Le Guin

The story of Buffalo Gals is a very diverse story. It begins with the idea that it will be a realistic story, with the little girls getting in a plane crash and then seeking out her father. After that, it becomes a much more imaginitive story with Coyote taking her in as her own. This kind of story pushes people to think beyond what they know and think interpretively about an animals way of life and the reasons behind it. It is difficult for people to connect a relationship between human and animal when it is not advertantly shoved in their face. In this story they give animals many human characteristics to make a comparison to them being humanistic. The animals take the form of humans even though they continue to live as animals. They live like animals, yet they are still are as civilized as most humans would be, such as taking in a wounded, scared child with no where else to go. I believe that this story is used as an eye-opener to get people to really think and use their imaginations to find the comparison and use that to interpret if and why, animals could really be as civil as humans.

Dog Umwelt/ Elephant Crackup?

Human and nature. Human nature. I suppose that when one thinks critically, it is safe to assume that though the two have different meanings, they can be interlinked.
When reading Horowitz's, Inside Of A Dog, and the article, Elephant Crackup, I definitely had to some critical thinking myself.
Though I have never had an actual pet, my family member around me did. My grandmother had a Great Dane. I never understood why friends cried when their dog died until our Rocky had to be put to sleep because of an enlarged heart. While reading the short article, it provided a small insight into a dog’s mentality. Their umvelt, their subjective or self world, is a perfect way of putting it. While they may participate in activities we engage in, it has a different meaning and difference to them. We as humans, for the most part thrive on our emotional senses. It was just amazing to also get a glance at how their sense of smell impacts other aspects of their life. Not just their noses.
An Elephant Crackup was an article that intrigued me. In reading this article I found myself asking,” What is going on with these elephants?” After reading more I found my speculations transforming from a defensive opinion to a thought of sympathy. It was amazing and heartwarming to see that the mentality and emotional state of these animals are a lot more sensitive than one would imagine. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is something that they can suffer from during their life span. Reading that young elephants can have this syndrome because of prior experiences of watching their parents poached, or killed in front of them causing them long term pain mentally and perhaps altering their behavior, really spoke to me. I also came to the sudden realization that took me back to certain events in my childhood that did damage to me. Things that I am recovering from that do have an impact and are factors in my thought process and values today. These animals have an amazing ability through action and way of life to express how they feel or state of mind and I find that amazing. I definitely agree with Bradshaw that there are ways to affect the lives of these elephants and our own to better live together instead of continuing with the cycle we are in now.

Gatto Against School Response

I did not agree with Gatto’s idea against school. Of course we all think that our education system is holding us back from our intellectual potential. But we have to go to school becausewe have to learn to adapt to our society. Courses in high school may seem pointless but their purpose is to help your mind grow so that when you come upon later courses such as medicine or business you’ll be mentally prepared for them.

Gatto enforces his argument with people who lived over a hundred years ago. It was a different time back then. Only a few were to have a school education. It was an entirely different culture. Today if we were to not go to school most of us would even have the discipline to contribute enough back to society. How will doctors know the necessary information to perform medicine? Or how would entrepreneurs start successful companies if they didn’t know the necessary actions to run a business. Without education society would go down. It’s hard to believe but I think that it is the simple truth.

Garret K.