Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Monologue
During one of my walks in the morning with Bomber last week, I saw a sight that got me rather depressed.
There’s nothing unusual about what I saw, probably what anyone would expect at 7am in the park.
There were two maids, apparently friends, chatting with each other happily — both with their respective masters.
One was wheeling a baby in a pram,
and the other was wheeling an old granny in a wheel chair.
While the two maids chatted and laughed happily, baby stared at granny, and granny stared at baby.
.. same same but different much..?
It started to get hot, so both maids decided to go home, and wheeled their masters, side by side.
It almost feels like a cruel joke. Being old and helpless.. is really sad.
Makes me recall what my mentor told the class….
“Watching Discovery Channel, I found it absolutely amazing — the process of giving birth to a baby giraffe.
Mother giraffe just dropped baby giraffe down from that height.
And amazingly, baby giraffe, the moment it landed on the ground, it got up, and was able to walk with Mother giraffe to a nearby river to get itself some water.
Animals are amazing. The moment they’re born, they’re independent. They do not need so much attention and care, unlike human babies who are very dependent. Doesn’t that make human babies seem so useless..?
.
But human babies are smart.“
and that’s what he said. I’ve still yet to figure out the last sentence, though.
I find it extremely sad that humans, when we are born, we have to rely so much on others. And when we die, we have to rely so much on others. Why can’t we be like the other animals, who were independent right from the start to the point of death?
I guess that’s where filial piety and gratitude came from, which sadly, many in the society are losing, taking care only because its obligatory.
Even animals are filial and grateful to their owners who take care of them.
April 13th, 2008 at 2:09 am
macroidtoe said:
There are actually a lot of animal species where the babies are fairly helpless for a while. Pandas, dogs, cats, mostly mammals. Granted, they tend to develop faster than humans, but they also have shorter lifespans overall. It’s mainly creepy stuff like bugs and lizards that hatch right out of the egg and are ready to take on the world.
Some theorists even think humans are so smart BECAUSE we’re so helpless for so long, that our brains stay in the infantile “learning stage” for a much longer time compared to other primates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny
But perhaps more important, while it’s true that we’re helpless for longer, we’re also just about the only species which takes care of its aged members once they can no longer live independently. Pretty much any other species would just abandon them. So while it is kind of sad to see people fall back into helplessness, at least there’s the positive side that we react to helplessness with some amount of compassion.
Ah well, just the thoughts of a random visitor who happened to stumble upon the page
April 13th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Kaori_Lolita said:
thanks so much for the comment..!
It makes a lot of sense to me, and thanks for the neoteny link. :3
& yeah, i guess that’s what thats most important. just really sadly, in the country im residing in now, too many children abandon their parents due to lack of finances/time, which i find it really depressing.
Many of my patients during my hospital attachments have been stuck there for weeks~months despite no longer needing hospital stay(but needs lots of help with daily activities e.g. bathing, eating, elimination of bowels due to immobility caused by stroke etc), but their children denies responsiblity, and there’s no one to sign the discharge or transferring the old folk’s to an elderly home
Kind of makes humans like them even worse than the creepy stuff like bugs or lizards. :/
April 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
abi said:
Yup, I’ve always thought the same. It’s amazing how many baby animals can be so independent, while human babies are so helpless… I guess we’re made really differently.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
xJAYMANx said:
I suppose it also depends on how developed the baby is at the point of birth too. If an animal is already 90-95% developed at birth, then *independence* is obviously quicker. Whereas a human baby might be (I’m guessing) only 50% developed before it can crawl or walk around. So if gestation was extended from 9 months to: 16 months (9 + crawl in 7), or 23 months (9 + unaided walking in 14), human babies could be more *independent*.
But if science made it possible, what woman would want to be pregnant for 2 years? ^_^;;
May 5th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Kaori_Lolita said:
abi: yeah *w*
xJAYMANx: very true. i think the 9 months itself is already a torture x.x