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Does the Western mind breed furries?
12 years ago
http://www.psmag.com/magazines/paci.....onomics-53135/
"The WEIRD[Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic] mind also appears to be unique in terms of how it comes to understand and interact with the natural world. Studies show that Western urban children grow up so closed off in man-made environments that their brains never form a deep or complex connection to the natural world. While studying children from the U.S., researchers have suggested a developmental timeline for what is called “folkbiological reasoning.” These studies posit that it is not until children are around 7 years old that they stop projecting human qualities onto animals and begin to understand that humans are one animal among many. Compared to Yucatec Maya communities in Mexico, however, Western urban children appear to be developmentally delayed in this regard. Children who grow up constantly interacting with the natural world are much less likely to anthropomorphize other living things into late childhood.
"Given that people living in WEIRD societies don’t routinely encounter or interact with animals other than humans or pets, it’s not surprising that they end up with a rather cartoonish understanding of the natural world. 'Indeed,' the report concluded, 'studying the cognitive development of folkbiology in urban children would seem the equivalent of studying "normal" physical growth in malnourished children.'"
Just thought this might have interesting implications for the fandom.
"The WEIRD[Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic] mind also appears to be unique in terms of how it comes to understand and interact with the natural world. Studies show that Western urban children grow up so closed off in man-made environments that their brains never form a deep or complex connection to the natural world. While studying children from the U.S., researchers have suggested a developmental timeline for what is called “folkbiological reasoning.” These studies posit that it is not until children are around 7 years old that they stop projecting human qualities onto animals and begin to understand that humans are one animal among many. Compared to Yucatec Maya communities in Mexico, however, Western urban children appear to be developmentally delayed in this regard. Children who grow up constantly interacting with the natural world are much less likely to anthropomorphize other living things into late childhood.
"Given that people living in WEIRD societies don’t routinely encounter or interact with animals other than humans or pets, it’s not surprising that they end up with a rather cartoonish understanding of the natural world. 'Indeed,' the report concluded, 'studying the cognitive development of folkbiology in urban children would seem the equivalent of studying "normal" physical growth in malnourished children.'"
Just thought this might have interesting implications for the fandom.
or used as a crutch to cope with the problems around us...
in truth then it would be a coping mechanism for stress and reasoning if we imagine ourselves as the person or species we can relate to and come to a semi twisted understanding as to why we're treated in such a way...
but then again that's my viewpoint on this matter...
First:
Anthromorphism is as old as mankind. It is one primary driving force of cultural evolution.
The mindset that there is someone or something with motives like yourself.
An opposite to yourself with needs, wishes and more.
The first spiritual beliefs were animistic.
Forms are represented in Eastern or African cultures today as well. Actually even more modern belief systems in god/s are extreme anthropocentric or sticked for human wants and their salvation stories and their motives.
Today Japan has a growing furry community, also Thailand for example. India is a good example where humans and animals exist side by side. (some regions not all).
But one big mistake you can make is that you are not able to understand the body language or the behavior of other animals.
You can see that easily if you look at the modern dog training or horse training and the mistakes owners make all the time.
Some extremist would say it is even here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature.....ficit_disorder
To idolize nature.
The second one is lack of empathy.
What I see is that some countryside cultures actual are more intolerant if they need the animals as food and support, regularly.
Like the traditional slaughtering of animals in the east.
If you are raised there you might be blunt to animal abuse from the beginning. You won't scrutinize the motives at all because of tradition and that you never learned to empathize with other forms of life.
It is like in the industrial countries if you work in the agribusiness.
Money > Life is the slogan.
It depends of the way you empathize with someone or something in general.
If you learn to disconnect emotions to a group, a form of life etc. you can do the most cruel things because you won't see an opposite anymore, only an object to exploit for the "greater needs".
In nature itself animals kill each other all the time. That is because almost all animal behavior is pretty restricted and the empathy is simply not developed.
Example is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/s.....himp.html?_r=0
* Ultimately, it's passing judgment on which cultures are better than others.
* WEIRD, as an acronym and statistically, may be true, but "weird" invokes the old gut reaction of "different" and "abnormal" and "bad". WEIRD is bad for forming sociological assumptions, but intrinsically bad?
* Is it wrong to anthropomorphize things that may or may not actually have human qualities? I think the dividing line is when such thinking is taken seriously: are you trying to get the rabbits to walk on the sidewalk? Are you trying to invite the birds for a friendly outing? Are you trying to teach your dog how to cook her own meals? Then yes, there is something wrong with you. Furries, however, anthropomorphize for fun (and profit!).