This article introduced me to Jainism. I have never heard of it before. I was surprised when I found out that Jainism requires you to be a vegetarian; I assumed that they ate meat, but killed animals in an honorable and respectful way. I found it interesting that Jainism condemns violence against people, but at the same time, a Jain painting displays a king cutting his own limbs off to feed a hawk. What struck me at first was the fact that Jains knew about microbes before they were able to be seen with microscopes. When I think about it, they probably just guessed. Probably a contrary option, but I don’t think people can or should find out how consciousness works. I think that most creatures are conscious, and that consciousness did not recently “evolve”, because consciousness is not physical. Animals have a unique view of the world that people will never get to understand or experience, but despite that, they are still conscious in their own right. I think that birds are conscious without question, but the magpie passing the mirror test is pretty objective evidence that that magpie was conscious. An obvious connection I can make to other ideas we discussed is that of the debate about whether lobsters can feel pain or not. People argue that since lobsters have a different nervous system than humans, they don’t feel pain. This is the same mechanism with other animals and consciousness, specifically birds in this article. Birds don’t have a cerebral cortex, therefore people would say that they are too dissimilar from humans to be conscious. It’s strange that newer religions don’t have rules for the respect of animals like older religions do. I also think that it is very sweet that there is an entire hospital dedicated to birds in Delhi.
Before even reading this paper I became intrigued by the title simply because I am an animal behavior major and have had a passion for animals ever since I was a child. All of these examples interest me, however I think that the social aspect of animal cognition is the most fascinating. For example the paper was talking about crows mourning dead family or friends, or sometimes holding what looks to us like ceremonies around the body. One of the more fascinating behaviors I have seen is in an elephant social circle. Elephants are known to be smart already, in similar “class” as dolphins, octopus, sometimes pigs as the complexity of their brains. What fascinates me is that a mother elephant who loses her offspring is often seen mourning around the baby’s body. A very sad sight, however the mother can be seen wailing, stomping and sometimes dying of starvation/dehydration laying next to their deceased offspring. This is morbid, however it shows that these mother elephants are capable of more than physical pain. Switching topics I would say that the concern that lies with this topic is greatly projected by the fishing industry. It is seemingly proven that fish species can feel some sort of pain, yet regulations around the fishing industry are limited to numerical regulations to preserve species. This means that there is no protection, leaving everything up to ethics, which often in industrial circumstances is thrown out the window in pursuit of money. The idea of the people in India devoting their lives to the preservation of animals is an interesting story for sure. I think that no belief is invalid nor should anyone influence beliefs on another person. I also agree with the belief that animals are far more complex than people think about, which is why I am here to study animals. Overall I really enjoyed this read and I think that animal cognition isn’t necessarily the most pressing problem in the world, but more people should consider it.
“As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will always be battlefields”
– Leo Tolstoy
I am always pleased to see animal consciousness being discussed. I find it endlessly fascinating. Having a decent amount of knowledge on the subject, I was previously aware of most of the examples provided by the text. There is a vast amount of evidence to suggest that many animals are sentient, some of which the majority of us would never have given a second thought: from birds using bait to catching fish, to crocodiles using bait to catch birds, to ants recognizing their own reflections; I find it ridiculous to think that humans are the only conscious or intelligent beings. Yes, ants have, interestingly, passed the mirror test, as have a few fish. Monkeys, on the other hand, have not. This brings into question how reliable the mirror test is at determining whether an animal is self-aware. Monkeys are commonly known to be rather intelligent animals, but perhaps it is because their particular type of intelligence is similar to our own that we are able to recognize it. Most people would not regard ants as intelligent, or aware of themselves as individuals, but clearly they are conscious on some level. I posit that living within a large colony may necessitate the development of, if not individuality, the sense of oneself as an individual, so that a colony member might be better able to decide how to serve the collective in a given moment. Cleaner wrasses, fishes which are documented to have passed the mirror test as well, appear to have a consciousness that is closer to our own, one far too nuanced to be discuss here in full. They display complex relationships with “client