# People who care more about animals than people



## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

I've met a fair share of people who care for people, and don't necessarily care for animals.

I've also met a number of people who care more for animals, and don't care about other people.

I feel like most people are probably in between these two extremes, as there are straight up animal-haters and straight up people-haters who just want to be around animals all day. I like them all, personally. 


But I wonder, what makes people sway towards one direction or another? Where does your preference lean towards more, and why do you think that is?


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## Glory (Sep 28, 2013)

a dog doesn't lie to you, and stays loyal on very simple grounds.


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## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

Netzach said:


> a dog doesn't lie to you, and stays loyal on very simple grounds.


Unless there are squirrels...


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## Metalize (Dec 18, 2014)

I'm guessing highly negative interactions with people, as opposed to pets, could steer people in that direction. Maybe that sentiment carries from pets to animals in general (since the animals you realistically encounter in daily life are probably going to be domesticated).


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## Glory (Sep 28, 2013)

people can just be overwhelming, interacting with. Can you dig that?
there's always a role for those who are more solitary in a group, and there's an extending harmony with other species of animals.. it's unfair to weigh everything in human psychology exclusively with human interactions, else you misconceive nature altogether.


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## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

Netzach said:


> people can just be overwhelming, interacting with. Can you dig that?
> there's always a role for those who are more solitary in a group, and there's an extending harmony with other species of animals.. it's unfair to weigh everything in human psychology exclusively with human interactions, else you misconceive nature altogether.


I've worked in retail for years. Of course I dig it. 

I would like to think that would change in the near future. People can be obsessed with themselves.


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## EndsOfTheEarth (Mar 14, 2015)

Fleetfoot said:


> I've met a fair share of people who care for people, and don't necessarily care for animals.
> 
> I've also met a number of people who care more for animals, and don't care about other people.
> 
> ...


I have a clear preference for animals over people. I don't hate people, they are just not my choice of who to hang around after a long day on the job. Why? Because animals do not share the common communication language of human's I feel as if I can trust them more. They can only communicate via body language and their behaviours with me. So they can't go around telling me fibs about themselves in order to secure themselves into my confidence and then use what they know against me. To me, animals are entirely more predictable and inherently more trustworthy than the bipedals I meet everyday. 

We are all animals but the human one just isn't my favourite. Other animals are just as complex, but far easier for me to communicate with and have an honest relationship with. So it's quite natural that I would prefer their company.


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## mhysa (Nov 27, 2014)

i've always found it really amazing and special that two vastly different species can build a mutual emotional connection with each other.



Netzach said:


> people can just be overwhelming, interacting with. Can you dig that?
> there's always a role for those who are more solitary in a group, and there's an extending harmony with other species of animals.. it's unfair to weigh everything in human psychology exclusively with human interactions, else you misconceive nature altogether.


this. 

i think the honesty of a human/animal friendship appeals to people.


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## Darkbloom (Aug 11, 2013)

There's no such thing as an "honest" relationship with a dog,dog can't be honest or dishonest,it's just a dog no matter how cute and affectionate it may be and you can't even have a real relationship with it.


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## INTJ Killed July (May 2, 2015)

Living dead said:


> There's no such thing as an "honest" relationship with a dog,dog can't be honest or dishonest,it's just a dog no matter how cute and affectionate it may be and you can't even have a real relationship with it.


Someone had to say it.


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## LostFavor (Aug 18, 2011)

Fascinating to read the reasons. I have never understood why some people care more about animals than people. 

For me, it's just the opposite. People are the ones you can learn and grow with - the ones who will surprise you in inexplicable ways with their sheer potential, while animals are relatively predictable once you know them ("I want to play," "I want to eat," etc... almost like a very young child that never grows up).

Human psychology is endlessly fascinating to me. With animals, there is little for me to be interested by - know one dog, or breed of dogs, and you more or less know them all. With people, there is so much detailed variation. 

I guess what it really comes down to is that I see people as beautiful and complex, and animals as relatively simple and boring. I can see the appeal of animals, especially docile house pets, but I would never want one of my own. It doesn't win me over, either, that when poorly trained, even an animal that would otherwise be docile can turn hostile in an instant for the stupidest of reasons.

Comparatively, most human beings (when in polite company) are not prone to sudden acts of aggression. But a pet has no sense of what "polite company" or "etiquette" even mean. It's all in the training and some pets (such as cats) can't really be trained to begin with.


