Signal for Help(en.wikipedia.org)
en.wikipedia.org
Signal for Help
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_for_Help
103 comments
All these memey distress signals, like asking for “Angela”… are they actually adopted? Or do they just exist on the internet?
The "Angela" one specifically started not as a "use this codeword in any bar", but "in our bar, staff is trained to react to this code word" posted in the women's restrooms at a bar.
These are used with varying degrees of regularity in different situations.
"Mayday", "SOS", "Securitay", and "Pan pan pan" in aviation and boating. For aviation also 7500, 7600, and 7700.
A list of codes used in hospitals, including combative individuals, armed confrontations, bomb threats and the like:
https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/sites/main/files/file-att...
For lists of codes used in other contexts (police, subways, ships, air travel: https://www.theclever.com/15-secret-emergency-codes-youre-no...
Note that without specific training and regular drilling, these are likely to not be especially useful. For communicating to the public a plausible-but-clear explanation, e.g., "police investigation" (usually code for suicide, possibly other death) is used especially in transportation systems. A "police investigation" on a transit line or bridge is frequently a suicide or attempt.
"Mayday", "SOS", "Securitay", and "Pan pan pan" in aviation and boating. For aviation also 7500, 7600, and 7700.
A list of codes used in hospitals, including combative individuals, armed confrontations, bomb threats and the like:
https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/sites/main/files/file-att...
For lists of codes used in other contexts (police, subways, ships, air travel: https://www.theclever.com/15-secret-emergency-codes-youre-no...
Note that without specific training and regular drilling, these are likely to not be especially useful. For communicating to the public a plausible-but-clear explanation, e.g., "police investigation" (usually code for suicide, possibly other death) is used especially in transportation systems. A "police investigation" on a transit line or bridge is frequently a suicide or attempt.
In London at least you'll often hear "due to passenger action" as a catch all for anything from trespass to suicide attempts that involve someone potentially on the line.
From your list, I've hear "inspector sands" being used, and avoided the exit they called someone to.
From your list, I've hear "inspector sands" being used, and avoided the exit they called someone to.
I've seen a video posted online of someone ringing the emergency services "ordering a pizza". It was a pretty emotional watch actually because there was no description so it took the viewer longer to realise what was going down than the operator. Really hit home just how hard their job is.
Have worked in bars and can confirm no one is going to recognize the Angela thing without additional context. It's just a feel-good memey thing.
They stop working once everyone knows about them. If your attacker knows your codeword it stops being a codeword
I'm having trouble understanding a use-case for this.
The point appears to be to use it if you are in a situation where for example your abusive partner is next to you, for example on a video call, and you want to signal on this call (as opposed to on a separate call when your abusive partner is not next to you?) that you need help. This then relies on 1) the people on the other end of the video call recognizing the signal, but also 2) your abuser not recognizing it.
This seems extremely unlikely. Am I missing something about its utility?
The point appears to be to use it if you are in a situation where for example your abusive partner is next to you, for example on a video call, and you want to signal on this call (as opposed to on a separate call when your abusive partner is not next to you?) that you need help. This then relies on 1) the people on the other end of the video call recognizing the signal, but also 2) your abuser not recognizing it.
This seems extremely unlikely. Am I missing something about its utility?
Controlling abusers police how their victims interact with the outside world. So being watched or listened it to on a call is not out of the question.
Also consider that revealing the abuse can be life threatening to the victim. How certain can you really be you’re not being overheard? And is even a 1% chance worth your life?
Also consider that revealing the abuse can be life threatening to the victim. How certain can you really be you’re not being overheard? And is even a 1% chance worth your life?
Yes, I understand this. What I don't understand is the expectation that I outlined above: wherein the abuser does not understand or notice the gesture, but the people on the other end of the line do both notice and understand the gesture. This seems _very_ unlikely, and if the abuser _does_ notice and understand the symbol, will only put the person being abused in more danger. So again, I don't understand the utility of this.
As you said:
> And is even a 1% chance worth your life?
