(no subject)
I was impressed by the last few pages of David Suzuki's autobiography (apologies for any copying errors):
My daughters love the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Fortunately, their dad never tires of it either. Our favourite displays, of course, are the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The other day as we approached the awesome display of Megaceros giganteus, the long-extinct Irish elk with its spectacular antlers, Severn marvelled at their size and asked what happened to them. Taking a bit of paleontological liberty, I told her the following story.
Thousands of years ago, one gargantuan bull elk ruled all of the others of his species throughout Europe. He was the most magnificent elk ever known, with an immense set of antlers, a powerful bellowing voice and a majestic muscular body. And as he strode across the vast plains, the ground shook and all the other elks trembled with fear and envy. With all his strength and antlers, he was invincible, overwhelming any who dared challenge his power. Those who shared his territory accepted his authority. Each day, he surveyed a different part of the vast expanse of his range.
One day, he ventured further than he had ever gone, beyond his own terrain. But he was confident in his might; after all, his antlers were the greatest weapons ever developed. Presently, he spotted another elk in the distance. "Who could be so impudent to encroach on my turf?" he wondered and hurried toward the figure. He recognised him as a stranger by the colour of his fur. The foreigner was every bit as big and carried a set of antlers as impressive as his own. Trembling with fear and rage, he ran at the stranger and bellowed with all his might, "This is my territory! I rule it! Submit, back away, or be destroyed!" He was shocked to hear a reply that rang through the air, "No, this is my land and you are trespassing! I am the commander here!" Pawing the ground and shaking their antlers, the two giants stood facing each other, threatening and yelling all day while the smaller elks caught between them cringed in fear of being crushed by these superb animals. When night fell, the two bulls retreated to their respective camps and called for their scientists and engineers.
"I have met a mighty force," each told his respective minions, "and I need reinforcements, an advantage to overcome my enemy's strength. Do everything you can or else he will overwhelm me and subjugate you in slavery." And so a great effort was made. One had many, long sharp spines added to his antlers to stab his opponent, while the other had a large, heavy club placed up front to deliver a knockout blow. The next day the two stags hurried back to the border only to discover the ingenious changes added to each other's antlers overnight. Once again, they stood shaking and roaring but fearing each other's possible advantage. When night fell, they rushed back for additional reinforcements and defences against the enemy's clever inventions. Antlers were armoured with flat surfaces to blunt the other's blows and embellishments were added at the edges to probe other weaknesses in the defensive shield.
And so it continued day after day. Each night, the bulls required more help and demanded that those under their control contribute more resources, muscle power and imagination, for victory by the other male brought terrifying possibilities. But each new addition to those giant antlers had other repercussions. The weight of the racks grew so great that the bulls' necks had to be shored up with muscle and bone. But now they couldn't turn their heads as quickly and so they needed another elk to provide an early warning of danger and possibly even absorb the first blow. Legs had to be increased in diameter to support the massive weight and to generate the driving power to wield the antlers. Their bodies were increased in girth to provide more lung power and stomach volume to fuel the muscles. More and more material, effort and creativity went into supporting these magnificent antlers.
Inevitably, rumbles of discontent spread from the lower ranks of elk. "Those antlers are draining resources from everything else," they grumbled. "Wouldn't it be better to sit down and discuss a way to co-exist, perhaps share some space, and maybe even co-operate?" some suggested. But the two males bellowed at such treachery. "How dare you consider co-existence witrh a tyrant? The best protection is a superior offensive capacity and an invincible defence. We have to develop cleverer ways to gain an advantage." And when some asked, "Is it worth the expense?", both of the great elks replied "Of course it is! There will be enormous spin-offs. You'll have more shade from my antlers on hot days and birds will find greater space to perch on." And so it went. Each new development led inevitably to more complex and contrived inventions. Those antlers were an obsession to the two bulls and came to dominate every other elk's life.
"And then what happened, daddy?" asked Sarika, my three-year-old.
"Well, dear," I replied, "eventually the smaller elks realised that the two opponents had put all of their faith in massive antlers that looked impressive but were completely unreliable and impractical. So they simply left the two giants alone to roar and threaten each other. Eventually the sheer weight and cost of those antlers broke their backs and both of them died. The other elks were grateful that they hadn't developed such useless structures - their antlers were quite big enough. So they lived together in herds and turned their attention to the important business of living."
"Oh," said Severn, "and that's why Canada shouldn't get involved in Star Wars?"
