939
Mmm dirt (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 6 days ago by compostgoblin to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[-] MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io 86 points 6 days ago

Worms don’t eat dirt. They eat detritus and poop dirt.

[-] compostgoblin 25 points 6 days ago

Genuinely curious - what is the difference between detritus and dirt?

[-] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 122 points 6 days ago
[-] ObstreperousCanadian@lemmy.ca 8 points 6 days ago

Very helpful, thank you!

[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 3 points 6 days ago

He picked off the decomposing organic debris from the word and pooped the letters out. Now if only we knew what detritus was.

[-] MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io 26 points 6 days ago

Well, now that I’ve reviewed up the definition of detritus, not a whole lot.
😂 I would say that detritus is coarser and implies the sense being recognizeable as having been part of a larger whole.
I meant it in the sense of organic debris: leaf litter and such. I think of dirt as being finer and relatively uniform. Water + dirt = mud. Water + detritus = clean detritus.

What I meant was that worms sustain themselves on organic material, and, after they break it down, it is more incorporated in to the soil.

Theres is a whole other discussion to be had whether dirt ≈ soil…

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 8 points 6 days ago

I'll take a shot. "Detritus" is the easier part: it's decaying plant and animal matter. So the worms are eating leaves and stuff after it's started breaking down.

"Dirt" is a little more difficult because it doesn't have as crisp of a definition. Usually when people say "dirt" in this context, they mean "soil," but that's only a little better. The relevant definition for soil is, "the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow."

That detritus gets broken down by bacteria and becomes soil even without worms, but worms do basically the same thing faster. Plus their moving around helps loosen the soil, which also is helpful for growing plants.

[-] MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

what is the difference between detritus and dirt?

They're pretty similar but it seems:

Detritus - fragments of materials that have disintegrated or worn away.

Dirt - Unclean matter, soil or grime.

Close because I'm pretty sure soil is broken down rocks and stuff.

[-] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

More available/easily digestible nutrients probably. Stuff like decomposing leaf litter, dead plants, other animal excrement.

Disclaimer this is a pure guess.

[-] axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 41 points 6 days ago
[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Do you have any mail-order companies where I can get ahold of phytoplankton that I can absorb into my body and form a symbiotic relationship with so they can convert sunlight to energy and supply me with excess?

Last time I tried I just got really bad gas.

[-] deranger@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

…and eat mushrooms

[-] starchylemming@lemmy.world 21 points 6 days ago

by doing this you become the worm.

chicken now try to eat you

[-] Rusty@lemmy.ca 13 points 6 days ago
[-] scytale@piefed.zip 10 points 6 days ago
[-] mehdi_benadel@lemmy.balamb.fr 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

That would explain a lot : Leto II became a worm because he ate dirt (spice - and a worm BTW)

[-] Bytemite@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago
[-] AyuTsukasa@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago

That was beautiful 😭

[-] MrTrono@lemmy.world 18 points 6 days ago

I'm already doing this my diet is mostly coffee... And before I hear all you say coffee isn't dirt... I can assure you it was GROUND this morning 🤪

[-] ekZepp@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

Relax. With these economic trends, I'm pretty sure we'll all end up there.

[-] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Except who tf can afford it? Granted, this is the organic stuff, but excuse me if I prefer not to feed my kids chemical-filled junk.

[-] D_C@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

We've been eating shit for decades due to capitalism and parasitic billionaires, dirt is a step up.

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Pretty much all of human history really. We cannot self govern without segregating into the haves and have nots.

[-] Genius@lemmy.zip 4 points 5 days ago

That's a racist myth. White supremacists want you to think it doesn't get any better than Europe, but it does. Google indigenous communism.

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

We cannot self govern without segregating into the haves and have nots.

We can self-govern fine without this dichotomy, it's just that the "haves" don't want you to think it's possible and they have the means of reinforcing their narrative, and the have-nots do not have a voice.

While yes, it's been this way for a long time, it's not the rule and no more required to our survival than a thousand other false essentialist ideas we've discarded along the path through history.

[-] Rexiose@lemmy.zip 6 points 5 days ago

Theoretical a worm eat plants and leaf's

Worm no eat dirt, worm make dirt.

[-] PeefJerky@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago

In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 1 points 5 days ago

But the Nine Inch Nails version...

[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Can you actually eat dirt? Is it good for you?

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

Even worms don't "eat dirt" they eat biological material like decaying plant matter. And it depends what kind of "worm" we're talking about here. There are countless varieties that eat different things.

But animals that eat pure minerals directly from the Earth? Not many.

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

Yeah that whole niche was kinda taken over by the flora kingdom early on jokes on them though we have SpongeBob on our team! He lives in a pineapple showing the innate superiority of animals over plants.

[-] Gustephan@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Me when my gf asks "would you still love me if I was a worm?"

[-] outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

No. You would be too powerful for me; mo way to make that ethical. Did you not read 'dune'?

[-] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

And then lose 90% of that pure energy as heat

[-] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 4 points 6 days ago
[-] expatriado@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

it's also dirt cheap

[-] Zachariah@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I mean eating only dirt would probably kill you, and (if you believe in that sort of stuff) then you can ascend beyond the corporeal.

[-] P1k1e@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Trying to picture the size of the bird that eats you

[-] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago
[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

This is just “On Ilkley Moor Baht Hat”. Ye’d lose more heat than that too - it’s well parky up there.

[-] CannedYeet@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Where have all the flowers gone?

this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
939 points (100.0% liked)

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