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Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

dailymail.co.uk

31–39 of 39 posts

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#31
post #11
post #2

[2013] (article is from 30 Dec 2013)

Thanks! We've also updated the link from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dolphins-seem-to-u... , which points to this.

You should never change to the Daily Mail, becuase they're fucking scum.

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#32

Discover Magazine has its doubts: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2013/12/30/s... Tetrodotoxin (TTX) doesn't make sense as a narcotic: > Tetrodotoxin simply doesn’t make sense as a drug (and let’s be honest—if it did, humans would be snorting it off bathroom counters already). In very, very, very low doses, tetrodotoxin causes numbness, tingling, and the slight lightheadedness that fugu, the Japanese…

Dolphins have sonar organs. Perhaps TTX effects those organs in ways we don't fully understand, and this has a mind-altering effect .. in the same way that using light-stimulus can induce altered mind states, perhaps nerve-numbing of sonar-nerves does the same.

We won't know until we talk to them. We must learn how to talk to them.

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#33

I just followed that link on a Chromebook without any adblocker installed. I count 4 huge ads that take up about 75% of the screen real estate. The two sidebar ads regenerate new ads probably as fast as newbies respawn in a first-person shooter. Thanks to that and an auto-playing video , CPU usage is up so high I can't even scroll in the small area that remains for the content. It's nearly impossible to successfully…

It's better to flag the article.

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#34
post #19

> But it seems they share some worrying vices as well. Is this meant serious or ironical. I hope the latter I fear it's the former. > At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water's surface, apparently mesmerised by their own reflections. An animal that seeks intentionally a consciousness-expanding experience must be conscious on a higher level. Evolutionarily such behavior mostly handicaps th…

Imagine how beautiful a liquid mirror covering the top of the known universe

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#35
post #19

> But it seems they share some worrying vices as well. Is this meant serious or ironical. I hope the latter I fear it's the former. > At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water's surface, apparently mesmerised by their own reflections. An animal that seeks intentionally a consciousness-expanding experience must be conscious on a higher level. Evolutionarily such behavior mostly handicaps th…

That doesn't necessarily follow: it may occur as a result of adaptation for another, more beneficial behavior.

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#36
post #19

> But it seems they share some worrying vices as well. Is this meant serious or ironical. I hope the latter I fear it's the former. > At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water's surface, apparently mesmerised by their own reflections. An animal that seeks intentionally a consciousness-expanding experience must be conscious on a higher level. Evolutionarily such behavior mostly handicaps th…

That doesn't necessarily follow: it may occur as a result of adaptation for another, more beneficial behavior.

Like in humans?

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#37
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! We've also updated the link from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dolphins-seem-to-u... , which points to this.

Neither are good sources. The Smithsonian Mag article is blogspam and Daily Mail is a tabloid.

We'll gladly update the link if someone can suggest a better one.

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#38

Discover Magazine has its doubts: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2013/12/30/s... Tetrodotoxin (TTX) doesn't make sense as a narcotic: > Tetrodotoxin simply doesn’t make sense as a drug (and let’s be honest—if it did, humans would be snorting it off bathroom counters already). In very, very, very low doses, tetrodotoxin causes numbness, tingling, and the slight lightheadedness that fugu, the Japanese…

I get “high” on chillies. The capsaicin numbs my lips and mouth, the “heat” overwhelms most other senses (even my tinnitus changes pitch) and stops me feeling a certain amount of pain. The resulting mental state is basically selective sensory deprivation. So I feel I have some understanding of what the dolphins are feeling. It really is a blissful state, especially if you happen to be bored or the world is getting you down today.

Re: Dolphins apparently getting 'high' with the help of toxic puffer fish (2013)

#39
post #19

> But it seems they share some worrying vices as well. Is this meant serious or ironical. I hope the latter I fear it's the former. > At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water's surface, apparently mesmerised by their own reflections. An animal that seeks intentionally a consciousness-expanding experience must be conscious on a higher level. Evolutionarily such behavior mostly handicaps th…

Strictly speaking there's no evidence of any consciousness apart from your own. You can't even prove other humans to be conscious.
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