Do you think animals have thoughts?

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Kim OHara
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Kim OHara »

OcTavO wrote:I worked in a zoo for several years. It was my observation during that time that the minds of human animals and non-human animals seem to be separated only by degree, not by kind... Just a sliding scale of complexity with no qualitative difference.

Sometimes I even doubt the degree. :smile:
I'm sure the range of intelligence found in animals overlaps the range found in people. :tongue:
I'm not absolutely sure that the top end of the range found in animals (dolphins?) is lower than than the top end of the human range. How could we know, since we can't communicate with them?
:thinking:

Kim
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Annapurna
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Annapurna »

Great posts!

Loved to read them.
Sanghamitta
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Sanghamitta »

appicchato wrote:
Stefan wrote:Well?
You might try an animals forum Stefan...you'll probably get a quicker answer...placed here you might receive replies like: Where's the benefit in pursuing this?...How is this going to help your practice?...Will knowing(?) this help you shed your greed, ill will, and delusion?...stuff like that...

Since we're animals, I would venture to say: yes...

Be well friend...
:thumbsup:
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Bhikku Bodhi.
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Annapurna
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Annapurna »

Notself, a cat that says hello is fun!

I had a parakeet.

My Dad said he welcomed him every morning with a deep: "Pua-pua!" (Papa=Daddy)

I heard him say that too... :smile:
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Annapurna
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Annapurna »

Another quick cat story.

Shows perhaps a bit of deceptive behaviour and planning. :tongue:

I was eating a chicken. My cat sat near me on the couch, and watched me through half-closed eyes, appearing sleepy and totally uninterested.

She made no attempts to beg for some chicken.... :thinking:

So I thought it would be safe to leave it on the table when I got up and went to the kitchen to fetch something!

I found her on the table eating from my plate when I returned...

Since she knew I wouldn't punish her she just sat there, and looked at me, chewing....I had to pick her up, tried to take it out of her mouth since she wouldn't let go, -and ended up giving her that part of the chicken, bone removed.

(I had more chicken) :D

Our next cat, Jeannie again...she was allowed to sit on a chair by our table, had a saucer in front of her, and was given a small piece by everybody, and sat upright and still like a good child while waiting for that. It was more of a symbolic donation than actually feeding her.

She never begged or misbehaved. She ate with nice manners too.

Oh, my, what a cat that was.

So easy to handle.

She also appeared in my first Buddhist dream, with a high Buddhist teacher. She waited for me to come home, next to him.

I still wonder what that meant.

But I do have a feeling she (re)gained a high rebirth.
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OcTavO
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by OcTavO »

Yet another cat story. :tongue:

I used to have a contact juggling sphere. In my old apartment I would practice on summer afternoons and my cat would chase the reflections the crytal sphere made on the wall as I moved it.

In time I lost the ball and went on a multi year hiatus from the juggling hobby.

I recently decided to take it back up again, so I bought a new contact sphere (keep in mind, about five years have passed since I last used one - about a third of the average cats lifespan). I got home and took the ball out of its box and my cat saw me do this. It was a dull day and no light was reflected from the ball... but my cat took one look at the ball and went straight to the wall to wait for the reflection.

I found this fascinating. It not only clearly displayed long-term memory, but also she'd made a clear connection between the concept of the ball and the reflection it caused. Whoever said cats were dumb may, I think, not have actually owned one.
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retrofuturist
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by retrofuturist »

Hi Octavo!

:hello:

Good to see you here.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Annapurna
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Annapurna »

Octavio, nice story.

My first cat had a traumatic experience by a vet. She woke up in the middle of an operation.

I got her back badly injured and traumatized, and the guy denied all responsibilty!

I cared for her until she was ok again.

But I could never go to that vet with her again, not that I wanted to go to him, but to his follower.

But when we just drove by in the vicinity, she became very upset, and when we drove by that house, she completely panicked.

She clearly remembered this place as a place of torture, where somebody had cut her belly open, and not given her enough anesthetics.
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OcTavO
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by OcTavO »

retrofuturist wrote:Hi Octavo!

:hello:

Good to see you here.

Metta,
Retro. :)
Hi Retro :hello:

I never left. Just had a very busy year. This place has swelled admirably! :toast:
Northernbuck
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by Northernbuck »

Cats are interesting. Our cat tends to stick with the kids when they are sick. He also follows my second youngest daughter around in the mornings because she feeds him then. Although, I have also seen him try to chase a bird and forget that he is inside with windows.
But if this neutral feeling that has arisen is conditioned by the body which is impermanent, compounded and dependently arisen, how could such a neutral feeling be permanent? - SN 36.7
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effort
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Re: Do you think animals have thoughts?

Post by effort »

there is two big red fishes these weeks in our kitchen ( they come from a dark big place to our kitchen waiting for their past place become ready again ), you know what do i found?

they are talking with me!!

just joking , i'm not crazy that much!,but i think one of them is depress and another one is normal and ok, so they have mental feeling. a fish has a mental feeling !! i'm not sure but this is the way that i look at them.
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