Throughout our lives we have all felt happy, sad, lonely or even lost. These are what we would describe as emotions or feelings. But have you ever thought if animals feel the same as humans? Our textbook defines emotion as; psychological changes and conscious feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness, aroused by external and internal stimuli, that lead to reaction (Davis & Palladino, 2013). Charles Darwin was among the first scientists to come up with the idea that animals have emotions. I will discuss some facts that help to prove the emotional characteristics of animals. This of course is just my opinion and others may think differently.
When thinking on the lines of evolution, animals and humans can be categorized in the same group since we have the ability to learn, remember past events, and experience emotions that can affect our thoughts, even on the decisions we have made in the past. This idea might sound very unrealistic but studies have shown that it is, in fact, a viable theory.
Not surprisingly, animals are very intelligent and they have complex emotional characteristics. They are aware of their environment and have the ability to make conscious decisions based on the conditions of their surroundings. To some extent, they can express what they feel through behavioral channels like whimpering, jumping up and down out of excitement, sulking low when they believe they are in trouble or making certain sounds such as purring with cats. With that being said, animals can be said to be emotional since they can “express” themselves. Being able to understanding their emotions is normally something that has to be learnt after spending time with them since animals lack the ability to speak.
Because animals cannot talk, they are ...
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...tween the inner being of an organism and their surroundings (Hearne, 2007).
Just like human, animals are able to evaluate the situations they are in, both consciously and subliminally, and then they react to the conditions. The reaction, through emotions, gives the animal the ability to give priority to certain actions like sacrificing themselves for the sake of others, or mourning. After deciding on which action to give priority to, they go through physiological changes like facial expressions, gestures and eventually, they take action depending on what they see fit. Using the example of sacrifice is yet another clear example that animals are emotional beings.
So in closing I believe there is far more evidence that proves animals are in fact emotional beings that have feelings, than that they are just living creatures that are here on earth with us as food or pets.
There are many theories today the support the idea of animals having emotions. I personally believe that ducks have emotions. Many of the class readings such as “Yes, Animals Have Feelings” by Jonathan Balcombe, and Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin support the theory of animals having emotions. My definition of emotion is a state of mind that is based off internal or external circumstances. I started observing ducks to help support my idea the ducks have emotions. By using the readings and combining it with my observations I had a case for ducks having emotions. I am observing changes in behavior or actions that show emotions such as happiness, trust and caring. The article ‘Yes, Animals Have Feelings” by Jonathan Balcombe discusses
Hess, U., & Thibault, P. (2009). Darwin and Emotion Expression. American Psychologist, 2, 120-124. doi:10.1037/a0013386
This is not the case however, because research has been done at the University of Liverpool by Biologist Lynne Sneddon stating that "Animals show reflex responses similar to our own. For example, when we accidentally touch a hot iron, we respond almost immediately by retracting our hand. There is a lag period following this when no adverse sensations are felt but, if left untreated, the burn begins to throb and we alter our behavior to guard the affected area. Animals respond to painful damage in a similar way. Their responses comprise sever behavioral and physiological changes: they eat less food, their normal behavior is disrupted, their social behavior is suppressed, and they may adopt unusual behavior patterns, they may emit characteristic distress calls, and they experience respiratory and cardiovascular changes, as well as inflammation and release of stress hormones." (Sneddon). So not only has the "Animals don't feel pain the way humans do" argument been refuted, but it has been proven that animals do feel similar pain to humans.
