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A recent car crash in San Francisco killed a man and his dog and many people on Reddit reacted with a comment like “Nooo! Not the dog!” I thought that was ridi

A recent car crash in San Francisco killed a man and his dog and many people on Reddit reacted with a comment like “Nooo! Not the dog!” I thought that was ridiculous because these are just animals. It sucks when they die but it’s not the end of the world. Another car nearby killed a little child and her father and that one was much more horrific to me. But now it makes sense: to these people the two incidents were equivalent. I suppose that is normal, what with all the stories of animals caring for the young of other animals. Neotenic characteristics seem to have cross-species impact. Very cool. Thank you for sharing this.

bitwize 1y ago
When tragedy befalls an animal, we tend to be more upset about it because animals are innocent. They're not aware like we are and can't make better choices when we can, so when they get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, it's somehow sadder to a stranger than if it were an adult human. You see this in cinema. We're relieved that the cat survives in Alien, even though we just watched several humans die horribly. And we kind of feel like John Wick's Roaring Rampage of Revenge is justified after the Russian mafia kills his dog.
- whycome 1y ago
  > When tragedy befalls an animal, we tend to be more upset about it because animals are innocent. This never gets reconciled with the reality of factory farms and mass meat production. It’s certainly a type of cognitive dissonance. In a hundred years we might look back on the now with horror (more generalized anyway).
  - SoftTalker 1y ago
    Because most people don't keep cows, pigs, and chickens as pets. People who grow up even on small, non-factory farms see these animals as products for sale or economic assets, not companions. And even the dogs and cats are likely to be utilized for work as much as companionship.
  - umeshunni 1y ago
    > In a hundred years we might look back on the now with horror (more generalized anyway). You don't have to go a hundred years - most non-western societies look at western fascination with dogs and pets with horror, especially when couples with low rates of marriage, population collapse etc.
    - renewiltord 1y ago
      Which societies are those? It's got to be Africa, a little of the Middle East, and South East Asia alone, because East Asia, South America, even much of the Middle East is lower than replacement. By population, it's only Africa that really has this opinion.
- j_timberlake 1y ago
  They're not innocent, they kill even when they're not hungry. If people evolved empathy towards them because historically they killed pests, that would explain why people love little murderers. The fact that the animals "don't know any better" isn't causal, mosquitoes don't know any better either.
  - ninetyninenine 1y ago
    We evolved empathy towards them because of superficial cute features. Like puppy dog eyes and other endearing child like features. Dogs are evolving towards a parasitic role by hijacking our biological instincts to care for things that are small and cute. This instinct never evolved t the point where it specifically only applies to human cuteness because such selection pressure was unneeded. There were human babies and that’s it. Dogs took advantage of this situation and they evolved to hijack our paternal and maternal instincts. Now there is selection pressure. But note dogs reproduce much much faster than humans so this will be an evolutionary arms race where dogs get cuter and humans become less interested in dogs. The first round comes when the people who have dogs instead of kids fail to reproduce. Also Expect an increase in dog allergies over time.
  - atmavatar 1y ago
    I like cats as well as dogs, but it feels obligatory to include this: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill https://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill
  - GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
    "knowing better" implies a societal framework that animals just simply do not participate in. i'm not a fan of housecats (based on their environmental impact) but i'm not going to hold them individually responsible or liable for things they legally cannot partake in (murder).
I-M-S 1y ago
Animals now play a role that angels and similar religious concepts played in the past - an abstract ideal representing what is Good. It's difficult for a human to win this battle. No dog ever operated a sweatshop, dumped mercury into a river, or siphoned billions off to some tropical island somewhere.
- amanaplanacanal 1y ago
  As they say, all dogs go to heaven.
whyage 1y ago
It baffles the mind that people decry the death of a dog while munching a burger. Cows (or chickens, for that matter) are not less precious than dogs, and yet the vast majority of us eat as much and as many of them as they can afford.
- ninetyninenine 1y ago
  It’s not baffling. Dogs appeal to our paternal and maternal instincts. They have evolved to hijack it. They reproduce faster then us so puppies are able to get cuter then babies over generations and thus they are out competing us.
  - johnea 1y ago
    I would only agree to this to the extent that humans have engineered this "evolution". That's why they're called "breeds", because humans bred them. They're bred for cuteness, violence, but mostly they're bred for profit. The "pet industry" is a rapid growth segment of the economy. If a pet is "part of the family", then isn't the "pet industry" basically a slave trade?
    - ninetyninenine 1y ago
      Yeah. They hijacked our maternal instincts and our productivity instincts. Dogs have evolved to the point where they now have humans handling artificial selection for them instead of relying on natural selection. It's a 1000x speed up to have humans picking out the cute ones and deliberately forcing this forward to make money. You have to realize that it's our own instincts driving this forward and if it detriments humanity then the traits of "seeking profit" or "seeking cuteness" become subject to natural selection. These traits will go away with time.
  - triceratops 1y ago
    Calves aren't cute?
    - ninetyninenine 1y ago

