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That cats aren't really domesticated . . . I wholeheartedly agree. They have simply learned to cohabit with us. That cats don't know we are different . . . I w

That cats aren't really domesticated . . . I wholeheartedly agree. They have simply learned to cohabit with us. That cats don't know we are different . . . I wholeheartedly disagree. In some respects, they treat us like cats, probably because that is the language they know. To be fair, however, many people treat their pets like little dumb humans while realizing that they aren't actually people. What the hell is an anthrozoologist, anyway? That sounds like something he made up to call himself.

wereHamster 13y ago
I don't know if you've heard of this website 'wikipedia', if not, you should visit it sometime. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrozoology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrozoology
- colechristensen 13y ago
  To be fair 'Anthrozoology' was coined in late 2010 and it's quite likely the number of people who might call it their specialty is very small. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology
  - droope 13y ago
    http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology%2C%20dentistry&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology%2C%20de...
    - colechristensen 13y ago
      It is not at all clear what point you are trying to make. Put in a little effort.
      - headlights 13y ago
        Anthrozoology has a much lower search interest than dentistry and is localised in the United States.
- ArbitraryLimits 13y ago
  Wikipedia would be the very last place I'd go to verify that a made-up-sounding scientific discipline is real. Any crank worth his salt has authored twenty separate Wikipedia entries before he gets press like this.
- goodcanadian 13y ago
  It has been a lot of hours, so I doubt very many people will see this, but I'll try. Wikipedia also has an entry on cryptozoology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology That doesn't make it any less of a made up word used by pseudo-scientists to self describe nor does it mean I should give much credence to anything a cryptozoologist says. The key difference is that I know cryptozoology is largely pseudoscience whereas I merely suspect it in the case of anthrozoology. At least the word, "cryptozoology," is a reasonable description of what they are trying to do: the study of hidden animals. Anthrozoologoy translates roughly as man animal study, a term pregnant with meaninglessness. So, let's see what Wikipedia has to say about anthrozoology: "Anthrozoology . . . is the study of interaction between living things." Hey, I have friends who work in that field. They call themselves . . . "ecologists." Or, if you want to limit it to the types of interactions in the article, "animal behaviourists." They might even say that they work on "inter-species communication." So, I apologise for being dismissive of a term I have never heard before used in a context where there are other widely used terms that would seemingly be appropriate. And to any genuine scientists out there studying human animal interactions, I genuinely apologise for my snark. It is unfortunate that my first encounter with the field of "anthrozoology" has been tainted by the inane nonsense in this article. That said, I don't think human-animal interactions have been nearly as neglected as the wikipedia article implies.
- headlights 13y ago
  You bring spite.
daliusd 13y ago
Do cats realise that we are not cats? Do they actually have enough brain power to digest that?
- brazzy 13y ago
  How much brain power does it take to realize that a creature that doesn't look, smell or act in any way like a cat is not a cat? How would it be different from realizing that mice and dogs are not cats?
  - ddebernardy 13y ago
    Enough brain power to come up with the concept of "being a cat", then leading to discriminating the environment between "is a cat" and "isn't a cat". Whether cats do is anyone's guess. That said, cats probably have enough brainpower to come up with the concept of "I'm me". Just watch a cat, or a dog for that matter, looking at itself in a mirror if you need convincing. "Take care of me" and "feed me" are pretty established too.
    - daliusd 13y ago
      You are making assumption that cat's brain works the same as human's brain. Maybe that's good assumption but question is how good? Have you seen this TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke... ? "being a cat" is related to self-awareness. Does cat has the same self-awareness as human beings?
  - daliusd 13y ago
    You are making brave assumptions here, aren't you? Dogs = unfriendly cats that smell bad and look ugly, mice - edible cats that smell tasty and are small. It might look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPeattKV74A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPeattKV74A Again that's just speculation. I would love to see scientific data here.
    - 13y ago

wereHamster 13y ago

I don't know if you've heard of this website 'wikipedia', if not, you should visit it sometime. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrozoology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrozoology

colechristensen 13y ago
To be fair 'Anthrozoology' was coined in late 2010 and it's quite likely the number of people who might call it their specialty is very small. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology
- droope 13y ago
  http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology%2C%20dentistry&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Anthrozoology%2C%20de...
  - colechristensen 13y ago
    It is not at all clear what point you are trying to make. Put in a little effort.
    - headlights 13y ago
      Anthrozoology has a much lower search interest than dentistry and is localised in the United States.
ArbitraryLimits 13y ago
Wikipedia would be the very last place I'd go to verify that a made-up-sounding scientific discipline is real. Any crank worth his salt has authored twenty separate Wikipedia entries before he gets press like this.
goodcanadian 13y ago
It has been a lot of hours, so I doubt very many people will see this, but I'll try. Wikipedia also has an entry on cryptozoology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology That doesn't make it any less of a made up word used by pseudo-scientists to self describe nor does it mean I should give much credence to anything a cryptozoologist says. The key difference is that I know cryptozoology is largely pseudoscience whereas I merely suspect it in the case of anthrozoology. At least the word, "cryptozoology," is a reasonable description of what they are trying to do: the study of hidden animals. Anthrozoologoy translates roughly as man animal study, a term pregnant with meaninglessness. So, let's see what Wikipedia has to say about anthrozoology: "Anthrozoology . . . is the study of interaction between living things." Hey, I have friends who work in that field. They call themselves . . . "ecologists." Or, if you want to limit it to the types of interactions in the article, "animal behaviourists." They might even say that they work on "inter-species communication." So, I apologise for being dismissive of a term I have never heard before used in a context where there are other widely used terms that would seemingly be appropriate. And to any genuine scientists out there studying human animal interactions, I genuinely apologise for my snark. It is unfortunate that my first encounter with the field of "anthrozoology" has been tainted by the inane nonsense in this article. That said, I don't think human-animal interactions have been nearly as neglected as the wikipedia article implies.
headlights 13y ago
You bring spite.

daliusd 13y ago

Do cats realise that we are not cats? Do they actually have enough brain power to digest that?

brazzy 13y ago
How much brain power does it take to realize that a creature that doesn't look, smell or act in any way like a cat is not a cat? How would it be different from realizing that mice and dogs are not cats?
- ddebernardy 13y ago
  Enough brain power to come up with the concept of "being a cat", then leading to discriminating the environment between "is a cat" and "isn't a cat". Whether cats do is anyone's guess. That said, cats probably have enough brainpower to come up with the concept of "I'm me". Just watch a cat, or a dog for that matter, looking at itself in a mirror if you need convincing. "Take care of me" and "feed me" are pretty established too.
  - daliusd 13y ago
    You are making assumption that cat's brain works the same as human's brain. Maybe that's good assumption but question is how good? Have you seen this TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke... ? "being a cat" is related to self-awareness. Does cat has the same self-awareness as human beings?
- daliusd 13y ago
  You are making brave assumptions here, aren't you? Dogs = unfriendly cats that smell bad and look ugly, mice - edible cats that smell tasty and are small. It might look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPeattKV74A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPeattKV74A Again that's just speculation. I would love to see scientific data here.
  - 13y ago