Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, August 11, 2009
Science Dogs and Humans
Posted by Charles Mudede on Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Science Daily reports:
[Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of British Columbia], author of more than a half-dozen popular books on dogs and dog behavior, has reviewed numerous studies to conclude that dogs have the ability to solve complex problems and are more like humans and other higher primates than previously thought.Dogs are basically babies. Dog lovers will, of course, reject this finding. To the dog lover, a puppy is equal to a baby, and a grown howler is equal to a grown man."We all want insight into how our furry companions think, and we want to understand the silly, quirky and apparently irrational behaviors [that] Lassie or Rover demonstrate," Coren said in an interview. "Their stunning flashes of brilliance and creativity are reminders that they may not be Einsteins but are sure closer to humans than we thought."
According to several behavioral measures, Coren says dogs' mental abilities are close to a human child age 2 to 2.5 years.
Being one who is sympathetic to the defining concepts of pansychism, I can accept that dogs have a mind, an interior world of thought. But the mind in a human is not the same as the mind in a dog. Look into the eyes of a healthy and lively human and you will see a mind in a Hortus Conclusus; look into the watery eyes of a dog and you will see a mind in solitary confinement.
5
@2: HOW DARE HE ABUSE THIS TRAGEDY FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL GAIN AND SELF-SATISFAC-- oh wait, that's what you're doing.
6
"you will see a mind in solitary confinement"
No, Charles, dogs are (like humans) innately social animals that are meant to live in groups.
No, Charles, dogs are (like humans) innately social animals that are meant to live in groups.
9
Actually, most dog owners get that their dogs are "babies" well into dog old age. Many domesticated dog breeds were bred to retain cute puppy-like characteristics into adulthood as well (e.g. floppy ears) that their wolf forebears don't exhibit in adulthood.
Also, no one has claimed that dogs' "interior life" is at all similar to that of a human being, qualitatively. Different species are quite different. Saying that you see "solitary confinement" looking into the eyes of a dog is just as inappropriately anthropomorphizing as saying that a dog can "feel hatred" or other human-only emotions.
Seandr is also right: dogs are intensely social animals. They evolved and have been bred to be consummate adapters to canine and human social environments. The pack/family is ultimate to almost all (normally socialized) dogs.
I just wish at some point you could spend some time with a nice, intelligent, affectionate, unslobbery dog--a *lot* of time--and get a bit more of an intuitive sense for what dogs are and aren't and what they can and can't do. Maybe spend a week or two with a professional dog trainer or animal behaviorist. It would kind of get you out of your comfort zone but also teach you a lot in terms of applied/hand-son experience that would be helpful.
Also, no one has claimed that dogs' "interior life" is at all similar to that of a human being, qualitatively. Different species are quite different. Saying that you see "solitary confinement" looking into the eyes of a dog is just as inappropriately anthropomorphizing as saying that a dog can "feel hatred" or other human-only emotions.
Seandr is also right: dogs are intensely social animals. They evolved and have been bred to be consummate adapters to canine and human social environments. The pack/family is ultimate to almost all (normally socialized) dogs.
I just wish at some point you could spend some time with a nice, intelligent, affectionate, unslobbery dog--a *lot* of time--and get a bit more of an intuitive sense for what dogs are and aren't and what they can and can't do. Maybe spend a week or two with a professional dog trainer or animal behaviorist. It would kind of get you out of your comfort zone but also teach you a lot in terms of applied/hand-son experience that would be helpful.
10
That is actually a great idea Simac...Charles should spend some time at a training center for Helper-Dogs. He could work through his issues with pansychism and his theories on the value of animal labor.
11
I was forwarded a You-Tube link where a dachsund is being offered treats, but refuses them when it is alleged they are from Barack Obama.
In fact, there were more than one dogs on You-Tube doing this very same "trick."
Charles, i encourage you to find these little vignettes. They may have little to do with the intelligence of the dogs but reveal some disturbing ownership trends.
In fact, there were more than one dogs on You-Tube doing this very same "trick."
Charles, i encourage you to find these little vignettes. They may have little to do with the intelligence of the dogs but reveal some disturbing ownership trends.
12
Aaaaaand the post is followed 10 useless, some of which are disparaging comments.
