I do this all the time: on a clandestine mission to finish off the last piece of guava cheese before other members of my clan can get their paws on it, not to mention the dog.Gropping for the wall I walk guided only by the faint light percolating from my distant room behind me. Finnally I reach my the rendezvous point and then proceed to search desperately for the light switch. Sometimes I wish I was tiger. No, I have no yearning to be on the endangered species list, I just heard they have 40% percent better night vision than humans. Just imagine, if you had 'tiger vision'. You easily could 'eye' the beautiful young thing sitting next to you in the shadows of the rather predictable chick flick you were watching just for the side show. Side effects may include a better golf handicap.
Flick of the switch and the tubelight decides to flicker and buzz till it whimsically switches on
I'm not alone some madagascaran, german and american guests scampered around unafraid of the human in their midst. Many a person I find suffer from a 'cockroach' phobia. Fear of such a creature would only be natural seeing that a cockroach can hold its breath for 45 minutes and has the ability to slow down its heart rate.
Deviating a little I have an extract I want you to think about. Here does.
People who like to think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic tend to take it for granted that human nature is 'selfish' and that life is a struggle in which only the fittest survive. According to this view, the basic law people must live with is the law of the jungle. The 'fittest' are the people who can bring to the struggle of a superior force, superior cunning and superior ruthlessness.-S. L Hayakawa in Language in Thought and Action.
Examining Mr Hayakawa's words closely I get a sense that something is wrong. I sense the need for updation. Eventhough 'fitness' is a valid criterion for survival it cannot be the only assertion.
"Only the fittest survive" in my mind is a half true statement. This brings me to my first case
Case 1
Dinosaurs Vs Cockroaches
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to what promises to be an entertaining fight. At the red corner we have Cockroach 'Cunning' Cunningham from Carboniferous Era and in the blue corner we have Dinosaur 'fearfully great' Lizard from the Mesozoic Era. Well come to think about this less a boxing match and more a reality television show but the result is the same knock out.
The dinosaurs are fit, strong, formidable and largely successfully at finding their next meal. Eventhough the cockroach don't exactly exemplify physical strength it's trump card is it's ability adapt to adverse and challenging situations.
Testing times come. Eventhough Mr Dinosaur is strong and fit and could even be called the 'fittest of the fit' the alpha species. But his ability to change could only be compared to an reactionary republican. While our friend the cockroach sees a space and parallel parks. Nature plays musical chairs and the result R.I.P Dinosaurs.
"Ting Ting Ting" the cockroaches - the winner.
By now you probably thinking.
"What a weirdo. He's infatuated with cockroaches"'
Quiet to the contrary I detest them but it doesn't stop me from admiring their resilience and ability to master any playing field.
Case 2
The Greatest Horse Whip Company the world has ever seen.
There was once this company that manufactured the worlds finest horse and buggy leather whips. They where the best at what they did and took pride at doing it well and with great efficiency. Their product was the hallmark of all leather whips anywhere, the creme de la creme and they sold it everywhere from the americas to the orient. They looked like they would go on forever making horse whips but then came the invention of something called the horse-less carriage.
CEO of then big horse-whip company laughed at idea of a horse-less carriage and dismissed the idea at it's face value. How wrong was he this 'laughable' idea caught on. The sales of horse whips everywhere started to plummet. Down and down the numbers went.
History is hard to those who do not anticipate change and change fast enough. This marks the end of my story and with it the end of the greatest horse whip company the world as ever seen.
This brings me to point.
Darwin said
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Respectfully, Mr Hayakawa it's not fittest that are most likely survive but as Darwin said the most responsive to change.
That's why I feel a species like the Cockroaches will live forever and a Company like Google, provided there is innovation is likely to grow even more.
If you have any counterpoints or any more anecdotes please do share them with me.
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