fishes” those that are cleaned by the wrasse, different wrasses having a different set of “regulars” with whom they have different individual relationships. Another discrepancy to consider in regards to the mirror test is the reliance of many animals on senses other than sight. Dogs, for example, interpret the world primarily through their olfactory senses. Therefore, it may not be fair to determine their level of consciousness with a sight based test. Different kinds of intelligence and, by extension, consciousness develop to serve different purposes. Our brains are likely capable of things that those of other animals are not, while the opposite is likely true as well. Many animals probably experience the world differently than we do, despite being no less conscious. To me, animal consciousness is not only a subject of much interest but also of moral importance. I am largely vegetarian for this reason, although that isn’t to say that I believe the consumption of meat to be inherently wrong; it is a natural part of our diet, after all. I do believe that meat, when consumed, should be eaten mindfully and with respect. Our attitude towards food, particularly in this country, is rather careless. We do not often think about where it comes from, who it comes from, or of the nonhuman lives and families we affect with our dietary choices. When I see an animal I tend to wonder about the life they have lived, where they’ve been, what they’ve seen, what I might learn from them if only I could listen. I hope that as research on animal behavior continues to shed light of the countless lives we share this planet with, more people are able to develop a greater sense of care and respect for those lives.
The idea of animal consciousness is one that has always deeply fascinated me, as it is still a very challenging subject today. Most people just don’t want to think about it. So reading about the core idea of Jainism being one of being nonviolent towards not only humans but animals as well really intrigued me, and also just made a certain amount of sense. If animals experience the same or at least similar pain as humans do, why should we be allowed to kill them, as in essence it would be horrifically similar to killing a human in a way. It was also alarming yet sadly not entirely unsurprising that western philosophers believed that animal consciousness didn’t exist and believed only humans possessed it, and were only really forced to reconsider only after overwhelming evidence kept coming out that many, if not all, do indeed have a consciousness. Plus, for it to have only come out during the years following world war two is further saddening, but interesting as there was a real focus on psychology around then, so it’s fascinating how animal consciousness was also discovered then. The tenets behind Jainism do sound somewhat extreme, such as refusing to wear silk out of not wanting to destroy silkworms, or not wanting to eat root vegetables out of a fear of destroying delicate underground ecosystems, to even not wanting to walk in puddles which possess tiny microbes, who they speculated the existence of long before science was able to prove it. But the core idea behind it can really only be called noble if maybe a bit impractical. But as the article points out, consciousness is a field of science that is still quite a mystery. In the “Consider the Lobster” article we read earlier this year, lobsters have pain receptors so simple that they would seem to imply that they can’t feel pain, but only by our understanding and definition. Lobsters could feel constant, unimaginable pain as they are being boiled alive, but we simply can’t tell. So while things such as microbes may very well not experience pain, they in fact could, but we simply can’t tell.
Personally, consciousness has always been a difficult idea for me to wrap my head around. I think its an incredibly complex thing to think about and the more you think about it, the more complex it becomes. First off, what is consciousness? There is a different definition depending on if you mean it in a scientific way, emotional way, spiritual way, or a general way. All across the world consciousness is a part of cultures, religions and science. It was really interesting to me to learn about Jainism. I have never heard of this religion before, and their way of life is so different than mine and the rest of the world. They have altered everything they do to make sure it won’t affect an animal or ecosystem in any possible way. They believe animals do have consciousness while there are many others that argue that. There are multiple factors as to why people believe animals do not have consciousness. Biologically, they do not have the same brain structures as humans. This may be true but some argue that just because they do not have the same exact brain structures as us, why are our brain structures the only ones that determine consciousness. Maybe there are many different types of brain structures that have the same function as ours, just in a different shape and location. Another arguable factor is the amount of neurons we have can determine if we have consciousness or not. The honey bee only has one million neurons compared to the humans eighty-five million neurons but the honey bee still has complex behaviors that can be similar to a humans. Consciousness is not something we can see, measure, or define.
