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Punchinello writes...

To continue...

I think we can observe another example of what could be termed the gargoyles "genetic imperitive to protect." We can establish, already, that they exist in opposition to the pressures of natural selection that are usually internal to a species. (I suspect infanticide among them is low.) Every member of the species invests it's energies in the interests and well being of the entire species, as opposed to the individual. We can even observe this protective instinct to cross the species barrier. They invest way too much energy in protecting humans, in my opinion.

Perhaps, it's more than a protective instinct. Perhaps the inclination to protect is part of a larger phenomenon, at work. Perhaps they are what we could call "superassociative." They interact with one another and other species to an unusual extent. We have even seen a willingness among them to pursue courtship with non gargoyles. This is so dynamically opposed to the way evolution works in nature, that it could account for their small numbers.

Perhaps you could comment on some of this?

Greg responds...

I think Goliath and Elisa's relationship is HIGHLY UNUSUAL, but I agree it may be a natural end result of years of Gargoyle evolution toward "superassociation". Maybe humans and gargoyles both are evolving toward some sort of enlightenment that borders on the religious.

As to their small numbers, it's a chicken/egg thing. They reproduce so infrequently. I think once upon a time there was a risk of Gargoyles being a species that threatened to overtake the world -- as humans eventually succeeded in doing. Gargs were tough, intelligent, mobile, cooperative and nearly invulnerable -- even when asleep. Maybe Mother Nature gave them some handicaps on purpose. Maybe humanity was created as competition.

I sometimes feel like Mother Nature is now trying very hard to kill off a huge portion of humans. But she waited too long. Hurricanes, earthquakes, diseases. We die. But not in great enough numbers to reduce our dominance. And we keep learning new ways to outwit her, to subjugate her. Even destroy her.

I'm not really trying to assign an anthropomorphic intelligence to Nature. But maybe Evolution isn't simply a species by species thing. Maybe Evolution also works on a PLANETARY scale. As part of a whole.

Maybe.

Response recorded on July 26, 2000