458
If the number of folds, neurons, compartments, divisions, sub-divisions of the
brain should matter, then why—and this not merely rhetorical—has human existence fallen far behind that of chicken civilization—its artistic, scientific, and ethical expressions notwithstanding. Why, then, do we fail to find solace in the outer
manifestation of such compartments—in tribes, Republics, “peoples,” and countless
boundaries? All have proved to be obstacles to peace, hurdles to solace, outright
territorial aggression that has more than defined us.
Clearly our size shrinks beside whales, sequoias, and polar bears. And the number of our combined neurons is nowhere close to the civilization of ant or termite
neurons across the planet. Such numbers, which can be manipulated endlessly, do
not translate into the level of intelligence and moral understanding that would honor
and respect non-violence. This, above all else, is an ecological paradox without any
conceivable resolution, or not in our time, given current evidence (Fig. 48.6).
Fig. 48.6 Home At Last,
Gut Aiderbichl Sanctuary,
Salzburg, Austria. (Photo
© J.G.Morrison)
48 The Mind of a Chicken
If the number of folds, neurons, compartments, divisions, sub-divisions of the
brain should matter, then why—and this not merely rhetorical—has human existence fallen far behind that of chicken civilization—its artistic, scientific, and ethical expressions notwithstanding. Why, then, do we fail to find solace in the outer
manifestation of such compartments—in tribes, Republics, “peoples,” and countless
boundaries? All have proved to be obstacles to peace, hurdles to solace, outright
territorial aggression that has more than defined us.
Clearly our size shrinks beside whales, sequoias, and polar bears. And the number of our combined neurons is nowhere close to the civilization of ant or termite
neurons across the planet. Such numbers, which can be manipulated endlessly, do
not translate into the level of intelligence and moral understanding that would honor
and respect non-violence. This, above all else, is an ecological paradox without any
conceivable resolution, or not in our time, given current evidence (Fig. 48.6).
Fig. 48.6 Home At Last,
Gut Aiderbichl Sanctuary,
Salzburg, Austria. (Photo
© J.G.Morrison)
48 The Mind of a Chicken