#anthropomorphizing

Communication is not a trait unique to humans, MANY animals communicate in MANY different ways across the entire animal kingdom.

The dogs are unlikely to understand human language on its own, or we wouldn't need alternate methods like the buttons. Button communication training uses associations with certain things to the button, rather than teaching dogs a language the way you or I might learn a new human langauge. You press the button that says food and then give them food, and they learn to understand that pressing that button gets them food. The dog gets hurt and you press the "ow" button and the dog may learn to associate that button with pain. You press the "outside" button and take them outside, they learn that button gets them outside. etc etc etc. It's conditioning. They participate voluntarily, and I do believe they are learning the associations and using them to communicate when they want things.

That being said, interpretation of the buttons is left up to the humans caring for them, and THAT part is where you will see plenty of anthropomorphizing. But... there's also some stuff that's hard to argue with is actual, genuine communication.

I belonged to the forums for the research that was going into the button training (scientists trying to determine exactly what you have asked! And there aren't conclusions yet from science, so. take everything with a grain of salt), and there were a lot of videos and posts by hundreds of people from all over. A lot of what I saw was people assigning meaning to things that were... questionably actually going on. Interpretation is where the anthropomorphization happens.

But... there was a woman who was button training her cat. I forget his name, but when I joined the forum, he was ill, including a UTI. I was there long enough that he had received treatment, and clearance from the vet afterward. He was better. But, she posted that he continued to press the buttons he had previously, for pain. During treatment, he had been on some pain meds, and as unfortunate as it was that he was in pain, she had used it to train that button, in the hopes that he could tell her when he was in pain and she could discuss the pain medication dosing with her vet. There was nothing Wrong with the cat the way that had been wrong when he was ill. His urine was fine, smelled fine, looked fine. But he kept pressing the pain button after using the litterbox.

At the urging of the forum, she took him back to the vet, and insisted on further testing. As it turned out, his UTI had either NOT actually cleared, or it had returned. He got treatment again, and actually cleared up the infection that time. And he stopped pressing the button.

Excerpt from this story from The Revelator:

Instead of anthropomorphizing, we should instead try to understand animals based on how they experience the world with their own senses. Empathy should be the goal. Instead of making assumptions like, “If it were me, I would have felt uncomfortable too,” we should try asking a different question: “I wonder how it feels for them?”

This fundamental framework is the central theme of Ed Yong’s book An Immense World. Through its pages Yong tries to explain the philosophical concept of Umwelt, which posits that animals experience the world differently from us because they rely on different and often enhanced senses to navigate their surroundings.

In other words, sensory stimuli that might feel normal to us — like bright lights or loud sounds — might be overwhelming to other animals.

That is why it’s so problematic when we try to understand animals’ experience by generalizing our own sensory experiences; it risks overlooking or mischaracterizing the distressing signs the animals may be displaying.

There are other reasons, too. Research has suggested that the popularity of Pixar Animation’s Finding Nemo movie may have spurred overfishing of reefs. Other researchers have cited how North American raccoons were imported to Japan as pets due to the popularity of the 1977 cartoon series Rascal Raccoon, which anthropomorphized the animals as harmless, cute and humorous — none of which is true, at least from the raccoons’ point of view. As a result of this pet craze, raccoons became an invasive species in Japan and damaged crops and fruits, as well as preying on native species. Researchers believe that it was partly due to the cartoon’s misrepresentation of raccoons’ nature as wild animals that caused the human-raccoon conflict in the first place.

Anthropomorphizing certain species creates another problem: It establishes a narrative suggesting that other species we care less about aren’t worth protecting — or in some cases, even need to be exterminated. This was the case with the imperial parrot, the flagship species of the Caribbean Island of Dominica. It got so much attention that Dominicans started to disregard the conservation efforts of its sister species, the red-necked parrot. What’s more, the red-necked parrot was portrayed as an antithesis to the imperial parrot — and researchers were concerned that such narrative could even lead to the culling of the parrot’s population.

It's time I confess my love for this lil gal. These shots were taken over the course of three years, so really it’s more like an obsession. And it's not just because of her pretty face! Altho I can't lie, that's a big part of it. But check out the overall design and how it looks like she’s made more for an animated movie than real life. Also that distressed texture is perfection. And then what got my attention to begin with: the color…. green as Oscar the Grouch but with a friendlier disposition.

Rather than anthropomorphizing, which is to crudely project a human-like mind on to the differently animate, I seek to expand that category we honor with the privilege of being; to welcome alien selves with an alien, untranslatable sense of “I” and “we” into the ranks of those we hold precious: so that their lives have a right to be, their choices and conduct a right to be considered and their destruction and dissolution a sense of gravity and tragedy.

If I cannot understand a living thing who wants nothing then I must say “the mushroom wants” “the cat wants” “the ants in their millions want!”

I confess I am not big on social media, but occasionally I see something that I can’t stop watching. This short clip caught on a wildlife camera in San Jose, California shows a coyote leading a badger though a culvert under a highway. And I am not alone in appreciation as this post has gone viral with millions of views! Simply put, this duo is absurdly cute. I can’t stop watching. While it is well established scientifically that coyotes and badgers hunt together, this video conveys so much more. The way the coyote leaps playfully, tail wagging, beckoning his short-legged little friend to follow conveys friendship. It conveys two buddies out for an adventure.  

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There are so many examples of non-human animals, individuals of the same species and of different species, interacting in complex ways that reveal their unique personalities, friendships, kindness, and dare I say, love. Traits or expressions we tend to confer only to humans for fear of anthropomorphizing, a big no-no in science. (For example, see this national geographic blog about this coyote-badger video). And yet I would argue that the most apt description of these behaviors is to describe them with the same words we would use to describe them in humans. Our brains are similar. These arguments are well developed by ecologist Carl Safina, in his best-selling book Beyond Words, and summarized here in this powerful TEDX talk.

A recent study about African grey parrots also captured the surprise of scientists. African grey parrots were very helpful in sharing tokens to other parrots so that parrot could exchange the token for food. The helping parrots did this without any direct reward for themselves. This type of helping behavior, most simply described as generosity or kindness, is surprising to scientists and many expressed doubt that it is real. Why? Other creatures are our close kin. We share the same nervous systems. It makes sense that we also share feelings and thoughts, emotional and social lives too. I think this is obvious to anyone who has a pet. For this badger and coyote pair, why shouldn’t we all, scientists alike, call it a friendship? Which raises another question: if we start calling these behaviors friendship, without fear of anthropomorphizing, might this help us to better empathize with our fellow animal kin and take better care of them and the Earth?  

I wonder.

Nicole Heller is Curator of Anthropocene Studies for Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences working at the museum.

Roomba-San made a daring foray into the hallway today. Had have a sit down and inform him of the newly issued stay-at-home order, and that just because the door is open doesn’t mean he can play in the pollen.

We think he is in the same troop as Russell from Up,