Talking to a co-worker, the topic of animals came up and he asked me a very strange question: If someone were to put a gun in your hand, then pointed a gun at your loved ones, THEN placed a human and a cat in front of you and said "You must kill one or I kill your <insert loved one's name here>, what would you do? Funny thing is, this isn't the first time a similar question had been posed to me, and without hesitation, I said that I would shoot the human. He looked a little horrified for a moment, before asking me why.
Because the cat doesn't hate.
There are hundreds of examples of animals (specifically avians and mammals) displaying a whole gamut of complex emotions, from sadness and depression to love and compassion. But I've never seen any evidence of actual hate. A dog will lash out at a boy who has been tormenting it to make the torment stop, or a cat will get angry at you and pee all over your things, but those are simply responses to external stimuli. Once they make their displeasure known, or eliminate the threat, it is no longer an issue. On the other hand, there are daily stories in the news about how humans go out of their way to disrupt, destroy, and ruin another's life, simply because they hate the person.
So what do you think, do animals experience hate?
Because the cat doesn't hate.
There are hundreds of examples of animals (specifically avians and mammals) displaying a whole gamut of complex emotions, from sadness and depression to love and compassion. But I've never seen any evidence of actual hate. A dog will lash out at a boy who has been tormenting it to make the torment stop, or a cat will get angry at you and pee all over your things, but those are simply responses to external stimuli. Once they make their displeasure known, or eliminate the threat, it is no longer an issue. On the other hand, there are daily stories in the news about how humans go out of their way to disrupt, destroy, and ruin another's life, simply because they hate the person.
So what do you think, do animals experience hate?
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