My initial thoughts when first reading this essay were “I am going to be reading about the humanity of animals” but through deeper investigation, I had explored many different beliefs, theories and religious views. Once diving deeper into the story we had taken a look at the Jains people’s beliefs and had become overwhelmed with the amount of humanity these people had treated just about everything with, they had refused to eat animals because of the belief of consciousness and wouldn’t dare disrupt the soil and what goes on beneath it. As I was reading the question, what can the rest of the human population learn from these profound beings? Of course not everyone would have the same views but simple ones such as believing everything or everyone has a conscience. If this approach was taken I believe the human race as a whole could become less violent and instead of having this total domination mindset, we could come together as nations and have the mindset of conquering together. When looking at the bird hospital in Delhi, many feelings of love and humanity were provoked, as if I was reading a tour of Boston’s children’s hospital. Everything was treated like it was conscious, had feeling, felt feeling and had their feelings heard by others. As a future healthcare worker, like mentioned previously I believe we can all work together to be better people and treat each other better, subconsciously and consciously.
After the reading, it was mind opening. I didn’t realize how seriously people took violence against animals seriously. For example, on page two, the entire second paragraph was talking about examples on how seriously they take it. Like the white robes that jain monks wear are made of cotton not silk which would require the destruction of silkworms. As well as walking barefoot in the cool morning to avoid car travel. It was surprising how far they took it and how much it affected their everyday lives. In my opinion, I think it’s pretty clear that animals are conscious. How else would you train a dog? I taught my dog how to sit by giving him a treat every time I would say sit and he would do it. Even when he was first learning, I would say sit and put his butt down so he would sit and then say good boy. Until he could do it with me just having to say sit. If he was conscious, how would he remember that when he does a certain movement he will get something in return? It’s the same with animals and pain. My dog loves to be in the kitchen around our feet while we’re cooking hoping something would drop on the ground for him to nibble on. Since he’s always there, we trip over him or sometimes step on his toe or tail and he would let out a yelp. If animals didn’t feel pain, he wouldn’t have a reaction to it. He also gets stressed out when I cry really hard and paces around like he knows something is wrong. He also gets afraid that he’s going to be left when my parents drive me up to school and he comes along for the ride. He may not have a certain part of the brain that we have that can detect those things, but he definitely can. I think it’s the same for all animals.
After reading “What the crow knows”, I realized that there is a lot that I don’t know about animals. I never really thought about how smart some animals actually are. There are so many things that I learned about the way that animals, specifically birds, think. I found this entire essay fascinating, but I especially thought that the idea of animals possibly having a consciousness of their own was so cool. I never spent the time to think about the way that animals think, similarly to humans. I am curious to know if all animals have a certain level of consciousness, or if it is just some of them. I also did not know that there was a specific group of people who brought up the idea that animals are conscious beings who feel some kind of emotion. I think that deep down I knew that animals were evolved enough to feel some kind of feeling, but this essay is really opening my eyes to how animals live their lives. I found it incredibly interesting that crows are smart enough to hold grudges and I now know how smart they actually are. While I was reading this essay, there were parts of it that reminded me of “consider the lobster”. I saw similarities between the two essays when they were talking about specific animals being able to feel pain and suffer. I was aware that a lot of animals are able to feel pain to some extent, but I did not realize just how much they are able to actually feel. I learned so much from reading this essay and it really made me see how similar humans and other animals actually are.
This article was an interesting read. When I was a kid I was the one that would watch national geographic videos all the time and be in awe of what I was seeing. Chimps have always been something I’ve been interested in. Just how close they are to us, we come from the same relatives and are genetically basically the same. Crows are another animal I knew were very smart creatures. I actually have heard of the walnuts in the roadway before this article, and to see something like a bird you really wouldn’t think too much of their intelliegence. I didn’t know however they have the ability to make tools with their claws. That just seems insane to me. Also crows mourn death just like humans do. It’s incredibly unique to see animals doing rituals just as if humans would. Another animal behavior that was interesting was the monkeys on watch for predators. It reminds me of rural villages where they’ll have someone on watch for danger. The author made a great point, it’s not what animals are conscious, it’s what animals aren’t? In my opinion the author is trying to point out the fact that there is more organisms that have human like characteristics then do not. A concern I have is that the human population treat other species like creatures. These animals are just as intelligent as us, and I feel like it’s to our disadvantage if we treat them lower then us.
