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The Thinker
One day a planet is discovered out Antares way whose sole
inhabitant is
an enormous humanoid, three miles high and made of granite. At
first it is
mistaken for an immense statue left by some vanished race of
giants, for it
squats motionless on a yellow plain, exhibiting no outward sign
of life. It
has legs, but it never rises to walk on them. It has a mouth, but
never eats
or speaks. It has what appears to be a perfectly functional
brain, the size
of a condominium, but the organ lies dormant, electrochemical
activity at a
standstill. Yet it lives. This puzzles the hell out of the
scientists, who
try everything they can think of to get some sign of life from
the
behemoth--in vain. It just squats, motionless and seemingly
thoughtless,
until one day a xenobiologist, frustrated beyond endurance,
screams, "How
could evolution give legs, mouth and brain to a creature that
doesn't use
them?"
It happens that he's the first one to ask a direct question in
the
thing's presence. It rises with a thunderous rumble to its full
height,
scattering the clouds, thinks for a second, booms, "IT
COULDN'T, " and squats
down again.
"My god," exclaims the xenobiologist, "of
course! It only stands to
reason!
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