It'd be better if we had evolved from dogs instead of primates. We might not be all that bright. In fact we might be downright stupid. But we'd spend our days playing. Eating, sleeping and playing, which is all that dogs do.
I doubt we'd be starting wars and killing old dogs, puppies and pregnant females and rationalizing it as "collateral damage." Dogs waging war? It doesn't happen.
Dogs have that inborn sunny manic nature. A lot of people have it as babies, but something happens.
I think some people have forgotten how to play. Some researchers, such as Stuart Brown, have devoted their lives to the study of play, and found it is not only essential for babies and children, but adults. So it's beyond dispute that dogs are, in some very important ways, smarter than we are. They understand the importance of play. How many dogs do not live their lines to the fullest, if we let them?
Vernor Vinge did write a very good novel, A Fire Upon the Deep, about a world of dogs that were worse than people. As good as the novel is I've always had a hard time believing it.
Dogs generally don't go crazy unless they have rabies like Cujo or else have been bred to be crazy like some pitbulls.
We've been able to breed dogs because they have many more genes than we do. That's why we can breed them from chihuahuas to mastiffs.
People have tried to breed people to make them better. It's always involved force. Most people don't know it but the Nazis picked up their "breed improvement" programs from we Americans. But since we have less genes than dogs such breeding programs will never work.
Still, it's a pleasant fantasy of mine to imagine someday people will be as good as dogs.
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