After reading the articles,”A Change of Heart about Animals”, by author Jeremy Rifkin, “Hooked on a Myth”, by author Victoria Braithwaite, and “Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and “dignity” to NonHuman Organisms Halt research?”,by author Ed Yong, I both agree and refute some things that are represented in all three articles. In the articles by Rifkin and Yong, I believe that there should be more examples present. In my opinion they were just making assumptions rather than stating facts in order to backup their claims. For example in the article by Rifkin he states” They feel pain,suffer and experience stress, affection,excitement and even love--and these findings are changing how we view animals” (Rifkin 2). By him saying this statement shows that he only states this statement off of what he thinks rather than off of logic and research. On the other hand in the article by Braithwaite’s article, her use of scientific words,and logic, showed me that she knows a lot on that subject. For example she uses words such as,”If you look at thin sections of the trigeminal nerve, the main nerve for the face for all vertebrates, fish have
“Do animals have emotions?” When animal lovers and pet owners are asked this question, the answer is a quick and definite, “Yes!” For others, the answer isn 't so simple. Many of the researchers that had reservations, spent their time wondering what dogs (and other animals) were capable of feeling, or if they were capable of feeling anything at all. Since these researchers were unable to put feelings under a microscope, their research lead no where, and they remained skeptics. To the contrary,Marc Bekoff, author of several books including The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy and Why They Matter, begins his research three decades ago with the question, “What does it feel like to be a
Today, emotions means, when a person changes from one state to another, as in happy to sad (Petri H. L., & Govern, J. M., 2013). You might be wondering now where exactly did we learn how to express ourselves with the many emotions there are. Well, Darwin would argue that emotions come natural and that they are not learned, with the exception of a few. He would go on and say, that our able to recognize behaviors that are associated with certain emotions is innate as well (Petri H. L., & Govern, J. M., 2013). Have you ever smiled at a baby and they smiled back, that gives you evidence that displaying emotions are not young. It is so easy even a baby can do it. The amygdala has been viewed as the primary structure of the brain where expressions of emotions are
It's morning and I just rolled out of bed but that doesn't change the fact that each day begins with a race. Milo, my cat, awaits at the top of the stairs for me so we can have a foot race to the bottom. I do give it my all and try to win; however, Milo is very fast and is so determined to remain undefeated. He also cheats by cutting me off at the bottom of the stairs. After the race I follow him into the kitchen watching his tail standing straight up in the air flicking with pride due to his dominance in the stairs race. Once in the kitchen, I dutifully feed him breakfast. I wonder if he's trained me into thinking it's a race when really it's a ploy for me to feed him? This question I'll have to reflect on but this story adds validity to my opinion that animals are very intelligent and are very emotionally available. Animals have been classed into an unthinking and unfeeling simply physical being which doesn't have merit in my opinion because of my personal experience and in researching this subject, I've found supporting thoughts and experiences to help prove that intelligence and emotions exist in animals.
“... the right question for animals is not ‘Can they reason?’ ‘Can they talk?’, but ‘Can they suffer?’ ”
Arluke, A. (1994). Managing emotions in an animal shelter (pp. 145-165). Animals and human society.
One explanation that claims emotions are universal comes from Darwin (1872 in Smith & Kosslyn, 2009). Darwin adopted an evolutionary perspective of emotions by contending that emotions are universal which consist of biological components in which individuals are able to recognise emotional expressions of individual’s across different cultures. Definitions of emotions are many and varied. Emotions influence behaviour and can be positive and negative. They are also associated with physiological and cognitive changes and can influence behaviour (in Smith & Kossyln, 2009).
It was a bone chilling day, as most of the kids in the school got to go to D.C. the capitol of America. The trip was so well planned out, that we even got to ride a coach bus. After we got off and ate lunch me, my mom and a couple of my friends, headed to the Natural Museum of History. The things we saw in the animal exhibit was unbelieveable, can you believe that a walrus is bigger than a rhino.
To her, at least, he has more emotions than we do. All these thoughts came into my mind when I saw this question. And my answer was… it is human consciousness is no way different from animal consciousness till I started reading about this online.
When I was three years old, I spent my summer in a pond by my home chasing frogs and snakes. When I was five years old, my mother found me sleeping under a mare with her foal. When I was fifteen I spent my spare time working for a family friend’s thoroughbred farm. However, my first love for animal care was born when I was nineteen when I first held an owl. I was an extremely fortunate child to grow up in the Maine wilderness as I did, learning to marvel at the raw beauty of nature at a young age. I attended a nature themed summer camp every year throughout my youth, learning about the sciences of soil and water systems and how they impacted the animals around them. I took every opportunity to immerse myself in animals at any opportunity, from
Animals can be perceived in many different ways. While some humans consider animals to be mindless machines programmed with instinct, others view them as spiritual creatures capable of coherent thought and emotions. I feel that animals are somewhere in the middle. Although they rely heavily on instinct, the ability to feel emotions shows that their mental capacity is not far from that of a human.
If a human can feel emotions and react to them, therefore animals can as well. Animals emotions can be described as subjective, conscious experiences, that are characterized primarily by psycho-physiological expressions, biological reactions, and mental states.