Petra van CronenburgFeb 25

Please don't boost #aislop !

This slop graphic went #viral in my timeline on Mastodon. Commentators found the source in a FB slop page, and biologists in the comments tell the facts. Nevertheless, people burst into enthusiasm, so little do they know about nature. #AISlop sites on big platforms gather about 250k followers.

I did a fact-check about real snails.
You can read it here: https://steady.page/en/naturematchcuts/posts/28951404-a41f-4215-ab89-bc35dbc41233

#snail #snails #animalsave #NatureMatchCuts #biodiversity #reconnectWithNature #blog

Show threadAilemeFeb 25
@NatureMC Thank you for clearing that up! I saw that post last night, had this moment of "oh my, I can't believe I didn't know this" and was about to click on boost when the doubt set in. It was late and I didn't want to research it instead of going to bed, but I was pretty sure it couldn't be true. When I was a kid I used to gather snails and let them free in the garden after a while. I would have realized if I would have harmed them. The only person harmed was my horrified grandfather.
Show threadPetra van Cronenburg

@Aileme 😁

Incidentally, this is precisely the trick used by the ‘nature hacks’ sites I described: you are taken aback because no one ever taught you this. And people love to learn. Then curiosity overcomes your inner critic, and the site gains more fans.
It reminds me of the false urban myths we learned in the 1960s. For example, that your stomach will burst if you drink something after eating cherries. I believed that for far too long. It was a false statement in combination. But still

Feb 26 at 1:51pmWeb
Show threadPetra van CronenburgFeb 26

@Aileme believable, because at that time tap water was often very contaminated with germs. And they went to the gut, stimulated by the fruit.

So this AI slops *sounds* like a cringe story your mother could have told you ... but there's no culture behind, no tradition, or experience.

Show threadAilemeFeb 26
@NatureMC We even used to play a game called "Kirschen essen" as children
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCde_%E2%80%93_matt_%E2%80%93_marode
Müde – matt – marode – Wikipedia