Commander's Log - day 31

Lt Col  (*&33%2@
Commander of the Research vessel Fuel Hunter X878

Notes:

We have been on this planet for 30 or so revolutions and have already found much about the dominant species here that is both  interesting and annoying.   Earthlings have developed fairly advanced fabrications and construction techniques, and yet they are primitive in the way different tribes interact with each other.

We wander among them unnoticed.  We have learned that the most invisible disguise is to shape as what they call "homeless." [Note: Unlike our planet, where we are assigned to clean and warm dwellings by lottery, humans are expected to build their own home, or pay money to live in an existing building.

The First Mate Gathering Info

Yes, I know this is silly, but hey, don't shoot the messenger, I am only reporting the facts.  Apparently, although most individuals posses  relative wealth, the luckiest individuals, to whom much has simply fallen into their hands, believe that they are entitled to a larger share of the wealth.

Humans who have misfortune, mental illness or addictions  are forced to wander the streets panhandling or stealing to get money they need to eat.  Some kill others during robberies.  Homeless humans not prohibited from walking around asking strangers for money, which serves both our purposes of observation and our need to get samples of earth money.  A bonus is that no one looks too closely at them.  Double bonus, we have been able to get some local money from passersby, which we have been able to counterfeit in our 11-D printer.  Thus we haven't needed to kill anyone, yet. ]


Early wave scouts have been investigating "Music" for our report to home base.  This is the only planet we have encountered where the creatures employ sound as a form of entertainment.  Other lifeforms have developed audible speech or screeches or howls but most sound is always purposeful.  No species has developed anything more sophisticated than something rhythmic, resembling what earthlings call a "fart sound".

But here we are gobsmacked to hear tones of exquisite beauty and harmony.  These are all words I have learned this week from accessing Wikipedia, which we think is the repository of all knowledge to humans..  ("Gob-smacked" is a word that one island tribe uses to describe the state of being so surprised that one is speechless.)  

So we have found that there is something universal in humans that wants to make, and listen to  music.  This is not evident in other species or life forms.  A human child left alone in a room might pick up a stick or a spoon and start banging it rhythmically.  Where else do you find that type of behavior?

Some of the crew have become very interested in the sheer variety and richness of musical platforms, instruments and report a very pleasing effect on mental processes.  We have set-up audio equipment and are monitoring radio signals as well as obtaining stored data disks of which there are billions in use here.  Some of the crew has become quite fond of what is called classical music, and others have voiced preference for songs that tell a story, called folk or country music.  No one likes Opera or Rap.


More to follow....
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