After reading, “What the Crow Knows” many ideas emerged in my mind. I found the format of the story very interesting. At first reading this, it was more of a broad concept, talking about a bird hospital and the consiousness of animals. After finishing the entire story I think it had a larger meaning than if animals are conscious or not. What I got out of it is that we need to treat all of Earth’s creatures with love and care. The Jain religion is said to maybe have inspired Buddhism, which is something I totally see. As someone who practices the laws of Buddhism I see many similarities. The Jains are very peaceful and they intend to protect every creature on Earth. The author dug deeper than the idea that animals have consciousness, he actually went into the science of it and proved the facts. I can definitely make a connection between this passage and the passage we read about the lobster festival. Questions in my mind emerged thinking about if all animals had consciousness and could feel some sort of emotion. It’s a strange thought but there is so much evidence that backs it up. An example of this was in the bird hospital, after some birds are released, they will come back to visit and sit on their shoulders. Obviously this proves the birds know what they are doing, and they are thankful for the help they’ve been given. Some crows even deliver gifts like sea glass. It’s not just birds that react this way though, we see all sorts of communication between humans and animals, we just don’t notice it. The author also discusses if all animals can feel pain, which made me think of the first text we read about the lobster festival. This is another scientific fact, as we read in the essay that fish do feel pain, and they exert examples of it. I think this essay is trying to make us think. When the author takes the hike all the way up to the temple, his thoughts are racing. I believe if we all had some sort of enlightenment with nature, we could better see the repercussions of hurting animals.
12 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 9”
This article introduced me to Jainism. I have never heard of it before. I was surprised when I found out that Jainism requires you to be a vegetarian; I assumed that they ate meat, but killed animals in an honorable and respectful way. I found it interesting that Jainism condemns violence against people, but at the same time, a Jain painting displays a king cutting his own limbs off to feed a hawk. What struck me at first was the fact that Jains knew about microbes before they were able to be seen with microscopes. When I think about it, they probably just guessed. Probably a contrary option, but I don’t think people can or should find out how consciousness works. I think that most creatures are conscious, and that consciousness did not recently “evolve”, because consciousness is not physical. Animals have a unique view of the world that people will never get to understand or experience, but despite that, they are still conscious in their own right. I think that birds are conscious without question, but the magpie passing the mirror test is pretty objective evidence that that magpie was conscious. An obvious connection I can make to other ideas we discussed is that of the debate about whether lobsters can feel pain or not. People argue that since lobsters have a different nervous system than humans, they don’t feel pain. This is the same mechanism with other animals and consciousness, specifically birds in this article. Birds don’t have a cerebral cortex, therefore people would say that they are too dissimilar from humans to be conscious. It’s strange that newer religions don’t have rules for the respect of animals like older religions do. I also think that it is very sweet that there is an entire hospital dedicated to birds in Delhi.
