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I once had a roomate move in with me who had just seperated from
his wife. Perhaps the
emotional turmoil he was going through explained his
perspective. He had been married a year and had just
discovered that his wife was lesbian. At one point he stated
that he felt his wife had never loved him, that she
had only been dependent on him. I think he was down on
the concept of love itself and felt skeptical that if even his
own wife had never been anything but dependent on him, how could
an animal be capable of more? We engaged in this on
going debate, he maintained that animals were not capable of
love or any other feelings, and that Tecumseh only stayed close
to
me because he was dependent on me. One day I saw Tecumseh lying on the
kitchen floor looking pretty bored. I called my roomate over and
had him take a look at Tecumseh, and then I asked, "What would you
say? Does that dog look bored to you?" He agreed saying, "Yeh,
he looks pretty bored." Then I asked, "Isn't boredom a feeling?"
And with that I finally got him to admit that animals have
feelings. Years later I got into a discussion with another
friend when he declared that birds are not capable of feelings.
I shared this story with him and he replied "But that is a
dog! A dog has a much bigger brain than a bird! A bird's brain
is too small for any emotions!" I have
watched the birds around this condominium and I am convinced
that most of them look pretty happy. He says that birds do not
expend any extra energy, that they will not fly except of
necessity, such as to catch an insect or to perform a mating
ritual. In an enviroment where the birds are not getting enough
to eat that might be true, but here in this land of plenty I am
convinced that frequently birds fly just for the fun of it. What
do you think? |
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