Comments on: The dolphin as our beast of burden

The dolphin as our beast of burden

homunculus — Sat, 08 May 2010 15:24:26 -0800

A Mind in the Water: The dolphin as our beast of burden. "The shocking double life of the dolphin, featuring neuropsychologists, hippies, spies, and extraterrestrials."

By: Rumple

Rumple — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:13:01 -0800

That is an excellent article. Thanks, homunculus.

By: Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:12:13 -0800

John Lilly had me all sucked into his reality back in the 70's. Of course, I wanted really badly to believe in a peaceful, intelligent, playful, better-than-human species. And I wanted to believe in the higher consciousness I could develop. When I finally got to meet a dolphin, I put my hand out to him and he nipped me. So many bad thinking and bad choices back then.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:28:50 -0800

Here's a quick follow-up to the article.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:32:32 -0800

Dominica's 'Whale Whisperer' shares a remarkable story

By: gallois

gallois — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:36:50 -0800

A fascinating article that recounts the less than transcendental origins of the idealization of dolphins.

By: belvidere

belvidere — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:40:44 -0800

...I wanted really badly to believe in a peaceful, intelligent, playful, better-than-human species. I can think of several hundred species that fit this criteria, but you don't need to go into the wild to find even one. You could begin by going to your nearest animal shelter.

By: fuse theorem

fuse theorem — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:44:39 -0800

Orion Magazine had one illuminating take on the realities humans' hopes to harness the intelligence of dolphins. The Onion has another take.

By: kozad

kozad — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:48:01 -0800

After all this, by the way, Lilly published a book called The Scientist, about the natural evolution of carbon-based civilizations into silicon-based civilizations. He discovered this through communicating with distant civilizations through the use of Ketamine. I have blatantly stolen his ideas for various creative works past and future.

By: The otter lady

The otter lady — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:59:03 -0800

Boat not!

By: Diablevert

Diablevert — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:07:31 -0800

Next you'll be telling me Madame Blavatsky was the key figure in the popularization of astrophysics.

By: danb

danb — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:34:28 -0800

That is an excellent article. Thanks, homunculus. Agreed!

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:35:35 -0800

Is this the new Pynchon novel? Doesn't matter, I won't be able to read more than sixty pages anyway.

By: ovvl

ovvl — Sat, 08 May 2010 20:04:29 -0800

Though Montagu stepped on a rusty nail a few months later and promptly died of tetanus, his final dissection outlived him... Excellent writing. Really, I love it.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sat, 08 May 2010 22:59:21 -0800

That was interesting. I'd heard about the "dolphins living with people" thing before. Pretty weird stuff.

By: Oriole Adams

Oriole Adams — Sun, 09 May 2010 01:46:56 -0800

Connect with the dophin by doing the seaweed dance!

By: hegemone

hegemone — Sun, 09 May 2010 08:44:41 -0800

...I wanted really badly to believe in a peaceful, intelligent, playful, better-than-human species. I can think of several hundred species that fit this criteria, but you don't need to go into the wild to find even one. You could begin by going to your nearest animal shelter. I tend also to think, in my own unscientific way, that the degree to which an organism is intelligent is inversely proportional to its peacefulness, playfulness, and better-than-humanness. Dogs get my vote for maximum intelligence while still embodying all the other good things.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sun, 09 May 2010 11:21:17 -0800

...floodable living quarters, and initiated a set of long-term cohabitation experiments in which a male dolphin and a human female in a leotard and lipstick (to help the dolphin see her mouth move, of course) spent weeks interacting I'm imagining an underwater set, looking like the Dick Van Dyke Show, where the dolphin swims in, and does a flip over the footstool.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:34:52 -0800

Excellent writing. Really, I love it. He's a great writer. Here's another piece of his which I posted some time ago: The Orienting Stone

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 16 May 2010 17:29:11 -0800

Study Reveals Dolphins Lack Capacity To Mock Celebrity Culture

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:05:20 -0800

Sea lions, dolphin join terror exercises in Calif.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:33 -0800

Should Dolphins and Whales Have "Human Rights"?