I suppose there is justification in acting out the behavior of other animals in the manner of Toco, the guy who wears the $14,000 collie costume. Certain animals can serve as stereotypes of human accomplishments, desires, and foibles, so we have numerous similes and metaphors based on animal-human comparisons: Brave or fierce as a lion, meek as a sheep, or wise as a fox. But all those stereotypes are our own inventions and projections. I have seen videos, for example, of lions fleeing from charging water buffalo. Toco might think collies are worth emulating, but they are, regardless of Lassie’s exploits, just dogs. They poop in the yard. They lick other dogs’ butts. They shed hair on the couch. Dogs. Just dogs, and no matter how much we love them and care for them, they are more often burdens on our time and social interactions. Does Toco’s walker want to watch him pee on a tree? Does she want him to sniff her butt?
Animals don’t do what we can do. Our cities, roads and bridges, and vast farmlands and factories connected by transportation networks reveal the differences that separate us from other life-forms. And then there’s language. Although other animals communicate through sounds, looks, postures, and gestures (think fanned out peacock plumage and various other bird dances), they do not have complex spoken and written language that can be passed on through generations that extend beyond the geographic distributions of animal species. They do not communicate through either wired or wireless technologies of their invention. And regardless of human efforts to communicate with other animal species, no one has yet found a way to discuss Plato’s philosophy with dolphins, great apes, or voice-mimicking parrots. Dogs, Toco, dogs.
Language Is a Human Cultural Invention; It Is Not Instinctive
That we have to teach babies to talk indicates that language is not instinctive. If there really had been a Romulus and Remus reared by wolves, neither would have acquired speech, and all those latinate root words (e.g., insul, libr) that populate our language would not exist. Those rare examples of humans reared by animals reveal that human nurture is essential for language development. The Siberian girl named Natasha, found in 2009, had spent her early childhood with dogs and feral cats until she was found. She ate from bowls left on the floor by her neglectful parent and knew no words, but rather communicated with hisses and barks. We might be born with the mechanisms for speech, but we aren’t born with an instinctual knowledge of it.
In our languages we stand alone among the planet’s other animals with brains. But the origin of language is a mystery. We cannot determine how long ago hominins began communicating through language. But we can guess that ritual burials and cave paintings from tens of thousands of years ago were likely accompanied by speech of some kind and that some cave artist might have said the equivalent of “Hey, come see what I just drew with ochre.” Paleoanthropologists think various relative species of Homo sapiens sapiens took an untold number of millennia to invent language, and we know that written language appeared less than 10,000 years ago. Then, once our ancient ancestors had words and grammars, they changed both unintentionally and intentionally, just as we now change our own modern languages through colloquialisms and dialects. Can anyone say, “cyberspace,” “catfish,” or “emoji”? We alter language by adding words and expressions that are derivatives of our environments, social structures and technologies. Whereas it is true that songbirds also alter their songs from season to season, there is no evidence that their alterations are as complex as ours or reflect new discoveries or fashions.
Why Are There People like Toco?
It seems odd to me that in the twenty-first century we can find numerous examples of humans trying to return to our primitive speechless state. And the current fad of pretending to be (face it, it’s not an actuality; it’s an act) a furred animal is indicative of this regressive behavior. I was recently told that some college students have requested litter boxes because they “identify” as cats. Okay, if that’s what they want, but does that also entail not using toilet paper? And if these human felines are female, does that entail not using feminine napkins (note my use of a term that harks back decades)?
Why the regression? Why the drive to become what took millennia of evolution and cultural development to overcome? Those early limitations kept humans from technological advancement for most of the species’ existence. That we can express complex thoughts isn’t a minor accomplishment. It puts us at the top of a hierarchy of life-forms, including dogs. Yet, we now have people trying to imitate or pretending to be what our species left behind all those pre-language millennia ago.
An Enfeebled Adult Population
It’s unfortunate that the current Leftist Press, academia, some politicians, and sundry entertainment moguls cannot see the folly in thinking that all lifestyles are equal. Lives of equal value, yes, but lifestyles, no. Wallowing in drug addiction, for example, doesn’t speak well for our species. But among those groups I just mentioned, it’s not okay to question the sanity of someone who wants to be known as a four-legged animal. It is, however, okay to question and berate those who question debilitating life choices. And one of those debilitating choices involves pretending to be an animal. I designate such choices as debilitating because they limit humans psychologically, intellectually, and even physically. Toco, for example must use his arms for legs in a throwback to a time before bipedalism. Walking on all fours works for life-forms that don’t have cars, doorknobs, and computer keyboards.
Instead of noting the absurdity of humans pretending to be animals, the supposed adults in the media, academia, politics, and entertainment cower before the whims of the fools they should berate for their obvious folly. For those who would reverse hundreds of thousands of years (or more) of evolutionary progress, I have a modest proposal:
If a college student wants to act out the supposed life of a cat, then the best way to convince him or her that cats don’t really have better lives than humans is to avoid talking to that student (a human ability) and supplying toilet paper. If that college student insists on the “reality” of his or her catlike nature, then begin providing mice, rats, birds, and other small live animals for food. Give those who would be animals animal food; give them animal shelter, and provide animal vets for doctors in an act of compassionate health care. “Jump up on this table, Toco. Good dog.”