Before even reading this paper I became intrigued by the title simply because I am an animal behavior major and have had a passion for animals ever since I was a child. All of these examples interest me, however I think that the social aspect of animal cognition is the most fascinating. For example the paper was talking about crows mourning dead family or friends, or sometimes holding what looks to us like ceremonies around the body. One of the more fascinating behaviors I have seen is in an elephant social circle. Elephants are known to be smart already, in similar “class” as dolphins, octopus, sometimes pigs as the complexity of their brains. What fascinates me is that a mother elephant who loses her offspring is often seen mourning around the baby’s body. A very sad sight, however the mother can be seen wailing, stomping and sometimes dying of starvation/dehydration laying next to their deceased offspring. This is morbid, however it shows that these mother elephants are capable of more than physical pain. Switching topics I would say that the concern that lies with this topic is greatly projected by the fishing industry. It is seemingly proven that fish species can feel some sort of pain, yet regulations around the fishing industry are limited to numerical regulations to preserve species. This means that there is no protection, leaving everything up to ethics, which often in industrial circumstances is thrown out the window in pursuit of money. The idea of the people in India devoting their lives to the preservation of animals is an interesting story for sure. I think that no belief is invalid nor should anyone influence beliefs on another person. I also agree with the belief that animals are far more complex than people think about, which is why I am here to study animals. Overall I really enjoyed this read and I think that animal cognition isn’t necessarily the most pressing problem in the world, but more people should consider it.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IZOxoxBegXda9u7OLDjH8DhGOi-4CqPoM4_QWdY0g9Q/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UK7GzQNyrv7ntO7mxMUNfgXncwRZz9v2OB_gxbucOnY/edit
“As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will always be battlefields”
– Leo Tolstoy
I am always pleased to see animal consciousness being discussed. I find it endlessly fascinating. Having a decent amount of knowledge on the subject, I was previously aware of most of the examples provided by the text. There is a vast amount of evidence to suggest that many animals are sentient, some of which the majority of us would never have given a second thought: from birds using bait to catching fish, to crocodiles using bait to catch birds, to ants recognizing their own reflections; I find it ridiculous to think that humans are the only conscious or intelligent beings. Yes, ants have, interestingly, passed the mirror test, as have a few fish. Monkeys, on the other hand, have not. This brings into question how reliable the mirror test is at determining whether an animal is self-aware. Monkeys are commonly known to be rather intelligent animals, but perhaps it is because their particular type of intelligence is similar to our own that we are able to recognize it. Most people would not regard ants as intelligent, or aware of themselves as individuals, but clearly they are conscious on some level. I posit that living within a large colony may necessitate the development of, if not individuality, the sense of oneself as an individual, so that a colony member might be better able to decide how to serve the collective in a given moment. Cleaner wrasses, fishes which are documented to have passed the mirror test as well, appear to have a consciousness that is closer to our own, one far too nuanced to be discuss here in full. They display complex relationships with “client fishes” those that are cleaned by the wrasse, different wrasses having a different set of “regulars” with whom they have different individual relationships. Another discrepancy to consider in regards to the mirror test is the reliance of many animals on senses other than sight. Dogs, for example, interpret the world primarily through their olfactory senses. Therefore, it may not be fair to determine their level of consciousness with a sight based test. Different kinds of intelligence and, by extension, consciousness develop to serve different purposes. Our brains are likely capable of things that those of other animals are not, while the opposite is likely true as well. Many animals probably experience the world differently than we do, despite being no less conscious. To me, animal consciousness is not only a subject of much interest but also of moral importance. I am largely vegetarian for this reason, although that isn’t to say that I believe the consumption of meat to be inherently wrong; it is a natural part of our diet, after all. I do believe that meat, when consumed, should be eaten mindfully and with respect. Our attitude towards food, particularly in this country, is rather careless. We do not often think about where it comes from, who it comes from, or of the nonhuman lives and families we affect with our dietary choices. When I see an animal I tend to wonder about the life they have lived, where they’ve been, what they’ve seen, what I might learn from them if only I could listen. I hope that as research on animal behavior continues to shed light of the countless lives we share this planet with, more people are able to develop a greater sense of care and respect for those lives.
