Prehistoric Memes

Time travel paradox meets chemistry frustration! Modern humans dropped into prehistoric times would be CLUELESS about making basic things we take for granted. Soap? That's just fat + ash + water with some saponification magic! Our ancestors figured this out through trial and error thousands of years ago, but most of us couldn't recreate it if our stinky lives depended on it! The desperate face of the modern person surrounded by expectant cave people perfectly captures that "wait, I'm supposed to be the advanced one here" moment. Nothing humbles you faster than realizing your smartphone can't help you make something people mastered before written language existed!

Ever notice how organic chemists just can't help themselves? They've taken our majestic pterodactyls and turned them into chemical nomenclature fodder. Single bond? Pterodactane. Double bond? Pterodactene. Triple bond? Why not pterodactyne! And don't get me started on the positional isomers. The poor tert-pterodactyl looks like it flew into a blender. The final transformation into phenodactyl chloride is just the chef's kiss of chemical absurdity—when you absolutely need your prehistoric reptile with an aromatic ring and a dash of chlorine. Next semester I'm expecting to see cyclo-pterodactyls and pterodactyl anhydrides on my exam papers.