"Gorilla Until Proven Human"

"Gorilla Until Proven Human" proved to be one of the most difficult and frustrating party concepts in a while. The name sums it up pretty well: only those who can prove that they are human are recognized as such, while those who either have not or can not prove their humanity are assumed to be gorillas. This idea is taken in whole cloth from the "innocent until proven guilty" precept of the criminal justice system of the United States.

Criteria for one's humanity was not chosen before the party began. A small oversight, but it turns out that this is a tremendously complex qualification with many equally legitimate points of view. In short, what is gorilla to one may be human to another, and vice versa. Small ontological eruptions broke out very quickly; whiskey only fanned these sparks into a roaring flame.

Additionally, there was an unexpected psychological angle that was not even considered until a few folks who did not meet the qualifications for "human" decided that, since they were deemed to be gorillas, they would act as gorillas. Humorous, to be sure, but this caused a schism in the room between confirmed gorillas and confirmed humans. By coincidence or some unknown "gorilla factor," the known-gorillas were possessed of greater-than-average strength and cruelty. The known-humans were subjected to surprise "jungle locks" (simply a choke hold) throughout the night, and every unwatched drink belonging to a human immediately went missing. The hosts eventually instituted a "no grabbing" rule, but many drinks were still compromised in anger.

As the party went into the early morning, an epistemological shock wave moved through the crowd; only humans have the high-level intellect to determine human from non-human! No humans existed at the beginning of the party, according to the premise, "Gorilla Until Proven Human." Therefore, if there are no humans present to do the judging, no judgments could be made. All human/gorilla judgments made earlier in the night were thus invalidated; all present were gorillas. A few who were previously determined to be humans tried in vain to keep their title but were quickly browbeaten by the massive gorilla contingent. It got sad fast. Everyone left feeling worse than they came.