#forrest valkai

[an-adhd-infested-nerd]

Me when the YouTube is fun, educational and made by people who deeply care about the topic they talk about

[lenbryant]

Apes Are Us

Forrest explains our taxonomy.

[heres-someart]

Chapter 1: The Train

ID under cut. Click for better detail. Reblogs > Likes

This TTRPG campaign can be watched on Forrest Valkai's YouTube channel and is a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders

ID: A digital drawing of a train car filled with 6 people and a dog. In the back right is Gwen Copperplate, a white woman with brown hair, glasses, a purple vest, and a cool grey shirt. She leans forward, resting her face on her hands, as she looks towards a dog. Opposite her is Dr. Victor Vindeca, a white man with dark brown hair and a green suit. He is looking through a duffel bag. Next to him sits Eloise van der Graff, a yellow tiefling with bright orange hair. She wears white flowing robes which barely cover her. Opposite her sits Ritha Janis, a black person with curly blonde hair, a dark grey stripped suit jacket, a white shirt, a red ascot, and red pants. Between Ritha and Eloise stands a dark grey dog with white feet which looks up at Gwen. Next to Ritha sits Azad, an arab man with brown hair and a curly mustache who is wearing a blue and orange turban, blue robes, and orange clothes underneath that. He wears a lot of jewelry. Across from him sits Kirke Counterfire, a gold dragonborne woman with dark hair who has gauged ears, a red skirt, a red corset, and a brown shirt which has a mix of mesh and opaque materials. End ID

[nmzuka]

If you wanna see a very satisfying video of someone tearing down a transphobe pls watch this clip of Forrest Valkai

(Its also nice to watch as a trans person and be reminded of what fierce allies we really have)

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

No other animal even comes close to humans when it comes to speaking. Our ancestors developed the ability to speak over the past two million years, and this was made possible largely by the position of our hyoid bone which anchors the tongue and allows for very complex vocalizations which can convey very complex ideas.

[…]

As we develop speech we also continue to develop absurdly large brains gaining neural mass. Most notably in areas of the brain associated with executive function. This aided not only in our communication but also in our ability to think critically to innovate to plan for the future to think symbolically.

Source: "What is a human?" is a surprisingly hard question | ft. @GutsickGibbon. Forrest Valkai YouTube channel (Transcription adapted from the auto-generated closed captions, starting at 9 minutes, 16 seconds)

Headdesking forever, punctuated by perpetual facepalming.

I swear -- paleoanthropologists (and also doctors, teachers, occupational therapists, psychologists, and others), all have an effing tongue fetish.

How do we know that the evolution of the hyoid bone, and humans' subsequently acrobatic tongues, came before our ability to think in complex, symbolic ways, instead of concurrently, or even after? It's not just human tongues that are more nimble, and capable of more subtle movement than those of our nearest great ape relatives. Our hands and fingers are, too (and also our facial expressions, the way we can raise and lower our eyebrows, and twist and move our lips).

Language ability is in the brain, not the mouth. And I know that Mr. Valkai knows this, because he's made videos talking about how ASL is a real language, and I've seen him count off items on a list using ASL numbers.

But brains don't fossilize.

So what actual evidence is there for this claim that human intelligence began with complex, vocal, speech, besides our preconceived notions and biases?

I ask because it's (semi) personal. I've seen incredibly bright kids whose cerebral palsy affected their tongue, and the school system they were in decide they just can't be taught how to read, because they can't read aloud, and the school had no plan on how they could test their reading comprehension.

Don't get me wrong. I think the hyoid bone is incredibly cool. And I love the things that many humans can do with their voices. I just wish it weren't assumed to be so important to our general intelligence.

[thelindenpapers]

Video Weekend

Forrest Valkai | The Line -- Transphobic Liar Calls In

[vergissmeinnichtmeinschatz]

so funny out of context lmao

[an-sceal]

"It's the exact kind of not-thinking you'd expect to hear from somebody who's spent his entire career as a magician whose only trick is turning mundane news stories into white supremacist dog-whistles."

I don't know if that beats my current favourite Forrest Valkai quote*, but it's close.

*"He's a difficult man to underestimate."

In any case- Forrest Valkai is awesome, and I've learned a ton about biology and evolution from his videos.

[timewasjustadream]

If you need an argument for why abortion should always be legal, Forrest makes some good ones in this.

[joe-england]

Watch "PragerU & Stephen Meyer - Broken Records, Double Standards, & Actual Indoctrination | Reacteria" on YouTube

[lenbryant]

Flood tale questions.

[heres-someart]

Chapter 4: The Autopsy

ID under cut. Click for better detail. Reblogs > Likes

ID: A digital drawing of Dr Victor Vindeca from Roll for Initiagive. He is a white, very pale man with dark black hair with grey streaks. He wears a white dress shirt with an ascot with a red gem, a green vest and suit pants, and dark green gloves. He is leaned over a brown table which has blood spattered on it while holding a scalpel. The room he stands in is wooden planks. End ID

[nmzuka]

I love listening to Forrest just tear down fucking transphobes (if the direct link doesnt work the time stamp is 1:36:29)

[immoren]

Bread

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

I think I’ve posted stuff  here from this man before. But I don’t feel like searching for it, right now.

I think of him as “The Dylan B. Hollis of Science (Biology).”

Most of his longer form videos on YouTube are reaction videos to Evangelical Christians who don’t believe in Natural Selection Evolution, but he’s also got a newish series up all about that evolution, and how we know what we know.

And he also has compilations of his TikTok videos, like this one, which he puts up once a month-ish (I think). Anyway, in this one, here, we have:

Addressing the question of what happened before the Big Bang

Talking about horsetails (a plant)

How humans became the dominant species on Earth

Squeeing over slugs doing slug stuff for slug reasons

Recent science creating viable eggs and sperm in the lab

Chemistry of rubbing alcohol

Chemistry of other carbon chains

Ants practice self-care by taking little naps (my favorite)

Explaining They/Them Pronouns

Telling off Transphobes and Homophobes

Auto-Generated captions. Eye contact.

[riotinyellow]

bryan dechart and forrest valkai are the same person. difference is one is dorky and one is nerdy