Nobody is perfect, right? I believe that. That's an ancient biblical
principle. If we were to take someone we perceive as unhealthy and conform
their mind to someone we perceive as healthy, that person is being robbed of
their individual experience and opportunity at life.

It's one thing to denounce criminalized thoughts, it's another to disallow
them entirely. Regulating our thoughts and our actions is by definition living
our lives. Excluding that experience, what is left?

I'm sorry if what I'm saying is not well organized, but for whatever reason
this idea evokes something passionate in me. I don't think people should ever
be put through that.

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icebraining
Agreed; it sounds like an aseptic version of Room 101.

"But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He
had won the victory over himself."

~~~
jrq
He truly loved big brother.

Yeah, I hadn't the bravery to include that, as I didn't want my response to
seem so reactionary, but that really is what it is. Really the only difference
is that in the book, he is coerced to perform the mental gymnastics through
suffering, but if we could just restrain someone and zap them.... That's
awful.

I'm glad others agree that this is at least controversial. The political
landscape (at least here in America, my own perspective) the idea of offensive
is seemingly headed down a path where people will want to bar themselves from
experiencing anything offensive.

When you get on the subway and the guy next to you has odor, doesn't it make
you appreciate your apartment even more?

Healthy dealings with unhealthy thoughts generally leads to healthy thoughts.
Carl Rogers pioneered Humanist Psychology like fifty years ago, and he talked
about that. Idk if he used the term self-talk, but that's what we call it now.

I think most neurodivergent people, particularly the criminally oriented ones,
they have a dialogue imbalance, not a chemical imbalance. They are having the
wrong conversations with themselves.

Anyways, the world is crazy.

