Everybody is so touched by this anglerfish coming to see the light and I’m over here like “actually you are deeply misunderstanding the sensorium of deep sea creatures and that girl was blinded way before she got to the surface.”
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Reminds me of poor blob fish being hated for how gross they look on the surface, or seen as endearingly "so ugly it’s cute" like. This animal only looks messed up because it is messed up- by the pressure change that killed it coming to the surface!
I love it when ppl respond in kind...
I also "honestly" appreciate the verbocity of using "honestly" for no reason. but at least it's not "literally".
but I can tell a lot about you just from that.
keep em coming. I thrive on edge.
Yes!! Thank you!! I understood what was likely happening but ya know what, maybe we are all just looking for the light right now, so we could relate to her! Let us have our sad/happy little moment with our fish friend ☀️🐟🌊
I'm pretty sure Hank was just being tongue-in-cheek, but a few of the responses have been pretty grating. "Everyone's an idiot who doesn't read" type nonsense. I read a lot, that's why I know anthropomorphization can be used as a literary tool to create a narrative.
An anglerfish floated to the surface and a bunch of people were talking about it like she wanted to see the sun before she died. Probably because this comic went viral a while back:
It isn’t “tongue in cheek” it is just a fact. People have been posting about this as if it proves a coming apocalypse. People definitely believe the sentiment in your comment.
This was literally what my husband said when I told him about her. So I’ll say the same thing I told him - I KNOW JUST LET US HAVE THIS 😭 WE LOVE HER 😭
Like how I'm blinded thinking I'm being efficient walking out of a movie at 2pm on a Tuesday directly to my car using the emergency exit instead of through the lobby as the lord intended
I must confess a moment of curiosity here, though: Would her (already mostly atrophied in adulthood) eyes have failed from decompression injury before she reached the lowest depths to which sunlight reaches? Was it light that drew her into fatally low pressures, or did she seek it out at the end?
I don't disagree with your point but by the same token I don't know what telling people this Angler probably didn't see light does. It's not like anyone is going to (or COULD) go down and force more Anglers out.
Knowledge is important but in this specific case you kinda are just being a Debby down
but playing around w/ the mechanics of the world often makes for really good art!! i don't know exactly where the line between tasteful suspension of disbelief and genuine misinformation is, but it certainly isn't people getting teary over a deep sea fish
am deeply concerned for the health of that fish. hafta wonder what disturbed it to bring it so far from its habitat
like it's not 1 for 1, but if i'm hiking in the woods and a raccoon saunters up to say hello, I'm immediately thinking "rabies" and getting tf out of there
I think people know most of the facts. Romanticizing an event is human. People are capable of finding beauty and meaning in something tragic and still knowing that it was tragic. We aren't babies.
I've heard the reason why she rose to the surface is because she couldn't fart and the gas made her float upwards which is such a fate to experience. It won't stop me from experiencing love for that angler fish. Nothing can.
Everyone's complaining that you are ruining the magic, but it's interesting to think about what point would the light have been too much? Also, can you ruin everyone's perception of how big it was next? 😉
I tested this hypothesis in first grade. Sadly, my thesis was correct, and the results were repeatable consistently. I made certain to have it peer reviewed and ultimately chose not to publish my findings.
Sometimes it's good to tell kids there's no Santa Claus. When my(oxymoron alert) mildly autistic son was told at school there was no Santa Claus about 2nd grade by another spec. ed. kid, he was kind of mad we had lied to him. Apparently we missed the cut-off date.
He's the kindness of the season; the feeling of giving, kindness, and charity (a.k.a when ppl donate food to foodbanks or leave leftovers in the ambulance station, lol) . Santa is very real, but doesn't look like how Haddon Sundblom drew him for Coca-Cola in '31
Hank, I say this with deep respect & admiration: let us have something beautiful without ‘well, actually-ing’ the situation. Deep down, we know; we just want to escape & imagine something pretty for a while.
I just kept thinking that the poor fish must be in extreme distress and pain, if only from the difference in water pressure. I didn't understand how anyone could take anything positive from it.
Hank don’t ruin this for us….. we know the truth is drier than the story but we NEED the tale of a little anglerfish who was willing to die to see the light 😭
Regular Joes knowing angler fish science impacts fuck all in this world. Being able to manufacture a tiny bit of beauty in this age however… save the pedantry for shit that matters.
Hank I need you to know that when you spout about humans being amazing and I begrudgingly say okay, it’s only because of the softies doing this kind of silly stuff that I’m willing to agree with you.
Right? Everyone wants a poetic into-the-light moment, but in reality, that poor anglerfish probably hit sensory overload long before she broke the surface. It’s less spiritual awakening and more accidental eldritch horror scenario. Nature doesn’t do metaphor—it just does survival.
It was a poetic view of it.
Most people are not thinking about the real life of that angler fish.
That's why they eat products from factory farms.
They still have a childish idea of the lives of animals from baby books.
It says a lot about yourself that you have that reaction to learning something. You're literally describing the process of learning as ruinous. Poetry doesn't die with knowledge. Sperm whales make the trip from the depths to surface and back as a fundamental part of living. That's beautiful and true
I assumed too much criticism from your statement, sorry. Lot of people get mad when someone like hank points out scientific facts on some cool phenomenon. A popular argument for believing in the supernatural is that nature wouldn't be beatiful as described by science, which I wholly disagree with.
