- Dozen Plague
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- Honorable Member
I thought of this question a couple of days ago, and now that there's that thread about life and death, I decided that I should ask a similar question, and hope that you will discuss your view on what it probably is/means:
Most animals are only instinctively driven and live their lives with one goal in mind: to survive and ensure the passing of their genetic code to their future offspring.
Do animals know, however, that living only to survive would be somewhat futile after they pass their offspring (which is very early for some species) since they just die in the end?
Is it a huge surprise to them? Do you think they know what awaits them?
Can they possibly know something we don't?
Who programmed them this way, or why are they programmed this way? Why is ensuring the survival of them and their species so important? Has simple evolution programmed them like this?
We survive because we can also have fun, admire beautiful things, listen to fantastic music, etc.
This is, of course, not true for all animals. Dogs, cats, birds, etc. have also been shown to have what can be considered "human" traits. (having fun, maybe sadness? Things that may not be only guided toward survival like fear and anger).
Perhaps our human feelings are in all animals, but we do not notice it because it's so different? Perhaps all our human feelings are in fact in all animals because they all serve a purpose in survival?
From: Recon Number 54
I've had pets that "went off to die" and I had to search for them. In the cases of the ones that I could find, they went someplace quiet, safe, curled up and laid down.
I brought them home, made them comfortable, and arranged an appointment with the vet to discover if there was something treatable or if we were at an end-of-life decision and I could make their death as pain-free as possible.
From: Slothful Koala
I do believe that other animals experience emotions similar to our own.
From: General Ryan
Yep. When cats/dogs know that they will die soon, they often run off to die alone.Yep. When cats/dogs know that they will die soon, they often run off to die alone.
But do you believe ALL of them know this? General Ryan, you only mentioned cats and dogs.
[Edited on 01.01.2013 1:25 PM PST]