Okay, this essay convinced me that dogs can have depression. I also think that dogs probably have real feelings and don’t just act the part like this creepy robot child, although I wonder how can one actually test this.
I am not at all convinced, though, that a dog can have preferences, long-term goals, or “a meaningful life”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog work on a long-term goal. And if dogs really preferred to take their chances alone in the alien world like the author suggests, a lot more would run away.
A dog’s mind is different. Just because I wouldn’t enjoy being a pet, doesn’t mean a dog doesn’t. The author acknowledges this, but still says that “it’s reasonable to say that dogs have some sort of conception of meaning that rises above moment-by-moment pleasures, and that the unfulfillment of this meaning has a negative effect on the happiness of dogs.” Well, why do you believe this?
I also think that dogs probably have real feelings and don’t just act the part like this creepy robot child, although I wonder how can one actually test this.
I mean, this depends on what you mean by “real feelings,” but as far as I can tell the physiological cause of emotions is basically shared by all mammals. (If anything, emotions likely play a larger part in the mental processing of non-human animals, because there’s less of other deliberative faculties to play against them.)
Okay, this essay convinced me that dogs can have depression. I also think that dogs probably have real feelings and don’t just act the part like this creepy robot child, although I wonder how can one actually test this.
I am not at all convinced, though, that a dog can have preferences, long-term goals, or “a meaningful life”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog work on a long-term goal. And if dogs really preferred to take their chances alone in the alien world like the author suggests, a lot more would run away.
A dog’s mind is different. Just because I wouldn’t enjoy being a pet, doesn’t mean a dog doesn’t. The author acknowledges this, but still says that “it’s reasonable to say that dogs have some sort of conception of meaning that rises above moment-by-moment pleasures, and that the unfulfillment of this meaning has a negative effect on the happiness of dogs.” Well, why do you believe this?
I mean, this depends on what you mean by “real feelings,” but as far as I can tell the physiological cause of emotions is basically shared by all mammals. (If anything, emotions likely play a larger part in the mental processing of non-human animals, because there’s less of other deliberative faculties to play against them.)