Archive for January 2nd, 2007
Intelligence in a Fantasy World
One thing that I have always loved about C.S. Lewis’s book The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is the fact that animals are intelligent. In a children’s fantasy book this is easy because you don’t really have to explain why people sit down at the table and start chewing on something that was singing and dancing not so long ago. Unfortunately, without the explanations there is a gaping hole in the thought process behind the book.
For example, in the real world baby chickens are cute and most people wouldn’t choose to eat one just for that reason. However, how many people would eat chicken if it was not only once a baby chicken but could also sing and dance? Humans tolerate eating them because, after all, they are animals. However, once that chickadee looks up at someone and says “Are you my mommy?” they wouldn’t eat it no matter how old it got.
