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Invisible prisons

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Your Text: Insert Slimies » Insert UBB Code » Close Last Tag \| All Tags UBB Help	I'm not sure ants have the visual acuity to even 'see' a mirror, but I know dogs easily pass the mirror test (far more often than cats, it seems), and elephants easily pass it. I think the mirror test is a little restrictive, though, as even my fish show distinctly intelligent/curious behaviour from time to time, and have a range of observable personality traits that suggest a level of awareness - one of them has figured out that jumping and striking a specific point on the lid draws attention, and if she's lucky, food. How intelligent do they have to be in order to recognise themselves as disparate individuals? I should think any one of my fish (even the really stupid ones) knows its own reflection, even if they can't blog about it. I don't think ants go out of their way to cause phobias (or creep people out) any more than people do. Phobias are irrational fears, and can be a fear of even the most harmless things. People are prone to fear a spider that's small, harmless and hairy more than a big, cuddly-looking dog that could quite easily rip their throat out and make a meal of their thigh muscles. Ants aren't creepy in any sense other than that they perceivably 'creep' on six legs (actually, I'd call it a complex sort of sprint, considering the ground they can cover) - the quality of 'being creepy' is an appellation applied by the observer, and wholly a matter of opinion. As spiders go though (subject of far more widespread phobia than any insect, I'd warrant) I would rather share my bedroom with a couple of harmless British house spiders than see what fills the shadowy little corners when they're not around - in this respect, I think them far more useful than creepy. In this country it is wise to avoid killing spiders, as people who get bitten by outdoor/foreign spiders in the home, or are bothered by insect pests, have usually killed the very spiders that would have kept their numbers down. A species of garden spider from the UK finds indoor environments in the US particularly cosy, especially as common predatory house spiders (that are harmless to humans) haven't crossed the pond with them. They are responsible for quite a few hospitalisation cases every year over there, even though gardeners on this side of the pond rarely encounter them. Even if Gordon Brown were as useful as a house spider, I would find him no less creepy (every time that insincere, double-speaking, thieving, corrupt and insidious little creep tries to crack a smile, it makes me ill). He only has two legs, and waddles convincingly, but I think him creepier than Creepity McCreep of Creepville, Country Creep, receiving a medal at the Creepville Competitive Creeping event after using a Dr. Brundle teleportation device to ensure he made it to the event on time... As for the question of indoctrination - I don't think one would be lying if one were to express one's beliefs... but I don't know of any religious organisation that hasn't (or still doesn't) arbitrarily blanket or embellish the truth in order to further its own cause or protect it from scandal. That there are those foolish enough to blindly follow and repeat ensures that lies are perpetuated as truth by those who are unaware of the lie. "The Catholic church isn't infected with institutionalised paedophilia" for instance. As for the beliefs themselves, who can say how much is lie, truth, misunderstood, misrepresented, or just plain old fantasy? I find it remarkable that thousands of years ago, several different cultures had stories of flying, flaming metal war chariots, weapons of such incredible destruction that the earth was scorched for miles, skies would blacken, and the land would remain lifeless and toxic for many years, or tales of invisible stars that orbited eachother... all before modern science and technology, nukes, telescopes, etc. I wonder of a time when men marvelled at things they had not adequate language or understanding to convey, and what secrets are held in our ancient past... ...but then, it could all just be incredible hogwash. It was written by humans after all... ;) [small](Edited by [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/user/4663]White Hawk[/url] on 06-04-2009 16:44)[/small] Loading...
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