American wit and humor; Evolution (Biology) -- Wit and humor
Inventions will come so easily to simians (in comparison with all
other creatures) and they will take such childish pleasure in
monkeying around, making inventions, that their many devices will
be more of a care than a comfort. In their homes a large part of
their time will have to be spent keeping their numerous ingenuities
in good working order--their elaborate bell-ringing arrangements,
their locks and their clocks. In the field of science to be sure,
this fertility in invention will lead to a long list of important
and beautiful discoveries: telescopes and the calculus, radiographs,
and the spectrum. Discoveries great enough, almost, to make angels
of them. But here again their simian-ness will cheat them of half
of their dues, for they will neglect great discoveries of the truest
importance, and honor extravagantly those of less value and splendor
if only they cater especially to simian traits.
To consider examples: A discovery that helps them to talk, just to
talk, more and more, will be hailed by these beings as one of the
highest of triumphs. Talking to each other over wires will come in
this class. The lightning when harnessed and tamed will be made to
trot round, conveying the most trivial cacklings all day and night.
Huge seas of talk of every sort and kind, in print, speech, and
writing, will roll unceasingly over their civilized realms, involving
an unbelievable waste in labor and time, and sapping the intelligence
talk is supposed to upbuild. In a simian civilization, great halls
will be erected for lectures, and great throngs will actually pay
to go inside at night to hear some self-satisfied talk-maker chatter
for hours. Almost any subject will do for a lecture, or talk; yet
very few subjects will be counted important enough for the average
man to do any _thinking_ on them, off by himself.
In their futurist books they will dream of an even worse state,
a more dreadful indulgence in communication than the one just
described. This they'll hope to achieve by a system called mental
telepathy. They will long to communicate wordlessly, mind impinging
on mind, until all their minds are awash with messages every moment,
and withdrawal from the stream is impossible anywhere on earth.
This will foster the brotherhood of man. (Conglomerateness being
their ideal.) Super-cats would have invented more barriers instead
of more channels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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