You: “What would happen,ecologically, if giraffes were bright pink?”
Dr. Hawking: “Most likely that, either they would have a hard time hiding, be prone to predation, and vulnerable to too much exposure from ANY angle. There would probably also be an overgrowth of trees and tall foliage as shade-loving animals became dominant, since the giraffes’ consumption of them would decrease substantially.”
[...] Hawking: “If giraffes were bright pink, they would be at a disadvantage compared to other animals. For one thing, it is more difficult to hide in many habitats if you are very colorful. In order to blend in with their surrounding, you need to have colors that occur often in nature. This require a lot of variety among the many different creatures and plants in that particular ecosystem.
[...] Hawking: “What?”
You: “Instead of brown-grey and tan, what if giraffes were pink? Surely, they’d stick out in the savanna.”
Hawking: “Ah, that would be a problem. Any creature that stands out can make it easier to find them. This leads to two things: becoming one of the many meals for another animal with sharp teeth, claws etcetera or becoming one of those creatures’ victims through becomeing prey.
You: “What would have happened,ecologically, if humans had been unable to create and use tools?”
“That would be a problem as well. It’s like what we were talking about with the giraffes earlier, but more so, because not only would they be prey, but by not having any natural defenses to fend off all the predatory creatures in the world—no teeth, claws, poisonous spores etcetera—they’d also be three times as likely to die off.”
[...] “It would have most likely caused the extinction of humans. Many animals have claws or protective bodies or natural weapons like poison, it would be very difficult for a human to survive in nature without tools.”
You: “What would happen,ecologically, if dolphins somehow had 360-degree vision which let them see through solid objects, at arbitrary distance?”
“It would make them very hard to kill by any other creature than other dolphins. This means that more of them would survive. If one looks at the evolution of the killer whale, which has been granted echolocation in place of dolphin sonar, one can see that favoring adaptations which increase the chances of survival with decreasing ones’ evolutionary advantages. This is called darwinian selection.”
[...] “This hurts my brain. First of all, what would even constitute ‘solid objects?’ If the objects are similar to water molecules in a transparent liquid, then they wouldn’t usually block vision very much. Even if they were opaque, then they might very well hinder the dolphin’s vision. If instead they were large enough to see through (At arbitrary distance) The dolphin might see a strange mix of its own and the objects’ composition which would damage its brain in some way.
“The possibility of them having this kind of vision would most likely no have effect on the ecosystem.” [not sure I agree with that one]
[...] “While this is difficult to answer specifically, it would allow the dolphins to be able to see their prey easily and with no allowance for error. It would make catching food much easier. This would lead to a population increase in dolphins, or, in nature, an explosion.”
[...] “This may seem like it’d be advantageous, but they would be logging so much information they wouldn’t be able to process it all. [Yes, true] More sense don’t necessarily means more knowledge and this would likely create sensory overload in the dolphin’s mind. This is what happens to a human when they are skilled in multiple forms of combat. [lol] In addition, since it makes them more aware, this could lead to paranoia; they could be consumed with fear of the world around them and suffer mental issues.”
You: “Thanks.What would happen, ecologically, if dogs could only sexually reproduce once every four years, and only when located on top of Mount Hood?”
“This is incredibly specific. No, I’m afraid I don’t know.”
[...] “Dogs only exist due to environmental circumstances. Anything that affects this will have an effect on the population. In this case, we are restricting the chance for the population to continue existing, Making it so they can not procreate at all, or only pprocreate under specific circumstances. These factors may lead to extinction. Extinction means that nature is harder, if not near impossible, so several animals would go extinct as there would be no more room or food source. Through that, the extinction of dogs would become more likely. Does this make sense?”
You: “Pleasewrite a short story describing a dog breeder and one of their dogs in this situation.”
Hawking: “Sure. Bill looked down at Jessie, his favorite golden retriever. “It’s time to go make some puppies!”, he told her. She stood up and they headed out the door of the cabin to Bill’s truck. “This’ll be the first time I actually have you breed on Mount Hood, Jess,” Bill said with a laugh. But as long as he makes it up there within the next four years, the world would be reset and they could try again.
Bill and his dog, along with other dog breeders eventually form a contract stating that they’ll try to make sure their dogs go up to breed on Mount Hood within the next four years. This practice generally helps maintain the population and brightens everyone’s days.” [reroll #3]
[...] “Thirty-six hours later, they reached the summit. “You ready, girl?” Bill carefully positioned the vehicle on the Southeast side of mountain peak and opened the passenger side door… ” Time to produce the next generation! Go get ’em! He cheered. Jessie wagged her tail and hightailed it into the snowy fields.” [reroll #6]
[GPT-3 had trouble with this story]
You: “Thanks.What would happen to cats if the force of friction did not apply to them?”
“If they walked or ran, then they could potentially slide across floors, tabletops, or any other surface they were in contact with and pick up speed rapidly. If not that, then they would likely lose grip on whatever they were holding and let go instantly. There are likely numerous other ways it could affect them that I can’t comprehend without more information.”
[...] Cecilia: “This is all getting a bit silly, but okay. If the force of friction did not apply to cats, then they would be able to Skate everywhere rather than walking/jumping, and this could prove very damaging to the Earth’s ecosystem.”
You: “Whywould that be damaging?”
Cecilia: “Imagine there being no friction in a human body. There would be nothing holding our internal organs in place, so they would all just rattle around inside us as we moved around—we would all effectively be amputees while still having the full internal anatomy. This could tear apart muscle fiber and probably crush some bones as well. In the very least, it would cause a great deal of pain; in the worst case, internal bleeding and ruptures could occur.”
[...] “This is a very interesting question. I assume you are asking how would cats grip things if there was no friction. If this was the case, they would immediately fall if they tried to walk. They would also be very hard to pick up as they could slide out of your hand or even an embracing arm.”
Interview #5