Mea Culpa
“You shouldn’t project human traits onto animals!”
Every now and then, I’m ‘accused’ of anthropomorphism, of attributing human emotions to animals.
Guilty as charged!
I do see emotions in animals. Sometimes they look happy, scared, irritated, or even downright jealous. Animals can feel sadness, anger, disappointment, frustration, insecurity, excitement, and joy. They know empathy. They comfort each other.
It’s well known that elephants grieve their dead. Rats, apparently, can even feel regret. In short: very little that is “human” is alien to animals.
The Inner Beast
To me, it’s quite the opposite: we animalize animals too much, or perhaps we over-humanize ourselves.
As a species, we desperately want to be unique and superior. We try to claim certain traits as ours alone, to keep our place at the top of the hierarchy. But emotions are not our exclusive privilege.
Maybe it’s the confrontation with the animal within ourselves that we prefer to avoid?
Do animals hold up a mirror that forces us to face the beast inside?
Do we make them smaller and more anonymous just to excuse ourselves — to eat them, use them for transport, entertainment, or comfort, without guilt?
What Science Says
Science has long searched for proof of our supposed human superiority.
Tool Use
For a long time, it was believed that only humans used tools. But chimpanzees and even crows do too!
Sea otters use stones as hammers to crack open shells. Asian elephants use sticks to scratch themselves, and octopuses use coconut shells as armor. So no, tool use does not make us human.
Self-awareness
When that didn’t hold, self-awareness became the new standard. Surely, animals couldn’t possess that?
Yet mirror tests proved otherwise: chimpanzees, dolphins, elephants, and magpies recognize themselves in a mirror; clear evidence of self-awareness.
Just Like Us
Primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall was one of the first to show that animals are not so different from us.
When she began her then-revolutionary chimpanzee research, animals were typically given numbers, anonymous and impersonal. She chose to give them names instead. That was considered controversial, because by naming them, she made them equal. Exactly what scientists wanted to avoid.
She wanted the world to see that animals, like us, are individuals with their own emotions. In one of her speeches, she said she’d learned that from a wonderful teacher. When the audience wondered who that genius was, she said: “My dog”.
Can Animals Laugh?
One question remains: can animals laugh?
Science now suggests they can. But didn’t we already know that?
Take your dog to the beach and watch its face when it sees the ocean after a long, hot car ride … unmistakable bliss.
Or your cat, basking in the sun with that priceless, satisfied grin. Pure feline happiness.
The Smiling Fox
You see it in the wild, too. I’ve studied foxes for many years, and I truly believe they can laugh. When there’s no need to hunt, defend, feed, nurse, or breed, when they simply enjoy the sun, the scent of the forest, or the sound of silence or when they’re completely Zen…
That’s when I see it: The Smiling Fox.
And if you still think I’m anthropomorphizing, think again. Whether they laugh or not, one thing is certain: animals are far more like us than we sometimes care to admit. It’s about time we start treating them as worthy co-inhabitants of this planet!
Want to learn more about foxes? Check my 31 Fox Facts!
