# Does every sufficently advanced civilization have a Pac-Man?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 14, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373 "2018-04-14T02:09:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373/21 "2018-04-16T15:34:13Z")

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> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> That assumes they have a jaw.

Yeah - I guess it would make no sense to a civilisation where the dominant forms of life ingest sustenance through sucking mouthparts, or are photosynthetic, or consume their prey by smashing it to pulp and sitting on it, or eat using hundreds of tiny mouths, or whatever.

Mouths will be fairly common amongst alien fauna, and gaping jaws are an obvious way to implement a mouth, but they won’t be universal.

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373/22 "2018-04-16T16:32:34Z")

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I would argue that any civilization that doesn’t have a Pac-Man is insufficiently advanced.

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373/23 "2018-04-16T21:13:07Z")

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Let’s just say that all advanced civilizations have a version of Pac-Man. OK.

Then, the question becomes, “Then why do **we** have a version of Pac-Man too?”

😃

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373/24 "2018-04-16T22:01:21Z")

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Whoa, heavy!

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sufficently-advanced-civilization-have-a-pac-man/812373/25 "2018-04-17T05:49:36Z")

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One thing I used to wonder - is the creature on the sign of the (now-defunct) UK roadside restaurant chain [Happy Eater](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=happy+eater+sign&rlz=1C1CAFA_enGB789GB789&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwif9Pf8zcDaAhUKyqQKHQq0AaYQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=615&dpr=1.5), a species of Pac-Man?

(the other thing I wondered, more or less at the same time, was why a restaurant sign would depict a character sticking its finger down its own throat)

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