A Little Furry Philosophy

Consider the animal kingdom for a second. It is a menagerie of creatures, carefully balanced and designated by their 'niche' in life. Each creature, by virtue of their specific instincts and proclivities, fulfils a role and forms the society that we, as humans, often term the 'ecosystem'. Humans are part of the macroscale environmental scene by definition, but, in the interest of philosophy, let us take humans out of the picture for a moment.

Just because humans disappear does not mean that society disappears with it. It does not mean that 'values' and 'priorities' disappear. All those intangible virtues continue to exist in the balance of life. Just as it is a priority for a predator, excuse me, carnivore, to provide itself with meat, it is a priority for an herbivore to protect itself from being food while searching out edible foliage.

Consider the 'morality' of the animal world. Mothers of some species defend their young, fathers of some species are the 'breadwinners' or the 'protectors'. Not too long ago, our society was the same way; and, alternative family lifestyles were accepted in the animal kingdom long before they were in the human world.

Consider human society. When the camera pulls back to the macro scale, we begin to resemble a second animal kingdom. The animal kingdom exists on a very physical plane, each animal having its distinguishing characteristics based on the perceptual differences we and other animals can detect. One animal may be different from another due to a variety of species-specific differences: size, scent, fur coloration, etcetera. Humans, from an empirical point of view, are all alike. We have one head, two arms, a central torso, and two legs (barring horrific accidents, of course). An animal distinguishes itself from another species by means of physical parameters, but that is not the case in humans. In the human world we tell our children that we are 'all the same' in a vain effort to make them see the world as a homogenous mixture of humanity. This critical farce is where the lines between the human kingdom and the animal kingdom change.

Let us pretend for a moment that we no longer exist in a physical plane but in one defined by mental concepts and thought. Suddenly, all the animals become the same because their priorities focus around 'survival' and all the simple caveats involved in that. Humans too have survival as a base instinct, but imagine what this playing field would look like once a human is fully developed. One person may feel it is essential to protect the rainforest. Another may be concerned with the accumulation of liquid assets. A third may be totally consumed with the pursuit of true love and happiness. As each person's 'priorities' and 'values' make themselves apparent, the homogeneous world that we attempt to perpetuate vanishes, replaced by a myriad of mental systems. If you consider each system of beliefs a 'mind-species' of its own, then suddenly the human 'mind-kingdom' becomes quite large indeed! So large, in fact, that it may overtake the animal kingdom in size and scope.

In our daily lives, ruled by physical parameters of sight, sound, touch, taste, and scent, we don't always see this mental landscape. Could you imagine walking down a crowded street in a major city and being able to see each person's motivations? It might be frightening to walk by someone who is in search of immediate sexual gratification; and, it might be disturbing to walk by another who is willing to kill you for your personal beliefs. Eventually, as complex systems often do, the mind-species would be able to recognize each other as allies or enemies in the same way that a lion might immediately rebuff a hyena. If we existed in a world of thought, we essentially create a new society where mindsets would have stay in their own realms for self-perpetuation.

So how does this relate to the furry world? Well, having discussed the fields created when you consider the human 'mind-kingdom', what would happen if that mind-kingdom suddenly had some kind of physical parameter? What if those species of the animal kingdom, bearing a similar mental goals (survival) and different physical parameters, suddenly found themselves launched into the world of the mind-kingdom? What you get is a representation of the human 'mind-kingdom' removed from the obscurity of concepts and placed in the realm of physical perception. We sometimes ascribe these creatures a bipedal stance for familiarity's sake and to representing their ascent to the level of the mental; but, outside of that, they retain many of the original characteristics of their species: tails, fur length, relative strength, and even claws. Make a few small anatomical changes and you have a creature capable of the precise speech that is required of such a thinking animal.

Enter the furson: Part human, part animal and the allegorical equivalent of a human on a level that binds the mind-kingdom and the physical kingdom. Perhaps of paramount importance, one must realize that this furson is not a caricature. Fanciful as the characters may seem or be, they are viable beings that obey the laws of physics and physiology. They are as individual as each of us, bearing the burden of needs and wants, goals and desires, passion and pain. And, within their unique makeup, we as humans often find something of ourselves.