• Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    Okay the idea that animals are somehow just mindless automatons that have zero idea of what is happening… that’s a take all right.

    A take that would send people who study animal cognition into a binge drinking session.

      • nikaaa@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        The animal and human dichotomy seems mostly religious in nature.

        Agreed, and interestingly, it can be interpreted in one of two ways:

        • Religion says that animals and humans are different.
        • Religion is the difference between humans and other animals, i.e. other animals don’t have religion.

        I guess both are true.

    • kandoh@reddthat.com
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      4 months ago

      They’re not mindless, they have feelings and instincts, they can remember things.

      But they don’t have language, so they can’t organize their thoughts. They’re like humans who were born blind and deaf before Helen Keller.

      How does an animal know sex leads to pregnancy? They don’t, they’re just horny or they aren’t.

      • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        4 months ago

        But they don’t have language

        Ant… pheromones? Whale song? Whatever crows do to remember peoples faces they haven’t seen.

        Not every animal is as sophisticated as we are, but communication in general is pretty integral to herd survival strategy.

        How does an animal know sex leads to pregnancy?

        We’re not… different. We have schools and parents and movies we aren’t supposed to see yet that tell us it does.

        • kandoh@reddthat.com
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          4 months ago

          We’re not… different. We have schools and parents and movies we aren’t supposed to see yet that tell us it does.

          Exactly, humans are animals. They’re just really good with language.

          I’m not disrespecting animals, I love animals. I’m just pointing out that a bear in the woods isn’t thinking "Since I am a heterosexual bear, I am not going to rub my penis on that other bears ass because I see it’s a boy bear and that would be gay. I am only interested in sex if it means babies will be made!’

          • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            4 months ago

            Oh, for sure. I don’t imagine bears have the same cultural understanding of sex, however complex that may be, that people do.

            bear in the woods isn’t thinking “Since I am a heterosexual bear, I am not going to rub my penis on that other bears ass because I see it’s a boy bear and that would be gay. […]”

            I do think this might be overly simplistic, though. The tendency for a bear to “be gay” by our standards might manifest differently, but it would still be an observable behavior, no?

    • Auli@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      Sure but they are thinking of surviving. It’s lie us why do we have these conversations because we have the luxury to. If we where fighting for survival these discussions wouldn’t be happening.