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## Notus Asphodelus (Jan 20, 2015)

Animals doesn't care about your ethnic background. They don't talk shit about you behind your back. They either like you or they hate you. This straightforwardness is much appreciated.


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## ScarlettHayden (Jun 8, 2012)

Animals are closer to nature... they're real with you. Humans have all their social structures which make them harder to be real with. You can be yourself around an animal, they bring out the natural you.

At least that's from my own perspective. I like humans and animals both.


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## Ninjaws (Jul 10, 2014)

Animals are cute, humans are not.


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## ScarlettHayden (Jun 8, 2012)

LostFavor said:


> Human psychology is endlessly fascinating to me. With animals, there is little for me to be interested by - know one dog, or breed of dogs, and you more or less know them all. With people, there is so much detailed variation.
> 
> I guess what it really comes down to is that I see people as beautiful and complex, and animals as relatively simple and boring. I can see the appeal of animals, especially docile house pets, but I would never want one of my own.


It's a common misconception that animals are simple and boring.... I love animal psychology because it really gets you into their world how it really is. Humans have this grand perception that we are the only intelligent ones, animals in fact are very intelligent but their intelligence is useful to them. Just as our own intelligence is useful to us.

Humans are also more simple than you'd think too.  It really just depends how you see it and how aware you are to the dynamics.



> It doesn't win me over, either, that when poorly trained, even an animal that would otherwise be docile can turn hostile in an instant for the stupidest of reasons.
> 
> Comparatively, most human beings (when in polite company) are not prone to sudden acts of aggression. But a pet has no sense of what "polite company" or "etiquette" even mean. It's all in the training and some pets (such as cats) can't really be trained to begin with.


This seems like a projection to me, humans can equally turn on you, no? Even in polite company you have the mentally insane and the psychopathic. And you wouldn't know anything about it until they suddenly turn round and hurt someone.

A pet doesn't need to know about etiquette, it's naturally friendly lol when raised in a friendly family, the same way humans would also be without all their social conditioning.


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## EndsOfTheEarth (Mar 14, 2015)

LostFavor said:


> It's all in the training and some pets (such as cats) can't really be trained to begin with.


I particularly like animals that are not easily trained like cats, and also ferrets. But a cat is a wonderful animal because it will teach you to accept the relationship on the terms offered or not at all. Nothing has taught me more about unconditional love than a cat. You must accept the cat for what it is, attend to it's needs and it will reach out to you in it's own time and own language when it is ready. Very similar to relationships with human's actually. 

The big problem for me with human relationships is that other people usually bring a whole bundle of expectations to the table and then attempt to train each other into desirable behaviour. There is a lot less acceptance of each other going on. And no, animals don't become aggressive for no reason at all. There's always something going on there, usually pain, irritation, ill health or being threatened. Not at all unlike humans actually. 

Like everything exposure gives one more skill in something. I am very aware of the moods of my cats, it changes from moment to moment. They have good days and bad days just like I do. They have their demands and their needs, same as me. I've learned to understand them the way you've learned to understand other people. 

Of course humans can have a relationship with an animal. A relationship is nothing more, nor less than a mutual understanding of each other. That can occur between any two species. Unfortunately people seem to be uniquely arrogant in assuming they are the only sentient ones, the only feeling ones and the only intelligent ones. I beg to differ on all those accounts. As someone who's nursed many a dying animal, I can absolutely tell you that they seek you out, for comfort, for saying goodbye and because they want to be close to you when they go.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Why not care about both?


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## Harizu (Apr 27, 2014)

I generally prefer animals but I don't want to be around them all day, I don't put them on a pedestal or worship them and I don't hate people. Nor I care about animals more than I care about people, despite what might seem to others.


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## Ik3 (Mar 22, 2015)

Wild animals have my respect. They are as they should be. Un-tampered with. Pure. 

Domesticated pets, on the other hand, disgust me. The whole concept of owning an animal that should be in the wild, but can't because we have bred and hybridized them into absolute subservient co-dependency simply for our own amusement is horrifying. 

My neighbor is always crying because her chihuahuas are constantly getting eaten by coyotes. She gets over it pretty fast when she has a new puppy to spoil, however. 

Won't be long now... I can hear the howls.... 

There's something poetic in this concept. Nature devouring the abominations of men...


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## ScarlettHayden (Jun 8, 2012)

InSolitude said:


> But a cat is a wonderful animal because it will teach you to accept the relationship on the terms offered or not at all. Nothing has taught me more about unconditional love than a cat. You must accept the cat for what it is, attend to it's needs and it will reach out to you in it's own time and own language when it is ready.


Yes yes yes I agree with this so much. Since getting our cat I've seen how some members of our family try to get the cat to conform to their emotional needs, rather than respecting the cat and allowing its own natural drive to come when it wants to show affection. It's something that saddens me every time I see it. If our cat doesn't want a cuddle I let go, if he doesn't want a cuddle with some of the others, they try to force him to stay, and I always respond you can't do that, you have to respect their space.

I think also the social conditioning is what can cause that- we are effectively 'trained' by society to go against things we want for the sake of getting along with everyone, but what's not shown is that when people behave naturally without conditioning things work together and harmonise together better than ever, much better than this unnatural system we have going currently.

At least when you fix all the mental insanity this culture has produced in people. If you let them all lose now a lot of them wouldn't know what to do with themselves and would take out their woes on the world- we have raised a generation of sick people and it's heart-breaking. Natural conditioning and not forced is a beautiful thing but rarely seen.

People say 'animals are boring and simple'- actually I believe we have a lot to learn from the animal kingdom.


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## cinnabun (Apr 11, 2011)

NuclearKiller42 said:


> Wait, so does that mean you're greedy, back-stab and manipulate?
> Jeez.


Yes.


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## AriesLilith (Jan 6, 2013)

Animals are simpler because they are biologically simpler. Some can be loyal, some can be loyal to whoever holds the snack (thought this transparency is nice)... Also, for example dogs are biologically wired to be attached to humans, there are studies about this and also comparison between dogs and wolves interaction with humans.

I love dogs coz they are such endearing creatures and companions, but I wouldn't idealize them.

Also, people might be more complicated but then then people can provide something only they can provide.


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## KingAndrew (May 8, 2015)

When was the last time you heard about an animal suicide bombing other animals for worshiping the wrong god?


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

KingAndrew said:


> When was the last time you heard about an animal suicide bombing other animals for worshiping the wrong god?


This. This I love even about bears. They won't attack except under very desperate circumstances usually. Like I'm starving and you're in the equivalent of my front yard. Animals can be selfish, territorial, and hungry, but they usually aren't narcissistic. This unfortunate disgusting trait of humans is mentioned in most world religious text under the idea of loosely "Satan" for a reason. Even loner animals like cats are not narcissist. Animals never kill for their religion or their childhood pain. An abused animal can be mean just like a person, but they lack the kind of overwhelming ego some humans have. I find the most common misinterpretation of Christianity is laughably straight Satanic. If someone isn't Christ like, they're like some egotistical piece of shit using the Bible to sell oil.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

EbonyTigger said:


> They're not. Animals have no concept of evil. HUMANS are the evil species, HUMANS are the ones who mess up an animals life. Go down your local rescue and see the history of the animals in there and I'm willing to bet that you'll see several who have been cruelly treated and abused by humans. Cats (and other animals) only know survival. They WANT to survive and it's HUMANS who are messing them up.
> 
> This is my last word on the subject: Cats don't abuse people or other animals, only humans do. Talk to the people at the rescue nearest to you - then you'll find out I'm right.
> 
> Getting back on topic though: I find animals are much better than humans because as I've said animals are not capable of abusing humans. Humans, on the other hand, are perfectly capable of abusing animals and other humans. We are the only species capable of it.


Humans are the only animal capable of senseless evil, the only one even required to feel shame.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

DemonD said:


> That's what they want you to think.
> 
> Cats are evil!


You're a fucking troll and you should really shut up because people like you perpetuate animal abuse.


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## DemonD (Jun 12, 2012)

Thalassa said:


> You're a fucking troll and you should really shut up because people like you perpetuate animal abuse.


Please, tell me more about how I "perpetuate animal abuse"?

I only stated that cats are evil. I've said nothing about abusing them.


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## BenevolentBitterBleeding (Mar 16, 2015)

DemonD said:


> Please, tell me more about how I "perpetuate animal abuse"?
> 
> I only stated that cats are evil. I've said nothing about abusing them.


