Some Burmese sages imply that pretension is a characteristic of a human being and that lack of pretension is a marked trait of animals. People who do not pretend are like animals, so they say. Believers of some religions think that animals are created as food sources or beasts of burden for human beings. Others believe that some bad human beings are destined to be reborn as animals. When Daw Phyu was four years old, she was convinced that she could be reborn as a farm cow to work for her debtors if she did not pay back all what she owed or all what she had borrowed. Like many, Daw Phyu used to think that animals have no intelligence, no rational facilities, so emotion, no culture and worse of all no regards for any social taboos (because males have sexual intercourses with their close relatives).
Thanks to the words of these sages regarding the concept of “pretension”, Daw Phyu has been thinking a lot about her own duplicity as a human trait. She has been frank with some people whom she wants to hurt deliberately. That is very naughty of her and she knows that. On these occasions, she boasts that she cannot tell lies. Yet, she has knowingly told so many lies, including this and even rather outrageous ones on many occasions. She has frequently hidden herself behind a motley of facemasks while silently laughing at those who were unable to see even her exposed eyes. On many occasions, she cowardly claimed to have no knowledge of some facts when questioned in order to avoid complication. Here, in contradiction to her tendency to be frank to those whom she likes to hurt, she describe her deceptive skills as desirable social skills, a clever use of diplomacy, discretion or simple tact. Yet she does not want to be viewed as being deceitful or dishonest or scheming. Most of all, she does not want herself to be called a criminal, a liar, a cheat, a swindler, a fake, a counterfeiter, a bogus or a sham. Well, still then, she knows what she is up to all the time. She is full of twists and turns although she says she is not proud of herself. She says, like the others, she is only a human being after all.
Intelligence, emotion, complex social rules and something like pretension are not unique to human beings. Animals are now known to possess them. Yes, they do pretend. Male insects of some species pretend to be females so that they could take the offerings from other males in exchange for sex from females. Some animals pretend to be dead when they face being attacked. Some birds, which normally paired for life are now known to cheat on their lifelong partners.
The word “pretence” or “pretension” has many connotations: “representation”, “acting”, “imitating”, “mimicking”, “aping”, “copying”, “faking”, “lying” and “cheating”.
On many shameful occasions, Daw Phyu pretends to be cleverer than she is. That is what she is doing precisely at the moment _ writing this blog to impress the others with what little she knows! However she cannot plagiarize other works and pretend that these brilliant masterpieces are hers. This is unlawful. She may like to act the role of a policewoman in film and on a stage if she is paid a million dollar. This is acting. However, she could not imagine herself to pretend to be a policewoman with an intention to deceive someone even if she were paid several millions by a criminal syndicate; that (impersonation) is a statutory offence under all national laws and a forbidden act under the natural law. Some acts of pretension are relatively less harmful and less evil; but some are harmful, evil and most importantly unlawful. At the same time, Daw Phyu has reached a conclusion that she cannot attack people who do not want to pretend at all and she cannot label them simply as “animals” in the sense that they are sub-human beings.