Is the 1% chance that the abuser sees and understands the symbol worth your life?
As you said:
> And is even a 1% chance worth your life?
Is the 1% chance that the abuser sees and understands the symbol worth your life?
I think the video call example is a bad example. Someone above linked to a video on Reddit that, I think, shows more likely scenarios where it could be used effectively (though, as stated in other comments, relies on the others knowing the context of the gesture):
https://reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/qeq0fq/the_m...
Edit: reading some of the comments in the Reddit thread, as the article states, this was started in Canada during the COVID lockdown, so the likely scenario there is that you may give the signal out during work/while video chatting with a friend/relative while the abuser is unobservant but within hearing distance.
To your point, this still seems unlikely, but if someone is in an abusive relationship but is still working during lockdowns, I suppose it’s still one way to signal for help.
https://reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/qeq0fq/the_m...
Edit: reading some of the comments in the Reddit thread, as the article states, this was started in Canada during the COVID lockdown, so the likely scenario there is that you may give the signal out during work/while video chatting with a friend/relative while the abuser is unobservant but within hearing distance.
To your point, this still seems unlikely, but if someone is in an abusive relationship but is still working during lockdowns, I suppose it’s still one way to signal for help.
> you may give the signal out during work/while video chatting with a friend/relative while the abuser is unobservant but within hearing distance.
It just seems like an extremely dangerous thing to do. If someone sees you doing some weird gesture with your hands, their first impulse may just be to blurt out "what are you doing with your hands?", which would in this case draw the abuser's attention.
It seems way more straightforward to type out in that scenario explicitly that you are in danger.
It just seems like an extremely dangerous thing to do. If someone sees you doing some weird gesture with your hands, their first impulse may just be to blurt out "what are you doing with your hands?", which would in this case draw the abuser's attention.
It seems way more straightforward to type out in that scenario explicitly that you are in danger.
There's a lot of inconspicuous ways to signal this. Disguise it as some nonsense. It's no different from the less serious appellations to "blink thrice if you need help". Some I just came up with:
(a) you can disguise the action as making a fist then said fist goes on to rub your nose, for instance.
(b) your chin can rest on the back of your hand in position (1). Then it occasionally switches to (2). You can keep doing this while pretending to be listening thoroughly, like it's some unconscious gesture.
(c) you can do this gesture two or three times in a row disguised as a hello or goodbye wave.
The important observation here is, even if your abuser recognizes what you are doing, they are unlikely to prevent you from doing this immediately. Otherwise if they do then it's just explicit confirmation that you are indeed being abused. That situation is no good for them, if they are trying to hide the fact.
The second point is that you maintain plausible deniability even if your abuser recognizes the sign. Of course it's not foolproof but it's easier to sell this as casual gestures as opposed to explicitly telling the video chat of your situation. If your abuser confronts you about it (if they even catch you doing it), it's easier to defuse the situation and less likely to end up in another altercation.
(a) you can disguise the action as making a fist then said fist goes on to rub your nose, for instance.
(b) your chin can rest on the back of your hand in position (1). Then it occasionally switches to (2). You can keep doing this while pretending to be listening thoroughly, like it's some unconscious gesture.
(c) you can do this gesture two or three times in a row disguised as a hello or goodbye wave.
The important observation here is, even if your abuser recognizes what you are doing, they are unlikely to prevent you from doing this immediately. Otherwise if they do then it's just explicit confirmation that you are indeed being abused. That situation is no good for them, if they are trying to hide the fact.
The second point is that you maintain plausible deniability even if your abuser recognizes the sign. Of course it's not foolproof but it's easier to sell this as casual gestures as opposed to explicitly telling the video chat of your situation. If your abuser confronts you about it (if they even catch you doing it), it's easier to defuse the situation and less likely to end up in another altercation.
Chat might be persistent and checked later, video calls are not usually recorded.
It's rare, but it does happen. This story is pretty interesting: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/27/us/florida-woman-escape-note-...
