My Thoughts on Evolution and Cats
Don't get too excited. I'm not going to write a dissertation or anything. I read an article recently about a cat with double paws (extra toes on one or more paws) who had a litter of kittens who also all had double paws. The article was joined by a photo of one kitten with two extra toes on each paw. It looked as if it had opposable thumbs (or thumbs anyway, regardless of their opposability). I immediately thought of how cats with opposable thumbs would inevitably wipe out Mankind.
They would be able to come and go as they pleased. (And you know they would never remember to bring their keys! It's not like they have pockets.) Once able to come and go according to their own body's rhythms, rather than whenever they are lucky enough to escape, cats may start learning a few new things about the world. Oh sure, they would begin by learning how to make fire, build tools, etc so they could feed themselves better and build cat scratching posts worthy of scratching. But what about other stuff? Technology, social structures, government. A government based on the notion that if the guy in charge wants something, it gets done or the other guys get beaten down. Wait, a minute, that's beginning to sound familiar.
Moving on. From a completely different perspective, these thoughts came to me after reading a blog posting about theories behind why we haven't seen extra-terrestrial life (or evidence of it such as radio waves, etc). Here's the link if you're interested, it's fascinating (well, to me anyway). http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/fermis-paradox.html
What if alien life forms saw us -- Humans -- the same way we view well-fed feral cats. Opportunistically living out of dumpsters, consuming whatever we find because we are only looking out for ourselves, trying to survive in this hostile environment. Sometimes adorable, but usually quite dangerous. Are we pests to other life forms? Wait, let me rephrase that since the answer to the question I just asked was a resounding "YES." (Just ask the bear in your backyard; or the raccoon or skunk.) Are we pests to non-terran life forms? They travel the Universe, which to them is nothing more than the "big city" in which they live -- complicated, but navigable once you know the layout. In the course of their journeys, maybe one day they come across these feral beasts scrounging for an existence on this out of the way rock. What would that conversation look like? (Assuming there were only two and that they both could be translated into English):
Alien 1: Ooh look, Humans!
Alien 2: Don't get too close! They could hurt you. They tend to lash out when they are frightened. And anything can frighten them.
Alien 1: But they behave in ways that resemble some of our behaviors.
Alien 2: That's only because you think they do. Leave them alone and let's go to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
I wonder if sometimes it might be better for me NOT to share the weirdness in my head. But how would anyone else know where their spot on the crazy-meter is without something to compare it to?
peace.
They would be able to come and go as they pleased. (And you know they would never remember to bring their keys! It's not like they have pockets.) Once able to come and go according to their own body's rhythms, rather than whenever they are lucky enough to escape, cats may start learning a few new things about the world. Oh sure, they would begin by learning how to make fire, build tools, etc so they could feed themselves better and build cat scratching posts worthy of scratching. But what about other stuff? Technology, social structures, government. A government based on the notion that if the guy in charge wants something, it gets done or the other guys get beaten down. Wait, a minute, that's beginning to sound familiar.
Moving on. From a completely different perspective, these thoughts came to me after reading a blog posting about theories behind why we haven't seen extra-terrestrial life (or evidence of it such as radio waves, etc). Here's the link if you're interested, it's fascinating (well, to me anyway). http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/fermis-paradox.html
What if alien life forms saw us -- Humans -- the same way we view well-fed feral cats. Opportunistically living out of dumpsters, consuming whatever we find because we are only looking out for ourselves, trying to survive in this hostile environment. Sometimes adorable, but usually quite dangerous. Are we pests to other life forms? Wait, let me rephrase that since the answer to the question I just asked was a resounding "YES." (Just ask the bear in your backyard; or the raccoon or skunk.) Are we pests to non-terran life forms? They travel the Universe, which to them is nothing more than the "big city" in which they live -- complicated, but navigable once you know the layout. In the course of their journeys, maybe one day they come across these feral beasts scrounging for an existence on this out of the way rock. What would that conversation look like? (Assuming there were only two and that they both could be translated into English):
Alien 1: Ooh look, Humans!
Alien 2: Don't get too close! They could hurt you. They tend to lash out when they are frightened. And anything can frighten them.
Alien 1: But they behave in ways that resemble some of our behaviors.
Alien 2: That's only because you think they do. Leave them alone and let's go to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
I wonder if sometimes it might be better for me NOT to share the weirdness in my head. But how would anyone else know where their spot on the crazy-meter is without something to compare it to?
peace.
posted by LTV at
8/04/2007 08:42:00 PM
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