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| 59444 |
Mankind versus Animals: a theory...(1)
What is the difference between a human being and an animal ?
The major difference is based on our conception of time. Thus, animals belong to the present and cannot conceive the future. They live for the present and cannot project themselves in a future situation.
On the other hand, several animals act in order to proctect themselves from future dangers like the aunt which collect foodstuff during the whole summer to survive during winter.
However, this example does not prove that a aunt foresees and therefore can conceive the future. It only acts following habits, and even a thousand-year-old habit we call the instinct.
The human being plans his future, establishes several schemes of life; he is a being who has to become something. On the other hand, animals are already what they will be during their entire life and they just struggle to maintain their states. The human being tries to cause changes in his life to become a complete man whereas the animal has all the skills at its birth, skills that were slowly developped by time.
To clarify this idea, we can say that the changes which affect animals appear at the scale of species whereas they come up at the scale of one human life.
This entails another crucial point: animals do not have their own identities. In fact, one cat is similar to another, despite some mere physical differences, because they all live the same kind of life and act identically. Such an argument does not fit human behaviour. Each man possesses an identity completely different from others’. One man cannot be mixed with another so easily. The main reason is that every man is unique because he builds his life the way he wants, with his concious acts. To sum up, a human being is a possibility that can prove new each time while an animal is a finished product.
This argument is rooted in a difference in mind. Animals’ one is merely developped because the instinct rules all their acts, which deprives them of any kind of judgment and freedom. As regards human beings, the instinct has more or less disappeared, replaced by an obligation of thinking of the way they are acting. Consequently, men’s mind is far more sophisticated and as a result they benefit from judgment and finally from liberty.
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Language pair: French; English
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| 59498 |
Re:Mankind versus Animals: a theory...(1)
Sorry for a heavy mistake: the right word was "ant" instead of "aunt"... or else the sentence would not have much meaning!
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Language pair: French; English
This is a reply to message # 59444
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| 59522 |
Cats have no individuality? Hogwash!
I read your message backwards and answered part 2
first.
Then I read part 1. Again, I'm impressed by your thinking. This issue of a Human as a creature in development as opposed to an animal as a completed phenomenon is interesting.
On the other hand, I have to challenge your comments on cats. Cats are highly individual and they have complex, dynamic personalities. My girlfriend, Judy, and I have three cats, and their differences go far deeper then their skin. This is clear from something so simple as sleeping habits. Myrry is a rakish tomcat who insists on a certain amount of power and independence. When I come to bed at night, I always find him curled up blissfully in front of my pillow. I never have the heart to summarily shove him away, so I always pet him for a while and squirm in between him and Timmy (I'll get to Timmy). But Myyry's not interested in the group cuddle thing, so he always gets up at this point and curls up at the foot of the bed against my legs.
Peaches is our anorexic model kitty. She never eats enough, and we're always afraid she'll dry up and blow away if we don't watch her very carefully. Something in her instincts just isn't working right, and we have to be very careful to make sure she eats every day. That's another very interesting story, but we're talking about sleeping just now. Anyway, Peaches is a nester, and she's very particular about the kind of nest she sleeps in. She loves to sleep between my legs, but she's a very proper little girl who insists that they be covered with a blanket before she will snuggle up between them.
Timmy is the cutest of all. Timmy will never be in danger of drying up and blowing away. He's a fat Garfield kitty who's coloring, body shape, and personality often remind me of Winnie-the-Pooh (and Pooh-kitty is one of his nicknames). Timmy is the complete opposite of Myrry. Timmy insists on sleeping on his Mama's pillow, and Judy often has to fight with him to keep him from sleeping on her hair and pulling it. But once they come to some sort of agreement, he will spend the night there, blissfully purring away (and Timmy has a formidable, squeeky purr) with a paw draped fondly across his Mama's neck.
You'll never convince me cats don't have personality!
Salud,
Mark
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Language pair: English; All
This is a reply to message # 59444
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| 59613 |
Re:Cats have no individuality? Hogwash!
Oh boy. Cats defenetly have individuality. In my lifetime I have lived with eight different cats. Bo, Precious, Jessie, Sunny, George, Tiny Tim, Jewels, and Carmel.
Precious was the first. My parents got her from their land lord. She was in everyway the Queen. Everything had to be to her liking, she had to have wet food, no dry food, and always had to be the center of attention. She hissed and growled and swung at the other cats if they didn't follow her rules.
Bo, on the otherhand was my gardian since birth. He wouldn't let people near me and was very over protective. He was with me 90% of the time when I was a baby, slept in my crib with me, and wouldn't let me out of his site. His nicknames where, Boregard Cat, Security Cat, and BoBo. Oh and he was HUGE! Like a medium to large bobcat, but very gentle.
Jessie, was very skittish, I rescued her from a log pile. One time she got stuck in a tree for a month, during lightning storms, and refused to come down. We got a man to get her down and she tore him to shreds. I loved her but she scared me. She always hid and only came out at night, to attack my feet.
Sunny, I found in the bushes, with three kittens. She was sweet from the start and has bin my best friend ever since. I could go on and on about her, but I won't.
Her kittens were, Curios George, Tiny Tim, and Jewels, who loved to hide. All there names hint to there individuality.
Now at this point I must tell you that all the above cats had bin Strays, well-mannered and appreiciative, until. . .
Carmel, never bin out side, and all around dork. She has to have her water out of a fountain, or she meows and makes a lot of noise and breaks things. She always has to be first, and is always in the way. She always has to have food in her bowl or she becomes very bratty. She loves to skateboard or ride on our shoulders. She walks on you rather than around. Need I go on?
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 59522
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| 59626 |
Re:Cats have no individuality? Hogwash!
> You'll never convince me cats don't have personality!
My mother had a cat which surprised her by once licking her face when she cried, as if trying to comfort her. I have never heard about it doing so in other occasions, even though it licked people's arms during playing.
The same cat also used to wake up my mother in the morning by jumping on paino keys, and if it did not work, it went to the kitchen, opened the cupboard, and began to pull teacups out, dropping them into the metallic sink. That always worked. :-)
Puti
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Language pair: English; All
This is a reply to message # 59522
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| 59627 |
Re:Mankind versus Animals: a theory...(1)
> The human being plans his future, establishes several schemes of life; he is a being who has to become something. On the other hand, animals are already what they will be during their entire life and they just struggle to maintain their states.
Male apes often devise long and complex campaigns to gain the position of the group leader. Jane Goodall even told about a chimpanzee stealing man-made things to make an impression to the others.
Puti
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Language pair: French; English
This is a reply to message # 59444
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