this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
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[–] Nicoleism101@lemm.ee 17 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

My cat: I pissed three times on your stuff while you were away because fuck you and your shitty ‘healthy’ food

Same evening: cuddles? cuddles! cuddle me human, yes scratches behind the ears!

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Emotions? Sure.

Like us?

I dunno. Does irate fury at being woken up mid nap count as “like us”?

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 19 points 3 months ago

I'm gonna go with absolutely.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 14 points 3 months ago

That's exactly how I feel when someone wakes me up mid nap so yeah.

[–] stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

they obviously have emotions, just a bit less complex ones, but it's pretty clear they're not just robots

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Just because we understand their emotions only on a basic level doesn’t mean they’re not more complicated.

There is a lot we don’t understand and can’t understand.

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[–] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 months ago (5 children)

How do you know cats don't experience sonder? Did you ask one? No, you just assumed

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Two monks were passing by a little pond where there were some ducks, and the first monk said, "Look at how happy those ducks are!"

The second monk said, "You are not a duck. You can't know if they are happy."

The first monk replied, "You are not me. You can't know that I cannot."

[–] fishbone@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The takeaway from this is that half of all monks may or may not have duck telepathy, yes?

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[–] bitchkat@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

emotions yes. Like us, I don't have the capabilities to determine if their emotions are like ours.

[–] gnutrino@programming.dev 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Man, mine go nuts being happy to see us.

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[–] Squirrel@thelemmy.club 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Eh, we can leave our cats for a week with plenty of food, etc., and they're still thrilled when we return.

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[–] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They don't have emotions like us but they have emotions similar to ours.

[–] Rekorse@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

How would you define like us vs similar to us?

[–] AnxiousOtter@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)
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[–] djsoren19@yiffit.net 6 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Humans can have more complex emotions. We can be stressed about theoretical concepts that animals just are not equipped to understand. We can be excited by the prospect of future events.

Most animal emotions are immediate. They enjoy some food they eat, they find a nice warm spot to bask in, they see a predator and run away. Most animals lack the mental capacity to think beyond the immediate.

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago (4 children)

I mean, that could just be a fault in observation. The same line of thinking was utilized by people like Thomas Jefferson to validate his own use of slavery.

The language we use to describe intellect and emotions are inseparable from biased interpretation by humans. Can all humans "stress about theoretical concepts"? If a human lacks the ability to do so, do they become less human, or more animalistic?

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[–] kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 months ago

If that's the case, then there's also something more complex going on - animals can certainly learn to anticipate things at specific times, like food, a dog gets excited by a doorbell because they knew that means somebody is coming, they can get stressed out by innocuous things if they associate it with bad experiences like beatings.

Not saying you're wrong, but it warrants further explanation, because as is it doesn't match the simple experience of living with a dog.

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[–] veganpizza69@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago
[–] Resol@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

My cat has only one emotion: not giving a damn about me

[–] spirinolas@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (5 children)

Don't worry, my cats are exactly the same. They also don't give a damn about you.

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[–] lightnegative@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

It's not just you, I guarantee your cat doesn't give a damn about anyone

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