The process of changing one's mind is arduous, but its necessary because the alternative is a life of dullness and vacuity. Nobody wants that.
The name Underwater Ape symbolizes a renaissance, or rebirth.
The ape is me, a mere monkey.
Let me elaborate:
We are all just a bunch self-sustaining chemical reactions (hereby termed 'monkey') on a ball of mud (we call Earth) whirling about a nuclear explosion (the Sun, our star) millions of miles away. From our perspective this feels perfectly normal because it is all we have ever known. Whatever insanity you use to rationalize this madness is fine by me.
The good news is YOU can be a monkey too! The bad news is it takes work, so invariably, a few of you will abandon this quest. I'm sorry to already be constraining my dear readers, but I do find it necessary. So!
The first requirement is that you use your mind, which if you have read this far you clearly have already satisfied as a precondition. Humanity is just a term we apply from person to person; the mind is the characteristic that differentiates Einstein from lifeless brick.
The second is to accept the theory of evolution as a fundamental truth which defines our reality. I don't think this is incompatible with theistic worldviews (if you are so inclined). Accepting evolution means accepting past as past, and living firmly in your present.
To dream of being underwater is so symbolically complex. It is to relive the long nine months before your birth. It is also to abandon the security of the air above in order to explore the darkest depths. It is a return to our origins, as the first fishes who walked out of the sea. The pressure from below, as you remember to kick upwards towards the light, is the kind of experience I would like to provide to you as you read these posts.
Monkeys don't, normally, spend much (if any) time underwater. There's a bunch of reasons for this. We don't breathe underwater very well, that is unless technology, in the form of self contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) are concerned. Also the ocean is so much more wild than we can even imagine. We know more of space than we do of the deep oceans!
And make no mistake about it, the underwater is so dangerous! Sperm whales regularly dive to depths that even our most advanced submarines can't attain, and when they come back they have sucker marks and wounds that indicate there are potentially massive squid down there. In California, tentacles the size of school-buses regularly wash up on the beach.
Us monkeys, we don't take kindly to danger; we are creatures of comfort, but this sets us up for our failings. Those who refuse comfort, in constant search of this danger are history's greats. To live in danger, accepting it, and making more of yourself in spite of it. That is the essence of greatness. So call me Monkey or call me Ishmael, but set out and go in for it, whatever be your White Whale.
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