Re: Animals?
Submitted by mvanhouten on November 30 2000 23:50:34
In reply to Animals? submitted by GraceComesFirst on November 30 2000 01:23:35
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"Let me ask: do you think animals are at the same level spiritually as humans?" No, but humans "invented" spirituality. Why apply our standards to another species? "Do they have spiritual insight?" They likely have as little insight into our true thoughts as we have into theirs. "Do they think the way we do?" Of course not, but probably 90% of our behavior is a result of the same brain processes as those in animals. We spend most of the day in mundane processes like earning our daily bread. "Are they sentient?" I suspect that "sentience" is just another way of saying "human like." "Can they love each other the way humans can?" Now that is most certainly yes. If one studies animal sexual behavior, and tries to make rules about things like gestation time, vs. number of young per gestation, vs. alternative social uses for sexual pleasures, vs. "infidelity", humans fit right on the graphs with every other animal. The corelations are just remarkable. And considering that our sexual drives are based in the oldest (by evolutionary standards) and most instinctive parts of our brains, that should be no surprise. For example there is in our noses a sensory system for phermones (the chemical scents that decide for animals which potential mates are most attractive or willing). This glan is tied directly into that oldest part of our brains. It is sending us signals that do not even enter the conscience mind. Scientists don't understand it because we can't ask subjects about what they are feeling through it. But I have certainly met boys who have realized and responded to my un-articulated attraction to them through means I can not explain. |
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