• ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      People normally feed ducks food like bread. The woman was used to this, so she was startled to see someone feeding ducks birdseed.
      We’re used to birdseed being used to feed songbirds or the various tree birds.
      When the woman was directly informed that ducks are birds she was directly confronted with the knowledge that we put waterfowl in a different mental category than arboreal birds.
      It’s easy to imagine the feeling of realizing you’ve had a very basic, totally benign blindspot in how you conceptualize something as simple as ducks, and the woman’s reaction captures that deep feeling of “now that you say it it’s obvious” that a lot of people have felt. Knowing the feeling, it being slightly uncomfortable but harmless, and the general whimsy of ducks makes it funny.

      It’s funny because feeling empathy for silly mistakes makes us laugh.

      • Brainsploosh@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Wow, this is an exemplary explanation. Being clear with several levels of cultural knowledge as well as the emotional load behind several meanings and juxtapositions, and still comes across with the humor unscathed.

        I dream to one day attain such mastery.

        • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          Respect for you taking the time to post this thoughtful praise in lieu of a gold badge. You may not yet be a ricecake, but you’re getting there!

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 days ago

          Fellow autist here, though I don’t think I have adhd:

          I was once where you are now.

          It can be done.

          Entirely unironically:

          Believe in yourself, don’t be too stubborn or proud, but also don’t let the haters get you down, … and as Johnny Cash once said, “know when to walk away, know when to run.”

      • Eiri@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        I’ll be honest I personally assumed ducks only ate fish.

      • CodexArcanum@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        And now folks, realize that this is true of every single thing that humans think about.

        You put a duck and a sparrow side by side and maybe it seems obvious that, while not the same, these two things have something deeply in common. But most people have never considered them in one thought. When you get into abstract ideas like “freedom” or “socialism” is it any surprise that most people can’t even recognize them, let alone agree on any commonalities?

        You spend all day arranging dogs next to bears going “do you see how these are both canine-form mammals?” and the public is watching a tiktok while dismissing you going “Uh bears aren’t pets, what a dumbass!”

        • MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca
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          2 days ago

          Honestly it’s more relevant to classify them by beak shape. Birds are 100% based on their beak shape, because that determines what they can and can’t eat.

      • TheFogan@programming.dev
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        2 days ago

        I mean, you gotta admit the differences is something that varies, especially just on size and build. If I saw a guy offering fancy feast to a tiger, I’d probably also question it.

        Also would say, this could be the best scene ever in a Jurrasic Park movie. Trex is charging in… a kid just drops birdseed on the ground, T-Rex stops and begins eating… Palientologist asks kid “how the heck did you know that would work”, Kid “Bird!”.

      • adry@piefed.social
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        2 days ago

        (Can I patronize? should be funny to point out that) ackshually, ducks are birds regardless of what they’re eating. Like, at all times. Same happens with Penguins, Ostrich, and… Mmm… other birds! gotcha!! Can’t say the same with Velociraptors :P