I wouldn't be surprised, at all. I think this universe is full of things that we haven't discovered yet. It wasn't that long ago when we believed we had a geocentric universe.
Yes!
No!
Unsure.
Other (please elaborate)
I wouldn't be surprised, at all. I think this universe is full of things that we haven't discovered yet. It wasn't that long ago when we believed we had a geocentric universe.
Nashoba - The Native American Mermaid's Facebook
Ka-Powell Entertainement
"The difference between a net that catches you and a hammock that cradles you is your perspective."
-Nashoba
I voted yes, only because I would be shocked if 'scientists' announced it...As many videos, footprints, and photographs we have of bigfoot, he's still considered a hoax... Seriously, you think there's THAT MANY hoaxers out there? I agree some of them might be, but shear numbers says some have to be legit. For mainstream science to actually announce something, they'd have to capture one... If mermaids exist, they're obviously very good at keeping themselves hidden, so I doubt one would ever be caught... And can you imagine a scientist announcing he needs money to try to catch a mermaid? His colleagues would never take him seriously again, and from what I understand, there is a LOT of peer pressure among scientists. For example, any who don't believe in global warming are dismissed as 'not true scientists', even though they have some valid points.
Also known as Salina Tideglow
Great comments, mers! Love hearing your feedback.
This is kind of late, but I have a slightly different perspective on the existence of mermaids. If merfolk are have intelligence equal to homosapiens, why wouldn't they be visible? What would the point be in hiding for tens of thousands of years? The sea would have been SOLELY their domain for a VERY long time before homo sapiens came up with basic ships, much less diving equipment and submarines, so why wouldn't they have flourished in the sea and developed their own communities?
It would be impossible for a mer to come onto land and miss the existence of humankind. I feel that if they are of similar intelligence and development, they would have flourished in their underwater worlds are created habitats that would be noticeable to sonar. Plus, our limbs evolved to swing through trees, so why would these traits have developed underwater? (Or, if we are using the terrestrial mammal became aquatic thing, why would they have KEPT these limbs?) They're not as good for swimming as fins, so I find it unlikely that a mermaid would really have a homosapien upper body. I would say that the closest thing to mermaids in the sea are cetaceans, such as dolphins, who are hyper-intelligent, possess social structure, communicate with one another, have personalities, have a sense of self, etc. I don't think the traditional human-esque mermaid lives in the ocean because I truly believe that they would have spread much like homosapiens did. It just seems illogical to me that they would have hidden all this time even though the sea was basically theirs.
I could believe it if somehow their structure let them live in the deepest parts of the ocean (with giant squid, etc) where we could not reach and that they are just as unaware of us as we are of them because they cannot surface without dying, but that would probably remove the human-esque part of them. So my answer is, yes, I would be very surprised to find a literal mermaid. Other highly intelligent life in the sea, no, I would not be surprised if we found it. But assuming that a mermaid's brain structure and functions would be similar to humans, I feel that they would have developed noticable communities. Heck, dolphins are highly intelligent and feel no need to hide from humans! Mermaids wouldn't know us as a "violent society" or whatever because they wouldn't know us at all, so why would they hide? I admit, I'm more of the scientist type than the magical, which despite what some people seem to think, is not necessarily a bad thing! Science is AMAZING to the point that it can seem MAGICAL, and science may someday find intelligent life in a place MORE amazing than any magical idea I could ever come up with. But no, I don't think human-esque mermaids exist and would be shocked to find they did.
Once upon a time I was known as Seavanna. Going by Seatan these days. I always wanted to be the high lord of underwater hell.
Yea, and see "The Cove" for what they get for that.
For the rest of what you said; check out the article in the thread "Origin of mermaid legends" in "Just Talk" (couldn't find a better fitting category).
As someone with a scientific mindset, you'll probably be as delighted by it as I was.
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