The idea of animal consciousness is one that has always deeply fascinated me, as it is still a very challenging subject today. Most people just don’t want to think about it. So reading about the core idea of Jainism being one of being nonviolent towards not only humans but animals as well really intrigued me, and also just made a certain amount of sense. If animals experience the same or at least similar pain as humans do, why should we be allowed to kill them, as in essence it would be horrifically similar to killing a human in a way. It was also alarming yet sadly not entirely unsurprising that western philosophers believed that animal consciousness didn’t exist and believed only humans possessed it, and were only really forced to reconsider only after overwhelming evidence kept coming out that many, if not all, do indeed have a consciousness. Plus, for it to have only come out during the years following world war two is further saddening, but interesting as there was a real focus on psychology around then, so it’s fascinating how animal consciousness was also discovered then. The tenets behind Jainism do sound somewhat extreme, such as refusing to wear silk out of not wanting to destroy silkworms, or not wanting to eat root vegetables out of a fear of destroying delicate underground ecosystems, to even not wanting to walk in puddles which possess tiny microbes, who they speculated the existence of long before science was able to prove it. But the core idea behind it can really only be called noble if maybe a bit impractical. But as the article points out, consciousness is a field of science that is still quite a mystery. In the “Consider the Lobster” article we read earlier this year, lobsters have pain receptors so simple that they would seem to imply that they can’t feel pain, but only by our understanding and definition. Lobsters could feel constant, unimaginable pain as they are being boiled alive, but we simply can’t tell. So while things such as microbes may very well not experience pain, they in fact could, but we simply can’t tell.
Personally, consciousness has always been a difficult idea for me to wrap my head around. I think its an incredibly complex thing to think about and the more you think about it, the more complex it becomes. First off, what is consciousness? There is a different definition depending on if you mean it in a scientific way, emotional way, spiritual way, or a general way. All across the world consciousness is a part of cultures, religions and science. It was really interesting to me to learn about Jainism. I have never heard of this religion before, and their way of life is so different than mine and the rest of the world. They have altered everything they do to make sure it won’t affect an animal or ecosystem in any possible way. They believe animals do have consciousness while there are many others that argue that. There are multiple factors as to why people believe animals do not have consciousness. Biologically, they do not have the same brain structures as humans. This may be true but some argue that just because they do not have the same exact brain structures as us, why are our brain structures the only ones that determine consciousness. Maybe there are many different types of brain structures that have the same function as ours, just in a different shape and location. Another arguable factor is the amount of neurons we have can determine if we have consciousness or not. The honey bee only has one million neurons compared to the humans eighty-five million neurons but the honey bee still has complex behaviors that can be similar to a humans. Consciousness is not something we can see, measure, or define.
My initial thoughts when first reading this essay were “I am going to be reading about the humanity of animals” but through deeper investigation, I had explored many different beliefs, theories and religious views. Once diving deeper into the story we had taken a look at the Jains people’s beliefs and had become overwhelmed with the amount of humanity these people had treated just about everything with, they had refused to eat animals because of the belief of consciousness and wouldn’t dare disrupt the soil and what goes on beneath it. As I was reading the question, what can the rest of the human population learn from these profound beings? Of course not everyone would have the same views but simple ones such as believing everything or everyone has a conscience. If this approach was taken I believe the human race as a whole could become less violent and instead of having this total domination mindset, we could come together as nations and have the mindset of conquering together. When looking at the bird hospital in Delhi, many feelings of love and humanity were provoked, as if I was reading a tour of Boston’s children’s hospital. Everything was treated like it was conscious, had feeling, felt feeling and had their feelings heard by others. As a future healthcare worker, like mentioned previously I believe we can all work together to be better people and treat each other better, subconsciously and consciously.
After the reading, it was mind opening. I didn’t realize how seriously people took violence against animals seriously. For example, on page two, the entire second paragraph was talking about examples on how seriously they take it. Like the white robes that jain monks wear are made of cotton not silk which would require the destruction of silkworms. As well as walking barefoot in the cool morning to avoid car travel. It was surprising how far they took it and how much it affected their everyday lives. In my opinion, I think it’s pretty clear that animals are conscious. How else would you train a dog? I taught my dog how to sit by giving him a treat every time I would say sit and he would do it. Even when he was first learning, I would say sit and put his butt down so he would sit and then say good boy. Until he could do it with me just having to say sit. If he was conscious, how would he remember that when he does a certain movement he will get something in return? It’s the same with animals and pain. My dog loves to be in the kitchen around our feet while we’re cooking hoping something would drop on the ground for him to nibble on. Since he’s always there, we trip over him or sometimes step on his toe or tail and he would let out a yelp. If animals didn’t feel pain, he wouldn’t have a reaction to it. He also gets stressed out when I cry really hard and paces around like he knows something is wrong. He also gets afraid that he’s going to be left when my parents drive me up to school and he comes along for the ride. He may not have a certain part of the brain that we have that can detect those things, but he definitely can. I think it’s the same for all animals.
