>>Bill McKinley sez:
>>Many years ago, I read a trashy post-apocalyptic science fiction
>>novel in which the cataclysmic disaster (whatever it was) caused some
>>humans to withdraw into themselves, suppress their intelligence, and
>>roam in herds as fixed-INT creatures.
>Olof Nergard said
>This sounds like the "War with the Cthorr" series by David Gerrold, I >think. Its a great description about herdification of the humans.
There's also "I, weapon" by Charles W. Runyon which I read years ago. It also has "herd men" and the humans herding them of course have taboos against sex with them, etc., etc. It struck me as a good read when I read it but that was quite some time ago.
Speaking of herd men it strikes me that the closest you'd get to herd men in the RW are RW baboons. Okay, so they're a lot more aggressive than herd men would probably be but perhaps the morocanths have bred aggression out. Dietarily and behavior wise I think they'd be a pretty close match. They couldn't possibly be monogamous because the morocanths don't allow all the male calves(?) to grow up. The malefemale ratio would probably be pretty bad. The question is how would you herd baboons? (Very carefully I'd imagine). Herd men don't have the natural weaponry a baboon has and their diet probably contains more vegetation than a baboon's. Still they're the closest the RW comes to a plains dwelling, group living primate.
I don't agree with Sandy about them being long lived. I know it's not an obvious connection but my feeling is that along with the curse of fixed intelligence you get a reduced lifespan. Morocanths live about as long as humans don't they? I don't imagine tapirs live as long as humans though.
I would imagine that freeing a bison's intelligence might increase their
lifespan
as well.
Just my two cents worth.
Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca
>From Fresser's Gourmet Guide to Glorantha
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