HOMO SAPIEN –A REMARKABLE SPECIES
Ok, this has been re-run before, but not since 2014
Sharks can smell a drop of blood from a mile away. Dogs can hear sounds that humans cannot. Many animals can see at night as if it were day. Bats can’t see at all yet they can navigate and catch insects with their built in radar.
Naturalists constantly point out these remarkable animal feats as if humans were inferior to these creatures. True, we cannot compete with the rest of the animal world in terms of strength, speed, sense of taste, smell, sight and hearing, but some homo sapiens do have talents which other creatures could never master.
Is there any other creature on God’s green earth that could tie an apron behind their back while speaking on a cell phone tucked under their chin? The Weaver bird is able to construct a complicated nest out of twigs and reeds. Could a Weaver bird take two sticks and a ball of yarn and make a sweater while watching “Toddlers in Tiaras?”
Last Saturday on a bus I witnessed a skill which I have seen before, but for the first time realized how remarkable this ability, common to many female Homo sapiens really was. As I watched, I could hear the voice of Oprah narrating from “Life” in my head.
“The fourteen year old female of the species is troubled by her hair which has grown beyond shoulder length. It gets in her eyes and face and irritates her. Without stopping her constant and incessant communication with a companion, she performs the most remarkable feat. Taking her hands and without looking, she reaches behind her back and she separates her locks into three segments. Incredibly, as our camera captures the action, she begins to weave the segments in and out into a locking pattern resulting in one long thick rope-like structure of hair which no longer bothers her eyes or face. The female does all this in a matter of seconds. This blind weaving skill is remarkable enough but to keep the weave from unfurling she takes a small elastic band and folds it back and around the end of the weave at a speed which only our time action camera can capture. Other Homo sapiens ignore this young female’s action as apparently it is a skill not uncommon to the species.”
Is there another creature on this planet that can change the style of their plumes without looking while simultaneously communicating with another of the same species?
OK, maybe a peacock, or a turkey, or a chameleon, or….still it is a remarkable skill.
Because I see people from the inside out, I do agree that we are pretty dang special. Our bodies can repair, heal, and continue to function even when we don't take very good care of it. I will say that I'm in awe of anyone that can braid hair. Even when I had long locks I wasn't too clever with my braiding skills. Thank goodness God gave me 4 boys to raise and saved me from chore!
ReplyDeleteIt is a remarkable skill and one that I never mastered, having wavy/curly hair I always ended with a tangled mess. Far easier for me to divide the hair in two then pull it forward and plait native American style.
ReplyDeleteThere are many other things we can do that animals can't; imagine how awesome we'd be if we had their skills too.
I think women are born with the ability to plait with their eyes shut. Yes, devilish clever!
ReplyDeleteGood observation. We are unique. I cannot braid my own hair, though. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteNow i'm going to think about this every morning when i braid my hair, which is the only way to keep it out of the way when cleaning houses.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's the fully opposable thumbs.
Humans are the masters of multi tasking.
ReplyDeleteI must be a failure as a homo sapien. On the rare occasions when the Ms left me alone overnight with our 3 young daughters, I had trouble even pulling their hair into a ponytail and centering it in the back of their skulls. That was definitely either a species or gender shortcoming, not sure which.
ReplyDeleteYet we can also watch them be incredibly stupid. More often than them being brilliant. Perhaps I just live in a depressed area? Bwahahahahahahahahaha.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day, Joe. ☺
It's that lovely brain we have that gives us a boost up. Still to fly and eat at the same time would be kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad I don't have to sleep 20 feet above the ground with my talons gripping a tree branch. Or give myself a bath with my tongue. I can braid, but not my own hair. Apron? What's that?
ReplyDeleteWhoa!
ReplyDeleteLet's not get ahead of ourselves - I'm still mastering the art of not falling over my own feet!
Yet others (like me) have trouble walking on smooth, even surfaces...
ReplyDelete