[Linkpost] “Starfish” by Aaron Gertler 🔸

This is a link post.

By Alexander Wales

Thousands of starfish had washed up on the beach, and a little girl was diligently throwing them back into the water, one at a time.

A man came up to the girl and said, "You'll never save all of them. What you're doing is pointless. It doesn't matter."

The girl threw another starfish into the water. "It mattered to that one."

The man snorted and walked away.

The girl kept throwing starfish, one after another.

To throw one starfish back into the ocean takes a trivial amount of effort, but to throw ten, or fifty, is much less so. The girl had not learned much of biomechanics, but she began to feel the strain in her back. Her skin had softened from the seawater, and the starfish themselves were abrasive. Her fingers had pruned. Her shoulder hurt. She was cut, twice, on her fingers, as the same storm that had stranded the starfish had also brought up broken shells and crab carapaces. The skin of a starfish was like sandpaper.

She tried switching hands, and could throw the starfish less well, and it wasn't long before she had mirrored all her injuries. [...]

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First published:
April 28th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BHHcPbirBdoBetNiu/starfish

Linkpost URL:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/52206136/chapters/220900811#workskin

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.