So I'm watching some nature show on TV...it was either Miracle Planet or Planet Earth...I'm not sure, but anyway, one of those shows with a Richard Attenborough type narrative in which the voice seems locked in orgasm because the camera found a tadpole in a South American jungle cesspool. The show had a good bit to do with communication, which got me to thinking.
These things as well, occur on Plant Earth.
Two middle-aged men are drinking coffee on the way to a fishing tournament when the conversation hits a lag. Suddenly the cab of the pickup is filled with a acrid, sulphur-like odor. The stench is overpowering...fed by last nights foraging on Busch Lite, nachos, and half a case of Slim Jims. After the prerequisite hang time, the perpetrator turns to the victim and makes an announcement.
"Pheasant Guts", he says with a grin that conveys the required pride of ownership. The victim, in a moment of instant recognition and appreciation of the similarity, grins back, and the silence resumes during the savoring until other topics are found.
The superiority and complexity of both verbal and nonverbal Human communication has just been demonstrated. Merely two spoken words has changed the situation from an emergency reach-for-the-window-button dash, to a calm olfactory sampling (albeit tentatively). The unique Human power of language has instantly counteracted and prevented the normal animal response of pain avoidance.
It's all part of our Miracle Planet.
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