RootsBooster Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 They do not. Elephants are just about the only species, apart from humans, who actually recognise skeletons as being "former elephants." They do get very uneasy when they come across elephant skeletons in the wild - but that is very probably because it's manifestly not a good idea for an elephant to be in a place where elephants get killed. Which indicates that they may be aware of their species' mortality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Don't elephants also know when they are about to die, and travel to an "elephant graveyard"? I doubt very much they worship Ganesh(a) though. I'm not sure ANY living thing knows when it's about to die. EDIT: without being told/advised by others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horribleblob Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 They do not... Just googled it - looks like you're right. Darn those elephant-myth makers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Which indicates that they may be aware of their species' mortality. All animals (which are capable of being aware of anything at all!) are aware that they can be killed; only humans know that death is an inevitable certainty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 All animals (which are capable of being aware of anything at all!) are aware that they can be killed; only humans know that death is an inevitable certainty. Probably the best answer. EDIT: Which makes my statement true (RB FTW) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Probably the best answer. EDIT: Which makes my statement true (RB FTW) Yes, it's usually a good idea in this kind of debate to make explicitly clear exactly what we're trying to debate. Anyone who claims "animals don't understand death" has never seen an animal hovering around its fallen mate, trying to fight off the ten-times-larger beast that just killed, and is now trying to eat, said mate. But admitting that animals know they can be killed, is a long way from believing that they know they will die one day. I've taken the OP to have been talking about the latter, but that's only an assumption on my part and may not be an accurate one. I think it was Douglas Adams who said it first, but it's a phrase that has stuck with me - "whenever a human being arrives in life, it doesn't take long to realise that its return ticket is already punched." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Yes, it's usually a good idea in this kind of debate to make explicitly clear exactly what we're trying to debate. Anyone who claims "animals don't understand death" has never seen an animal hovering around its fallen mate, trying to fight off the ten-times-larger beast that just killed, and is now trying to eat, said mate. But admitting that animals know they can be killed, is a long way from believing that they know they will die one day. I've taken the OP to have been talking about the latter, but that's only an assumption on my part and may not be an accurate one. I think it was Douglas Adams who said it first, but it's a phrase that has stuck with me - "whenever a human being arrives in life, it doesn't take long to realise that its return ticket is already punched." Hmm after re-reading the OP, I agree, this line... It's because Homo Sapiens is the only animal that knows it is going to die. ...may be correct. There is a difference between knowing it's GOING to die and it CAN die. Gormenghast saved by Headingnorth, RB still = FTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Religion is a form of social control, and a major power trip for the benefit of men. Spirituality, on the other hand, is something else again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Religion is a form of social control, and a major power trip for the benefit of men. +1 The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters. Goofy Pluto Mickey Mouse Minnie Mouse Donald Duck Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Elmer Fudd Wile Y Cayote Speedy Gonzalez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 All animals (which are capable of being aware of anything at all!) are aware that they can be killed; only humans know that death is an inevitable certainty. I would have said that we don't know if other species understand that death is an inevitable certainty. I don’t think we know for certain whether another species is aware that one day it will die, many animals appear to fear death because they avoid situation in which they can die, they will risk death to protect other members of their species or offspring, they appear to act differently (mourn) around dead or dying members of their species. Dolphin and whales beach them self in what appears to be suicide, they recognise and protect their young, there is no reason to assume that they aren’t aware that one day they will die. How would we test it, we can ask each other if we are aware of our own inevitable death but we can’t ask another animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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