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While we are discussing the wisdom of groups...<br><br>
I am presently working on a chapter in my book with the following
sub-section. It is based on my encounter with "aliens" while I
was on a fishing trip. This is a true story. Read on. What is it about
across-species interactions that might impact on the development of
intelligence?<br><br>
<br>
<b>Evolving life<br><br>
</b>I was on a fishing trip some years ago with some friends, when I
stayed at a cottage out in the country. I chose the granny flat at the
back of the house, which was situated alongside the back door of the
house, opening up onto the back porch. <br><br>
One cool, misty morning I woke up to a thump on the back porch. I opened
the door of the granny flat, and there it was, the alien, hesitantly
hobbling up the wooden steps, onto the porch and into the
kitchen.<br><br>
I looked down to the back yard, and there, about ten metres in front of
me, a troop of about six other aliens stood in anticipation, watching
their comrade, as if urging her on by telepathy, "go on, go on. Go
inside! Check it out!" The leader of the group stood closest to me,
with his troop gathering behind him. He was obviously their leader,
calmly surveying proceedings, while the others seemed eager for some
action.<br><br>
It was time for breakfast, so I followed the alien inside the house,
urging her on. And inside, to my astonishment, there was already an alien
in the kitchen! I could not believe it! My five friends were standing
around sipping on their coffees, as if nothing extraordinary was going
on. The alien that was already inside was as tall as a man, and she was
helping herself to the food on the table. She seemed to be motioning to
the fridge, as if asking us to open it.<br><br>
I grabbed the coffee that was waiting for me on the table, and joined
three of my friends to discuss these strange goings on. The alien that I
ushered up the steps stood across from me, and she made her way between
two of my friends, as if to join in the conversation. Of course, she
didn't say anything, as she couldn't speak. My friends and I made her
welcome, so she just calmly stood there, perhaps trying to observe what
strange ritual we were partaking of.<br><br>
After about ten minutes, we heard another thump at the back door, as a
third alien made her way up the steps. She obviously realized that it was
ok to come in, now that her friends had broken the ice. She made her way
alongside me. So there we stood, in the kitchen in a circle, three of my
friends along with two aliens.<br><br>
We were warming to the novelty of having these aliens standing with us.
We got back to our plans for the day's fishing. Ron showed me his box of
trout lures. He explained that he was going to go to the lake to see if
he can catch one of the big trout that was rumoured to be lurking there.
I told him I'd rather be fishing on the river.<br><br>
Alex was tired. He was going to go back to bed and see how he felt once
he woke up again.<br><br>
I gently touched the alien next to me on her shoulder. She twitched
nervously. She really did not like it. Obviously, she was not used to it.
So I promptly removed my hand. But she wasn't shy about trying to get my
coffee out of my hand. <br><br>
The alien across from me was also keen to sample some of our earthly
concoctions, shifting her gaze between my friends and her comrade next to
the fridge. She also seemed to be drawn to the fridge. <br><br>
I was mindful of the rest of their troop waiting outside. Weren't any of
our guests in the kitchen going to report back to their comrades? Weren't
they going to invite them inside? I said to the alien next to me,
"go on, invite your friends in". She did not understand
me.<br><br>
I was keen to get some fishing in for the day. I excused myself from our
group of five and went to prepare.<br><br>
It was an event that I will never forget. Of course, our three guests
were not aliens from another planet at all. They were kangaroos from the
surrounding bush. They were in the house primarily for one reason. Food.
Obviously, they had become rather tame because of tourists that feed
them. Does this manner of socialization suggest that this particular
tribe might be experiencing what, over a sustained period of time, would
result in evolution to some higher life-form? <br><br>
Inside that kitchen, their character seemed to be that of grasping
opportunistically at food scraps. Their friends waiting outside in
anticipation wanted them to take the risk to venture into the house -
they were too afraid to enter. If their friends got into trouble inside,
they would be very unlikely to valiantly enter the house to come to their
rescue. Rather, they would flee for the bush. There is little among
kangaroos that we would identify with honour or courage. Or perhaps,
might we be pleasantly surprised?<br><br>
Nonetheless, in the course of this remarkable encounter, the observation
remains that there seemed something humanly tribal and intelligent about
them. Their behaviour did not seem too unlike the sort of behaviour we
might expect from an isolated, primitive human tribe chancing upon
contact for the first time with "civilized" humans. <br>
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