The genius of Gary Larsen lies in his ability to turn the ordinary into some twisted form of the obvious, yielding a subtle insight in almost every cartoon panel. Among his many brilliant interpretations of life is a panel with cows. One cow says to others, “Hey, wait a minute! This is grass! We’ve been eating grass!” There’s a lesson in cows’ not recognizing the nature of their steady diet. We could, of course, apply the cow’s observation to almost every intellectual diet.
I cannot envision, for example, my eating a fertilized egg in the Philippines, fried tarantulas in Cambodia or maggot cheese in Sardinia. Squeamish? Okay, call me so, but I assume that what I choose to eat might be as equally repulsive to someone from another culture. Taste is acquired. And acquired taste is habitual.
“Food for thought” is the analog of food for cows.
It’s very difficult for any of us to have the insight to say, “Hey, wait a minute! This is grass. We’ve been eating grass!”
I cannot envision, for example, my eating a fertilized egg in the Philippines, fried tarantulas in Cambodia or maggot cheese in Sardinia. Squeamish? Okay, call me so, but I assume that what I choose to eat might be as equally repulsive to someone from another culture. Taste is acquired. And acquired taste is habitual.
“Food for thought” is the analog of food for cows.
It’s very difficult for any of us to have the insight to say, “Hey, wait a minute! This is grass. We’ve been eating grass!”
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