I’m certainly not alone in wondering what the response might be to certain peculiar human customs if, say, an extraterrestrial were to show up. Here’s one I think about more often than I’d like to:
“So, once a year you slaughter a six to eight year old infant megaflora, display its corpse prominently in your domicile as it weeps vital fluids from its wounds, festoon it with shiny baubles and illuminants until it begins to desiccate and disintegrate, and after only a short time you discard its decaying hulk…
“And this is meant as a symbol of the triumph over death and everlasting life?”