Bambi's Observation
Sam Aurelius Milam III
Eat,
sleep, defecate, procreate. That's all they [the insects]
do. That's all we do, but at least insects don't kid themselves that
it's anything more than that.
—Dr. Bambi Barenbaum
on The X-Files
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Many
people believe that animals lack intelligence. Even people who'll
admit to some limited intelligence in some animals will insist that there
isn't any intelligence at all among such things as arthropods.
If
the various arthropods lack intelligence, then some of them at least provide
some very interesting imitations. Several years ago, I saw a spider
do something that sure looked smart. My linoleum is mostly white,
with a square array of little black diamonds, on 4 1/2 inch centers.
As I was walking across the room one day, I observed a spider that was
doing the same thing. I don't know if the spider was aware of me
or not, but it appeared to be. It would stop for several seconds
on one of the black diamonds and then run for the next one, on which it
would stop again. It appeared to be intentionally running from one
bit of cover to the next. It seemed to be aware that it was visible
against the white surface but not visible against the black surface.
I don't want my place to be infested with intelligent spiders so I stomped
on it. I haven't seen any more of them since then so either that
was the only one or the others are smart enough to wait on the black diamonds
until I'm gone.
Most
people will probably claim that the spider's behavior was motivated entirely
by instinct. There are several different ways to reply to such a
claim. Here's one of them. The only way to arrive at that conclusion
is to assert that spiders lack intelligence and that instinct is the only
other possible motivation for such behavior. So, consider us.
It's difficult to point to a rational justification for some of our behavior.
For example, why would men take such risks, and expend such resources,
in the pursuit of women? The perceived benefits of such behavior
are transient and, rationally considered, it might even be argued that
they're not worth the trouble. So, our pursuit of women isn't motivated
by a rational evaluation of the benefits, risks, costs, and consequences.
We engage in the behavior without even trying to justify it rationally.
By what, then, is it motivated? We do it just because we want to,
and for no other particular reason. Very few of us would be willing
to cease and desist. The only rational benefit is to perpetuate the
species, which isn't why most of us do it. That benefit, however,
sounds like a pretty good argument in favor of the idea that the behavior
is motivated by the same thing that motivated the spider's behavior.
That is, the behavior isn't driven by rational consideration but by instinct.
Anybody
who doubts the power of our physical drives over our conscious thoughts
ought to consider how difficult it is to resist our inner desires, to stay
on a diet, to confront a bully, to stay awake when we're sleepy, to avoid
taking things that we want, to go against the customs of our group, and
so forth. Maybe pleasure and satisfaction are nothing more than the
positive feedback that we get from behaving according to our instincts.
Love, marriage, motherhood, apple pie, and the flag notwithstanding, maybe
after all we're not so very differently motivated than the bugs.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
The Diary of Cyber Sleuth: Day One
Fiction by Sam Aurelius Milam III
I
decided to start a dairy, no, a diary. I could correct that but why
bother? Nobody but me will ever read this.
I'm
not going to put my name in this. If nobody but me will ever read
it then why not? I don't know. Just seems like a bad idea to
put my name in it. Anyway, I'll call myself Cyber Sleuth. Probably
not very original. Probably lots of guys go by Cyber Sleuth.
Don't care. I'm Cyber Sleuth.
One
thing. I won't write in this diary every day, just when I feel like
it. Day Two won't be tomorrow. It'll be whenever I feel like
writing in the diary again. Might be next week. Might be a
year from now. No way to tell.
Gotta
go.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
January 2013 |
Frontiersman,0c/o
4984 Peach Mountain Drive, Gainesville, Georgia 30507
http://frontiersman.org.uk/ |
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