Salmon Living...

I took it easy today. Didn't do much work - except for grading the exams of a few unfortunate youngsters. I spent other time playing Day of the Tentacle (re-visiting it) and Full Throttle - both classic LucasArts point and click adventure games.

While cooking dinner I switched on the TV and a documentary caught my eye. Nature docy...

It was on the "journey" of salmon... and partly on grizzlies.

So, we all know - the Salmon goes against the current, unlike that lazy fuckin' Tuna... Interesting how I used to always use the Tuna vs. Salmon example to tell a friend to go 'with the current' -- you know, in the whole spirit of Taoism and all that jazz. But the Salmon seemed no less of a Taoist than the Tuna when I watched the docy.

So, there are two broad categories of Salmon I believe, the Pacific Salmon and the Atlantic Salmon. Then you got further subcategories?

The docy was mainly on the Pacific Salmon -- which has a slightly different lifestyle than the Atlanticians. Basically, as most of us know, the Salmon goes against the current in order to finally have sex and have kids. What I didn't know is that the Pacific Salmon dies after they've finally laid their eggs... They die before the eggs hatch actually. The Pac Salmon will travel up to 2500 miles from their home stream just for that act of reproduction. Of course, the kids will then be born towards the top, swim down and then do what their parents did.

See, now as a human that whole thing seems quite pointless to me. If it were me I'd look at a nice location (towards the end of the river or higher up doesn't matter) -- make a house and just chill... For the sex I'd get married, that's good security - she has no choice now. Why must I travel for sex? And not like the travel is a walk in the park, travel against the current, be a freaking African American athlete jumping approximately 10 times my height, at risk of being eaten by a Grizzly throughout the journey... All of that for sex?

"Do you take this woman in sickness and health?"

"I do....... Because there's no fuckin' way I'm doing THAT!"

So the Pacific Salmon goes through this journey. This journey that seems, to us humans, quite a painful and pointless one (for the Salmon at least). And when it gets to the area it wants (by when it has completely changed colour due to all the hormones) the female moves a few rocks and lays her eggs as the male comes next to her and releases his sperm in the water... So there is no actual "sex" as we know it. It's more like IVF really.

And after this act of "mating" the parents go further upstream and die!? They die before the eggs hatch (The Atlantic Salmon live on, it's the Pacific ones that die). Their bodies then in shreds and pieces become a source of nutrients for their kids when they are born...

Mothers feeding children they will never see or know or even ever get to "hold close" for a second...

And in the process of this death... and what a beautiful death... A death that feeds over 130 species of animals, insects, and trees. A death that supports the life of millions. And not in the military "die for your nation and your people" sense of the word... None of that bullshit.

Just death.

So I sat back as I watched this documentary and wondered... Why did I EVER question life? Why did I ever seek 'purpose' or something other than what is? Why did I ever even think about "God" or the soul or whatever? And what did all the questioning ever get me?

As we all evolved from animals we seem to have gathered something else. We have evolved in what we call "intelligence". We understand that we don't need to travel miles and miles through an exhaustive journey just to have sex once and die... We understand life isn't about doing what our parents did ages ago and what some of our peers do... We understand that we are 'unique' -- we're special! Top of the food-chain.

But really, what "progress" has happened in our lives? Our ancestors have died over so many years playing the same game again and again. Get good grades, make enough money, go to the gym - get those sexy abs, wax your chest, do your eyebrows, curls are in fashion, get your skinny heals, get a 3000GT...! Isn't all this a struggle? Isn't this our 'against the current'?

And at the end aren't we all generally having sex and then eventually dying in a fairly pointless fashion with nothing "really" achieved?

I'll tell you what the difference is between the Pacific Salmon and the average Human...

The Salmon's objective of "sex" seems to be only about reproduction (and death) - while Humans have only starved for pleasure... Be that pleasure of sex, pleasure of companionship, pleasure of good food, pleasure of a great view... or pleasure of seeing our kids grow and then seeing their kids grow... Pleasure vs reproduction.

Pleasure with a "purpose" vs reproduction that just seems to be an act of instinct... No questions asked. No "thought" about "why this?"

I feel we have evolved, though - and evolved for the better... But... Could it be like a "what goes up, must come down?" Could it be that we have reached the top of the mountain and now, having gathered the grand view and all the knowledge, we must prepare to also go down? We must "devolve"? The drop of water that evaporated from the ocean bed and became part of a magnificent cloud must now collapse and return to the ocean once again?

Not that we live like apes necessarily, but we just live in synchronization with everything and everyone around us... We put all that imposing knowledge in the bin and just live for a change! Stop thinking about "how to live" or by "what principle to live" and just live!

We stop questioning and stop living in thoughts and constant examination of molecules and psychology and philosophy -- but just live! After all, what has the answer of any question given us over these millions of years? Another question?

(Was that another question?)

Damn this chain of stupidity -- when will it ever end!?

(*dammit!)