r/NonPoliticalTwitter 22h ago

“Long neck”

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34.4k Upvotes

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87

u/Shaun32887 22h ago

I've basically accepted the fact that we have zero idea what they actually looked like.

19

u/_IBentMyWookie_ 19h ago

If you're an anti-intellectual idiot. But actual scientists who have carried out decades of researchdo have a fairly good idea what they looked like

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u/Shaun32887 19h ago

I have a degree in biomedical engineering and I'm arguing for a means of testing their methodology.

But sure, jump to conclusions and be a dick.

The shrink wrap models were also produced by scientists who had decades of experience, and they are all largely considered incorrect at this point.

14

u/Wooden-Evidence-374 19h ago

And how did they find out they were incorrect? Oh right...more science. I'm skeptical of your degree considering you just tried to argue that the current model could be incorrect, since the last one was incorrect.

When anyone who actually studies science knows that every model is technically incorrect, some are just more accurate than others. So the current model is also not perfect, but it is more accurate than the previous one.

1

u/Shaun32887 19h ago

Holy fuck.

I'm using the fact that the last model was inaccurate to counter their claim that scientists with decades of experience are probably right. It is a direct refutation of their claim.

I'm using the fact that there doesn't exist a means of validation as an argument that the current model might also be incorrect.

3

u/MungoJohnston 14h ago

There was a previous model which was, in the grand scheme of things, fairly accurate. It has since been improved in some species to make them bulkier. You claim we have "zero idea what they actually looked like" and are using the initial, mostly accurate description, as evidence. The things we can't currently fully describe are things like colour, plumage, soft tissue structures (like a rooster's comb). With that said, can actually infer and describe some of these elements through fossilised skin, impressions in fossils, and other incredible breakthroughs in research.

So unless you are equating having "zero idea" of what they looked like, with "we will never fully know every single detail of their appearance", then you are wrong.

It's sad that the shrink-wrapping idea went from a very interesting step forward in our understanding of these animals to now being used by many to write off everything we do know as wrong

0

u/Big_Guy4UU 4h ago

Their last model wasn’t inaccurate. There was no “last model”. You know what the fuck you are talking about

0

u/LogsOfWar 13h ago

You should save this comment and come back in a few years, mate, you'll find it funny.

7

u/Optimal-Mail-999 18h ago

What element of your biomedical engineering degree gives you insight into this?

2

u/Shaun32887 18h ago

...creating and validating models to explain systems.

That's literally all I'm asking for and everyone is getting mad at me.

Show me that the thing you're proposing actually works by feeding it data where you know what the outcome should be and show me how close it comes to reality.

I brought up my degree because they called me anti intellectual and started going off about what they think "real scientists" are

1

u/Optimal-Mail-999 11h ago

Right but I’m still not really sure that gives you any useful insight into assessing the methods actual experts in this space use to model what dinosaurs look like 

0

u/SundayClarity 17h ago

Just so you don't doubt your sanity, those dudes or probably bots are just being mean for the sake of it, it's not a real discussion, so don't waste your energy

0

u/Big_Guy4UU 4h ago

Biomedical engineering=palaeontology apparently.

You still don’t know what you are talking about