June 13, 2015

"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on..."

"... whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons."

— Douglas Adams ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)"), quoted by sunsong in the comments to "Polar bears are eating dolphins."

24 comments:

Gahrie said...

From what i have read, dolphins can be real assholes, and are known to sexually assault human females.

Robert J. said...

"But how? Genius in the Sperm Whale? Has the Sperm Whale ever written a book, spoken a speech? No, his great genius is declared in his doing nothing particular to prove it."

traditionalguy said...

Dolphins don't need to work hard to get a female mate.

Male dolphins have a penis bone called a baculum bone that is about two feet long.

But walruses have that feature too. Ever seen a walrus working hard at anything?

Interestingly, the polar bear has one too.

Yancey Ward said...

Well, when the polar bears are eating Miamians, I will start to worry.

Warren Fahy said...

;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojydNb3Lrrs

Warren Fahy said...

"If you don't know history, everything's new." -Thomas Sowell

Fernandinande said...

traditionalguy said...
Dolphins don't need to work hard to get a female mate.


Sometimes several males will spend days pursuing an unwilling female until they can "rape" her, then they herd her around by force to keep other males away.

Male dolphins have a penis bone called a baculum bone that is about two feet long.

Most mammals have a baculum; humans are the oddity.

all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.

Killing smaller porpoises is great fun. But plankton must be the smartest of all, perhaps except for the water itself.

Roughcoat said...

Dolphins are mysogynists.

Michael K said...

"Has the Sperm Whale ever written a book,"

Sperm whales don't come easy.

The dolphin big brain thing has always been a myth. The motor cortex in a dolphin is right in the front of the brain. There is no "pre-frontal area" which, in humans, is where thinking takes place. Dolphins have a huge motor area to run all those muscles.

Krumhorn said...

Bon appétit. Yum.

Sushi!

-Krumhorn

mikee said...

Adams can be quoted appositely in essentially any discussion, serious or ridiculous, political, economic, scientific or religious. Adams and Monty Python provide me with most of my conversational gambits, even now, so long after they originally appeared.

CWJ said...

Well played Warren Fahy. You beat me to it.

Fernandinande said...

Fernandinande said...

traditionalguy said...
Male dolphins have a penis bone called a baculum bone that is about two feet long.

Most mammals have a baculum; humans are the oddity.


Oops: whales (including dolphins), along with humans and horses, are some of the few mammal species that do not possess baculum (penile bone)

Paco Wové said...

"From what i have read, dolphins can be real assholes..."

Yeah, a classic example of a species using its good looks to get away with murder.

Anonymous said...

Motto of the OPM IT Security department: "Share and enjoy".

Warren Fahy said...

My history comment was not directed at Ann, for the record. I'll bet polar bears have eaten dolphins from time in memoriam. They evolved to swim and hunt, after all.

sunsong said...

Ann, I'm happy that you liked it :-) Sometimes people can say things so damn well. I think it's great that we keep their quotes alive.

Lucien said...

To be fair, polar bears will eat people, too.

Richard Dolan said...

If the objective is to understand animals, anthropomorphis is a bad place to start. Of course, if the objective is something else, and it usually is, what the hell.

Bill Crawford said...

I was sad when I saw a polar bear eat a seal.

Then I saw a seal eat a penguin.

Anonymous said...

From what i have read, dolphins can be real assholes, and are known to sexually assault human females.

What was she wearing? Aside from the herring tampon.

buwaya said...

Enlightened middle schools are now assigning the Hitchhikers Guide as summer reading. True.
Beats most of the usual dreck.

JCC said...

"...muck about in the water having a good time...far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons."

So...the dolphins go to college, major in art history and partying, then collect food stamps, claim to suffer from ADD and hyperactivity and so live off SS disability while refusing to pay off their college loans?

Truly an American success fable.

n.n said...

Wo/man's greatest achievement is to normalize evolutionary dysfunction with a pro-choice doctrine. I wonder if the dolphins ever managed to control their competition with an elective dysfunctional behavior. Perhaps with a redistribution of "borrowed" fish.