# Change in species
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 10, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282 "2026-08-10T21:16:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/61 "2026-08-11T17:48:03Z")
Ah, good to know.
I had not been keeping track of his other ‘contributions’ to the board. I see I didn’t miss anything of value.
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### Author:  [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/62 "2026-08-11T18:10:05Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> The problem is that Gould is a recursive redemptionist, and allows analysis to get in the way of his higher thought processes in symbiotic synthesis. If only you could understand how recursive symbiosis creates gravity and elucidates species, you’d see where all this is coming from.
I would like to sign up for your newsletter.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/63 "2026-08-11T18:13:42Z")
> [@Sigene](#):
>
> The cool thing about this is that the cladking will eventually tire of us and go away.
Silly me; I thought they already had, like several years ago.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/64 "2026-08-11T18:18:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Hear here!
I believe the idiom is _Hear, hear!_
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/65 "2026-08-11T18:21:05Z")
Good memory, I did a quick check and it was about 11 years ago.
> [@Worst moderation on the net](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-moderation-on-the-net/736899):
>
> I just logged in for the very last time to write a goodbye speech. I joined to respond to an existing thread. This thread then became quite extensive due to some debate and moderator insults. The moderators et al kept threatening to close it. I suppose the culture here is to always toe the line when it comes to established beliefs and understandings so there was naturally a tendency to pile on. Eventually the thread was closed with a moderator comment that such a thread shouldn’t happen ag…
> [@Worst moderation on the net](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-moderation-on-the-net/736899/1):
>
> I won’t be back and won’t log in again barring an apology.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/66 "2026-08-11T18:26:32Z")
So first off, [humans probably didn’t “domesticate” dogs the way you’re thinking](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/math-model-dog-self-domestication).
Like, have you ever been camping and had to deal with raccoons? Most raccoons want nothing to do with humans, but raccoons in urban areas have figured out that 1) humans aren’t really a threat, and 2) they have food. Therefore, they’re not afraid of humans and they exhibit different _behavior_.
Natural selection would predict that urban raccoons might exhibit different physical traits as well, and lo-and-behold, [that’s what we’re seeing.](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/raccoons-are-showing-early-signs-of-domestication/)
So, some dogs had mutations that made them less afraid of humans, causing them to hang around human camps. And eventually they stopped mating with their wolf counterparts. In other words, dogs found a different ecological niche which applied an adaptive pressure to select for certain traits.
How do you explain giraffes?
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### Author:  [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/67 "2026-08-11T18:32:37Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#):
>
> If you mean to ask if we think some metaphorical navel gazing with an AI chatbot has been going on? Yeah, that seems to be the case, along with the delusion that such discussions will be seen as particularly insightful or even revolutionary when relayed to actual human beings rather than a modern equivalent of Narcissus basking in his own reflection
Agreed. There’s a relatively new term for this called “AI psychosis” where the sycophantic characteristics of AI chat bots feed into, and reinforce, the delusions of psychologically vulnerable individuals. I’ve skimmed the original “Unified Field Theorem” and his contributions to the “What were you thinking” threads and he’s using Chatgpt extensively. He’s likely using it even more than he’s letting on as well.
I’m resistant to trying to diagnose mental illness in other posters as it can be inaccurate, disrespectful, and dangerous but reading cladking’s posts it’s difficult not to reach the conclusion something like that is happening here
> **[AI-induced psychosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI-induced_psychosis?wprov=sfla1)**
>
> AI-induced psychosis, also called AI psychosis or chatbot psychosis, is a phenomenon in which individuals reportedly develop or experience worsening psychosis, such as paranoia and delusions, in connection with their use of AI chatbots. The term was first suggested in a 2023 editorial by Danish psychiatrist Søren Dinesen Østergaard. It is not a recognized clinical diagnosis. Journalistic accounts describe individuals who have developed strong beliefs that chatbots are sentient, that they channe...
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/68 "2026-08-11T18:37:43Z")
The London foxes are going through a similar process as the North American urban raccoons.
But even in Ocean County NJ, foxes are adapting to the large senior community leaving out food for cats. They now come up to doors to beg for food in many of the communities.
Also something similar was happening on[Island Beach State Park](https://vw37+jc,%20lanoka%20harbor,%20nj%2008734) where mother foxes were teaching the kits to beg tourist for food. Feeding them is strongly discouraged though and prohibited. My understanding it is less common now than 10 years ago.
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### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/69 "2026-08-11T18:40:02Z")
> [@steronz](#):
>
> Most raccoons want nothing to do with humans, but raccoons in urban areas have figured out that 1) humans aren’t really a threat, and 2) they have food. Therefore, they’re not afraid of humans and they exhibit different _behavior_.
I was at Philmont Scout Ranch a few weeks back and one of their campsites was overrun by a family of skunks. They figured out 1) humans aren’t really a threat, and 2) they have food. The little buggers were practically climbing into tents to hang out, and wouldn’t go away when yelled at, or clapped at, you had to basically kick sand in their faces like Charles Atlas’s bully.
