Practical Philosophy, Thursday

[endsthegame]

"We seem to have found ourselves in something of a peaceful patch," Ender said, sitting down on his blanket by the pond. "But for the speech of our closest pets."

He looked at his students. "I can't speak for other species, but humans have a habit of ignoring or misinterpreting the sentience of the non-human," he said. "Even though many studies show that even the animals we've grown up with are likely smarter than we think."

He tilted his head.

"What do you think?" he asked. "Do you have pets? Are they talking? Did it surprise you? If you don't have pets, why not? How do you see animals?"

Comments

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"How much do you think you can understand a creature that doesn't speak your language?" Ender said. "Is it enough to just... hear what they want of you?"

Re: Talk.

[always_someone]

"I mean... you're always going to miss something," Norman noted. "The same goes with other human beings who don't speak the same language, you know? Just because there are ways of communicating what it is they want doesn't mean they can get across every single thing there is to say. But that doesn't make it less important to try."

He drummed his fingers against his knee as he mulled it over.

"I don't think it's possible for everyone to understand everything, even if they really want to. Maybe with work, they can come close. But even other people who do speak the same language are... complex. Just because two people are talking back and forth in English doesn't mean they can necessarily make themselves understood. I think maybe it's all kind of like different levels of that, but with different limits, different tools to work with? And then we have to figure out what to do with what we're being told, from there."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Then they're not so straightforward, are they?" Ender said, tone wry. "Animals are just complicated in a different way than we are."

Re: Talk.

[always_someone]

"Yeah," Norman allowed. "But they..."

He frowned a little bit, trying to find a way to put it.

"They might not tell us everything, but they don't hold back when they want something," he said, instead. "They'll leave things out, but I've never seen an animal just... decide to lie. If they're afraid, they'll react like they're afraid. If they're angry or they feel threatened, they don't hold that back. And the reasons they have for those reactions are..." He frowned a little. Not simpler, necessarily. That wasn't the word he was looking for. "... Sensible. They can be tricked into those reactions, sure, like those videos of cats who spook when they see a cucumber because they think it's a snake, but it isn't like they're overreacting to the snake that they see, you know?"

He pulled in a breath.

"I mean..."

And he sighed.

"I don't know. People will find a lot of weird reasons to do or say a lot of things, especially to other people, I guess."