HUMAN ANIMAL INTERFACE

Trying to understand human nature is difficult, perhaps because it is so complex to understand. I repeatedly read a story or see pictures of someone attacked by a bear, gored by a buffalo, or bitten by a snake. It is instinctual that wild animals are dangerous, which seems to be the stimulation for them to have someone take their picture standing close to a wild bear or buffalo or kissing a cobra on the head. It is “cute” to lower a child into a protective moat next to a gorilla cage to feed a peanut to the beast. However, it stops being cute when the animal grabs the child’s arm, pulls him or her up to the bars of their cage, and eats their hand to the wrist. On May 29th, I posted an article on this blog site, DOGS ARE MORE THAN JUST DOGS. The point of the article was that some dog breeders bred them to be territorial. The truth is that dog breeders selected domesticated dogs for breeding that demonstrate this wild instinct. The territorial instinct is common in all animals including human beings, which means it is innate. Some seem to believe it is “cute” to own a dangerous dog just because it is dangers. However, it stops being cute when the dog tears up the owner, a child or kills the neighbors dog. We can select parts of our personalities to express; if that is what we call innate traits. I grew up in an Eastern European neighborhood, where owners of yards and houses were territorial to an extreme. Owners etched their lot lines down to the inch deeply in their minds. As a child, I remember several vicious disputes related to impingements of every kind. More to the point, the neighbors were constantly challenging one another on this point. I considered this as strange behavior as having someone stand next to a buffalo for a picture. You do not have to be a professional animal handler to know buffalos have territories they will protect. This begs the question, “Why do we do this?” Perhaps it is because we are instinctively curious enough to probe one another and all animals constantly to try to find out how we can interact with one another. I can imagine it is something we have done since the beginning of time. URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated