Mermaids

[Gryffindork]

I believe mermaids exist. (how anybody can mistake a dugong for a beautiful woman is beyond me) What I want to hear is why/why not you think/don't think they exist. Fire away!

[kayla1234]

No, a fish would have to crossbreed with a human no? Thats gross, and impossible. And it'd have to be a pretty damn big fish! ;D

[Jocelyn.]

Well if they do somehow exist, they sure as hell wouldn't look anything like this:



I really don't see how it'd be possible for it to look human, let alone like a beautiful woman. It'd have to have gills of some sort over a nose. I'd imagine it'd be pretty ugly if it even resembled a human at all.

If they were something like a whale or dolphin, then they'd have to come up for air. Meaning there is no way we haven't seen one yet in present day.

Not to mention, I'd find it really hard to believe that none have washed up dead on shore somewhere.

So, basically, no. I'm pretty sure mermaids don't exist.

[JKmadu619]

ball&chain: Only within the last hundred years have we discovered all islands and land. This occupies 20% of the world. How many more before we discover the other 80%? Giant squids were only recently washed up on shore. Hell in the gulf of mexico some octopus was discovered by a submarine.

That being said I do not believe in them. Pirates were often drunk or high, and I cannot say many modern sailors aren't the same. I mean it just goes with the job.

That or maybe they are just messing with you. When people first arrived in canada, old settlers made up stories about massive monsters that killed people just to scare the new guys, and testified until they died that it was true. Like I said, the sea is the last frontier, it's possible it's a joke.

- Justin

[QuantumModulus]

Originally Posted by Gryffindork

What I want to hear is why/why not you think/don't think they exist. Fire away!

The burden of proof lies on the one making the affirmative claim. Your move.

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

I'm not sure why people believe mermaids exist, my guess is old stories from drunken sailors or pirates, combined with poor visibility. Scientifically, people have "gill arches" but the name is misleading since they're not true gills like a fish has, they're more like slits. The only "mermaid" that could exist is a person who has sirenomelia (aka Mermaid Syndrome), however, I doubt that was a reason people initially started thinking mermaids were real. How would they excrete?

In my opinion, they're fairy-tales, nothing more. Biologically, they would not be so pretty, the skin would be wrinkled like a prune unless they had scales on their upper-body as well. They would also need some way to breath, so in all likelihood, they would have true gills and may also have lungs, as some animals have both.

Finally, the important question, how would a mermaid first come to exist?

Originally Posted by Gryffindork

I believe mermaids exist. (how anybody can mistake a dugong for a beautiful woman is beyond me) What I want to hear is why/why not you think/don't think they exist. Fire away!

I'm not sure if you've completely thought this through because you need to provide some evidence or rationale for their alleged existence. Saying you believe they exist and asking people to comment is rather mindless because the important issue is not simply if they exist but why people think they exist or don't exist.

[BDF]

They exist. I saw one.