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A review by uditnair24
Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina
4.0
The book takes a perspective of a world outside us- a world in which humans are not the measure of all things. The fundamental premise of the book is that all creatures on earth have shared experiences because we all have got the same basic brain. The argument presented here is appropriately more understandable for social animals. The book makes the case broadly through three studies. The first part of book deals with a particular family of African elephants, followed by a wolf population of yellow stone and finally it deals with killer whales and other cetaceans. Most of the claims made by author are backed by ethograms and natural observations in the wild. I still believe that in many places it felt like little over the board but probably it's because of my academic training as biologist which makes me wired to neutrality even when it might not be the case.
The author rightly says that we can safely say that what elephants or wolves or whales are saying and understanding is more sophisticated than is our understanding of what these creatures are saying. Humans desperately need to believe that we are not just unique- as all species are - but we are so very special, that we are resplendent,transendent, divinely inspired,weightlessly imbued with eternal souls. Anything less induces dread and panic. But the reality is that we are just one amongst many magnificent creatures who walk on this earth.
Humans have overestimated their own capabilities and have grossly underestimated the intelligence and sensitivity of other animals. One might think that intelligence or cognition or consciousness are abstract concepts for animals but they are as abstract as we choose to define it. At the end of the day the basic wiring of the brain and thus the biological system presents a continuity across the animal kingdom.
The author rightly says that we can safely say that what elephants or wolves or whales are saying and understanding is more sophisticated than is our understanding of what these creatures are saying. Humans desperately need to believe that we are not just unique- as all species are - but we are so very special, that we are resplendent,transendent, divinely inspired,weightlessly imbued with eternal souls. Anything less induces dread and panic. But the reality is that we are just one amongst many magnificent creatures who walk on this earth.
Humans have overestimated their own capabilities and have grossly underestimated the intelligence and sensitivity of other animals. One might think that intelligence or cognition or consciousness are abstract concepts for animals but they are as abstract as we choose to define it. At the end of the day the basic wiring of the brain and thus the biological system presents a continuity across the animal kingdom.