But it's one of those evolutionary traits. The idea that "we" are the center of the circle is, very motivating, powerful in its ability to drive our instincts to "protect the species".
The events that culminated in the writing of this particular post are in themselves a "bloggable" set. In fact, why don't I do justice to these events and set this post chronologically right.
I was watching Inuyasha (an anime about a half-demon and a human high school girl. (Yes, I watch this stuff :P) ) with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles, when I realized that, while the characters in the show referred to different kinds of demons with different sounding Japaneses names, the subtitles simply showed, "demon". I was quite intrigued by the extend to which demonic mythology had been classified and named in Japanese culture.
So, I headed over to that haven for hypochondriacs, that refuge for information-denied net surfers, that repository of (unconfirmed) human knowledge, wikipedia, and set out on a quest through the dark and mysterious world of Japanese folklore.
Yokai, oni, tanuki, kappa, tengu, kitsune... it all made sense now.
"Oni (鬼?) are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre.
Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes."
What struck me in the above paragraph was the word "humanoid". It was in no way an unfamiliar word (being that most of the "quests" that I've done have happened in the realm of Azeroth and WoW), but this time it struck a nerve!
Humanoid! Why didnt we call ourselves "Oni-oids", to put it into better perspective for non-anime buffs, why dont we call ourselves chimp-oids, or orangutan-oids. It might seem a very silly argument to blog about, but hey! this is my blog.
It is the arrogance of the human species that is reflected in the fact that, we name other beings with reference to ourselves and not the other way around.
We are but animals, intricate and sublime it may be, but the clockwork of physics and chemistry that make us what we are, are no different from what defines the existence of other species.