Anyone who’s moved by the angler fish has clearly never tried to keep an aquarium. The public was like, “it’s beautiful! It’s inspirational!” The aquarists were like “It’s bloat. A lethal inability to fart.” Too bad there are no deep sea peas.
Neil deGrasse Tyson as a kid was like, "Wow! I love Carl Sagan! I want to be famous and knowledgeable just like him except I want to use that power to extinguish everyone else's spark of love for nature and the universe!"
I appreciate people who advocate for the truth regardless of its popularity. Hank is far more considered in his approach than Neil who forays outside his expertise to act like an expert in everything.
There are multiple credible accusations of sexual harassment and assault against Neil. It’s been underreported, so a lot of people don’t know. He’s disgusting.
Is it ever safe or healthy for a deal sea animal to be on display at an exhibit when they're not used to getting any light at all??? I saw this place that lets you get up close to giant isopods but that seems like a terrible idea for them
I always think about that when I see a deep sea creature transfixed in the beam of a spotlight on a submersible. I wonder how long it takes them to recover their vision
Hey everyone freaking out about people’s romanticism of it: Folks are looking for small rays of joy to uplift their spirits right now. It’s ok to do this sometimes. The human ability to try and find light in darkness is worth encouraging. In other words: Relax. It’s not that serious.
Hi. I have a masters in genetics. I’m well aware that she was sick, dying and blind. Doesn’t mean she can’t stand for something and her death brought some hope to women.
To be fair, assuming no other creature experiences anything like we do is also extremely arrogant and unscientific. Plus, NASA programmed that thing to send emotional messages, and empathy towards fictional characters helps us all learn to empathize with real people.
She never knew what sun was but when she died she was bathed in sun. She had no reason to expect help when she lost her sight & ended up held and respectfully cared for. Humans also don’t know what is coming, but she gives us good reason to hope
Exactly. Typically deep sea creatures rising to the surface is neither about being delighted nor saddened.
It is an omen of pending apocalyptic events.
We are supposed to be terrified, people.
I wasn't touched by it at all. I was sad that the poor bugger was clearly dying, if not already dead, and it was simply physics making it float upwards. Anthropomorphism and religious bullshit can both get fucked in such circumstances.
Recently Spotify recommended that I listen to 'A Song About An Anglerfish', which I don't think I'd listened to in years, and it really made my day — thank you for such an uplifting song!
Thank you @hankgreen.bsky.social . I'm confused as to why we can't appreciate the splendor of the natural world for what it is. Instead, we need to Disney everything in order to feel a connection to it. Henry Beston puts it so much better than I:
I'm just sad this trend hasn't resulted in a resurgence in popularity of the best song about an anglerfish out there by vertical video sensation Hank Green
Does one need to see the light to seek its warmth. Nay, this creature was on a journey and let not even the loss of sight nor life hinder its divine purpose.
We seem so intent on THE interpretation. The paradox is that the moment science talks/writes, they use
literature/rhetoric, not science: what we SAY about a thing is never the thing itself; we each infer meaningfulness, be that nature, death, hope. As a Harvard biologist, Wilson, said:
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Meanwhile the fish's experience:
It's a fish
my ego can only lust for such admiration of my mediocrity 🤪
hypocrite cunts all around.
the more you say, the better I feel. keep em coming.
I also "honestly" appreciate the verbocity of using "honestly" for no reason. but at least it's not "literally".
but I can tell a lot about you just from that.
keep em coming. I thrive on edge.
Which, kind of a lateral shift for 2025.
https://bsky.app/profile/kenfromchicago.bsky.social/post/3kuvnpotm4c2p
Does it look utopian to *you*?
Knowledge is important but in this specific case you kinda are just being a Debby down
like it's not 1 for 1, but if i'm hiking in the woods and a raccoon saunters up to say hello, I'm immediately thinking "rabies" and getting tf out of there
Poor girl.
Most people are not thinking about the real life of that angler fish.
That's why they eat products from factory farms.
They still have a childish idea of the lives of animals from baby books.
... here's Dave Chappelle's impression of the dead people on Titantic as the Titan submersible approached the wreckage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPrMxps21jA&ab_channel=BillKelleher
I can feel the last shreds of my faith in humanity slipping out of my body reading these comments.
-A7X
It is an omen of pending apocalyptic events.
We are supposed to be terrified, people.
They just weren't made to be up here.
(Don’t poo on science.)
Look at what’s running your country right now. We need a lil love every now and then, okay?
(As well as the whole script of The Bee Movie in notebook format)
I don't have to soak in nuclear waste to say no, do not run me a bath from Chernobyl's run off.
Direct experience is not the only teacher. 🤔💡👍😁
And you probably would drink Chernobyl run off if you had no prior understanding of the consequences. Like hearing about the experiences of others.
Fortunately, we're smarter than fish.
Age something bad, which caused so.much gas it caused her to rise to the surface....
Damn tragedy!
literature/rhetoric, not science: what we SAY about a thing is never the thing itself; we each infer meaningfulness, be that nature, death, hope. As a Harvard biologist, Wilson, said: