Dog Umwelt

“The idea that a dog owner must become the dominant member by using jerks or harsh words or other kinds of punishment, she writes, “is farther from what we know of the reality of wolf packs and closer to the timeworn fiction of the animal kingdom with humans at the pinnacle, exerting dominion over the rest. Wolves seem to learn from each other not by punishing each other but by observing each other. Dogs, too, are keen observers — of our reactions.”” I liked this passage because it’s very true. Most humans do try to dominate over other animals, never even giving thought to the idea that there is another, more peaceful, way to go about things.I also found this interesting:“In one enormously important variation from wolf behavior, dogs will look into our eyes. “Though they have inherited some aversion to staring too long at eyes, dogs seem to be predisposed to inspect our faces for information, for reassurance, for guidance.” They are staring, soulfully, into our umwelts. It seems only right that we try a little harder to reciprocate…”I know my dogs have looked at me like that before. Often when I’m angry and my dog looks at me she’ll lower her ears and look scared. I never really thought to try to understand them too. Not beyond the obvious anyways. One thing I didn’t like about this article is that it was more like a review of a book than an article written about the author’s ideas on the subject. The author referred to the book a lot and for the most part just went off that. Which is fine, I was just expecting something a little different.
-Kelly Dickens

elephant world

the essay i read on the elephants almost made me sick. when they talked about having a group consensus on hanging an elephant who lashed out against her trainers i almost threw up. learning about elephants and how they have censors in their feet which can detect "messages" from other elephants from up to four miles away made me love them more. also, re-reading about the elephant family dynamic and how they mourn over other elephants', especially those in their families, deaths, linked them more to humans than other animals. the way they bury their dead and mourn over the bodies also connects them on a very emotional level to the world. i really like elephants, and reading about the depression raging through the elephant world made me really sad. the way they have been lashing out against the villiagers didn't make me feel as bad for the people as it did for the elephants. knowing that something is wrong with the entire elephant population worries me for the future, which could be potentially elephant-less. we don't seem to care about animals and their welfare in the wild as much as we should. we are such an egocentric species that we only worry about our own kind, and we don't worry about the world around us as much as we should. the essay made me really sad about the mistreatment of circus animals and the way we treat them when they lash out against us, as they have a right to do. we underestimate the intelligence of animals because they aren't like us. i take the elephants' side on this matter.

RR #2

For my second reading response I am going to be talking about “Inside of a Dog, What Dogs See, Smell, and Know” written by Alexandra Horowitz. I found this article to be the most fascinating of them all so far this term. Learning about this particular species was incredibly interesting and caused me to gain more respect for dogs, including my own. I found it amazing that dogs pay attention compared to humans. I believed dogs would try to understand concepts more, but after reading this article I was proven wrong. For example when Horowitz talks about what a rose is to humans and to how it is different to dogs fascinated me. I always believed that dogs sniffed this object for the wonderful smell, not for the stench of urine. I believed that humans pay more attention to objects and capture all the details, and to the dog species, they simply see it as a boring object that has nothing special attached to it. Yet I was proven wrong because dogs see more of the world compared to society with their advanced vision. Another concept I found interesting was how a hammer can have so much importance to society as a tool, yet to an animal it is seen as a chew toy or just an object simply laying there sharing no importance to the world. Overall I found this article extremely interesting and now that I have finished reading this I have gained more respect for my dog. Knowing how they are more aware compared to humans even though it may not seem like it causes me to give more respect for the dog species overall.
Noelle M.

q

On "An Elephant Crackup?" by Charles Siebert
It verified what I already knew which is that animals are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. This story confirmed that animals, especially elephants do communicate sophisticatedly, have incredible memories and can and will defend themselves when needed. Possibly as smart as humans? Second thing it verified is that there are too many people in the world and we need NOT exploit animals for our entertainment.
On "Origin of the Mind" by Marc Hauser
Marc Hauser has an entirely different point of view. His theory and those he references in his article believes that animals are not as intelligent as humans and that we are further up the evolutionary scale than they. I don't know. In this class we seem to be leaning toward the school of thought that humans are the most intelligent creatures. With the material we've read so far I am starting to have a broader point of view on human intelligence, one of which I had when I was a younger child. That is when I was younger I believed that we are the most intelligent beings, however when I got older and more mature and started believing in the possibility of evolution etc. and watching more nature television I came to discover that animals have incredible intelligence. Now I'm just confused! Who is more intelligent? What is intelligence? Who says so?
On "On Questions of Temperment" Demonic Males by Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham give damning evidence against men. Whether it is inherent or learned or evolution is anybodies guess. But, Wow, 2 men wrote this? I have to admit more men have made messes of countries in modern days than women. Vote women into office...
On "Are We Born Moral?" by John Gray. He referenced a previous author's observation that primates don't like inequities in food distribution. I suppose in humans greed and generosity depend on your family size. Primates live in huge extended "family" units. I grew up with 6 brothers and sisters. We were expected by our parents et el to share. Furthermore sometimes you'd get your brains beat in if you didn't!
So, what am I learning? I'm not sure really. I thought I was well rounded but I am introduced to lots of new thoughts and I feel a bit lost, more so than in any other schooling environment. Bill Thompson.

Defining nature: By Bill Thompson UNST
Nature is anything of or pertaining to nature or anything natural, such as trees, mountains, streams, animals etc. Or human nature.

Defining human: Human is anything of or related to human such as humans or humane in nature or treatment of anything. Any one in or born to the human race. Having human characteristics. Acting human i.e. using actions which are normal or natural for humans.

The idea of this assignment is to show that the 2 words are parallel and one cannot be defined without using the other.

Evo evo evolution.

Alas! Someone bold enough to point out that evolution does NOT mean progress. I think it is such a common misconception that people have that the more we evolve the better we come. True, humans have become quite complex creatures, but the continuance of this change seems unlikely. For example, look at the survival rate unhealthy people, whether they have disabilities, cancer, AIDS... I support the medical advancement towards helping these people, the idea being one of utmost compassion, but it worries me that we have almost eliminated Natural Selection in our species, at least in western civilizations. I was reading Native American quotes at the library the other day and one was declining a request to send more Native American youth to the Mary and William University. The chief talks about how the last time they participated in such foreign exchange, the youth came back to their tribe completely useless - they could not run, fish, hunt or fight. Though this does not directly relate to evolution, it provides outside perception on how we have been pushing our youth to be unaware of natural survival and more successful in more intellectual (artificial?) matters. Could this be considered evolutionary drift?

human/nature

Human/Naturemailto:kpan@pdx.edu
10-08-09
A brief paper on UNST readings on critical thinking and education. ; “Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths” challenges us to think critically. Telling us to be prepared for the vast differences in high school and college. Columbo challenges us to put ourselves in an El Salvadoran person’s place as he reads the title of a the book “Rereading America” and reminds us that The United States is not the only country in North America and it is the arrogance of we in the United States who take it for granted that it is the only country. Something of which I can say with pride that I am not guilty. The fact that people do not know what North America includes is evidence of the dubious quality of our education system. Columbo’s example of cultural myths was very profound in “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethk. Which to today’s generation sounds like a perverted, abusive situation, turnsout to me to be quite a sweet memory a boy has of his father. It took some critical thinking onmy part to get over the afore mentioned.Second; “Against School” by Gatto showed us one man’s opinion of the inadequacies of the public schools. Having worked in the public schools in Houston, TX, I agree wholeheartedly. The main focus for the school year was to pass the state test. Further the state test was a testfor the teachers as well. If a teacher had failing students they were seen as incapable of teaching his/her students and were not considered for promotions etc. It was holey the fault of the teacher. It was the main focus of the principal to bully teachers to pass their kids. However his opinion seemed to say that formal and or public education is not needed. He did make the point to say that the teachers and students are to blame. He did not say anything about the parents being to blame which they are more than the lion’s share of the problem. No discipline. Parents do not want to take responsibility for their childrens’ actions. Gato asked the question, “Do we really need school?” and I believe we do. I think it teaches children regimented schedules, usually good conflict resolution skills, how to get along with others, other than their own siblings and most importantly an education.Third; “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” is Freire’s point of view how we are a factory of teaching and learning. The teachers are forced to teach facts and students are forced to learn by memorization. An assembly line of mindless repetition. What Freire calls “Banking concept”. They deposit i.e. teach, we learn i.e. earn dividends (dividends to be earned later in life with a successful career). I personally find nothing wrong with teaching people to memorize facts. That is how it done. When I was in grade school we were taught to memorize times tables up through 12. Yes, there is a logic behind 12X12 but if you let a child count on his fingers/toes to figure out his multiplication table using his appendages 5X4 is as far as he will get as I know of no one who has 144 appendages. The student will have to start pulling out hair!I have met too many people from other countries who know more about our country than we do about theirs or even ours. When someone says she is from New Jersey, there is nothing wrong with knowing; “The Garden State, must grow lots of fruits and vegetables one of the wealthiest states in the country, coastal state, must have lots of tourism, closely situated to New York City and Philadelphia, lots of suburbia………………….”The object of these articles is to teach us to think critically and to think critically about education and whether it is important or not. I believe that education is the most important thing you can do for a person of any age, creed, color, etc. We cannot live whole lives without it.These articles have given me an opportunity to reflect on my own life as a student. I hated school most of my life. I bucked the systems which the authors spoke of. I ended up taking one boring, dead-end job after another because they were easy to get. Every time I get tired with one job I go to another. Every job change made me think about “what do I want to do when I grow up?” I attempted college when I was right out of high school but dropped out after 2 semesters. Then later when I became interested in the world around me I decided to go backto college, first for political science, which I finally realized that I’d never get a job as politician in such a place as Houston, TX. Second, for teaching, until I worked in a public school and realized how much I disliked children It is my deepest desire that every person in the world receives a good and thorough education so they don’t end up like me; going to college at my age with a resume as long as my arm. It is sad to find out about how low our country ranks among the other world countries ineducation, 15th in math and science and 11th in reading. This was on the “Steven Colbert”, acomedy news program which does actual news stories with a comedic twist. Being the 3Rdmost populated country in the world, with the most wealth and one of the highest GNP makes it embarrassing to be so low on the totem pole. These are just a few silly facts I’ve memorized!