"Yes, sweetheart," I said. Even a six-year-old can see the obvious.
My daughters love the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Fortunately, their dad never tires of it either. Our favourite displays, of course, are the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The other day as we approached the awesome display of Megaceros giganteus, the long-extinct Irish elk with its spectacular antlers, Severn marvelled at their size and asked what happened to them. Taking a bit of paleontological liberty, I told her the following story.
Thousands of years ago, one gargantuan bull elk ruled all of the others of his species throughout Europe. He was the most magnificent elk ever known, with an immense set of antlers, a powerful bellowing voice and a majestic muscular body. And as he strode across the vast plains, the ground shook and all the other elks trembled with fear and envy. With all his strength and antlers, he was invincible, overwhelming any who dared challenge his power. Those who shared his territory accepted his authority. Each day, he surveyed a different part of the vast expanse of his range.
One day, he ventured further than he had ever gone, beyond his own terrain. But he was confident in his might; after all, his antlers were the greatest weapons ever developed. Presently, he spotted another elk in the distance. "Who could be so impudent to encroach on my turf?" he wondered and hurried toward the figure. He recognised him as a stranger by the colour of his fur. The foreigner was every bit as big and carried a set of antlers as impressive as his own. Trembling with fear and rage, he ran at the stranger and bellowed with all his might, "This is my territory! I rule it! Submit, back away, or be destroyed!" He was shocked to hear a reply that rang through the air, "No, this is my land and you are trespassing! I am the commander here!" Pawing the ground and shaking their antlers, the two giants stood facing each other, threatening and yelling all day while the smaller elks caught between them cringed in fear of being crushed by these superb animals. When night fell, the two bulls retreated to their respective camps and called for their scientists and engineers.
"I have met a mighty force," each told his respective minions, "and I need reinforcements, an advantage to overcome my enemy's strength. Do everything you can or else he will overwhelm me and subjugate you in slavery." And so a great effort was made. One had many, long sharp spines added to his antlers to stab his opponent, while the other had a large, heavy club placed up front to deliver a knockout blow. The next day the two stags hurried back to the border only to discover the ingenious changes added to each other's antlers overnight. Once again, they stood shaking and roaring but fearing each other's possible advantage. When night fell, they rushed back for additional reinforcements and defences against the enemy's clever inventions. Antlers were armoured with flat surfaces to blunt the other's blows and embellishments were added at the edges to probe other weaknesses in the defensive shield.
And so it continued day after day. Each night, the bulls required more help and demanded that those under their control contribute more resources, muscle power and imagination, for victory by the other male brought terrifying possibilities. But each new addition to those giant antlers had other repercussions. The weight of the racks grew so great that the bulls' necks had to be shored up with muscle and bone. But now they couldn't turn their heads as quickly and so they needed another elk to provide an early warning of danger and possibly even absorb the first blow. Legs had to be increased in diameter to support the massive weight and to generate the driving power to wield the antlers. Their bodies were increased in girth to provide more lung power and stomach volume to fuel the muscles. More and more material, effort and creativity went into supporting these magnificent antlers.
Inevitably, rumbles of discontent spread from the lower ranks of elk. "Those antlers are draining resources from everything else," they grumbled. "Wouldn't it be better to sit down and discuss a way to co-exist, perhaps share some space, and maybe even co-operate?" some suggested. But the two males bellowed at such treachery. "How dare you consider co-existence witrh a tyrant? The best protection is a superior offensive capacity and an invincible defence. We have to develop cleverer ways to gain an advantage." And when some asked, "Is it worth the expense?", both of the great elks replied "Of course it is! There will be enormous spin-offs. You'll have more shade from my antlers on hot days and birds will find greater space to perch on." And so it went. Each new development led inevitably to more complex and contrived inventions. Those antlers were an obsession to the two bulls and came to dominate every other elk's life.
"And then what happened, daddy?" asked Sarika, my three-year-old.
"Well, dear," I replied, "eventually the smaller elks realised that the two opponents had put all of their faith in massive antlers that looked impressive but were completely unreliable and impractical. So they simply left the two giants alone to roar and threaten each other. Eventually the sheer weight and cost of those antlers broke their backs and both of them died. The other elks were grateful that they hadn't developed such useless structures - their antlers were quite big enough. So they lived together in herds and turned their attention to the important business of living."
"Oh," said Severn, "and that's why Canada shouldn't get involved in Star Wars?"
"Yes, sweetheart," I said. Even a six-year-old can see the obvious.