Submitted by [deleted] t3_122pb1i in askscience
[deleted] OP t1_jdutwma wrote
Reply to comment by Psykout88 in Can elephants canter or gallop? by [deleted]
I see the problem now, look like people misinterpreted the tone and point of my comment. I only wanted to say that the article content is different from the elephant's behavior in the video.
See, you confidently believe that I ingnore them and think I am right, when what I really wanted to say was the opposite: I just wonder why they said 'elephants can't run' while in the video he seems to be running.
Other answers said it's because his front legs are chained, and that's cleared my confusion. (I messaged you because your comment disappeared)
Psykout88 t1_jduvqi3 wrote
I can only operate off the information available to me, just as the rest of us have to. I can't see inside your thoughts, so if there is a misunderstanding there, it's because you used too little information and improper language.
Also the person did not say elephants can't run, you keep coming back to that. They clearly stated that terms of movement such as trotting/cantor/galloping only refer to the biomechanics. Elephants can never move like that due to their size and physiology, regardless of how it might look when they are moving their fastest. The article they linked even says exactly that, they aren't running because all feet are not leaving the ground.
Furthermore it states how when moving their Center of Mass does not vertically change at speed. As a bipedal animal, I am sure you can recognize how much your mass moves up and down as you run and walk, headbob. That Mass in the elephant not moving vertically keeps them trapped to the ground, so by definition they can not run/trot/canter/gallop
[deleted] OP t1_jduxudi wrote
I see now, it's also because I misunderstood the use of galloping and running at first so I got confused, I am also not very good at writing and wording.
I apologize you for my mistakes both in the comment and in the message too. I never want to sound impolite, I just want to discuss with you guys but English is not my first language.
Psykout88 t1_jduyukt wrote
This is more likely a cultural thing rather than language thing. Your sentence structure and vocabulary are completely fine, you are just missing the nuances of how to navigate the conversation.
It's like the difference between an argument and a debate. If you are entering a conversation to change someone's mind but willing to let yours change too, that's a debate/discussion. If you are entering a conversation only to change others minds, that's an argument. It definitely looked like you were just trying argue, but obviously that wasn't the case as you just didn't have all the information and tools yet.
[deleted] OP t1_jdv0kcy wrote
No I never want to argue or change anyone's mind, I just wanted to discuss normally, but it look like the way I wrote it really misleads people.
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