Post 4. Animal Logic

Facebook is wonderful for judging the company you keep. A friend of a friend had this to say about the tragedy at SeaWorld yesterday:

"Seriously though, the whale probably just came to it's senses and realized it was in captivity being forced to do tricks!"

While I can believe that a killer whale has some sense of being imprisoned versus its instinct to migrate, I find it hard to swallow that Tilikum felt like he was being used. It's not as if the whale suddenly came to the realization that he is only a source of amusement for humans and therefore sought his revenge.

Something that most people don't realize about animals: they don't have complex emotions. They don't feel used or betrayed; they don't seek revenge; they don't feel guilt or remorse. If a dog pees on the rug and then goes and hides, it's because it's conditioned to know that you're going to punish it, not because he feels bad about what he's done, but can't bring himself to come clean.

Animals only feel the most basic emotions: hunger, thirst, exhaustion, horny. This is why they are far superior to us as people and will someday rule this planet with an iron fist.