Animals

qcrisp said:
Has anyone read this?:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28680749-being-a-beast

It looks interesting.

I noticed that the author gave an interesting response to someone who reviewed another of his books unfavourably at Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/96413264?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
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The author shows far too much patience with this creatard. That, in itself, is one society's biggest problems. They need to be ridiculed out of existence.
 
Re: Being a Beast — the book description strikes me as incredibly foolish. The fact that the description is of him as "liv[ing] life as a badger, [etc]" is an immediate red flag. He didn't live life as a badger. No matter where and how he lay down to sleep, no matter what he hunted and ate, he did it all as man. No matter how restrictive the guidelines he set for himself, he thought as a man and acted as a man. He has no more insight into life as a badger than he would have had into the life of a condor had he taken a running jump off a cliff with his arms open wide. Maybe that's the last chapter, but I'll certainly never know.

re: the review response, I have to say I'm with FP on this one. Ignoring for a moment the absurdity of trying to reconcile science with the supernatural (as the book appears to be attempting), engaging a deaf man in conversation profits you nothing.

NB: In the preceding, I'm not taking a position on truth or untruth of science as a way of viewing the world. I'm just saying that, by definition, any scientific conversation excludes the supernatural from the discussion. (see NATURAL science)
 
Forgotten Prisoner said:
qcrisp said:
Has anyone read this?:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28680749-being-a-beast

It looks interesting.

I noticed that the author gave an interesting response to someone who reviewed another of his books unfavourably at Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/96413264?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
Click to expand...


The author shows far too much patience with this creatard. That, in itself, is one society's biggest problems. They need to be ridiculed out of existence.
Click to expand...

I can't claim to be as patient as the author, myself, but patience seems so rare online (and I know how difficult it is), that I can't help admiring it. I also don't think that ridiculing people causes them to cease to exist, though we might wish it did. For reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbX0wwp-nlI

Edit: I'm not presenting that video as an infallible source, or even something I agree with entirely. It does point out some reasons (which I don't think are absolute) why it's very hard to argue with people constructively online. Given that fact, I think patience or silence are preferable to ridicule, though the latter might, like junk food, be hard to resist sometimes.
 
When someone in an argument is polite and encouraging, it often has a disarming effect on the opponent. People might not change their mind in this situation, but there's definitely less at stake if you admit you are or might be wrong. I've seen so many people backpedal in this situation.
Generosity is a very underrated arguing tactic I think.

Does ridicule ever work? I doubt it ever works much and when it seems to work it might have long term negative consequences of people separating and not listening to different opinions. There is a lot of speculation that ridicule has actually empowered more extreme politicians because ridicule strengthens the supporters convictions that they are being attacked by horrible people.

There's a lot of fear that giving controversial people a platform to speak on will help support them. So lots of people try to stop them speaking at all. Another tactic has been ridiculing them during or after their speech. I think this often plays into a narrative that the speaker is a poor victim.
 
The only proof I need that there is nothing "mere" about animals?

The dog lying next to me right now.

Cheers.
 
Revenant said:
The only proof I need that there is nothing "mere" about animals?

The dog lying next to me right now.

Cheers.
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I had an experience like that late last week. One takes one's cat for granted at one's peril... I decided to change her brand of food on Monday. She complained through Wednesday, left on Thursday (and this is a lifelong indoor cat at 4 years old, never been outdoors), and blithely showed up again Saturday with a smug look at the back door.... I was beside myself for three days..
 
I love binturongs:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXj84ae6S9I[/ame]

The more I contemplate them, the more I feel myself inclined towards some kind of animism.
 
Nibbled to death by an okapi...
https://youtu.be/wl7XPGSQrn4
 
I love all animals, especially chimpanzees, however it seems to me that loving animals to the exclusion of human beings is a new form of nihilism.
 
Well said, teguififthzeal.

If you were around in decades past, you probably remember people being characterized as "tree huggers." The new attitude toward animals - especially pets - could be characterized as "pet hugging." That gloppy, sentimental attitude built on a foundation of subtle anger.

People's pets are so often without training or manners, just like their owners, and if you don't like it you're "mean," possibly a pet abuser.

Yes, there are greater problems in the world, but post-hippies getting gooey over animals and putting people last is a regularly occurring irritation.

Not that most people don't deserve it. :)
 
The discussion reminds me of this man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0hQrZ4Zoxo

A lot of people bash Treadwell because he abandoned human society only to express its values in the wild, and the common (dare I say instinctual?) belief in separation between animals and humans rails against Treadwell's sentiments. People say he deserved his ending because he was naive; I thought he deserved his ending because he was not. Treadwell always said he loved bears and would die for them, and I believe he (unconsciously) wished-and knew-someday he really would. He chose his fate, and whether this fate was tragic or not can be debated.

I don't think it was, because I've held the belief since young that you eat what you love and you love what you eat. To be eaten by what you love is not bad at all. Even before I fully understand the different ways people die, I thought of cannibalism as an act of love. Treadwell wished to be a bear, loved the bear, so he became one with the bear.

You see, to me that summarizes what is so strange about human. Have you ever heard of a chimpanzee that doesn't want to be a chimpanzee anymore? (I'm not talking about cases of displacement by circumstance, but voluntary integration). An animal going against survival instincts to live near predators for 10 years? Even the bears were confused.
_____________
On another note, the other day while my class was dissecting cat arteries & veins, a group found out their cat was pregnant (only a few weeks in I believe). The whole class mourned for the cat's unborn baby. I was flummoxed. The class didn't seem to be upset while dissecting cats (complaints were about the formaldehyde) yet was upset about unborn cat babies. Was it because people watch too many kitten videos? Many human behaviors continue to perplex me.
 
Cesar Millan is kind of stupid. His training methods tend to be too domineering in trying to gain "alpha status" and based off outdated views. Anyone who still encourages the 'alpha roll' or hitting a dog are idiots.

Ian Dunbar is far, far better and more influential than Cesar Millan. His reward-based training method is based off modern research and doesn't require one to be domineering.

I am currently reading Teoti Anderson's The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training. She had significant involvement in Ian Dunbar's organizations, and she does a good job explaining how to use cues, clickers, and reward-based training with treats for dogs. The layout of the book is a little messed up, but I will supplement it with Ian Dunbar's Before and After Getting Your Puppy. I am going to throw Cesar Millan's books into the trash, for I made a mistake getting them from the flea market.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOW0IKO_zfM

Also, Jackson Galaxy is a scoundrel too, for he advocated euthanizing a misbehaved cat on his dumb show. Both Jackson Galaxy and Cesar Millan are retarded and no 'whisperers'.
 
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Mithras said:
Cesar Millan is kind of stupid. His training methods tend to be too domineering in trying to gain "alpha status" and based off outdated views . . .
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Cannot resist. One of my fave Cesar Milan images from back when -

2j2c2lf.jpg
 
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