As humans, one of our defining characteristics is the ability to perceive ourselves in the act of perception. Although this ability is shared, they say, with certain other intelligent lifeforms—the dolphin comes to mind—it's an important distinction when the time comes to make decisions concerning who's important and who isn't. For example, a naked mole rat would be less important than a human, because naked mole rats don't like perceiving themselves in the first place, so there's no way they'd want to repeat the experience even if they could.
But even with clothes on, our perceptions aren't necessarily the same as our neighbor's perceptions. What's the point in perceiving our own perceptions if they're all buggered up from the start?
Maybe naked mole rats are smarter than I thought.
I love this line in particular: "What's the point in perceiving our own perceptions if they're all buggered up from the start?" Also your bit about how "naked mole rats don't like perceiving themselves in the first place, so there's no way they'd want to repeat the experience even if they could."
ReplyDeleteThanks Craig.
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