108 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
108 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
Archive-name: Bestial/emotions.txt
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Archive-author: Unicorn
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Archive-title: Emotions of Animals?
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Zeke>>> You honestly believe that animals do not feel love, and
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are incapable of expressing it? You do not have my anger, nor
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my hatred Zeke - what you have is my sincere pity upon you.
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It's an interesting suggestion though - and one that has
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been brought up before. Are animals capable of the higher
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emotions which we humans so jealously gaurd? In MY opinion, they
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most definately are. Let's look at some of them.
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Anger - Here's one that we seem to be seeing a lot of lately.
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There can certainly be no mistaking that animals are MORE
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than capable of feeling, and acting upon this emotion.
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Everything - from a shrew to an elephant is capable of
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being made angry - and they all act upon it.
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Jealousy - This one is very obvious, at least where several
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animals are all trying for the attention of another.
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It is, of course, primarily seen in social aniamls,
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such as humans, horses, dogs, and (if I recall
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correctly) lions. Horse herds, be they wild, or
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domestic, have a hierarchy. The leader will have a
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favorite, and that position IS know to cause some
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jealousy amoung the others. With domestic animals,
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it may be quite noticable that one will be jealous of
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the other, should the other one seem to be getting
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more attention.
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Fear - Again, an emotion which cannot be doubted. Some humans,
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sadly, seem to derive great pleasure from instilling fear
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into others - be it other humans, or other animals (let us
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not forget, humans ARE just another type of animal).
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Fortunately, the reaction of most people to seeing someone
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instilling fear into an innocent is anger. This is one of
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the few cases where anger may be a good thing - for it may
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save someone (or something) that we care about.
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Lust - There is little doubt that this is an emotion common to
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all animals - be they human, or otherwise. Lust is, I
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would say, the definate precursor to love. When people
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say "It was love at first sight" what they are REALLY
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saying is "He/She made me so excited, I could have done
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him/her right there!" There is certainly nothing WRONG
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with this emotion - provided that one has the intelligence
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to regulate it to the proper time and place. Animals are
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blessed with not having the human curse of shame upon
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them, and can thus express lust whenever, and wherever
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they please. Humans - because other humans might be
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offended (made jealous?) - are forced to keep their
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displays of lust behind closed doors. Even there, people
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who have no business snooping would like to condemn those
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who partake in this purest form of sexual abandon.
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Love - Time to get to the point. Love is the ultimate
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combination of emotions. When you feel love, you will
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(at times) feel anger, and jealousy, and lust, and a
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great deal more. The problem with love, is that you
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don't always recognize it until you are threatened with
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losing it - which is a good way to determine if it is
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love, or lust. Lust is the quicky one-nighter. Love is
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forever. Love is the BOND which forms between two (or
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sometimes, more) beings which makes them delight in each
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other's company, and feel "that something is missing"
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when they are apart.
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Some pet-owners would say that they don't really LOVE
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their pets - they are just fond of them. But what happens when
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that pet suddenly dies, or is otherwise taken from them? Grown
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men bawl their eyes out - and these are not little "girlyman"
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types either. When it is LOVE, all the little quirks of human
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morals and ideals become totally meaningless. Anyone who cannot
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feel this emotion, is not to be hated, but to be deeply pitied.
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They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul,
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and/or to the heart. One has only to look into an animal's eyes
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to be able to read their emotions. Of all the emotions - love,
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fear, and anger are the easiest to see. I would suggest that
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anyone who claims that animals cannot feel love, must have only
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seen animals who's eyes showed only the latter two. Perhaps the
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person did something to make that so, or perhaps it was an animal
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who had simply had too much of suffering at the hands of
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humanity. Even so - to quote that old standby - The difference
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between a dog and a man, is that if you feed a starving dog, he
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will not bite you.
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In closing, I might add this. Zeke's chosen code-name
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is ideal for the irony it invokes. Such a name causes most
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people to envision a redneck with little (if any) education, and
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a very closed mind. For a reason I cannot put my finger on, I
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get the idea that Zeke also hates Jews, Blacks, Hispanics,
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Homosexuals, Bisexuals, East-Indian, American-Indians, or
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basically anyone who is not at the very least a WASP. Of
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course, I could be totally mistaken, and Zeke could merely be an
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unfortunate soul who has no idea what love is - regardless of
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what form it comes in.
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So, a warm horsey-hug to everyone. And especially for
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you Zeke, because Lordy, you need one!
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I am, as always,
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<Unicorn>
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--
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