Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dinosaurs did not die of the swine flu

Swine flu did not kill the dinosaurs, a meteor did. And I'm so sick of hearing the words "swine flu swine flu swine flu" like the media, government and public are stuck on one track of a broken record. If I hear that word one more time I'm going to puke. Better cover your mouth, you might get swine flu by osmosis.

I saw Walking with Dinosaurs last night, and the show at Key Arena was absolutely incredible. Gigantic, lifelike dinosaurs stomped around the stage, and I was able to envision their world, how they moved, how they interacted with each other. I thought about extinction, how animals that roamed the earth for millions of years were wiped out with a single meteor 65 million years ago. How us modern humans have only been here for 40,000 years. As I was thinking all these deep thoughts about life on Earth, David said:

"Seeing those dinosaurs makes me want to leap onto the arena wearing nothing but a loincloth, and stab those giant animals with a spear."

HELLO. Computer geek. Spear. Caveman. Does not compute. Well, maybe a little.

There must be an innate desire in every human left over from the caveman days. When men see big game, their "hunter" instincts come back. When women see berries, we want to pick them, right? I know that in this day and age, everyone likes to deny gender differences, but I do think they exist. I've never had the urge to hunt anything, but I do have the urge to "gather", aka, "grocery shop." Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but I do think you can find attributes of our ancestors in modern humans. I love exploring caves, for instance.

Anyway, Walking with Dinosaurs was a treat. Where else can you see a 40-foot brachiasaurus, or a T-Rex that moves and looks like the real thing? I saw a stegasauraus lumbering across the stage, and velociraptors sprinting around their prey. I love imaging a time that's long gone, creatures that no human has ever seen. It makes me wonder, will we be like that to someone millions of years in the future?

8 comments:

sister said...

That play looks so cool! I took an evolution class and an animal behavior class, both of which talked about the behaviors of our ancestors that influence us today. Very, very interesting stuff!

Contact Travis said...

I have never had hunting instincts before...but I do enjoy shopping :)

andrea said...

I want to give it a big kiss! *muah*

Lisa said...

Love this post! And I love that the dinosaur smiled alongside you!

Colleen said...

There's evidence of tools made for "cavewomen" showing that women also hunted. Just sayin'.... Have you ever threatened a mother's child? She'll kill you - TWICE! I'm all about nature/nurture, but I hate the idea that men are only 'hunters' and women are only 'gatherers.'

THAT feminist statement said... I loved this post. I remember seeing the dinosaur bones when I live in the Midwest and they are absolutely amazing. I wish that show would come to Spokane!!

Sue said...

Thanks for the pics and the post! I was thinking of taking Sweet Pea because she loves her some dinosaurs, but thought it might be a bit frightening for a 2-year-old. Then again, it's almost as if she has the mind (and mouth) of a 4-year-old.

Paula said...

I don't know about that show - I wonder if it will come to Portland? Sounds VERY cool. Yeah certain things bring out men's core instincts (women's, too), no doubt - overall, with lots of exceptions. Re swine flu, I am not even listening to the news right now, the opening story is always the swin flu. Is it the newscasters/managers or the public that always needs to live in a state of fear and dread? People here in PORTLAND are buying face masks, etc. Joe Biden made some alarming generalizations about the danger (and his PR people tried to say what he "really meant").

Paula said...

PS - I just had this insight that the typical woman's greater "emotionality" may make it more difficult for them to hunt and fish - me, for sure, I feel too much for the animal or fish to kill it. I think men who hunt and fish are emotionally detached from the creatures - if they were emotional towards them, we'd probably all be vegetarian. (Or if they were socialized like the Native Americans, they would thank the animal for giving up it life for us.) The thought of pulling a wriggling fish off a hook completely freaks me out.