Scientific Speculation And An Artistic Convention

In Is There Life On Other Worlds?, Poul Anderson speculates about the emergence of life and intelligence. Neither is inevitable. However, when life has become firmly established on a planetary surface, it moves in every possible direction. Thus, whereas overspecialized species become extinct when climatic change destroys their ecological niche, more active, alert and adaptable animals can change their behavior in response to environmental alterations and thus have a chance not only to learn the use of fire and tools but also to become linguistic and intelligent. Suppose this had happened to one or more other species? In Anderson's "In Memoriam," after the extinction of humanity, some rats approach intelligence and some octopodidae achieve it.

A proto-dog that became intelligent would not wind up looking like a cartoon talking dog, standing upright with recognizable hands instead of paws on its forelimbs, wearing jacket, shirt, tie etc, smoking cigarettes, playing snooker, speaking in a Bronx accent etc! Nevertheless, this artistic convention suggests not only an alternative history but also an entire alternative evolution.

Despite Poul Anderson's comprehensive coverage of history and the universe, I sometimes speculate about themes that he did not address. The nineteenth century French illustrator, JJ Grandville, drew clothed anthropomorphic animals satirizing French society. Bryan Talbot has written and drawn a series of graphic fictions/comic strips set in a Grandville timeline where human beings have evolved but are socially inferior to lions, badgers, dogs etc. Imagine if Anderson had tackled this idea in a novel.