This is a story about someone slipping a note. It's a far cry from "someone doing a specialized hand symbol that someone intended noticed, while someone unintended did not notice". Or in other words, the amount of people who are literate and capable of reading a note in legible plain script is orders of magnitude greater than the amount of people who know this hand signal.
Yes, I'm also skeptical of the hand gesture being useful, since few will recognize it. Just noting that the situation (needing to signal you're in distress, while with the partner) does happen.
> since few will recognize it.
This is I think precisely why this signal is a non-starter. For it to be successful, it seems to require that a large percentage of people are able to recognize it. But if a large percentage of people can recognize it, that logically means the abuser is more likely to recognize it as well.
This is I think precisely why this signal is a non-starter. For it to be successful, it seems to require that a large percentage of people are able to recognize it. But if a large percentage of people can recognize it, that logically means the abuser is more likely to recognize it as well.
Presumably an abuser listening and occasionally but not constantly watching.
So if nobody recognises it it's useless, but if everybody recognises it it's also useless?
Eh, I think it’s potentially useful even if everybody recognizes it. It’s superficially similar enough to a normal wave hello and fast enough to perform that it could be done surreptitiously (as opposed to frantically waving for help or elaborate pantomime). I’m not sure if it’s useful or just a feel-good thing, but I don’t think us non-domain-experts can reject the former without more info.
From TFA:
> Addressing concerns that abusers may become aware of such a widespread online initiative, the Canadian Women's Foundation and other organizations clarified that this signal is not "something that's going to save the day," but rather a tool someone could use to get help.
> Addressing concerns that abusers may become aware of such a widespread online initiative, the Canadian Women's Foundation and other organizations clarified that this signal is not "something that's going to save the day," but rather a tool someone could use to get help.
I don't think it's useless if everybody recognises it, there are many cases where you can show the sign to someone without it being visible by your abuser (i.e. hidden by your body).
In what situations would someone need to communicate they need help over video?
If the abuser is in the room a hand gesture would be quite dangerous and if they’re not voice could be used instead. In situations where the abuser is too close for verbal communication, surely text would be the next safest option?
Perhaps there are some situations where only video is available making this necessary, but I can’t think of any video conferencing software which doesn’t also support text messaging.
I’d be worried promoting this will either result in people trying to alert others and failing because of a lack of awareness, or people simply misinterpreting someone waving to say hi or bye as a call for help and wasting people time.
If the abuser is in the room a hand gesture would be quite dangerous and if they’re not voice could be used instead. In situations where the abuser is too close for verbal communication, surely text would be the next safest option?
Perhaps there are some situations where only video is available making this necessary, but I can’t think of any video conferencing software which doesn’t also support text messaging.
I’d be worried promoting this will either result in people trying to alert others and failing because of a lack of awareness, or people simply misinterpreting someone waving to say hi or bye as a call for help and wasting people time.
Angry partner in the other room, you send to someone you trust a video while in the bathroom. If said partner checks your phone you lower the chances of being caught, one can assume you were just waving goodbye or something. Same applies to signalling people outside your window, police or neighbors.
Looks like finger spelling "B", then "E" in ASL.
If you’re not blinking SOS in morse code at me, I’m not getting involved.
Or blinking out "torture", as one POW did during the Vietnam War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufnWLVQcKg
Looks impossible, my thumbs don’t bend that way. Hopefully nobody being abused has similar thumbs.
Really? You can’t wrap your fingers around your thumb like that? I am not a flexible person and I can do it easily. It’s the same thing as making a fist with your thumb inside it (not usually a good idea!).
Like depicted in that picture, no; close enough to work, probably. I can't do this ( https://openheart.bmj.com/content/openhrt/2/1/e000169/F5.lar... ) because the joint at the base of my thumb doesn't bend that way much at all.
I can't do this ( https://www.medmd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Bend-Your-T... ) because I can't bend the tip of my thumb while keeping my fingers straight. The index and middle finger bend with the thumb tip.
I can do what this picture describes as opposition ( http://i2.wp.com/boneandspine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09... ) with a combination of little finger movement and straight thumb or bent thumb and clawed fingers, and so I can make a fist with my thumb rotated around and tip covered by fingers.
