• kandoh@reddthat.com
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    5 months ago

    They’re not mindless, they have feelings and instincts, they can remember things.

    But they don’t have language, so they can’t organize their thoughts. They’re like humans who were born blind and deaf before Helen Keller.

    How does an animal know sex leads to pregnancy? They don’t, they’re just horny or they aren’t.

    • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 months ago

      But they don’t have language

      Ant… pheromones? Whale song? Whatever crows do to remember peoples faces they haven’t seen.

      Not every animal is as sophisticated as we are, but communication in general is pretty integral to herd survival strategy.

      How does an animal know sex leads to pregnancy?

      We’re not… different. We have schools and parents and movies we aren’t supposed to see yet that tell us it does.

      • kandoh@reddthat.com
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        5 months ago

        We’re not… different. We have schools and parents and movies we aren’t supposed to see yet that tell us it does.

        Exactly, humans are animals. They’re just really good with language.

        I’m not disrespecting animals, I love animals. I’m just pointing out that a bear in the woods isn’t thinking "Since I am a heterosexual bear, I am not going to rub my penis on that other bears ass because I see it’s a boy bear and that would be gay. I am only interested in sex if it means babies will be made!’

        • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          5 months ago

          Oh, for sure. I don’t imagine bears have the same cultural understanding of sex, however complex that may be, that people do.

          bear in the woods isn’t thinking “Since I am a heterosexual bear, I am not going to rub my penis on that other bears ass because I see it’s a boy bear and that would be gay. […]”

          I do think this might be overly simplistic, though. The tendency for a bear to “be gay” by our standards might manifest differently, but it would still be an observable behavior, no?