The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus • Hacker News Board

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#111

Post by yosito » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 8:35 PM UTC

wood_spirit wrote: post #16

The context of this showing up on HN made me kinda assumed it was a chatgpt generated thing. A quick google shows it seems to be a well known classic hoax from the late 90s. But there really are crabs and lobsters that live in trees and things, as do lots of type of mollusc (eg slugs and snails). So it isn’t completely silly. So it’s not like a tree octopus is any more ridiculous than the coconut crab? It seems there…

I asked midjourney for photos of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and the results were impressive. Time to update the sightings page of the website.

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#112

Post by zw123456 » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 8:36 PM UTC

Yeah, but How Fucking Cool would it be it if was a real thing.

I think it is begging for B movie treatment... OK Down vote me as being Reddit-esque... But come on, it's Sunday afternoon, have a little fun...

Tree Octopus's on a Plane.. Tree Octopus- nado Suction cups... We're gonna need a bigger backpack.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

I love this PNW Myth, deserves love right up there with Sasquatch and DB Cooper.

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#113

Post by EamonnMR » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 8:50 PM UTC

Our librarian used this site in a class about media literacy, with the lesson being that you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I guess it was a good lesson because I still remember it.

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#114

Post by jimmydddd » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 8:52 PM UTC

megmogandog wrote: post #74

oatmeal1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't mean to spoil the fun, downvote me if this is not in the spirit, but it took me way too long to figure this out and others may be as slow as me and save some time by reading this comment: I believed it too. The thing is, this is something no one is really incentivized to lie about. If some website says "politician did X", then your lie detector turns on, because it's worth it for lots of websites to lie or…

It reminds me of a friend in high school who convinced me that he grew scallions in his bathroom. It seemed weird but he described it in some detail, how the humidity from the shower is good for them, etc. Then when I believed him he said of course I don't do that, how could you think something so ridiculous. I don't and didn't feel like believing him in this context made me gullible for the same kinds of reasons you…

Agreed. I think the fact that it was just "scalions" adds to the credibility.

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#115

Post by greggsy » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 9:00 PM UTC

blamazon wrote: post #2

I don't mean to spoil the fun, downvote me if this is not in the spirit, but it took me way too long to figure this out and others may be as slow as me and save some time by reading this comment: > The Pacific Northwest tree octopus is an Internet hoax created in 1998 by a humor writer under the pseudonym Lyle Zapato. Since its creation, the Pacific Northwest tree octopus website has been commonly referenced in Inter…

The article lists as bald eagles and Sasquatch as natural predators…

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#116

Post by uoaei » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 9:05 PM UTC

Critical thinking is hard. Stay vigilant.

The photoshopped image of an octopus and a sasquatch hand was what first tipped me off. I wanted to believe this was a real animal, octopuses are magnificent creatures.

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#117

Post by waynecochran » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 9:13 PM UTC

Blaming Sasquatch is hilarious!

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#118

Post by simondw » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 9:29 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #64

oatmeal1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't mean to spoil the fun, downvote me if this is not in the spirit, but it took me way too long to figure this out and others may be as slow as me and save some time by reading this comment: I believed it too. The thing is, this is something no one is really incentivized to lie about. If some website says "politician did X", then your lie detector turns on, because it's worth it for lots of websites to lie or…

> The thing is, this is something no one is really incentivized to lie about. If some website says "politician did X", then your lie detector turns on, because it's worth it for lots of websites to lie or mislead about that. The purpose of misleading about “politician did X” is to sell a call to action. Any time there is a call to action supported by a claim, there is an obvious motivation for misrepresentation (the…

> fictitious nation-state

Are you referring to Cascadia? That's a perfectly non-fictional name for the region (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest).

Or maybe I missed another reference?

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#119

Post by furyofantares » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 9:44 PM UTC

JayPalm wrote: post #72

furyofantares wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The context of this showing up on HN made me kinda assumed it was a chatgpt generated thing. It's very likely OP discovered it through the link on this HN post that was at the top yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36739920

Yeah, this occurred to me too. Guess we'll likely be inundated with 90's websites for a few days.

I hope so

Re: The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

#120

Post by einpoklum » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 9:48 PM UTC

I was reminded of the initiative for Cascadian secession...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_movement

which, when I first read about it, I questioned as a potential hoax. But - no, if you're not from the US, you should know that it's a very real thing, and apparently, a full third (!) of people 18-34 years old support it, according to relatively recent polling mentioned at the link.