QUOTE
Is Bigfoot Smarter Than We Are?
There may be a very good reason why Bigfoot has not been captured
EVERY YEAR brings hundreds of new sightings of Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, in North America. Most come in the spring and summer months when more people are apt to be venturing into the wilderness to camp, fish and hike.
The sightings have occurred for hundreds of years – by the European settlers who explored Sasquatch territory, and before that by the Native Americans who seemed to be familiar with this giant of the forest.
The sightings have been reported by casual campers and experienced outdoorspeople alike. Many have gotten a good look at this amazing creature. Their descriptions are remarkably consistent, from the details of its height and hair color to its nauseating stench.
The eyewitness accounts are so numerous and compelling that any fair-thinking person must entertain the idea that there really is a large, hairy biped out there.
Amazingly evasive
So why haven't we captured one? Why isn't there better photographic evidence? Why have we not found any dead bodies?
The best physical evidence we have to date are large footprints that clearly show dermal ridges (fingerprint-like markings on the feet) and a few hair samples that at best have proved interesting but inconclusive. What little photographic and cinematic pictures we have are mired in controversy and accusations of hoaxes. While fascinating and worthy of our analysis, they are not conclusive. Sound recordings of what some say are its distant howling are haunting, but do not constitute proof.
With more and more people each year enjoying the wilderness and actively searching for Sasquatch, how is it that it remains so evasive? Is Bigfoot smarter than we are?
Surely, with all of the technology we have at our disposal – products of our intellectual superiority over the rest of the animal kingdom – we should be able to capture or at least photograph clearly one of these creatures. Why hasn't it happened?
We have night-vision equipment and motion-triggered cameras. Bigfoot traps have even been constructed, going back as far as 1974. Many other types of wild animals have been spotted with night vision and photographed with motion-triggered gadgets. Such animals – even the wiliest in the forest – have been trapped and captured alive. And, of course, man routinely hunts and kills them.
But not Sasquatch.
How intelligent is it?
Sasquatch evades our best attempts with our most clever technology.
How? There are two reasons I can think of:
1. Bigfoot is not really out there after all.
2. It's too smart.
If, for the sake of argument, we agree that Bigfoot does exist (all those good eyewitness accounts are hard to dismiss), must we conclude that the creature is outsmarting us? How can this be? Is the Bigfoot smarter than every other wild animal of the forest – from deer to bear to fox and even more exotic creatures, all of which have been outwitted by our technology?
Could a human being even evade such technology?
Put a person of above-average intelligence in the middle of a forest for 24 hours where there has been set up man-size traps and camouflaged motion-triggered cameras. How well do you think he’d do? Assuming he's moving around looking for something to eat or drink, he would probably do well at avoiding the traps if he was very cautious. But he would almost certainly be photographed by hidden motion-triggered cameras, especially when it began to get dark. (This might actually be an interesting experiment!)
Again, Bigfoot has managed to escape the shutter of such hidden cameras. Can we therefore conclude that it is smarter than a human being?
By some indications, the Sasquatch is an intelligent primate, although how intelligent is not known. Obviously, it does not approach human intelligence, as we measure it. There are no Bigfoot-made towns, mills, writings or shoes. There may be use of primitive tools and possibly even language, but there's no conclusive evidence for those either. It doesn’t sound like he’s smarter than humans.
More than smart
Perhaps "smarter" isn’t the right word. Perhaps he's more aware – and I mean that in the largest possible sense. I mean it in terms of psychic awareness. I'm sure this idea turns some people right off, but, hey, it's just an idea, and I'm certainly not the first one to offer it.
It has been theorized that psychic abilities – or sixth sense – in humans may a vestigial remnant of the instincts our ancient ancestors once possessed. Virtually all animals are driven by instincts that, to a large extent, determine their behavior, and certainly our primate ancestors possessed them as well to be able to survive. As man became more intelligent, his instincts became less and less necessary. Man could figure things out for himself and didn’t need instincts as much to drive his behavior.
But did we lose something in the process? Is instinct merely programming in the genetic code? Or might it be something more – a connectedness to other living things and all living systems? Many animals seem to have this heightened awareness. They can sense when earthquakes are coming, for example. A lost pet retriever can find her way to her family over hundreds, even thousands of miles. The examples are endless and well-documented.
Psychic abilities in humans – from clairvoyance to remote viewing – might demonstrate that we can still tap into that connectedness and perform some remarkable feats.
Different evolution
Back to Bigfoot. Is it possible that this creature, which may be a divergent hominid species with which he share a common ancestor, has not only retained its primal instincts, but has evolved them into psychic abilities that surpass anything we can currently muster? As we evolved intellectually, perhaps this creature evolved psychically.
We evolved our intellect to survive and dominate. It may be that Sasquatch evolved its psychic senses to likewise survive in a world increasingly dominated by its clothed cousin who, year by year, encroaches more and more on its home forests. If it does have this heightened sixth sense, Sasquatch might "know" when and how we are trying to capture and photograph him. Even a hidden camera might retain enough of a human imprint that the creature can detect and avoid.
I have a feeling, however, that this psychic sense will not forever protect the Sasquatch. Sooner or later we're going to catch up with it and prove its existence definitively. When we do, I only hope we’re smart enough to respect it.
There may be a very good reason why Bigfoot has not been captured
EVERY YEAR brings hundreds of new sightings of Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, in North America. Most come in the spring and summer months when more people are apt to be venturing into the wilderness to camp, fish and hike.
