The betta from Kansas City. Given to us at my brother's wedding reception. It was one of two that was still alive, it being the furthest away, geographically. But not anymore. It got dropsy. A terrible, fatal disease that causes the scales to stick straight out, it bloats, and turns a little gray. We tried to change the water, but that was it. Some tears from Molly. She named it Sam. As I buried it, its scales folded back down and it seemed the color returned to a deep purple. It was a living thing that lived with us for a couple of years.
As people, is love for a creature dependent on the love we receive, or can receive, or perceive to receive? A dog compared to a fish. A fish is nearly alien, living apart from us in water - our very touch may be lethal. A dog is soft and needs attention. A cat can curl up with us and purr. We can love mammals. Destroy and torture them, yes, but we can LOVE mammals. They possess enough traits for us to relate to. Soft enough. Warm enough. The blood is red enough.
Maybe we as a race would be incapable of love for non-mammals. Maybe it would be best if aliens never came. I think it is difficult enough for us to have peace with mammals whom we are at least capable of love. But creatures that possess none of the mammalian qualities - I doubt peace would ever be possible. An existence of other beings, alien beings - not mammals, could be dismissed, as easily as it is for us to flush a fish.
If we cannot love something that we cannot perceive as having the potential to love us back, then peace is an impossibility. Sam sat in his bowl, water flowing over his gills as indifference passes through our minds. Dangerous, irreversible, indifference.
Sam died from a horrible disease. He was beta.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
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5 comments:
Much of substance here.
I would say that a general lack of empathy fuels much of the unpleasantness in the world and though more neutral than your notion of LOVE, we're saying the same thing.
Humans are pre-wired to be drawn to other humans, and things and creatures that have human traits. Faces with two eyes, a nose and a mouth is sometimes all it takes (pretty much all of the mammals) while things like snakes are tough by virtue of their alien nature and millenia of being blamed for original sin.
Fish often have the face quality, but the barrier between us and them is substantial. There is no touching.
Obviously, aggregating all the things that are possible with furry mammals (petting, purring etc) and even more with fellow humans (bom chicka wow wow) than the possibility for love expands dramatically.
But, we also like to demonize people that are different than ourselves, and often in the most trivial ways.
We should be able to find at least empathy for the strange and wonderful creatures of the world. They can cause us joy, or wonder, and that should be enough to earn some respect.
I'm sorry for your (and Molly's) loss.
I believe that it is completely possible to love creatures that are not mammals. Fish, even though they are trapped in their watery worlds are experiencing life with us. They see our lives in a distored view, but we know they are there and that gives us some comfort. Even if it is for a brief period, they are family.
It is also my belief that we can love places too. Is it the place that we love or the memories created in that place? I am not 100% sure, but I am leaning towards both. I can love a place from sight alone. I love creation and love being in it by myself or with others.
I am sorry for your family loss, and I hope that new loves are on their way to the Gibbons household.
Take comfort in the knowledge that many people and creatures love you and your family.
Ditto to all Mixx said. Often people will say there is a danger in anthropomorphizing creatures - especially the non-mamallian ones. But certainly, putting their qualities in some type of context we can better relate to (whether it is truly apples to apples) can make us more engaged with the world around us, and more empathetic.
Certainly, though she was pretty much just stimulus-reponse, we mourned the loss of Tootsie (http://oliopolis.blogspot.com/2006/06/sold-out-goodbye-tootsieand-seeing-of.html), who we regarded with the very human descriptor of "Gentle Giant."
Mainly I was interested in "as a society" and if it is a different genre of love, can it be love, or even called love
sons, daughters, dogs, cats
compared to a park, a tree, a snake, or a cricket
Is it really ever the same -
Back to aliens. If we are unable to love, we can destroy without thinking.
Demonizing the 'enemy' is always the first step to war.
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