I Laugh Every Time Chimp in Chief Attempts Approximate Human Speech

[Guest guest]

No no, the point is that humanoid primates are by no means the only

animals who use intoxicants.

 

On Saturday, January 10, 2004, at 06:15 PM, (AT) (DOT)

com wrote:

 

> Message: 15

> Sat, 10 Jan 2004 13:16:47 -0500

> Sant & Brown <santbrown

> Re: Party Animals

>

> Amusing? I find this just about as amusing as an article on children

> being intoxicated. Call me a party pooper.

>

> Pat

>>

>>

You ask why I live

Alone in the mountain forest,

And I smile and am silent

Until even my soul grows quiet:

It lives in the other world,

One that no one owns.

The peach trees blossom.

The water continues to flow.

 

- Li Po (701–762)

[Guest guest]

Sorry Pat I should have been more specific on what amused me about

that article; I am not for a second saying there is anything funny

about people getting any living being drunk (or manipulating them in

any other way for that matter) for their own amusement.

 

There are so many people in the world who claim humans are seperated

from animals by some very fundamental differences e.g. language, use

of tools, self-awareness, cognition of pain and suffering etc.

 

A short while ago there was the study of fish in which the scientists

studying them concluded fish show they feel pain.

A lot of animals have proved they can remember words and symbols even

after many years and although they do not have the physical capacity

for speech they can converse with humans.

Betty the crow bent a wire proving animals can understand and use

tools.

Dolphins have shown they recognise their own reflection.

 

While it is difficult to determine exactly why some animals eat

things with psychadelic properties, whether for those properties or

some beneficial side-effect, the fact that there are animals who WANT

to abandon sobriety, SEEK OUT methods of intoxication and ENJOY it is

the bridge that for me is by far the best proof we are not so

different.

Humans have been purposely intoxicating themselves for longer than we

can record even though we know this can be a destructive behaviour.

It seems this trait isn't something uniquely human after all. Why

should we have considered it to be?

That is what I found so intriguing.

 

On a slightly less juvenille note, to cultivate hedonism one must

realise a subtance (e.g alcohol, mushrooms, herbs) alters your

perception of the world around you.

Which means that by indulging in such past-times a creature is

proving it's self-awareness. It could even show boredom and curiosity.

Studying why some animals do this could have a huge impact on the

amount of people that still consider them to be " dumb " , soulless or

purely instinctual.

 

 

 

 

, The Stewarts <stews9@c...>

wrote:

> No no, the point is that humanoid primates are by no means the only

> animals who use intoxicants.

>

> On Saturday, January 10, 2004, at 06:15 PM,

(AT) (DOT)

> com wrote:

>

> > Message: 15

> > Sat, 10 Jan 2004 13:16:47 -0500

> > Sant & Brown <santbrown@l...>

> > Re: Party Animals

> >

> > Amusing? I find this just about as amusing as an article on

> > children being intoxicated. Call me a party pooper.

> >

> > Pat

> >>

> >>

> You ask why I live

> Alone in the mountain forest,

> And I smile and am silent

> Until even my soul grows quiet:

> It lives in the other world,

> One that no one owns.

> The peach trees blossom.

> The water continues to flow.

>

> - Li Po (701–762)