On Mar 17, 7:49=A0pm, Gene Ward Smith <g...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Mike =A0Schilling" <mscottschill...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
news:2SzDj.3248=
2
> $J41.11...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> >> Of course, the inherent idiocy of postulating a predator on humans is
> >> not improved by making them weak.
>
> > What's idiotic about a predator whose prey are humans?
>
> The situation cannot arise as a result of evolution. Human prey are a
very=
> difficult target, and until the rise of civilizations, were too few to
> allow a population of specialized predators anyway. After humans became
> numerous, you can imagine specialized predators hiding in our midst,
> disguised as us, but you get two questions:
>
> (1) Where the hell did they come from?
>
> (2) Why haven't we noticed they exist?
(1) They're a sub-species of human.
(2) They're invisible. Or they hypnotise us. Or they pass as human.
Or they're incredibly sneaky.
Your typical serial killer, for instance, gets along quietly with his
neighbours.
Having said that... living such a profoundly weird secret life as a
credible vampire would have to, makes it pretty difficult to live
amongst suspicious humans. I think the monstter mostly only gets away
with it in stories because if they didn't, they'd be caught pretty
quick and there'd be no monster and no story, and the author wouldn't
get paid.
See also Harry Potter - why powerful wizards and witches would
successfully hide all magical entities from ordinary humans, instead
of just taking over the world - and then how they would successfully
keep their secrets - it only makes sense if the magic is very powerful
indeed but the administrative skills of the magicians are lamentably
poor (so that running the world isn't an option), or if you accept
that the writer wants to bolt on a world of wizards onto present-day
society and culture and geography, just out of sight from us,
regardless of plausibility.
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