6 comments

  • georgemcbay 31 minutes ago
    Blows my mind that so many people just have this hardened internalized idea that we're somehow significantly different than any other animal.

    Sure, we've got them beat on language and planning, but we're currently in the process of being passed up on both those fronts by multi-dimensional arrays of floating point numbers sitting inside of sand. So, like, how special is that then, really?

    • ggsp 21 minutes ago
      I know the point you’re making is half facetious—do you feel like LLMs are specifically getting better at planning?
      • georgemcbay 17 minutes ago
        > do you feel like LLMs are specifically getting better at planning?

        When harnessed, yes. They still suck at it, but they are getting significantly better over a relatively short time.

        And you don't have to look very far in any direction economically or politically to wonder if humans in 2026 are really as good at planning as we like to think and/or if we may be regressing in this area. Because a lot of things we are responsible for aren't going very well for the majority.

    • card_zero 24 minutes ago
      Do LLMs grieve?
      • georgemcbay 20 minutes ago
        Nope.

        They can pretend to, of course, and use the language of grief, but if you can't feel the cold bottomless pit that has bored through your gut then you aren't really grieving.

        • card_zero 14 minutes ago
          Do whales grieve?
          • stackghost 10 minutes ago
            They exhibit behaviours that seem to defy alternative explanations, though I doubt anyone could say for certain whether they do or don’t
            • card_zero 3 minutes ago
              You could have an alternative explanation: large animals invest lots of food energy in their offspring, and so the slimmest chance that a calf might not be dead is worth lots of effort. Say one in a thousand actually revive.
          • georgemcbay 11 minutes ago
            > Do whales grieve?

            Just as much as any human that isn't me, as far as I can tell from all available evidence.

            So, yes, I absolutely believe they grieve, just like I believe humans who aren't me grieve.

  • gigatexal 1 hour ago
    Any parent here who has known this loss can relate. Didn’t think I’d see this on HN but yeah this is heartbreaking.
  • SapporoChris 54 minutes ago
    "She remained with it for several hours and possibly even days." Interesting article, but that comment veers into speculation. Speculation diminishes the value of a scientific article.
    • adzm 46 minutes ago
      I'm confused by how that is speculation.
      • SapporoChris 35 minutes ago
        The key word is possibly. Any statement with possibly in it could be true or false, it is speculation.
      • aaron695 17 minutes ago
        [dead]
  • zer00eyz 1 hour ago
    Orcas have also been seen to carry their dead calf's around.

    https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/southern-reside...

  • shuwix 54 minutes ago
    [dead]
  • sehw 50 minutes ago
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