You and I will apparently have to remain in agreement that our definitions of "common sense" are very different.
I very much appreciate, however, the civil and polite way in which this discussion has proceeded.
I used the term "harvest" because that is a term I have heard others who want to kill a bigfoot use.
As far as evidence of the humanity or possible humanity of this being, we can only use what clues we have at present.
I am referring to the fact that the hands and feet have a very human look. They walk on two feet. Eyewitness accounts have stated human-like expressions of both fear and surprise and curiousity.
Other accounts lead me to believe their intelligence could be equal to or even exceed our own, although that intelligence is directed in a different way than ours, obviously.
There are many accounts of human beings who have in one way or another been abandoned to the elements and have grown to adulthood with no point of reference to our behavioral norms, and have adopted animal-like behavior. But this did not turn them into animals.
My theory, and this is only a theory, is that perhaps centuries or more into the past, persons with genetic abnormalities such as mentioned above (hypertrichosis, acromegaly, giantism, or others we do not even know about) were shunned by society at large and abandoned. Today, these individuals are relegated to special instituions or circuses.
But if, in ages past, these people somehow survived, and it was a common practice to ostracize them, then it would not be too much of a stretch that they would have met up with each other, and even bred and formed a parallel social order.
This parallel group would have had the deeply engrained consciousness of rejection by 'normal' society, and would have eventually grown to have elusiveness as a major part of their social behavior.
We have ample evidence that we humans adapt in a physical way very quickly to our environment. Recently a study came out that shows the average American skeleton has adapted to become taller, and that happened in just the last century.
What other adaptations would have developed if a branch of humankind were to have split off a thousand or more years ago?
In any case, it is something I call morality that says our need to understand does not exceed their need to live, and I have no confidence at all that the act of taking the life of one individual to prove to the world their existence will have any bearing on their survival as a race, species, or whatever you wish to call them.
Best regards,
Cliff Jones
Posted on May 12, 2002, 1:00 PM from IP address 205.188.200.53