In one of the latest Radiolab podcast episodes,
the hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich explored different kinds of black
boxes. Those peculiar spaces where… we
know what’s coming out, but what happens in-between is a mystery. One of
the black boxes they talked about was the chrysalis. Journalist Molly Webster
sits down with a butterfly expert to try to tackle this mystery.
They slice open a cocoon and what’s inside shocks
not only Webster but also the hosts and all the listeners. A goo-snot-like substance
is in place of the caterpillar; no legs, no antennae, nothing. The expert
merely puts his finger on it and it just bursts.
The first assumption is that the caterpillar
simply dies, decomposes, and from that goo the butterfly emerges. Then, it
comes into question how much of the caterpillar remains in the butterfly. They talk
about an experiment in which they expose a caterpillar to a bad smell for a specific
amount of time and then it’s zapped. They do this repeatedly, until the
caterpillar knows what comes after perceiving the bad odor. The caterpillar is
allowed to go under its metamorphosis and when this new butterfly is exposed to
the bad odor it flies away from it. This experiment brings to the table the notion
that “memories carry through the transformation.” In Quammen’s article he
states that Regan’s way of judging what animals deserve rights include “[being]
able to perceive and to remember.” Wouldn’t that qualify a caterpillar/butterfly?
Also, if we use man as “the measure of all things” it can be argued that humans
are as fragile as a developing caterpillar.
The uncertainty of the topic leaves
me wanting to rescue every creature that crosses my path.
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