The stupidity of humanity never
ceases to amaze me. This news report is certainly more benign that the ones we
typically discuss, but man’s irrational behavior still led to someone getting
hurt and another getting put in jail. I personally don’t know what to make of
the situation. Obviously guns were in the hands of untrustworthy men, but was
there some ulterior motive or are these guys just idiots? Whether these men got
the idea to search for Bigfoot from Animal Planet or beef jerky commercials is
irrelevant, the real question is why do humans persistently search for myths
and legends when they have been almost conclusively proven to be nonexistent?
There is much speculation as to why
we try to discover mythical creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, the
Abominable Snowman, and, most recently, Bigfoot. Some claim that it has to do
with our insatiable curiosity for the unknown, while others uphold that we are
motivated by a pursuit of fame and notoriety. I, however, contend that we,
personally, want these storybook
characters to exist. We deeply desire to realize the fantastical tales we imagined
as children and to wholeheartedly believe that there is more to life than what
meets the eye. It is impossible to speak for the men involved in this recent
debacle, but I think that our inner child—along with elements of escapism and
thrill-of-the-hunt—that motivates us to embark on these senseless and fruitless
quests.
Several people in their blogs have noted the way in which such phenomena act to continue childhood and its beliefs, fears, and dreams. I wonder if the desire to believe in these phenomena--"I want to believe," as the tagline for an old TV show puts it--is really a sign of a desire to return to a childlike view of the world, one where our sense of wonder and our naiveté allows us to believe in things like monsters and boogeymen. Is this the same thing that inspires interest in fantasy shows that depict such things? Or is that a different thing altogether?
ReplyDeleteI think it is odd that guns were placed in these mens hands and even more odd that they were hunting Bigfoot but even more so is the attention that it has gained. It shows how people are attracted to stories such as this partially because the media portrays it in a exageratted manor but also part of us wants to believe in stores similar to this
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