Week 2

The scientific research that we’ve been reading about for the last two weeks largely changed my perceptions of animals. I have never really pay attention to animals. I never know how many characteristics that we share. My family has a dog. But I am rarely at home to take care of the dog. So honestly I don’t have many feelings on animals. And I thought their intelligence is like a two-year-old baby. But after reading the scientific research on animals, I realized how many complex feelings animals can have and how smart they are. We shouldn’t treat animals as inferior to humans. As human beings, we still have a lot to learn from them. In the article “Intelligence” by Kluger, he states, “But one by one, the berms we’ve built between ourselves and the beasts are being washed away. Humans are the only animals that use tools, we used to say. But what about the birds and apes that we now know do as well? Humans are the only ones who are empathetic and generous, then. But what about the monkeys that practice charity and the elephants that mourn their dead? Humans are the only ones who experience joy and knowledge of the future. But what about the British study showing that pigs raised in comfortable environments exhibit optimism, moving expectantly toward a new sound instead of retreating warily from it?”(10). Humans are also animals. We each have a different living pattern. Also, the article “Social group” by Kluger proves the same idea. He notes, “Apes live in organized troops governed by customs and laws, fish swim in schools that are often choreographed in their movements, ants and termites and honeybees live in great busy cities”(23). Each species have their living ecosystem by nature.