A Modest Proposal

In some ways, I can't believe that I'm even writing this post. I love zoos; many great formative memories of my youth have to do with the Philadelphia Zoo, and the insiderish little plastic elephant key that we had as official Zoo Members, which allowed you to activate little boxes at each animal's enclosure that would tell you about the animal.

But, in light of the fatal attack of a patron at a cafe at the San Francisco Zoo yesterday, I think I have gotten to the point where I can say that I look forward to the utopian day when we don't have to have zoos anymore.

I think it would be pretty hard to argue that the animals in zoos are 'satisfied' with their lives, however you choose to define that word. You don't have to be a crazy evolutionist like me to believe that so-called 'higher' animals probably have at least some sense of their surroundings, and might be aware of how a 200' x 200' pen is not exactly 'the wild'.

But, I do agree that the mission many zoos cite, which is to raise awareness of biodiversity and the vast array of life forms on this planet, is a valid one. So, for that matter, is entertainment; I don't even mind seals being taught to jump through hoops, if the seals don't mind it either.

I'm envisioning something like a holodeck zoo - holograms of real tigers, acting like real tigers, lounging in real (holographic) tiger habitats. I feel like, as one of the employees at the World's Leader in Holographic Data Storage, I ought to be able to help bring this process along. Maybe that's something I can aspire to with my eighth million or so...