Why Do I, A Stem Major, Need To Take An Ethics Class?

Neurons trying to flirt is the most adorably nerdy thing ever. The limbic system controls emotions, behavior, and long-term memory—basically the brain's romance department. So these little cells are literally asking "what if we formed emotional connections?" That's not just sending signals; that's neuroscience's version of sliding into DMs. Next thing you know, they'll be forming specialized synapses and calling it "going steady." Romance at 200 mph transmission speed—still faster than most humans work up the courage to ask someone out.

The mirror test is neuroscience's gold standard for self-awareness in animals—put a mark on an animal and see if they recognize it's on them when looking in a mirror. Killer whales, dolphins, chimps, and even some birds have passed this test, showing they understand the concept of "self." Then there's the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray, which apparently decided to skip the mirror and just show up as a Teletubby-esque purple triangle creature. The absolute confidence of this ray is sending me! Evolution really said "here's cognitive ability AND a built-in antenna" and called it a day. What's next? Finding out jellyfish can solve differential equations? Starfish doing calculus? The bar for marine intelligence keeps getting weirder and I'm totally here for it.

The ultimate microbial flex. Anaerobic bacteria looking at oxygen-breathing organisms like we're the weird ones. Sure, we evolved to use the most abundant oxidizing agent on Earth's surface, but these bacterial hipsters were metabolizing just fine before oxygen was mainstream. They're basically saying "Imagine needing the thing that literally rusts metal to survive." Meanwhile, they're over there fermenting and reducing sulfates like it's 3 billion BCE.

The mathematical monarchy is real! Here we see Math sitting on its throne like some divine ruler while all other sciences bow before it. Physics, Chemistry, Biology - they're all just kneeling peasants in Math's kingdom. Let's be honest, Math doesn't even need to get its hands dirty with actual experiments. It just creates abstract rules, and somehow the universe obeys them? Talk about privilege! Meanwhile, other disciplines are out there collecting field samples and cleaning test tubes. The funniest part? Math majors will use this meme as proof of superiority while still being unable to explain what they actually do to their relatives at Thanksgiving dinner.

The bell curve of scientific intelligence strikes again! While the intellectual peasants and geniuses humbly admit biology and quantum physics are beyond complete comprehension, the mediocre middle-IQ crowd proudly declares "sodium is fizzy lol" with unearned confidence. It's the perfect illustration of the Dunning-Kruger effect in science—those who know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to recognize the vast ocean of their ignorance. The truly brilliant minds and the beginners both share a healthy respect for complexity, while everyone else is busy making TikToks about baking soda volcanoes.

Look what crawled out of the evolutionary soup! Trichoplax adhaerens—our ancient blob ancestor—looking suspiciously like an Among Us character. 600 million years of evolution and we started as pink, amorphous impostors! The simplest multicellular organism on Earth basically invented the "sus" look before it was cool. Next time someone asks about your family tree, just point to this primordial pancake and say "That's grandpa!"