I can't do this ( https://www.medmd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Bend-Your-T... ) because I can't bend the tip of my thumb while keeping my fingers straight. The index and middle finger bend with the thumb tip.
I can do what this picture describes as opposition ( http://i2.wp.com/boneandspine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09... ) with a combination of little finger movement and straight thumb or bent thumb and clawed fingers, and so I can make a fist with my thumb rotated around and tip covered by fingers.
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It's the same move people usually do spontaneously when they're walking out in the cold and/or rain.
I know someone who has that same issue. They started having other wrist/thumb issues, and only realized they had limited range of motion in their thumbs while doing Physical Therapy.
The PT didn't help them get more range of motion, just helped reduce some pain they were having.
The PT didn't help them get more range of motion, just helped reduce some pain they were having.
That's a good example of fairly localized creativity during COVID. People may criticize the "how are you supposed to know that" aspect but it sounds more like it was part of its own campaign to raise awareness, and in a specific part of the world. If it continues to spread from there, probably all the better.
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A video to go along with the article
https://reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/qeq0fq/the_m...
https://reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/qeq0fq/the_m...
How is this related to Hackernews? Seems quite OT.
It's related to security, communication, audio/video calls, and the pandemic. I believe all of these topics are HN favorites.
Intellectual problem: given the current state of affairs, structure a system to help individuals in distress; check current proposals. Preliminary: know the current state of affairs (e.g. growth of domestic violence, correlation with isolation measures). Aside: cultural contexts (Canada, CWF).
Non-triviality of the context: this morning this friend of mine had to call an emergency number. The country he was in had structured years ago the workflow as follows: first you talk to an operator, which compiles a form "with your help". Then you wait on hold, until a switchboard tune stops and you talk to the police (as in, "Hello, five minutes ago when I first called somebody was shooting around"). The operator reports being legally bound not to pass any information directly to the police: there is no action if the police does not talk to the caller, and there is no police if you do not spend the preliminary minutes. I am sure a few issues are clear.
Non-triviality of the context: this morning this friend of mine had to call an emergency number. The country he was in had structured years ago the workflow as follows: first you talk to an operator, which compiles a form "with your help". Then you wait on hold, until a switchboard tune stops and you talk to the police (as in, "Hello, five minutes ago when I first called somebody was shooting around"). The operator reports being legally bound not to pass any information directly to the police: there is no action if the police does not talk to the caller, and there is no police if you do not spend the preliminary minutes. I am sure a few issues are clear.
An important trait of startup founders is a decent EQ, and relating to other people. This is interesting news in that area.
Vaguely related: in Brazil if you call the police and say you want to "order a pizza" they will play along, request your address, and send a police patrol to check on you.
This is a common thing for 911 dispatchers to be trained on. If you call 911 and they ask for “police, fire, or ambulance” and you just start having a normal conversation with them they’ll play along, usually with yes or no questions that can be answered with “yeah, my weekend was great thanks!”
There’s pretty much no need to say your address either. The police will already have your location from the phone call.
There’s pretty much no need to say your address either. The police will already have your location from the phone call.
Good advice - but in my experience working with public safety answering points, the ability to get accurate location data from cell phones and viop lines can be spotty, and depends on a number of systems working correctly. That’s all to say, in general - don’t assume they know where you are, if you can tell them, do (and be very specific about location within the building).
"Yes, I'd like a 16-inch handtossed..." -> 6 men in riot gear, blue pants, tacti-cool
"... for the toppings I want pineapple, feta and onions..." -> recommend you bring stun grenades, tasers and tear gas
... etc ...
"... for the toppings I want pineapple, feta and onions..." -> recommend you bring stun grenades, tasers and tear gas
... etc ...
