Skip to main content

Just for pretends

It's honestly something I never even thought about before we got Konan.  But I've seen him do it a couple times now.  He has an imagination.  He'll take one of his toys and pretend that it's either a playmate or prey or something.  He tosses it up in the air and barks at it.  He shies away from it as though it's posing a threat to him.  He attacks it.  It's quite entertaining to watch, and it taught me that animals do indeed have an imagination.  This is not a strictly human quality.

So, I decided to read about it.  Apparently they've done lots of studies about this.  A chimpanzee who has an imaginary pulltoy that gets stuck from time to time as she's pulling it behind her.  A gorilla who nurses her dolls and mediates pretend fights between them.  It's quite fascinating.

It leads me to ask other questions of the nature "What else do we have in common with animals?"  Do animals have a sense of humor?  Apparently gorillas do because that article mentions a gorilla pretending that she's a bird and that her caregiver is also a bird and then laughing when she finally admits it's not true.  What do animals dream about?  Apparently rats dream about the mazes they're forced to run through while they're awake.

It is quite apparent that animals are capable of empathy, just the same as humans are.  The other day, I was sitting on the ground not far from Konan and let out a dog whimper.  He looked at me with sincere concern, then gently trotted over and licked me reassuringly.  He cheered me up.  It was absolutely adorable.

In fact, it is apparent to me that sometimes animals can be more empathetic and moral than humans.  My dog feels bad for me when I'm sad, and he tries to cheer me up.  And indeed many humans do this with animals--with their own pets or with other animals that they might be interacting with.  However, many humans do not feel empathy toward animals.  For example, elephant trainers in the circus are very cruel to the elephants, whipping them and stabbing them if they do not perform as expected.  Bulls in the rodeo are prodded in the testicles to make them extra angry and wild while the cowboys try to ride them.

Having a pet (even though it's only been one week so far) has taught me much about myself and about humanity.  I think that as a species, we can learn much about how to be better by interacting more meaningfully with animals.  Observe them.  Note their behavior.  Feel empathy for them.  Understand them.

Comments

  1. So true.

    I didn't think I was a dog person until I had one. He taught me tons of things and somewhere (I'm sure Facebook) I read that a dog is the only being that loves you more than it loves itself--they're fascinating creatures!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Anyone is allowed to comment on this blog. As you can tell from reading my blog, I am very opinionated and I'm not afraid to share my opinion. You're welcome to disagree with me as mildly or vehemently as you like, but be aware that I will reply with my own opinions, very strongly. If you don't want that kind of open discussion, or you think it will hurt your feelings, then please avoid posting. I do try to be respectful, but my verbology often comes across as brusque.

Popular posts from this blog

Hitchens v god

I'm rather ashamed to admit that I just recently discovered Christopher Hitchens. And, while I normally add my own thoughts and commentary to videos when I post them here, in nearly every Hitchens video that I've encountered, I have not a single word to add. He is so articulate and does such a good job of presenting his case that I couldn't possibly add anything to it.  I would definitely be interested if any of my readers have any comments to make in regards to what Hitches says in this video. Enjoy.  

Do you really believe?

This is Richard Dawkin's talk from yesterday's Reason Rally in Washington DC.  He makes several good points, but the one that stuck out to me the most was when he told people that they should challenge someone when they say they're religious.  The example he gave is when someone says they're Catholic, ask them if they really  believe that when a priest blesses a wafer that it actually turns into the body of Christ, or that the wine actually turns into his blood.  So, this post will be dedicated to me asking any of my reader base who are religious, do you really  believe what your religions teach? For those who are Christian (any denomination thereof), Do you really believe every word of the Bible to be the word of god?  If so, read every word of the Bible and then come back and answer the question again. Do you really believe that a snake tricked Eve into eating fruit that made her suddenly unfit to live in the paradisiacal garden god had just made for her? Do y

Co-efficiently Co-related

 I'm a fairly reserved person. I don't open up easily to people. I tend to hold my hand close to my chest, hesitant to lay cards on the table. However there have been a few times in my life where I have had a heart-to-heart talk with someone and I find them to be very rewarding. I've been seeing a therapist for over a year now. One thing that I have decided over all the chats I've had with him is that the people I want to spend the most time with are the ones that I feel the closest to. I have many friends (I use the term "friends" more loosely than some, since to me the term "acquaintance" feels very odd) who are fun to interact with, but our interactions are sparse or superficial. I think it's perfectly fine to have these kinds of friendships--in fact, I think they can be very beneficial. But I have decided that for my own well-being, I will not be putting any measurable amount of emotional effort into such a friendship. I want to reserve that