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by James_K 882 days ago
Do yall ever think there could be more practical uses for research money than doing IQ tests on jumping spiders? These results could well be made up. After all, you'd hate to be the guy who spends years studying spiders just to conclude that they're about as stupid as everyone thinks they are.
3 comments
wolverine876 882 days ago
> These results could well be made up.

OK, so how can we analyze whether results are made up, partially made up, credible, etc.?

> you'd hate to be the guy who spends years studying spiders just to conclude that they're about as stupid as everyone thinks they are.

I'm sure people would hate to fund that too, or have their lab or university associated with it. How could they avoid it?

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James_K 882 days ago
> How could they avoid it?

By making up results, obviously. That's exactly what I was saying the first time.

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wolverine876 882 days ago
These are real questions that people have been thinking hard about, and finding solutions for, for centuries. It would be valuable to explore them, IMHO.
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James_K 882 days ago
That's actually a good point. The spider people should have looked into this instead. Much better ROI if they could solve it. Maybe they could even incorporate jumping spiders somehow. It would be excellent marketing.
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wolverine876 882 days ago
You are missing out on a rich, interesting world. Good luck.
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micromacrofoot 882 days ago
do you think they know that portia are smarter than most spiders by only studying portia? these are novel outcomes arrived at by attempting to prove observed theories, not flights of fancy for someone attached to a favorite species
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palata 882 days ago
> Do yall ever think there could be more practical uses for research money than doing IQ tests on jumping spiders?

Actually, I wish we allocated more money to biology and understanding the living rather than bullshit technology that literally is destroying the world (which is an observable fact).

> These results could well be made up.

Sure, but in terms of priority about "made up" results, I would first look at all those damn startups that literally make up results in order to get VC money.

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