L






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Reader Responce #2: Grrr, Sniff, Arf

I am going to be doing my second reader response on the article "Grrr,Sniff,Arf" By. Cathleen Schine. I found this article to be very eye opening in how I view dogs. A lot of the information in the article I had no idea about. I liked how she talked about each of the different aspects of how dogs communicated and see the world in front of them. How they use scent to see the past and the future. Obviously we cannot see what a dog see's or think what a dog thinks, but I think she has a fairly good grasp on the situation. I also enjoyed how in depth she got with a simple game of fetch; "This is more than a game of fetch; it is a profound, existential realization."
I also think the reason that most dogs do not travel in packs anymore is because the lifestyle most dogs live now there is no need, they have adapted to the simpler life style and hunting is no longer a priority like it is with wolves.

Dog Umwelt by: John Wall

I was interested in the article “Dog Umwelt” by: Alexandra Horowitz. She ended up about describing two perspectives that different dogs have. Such as how certain dogs like a pug have flattened snouts tend to only notice or see things that happen right in front of them like humans. That’s the reason pugs are considered lap dogs and only tend to focus on their human companion. Unlike dogs with longer snouts, which focus on objects further out and tend to be more of scavengers or hunting dogs.

She also talked about how dogs smell way better than humans. Mainly because the way their nose is designed and they have some 300 million receptors in their nose when humans only have 6 million. Their nose has slits on the sides so that there can be a constant flow of air and the scent is constantly being refreshed compared to a human who has to constantly breathe in and out.

I found this all quite interesting because I have a dog of my own which is a Jack-Russell and he is always on the hunt for some rodent. This makes sense because he has a longer snout and tends to focus on things further away. Also I go bird hunting with my buddy and he brings along his bird dogs. It is amazing to think that their noses have 300 million receptors while we only have 6 million. No wonder they can follow a scent so well on the ground to where the pheasant is. I think be reading this article I’ve learned that there is more than one perspective besides mine.

plato

I was thinking about the Plato reading later after we had talked about it in class and thought of an explanation for whats going on. It is a metaphor for growing up in a culture (the cave) and being blinded by it. Then about leaving the cave (or your neighborhood/culture) and seeing the world as a whole.
One man leaves and sees an overwhelming amount of the world and then he feels truly enlightened, like he has seen all there is to see. He feels he knows the meaning of life, people, the world. He then starts to teach others, he is "all knowing" so in his mind, he is fit to teach others. Then he goes back to the cave/neighborhood and he knows nothing, he has forgotten what it is to look at the world from different perspectives.
Another man leaves the cave and studies all sorts of worldly things but also he just observes and takes in what he sees. But he soon realizes that the more he sees the less he knows and he is humbled, and he is wise. He should be the teacher as he will teach them that there is always more to learn.

Past life as a dog or just a mind reader?

After reading "Inside a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz, I found myself quite content with some of the observations explained, but also a bit weary of some. I was extremely pleased that I was not the only one who believed dogs responded better to "baby-talk" in comparison to a normal voice tone. I actually sent this article to my brother as "proof" I wasn't crazy, though I'm sure he will still give me a hard time regardless =]. Along with that, I also enjoyed the comparison of dog packs to wolf packs, and the struggle humans have with their techniques of trying to enforce dominancy. It forced me to look back on my own experiences with dogs, whether it was owning my own dogs, dog sitting for neighbors, or my volunteer work at the humane society. When I saw people try to foce dogs to do something with strength, the dog would merely go into submission and only follow orders due to fear. Then there were the trainers who would use rewards, such as a scratch of the ear or even a well deserved biscuit, these dogs, they were only too willing to please, in other words, making them much more manageable and lovable companions. However, when I got to the discussions of how dogs perceive time, facial expressions, and scent, I found myself unconvinced. I do not see ow anyone could make these claims without having been said animal, and perhaps she might have been a dog in a past life, but I'm not so sure I would trust someone who made that claim either. A mind can only be understood by the one who possesses it.

-Maddie T.