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The Dolphin House

Atrocity Guide · documentary · Watch on YouTube

Animals & natureDocumentaries & storytellingScientific method & science communication

What it is

Atrocity Guide covers the 1965 dolphin experiments of Dr. John C. Lilly and Margaret Howe, who tried to teach dolphins English. It traces the bizarre methods and Lilly's later drug-fueled beliefs.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN recommends it as a decent, entertaining summary of Lilly's life and work whenever dolphin communication research comes up.

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2021, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “This video does a decent job of summarizing his life and work”

    Summarizes Lilly's life and work, including his later drug abuse.

    bonnie76, 2021-12 · Recommendation · in “John C. Lilly ‘modified human agents’ human, dolphin neuropsychology experiments”

  2. “I recommend watching the Atrocity Guide episode on John C. Lily”

    Covers John Lilly's dolphin experiments and LSD-fueled beliefs.

    meindnoch, 2025-04 · Recommendation · in “DolphinGemma: How Google AI is helping decode dolphin communication”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: john c. lilly, dolphins, margaret howe, animal communication, science history

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