Envy, embarrassment, empathy...animals are self-aware

[Irizary]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5299040.ece
The Sunday Times. December 7, 2008.
Jealousy could be crippling your dog, but he’s too proud to
say so.
Jonathan Leake


...Scientists have found that canines are prone to a raft of complex, unpleasant emotions such as jealousy, pride and envy. They hate to see their owners offering affection to other creatures, especially other dogs, and seem to suffer particularly badly when their owners bring home new boyfriends or girlfriends, perhaps fearing they might be displaced.

“We are learning that dogs, horses, and perhaps many other species are far more emotionally complex than we ever realised,” said Dr Paul Morris, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth who studies animal emotions. “They can suffer simple forms of many emotions we once thought only primates could experience.”

Until recently, psychologists believed most animals lacked the “sense of self” needed to experience so-called secondary emotions such as jealousy, embarrassment, empathy or guilt. These are more complex than feelings associated with instant reaction – such as anger, lust or joy.

The dog study is the latest into several species, including cows, horses, cats and sheep, which have shown that animals are far more self-aware than previously realised. In the latest, Dr. Friederike Range, of the University of Vienna’s neurobiology department, described how dogs feel intense jealously when they spot that they are unfairly treated compared with other dogs. Range’s results, described at a recent conference, will be published tomorrow. “Dogs show a strong aversion to inequity,” she said. Morris goes further...

Imagine how much caged, abandoned, and those animals in labs suffer from being treated like objects, when they're obviously experiencing complex emotions.

[kolo]

I heard about this the other day and I'm not very surprised.
It's hard to belief there is still animal cruelty when faced with evidence like this.

[cstadt]

barf

[Kai Reddtail]

Awesome! I have something to use against those infuriating idiots who claim it's okay to eat animals because they don't feel emotions in the same way we do.

[Idhan]

I'm reminded of something Hume wrote in A Treatise Concerning of Human Nature.

Well, actually, I'm reminded of two things Hume wrote in A Treatise Concerning of Human Nature, but I mentally conflated them, until I Googled them about a minute ago.

One thing it reminded me of: Book 1, Part 3, Section 16: "Next to the ridicule of denying an evident truth, is that of taking much pains to defend it; and no truth appears to me more evident, than that beasts are endow’d with thought and reason as well as men. The arguments are in this case so obvious, that they never escape the most stupid and ignorant."

The other thing it reminded me of was Book 2, Part 1, Section 12: "’Tis plain, that almost in every species of creatures, but especially of the nobler kind, there are many evident marks of pride and humility."

On the one hand, I want to scream "pwned!" when I read the 1.3.16, because Hume is basically telling Cartesian dualists who think animals are unfeeling, unthinking machines "Look, are you guys, like, really, really stupid or something?" Which, I think, is what a lot of us would like to say. On the other hand, Hume's point that it's embarassing to defend the obvious too vigorously -- which would presumably imply that the scientists conducting the study mentioned in the linke (Range and Morris) were being ridiculous in their painstaking attempts to prove the obvious -- may be true, but it's still sometimes necessary. Yes, that dogs sometimes get jealous is evident to most people familiar with dogs, but at the same time doing scientific research and trying to get it into a peer reviewed journal is still worthwhile, because sometimes people still deny it.

[nogardsram]

I think people have such an aversion to anthropomorphizing that they tend to do the opposite rather than giving the benefit of doubt and saying "I don't know, but I'll err on the side of caution."

[SomebodyElse]

Concerning anthropomorphism, I've always been perplexed at the human interest in believing that thoughts and emotions are exclusively human traits, and the subsequent claim that recognizing thought or emotion in other animals is anthropomorphizing them.

I think its ridiculous that animals have to be experimented on in labs in order to "prove" they have thoughts and feelings, though.

[DgyJff]

So animals have feelings too, huh? Big shocker there...

[Willowriver]

Thanks! This article will help in an ongoing debate I've got with a friend. Darnit, I'll make a vegan out of him yet! I've almost got him to vegetarian. :P

[Idhan]

Concerning anthropomorphism, I've always been perplexed at the human interest in believing that thoughts and emotions are exclusively human traits, and the subsequent claim that recognizing thought or emotion in other animals is anthropomorphizing them.

I'm reminded of Morgenbesser's alleged remark to B. F. Skinner: "Let me see if I understand your thesis. You think we shouldn’t anthropomorphize people?"

[manics_fan]

I heard this on the radio the other day and rolled my eyes over the fact that it need scientists telling us this as news, it seemed obvious animal expereince emotions like this.

Anyway, I'm gonna save this article to show anyone who accuses me of anthropomorphising non-human animals in the future.

[nogardsram]

Concerning anthropomorphism, I've always been perplexed at the human interest in believing that thoughts and emotions are exclusively human traits, and the subsequent claim that recognizing thought or emotion in other animals is anthropomorphizing them.

I think its ridiculous that animals have to be experimented on in labs in order to "prove" they have thoughts and feelings, though.

I agree.

[rainforests1]

Great article. They're only mentioning domesticated animals but I wouldn't be surprised if this applies to most animals whether domesticated or in the wild.

[Envy]

That is no news to me, however, that does not put us in the same seat.

[nogardsram]

That is no news to me, however, that does not put us in the same seat.

What do you mean?

[Envy]

What do you mean?

That some emotions and the usage of them still differs.

[nogardsram]

That some emotions and the usage of them still differs.

That's probably true of any two entities. Like you and me for instance. So what?

I don't understand the desire for people to make sure they differentiate themselves from other animals. Yes, you are different that is clear.

[SomebodyElse]

...I don't understand the desire for people to make sure they differentiate themselves from other animals...
Neither do I. I also don't get why "different" is used by so many to imply "inferior". Its all so arbitrary.

[codemonkey]

My dog definitely feels guilt and embarrassment. Sometimes we come home and she's hiding under the piano because she got into the trash. We don't punish her beyond just saying "bad dog" but she definitely knows when she's done something wrong.

[Neoveggie]

I knew it!! *dances around the room* take that all you people who ever thought I was weird :)

[gingerlove]

i dont understand how people still beleive that animals have complex emotions and run on more then the need for survival. i can see even in my rats that they can be jealous, possessive, loving, or even upset at me.

[sybaritik]

I think most people who ever had an animal in their lives have known (a long time before it was officially studied) that a lot of them have a certain degree of self-awareness and are capable a lot of the same emotions as humans.

However, I don't believe that in any way means that their level of intelligence and resulting self-awareness is on a par with that of a human.

.

[Irizary]

It must be very very confusing for those dogs who are abandoned by their owners at a shelter (new baby comes along or whatever), or those in labs who are constantly being hurt. Like children, they probably feel they did something wrong and are being punished.


I don't believe that in any way means that their level of intelligence and resulting self-awareness is on a par with that of a human.

Which human?

[Marie]

Which human?

That one. Right over there.

[SomebodyElse]

Which human?
This one.
http://www.extrememortman.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/Sarah%20Palin.jpg