brenda, I was watching a documentary about, among other things, a scientist who had proved (to his satisfaction) that animals don't have a "theory of mind" - they don't know other creatures have minds like they do. I called BS on both his flawed experiment and his conclusion. I've lived with animals my whole life - the idea that they think we're mindless automatons, like animated furniture, makes no sense to me. There has to be some awareness that there's another mind there that they have to connect with in order to get what they want, otherwise they wouldn't have a connection from "she can see me" to "doing the begging dance". They'd be doing their manipulative behaviors even when we can't see them.
This probably wasn't very well thought out.
Years ago I lived with a cat that loved to steal toast. Once I was on the couch with toast and the kitty was climbing all over me trying to get it. When that failed, she got off the couch, walked away and then approached the couch from the other side. I think it's pretty clear she was thinking that maybe I wasn't watching that side of the couch. That counts as a "theory of mind," right?
Well, yeah, and I definitely think the cats relate to each other. And the dog.(They seem to have a scratching post rotation worked out.)
tommy, I think she knew there was a "you" there watching her. But it's really hard to prove that another being has a conscious mind. Similarly, it's going to take an awful lot to prove to me that something with a functioning brain, that interacts with me, *doesn't* have a mind. If they thought we were all just moving furniture, they'd interact with all of us the same way. They don't; they know that different humans respond differently to their antics.
Hell, we haven't yet proven that WE have consciousness, never mind proving that animals *don't*. There are scientists who think we don't, that our minds are illusions. I think that in order for there to be an illusion, there has to be a mind to be fooled, but what do I know.
Teppy alert!
Carved Wood Batman Coffee Tables
Somehow the nice pretty wood finish doesn't seem to work well on a Batman coffee table. The black one is better, but I think steel would be the best material. Or carbon fiber.
Yeah the wood is pretty but the black looks more Batmanesque (I need a excuse to say Batmanuelesque, will have to think on that). I like the curved legs, though.
PSA for people who aren't near a TJs and are not boycotting Amazon: you can apparently buy Cookie Butter (and presumably other TJ products, that's just the one I was googling when this result came up) from Amazon. If the cravings get bad, it's an option.
Just this morning I was thinking about our old cat, Puck, who would position herself in the room about dinner time, presumably sitting and staring at you. But she wouldn't start meowing (and meowing...and meowing...) until she knew you'd seen her. I used to tease her by just turning enough to see her out of the corner of my eye to make sure she was still there....
(This was the same cat who would wake up my roommate by licking her owner's eyelids.)
This is kind of random, but for Sons Of Anarchy (still have trouble spelling that right--thanks, Deb) fans, I just stumbled on a bunch of fanart portraits: [link]
The captions on the Netflix show I'm watching just described the sound of a "gun caulking."
Guns can let a lot of cold air into your house in winter if they're not caulked.
