ZetaTalk: Being Human

listeners. Humans have kept pets for as long as they have been able to sustain an imaginative thought, as pet owners

are certainly imaginative in what they ascribe to their pets. It has been said that pet owners take on the appearance of

their pets as time passes. In fact, the opposite is the case - the pet owner chooses the pet as its persona matches the would be pet owner. Humans identify with their pets, so as to have a companion that they presume will relate to them.

Ah, there's another me, they say, someone who will understand. Along those lines:

Dog owners desire more assertive activity in their life, want to be able to assert themselves in human society

more than they do, and vicariously enjoy it when their pets snatch food off the table, pee where and upon

whatever they wish, and openly defy orders from strangers with a dumb look on their face. Owners of aggressive

attack dogs are making the statement - don't mess with me. Owners of pampered poodles or tiny Chihuahuas are

making the statement - I wish to be taken care of and can't be expected to go out into the rough and tumble

world.

Cat owners are essentially aloof and tightly control their lives. They may be outgoing in appearance, but close

examination reveals that they do so as a well orchestrated act. In fact, they distrust life and what it presents, and

don't want other humans to presume that they can simply march into the cat owner's life. Owners of single cats

are less secure in human society than owners of cat herds, as although they maintain tight control over their

private world, they want some other warm blooded creature to be forced to share this with them, the cat owner

being the only social interaction available to the cat. Owners of cat herds have ambitions to manage other

humans, but are practicing with their cats.

Keeping a horse for recreation indicates a desire to be in charge, and in a big way. Women frequently

outnumber men in this outlet, and for good reason. In most of human society, women are not allowed to

manage, to startup and run companies, or to direct, regardless of their qualifications. At least on horseback they

can soar over obstacles and fly across great distances, all the while acting as a director of these

accomplishments. They are in charge, of something big and powerful, and the world is their audience.

Owners of passive pets or those pets that don't interact with humans, such as fish or lizards or snakes or insects,

are escaping into a world where there is relative peace and quiet, vicariously, through their pets. At the end of a

hectic day, fighting with traffic and unreasonable customers and a demanding boss, they can come home and put

themselves, at least mentally, into the placid world of the fish tank, or bask in the sunlamp with the pet lizard, or

sleep endlessly in one place without a care in the world with their pet snake. They are making the statement that

they wish that were their world.

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ZetaTalk: Chess Matches

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ZetaTalk: Chess Matches

Note: written on Apr 15, 1997

Most games simulate human life in some manner, and thus the interests. Hunting games, where man pits his skill and

cunning against prey is but one step away from a real game where he had to catch the prey in order to live. Thus

games of toss or tag where dodging and zig-zagging on the run are involved are but an extension of this very real

game, and most players recognize that the skills they are learning are doing more than keeping their body fit. In a

pinch, catching prey would be easier for athletic games played in the past. Out maneuvering prey may require physical

fitness, but man has long relied on his ability to plan to carry him farther during times of duress. Careful planning saw primitive man escaping the flood, with stores of nuts and grain, and wrapped in warm fur against the winter cold. Thus

games honing skill in long range planning are highly valued in an increasingly complex world. Thus the popularity of

chess.

Chess matches more than any other sport fit one man’s mind against another. All other sports, including fencing,

engage in team sports to some degree, and most sports are entirely about teamwork. That great chess masters capture the worlds attention and command headlines is due to the relevance of the game to another real game that humans

forever find themselves in - beating out a competitor, and above all, beating the competitor by causing him to seal his

own fate. Head-on confrontations may be won, but often cause a backlash or smoldering resentment. Beating out a

competitor such that his own moves cause him to lose is a deceptive win, and one that often allows the winner to turn

his back on the vanquished as they often don’t realize the game that was played! Lawyers who seem to have a

stumbling presentation but win the case anyway, salesmen who are honest about some of their products weaknesses

but walk away with top sales anyway - check mate!

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ZetaTalk: Self Respect