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Actually, it's the "we shouldn't anthropomorphize" which is poor reasoning. Because of course we should, we should just call it something else. I am not really

Actually, it's the "we shouldn't anthropomorphize" which is poor reasoning. Because of course we should, we should just call it something else. I am not really aware of any mammal behaviour that I cannot somewhat relate to at gut level. You may say I anthropomorphize, or you may say I equate, it doesn't really matter. There isn't a physiological or neurologic feature we don't share, me and all those other mammals. I have some language and some reasoning power to top it all off with, but our sensations, reactions, emotionals, motivators, fears, pains and joys are clearly of very similar nature. Of course they are - they run on the same basic hardware architecture. And now, if you will excuse me, my dog wants to go for a walk. I know exactly what he means. [Edit: typo]

kitsunesoba 10y ago
This is my line of thinking as well. Physiologically we are extremely similar to other mammals, especially when you take a look at the extreme fringes of life and realize how utterly different from us it can be. It's logical that large portions of our life experiences are the same, too. The differences are mostly fine details. If you want to find where our perceptions differ from that of a cat or a dog or an elephant, I believe that anything cultural or learned in nature is a better place to start. If every human experiences it, it's likely that other mammals experience it too on some level. I suspect that if our experiences shared few or no similarities, humans would've had far less success in the way of keeping, training, and befriending animals. The ability to accurately empathize with other creatures has to have jump-started the process in many cases.
- erikpukinskis 10y ago
  We're just a dog that can read a newspaper. We think we're the newer, higher species, but the newspaper is.
simonh 10y ago
I fully concur. We and other mammals inherited many of our behaviors such as emotional attachments, social bonds, play, etc from common ancestors. It seems reasonable to me that our experience of these is similar to that of the common ancestor, and therefore that other Mammals experience of them is also similar to ours. Not the same maybe, but similar.
lloydde 10y ago
Neither your example or the start of the thread seem like anthropomorphizing. Both "liking" the taste and "enjoying" outdoors or exercise are well established reactions in numerous animals. Anthropomorphizing is most easily described as the subject using human-like reasoning or rationalization. Sure, the classic definition is broader than that with angry weather. I do agree with your point regarding g mammalian comparisons, but it's not clear to me that was demonstrated.

kitsunesoba 10y ago

This is my line of thinking as well. Physiologically we are extremely similar to other mammals, especially when you take a look at the extreme fringes of life and realize how utterly different from us it can be. It's logical that large portions of our life experiences are the same, too. The differences are mostly fine details. If you want to find where our perceptions differ from that of a cat or a dog or an elephant, I believe that anything cultural or learned in nature is a better place to start. If every human experiences it, it's likely that other mammals experience it too on some level. I suspect that if our experiences shared few or no similarities, humans would've had far less success in the way of keeping, training, and befriending animals. The ability to accurately empathize with other creatures has to have jump-started the process in many cases.

erikpukinskis 10y ago
We're just a dog that can read a newspaper. We think we're the newer, higher species, but the newspaper is.

simonh 10y ago

I fully concur. We and other mammals inherited many of our behaviors such as emotional attachments, social bonds, play, etc from common ancestors. It seems reasonable to me that our experience of these is similar to that of the common ancestor, and therefore that other Mammals experience of them is also similar to ours. Not the same maybe, but similar.

lloydde 10y ago

Neither your example or the start of the thread seem like anthropomorphizing. Both "liking" the taste and "enjoying" outdoors or exercise are well established reactions in numerous animals. Anthropomorphizing is most easily described as the subject using human-like reasoning or rationalization. Sure, the classic definition is broader than that with angry weather. I do agree with your point regarding g mammalian comparisons, but it's not clear to me that was demonstrated.