Science & Snails. Philosophy & Humanity.

Science always intrigued me as a child. It is that unknown and mysterious nature that boggles the mind and gets you dreaming. My earliest job aspirations were of being an astronaut. And why wouldn't they be? We are shown stars and space and they say that one day, our generation will be living on the moon or other planets. I wrote crappy science fiction stories in my English classes and looked through telescopes in science. It was all very fascinating.

As I reached high school, I began to appreciate science in nature, things like how cells processed energy, photosynthesis, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum. Don't worry if you don't know what these things are, just know that they are very small and very cool. But where I began to truly appreciate our world, is in life itself. The animals, the insects, babies; all pique my interests.

My current case study is the rock garden behind the office building where I work. There are three suites in the building, all have a back door, and except for ours, none are used. Ours is only used sporadically to cut through to the party store in the lot next door. There is a 8 Ft. long rock garden, usually overgrown with weeds, partially shaded by trees that runs the length of the building. It is here that we have, of all things, snails.

During most of the warm months, you see them occasionally, one here or there. Sometimes you see the cracked shell of one that was perhaps stepped on, or found by a random bird. For the most part though, this is their private little safehaven for the few snails that live here. When it rains though, watch out. The snail army comes out in bulk. They are literally everywhere, On the walls, in the rocks, on the trees, everywhere. I can't help but to step lightly and carefully to avoid crunching them and for a moment I admire them as I do all lesser creatures.

A snails life is simple. When times are good, they frolic and play everywhere, albeit slowly. When times are bad, they lock themselves away in their shell until times are good again. They never know what life's about, nor do they care. They don't worry about life or death. They don't worry at all. They follow the instinctual pattern of survival in it's most simplistic form and it works out pretty good for them. There is something to envy in that.

Conversely, being human is both a blessing and a curse. We have been endowed with the intelligence to understand our environment. We knowingly have a purpose. We can love and hate, respect and despise, advance and withdraw. However we are cursed to know about death and loss and all the inner pain that accompanies it. Our survival is a matter of constant worry.

You sometimes see people who live the snail's life, one of fun. When life throws it's worst at them, they just hide in their little shell until mother nature bails them out with good times again. Of course mother nature in this case isn't a nice rain, its a family bailout or government program. Another issue all together. But even if you do run and hide from life's problems, the very fact that you are human gives you the ability to be disturbed by the events around you. You worry. You cry. A snail just goes to sleep.

Where I'm going with this is simply that we need to observe ourselves more as well as the world around us. You can envy the simple life of the snail but shouldn't respect it. It's a life of simplicity and ignorance. We should be proud that we have the knowledge and wisdom to wish we didn't have the knowledge and wisdom, because unlike the snail, we see the good and bad in life and can't hide away in our little shells.