The following is based on a post on Compuserve Science & Maths Forum in about 1995 by the late Marijke Van Ganz. I paraphrase from memory and have certainly not done justice to Marijke whose succinct and poetic use of language enthralled those privileged to read her contributions to on-line debates.
Getting Milk.
Who says humans are the most intelligent species?
Down in the valley the Homo sapiens are busy capturing wild cattle, rounding them up into herds, taming them, erecting stout fences, building the milking parlours, making buckets and earthenware pots to collect and keep the milk....
Meanwhile, Felis catus rouses herself under the tree on the hill where she had been dozing in the warm sunshine, stretches, yawns, surveys her estate then wanders over to see how the work is progressing, says "Meow!" and gets milk.
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Natural selection ensures the most utilitarian method works. Maybe we humans are fortunate our genes didn't form the same alliance with those of another species the way domestic cat genes did with ours.
Or are we? Have we been tamed by cats?
Getting Milk.
Who says humans are the most intelligent species?
Meanwhile, Felis catus rouses herself under the tree on the hill where she had been dozing in the warm sunshine, stretches, yawns, surveys her estate then wanders over to see how the work is progressing, says "Meow!" and gets milk.
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Natural selection ensures the most utilitarian method works. Maybe we humans are fortunate our genes didn't form the same alliance with those of another species the way domestic cat genes did with ours.
Or are we? Have we been tamed by cats?
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