Mr. Lapides (we’re both Fred’s)… an interesting follow to yesterdays run. There is a possibility that I’d like to share that I’ve not seen mentioned in any article dealing with this subject. One of those “what if?” thoughts that has the potential to turn a great many foundation assumptions upside down… and then (think pro wrestling) pile drive them into the mat of human chauvinism. Not to say it isn’t out there, just that I’ve not encountered it anywhere formal.
There is no question that many species possess high levels of intelligence, certainly high enough and fully abstract enough to support all of the emotional experiences and associations this article mentions. Where human chauvinism operates is in the realms of how that intelligence is communicated one individual to another. We humans use symbolic communication, language, a symbol transmitted and then reconstituted for meaning. But… HUGE BUT… there are many other possible formats of communication that could move equal or larger amounts of info that would be totally invisible to we who use symbols.
An anchor point if you will, out of the realms of Christendom and the writings of John…(yes, John 1:1 to be specific). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…” (if you don’t know the passage look it up and consider what the man said in this context, not what other men have tried to twist it into for political gain and literary arrogance).
The question hanging like an axe over human chauvinism, and one of the most ignored questions of all time, is this: are the other creatures communicating one individual to another… OR… are they (as would be consistent with a great many of the older and pagan legends) communicating between dispersed elements of some single personality/persona mounted on several physical bodies? Is the essence of Coyote one entity? Is a pod of 26 bottlenose dolphins 26 unique individuals, or is it one individual mounted on 26 brains larger than any human (consider the ultimate intelligence of that arrangement if you need something to keep you humble!), or at desire or need some mixture of both states of being? WE DO NOT KNOW.
I stand by my statement that I am not an animal. But, that said, I am in no way claiming that as a human I live the higher state of being. Brains configured for symbolic communication may be just as much of an impediment as an advantage (with an argument to long for a comment block hanging over the implications of that statement here in these days when the internet can be interpreted as human beings instinctively attempting to overcome such an impediment of the species?).
Or to drop back into pop culture? The answer is 42, you need a bigger computer to find the question, and goodbye. Oh, and thanks for all the fish.
September 20, 2022 @ 11:50 am
Mr. Lapides (we’re both Fred’s)… an interesting follow to yesterdays run. There is a possibility that I’d like to share that I’ve not seen mentioned in any article dealing with this subject. One of those “what if?” thoughts that has the potential to turn a great many foundation assumptions upside down… and then (think pro wrestling) pile drive them into the mat of human chauvinism. Not to say it isn’t out there, just that I’ve not encountered it anywhere formal.
There is no question that many species possess high levels of intelligence, certainly high enough and fully abstract enough to support all of the emotional experiences and associations this article mentions. Where human chauvinism operates is in the realms of how that intelligence is communicated one individual to another. We humans use symbolic communication, language, a symbol transmitted and then reconstituted for meaning. But… HUGE BUT… there are many other possible formats of communication that could move equal or larger amounts of info that would be totally invisible to we who use symbols.
An anchor point if you will, out of the realms of Christendom and the writings of John…(yes, John 1:1 to be specific). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…” (if you don’t know the passage look it up and consider what the man said in this context, not what other men have tried to twist it into for political gain and literary arrogance).
The question hanging like an axe over human chauvinism, and one of the most ignored questions of all time, is this: are the other creatures communicating one individual to another… OR… are they (as would be consistent with a great many of the older and pagan legends) communicating between dispersed elements of some single personality/persona mounted on several physical bodies? Is the essence of Coyote one entity? Is a pod of 26 bottlenose dolphins 26 unique individuals, or is it one individual mounted on 26 brains larger than any human (consider the ultimate intelligence of that arrangement if you need something to keep you humble!), or at desire or need some mixture of both states of being? WE DO NOT KNOW.
I stand by my statement that I am not an animal. But, that said, I am in no way claiming that as a human I live the higher state of being. Brains configured for symbolic communication may be just as much of an impediment as an advantage (with an argument to long for a comment block hanging over the implications of that statement here in these days when the internet can be interpreted as human beings instinctively attempting to overcome such an impediment of the species?).
Or to drop back into pop culture? The answer is 42, you need a bigger computer to find the question, and goodbye. Oh, and thanks for all the fish.