Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
The Ningen, otherwise known as the Japanese Mermaids, are large underwater creatures of
legend.
While they are not believed to be particularly aggressive, they have reportedly scared the
pants off of countless sailors over the years.
Many believe that sightings of the Ningen are cases of mistaken identity, with sailors
seeing other sea creatures in the dark and thinking them to be something more mysterious.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
What if the Ningen really existed?
Let’s explore.
If you want more What If videos, check out our “Biggest What Ifs” playlist on the
channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What if the Ningen were Real?
Of course, as an English speaker, my clumsy Canadian tongue has trouble with some Japanese
words.
I’ll do my best, but feel free to mock me in the comments down below.
The story of the Ningen began where so many often do: on an internet forum.
A tale was posted to 2channel, a popular Japanese online forum, which claimed that members of
a whale research ship caught sight of a large creature that surfaced near their ship off
the coast of Antarctia.
It was 20 to 30 metres long, completely white, and a humanoid shape including arms and legs.
Since then, there have been numerous sightings of such a creature, and while depictions vary
somewhat, they tend to describe a similar being.
Some supposed photographs of the creatures have surfaced, but upon further inspection,
none have been deemed to be convincing.
However, despite the lack of hard evidence, people continue to believe, with many claiming
that the evidence once existed, but was covered up by the government.
These people claim that the government uses a chemical compound produced by the creature
for medical or military purposes.
One rather popular photograph that has been circulated seems to depict the Ningen walking
on two legs, leading some to believe that they would actually be able to walk on land.
Of course, this photo looks suuuuuuuper fishy, no pun intended, but for the purposes of this
video, we’ll pretend that this is proof that the Ningen could walk on land.
Great, now we know what the Ningen are; but what would happen if these creatures actually
existed?
Well, unlike most sea creatures we’ve discussed here on LBQ, the Ningen likely wouldn’t
pose too much of a problem for humanity.
Stories of the Ningen don’t tell of them attacking, which would imply that they are
either benevolent, or ambivalent towards us.
Sailors might have a spooky experience now and then, but our relationship with the sea
wouldn’t change too much.
Furthermore, based on the humanoid appearance of the Ningen, many believe that they could
be fairly intelligent.
The similar shape could indicate a shared ancestry, which might mean that they would
have brains comparable to our own.
If we were able to communicate with them, and build a rapport, there’s a good chance
that we could figure out a sort of symbiotic relationship with them.
They could possibly dive deeper than us, and could tell us all about life under the sea.
Maybe they would even do it through song!
Of course, when people learned of these awesome beasts, everyone would want to see them.
To this end, it’s possible that we could coordinate times for them to surface and perhaps
interact with spectators.
Of course, we wouldn’t want to make them uncomfortable or take advantage of them, but
if they were into it, humanity certainly would be as well.
It’s possible that we could convince them to do it by making them an offer they couldn’t
refuse.
No no no, not like The Godfather.
I mean a good offer.
Like Netflix.
And Pizza.
Of course, it’s hard to say what exactly they might desire from us, but a few possibilities
come to mind.
It could be that they would enjoy humanity’s cuisine, considering they probably don’t
have a whole lot of spices in the ocean.
It could be that they would come to appreciate aspects of human culture, such as music or
art.
With enough time, if they were to understand English, they could even come to appreciate
film and television.
Who knows, maybe we would even create works specifically for the Ningen.
This could allow them to live a life of more leisure, appreciating the nicer things in
life, rather than simply living to survive underwater.
Perhaps we would help them to build environments such that they could take advantage of these
things, with underwater TVs, radios, and the like.
It’s even possible that they would want to join us on land, in which case we could
build containment suits to allow them to remain for extended periods.
Based on the Antarctica pictures, they do seem to be able to walk on land, so this doesn’t
seem like too much of a stretch.
Of course, given their incredible size, the Ningen wouldn’t be able to live in normal
human cities.
However, we could build a city or cities specifically for them, with stronger infrastructure and
larger buildings.
Of course, it would be best to build these cities on the coast, so they have access to
the ocean if they need it, but it could be very useful in improving Ningen-human relations.
Considering they would likely require low temperatures, they would need to live somewhere
very cold, perhaps even Antarctica, although temperature control could be worked into the
containment suit as well.
Wherever they ended up living, it would become one of the greatest tourist attractions on
Earth.
However, it would be important to limit visitors and their actions, since the Ningen would
likely not want to be on display throughout their lives.
Like students at the Milford academy, human visitors would strive to be neither seen nor
heard.
And now we return to our question: What if the Ningen were Real?
Well, unlike other sea monsters, the Ningen probably wouldn’t pose much of a threat
to us, since they tend not to attack humans.
However, people would come from far and wide to see these creatures I they were real.
It could be that we would begin communicating with them, and start a relationship between
our species.
It’s even possible that they would wish to move onto land, at least partially, and
perhaps live a life of more luxury.
We could come to an arrangement, where they tell us about the ocean, and share their knowledge,
while we share ours in return, and provide comforts on land.
In the words of Rick Blaine Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions,
I hope this was interesting and informative, and maybe even inspired you to look into it
further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know if you think the Ningen are actually real, and
what you’d do if you encountered one.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.