It doesn’t seem like too many people had a reaction similar to mine, so I don’t know that you were especially miscalibrated. (On reflection, I think the “bug” part is maybe only half of what I found disagreeable about the analogy. Not sure this is worth the derailment.)
For what it’s worth, I had a very similar reaction to yours. Insects and arthropods are a common source of disgust and revulsion, and so comparing anyone to an insect or an arthropod, to me, shows that you’re trying to indicate that this person is either disgusting or repulsive.
I’m sorry! I’m sincerely not trying to indicate that. Duncan fascinates and unnerves me but he does not revolt me. I think that “weird bug” made sense to my metaphor generator instead of “weird plant” or “weird bird” or something is that bugs have extremely widely varying danger levels—an unfamiliar bug may have all kinds of surprises in the mobility, chemical weapons, aggressiveness, etc. department, whereas plants reliably don’t jump on you and birds are basically all just WYSIWYG; but many weird bugs are completely harmless, and I simply do not know what will happen to me if I poke Duncan.
I think most poisonous frogs look it and would accordingly pick up a frog that wasn’t very brightly colored if I otherwise wanted to pick up this frog, whereas bugs may look drab while being dangerous.
Poisonous frogs often have bright colors to say “hey don’t eat me”, but there are also ones that use a “if you don’t notice me you won’t eat me” strategy. Ex: cane toad, pickerel frog, black-legged poison dart frog.
It doesn’t seem like too many people had a reaction similar to mine, so I don’t know that you were especially miscalibrated. (On reflection, I think the “bug” part is maybe only half of what I found disagreeable about the analogy. Not sure this is worth the derailment.)
For what it’s worth, I had a very similar reaction to yours. Insects and arthropods are a common source of disgust and revulsion, and so comparing anyone to an insect or an arthropod, to me, shows that you’re trying to indicate that this person is either disgusting or repulsive.
I’m sorry! I’m sincerely not trying to indicate that. Duncan fascinates and unnerves me but he does not revolt me. I think that “weird bug” made sense to my metaphor generator instead of “weird plant” or “weird bird” or something is that bugs have extremely widely varying danger levels—an unfamiliar bug may have all kinds of surprises in the mobility, chemical weapons, aggressiveness, etc. department, whereas plants reliably don’t jump on you and birds are basically all just WYSIWYG; but many weird bugs are completely harmless, and I simply do not know what will happen to me if I poke Duncan.
What about “weird frog”? Frogs don’t have the same negative connotations as bugs and they have the same wide range of danger levels.
I think most poisonous frogs look it and would accordingly pick up a frog that wasn’t very brightly colored if I otherwise wanted to pick up this frog, whereas bugs may look drab while being dangerous.
Poisonous frogs often have bright colors to say “hey don’t eat me”, but there are also ones that use a “if you don’t notice me you won’t eat me” strategy. Ex: cane toad, pickerel frog, black-legged poison dart frog.
Welp, guess I shouldn’t pick up frogs. Not what I expected to be the main takeaway from this thread but still good to know.
Don’t pick up amphibians, or anything else with soft porous skin, in general, unless your sure.
...why do they bother being poisonous then tho?
I believe it: https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/02/different-worlds/