they are hylics. you can keep questioning yourself all the time about this, why they have fish tier memory? why do they can't see something so obvious? why are they cruel? why do they behave in painfully retarded ways? why are they so addicted to vices when it harms them and others? everything you'll question will lead to more noticing of their behavior and more questions. unless you truly understand that only some are in a different state than them, and that they are hylics, then nothing will make sense for you. you'll probably be trying to find scientific or psychological explanations which have the same depth as a car trying to understand its own basic engines, aka bullshit.

interesting