this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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It was only in 1969 (nice) that fungi officially became its own separate kingdom.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

Thanks plants vs zombies 😡😡

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

It's not a plant or an animal, but a secret third thing.

[–] Draconic_NEO 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

They're ~~fungi~~ fun guys.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

I think an issue here is that taxonomic and colloquial definitions don't always agree.

Spiders are colloquially bugs, but they're not taxonomically "true bugs" (which is itself a colloquialism for Hemiptera). Tomatos are colloquially vegetables but taxonomically fruits...but afaik vegetable is a purely colloquial term anyway.

And as someone else in the thread mentioned, colloquial berries are not always taxonomic berries.

So...colloquially, "plants" sorta means, "macroscopic multicellular living non-animal thing," but taxonomically it's something else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

If you’re talking about tomatoes, the difference is the context, and it isn’t a choice between colloquial vs scientific taxonomy, but between culinary/nutritional vs botany/taxonomy (and). You can talk about either in a colloquial context or a formal context, though generally there isn’t much reason to talk about botany in a colloquial setting.

From a nutritional perspective, mushrooms are generally considered vegetables, too.

afaik vegetable is a purely colloquial term anyway.

I thought you were wrong but I looked it up and I appear to have been mistaken. It makes “tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables” sound nonsensical, as it implies that “vegetable” is a different taxonomical option, when really it’s just a word for objects with a particular collection of traits that are relevant in a different context. What we should he saying is “While tomatoes are not fruit in the food pyramid, taxonomically, they are.” Doesn’t really roll off the tongue, though. Maybe “Tomatoes are vegetables AND fruits!” would solve that?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Similarly, “a planet” can be understood in technical or colloquial context which changes the meaning. It can have a specific meaning or a vague flexible meaning, just like with berries.

BTW raspberries are my favorite berries… sort of. Watermelons are pretty good too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Pluto is a planet, though. It’s officially considered a “dwarf” planet, and as “dwarf” is just an adjective, it’s still a planet (just like a short person is still a person). The other 8 new dwarf planets (Ceres, Eris, Makemake, Haumea, Gonggong, Quaoar, Orcus, and Sedna) are also all planets - so we have 17 planets total.

Seriously, though. By the same 3 criteria that Pluto isn’t a planet, Mercury isn’t (as it isn’t in hydrostatic equilibrium).

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Is he though? He’s anthropomorphic, speaks clear English, and owns a dog.

Pluto is an animal-shaped person.

Wait no that’s Goofy. Pluto is an animal owned by an animal-shaped person!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

If Pluto is a planet, then Ceres is a planet too. CERES RIGHTS!

[–] Draconic_NEO 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Let's just acknowledge that anything big enough to be round is a planet. That's the bare minimum criteria.

Orbit shapes and clear paths don't matter, the Solar system isn't a typical stellar system, many aren't so stable and ordered, especially in binary and triplet star systems. So the pedantry around the shapes of the orbits of the outer kuiper planets is a very silly thing to argue about. After all most orbits in binary and triplet systems aren't even predictable long term, let alone not circular.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

So that makes Earth and Moon a binary planet system. I'm cool with that

[–] TheLowestStone 24 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

Fuck you op. Mushrooms are plants, Pluto is a planet, and that's the truth from one edge of this flat Earth to the other.

~disclaimer: this is a joke~

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago

Honestly? Flat earth? It's not even funny as a joke. That entire movement has been so incredibly detrimental, and dangerous. It has shattered families, and been an instruction manual for other conspiracy theorists. And the worst thing of all is that it makes actual, real facts about how the earth is in, in reality, a hollow shell with a breathable atmosphere in its inferior, come across as just as crazy as flat earth. How are we supposed to spread the truth of hollow earth when flat earthers are out there making us look crazy? Just because hollow earth also points out that the government is lying about the earth doesn't mean we're the same! People need to know about hollow earth! Otherwise, we'll never be able to heal the housing market by building condos inside the earth!

[–] Illuminostro 5 points 7 hours ago

I bet they don't think Atlantis existed, either...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 hours ago

Honestly? Flat earth? It's not even funny as a joke. That entire movement has been so incredibly detrimental, and dangerous. It has shattered families, and been an instruction manual for other conspiracy theorists. And the worst thing of all is that it makes actual, real facts about how the earth is in, in reality, a hollow shell with a breathable atmosphere in its inferior, come across as just as crazy as flat earth. How are we supposed to spread the truth of hollow earth when flat earthers are out there making us look crazy? Just because hollow earth also points out that the government is lying about the earth doesn't mean we're the same! People need to know about hollow earth! Otherwise, we'll never be able to heal the housing market by building condos inside the earth!