Pineapple on a pizza? Surely that’s code for a terrorist event
somewhere in an alternate dimension where we have "perfect equality/equity" a woke scold would chime in and scold you for being a pineapple-on-pizza-phobe, for violating their safe space, and/or using triggering language
alas, I, as a pineapple-on-pizza-phile will have to suffer your slings and arrows
in all seriousness, that could be a good way to encode additional meanings via term chord combos
alas, I, as a pineapple-on-pizza-phile will have to suffer your slings and arrows
in all seriousness, that could be a good way to encode additional meanings via term chord combos
do people still order pizzas over the phone in first-world countries?
You know what's a shit experience? Ordering food on a fucking app.
Every restaurant thinks they're special and they all want their own app. So if you have a regular group of restaurants that you order from you're installing potentially a dozen apps, all of which are probably riddled with spyware and security holes.
Every restaurant thinks they're special and they all want their own app. So if you have a regular group of restaurants that you order from you're installing potentially a dozen apps, all of which are probably riddled with spyware and security holes.
But what about UberEats and similar apps? You don’t mention it, but I’m pretty sure 90%+ of restaurants here in Lisbon are on UberEats, which provides a great UX. I never had to install any individual restaurant’s app. I didn’t even know they were a thing!
The only conclusion I can come to based on your comment is that you should never be allowed near UX design and development. Also, anyone who screws over their local restaurant by giving all the profit to UberEats, et al is a pretty crappy human. These companies are morally almost as evil as Facebook, Google, and Apple.
Yeah ok, sure, the dozens of UX designers doing A/B testing all the time at UberEats are all wrong, and you are the only person to know what good UX is.
And as a user of UberEats, all my perceptions are wrong: The good experience I have is not valid, just an illusion, and I am dumb.
And literally all of the 100M users of UberEats are also wrong, and pretty crappy humans.
OR maybe you're just blinded by your ideology. Who knows!?
And as a user of UberEats, all my perceptions are wrong: The good experience I have is not valid, just an illusion, and I am dumb.
And literally all of the 100M users of UberEats are also wrong, and pretty crappy humans.
OR maybe you're just blinded by your ideology. Who knows!?
In fairness to the restaurants, Uber Eats and its competitors take a pretty good chunk of the price of the food. Restaurants run on thin margins. The commission that these food apps demand can make the difference between the delivery being profitable or not profitable.
Plus, the restaurant loses the ability to completely control the experience the customer gets. If the pizza sits around for half an hour before it gets picked up, gets to the customer cold, and then the customer complains, how is that the restaurant's fault?
I'm not negating your point: it is a pain and a risk to install a dozen apps. But I also understand why they do it.
Plus, the restaurant loses the ability to completely control the experience the customer gets. If the pizza sits around for half an hour before it gets picked up, gets to the customer cold, and then the customer complains, how is that the restaurant's fault?
I'm not negating your point: it is a pain and a risk to install a dozen apps. But I also understand why they do it.
You know, there's this amazing technology called a web browser that completely eliminates the need for apps in almost every single instance...
I do not want your app of crap!
I do not want your app of crap!
I hate to break it to you, but A LOT of the best restaurants aren't available on apps, or even online.
I recently moved to a new (large) city, and have found that nearly half of the restaurants in my neighborhood aren't even in either Google Maps or Apple Maps.
I recently moved to a new (large) city, and have found that nearly half of the restaurants in my neighborhood aren't even in either Google Maps or Apple Maps.
That's totally true.
There are a lot of nice restaurant in the middle of the cities, outside the centre or the most crowded places, where the food is great and usually cheaper than the others.
At least this is my experience as an European. If you go to Lyon, Madrid, Rome, or cities like that, you will have this kind of experience.
There are a lot of nice restaurant in the middle of the cities, outside the centre or the most crowded places, where the food is great and usually cheaper than the others.
At least this is my experience as an European. If you go to Lyon, Madrid, Rome, or cities like that, you will have this kind of experience.
Sure, I’m in Berlin and living literally directly up from a Domino’s. Several of the good Pizza places near me (not Domino’s) don’t have an app, and half their websites list only a phone number and physical address for contact. One has an email address but says they don’t take orders that way.
Doing it over the phone or over other instant messaging app is faster and more convenient.
