this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 132 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Thanks for the title, I think I'd never got it otherwise

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This sounds like sarcasm, but the joke legitimately didn't click for me until I scanned the title again.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago

It wasn't. I legitimately wouldn't get it otherwise. Which I also don't necessarily see as a bad thing either in this case.

[–] pantyhosewimp 62 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Fuck gawd damn, I don’t know who I’m angrier at more: myself or the joke writer.

The humor lies in the dual meaning of the horticultural labor task and the selective bias fallacy having the same idiomatic phrase of “cherry picking”. And that is all there is to the humor.

Right?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago

Thank you for explaining. I'm embarrassed I didn't get it on my own but I'm grateful for the help.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 3 weeks ago

I thought it was because they were all dying and fertilizing the soil with their corpses.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

If you don't get the Jo try this:

Citing extensive experience, anti-vaxers are hired by cherry farm as cherry pickers.

One such cherry picker was shown to pick cherries 340% faster than non-anti-vax pickers. The anti-vax cherry picking spokesman was heard to be explaining that this data proves anti-vaxers are the superior farm laborers, and expects the farm to see a correlation in overall productivity improvement across farms employing anti-vax cherry pickers.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

But that's cherry picking!

[–] [email protected] 47 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I don't get it. Could be because I was still asleep 20 minutes ago.

[–] [email protected] 102 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Anti vaxers cherry pick information to state their claims are correct. Therefore they're super good at it

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Ahhhhhhhhhh. That would make sense. My mind initially was asking if there was some form of an extract or essential oil that came from cherries that they claimed was a wonder anti drug.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I thought the death rate among antivaxers was so high that they provide regular fertilization for the trees.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

That was my thought too. Nothing like a bit of blood and bone to get plants growing. Something, something...it's what plants crave!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

There's also a sort of second level to the joke in that reporting on the results for a single orchard is in itself cherry picking.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

I thought they kept dying and adding nurtiants to the soil

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My dumbass thought it was programming related

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

I thought like the cherry picker carts that help you drive around at elevated altitude

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

For the sleepy brains and ESL-ers: It is an idiom.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I still don't get the 340% increase in the production part though.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 weeks ago

They're very experienced at cherry picking, since they do it all the time. Therefore they're able to do it better / faster than most.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Anti-vaxxers love cherry picking.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, but if your results are only a biased subset of your total gamut (vaccers + anti-vaccers) then 340% is still an astonishing result when only taking your preferred group.

It actually does build credibility that the group you're biased towards had the most significant result.

If the total gains were 1000% including contributions from both groups, then yes I can understand the point the post is making (340 from anti-vaccers, 660 from vaccers, clear cherry-picking).

But 340 is already an incredibly high number, so it sort of weakens the post, if you catch my meaning

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

You are overthinking a (bad) joke

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Me either, but assuming it's a real screenshot, the date is 2018. I didn't do much digging, but 2018 saw an increase in cherry crops according to this source https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/usda-2018-cherry-crop-production-up-from-last-year.

An overall increase of 60% is pretty big! If this specific farm had an especially bad year in 2017, a 340% increase isn't out of the question.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I've never seen it as "vaccers" only "vaxxers". Also, 2018!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

What's a vakker?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

They're vaccers because they suck.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 weeks ago

If you don't get the joke: the cherry farm was planted over the graves of all the antivaxers.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This picture is going to be cited by someone as actual evidence against vaccines. I guarantee it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

It'd be the same quality as their other evidence, so it might as well be funny

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 54 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's a joke about them being good at cherry-picking

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've never picked cherries but I have pruned persimmon trees and I am skeptical that anti vaxxers would excel at any kind of agricultural work

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

"Cherry picking" is also a form of selective arguing, where someone will laser focus on one tiny part of the data, even if the rest of it says things contrary to their point.

So, if I had data saying that 70% of people who trod on landmines died immediately, 25% experienced loss of at least one limb, 2.5% were unharmed, and 2.5% were unaccounted for, a Cherry-picker might argue that landmine hopscotch is completely safe, since only 25% of people lost a limb, and a portion of people were completely unharmed.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

The picture of the orchard had fooled me.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago

"Anti Vaxxers in demand as orchards seek expert cherry pickers"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

I figured they were making hugel mounds out of the dead people and planting cherries on them.