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They generally don't but they have instinct of survival(as all living beings) so they essentially want to live as long as they can. But mammals do have emotions
by mrkramer 2y ago
They generally don't but they have instinct of survival(as all living beings) so they essentially want to live as long as they can. But mammals do have emotions and when they see their fellow buddy dead, they start to mourn. I remember watching documentary about monkeys and scientists put plastic monkey on the floor acting dead in front of group of monkeys and monkeys gathered together, hug each other and started crying, thinking the dead monkey was one of them. I think that was ephemeral emotion and thought but in that moment they knew that they can die too.
- kentrado 2y agoMaybe us, animals, don't have an instinct of survival. That's a bit of an assumption. Maybe we have another very strong instinct and survival is just the observed side effect but not the operating driving force. Indeed, animals take mortal risks constantly. It could also be that they we a variety of instincts in fight for domination and survival is just one of them but not the strongest one.
- soperj 2y agoI've seen a hawk take down a rabbit, it's buddy right next to him ran around in circles for a bit because it was worried, and then started eating grass again as the hawk was pulling out the entrails that it didn't want right next to it. Definitely no mourning.
- mrkramer 2y agoI think that rabbit would be scared to death and run away for his life(instinct of survival) and not run in circles confused. Emotions probably get amplified in group and btw small rabbit can't do anything physically to large strong hawk. I again remember watching documentary when hyenas surrounded young lion and his older buddy came to help him and pushed off hyenas. So animal mammals defiantly have an emotional binding to the members of their specie, some more and some less.
- SoftTalker 2y agoAnimals like rabbits are prey animals. The reproduce prodigiously as a species-survival mechanism. Individual deaths are common and while a predator is going to alarm them for a while, they will quickly get back to their primary business of eating and fucking. Mourning doesn't serve much of a purpose.
- mrkramer 2y agoI'm not a biologist or a zoologist, these were just my observations and assumptions but I get it that animals "only" forage and reproduce. Mourning is primarily ephemeral/short act but humans and to some extent animal mammals still do it.
- Ferret7446 2y agoI think that only applies to social animals; the benefits of socializing are great but also incurs a large cognitive requirement in terms of being able to empathize, communicate, etc., which would naturally enable them to mourn, grieve, etc.