"Wassup Doc" asked the lab mice
Re-evaluating cruelty to non-human life-forms based on human-like features
If anything, humans have a grandiose image about their superiority to other creatures on Earth. Now, the lab mice are singing and the scientists want to know what animals yak about. Not that eavesdropping is research material-- leave that to the Big Tech in Silicon Valley-- animals may actually be doing more than simple basic communication.
Next time you do baby-talk to your doggie, you might want to look into those deep dark eyes and imagine if he thinks you are the infant and hence follows you around to protect you from yourself.
Hey, there may be even a significant reason for your cat to disturb you, claw you, when you stare at your screen for a dozen hours straight. No, its not his/her hunger but an attempt to educate you to behave like a potty-trained adult instead of the man-child you are.
If that sounds dull and dreary, well, below is the actual meat of the matter (sad pun).
The Animals Are Talking. What Does It Mean?
Language was long understood as a human-only affair. New research suggests that isn’t so.
One of the thorniest problems researchers sought to address was the link between thought and language. Philosophers and linguists long held that language must have evolved not for the purpose of communication but to facilitate abstract thought.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.html