The sightings have occurred for hundreds of years – by the European settlers who explored Sasquatch territory, and before that by the Native Americans who seemed to be familiar with this giant of the forest.
The sightings have been reported by casual campers and experienced outdoorspeople alike. Many have gotten a good look at this amazing creature. Their descriptions are remarkably consistent, from the details of its height and hair color to its nauseating stench.
The eyewitness accounts are so numerous and compelling that any fair-thinking person must entertain the idea that there really is a large, hairy biped out there.
Amazingly evasive
So why haven't we captured one? Why isn't there better photographic evidence? Why have we not found any dead bodies?
The best physical evidence we have to date are large footprints that clearly show dermal ridges (fingerprint-like markings on the feet) and a few hair samples that at best have proved interesting but inconclusive. What little photographic and cinematic pictures we have are mired in controversy and accusations of hoaxes. While fascinating and worthy of our analysis, they are not conclusive. Sound recordings of what some say are its distant howling are haunting, but do not constitute proof.
With more and more people each year enjoying the wilderness and actively searching for Sasquatch, how is it that it remains so evasive? Is Bigfoot smarter than we are?
Surely, with all of the technology we have at our disposal – products of our intellectual superiority over the rest of the animal kingdom – we should be able to capture or at least photograph clearly one of these creatures. Why hasn't it happened?
We have night-vision equipment and motion-triggered cameras. Bigfoot traps have even been constructed, going back as far as 1974. Many other types of wild animals have been spotted with night vision and photographed with motion-triggered gadgets. Such animals – even the wiliest in the forest – have been trapped and captured alive. And, of course, man routinely hunts and kills them.
But not Sasquatch.
How intelligent is it?
Sasquatch evades our best attempts with our most clever technology.
How? There are two reasons I can think of:
1. Bigfoot is not really out there after all.
2. It's too smart.
If, for the sake of argument, we agree that Bigfoot does exist (all those good eyewitness accounts are hard to dismiss), must we conclude that the creature is outsmarting us? How can this be? Is the Bigfoot smarter than every other wild animal of the forest – from deer to bear to fox and even more exotic creatures, all of which have been outwitted by our technology?
Could a human being even evade such technology?
Put a person of above-average intelligence in the middle of a forest for 24 hours where there has been set up man-size traps and camouflaged motion-triggered cameras. How well do you think he’d do? Assuming he's moving around looking for something to eat or drink, he would probably do well at avoiding the traps if he was very cautious. But he would almost certainly be photographed by hidden motion-triggered cameras, especially when it began to get dark. (This might actually be an interesting experiment!)
Again, Bigfoot has managed to escape the shutter of such hidden cameras. Can we therefore conclude that it is smarter than a human being?
By some indications, the Sasquatch is an intelligent primate, although how intelligent is not known. Obviously, it does not approach human intelligence, as we measure it. There are no Bigfoot-made towns, mills, writings or shoes. There may be use of primitive tools and possibly even language, but there's no conclusive evidence for those either. It doesn’t sound like he’s smarter than humans.
More than smart
Perhaps "smarter" isn’t the right word. Perhaps he's more aware – and I mean that in the largest possible sense. I mean it in terms of psychic awareness. I'm sure this idea turns some people right off, but, hey, it's just an idea, and I'm certainly not the first one to offer it.
It has been theorized that psychic abilities – or sixth sense – in humans may a vestigial remnant of the instincts our ancient ancestors once possessed. Virtually all animals are driven by instincts that, to a large extent, determine their behavior, and certainly our primate ancestors possessed them as well to be able to survive. As man became more intelligent, his instincts became less and less necessary. Man could figure things out for himself and didn’t need instincts as much to drive his behavior.
But did we lose something in the process? Is instinct merely programming in the genetic code? Or might it be something more – a connectedness to other living things and all living systems? Many animals seem to have this heightened awareness. They can sense when earthquakes are coming, for example. A lost pet retriever can find her way to her family over hundreds, even thousands of miles. The examples are endless and well-documented.
Psychic abilities in humans – from clairvoyance to remote viewing – might demonstrate that we can still tap into that connectedness and perform some remarkable feats.
Different evolution
Back to Bigfoot. Is it possible that this creature, which may be a divergent hominid species with which he share a common ancestor, has not only retained its primal instincts, but has evolved them into psychic abilities that surpass anything we can currently muster? As we evolved intellectually, perhaps this creature evolved psychically.
We evolved our intellect to survive and dominate. It may be that Sasquatch evolved its psychic senses to likewise survive in a world increasingly dominated by its clothed cousin who, year by year, encroaches more and more on its home forests. If it does have this heightened sixth sense, Sasquatch might "know" when and how we are trying to capture and photograph him. Even a hidden camera might retain enough of a human imprint that the creature can detect and avoid.
I have a feeling, however, that this psychic sense will not forever protect the Sasquatch. Sooner or later we're going to catch up with it and prove its existence definitively. When we do, I only hope we’re smart enough to respect it.
While working for the Forest Service girdling larch plantations (mistletoe disease) in the Selkirk Wilderness (4 of us), were stalked by a bear. This was in roadless Grizz habitat. There was fresh scat (steaming, cold March morning). We had hiked over 3 miles into this plantation, making noise, talking. :new_whistle: We spent about 3 hours working before deciding to leave because that bear wanted us to. We never sighted him, he circled us. This plantation was on a steep side hill, 15 acres, covered in dense brush partially rocky.