I done that last Saturday, and the call lasted exactly 39 seconds. No app install, no registering, and no entering my card information.
I done that last Saturday, and the call lasted exactly 39 seconds. No app install, no registering, and no entering my card information.
It's the only way I order take out. Faster and easier than using an app.
You're doing it wrong.
You're supposed to write a long tale on Medium titled "Here's what happened when I tried to order food over the phone from a restaurant"
Then make a Tiktok Video about it tagged #lifehack.
It's the only way the loafing class will believe you.
You're supposed to write a long tale on Medium titled "Here's what happened when I tried to order food over the phone from a restaurant"
Then make a Tiktok Video about it tagged #lifehack.
It's the only way the loafing class will believe you.
yes it is the fastest way to do it.
And it cuts out the middlemen.
Do you happen to have a list of these code words for other countries?
If it's the emergency number you're calling, and the operator doesn't understand the pizza/repairman etc code, they're poorly trained/suited for the job.
If you call 911 and request a pizza, you might be pranking them or you might be under duress. Curious if they have a protocol for differentiating between these. I suppose if you give them your address and you're just joking you would be pretty dumb, not to mention incredibly immature to abuse emergency services.
I assume they will visit you and if you pranked them you will get a pretty expensive pizza without the pizza part.
They do, they typically will ask if you're in duress and you need assistance. You can say 'yes' without tipping the person you're with off. The problem is most people in duress won't think to call the cops.
It does have risks since the 3 digit dial looks distinctive. Or things like redial that could give it away.
9110000000000 as many times as needed.
Does this actually work on mobiles?
Yep. Same thing with 1800xx911xx (and so on). I made that mistake as a kid with my parents' old unactivated phone. That's when I learned any mobile phone can call emergency services.
there's a couple youtube videos floating around where the operator initially is pissed off that somebody is pranking them, but catches on pretty quick. the tone of a kid being annoying and a victim in distress is pretty different.
"Please, before you fire that gun, let me order my last pizza". Totally believable.
"I'm sorry for screwing up lunch, should I order a pizza instead?"
"We've been here for five hours, everyone is hungry. Can we get some food, like order a pizza or something?"
"We've been here for five hours, everyone is hungry. Can we get some food, like order a pizza or something?"
This is an item in the 911 operator game. The description of the call is https://911-operator.fandom.com/wiki/Undercover_pizza
An example of the gameplay with that call is https://youtu.be/tEpyboLQ7bk?t=360
And an actual dispatcher call https://youtu.be/ZJL_8kNFmTI
An example of the gameplay with that call is https://youtu.be/tEpyboLQ7bk?t=360
And an actual dispatcher call https://youtu.be/ZJL_8kNFmTI
One problem with these is that they might be less useful than just shouting for help.
If enough people know about the signal for it to be helpful, the abuser may know it too. And what if the abuser knows it and nobody else notices?
There’s also a term that bartenders learn. A certain name asked for (I forget). I feel that one might work better because it is targeted knowledge for women and bartenders.
Nevertheless, there’s a logical complication here I struggle to reconcile. I’m guessing this is a very well trodden problem space in cryptography.
If enough people know about the signal for it to be helpful, the abuser may know it too. And what if the abuser knows it and nobody else notices?
There’s also a term that bartenders learn. A certain name asked for (I forget). I feel that one might work better because it is targeted knowledge for women and bartenders.
Nevertheless, there’s a logical complication here I struggle to reconcile. I’m guessing this is a very well trodden problem space in cryptography.
> One problem with these is that they might be less useful than just shouting for help.
I think this sign was in particular meant to be used while on a video call. An abusive partner may currently not be looking at their victim, so they could do the signal, while making an auditory signal would not work.
I think this sign was in particular meant to be used while on a video call. An abusive partner may currently not be looking at their victim, so they could do the signal, while making an auditory signal would not work.
One potential problem here is that videocalling software usually displays camera input in a corner window/section.
