Right on, Amos, it's a decidedly silly question! But it can spawn some interesting chitchat, can't it?

It's like a fish posing the question "Where is the ocean?" :-) Some atheistic fish assert that in fact there is no ocean...or if there is it happened by some fortuitous accident. Seriously atheistic fish assert that the ocean is "dead", implying that it was alive once, but has now lost relevance. (Due to human industrial and commercial activities, this may well be the case in a fairly short time.) Religiously fanatical fish assert that their particular ocean (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, etc...) is the ONLY ocean, and that fish who believe in other oceans are going to hell or some other nasty punishment like that.

A more enlightened fish might come to the conclusion that he himself is part of the ocean, as are all other fish, and that the ocean is within him as well as outside him, and that furthermore it is not susceptible to bribery ( {"Oh, please, Great Ocean, just do this one thing for me and I'll never overeat again..."), favoritism ("Help me to kill those bad fish in the other lagoon!") or emotional blackmail ("If I don't win the lottery this time, I'm through with you!") Still, it provides all the basics of life in a most generous fashion...from a fish's point of view.

- LH