Mermaids, Fairies, Elves, and Humans

First of all, a disclaimer. Here I am, an *adult*, and you'd be hard pressed to convince me there aren't mermaids and fairies out there, cleverly hiding themselves from humans. I think to assume they don't exist simply because we can't see them is, in it's own way, arrogant. Perhaps we're not the all-knowing species we think we are. In fact we surely aren't. The same goes for Sasquatch, elves, aliens, and all the forms of God's creatures we haven't yet "dreamed up".

What puzzles me though, is why are we, why am I, so fascinated by these "mythical" beings. In nearly every culture (that I know of), there are tales of these creatures, there are websites and organizations dedicated to keeping files of alleged sightings. Qualified researchers risk public ridicule to research them. Everyone's fascinated, whether in a child-like or academic sense. But why?

The first answer I could think of is: because they are unlike us. Humans are by nature fearful of and fascinated by the unknown. It's natural that we're intrigued by these beings that seemingly differ from us so greatly. But I stand corrected. I'd assert that we're really fascinated by these creatures because they're like us. What's more fascinating to a human than a fish? A fish with a human brain and upper body. What's more fascinating to a human than a butterfly? A tiny human with wings. What's more fascinating to a human than the thousands of unique and beautiful forest creatures? Wild humans with more hair and more muscle. We're simply obsessed with ourselves.

Why is a fairy magical and a fly a nuisance? Both can do things we aren't, and never will be, able to do. Both live and think in ways we'll never know about, ways we can't even fathom. In fact, the fly's way of life is far more foreign and unfathomable to us than the fairy's. Why is a mermaid mystical but a goldfish simple? We know more about how a mermaid would think than we'll ever know about how a goldfish does, because we share a brain with a mermaid. Then shouldn't the goldfish be the greater mystery?

Being like us is what gives mermaids, fairies, elves, and Sasquatch their magic, in our human eyes. And in the minds of most normal adults, these creatures probably don't exist, yet we still know far, far more about their minds than we ever will of the creatures we deem so commonplace.  If I were to tell you I think flies are sentient, and I do, you would probably think I'm being a little (or a lot) ridiculous. That's how in our heads we are, but we will never know what a fly is thinking. No matter how advanced and marvelous and wonderful our technology and scientific knowledge are, and they are all those things, they will always be from the perspective of a human. Every thought every brilliant, genius human has ever thought, has always been a human thought. And every thought every brilliant, genius human will ever think, will always be a human thought.

We marvel at an animal's intelligence when he/she does something human-like. But animals (that aren't human) could, and surely do, hold non-human intelligence as well, intelligence we will never be able to identify, imagine, or even fathom, because every human, in this life at least, has only ever been human. Perhaps a lizard looks at a human and marvels at her intelligence when she does something lizard-like, or perhaps the lizard is thinking a thought I could never comprehend in my most creative, human dreams. I'll never know.

Even when we attempt to measure the intelligence of a given species, we are basing their intelligence on what we, humans, deem to be indicators of intelligence. It'd be like measuring someone's mathematical intelligence on their performance in a history class, if we'd never heard of or thought of math. We cannot even imagine what a measurement of intelligence is by that animal's standards. By a lizard's standards, humans could be notably stupid. We cannot possibly be unbiased, we know no other way of thinking than the human ways.

Just as I cannot fathom Heaven so long as I'm living, I cannot fathom having another, non-human brain so long as I'm human. Here's to great mystery and great humility, which can't be separated, and to one warm thought blanket.