I think you’re thinking of “Ask for Angela” or an “Angel Shot”:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_for_Angela
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_for_Angela
Thanks for sharing. Yes that’s what I was failing to recall.
Not sure how the addition of a non-verbal sign increases the risk.
The point is that it might be easier than hide than verbally or writing a note etc. So while the risk of course remains it is an added tool that is silent and doesn't require access to anything else.
The point is that it might be easier than hide than verbally or writing a note etc. So while the risk of course remains it is an added tool that is silent and doesn't require access to anything else.
[deleted]
Is there no other signal for help, to use over long distance?
...---...
Unironic +1.
SOS is still officially recognized as a distress signal, is universally understood across language and cultural barriers, and works well with a variety of signaling methods.
SOS is still officially recognized as a distress signal, is universally understood across language and cultural barriers, and works well with a variety of signaling methods.
I agree. There is also hope that someone may recognize the signal (if they were scouts, or cs students who had that as one of the first tasks, ...).
The way you tap it is
The way you tap it is
. . . .. .. .. . . .[deleted]
I didn't know that one. TIL.
I hope you're joking. It's literally SOS in morse code, and it's pretty common hearing the sound in movies / series.
> I hope you're joking.
Why? There, by definition, is always a moment when you learn something. You're not born knowing SOS. At some point in your life you learn of it. To reply to someone who expresses that that this was such a moment with "I hope you're joking" comes off as extremely condescending.
Why? There, by definition, is always a moment when you learn something. You're not born knowing SOS. At some point in your life you learn of it. To reply to someone who expresses that that this was such a moment with "I hope you're joking" comes off as extremely condescending.
Yes but it's different here. SOS should be as known as Coca Cola.
I'm not trying to be harsh or anything, it's just that I can't imagine someone not knowing such a basic thing like that - similar to not knowing what the number for the emergency services in your country is.
I'm not trying to be harsh or anything, it's just that I can't imagine someone not knowing such a basic thing like that - similar to not knowing what the number for the emergency services in your country is.
Berating someone for admitting they don't know something is counter-productive and is only going to make them not admit it the next time.
Yes, you're totally right and I probably stated my astonishment in the wrong way.
And I can't imagine you cannot imagine that. You probably know there are people of so many different ages and cultures and backgrounds here, is it really that hard to imagine someone never encountered it?
Honestly, for such a thing, yes. But I should probably consider that, under certain circumnstances, people might not be aware of certain things.
Never mind, sorry for the bad comment.
Never mind, sorry for the bad comment.
I usually get downvoted for posting XKCD but here it goes. Relevant XKCD
https://xkcd.com/1053/
https://xkcd.com/1053/
I hope you're joking. How can someone not know that the average person is unaware of Morse code? After all, it's pretty common hearing about how ignorant people are in movies/series :P
Ants use specific chemicals (pheromones), producing odors, for communication. Their signals for food and other sustaining activities are fairly complex and long-lasting, and tend to be specific to a species.
Alert signals are comprised of small molecules, are sharp, are not specific to a given species (there may be multiples of these, but they're shared across species), and they spread and disperse below detection threshold quickly. That is, once emitted, the signal permeates through the immediate area quickly, but it's also not long-lasting, so that later-arrivals won't erroniously interpret a danger signal.
See:
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(06)...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3509_eowilson.html
https://achievement.org/achiever/edward-o-wilson-ph-d/#inter...
(I'm finding overviews but not a specific description of the processes / methods.)
Audio alerts among other animals seem to be similar. Alarm or threat cries are clear, unambiguous, and broadcast widely. Friend or mating cries, calls, songs, etc., are typically far more complex, specific, and more localised. These are behaviours which have emerged under selective pressure over millions of years.
We scream at terror, shout at enemies, and whisper to lovers and children.
I'd be very interested to hear of any secret or covert alert calls in nature.
Complex or secret help calls are ... probably not especially useful in most cases. Instead, those who are likely to receive a call should be primed to act and verify quickly.
Put another way, the method suggested in the article is a form of responsibilty-shifting to the victim, though it's all but certainly not intentionally constructed as such.