Haha, yes it's a puzzler, isn't it! Luckily I've worked it out. Let's look at a cross-section of a human brain and that of a halibut, side by side and roughly to scale…
See what happens when we focus on the areas devoted to catching fish and to being caught? Though the halibut's brain is teeny compared to ours, all of its brain is devoted to cunning. Since humans have a few more things to do than that – walking to the shops, grumbling about chickens, to name but a couple – we can only devote a comparatively tiny portion to the art of angling. And that's why.
Of course, my brain looks more like this:
See, half my brain focuses on catching fish – and that's why I'm so good at it.
[SINCE SO MUCH OF YOUR BRAIN IS DEVOTED TO FISHING, DOESN'T THAT MEAN YOU LACK BRAIN-POWER IN OTHER AREAS? – ED.]
Erm. See, half my brain focuses on catching fish – and that's why I'm so good at it.
[LET ME REPEAT THE QUESTION: SINCE SO MUCH OF YOUR BRAIN IS DEVOTED TO FISHING, DOESN'T THAT MEAN YOU LACK BRAIN-POWER IN OTHER AREAS? – ED.]
I don't follow.
[I DOUBTED THAT YOU WOULD. LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION. WHAT IS 15 × 6? – ED.]
Eleventy seven? Threety none?
[AS I SUSPECTED. WHAT'S THE NAME OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF GREAT BRITAIN? – ED.]
Wilbur?
[IF I HAVE THREE BISCUITS AND YOU HAVE ONE, WHO HAS THE MOST BISCUITS? – ED.]
Has Wilbur been stealing my biscuits?
[I THINK WE'LL LEAVE IT THERE – ED.]