After reading “What the crow knows”, I realized that there is a lot that I don’t know about animals. I never really thought about how smart some animals actually are. There are so many things that I learned about the way that animals, specifically birds, think. I found this entire essay fascinating, but I especially thought that the idea of animals possibly having a consciousness of their own was so cool. I never spent the time to think about the way that animals think, similarly to humans. I am curious to know if all animals have a certain level of consciousness, or if it is just some of them. I also did not know that there was a specific group of people who brought up the idea that animals are conscious beings who feel some kind of emotion. I think that deep down I knew that animals were evolved enough to feel some kind of feeling, but this essay is really opening my eyes to how animals live their lives. I found it incredibly interesting that crows are smart enough to hold grudges and I now know how smart they actually are. While I was reading this essay, there were parts of it that reminded me of “consider the lobster”. I saw similarities between the two essays when they were talking about specific animals being able to feel pain and suffer. I was aware that a lot of animals are able to feel pain to some extent, but I did not realize just how much they are able to actually feel. I learned so much from reading this essay and it really made me see how similar humans and other animals actually are.
This article was an interesting read. When I was a kid I was the one that would watch national geographic videos all the time and be in awe of what I was seeing. Chimps have always been something I’ve been interested in. Just how close they are to us, we come from the same relatives and are genetically basically the same. Crows are another animal I knew were very smart creatures. I actually have heard of the walnuts in the roadway before this article, and to see something like a bird you really wouldn’t think too much of their intelliegence. I didn’t know however they have the ability to make tools with their claws. That just seems insane to me. Also crows mourn death just like humans do. It’s incredibly unique to see animals doing rituals just as if humans would. Another animal behavior that was interesting was the monkeys on watch for predators. It reminds me of rural villages where they’ll have someone on watch for danger. The author made a great point, it’s not what animals are conscious, it’s what animals aren’t? In my opinion the author is trying to point out the fact that there is more organisms that have human like characteristics then do not. A concern I have is that the human population treat other species like creatures. These animals are just as intelligent as us, and I feel like it’s to our disadvantage if we treat them lower then us.
After reading, “What the Crow Knows” many ideas emerged in my mind. I found the format of the story very interesting. At first reading this, it was more of a broad concept, talking about a bird hospital and the consiousness of animals. After finishing the entire story I think it had a larger meaning than if animals are conscious or not. What I got out of it is that we need to treat all of Earth’s creatures with love and care. The Jain religion is said to maybe have inspired Buddhism, which is something I totally see. As someone who practices the laws of Buddhism I see many similarities. The Jains are very peaceful and they intend to protect every creature on Earth. The author dug deeper than the idea that animals have consciousness, he actually went into the science of it and proved the facts. I can definitely make a connection between this passage and the passage we read about the lobster festival. Questions in my mind emerged thinking about if all animals had consciousness and could feel some sort of emotion. It’s a strange thought but there is so much evidence that backs it up. An example of this was in the bird hospital, after some birds are released, they will come back to visit and sit on their shoulders. Obviously this proves the birds know what they are doing, and they are thankful for the help they’ve been given. Some crows even deliver gifts like sea glass. It’s not just birds that react this way though, we see all sorts of communication between humans and animals, we just don’t notice it. The author also discusses if all animals can feel pain, which made me think of the first text we read about the lobster festival. This is another scientific fact, as we read in the essay that fish do feel pain, and they exert examples of it. I think this essay is trying to make us think. When the author takes the hike all the way up to the temple, his thoughts are racing. I believe if we all had some sort of enlightenment with nature, we could better see the repercussions of hurting animals.