THE LOOP — For six days, Thomas Thwaites gave up life as a human so he could live like a goat.
And he's hoofing it to Chicago this week to tell the tale.
Thwaites, 35, said his life was unfulfilled working freelance design projects in his native London.
So he ditched life on two legs last year for one on all fours.
"This idea of turning yourself into a non-human animal is kind of an ancient dream of human being," Thwaites said. "It just kind of caught my mind."
Thwaites went to the Swiss Alps and put together special prostheses so he could walk on four limbs. He made a special belly he could spit grass into. He underwent electroshock therapy to disrupt his ability to speak.
And it worked. Thwaites believes he was accepted by the herd.
"Being on kind of the same eye level is a very interesting shift. If you're not looking down you're certainly not bigger than them anymore," Thwaites said. "Quite instinctively you can work out what would be a dominant thing and a submissive thing."
The study won Thwaites a book deal and a spoof Nobel prize from Harvard University last week. He's done interviews with media around the world for living like a goat — a new fame Thwaites admits is conflicting.
"I don't want to be known as 'Goat Man' the rest of my life," Thwaites said. "It's bizarre going on quite mainstream programs about trying to become a goat."
So what did he learn?
"I suppose I found it leveling," Thwaites said. "If we don't recognize we're not irrational animals you can get carried away with your own myth."
He'll speak at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 37 S. Wabash Ave. The event is free of charge.
Thwaites said he's already been contacted by Hollywood execs and others who want to make his story into a show. He's heading to a design festival in France soon to talk about living like a goat.
So after all this, which does he prefer: life as a goat or human?
"Definitely human life," Thwaites said. "It's nice. We have beer and stuff."
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