The dolphin as our beast of burden
May 8, 2010 3:24 PM Subscribe
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."
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.
posted by Hobgoblin at 5:12 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by Hobgoblin at 5:12 PM on May 8, 2010
Dominica's 'Whale Whisperer' shares a remarkable story
posted by homunculus at 5:32 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by homunculus at 5:32 PM on May 8, 2010
A fascinating article that recounts the less than transcendental origins of the idealization of dolphins.
posted by gallois at 5:36 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by gallois at 5:36 PM on May 8, 2010
...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.
posted by belvidere at 5:40 PM on May 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by belvidere at 5:40 PM on May 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Orion Magazine had one illuminating take on the realities humans' hopes to harness the intelligence of dolphins. The Onion has another take.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:44 PM on May 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fuse theorem at 5:44 PM on May 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by kozad at 5:48 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by kozad at 5:48 PM on May 8, 2010
Boat not!
posted by The otter lady at 6:59 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by The otter lady at 6:59 PM on May 8, 2010
Next you'll be telling me Madame Blavatsky was the key figure in the popularization of astrophysics.
posted by Diablevert at 7:07 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by Diablevert at 7:07 PM on May 8, 2010
Is this the new Pynchon novel?
Doesn't matter, I won't be able to read more than sixty pages anyway.
posted by not_on_display at 7:35 PM on May 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Doesn't matter, I won't be able to read more than sixty pages anyway.
posted by not_on_display at 7:35 PM on May 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by ovvl at 8:04 PM on May 8, 2010
Excellent writing. Really, I love it.
posted by ovvl at 8:04 PM on May 8, 2010
That was interesting. I'd heard about the "dolphins living with people" thing before. Pretty weird stuff.
posted by delmoi at 10:59 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by delmoi at 10:59 PM on May 8, 2010
...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.
posted by hegemone at 8:44 AM on May 9, 2010
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.
posted by hegemone at 8:44 AM on May 9, 2010
...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.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:21 AM on May 9, 2010
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.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:21 AM on May 9, 2010
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
posted by homunculus at 4:34 PM on May 9, 2010
He's a great writer. Here's another piece of his which I posted some time ago: The Orienting Stone
posted by homunculus at 4:34 PM on May 9, 2010
Study Reveals Dolphins Lack Capacity To Mock Celebrity Culture
posted by homunculus at 5:29 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by homunculus at 5:29 PM on May 16, 2010
« Older Everybody Edits | Space Paranoids is alive and real. Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Rumple at 4:13 PM on May 8, 2010