Aren’t infestations about something that wasn’t there before and doesn’t actually belong there?
gjoel@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Isn’t that usually how infestations work though?
Zaphod@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
No, it is about their presence being wanted or not. I don’t want to go to a swamp because is infested with mosquitoes for example, mosquitoes were always there.
credo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I saw both links pop up as well. I opted to go with the first, standard, book— webster’s instead of cherry picking.
The problem is, both meanings are correct. However, the “troublesome” definition is primary… and look at the example given:
1 to spread or swarm in or over in a troublesome manner
shark-infested waters
2 to live in or on as a parasite
Rothe@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
We are aware of the dictionary definition. OP was precisely about arguing that that definition is a based on a fallacy.
gjoel@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
But live there though.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Humans infest shark habitats. You don’t see sharks coming into your gated community, do you?
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Would be a rad way to thin out the herd of xenophobic rich people, though 🤔
gjoel@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
No, sharks rarely infest gated communities. The point was that infestations usually consist of animals that live in the place they are undesired.
SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
No, the point is that indigenous populations are not infesting their own natural habitats.
For example, “Native Americans” did not “infest” the United States. White people did.
gjoel@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
That’s a different point though. If you have a termite infestation, you might say that they’re invasive to the house and it’s not their natural element. However you might also say that they live there, which is equally true.
bobo@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Do you imagine the various indigenous populations of Americas popped out of the ground like mushrooms? They’re pretty far from their “natural habitat” in the plains of sub-saharan Africa… Or is that too far back in history and their “natural habitat” is in Siberia and Polynesia?
gjoel@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
So the right phrasing would be “no, it’s their natural habitat”, not “no, they live there”, since, and this was my point if you go back, if an animal infests something it usually lives there, making the point in the post redundant.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Yes the white folks came and made a mess of the place. Which, if sharks chose to move into your house, they would also do. Probably leave the taps running all over the place too
Natanael@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
A zoo is a gated community
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Damn snobbish animals living in gated communities.
gjoel@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
And sharks regularly infest zoos?
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Valid point. Although that’s without their consent, whereas most humans infesting the ocean chose to be there, USS Abraham Lincoln sailors notwithstanding.