Posted on 07/03/2012 8:51:47 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.
Mermaids — those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea — are legendary sea creatures chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial. The ancient Greek epic poet Homer wrote of them in The Odyssey. In the ancient Far East, mermaids were the wives of powerful sea-dragons, and served as trusted messengers between their spouses and the emperors on land. The aboriginal people of Australia call mermaids yawkyawks – a name that may refer to their mesmerizing songs.
The belief in mermaids may have arisen at the very dawn of our species. Magical female figures first appear in cave paintings in the late Paleolithic (Stone Age) period some 30,000 years ago, when modern humans gained dominion over the land and, presumably, began to sail the seas. Half-human creatures, called chimeras, also abound in mythology — in addition to mermaids, there were wise centaurs, wild satyrs, and frightful minotaurs, to name but a few.
But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found. Why, then, do they occupy the collective unconscious of nearly all seafaring peoples? That’s a question best left to historians, philosophers, and anthropologists.
WTF?!? I could have sworn I saw mermaids throughout Neptunis Rex's domain during my Navy WestPac cruises back in the day. Must have been those hangovers ...
More references ...
“U.S. Government insists that mermaids do not exist”
http://io9.com/5923072/us-government-insists-that-mermaids-do-not-exist?tag=holy-crap-wtf
“NOAA Denies Existence of Mermaids”
http://news.discovery.com/animals/noaa-mermaids-120629.html
Anyone care to wager a guess as to how much was spent on this?
But we cut government to the bone!
Did you buy that at Wall Drug, South Dakota?
Did they look in New Jersey?
Don't know about Jersey, but I'm looking for this one in San Diego.
bttt
Where did the idea come from?
Um, lonely sailors? They’re all reported as beautiful women.
Please tell me they aren’t spending money on this.
It would seem that the NOAA wuld have more important things to do than report on mermaids.
But as far as the question of the existence of "aquatic humans" is concerned, the phrase brings up the question of why humans, alone among all types of primates, possess a subcutaneous fat layer (like seals), narrow fin like connections between our fingers and toes, are not covered in fur, and have extraordinarily large brains (like dolphins and whales).
IMHO, paleontologists who dig up the bones of proto-chimps, gorillas, and baboons are looking in all the wrong places. What is with the seemingly instinctive affinity of Dolphins for humans (and vice versa - Japanese excepted)? If they could figure out where coastlines were a couple hundred thousand years ago, unfortunately now probably many miles offshore from the existing coast, they might at least be looking in the right spots.
Oh, baby. The rum goggles must have been pretty thick during the Age of Sail.
Whew! Well, now we can stop worrying about THAT! What a relief!
“Why, then, do they occupy the collective unconscious of nearly all seafaring peoples?”
What a stupid question. Seriously.
“Peoples” historically see mermaids because the “people” send the men to the sea.
So you tell me...why would a bunch of lonely seafaring guys wish there were hot women in the ocean?
Guess I’ll have to fund a study to find out.
But as far as the question of the existence of “aquatic humans” is concerned, the phrase brings up the question of why humans, alone among all types of primates, possess a subcutaneous fat layer (like seals), narrow fin like connections between our fingers and toes, are not covered in fur, and have extraordinarily large brains (like dolphins and whales).
It is called the “Aquatic Ape Theory” and it makes a hell of a lot more sense than the “Savannah Walking evolution model”
It basically posulates that human ancestors settled around the rivers and streams and spent a lot of their time wading through and swimming through water to gather food etc...
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