That’s a camping story to remember years from now.
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### Author:  [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/70 "2026-08-11T18:42:12Z")
I love it. But do you have a proper cite, or do I have to assume it’s apocryphical and can’t be properly attributed?
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### Author:  [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/71 "2026-08-11T18:46:09Z")
WTF is wrong with you people? This is the PIT, for cryin’ out loud. You’re trying to turn it into something INFORMATIONAL and USEFUL.
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### Author:  [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/72 "2026-08-11T18:47:17Z")
Darwin put his revolutionary model into the framework he lived in. His principle has been refined over and over again, leading to how we understand evolution today. Richard Dawkins added to that understanding in his “selfish gene”-themed publications during the 70s.
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### Author:  [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/73 "2026-08-11T18:54:41Z")
> [@cladking](#):
>
> In a sense every individual on earth is the same species because we have a common ancestor.
_Brrr_ _Error!!!_
A species is defined by two individuals being able to produce fertile offspring. A horse and a donkey aren’t the same species, because while they can mate and produce an offspring, a mule isn’t fertile.
Why don’t you read up before coming back?
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### Author:  [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/74 "2026-08-11T19:01:59Z")
Some of us posts replies because we hope that someone else that the OP might learn something. Even if the OP is a lost cause.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/75 "2026-08-11T19:03:01Z")
To be fair, the definition of species is fuzzy. Wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs all interbreed and produce fertile offspring. The “coywolves” in my neighborhood are descendants of all three species.
Mules are routinely castrated in their youth. My understanding is that some of them would otherwise be fertile. They just don’t produce especially useful offspring.
And domestic dogs are all considered to be one species, but a Chihuahua and a Great Dane can’t interbreed.
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### Author:  [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/76 "2026-08-11T19:04:12Z")
> [@ricepad](#):
>
> WTF is wrong with you people? This is the PIT, for cryin’ out loud. You’re trying to turn it into something INFORMATIONAL and USEFUL.
This is how the SDMB has always worked. Pedantry and overly literal thinking are staples around here. Dopers can’t help themselves, we see misinformation and there’s an almost pathological urge to correct it. Just understand there will be no constructive conversation here. It will just be misinformed delusions followed by corrections over and over again until the OP loses interest and slinks off, (which he’s done before), or he finally flames out and gets himself banned. I would consider either possibility likely at this point.
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/77 "2026-08-11T19:07:27Z")
This OP is like if I went into a Christian Theology forum, and spouted off about how Christianity can not exist, because it’s obvious that Christ himself was actually NOT a space alien from Betelgeuse. like all those Christians say and Martin Luther claimed in his Ph.D. thesis.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/78 "2026-08-11T19:11:51Z")
> [@Jihi](#):
>
> and he’s using Chatgpt extensively
Good point about “AI psychosis”, but I think he said he’s using Copilot, not ChatGPT. Copilot runs on a similar OpenAI framework but it has different design objectives and is generally inferior to GPT for general queries.
> [@Norse](#):
>
> > [@cladking](#):
> >
> > In a sense every individual on earth is the same species because we have a common ancestor.
>
> _Brrr_ _Error!!!_
>
> A species is defined by two individuals being able to produce fertile offspring.
Which is necessarily also associated with a closely similar DNA sequence, similar general morphology, and karyotype similarities. While some distinctions may be somewhat arbitrary, “species” is a very specific biological taxonomy, contrary to the opinion of the King of Clad.
> [@ricepad](#):
>
> WTF is wrong with you people? This is the PIT, for cryin’ out loud. You’re trying to turn it into something INFORMATIONAL and USEFUL.
It’s allowed, but never fear, HRH the King will no doubt be along shortly to spew misinformation. I note that the common feature of his pronouncements in the areas where he has claimed expertise (so far, Egyptian pyramids, physics and cosmology, and now biological evolution) is that the estabished consensus of experts in the field is completely wrong.
We’ve had a few other geniuses like that in the past – at least one who completely re-invented physics, and another who proved that it’s easy to exceed the speed of light (I believe you just have to push harder!).
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### Author:  [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/79 "2026-08-11T19:17:28Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Good point about “AI psychosis”, but I think he said he’s using Copilot, not ChatGPT.
Sorry, yes that’s correct. Copilot, not chatgpt.
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### Author:  [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-species/1032282/80 "2026-08-11T19:20:39Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> To be fair, the definition of species is fuzzy.
Well, of course any and every scientific definition will be contested, which is as it should be. However,
> [@](#):
>
> The most common definition of a species is that a species is a group of organisms that can successfully breed to produce fertile offspring
> **[What is a species, and how many species are there? | Natural History Museum](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-a-species.html)**
>
> Find out the different ways scientists have of describing what species are, how they form and how many there are on Earth.
.
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