Have you heard the term “running around like a chicken with its head cut off”? It turns out that nervous system responses without the need for input from the brain are common in less developed life forms, like birds, fish or the Kardashians.
The internet was recently treated to a shocking example of this autonomic response when Twitter user Yutaka Suzuki uploaded this video taken at a Japanese fish market.
魚の生命力が凄い pic.twitter.com/LjoIO3609n
— 鈴木豊 Yutaka Suzuki (@Q57OUPrpy8OZaWt) July 5, 2017
Yes, that’s half a yellowfin tuna flopping around in a basket for over a minute despite having no head and no left side. You can actually see the other half of the fish laying just below, silently judging its former partner’s outburst in a manner we can all relate to.
The reactions of Twitter users ranged from shocked:
To amused:
But mainly Japanese memes:
There’s really nothing unusual about these sort of death throes from a fish. It’s just a stark reminder that everything we eat, be it plant or animal, was once a living thing. We don’t know with 100% certainty that kale doesn’t feel pain, for example. Having eaten kale, I almost feel like it deserves to as punishment for tasting so terrible.