The Unknown

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if fish ruled the world? Would the world be full of water, instead of air? Would fish go to the human store to pick out their favorite people, go home and put them in a bowl of oxygen? Would we only be able to remember things for a few short seconds? (1)


Inside my fish tank at home, there are nineteen fish... living in 16 gallons of water. (2) But they don't know that their life is merely a form of entertainment to us. They don't realize that the world is actually bigger than 16 gallons of water. And they definitely don't understand that the shipwreck and pirate skeleton that they swim around hundreds of times each day is always going to be there, and they are never going to remember it.


These fish swim under a glass ceiling. (3) They'll never go farther than being a pet, swimming in 16 gallons of water, or realize that the plants that they share space with in their habitat don't actually produce oxygen.


Of course, a world ruled by fish with humans as their pets is ludicrous. But isn't it a little more possible than we would think? A fish's environment is much more similar to our world than meets the eye. For example, there's a pretty extensive, complicated ecosystem in there... full of micro-organisms and little bacteria, all of which are necessary for survival. (4) Conditions in the fish tank have to be next to perfect for things to run smoothly. If a tank's temperature is one or two degrees too low, the fish will all develop a highly contagious fungus commonly referred to as "Ick" and die off. (5,6) As for the fish themselves, they all come from different parts of the world, eat different foods, behave differently around others, mate, and are colored differently. Is it possible that racism is a highly controversial topic inside the tank, as it is outside of the tank? It is surely possible that the fish idolize he who feeds them everyday... thinking of that person as a god of some sort. Could they have different religions? Maybe the fish in each tank actually believe that their tank is, in fact, the world.


At the same time, it's shockingly possible to think that maybe we aren't the rulers of the world that we think we are. What if the world we live in is actually a mere "bowl of oxygen," placed here by something else, something higher?


I wish I could take credit for thinking of something so outside-the-box, but the reality is that this is Plato's theory. As insane as it is, nobody could really debate that it isn't possible. But nobody would take this concept seriously... Myself included. Because as humans, we're pretty closed minded. Even though none of us could debate this being possible, we'll ignore it anyway.

This illustration, made to better communicate the idea of Plato's Cave, could be a lot closer to our world than you think. Those prisoners, chained and forced to look at the shadows on the wall, could be all of us. Those shadows, our false reality. The area outside of this dark cave could be the area outside of the world that none of us are sure that exists.

What a freaky thought... everything that we've ever been comfortable with could be wrong. We really have no way of knowing. Doesn't the unknown drive you crazy?

1. Personally, I might already have a shorter memory than any given fish. Ask Molly if you don't believe me!

2. Crowded to say the least, when you consider that the general rule of thumb when putting fish into a tank is one inch of fish per gallon...

3. That was meant figuratively... but they do actually live under a glass ceiling...

4. I'd like to thank Petmart for providing me with an intense knowledge of fish. And Ciera, for letting everybody know it.

5. This is a bit like global warming... six degrees changes everything, Bitch!

6. It is also not good for beer pong balls to be cleaned in a fish bowl. Apparently, goldfish don't like a 60 degree apartment filled with beer. *Cough, cough, JOE!*