Category: Animals

What Do We Owe Animals?

Humans live alongside animals of all kinds, and have a very complicated relationship with them. Do we owe anything to them?

The exact relationship we have with animals varies wildly depending on which ones we are talking about.

Some we have driven to extinction, or very near it. The once plentiful bison was overhunted, as was the passenger pigeon. The former, with protections, managed a population comeback after near extinction, but the latter was not so lucky.

Others have thrived living — willingly or not — alongside humans. Pets, like cats and dogs, have fared well. So have rats, which have lived in or near human civilizations since the introduction of agriculture.

As human populations have increased and spread out, we often inhabit land that used to be the home for various animals. Thus, you see odd videos of a moose walking down a street, or a bear entering a grocery store.

These interactions raise a question: what should the relationship be, between humans and animals? A predator could pose a danger to humans. People die each year in animal attacks. Animals can also spread disease, and it seems likely that the COVID pandemic started when a virus made the jump from bats to humans.

Of course, humans are animals too. And we are all part of a larger ecosystem, which has evolved over millions of years, with each species having a role to play. Changing or eliminating those roles can have significant impact on the web of life on the planet.

Beyond that, there is the ethical question: do animals deserve to be treated respectfully? And if the answer is yes, what does that look like? What happens when they inevitably come into conflict with humans?

Related questions: Do animals have rights? Does nature have rights? How are humans like other animals? How are they different? What do we owe the future?

Is More Knowledge Always Better?

Gaining knowledge is what has helped us succeed as a species. Are there circumstances, though, where ignorance is preferred?

Across the planet, different species fit a particular environmental niche. The native plants or animals tend to be adapted for the environment, to stay warm in cold temperatures, or have long necks to reach the tall trees, and so on.

Humans are, on paper, a middling species, at best. We’re not the strongest, or the fastest. By almost every measure, there is some other type of life form that is better.

One of the few exceptions has to do with gaining and retaining knowledge. We puzzle out why things work the way they do. That has led to a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the world and how it works.

And once we learn something, we share it with others. We write it down, or speak it aloud as much and as far as we can. That combination, figuring stuff out and then telling everyone about it, has allowed our species to spread across the globe and thrive like few other animal species have.

Is knowledge, though, always a good thing? Once learned, it is not possible to unlearn something. Are there instances where knowing something is objectively, or subjectively, a bad thing?

For example, would we be better off not knowing how to make atomic weapons that could destroy the world several times over? On a more personal level, does it serve any benefit to learn that your co-worker makes significantly more money than you do? Or that your partner cheated on you years ago?

Can you think of things, from your own life or your imagination, where you have regretted learning something? Is more knowledge always a good thing?

Related questions: Does knowledge have inherent value? What can you learn from loss? Is faster better?

How Are We Interconnected?

Deep passions can serve to divide us, including politics, religion, race, and others. And yet, we are all interconnected. In what ways?

While it might seem that there are seemingly endless ways to be different from one another, in reality we all depend and rely on each other. This is true despite our beliefs, biology, or background.

It might be tempting to think that you have little in common with a neighbor who votes for a different political party than you. And yet, you are both part of the same community. Everyone has a role to play in that community to make sure it works for us all.

Maybe you pray to a different divine being than someone in another country. You might not even speak the same language, literally. But we all live on the same planet, under the same sun, moon, and stars.

Surely you are drastically different from a member of another species! Maybe one is a mammal, and the other is a plant, or perhaps an insect. Yet, we are all part of the same ecosystem.

When so much seems to divide us, it can be helpful to think instead about all the things we have in common. And even if we lack commonalities, we are interconnected in many different ways.

What are some of the ways you are connected to the person across the street? Across the country? What ties you to the animals that visit your backyard at night? What about the fleas that live on those animals? Or the water in the ocean? How are we interconnected?

Related questions: How are humans like other animals? How are they different? What do we have in common? How do you strengthen a connection with someone?

 

What Does Your Pet Think Of You?

We know so little about our own consciousness, let alone that of animals. Which leads to the question: what does your pet think of you?

Animals in general, and pets in particular, clearly have some level of thought. They can learn some basic tricks, and many of them respond to their name. They exhibit feelings, at times being happy, or sad, or angry.

Some pets have even learned a rudimentary way of talking. By programming a number of buttons that say a particular word when pressed, the owner of a dog or a cat can teach the pet to press a button to “say” words like “food”, “walk”, “play”, and many others.

Of course, this may be a combination of rewards training, randomness, and anthropomorphizing. It is difficult to say for certain, since we don’t really know what pets think or feel.

Still, humans that have pets can discern patterns in behavior. A cat owner may notice the cat being able to tell when dinner time is approaching. Or a dog might associate the picking up of a leash with going out for a walk.

It is fun to speculate how exactly our pets see us. Do they see us as just an odd-looking member of their species? Is the owner seen as a parent, or are they seen as a juvenile who needs protection and feeding? (People who keep cats, for example, may be familiar with being “gifted” with a dead mouse or bird.) Or perhaps they understand the concept of different species?

If you have a pet, or know someone who does, have you ever wondered what goes on in the mind of that pet? What do they think of us?

Related questions: What is your relationship with your pet? How does your pet bring you joy? Is your pet part of your family? Cats or dogs?

Snakes Or Spiders?

Humans have a deep-seated fear of both spiders and snakes. Does one creep you out more than the other?

Share why if you wish.

Snakes Or Spiders?
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