As Intelligible as a Barking Dog
The nonsense of twenty-first century Americans befuddles those with common sense, logic, and human goals. Woof, woof, woof. You get what I’m sayin’, right?
Animals don’t do what we can do. Our cities, roads and bridges, and vast farmlands and factories connected by transportation networks reveal the differences that separate us from other life-forms. And then there’s language. Although other animals communicate through sounds, looks, postures, and gestures (think fanned out peacock plumage and various other bird dances), they do not have complex spoken and written language that can be passed on through generations that extend beyond the geographic distributions of animal species. They do not communicate through either wired or wireless technologies of their invention. And regardless of human efforts to communicate with other animal species, no one has yet found a way to discuss Plato’s philosophy with dolphins, great apes, or voice-mimicking parrots. Dogs, Toco, dogs.
Language Is a Human Cultural Invention; It Is Not Instinctive
That we have to teach babies to talk indicates that language is not instinctive. If there really had been a Romulus and Remus reared by wolves, neither would have acquired speech, and all those latinate root words (e.g., insul, libr) that populate our language would not exist. Those rare examples of humans reared by animals reveal that human nurture is essential for language development. The Siberian girl named Natasha, found in 2009, had spent her early childhood with dogs and feral cats until she was found. She ate from bowls left on the floor by her neglectful parent and knew no words, but rather communicated with hisses and barks. We might be born with the mechanisms for speech, but we aren’t born with an instinctual knowledge of it.
In our languages we stand alone among the planet’s other animals with brains. But the origin of language is a mystery. We cannot determine how long ago hominins began communicating through language. But we can guess that ritual burials and cave paintings from tens of thousands of years ago were likely accompanied by speech of some kind and that some cave artist might have said the equivalent of “Hey, come see what I just drew with ochre.” Paleoanthropologists think various relative species of Homo sapiens sapiens took an untold number of millennia to invent language, and we know that written language appeared less than 10,000 years ago. Then, once our ancient ancestors had words and grammars, they changed both unintentionally and intentionally, just as we now change our own modern languages through colloquialisms and dialects. Can anyone say, “cyberspace,” “catfish,” or “emoji”? We alter language by adding words and expressions that are derivatives of our environments, social structures and technologies. Whereas it is true that songbirds also alter their songs from season to season, there is no evidence that their alterations are as complex as ours or reflect new discoveries or fashions.
Why Are There People like Toco?
It seems odd to me that in the twenty-first century we can find numerous examples of humans trying to return to our primitive speechless state. And the current fad of pretending to be (face it, it’s not an actuality; it’s an act) a furred animal is indicative of this regressive behavior. I was recently told that some college students have requested litter boxes because they “identify” as cats. Okay, if that’s what they want, but does that also entail not using toilet paper? And if these human felines are female, does that entail not using feminine napkins (note my use of a term that harks back decades)?
Why the regression? Why the drive to become what took millennia of evolution and cultural development to overcome? Those early limitations kept humans from technological advancement for most of the species’ existence. That we can express complex thoughts isn’t a minor accomplishment. It puts us at the top of a hierarchy of life-forms, including dogs. Yet, we now have people trying to imitate or pretending to be what our species left behind all those pre-language millennia ago.
An Enfeebled Adult Population
It’s unfortunate that the current Leftist Press, academia, some politicians, and sundry entertainment moguls cannot see the folly in thinking that all lifestyles are equal. Lives of equal value, yes, but lifestyles, no. Wallowing in drug addiction, for example, doesn’t speak well for our species. But among those groups I just mentioned, it’s not okay to question the sanity of someone who wants to be known as a four-legged animal. It is, however, okay to question and berate those who question debilitating life choices. And one of those debilitating choices involves pretending to be an animal. I designate such choices as debilitating because they limit humans psychologically, intellectually, and even physically. Toco, for example must use his arms for legs in a throwback to a time before bipedalism. Walking on all fours works for life-forms that don’t have cars, doorknobs, and computer keyboards.
Instead of noting the absurdity of humans pretending to be animals, the supposed adults in the media, academia, politics, and entertainment cower before the whims of the fools they should berate for their obvious folly. For those who would reverse hundreds of thousands of years (or more) of evolutionary progress, I have a modest proposal:
If a college student wants to act out the supposed life of a cat, then the best way to convince him or her that cats don’t really have better lives than humans is to avoid talking to that student (a human ability) and supplying toilet paper. If that college student insists on the “reality” of his or her catlike nature, then begin providing mice, rats, birds, and other small live animals for food. Give those who would be animals animal food; give them animal shelter, and provide animal vets for doctors in an act of compassionate health care. “Jump up on this table, Toco. Good dog.”
As Intelligible as a Barking Dog
The nonsense of twenty-first century Americans befuddles those with common sense, logic, and human goals. Woof, woof, woof. You get what I’m sayin’, right?
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