[–] [email protected] 48 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

I overheard someone talking about veganism and said they only eat plants. I asked them about mushrooms, “of course it's fine, those are plants”.
No amount of convincing worked.

So I've seen it once.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Mushrooms are plants in the culinary sense. Like strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are berries in the culinary sense.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 minutes ago

Culinary definition doesn't differentiate plants, but mushrooms are vegetables.

[–] kn33 28 points 7 hours ago

Yup. Inside culinary classifications, fungi don't exist. Outside of culinary classifications, vegetables don't exist.

[–] dustyData 6 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

If anything is close to having a consciousness and experiencing an array of emotion, including suffering. That's a mushroom, much more than a plant.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago

The mycelium, maybe. That is definitely not the part of the mushroom that you eat.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

Actual animals are far more likely to feel pain that fungi. Do fungi even have a nervous system?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 hours ago

Fungi are a nervous system.

[–] dustyData 2 points 7 hours ago

We actually suspect they do. They can also display intelligent behavior, from a certain definition of the concept.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

First time hearing this but mushroom is a protein source so from diet perspective, I see it as a meet type food. Deff not vegatable

[–] teft 11 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

So are chickpeas or edamame meat to you? Because they have like 5 times as much protein by weight than mushrooms.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 hours ago

I would go with, based totally on feelz, that no because it generally note used like that.

As you think is all super science here, trust me bro

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 hours ago

Mushrooms have some protein, but not very much. They aren't a very good source of protein

[–] Illuminostro 10 points 7 hours ago

"GET MY PLANET'S NAME OUTTA YO MOUTH!"

[–] SauceBossSmokin 8 points 7 hours ago

From what I've seen, dudes that care that much about mushrooms are really fun guys.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 hours ago

Well they use chitin not celulose for structure so definatly closer to animals than plants.

[–] Treczoks 6 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Fun fact: mushrooms are closer to the animal kingdom than to the plant kingdom.

[–] linearchaos 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah but we're not eating the whole thing we're just eating its sex organ

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Except, in cheese and some sausages. Also, I'm not sure yeast counts, because it's usually dead by the time we eat it in our food.

[–] Contramuffin 3 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

not sure yeast counts because it's usually dead

As long as the organism is dead, we're not eating it? Time to have some steak then, surely that's not a cow!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

lol, yeah, but when baking, the yeast gets destroyed pretty bad. i didn't dare call it yeast at that point, but maybe you're right.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

...this would trigger a friend of mine so badly (fungi enthusiast and Pluto stan). I want to send it, but at the same time... I'm not sure I'd hear the end of it.

[–] atrielienz 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Send it and report back. I am interested in subscribing to their newsletter. You'll let them know, right?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 hours ago

Similarly plate tectonics - not fully recognised until the 60s apparently.

[–] Today 6 points 8 hours ago

I have family in Streator, IL, home of Clyde Tombaugh, so we're die hard planet pluto.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

I mean both classifications are arbitrary and made up, so defense of either side is equally valid (even if only because they're also equally invalid).

We don't even have a solid definition of what constitutes "life", or "consciousness", because we can't agree on what should be included, or how various aspects are defined.

In the end, words are just symbols or sounds that we try to - as consistently as possible - associate with ideas, but it's all made up.

[–] Contramuffin 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

That sounds scientifically incorrect. Mushrooms are closer to animals than they are to plants. They fundamentally do not resemble plants in any sense of the word, except maybe that they both grow in the ground.

[–] elephantium 1 points 1 hour ago

Mushrooms are closer to animals than they are to plants

How? At first blush, this seems absurd.

Disclaimer, it's been a while since middle school biology class where we might have talked about this subject.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago
[–] thenextguy 1 points 7 hours ago

I've never even considered whether they're plants or not. I guess I always assumed they were, but now it makes sense that they're not. But I can't imagine anyone having a tizzy over it either way.

[–] ultranaut 1 points 8 hours ago

Yes, I've encountered a few people like this. Also, no one has ever heard of Archaea.