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Hi;
Anthropomorphism is defined as attributing human
characteristics or personality traits to animals or
gods.
So, for example, everyone knows that a cartoon
depicting Donald Duck singing and playing the piano is
anthropomorphism.
What amazes me, however, is that many people think
having emotions is a solely human characteristic.
Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, are all emotions, and
not just the perogative of humans. Anyone who owns a
dog or cat can give examples of their pet displaying
these same emotions.
Wild animals can also have emotions. Why not? The
world is made up of many different species. Some of
them, like crows, dolphins, whales, are quite
intelligent. Who's to say that humans are the only
species to think, figure, and feel emotion?
Cheers;
Suzanne
--- Peter Payzant <pce@accesswave.ca> wrote:
> Hi, all-
>
> A crow died this morning, in the south end of
> Halifax. Not an unusual event,
> except that this passing was witnessed by a few
> people and several crows. It
> was this way:
>
> Around 11:00 there was a loud bang and a flash, all
> the lights went out and
> then came back on again. Some of the friends we were
> with happened to be
> looking out their living-room window at the time,
> and said that it was a
> crow, a crow had been electrocuted. There is a
> high-voltage transmission
> line passing near their house (along the railway
> right-of-way) and they saw
> the dead bird spiralling downward beside the tower,
> ending up in the weeds
> at the base.
>
> So much for the shock, now the grief(?). The
> question mark is to defend
> myself against charges of anthropomorphism. Just
> after the bird died,
> another crow flew over and perched on the lowest
> rung of the tower,
> apparently looking down at his//her dead companion.
> The living bird remained
> for some time, and while staring down it alternately
> raised and lowered its
> wings a little in an unusual way. Meanwhile other
> crows arrived, perched in
> the tower and stared down at the departed one.
> Finally, after perhaps 15
> minutes, they all left.
>
> It's dangerous to extend our own emotional
> experience to that of other
> creatures, especially animals so far removed from us
> in the evolutionary
> tree, but it's hard to believe that they didn't
> experience some sort of
> unusual sensation on seeing one of their own kind
> die so dramatically. They
> certainly reacted to the event with some interest.
>
> Regards
>
> Peter Payzant
>
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