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Are Humans Like Butterflies?
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The
caterpillar lives a fairly simple existence, slinking along, dodging the
ravenous appetites of birds, all the while devouring as much food as
possible. At some point he finds a
choice spot and forms a cocoon around himself and begins one of the most
astonishing transformations within nature: he turns into a butterfly. During this metamorphosis he sheds all his
caterpillar “fur” (his setae), his caterpillar legs, and even his caterpillar
antennae. His slender body, too, gives
way to the chrysalitic soup, as his own digestive juices consume him. Not even his head survives intact, but
dissolves until all that he was liquifies into the ingredients necessary to
form his butterfly “self.” I put “self”
in quotes because it’s not clear whether anything of the caterpillar actually
survives the transformation. There is
evidence of at least some memory being carried through the change, though how
this occurs remains a mystery. Nonetheless,
nearly all that is caterpillar is gone.
What emerges is an entirely new and beautifully winged creature.
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