Why Dinosaurs never wrote anything down

“I hate these small arms.”

“Me, too. And having such a large head, with my eyes four feet in front of short arms sure doesn’t help either.”

“Whoever invented the keyboard should be sent to hell.”

"So should whatever cruel idiot who came up with post it notes."

“Agreed.”

“Well, since we can’t write…want to go kill a plant eater.”

“Good idea.” 

Now we begin to find out two things: Why Dinosaurs never wrote anything down.  AND: How stories are everywhere. Bet you never (or- at least rarely) ever wondered why Dinosaurs never left journals behind- if they could, what a story that would be. 

So let’s learn a bit about how to write…well, a story. Even one as improbable as this one. 

As you may well know, Dinosaurs ruled the Earth for well over a hundred  fifty million years. That, is a fairly long time. We (Homo sapiens)  have been here roughly (depending on how flexible your source is) 300,000 years. Modern Humans (meaning us) well, roughly 200,000 years and 97% of that History is “pre-history.”  Meaning we have no record of what went on…only guesses by Archeologists and their findings. 

But then, about the Fourth Millennium BCE - we found a way to write stuff down. Writing matured from just lists, maybe some early form of bookkeeping , and the writing down of “Laws.” It branched out into telling stories. Some of those stories were about Gods, others about Kings, still others about Myths, and Legends. Writing continued to grow, mature, develop. 

And then it did something unexpected…it gave us a way to keep knowledge from being lost, including the History of entire Civilizations. Just three centuries ago…well, Science launched itself into a frenzy of writing. The first Science Writing was unbelievable to the average person of the day. Gravity, Cells, Biology, Mathematics, even the Universe itself (Planets, Stars, Comets, and the First Galaxy) all of those were being written about…and people were stunned. Water is made of two gasses?  Air is ninety nine percent Nitrogen and Oxygen- with another 18 or so trace gasses. And this brain burner: The Earth is not the center of the Solar System, let alone the center of the our Galaxy. It is also not even close to be the center of our Universe. 

So Science Writing dominated for a few centuries…and then, because Humans love to tell stories (which is really the basic drive behind most writing…and Authors) Science Fiction stepped into play a mere one hundred and fifty years ago. Give or take a few decades. 

Writing went from a few marks in clay, or a bit later, various inks on Vellum, Parchment, and later…paper- to just keyboard inputs translating “Zeros” and “Ones” into a magic bit of sand (silicon chips) displayed on a Monitor as: Writing. The Word Processor was born. 

All of this, in just the last five thousand years…or so. 

So…how come Dinosaurs, with a 150 times the time on Earth we have had…didn’t develop some fort of Writing? After all, just like just they were both predator…and prey. And that makes you very smart, very quick. 

But they just couldn’t make the breakthrough. 

We don’t know much about them, other than some fossil evidence, some climate studies, and that last big punch from a giant rock from outer space. Had any of them survived that event, I am sure that we would be reading the Number One Best Selling Book of all Dinosaur Literature: “ The Giant Rock from Outer Space.” And it would top the Non Fiction list for millennia. 

Alas, it was never written. Nor was the giant epic poem about the dark days when their birth land - Pangaea…broke apart. Giving rise to two new continents: Laurasia and Gondwanaland. Oh the stories that could be told about that Epic period of Dinosaur History. 

The forbidden Love Story, where a hapless teenage T Rex, falls in love with a plant eating triceratops. And you thought it was hard on poor Romeo and Juliet. Or maybe about the first brave dinosaurs to venture onto land…oh so long ago. Only to have to brave going back into the sea and become giants of the marine Kingdom. 

You missed all those stories. The Giant Fires, the Big Freeze, the Splitting of Contents, the formation of giant mountains. None of those stories exist as bits and pieces of some form of Writing by the Dinosaurs. 

Why?

Because they couldn’t write. But why? They had giant brains. Well, not all of them. Some of the biggest had a brain small enough to put in a modern Squirrel. And some were so big and stupid that they were dead for hours before they knew they had died. What would a Dinosaur think about that situation? And if they were a good Writer (In Dinosaurian) they would certainly have used it as either a plot point, or to savage a character they thought up. 

I think they didn’t write for two reasons. Their short arms. And their Large heads.  As you heard the two dinosaurs talking in the opening of this story…they could hold paper and pen, but they couldn’t see what they wrote.  They could reach a keyboard…but no way in heck, could they see what they were typing. Not being able to write your thoughts down, and then type them on a keyboard…must have been a barrier they just couldn’t break. 

If you are Human, be very glad that you can see your hands in front of you at all times, and you can watch what they are doing. It is the reason you read "Harry Potter", and she wrote it. You don’t think Dinosaurs believed in Magic? We came up with it in five thousand years…they had millions. I bet their Magic Stories would be way better than ours. 

In fact, there is another idea for a story. What kind of belief systems, mythologies, and historical figures would a dinosaur feature in its literature. Would they have slurs like : “Plant Eater,” “Snake Neck,” and “Chomppers” ? Or maybe something to tease the predators like: “Snaggle Tooth,” “Meat Breath,” maybe even: “Big head, no brain.” 

Dinosaurs couldn’t write. We know that. 

But you can. You think you don’t have any stories to tell. I just told one that can’t happen…dinosaurs can’t write. But their story could be told. By you. Because when you can write, nobody but you can write like you. It is your story to tell. So tell it. Maybe it is real life. Maybe it is a Mystery Story. Maybe a Romance Novel. Maybe it is poetry. Or Science fiction.  It could be anything you want it to be. 

Why?

For three reasons: Your eyes can see your hands; you can see what you wrote on paper, or typed on a keyboard.  That is the first reason. 

The second reason is, you have a brain and imagination- or knowledge. So Fiction, Non Fiction, or both…are open to you. 

The third reason should be obvious. 

You…are not…a dinosaur.