Conceit 2016-W17

Perhaps based on interpretations from the Bible, or perhaps merely arrogance, some humans harbor a conceit that we are the only "animal" that can feel or express certain emotions — human emotions, if you will. Many other humans know better; further proof was delivered by a moving episode of PBS program Nature, where we see a number of reunions between animal orphans and their carers.

The reunions happen after the animals have transitioned to partly or fully lived lives in the wild. We aren't so surprised by the gorilla... after all, they're primates as are we. As it happened, the gorilla seems rather "matey" and waved his horde of wives in to meet his old friend and carer. More surprising were the elephants. And the man who raises elephant orphans, whose devotion inspires. In this reunion, we see not one but two excited young elephant ladies and a bit of a girl fight over their long unseen carer.

Very surprising to me was the cheetah. Long story short, she allowed a human to be near her litter of cubs. And even let them clamber and explore her human friend as he lay back. Whatever emotion she felt toward him is nothing we can fathom — we aren't cheetahs. But what is clear and incredible: her emotional bond with the human put her at ease in a situation where she by nature would be her most vigilant and dangerous self.

Lastly the chimpanzees, and as with gorillas we expect them to act like us. They practically are us, after all. While those reunions unfold as expected, the stunning surprise here arose from a different situation. As she was caged, being transported for release to the wild, a chimp was comforted by a woman the chimp had never met, and only knew for the hour or so that the boat ride endured. Ashore and released from the cage, the chimp explored this new space and then leapt atop the cage, near the woman who gave her comfort. And then the chimp hugged this woman so tenderly. A virtual stranger who made an immediate emotional impact on this animal.

We can never know exactly what this chimpanzee was thinking or feeling. We can't say what message she meant to convey to her source of comfort. But we can say that what the chimp felt was the equal of any of our more lofty human emotions. Maybe "human emotion" should be retired as a meaningless phrase.

I'll tackle another meaningless phrase in the next post. Meanwhile, here's a recent abstract study. I think at the time I gave it a jokey name like Square Planets in a Warm Galaxy but I withdraw that. I enjoyed deciding which side was up... see if you agree!

Abstract Study