Dogs only have basic intelligence, people. They are fiercely loyal because they aren't smart enough to question their loyalty to their food and shelter source. They are docile, (mostly) housebroken slaves that worship their owners because they must: they don't know any other way.
Dogs only have basic intelligence, people. They are fiercely loyal because they aren't smart enough to question their loyalty to their food and shelter source. They are docile, (mostly) housebroken slaves that worship their owners because they must: they don't know any other way.
13
What's funny is that Ackham posted his comment at 11 after I wrote mine... and go figure his comment's got substance. Nice work.
15
I taught my old dog to play dead when I said "Would you rather be Newt Gingrich or a dead dog?"
It cuts both ways.
@12, I can think of a lot of people and most young children to whom your comment would also apply. In fact, the longer I'm in this world, the more it seems to me that PEOPLE only "love" those who "feed" them (ah, if I only had a nickel for every time I heard the phrase "s/he isn't meeting my needs anymore" with regard to a discarded spouse or lover). If anything, the transaction with a dog is a more honest one--and I say this as someone with 4 dogs and one live-in boyfriend.
But I would also say that there are plenty of things a dog can be taught to do that require the dog at least to be interested and willing to do them (for instance, Agility, Flyball). Because if the dog doesn't want to do it, all the treats and threats in the world won't get them to do it, or if they will do it, do it with enthusiasm. If you regard dogs as "docile, housebroken slaves" you probably haven't interacted much with them or trained them to do much of anything. Spending time with and training a dog brings out its personality. They may be dependent on us, but they work cooperatively with us.
It cuts both ways.
@12, I can think of a lot of people and most young children to whom your comment would also apply. In fact, the longer I'm in this world, the more it seems to me that PEOPLE only "love" those who "feed" them (ah, if I only had a nickel for every time I heard the phrase "s/he isn't meeting my needs anymore" with regard to a discarded spouse or lover). If anything, the transaction with a dog is a more honest one--and I say this as someone with 4 dogs and one live-in boyfriend.
But I would also say that there are plenty of things a dog can be taught to do that require the dog at least to be interested and willing to do them (for instance, Agility, Flyball). Because if the dog doesn't want to do it, all the treats and threats in the world won't get them to do it, or if they will do it, do it with enthusiasm. If you regard dogs as "docile, housebroken slaves" you probably haven't interacted much with them or trained them to do much of anything. Spending time with and training a dog brings out its personality. They may be dependent on us, but they work cooperatively with us.
17
@12, yeah. Animal behaviourists, PhDs, or y'know, people who actually interact with dogs in a meaningful way? Useless. Your opinion, on the other hand...
18
We are also housebroken slaves, you just don't realize it. There are only two genetically domesticated creatures on the earth, and they share some surprising similarities. They both lack any natural breeding season (every other animal, all the way back to the sponge, has a breeding season, it is a part of what controls the predator to prey ratio), and ovulate with much greater frequency than is typical of mammals their size. They both have a genetic adaptation which suppress fear, allowing them to adapt to situations otherwise very foreign to their nature. They both engage in homosexual acts. They both retain traits that are normally associated with physical childhood in their genus. They are both omnivores. They both come from stock that seems to have developed a specialty for grassy flatlands as a habitat. We are as much slaves to the power of domestication over our nature as are dogs, and we are also domesticates. There is almost absolutely nothing about your existence which is "natural". Not the way you eat, not the way you defecate, not the way have sex, nothing. These weren't behaviors that you chose, they were imposed on you. That doesn't make it bad or wrong, but it's the damn truth. You didn't learn to poop in a toilet because it seemed to make more sense to you at the time. You did it because you were made to.
19
Charles,
Please stop making declarative sentences about things that cannot be proven, or are likely to be proven false.
Try, "I predict that many dog owners will disagree," instead. You'll likely have less people telling you that you're retarded if you try something along those lines.
Please stop making declarative sentences about things that cannot be proven, or are likely to be proven false.
Try, "I predict that many dog owners will disagree," instead. You'll likely have less people telling you that you're retarded if you try something along those lines.
22
@12: Gomez, you are ignorant of both dogs and people. Clearly, you don't spend much time with either species.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (22) RSS