This is little more than a single amusing mental image, rather than a full essay, but it still tare than a sentence or two to express it.

The basic idea is that by some genetic quirk a barnacle ( we'll call him Barney ) is born with a slightly more than the average IQ of most other barnacles, and a LOT more of the inclination to use that intelligence to figure out what the hell is going on around him. In fact, and in certain ways at least, this particular barnacle is, within that narrow range of philosophic endeavor, a genius among barnacles . In some ways perhaps he followsin the tradition of the the wisest of his species, and is certainly more given to thinking than the overwhelmingly greaternumberof his brethren.

Anyhow, he ponders mightily upon many things, not the least of theseponderingsbeing theobservationthat other barnacles don't. By which I mean they don't ponder very much, and when they do ponder it is almost always about how they might gain some advantage for themselves over one or more other little barnacles. When they do bother to think at all, one of the things they think is that Barney is more than a little odd for thinking so much. Quite a significant portion of his time and effort is thus spent coping with their incessant insistence that he be completely different than what he was born to be. In other words, be like them and do like them and stop wasting his time with all of that THINKING, for gawds sake.

In any case he has little choice in the matter, because no matter what else he attempts, and no matter how he strives to pass himself off as just another barnacle, he just can't stop thinking about stuff. Clickita clickita clickita (sounds of mental machinery working away day and night .)

And as he thinks, he thinks that things aren't going as well for barnacles as they should be. He sees doom looming on the near horizon, not only for himself, but for the place he calls home, and for all of his kindred monovalves. He tries to warn, but none listen. He tries to prepare, but preparation for extinctions seems pointless. Eventually he sees it ALL. The clarity of thisRevelationisEpiphanous,complete, and with it comes both peace, and a laugh that takes quite some time to subside.

The epiphany is simply this. He is, after all, just a barnacle, as firmly nestled and attached to the hull of a great vessel (which as fate would have it, happens to be the Titanic ) as all the rest, and although he might have done this or that differently during the brief period that is the life span of a barnacle, at least he had spent the time doing something interesting.