• tetris11@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      I think the book Sapiens makes the point that wheat has trained us into cultivating it for selfish needs.

      (Except that it’s wheat, and that we annihilated 99% of its brethren to pick out the one that we liked so we could effectively clone it. But yes, we are the slaves…)

      • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        Sapiens and Homo Deus are both such good books. Lots of little anecdotes like that we’re just so fascinating.

  • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The best bit about the mint and chocolate thing is that chocolate is also poison, so we spice up our poison with more poison.

  • Reggie@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    All valid Points. But also, humans: i will care for this plant and create huge fields where you can live prosper and in peace. We kill everything who comes near you and try to harm you. And we will ensure you will live forever. You dont need birds who shit your seeds out.

    Those plants domesticared us!

  • cybervseas@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Basically humans will have sex with you, eat you, or make you a pet.

    Sometimes more than one.

  • Phineaz@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    Tbf, this has proven to be extremely effective: Just think of how many tobacco or chili plants are grown today! Domestication really is a two-way-street

  • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Would aliens actually be weirded out by this quality of humans?

    I feel like any sufficiently intelligent species living on a planet will have some degree of biodiversity on said planet. And the chances of something being made to be a poison/deterrent for creatures other than the intelligent species is probably a large one, because it’s pretty hard for plants and animals to make a poison/deterrent that kills everything without also killing itself. So if there is a gap for itself, there is a gap for other life to coexist with the toxin. And that’s before accounting for the fact that something can be safe at low levels, provide benefits/stimulation/good feels at low levels, and toxic at high levels.

    So I’d think it would be pretty natural for intelligent life to consume things that are harmful to huge swaths of other creatures.

    • Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      It is kinda weird that humans are so resilient to so many things though. It’s part of being scavenging omnivores, but alients with a more specialized diet might be weirded out.

      • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Dogs can eat rotting meat and lick unwashed balls and ass but die from fucking grapes. 🤷🏼‍♂️

              • davidagain@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                Dude, I don’t mean to boast, but honestly, I think my dick is just WAY too big. Like, I would DESTROY that grape instantly if I tried. It’s not just a trick of the camera angle, it just is that big. Honestly, I don’t even need to get out a measuring tape to tell you that even with a massive grape, it’s just not going to fit.

                • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  You’re not being creative enough. You could have a bowl/cup of grapes, and use that. Or maybe alternatively you could blend/mash them up, let them dry out a bit to stiffen up, then use that.

                • davidagain@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  Sounds painful. Like gallstones, but backwards. On the plus side, probably less scratchy. On the minus side, maybe more citric acid.

              • davidagain@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                The grapes? I can never tell when a grape wants some action. My whole life, I’ve missed every single signal. Well, that, or the grapes just don’t find me attractive, like, EVER.

              • davidagain@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                I just can’t see it ever happening.

                I don’t mean any disrespect, and I don’t want to kink shame, but that kinda thing is just not my bag, baby.

      • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Potentially. But think of it this way, there are somewhere around 400,000 plant species out there.

        https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/many-plants-world-scientists-may-now-answer/

        Based on this list, something on the order of like 99.5% of plants are either not safe, or not useful/beneficial. If other species on our planet share a similar rate without complete overlap, then it’s practically a guarantee that there will be thousands of plants that are safe and useful for us but not for other species. That doesn’t feel particularly strange or unlikely. So even with a specialized diet, I don’t think the numbers would be much different.

        It also could be the case that being scavenging omnivores is a strong precursor to becoming intelligent. If your species is on the rise in terms of intelligence, you’re probably using that to expand your food sources wide and far.

        • Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          That’s based on species though, so it would overrepresent unlikely encounters. I can go eat pine bark or grass on any continent and probably be A-OK.

          I do wonder how that data compares with other mammals though. Is it just average, or is it significantly higher?

          • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            That’s based on species though, so it would overrepresent unlikely encounters.

            That is fair, but also consider that an intelligent species isn’t going to be limited by chance encounters. I regularly eat bananas, but I don’t live in India. I regularly eat pineapples, but I don’t live in Costa Rica. Very little of my diet is comprised of food that is native to my area. As an intelligent species, we farm food en masse, ship it around the world, and plant things outside of their natural habitat.

            I do wonder how that data compares with other mammals though. Is it just average, or is it significantly higher?

            Purely speculating, I’d wager slightly above average as a result of the thing I said about omnivores being a precursor to becoming intelligent.

            • Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca
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              2 months ago

              an intelligent species isn’t going to be limited by chance encounters.

              That’s actually a fantastic point, we change our environment to be more suitable to ourselves, including cultivating unique yet safe species. I’ve never heard of a poison dart frog farm, nor a field of death caps.

      • 1rre@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago

        For mammals we are, sure, but there’s loads of things that’d kill humans that other animals chow down on perfectly happily, especially when it comes to microorganisms, mushrooms and the rotting things they’re often found in/around

        I don’t think scavenging is right also given that humans used to mainly pick fresh fruits and persistence hunt, both of which are very fresh food which is not overlooked or left by others… Given the fact we picked fresh fruits and hunted for fresh meat, being resistant to berry and fruit based poisons was more important than microorganism based ones, so it makes a lot of sense that so many of the non-intoxicating poisons we like are from fruits and berries

        • Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          Scavenging carcasses and chasing predators away from a kill is definitely a behavior we had in the past. Particularly during droughts and famines, scavenging would be an important food source on the Saharan scrubland. IIRC, this would’ve been before persistence hunting was a thing, back in the H.erectus days, maybe even as far back as some Australopiths.

          • CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            We would also scavenge fallen fruits and berries that were at least partially decayed. It’s most likely how we discovered the intoxicating effects of alcohol.

      • toynbee@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I know it’s just a typo, but the image “alients” conjured in my head is pretty funny. I have less than zero artistic talent or I’d share it with you all. Hopefully the mental image is enough.