Barry asks:

> > We're going to spend a trillion dollars or more in the next little bit
>  > searching for life -- of any form -- on other worlds. If there's going
to
> be any
>  > benefit to this expenditure, it will be to our own souls, simply because
> we will
>  > illustrate to ourselves a sense of the preciousness and awe of the
> intelligence
>  > that has always surrounded us on this planet, but which we've not only
> dismissed
>  > but destroyed with abandon.
>  >
>  > Wirt Atmar
>
> <humor on>
> I can't resist. I have tried but I can't.   Would this rat happen to be
> white in color?  :-)
> <humor off>

I'm obviously a little dense today, because I'm not getting the joke, but
color shouldn't make any difference at all.

Intelligence, wherever in the galaxy we find it, is likely (almost
guaranteed) to be associated with predators (or a predatory ancestry). The question is
asked in biology about herbivores: "how much intelligence does it take to sneak
up on a blade of grass?"

Large brains and elaborate social behavior seem to come about primarily due
to the pressures of having to forage in an aggressive manner and the
requirement of accurately measuring the emotional state-of-beings of your fellows in
large social groups.

While brain size obviously has some relevance, it's surprising to discover
how much of the basic mammalian behavior pervades all mammalian species, and the
differences we want to draw between ourselves and the rest of the mammals
tend not to be much more than a dime's worth.

If there is any real difference between humans and most other mammals, it
lies in our sense of foreboding about our own deaths. No other mammal seems so
concerned about their own fates, and for that reason, no other mammal seems so
predisposed to religious tendencies.

But on the other hand, Ogden Nash said that the only thing that really
separates man from the animals is financial worries.

Wirt Atmar

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