bitwize 1y ago

When tragedy befalls an animal, we tend to be more upset about it because animals are innocent. They're not aware like we are and can't make better choices when we can, so when they get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, it's somehow sadder to a stranger than if it were an adult human. You see this in cinema. We're relieved that the cat survives in Alien, even though we just watched several humans die horribly. And we kind of feel like John Wick's Roaring Rampage of Revenge is justified after the Russian mafia kills his dog.

whycome 1y ago
> When tragedy befalls an animal, we tend to be more upset about it because animals are innocent. This never gets reconciled with the reality of factory farms and mass meat production. It’s certainly a type of cognitive dissonance. In a hundred years we might look back on the now with horror (more generalized anyway).
- SoftTalker 1y ago
  Because most people don't keep cows, pigs, and chickens as pets. People who grow up even on small, non-factory farms see these animals as products for sale or economic assets, not companions. And even the dogs and cats are likely to be utilized for work as much as companionship.
- umeshunni 1y ago
  > In a hundred years we might look back on the now with horror (more generalized anyway). You don't have to go a hundred years - most non-western societies look at western fascination with dogs and pets with horror, especially when couples with low rates of marriage, population collapse etc.
  - renewiltord 1y ago
    Which societies are those? It's got to be Africa, a little of the Middle East, and South East Asia alone, because East Asia, South America, even much of the Middle East is lower than replacement. By population, it's only Africa that really has this opinion.
j_timberlake 1y ago
They're not innocent, they kill even when they're not hungry. If people evolved empathy towards them because historically they killed pests, that would explain why people love little murderers. The fact that the animals "don't know any better" isn't causal, mosquitoes don't know any better either.
- ninetyninenine 1y ago
  We evolved empathy towards them because of superficial cute features. Like puppy dog eyes and other endearing child like features. Dogs are evolving towards a parasitic role by hijacking our biological instincts to care for things that are small and cute. This instinct never evolved t the point where it specifically only applies to human cuteness because such selection pressure was unneeded. There were human babies and that’s it. Dogs took advantage of this situation and they evolved to hijack our paternal and maternal instincts. Now there is selection pressure. But note dogs reproduce much much faster than humans so this will be an evolutionary arms race where dogs get cuter and humans become less interested in dogs. The first round comes when the people who have dogs instead of kids fail to reproduce. Also Expect an increase in dog allergies over time.
- atmavatar 1y ago
  I like cats as well as dogs, but it feels obligatory to include this: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill https://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill
- GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
  "knowing better" implies a societal framework that animals just simply do not participate in. i'm not a fan of housecats (based on their environmental impact) but i'm not going to hold them individually responsible or liable for things they legally cannot partake in (murder).

I-M-S 1y ago

Animals now play a role that angels and similar religious concepts played in the past - an abstract ideal representing what is Good. It's difficult for a human to win this battle. No dog ever operated a sweatshop, dumped mercury into a river, or siphoned billions off to some tropical island somewhere.

amanaplanacanal 1y ago
As they say, all dogs go to heaven.

whyage 1y ago

It baffles the mind that people decry the death of a dog while munching a burger. Cows (or chickens, for that matter) are not less precious than dogs, and yet the vast majority of us eat as much and as many of them as they can afford.

ninetyninenine 1y ago
It’s not baffling. Dogs appeal to our paternal and maternal instincts. They have evolved to hijack it. They reproduce faster then us so puppies are able to get cuter then babies over generations and thus they are out competing us.
- johnea 1y ago
  I would only agree to this to the extent that humans have engineered this "evolution". That's why they're called "breeds", because humans bred them. They're bred for cuteness, violence, but mostly they're bred for profit. The "pet industry" is a rapid growth segment of the economy. If a pet is "part of the family", then isn't the "pet industry" basically a slave trade?
  - ninetyninenine 1y ago
    Yeah. They hijacked our maternal instincts and our productivity instincts. Dogs have evolved to the point where they now have humans handling artificial selection for them instead of relying on natural selection. It's a 1000x speed up to have humans picking out the cute ones and deliberately forcing this forward to make money. You have to realize that it's our own instincts driving this forward and if it detriments humanity then the traits of "seeking profit" or "seeking cuteness" become subject to natural selection. These traits will go away with time.
- triceratops 1y ago
  Calves aren't cute?
  - ninetyninenine 1y ago