Forcing a defenseless rabbit to type out your thoughts by bribing it with what appears to be cocaine in the guise of an unusually colored pixy stick, _could_ be considered abuse.


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## DemonD (Jun 12, 2012)

BenevolentBitterBleeding said:


> Forcing a defenseless rabbit to type out your thoughts by bribing it with what appears to be cocaine in the guise of an unusually colored pixy stick, _could_ be considered abuse.


HEY! He likes it. So it's a mutually beneficial deal, ok!

He made me write that, help me!


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

DemonD said:


> Please, tell me more about how I "perpetuate animal abuse"?
> 
> I only stated that cats are evil. I've said nothing about abusing them.


Cats aren't evil. If you're not a troll there's something wrong with your thoughts. I don't trust someone named Demon D with a psychedelic rabbit as an avatar saying cats are evil. It does perpetuate animal abuse, suggesting a specific individual or species is "evil" makes it susceptible to human violence. 

That's how grizzly bears became endangered.


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## BenevolentBitterBleeding (Mar 16, 2015)

DemonD said:


> HEY! He likes it. So it's a mutually beneficial deal, ok!
> 
> He made me write that, help me!


Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it - cute adorable bunnies happen to be the one animal I despise more than gloriously warm soothing sunlight.

Too bad bitch; keep typing Shakespeare you poor excuse for a monkey!


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## BenevolentBitterBleeding (Mar 16, 2015)

@Thalassa Can you honestly expect a rabbit to trust a cat with a fucking huge ass sword putting - what may or may not be - a pair of greaves on?


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## DemonD (Jun 12, 2012)

Thalassa said:


> Cats aren't evil. If you're not a troll there's something wrong with your thoughts. I don't trust someone named Demon D with a psychedelic rabbit as an avatar saying cats are evil. It does perpetuate animal abuse, suggesting a specific individual or species is "evil" makes it susceptible to human violence.
> 
> That's how grizzly bears became endangered.


If all it takes for someone to abuse cats is me stating(the truth) that cats are evil, then they were going to abuse cats one way or another anyways.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

DemonD said:


> If all it takes for someone to abuse cats is me stating(the truth) that cats are evil, then they were going to abuse cats one way or another anyways.


I disagree. Education is a very powerful tool, so is histrionic suggestion. You are making a histrionic suggestion, one that was held as "truth" in some societies, which did lead to animal abuse. In fact in the United States, black cats are more likely to be harmed and abused than other domestic cats. If you get a rise out of excusing and enabling the behaviour of the stupid, ignorant or feeble, it suggests that you are some sort of sadist, or in internet terminology, a troll.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

BenevolentBitterBleeding said:


> @Thalassa Can you honestly expect a rabbit to trust a cat with a fucking huge ass sword putting - what may or may not be - a pair of greaves on?


Puss in Boots!


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## Stelmaria (Sep 30, 2011)

He's a Superhero! said:


> Why not care about both?


Because humans aren't animals and don't behave like them.


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## series0 (Feb 18, 2013)

My dog lies to me all the time. People who think dogs do not lie are not paying attention.

But the issue with animal lovers is easy to understand as is the issue with people lovers. 

The people that love ONLY their own narrow band of <whatever> are guilty of separationist philosophy. They are responding primarily to LIKING their own kind and FEARING others. They lack enough compassion. 

The people that mistrust SPECIFICALLY their own narrow band of <whatever> are guilty of separationist philosophy. They are responding primarily to their own inner sense of WORTHLESSNESS that reflects on those like them and imbues ANYTHING ELSE with almost a holy separation from the unworthy self. This situation is also caused by lack of compassion.

The first error is imbalanced fear and the second imbalanced desire. In each case anger is not right. The anger of compassion is needed.

How dare you separate!

How dare you not realize that animals are you!
How dare you not realize that you are animals!


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## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

series0 said:


> My dog lies to me all the time. People who think dogs do not lie are not paying attention.
> 
> But the issue with animal lovers is easy to understand as is the issue with people lovers.
> 
> ...


Your avatar goes perfectly with your post. I likez.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Snowy Leopard said:


> Because humans aren't animals and don't behave like them.


I don't get what point you are trying to make here.


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## Stelmaria (Sep 30, 2011)

He's a Superhero! said:


> I don't get what point you are trying to make here.


If you were an animal, you'd understand.
:kitteh:


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