Animal Telepath

[Apology]

I wonder why animal telepaths never cozy into a nest of cobras for a nice chat, or perhaps sit down with a few thousand scorpions to find out what's on their minds? It's only the cute and cuddly animals that get to express themselves. Outright discrimination, I say. Nobody asks the brown recluse spider for its opinion, but d'aawwww, look, a cow, it's a positive sage.

 

[Delvo]

Is she extremely tall and skinny and blue, with a tentacle on the back of her head?

She also talks to tomatoes and other flora.

And it gives her the unique ability to know when the fruit is ripe, which nobody else has any clue about.

She appears to be a quart short of it as her eyes are still blue

What in the world is that supposed to mean?

 

[yomero]

She has spent recent years in France, sitting in fields communicating with cows. Yes, cows. Apparently they are very wise, and have a lot to teach us. Like, for example, the fact that they live in harmony with nature - and that we can learn this from them.

What do the cows have to say about their burps and farts? I don't doubt that cows like to live in harmony with nature, they said so to that lady and that's enough for me. Are they feeling ashamed that their emissions from both ends contribute to a large proportion of greenhouse gases pollution according to some people? Perhaps, they consider that theory as slander by ignorants who are trying to ruin their fine and well deserved reputation. A true skeptic needs to listen to both sides of a controversy before making any decision.

 

[Emet]

And how do those cows know we drink milk, it isnt like we go and express it personally and drink a glass in front of them.

They know.

 

[Lolly]

What differentiates people who give seminars about doing mind-melds with cows and miracle cures of dogs and people who are receiving psychiatric treatment for being considered delusional?

 

[Sledge]

One is being paid for their delusions, the other is paying for them.

 

[Helen]

I am especially fond of the ones who can read the minds of animals over the phone.

The cows who offer their milk would fit in well at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Perhaps the telepath is from outer space as well?

 

[Kuko 4000]

Hehe, good one. But you have to give her credit, she can think well enough to get people to pay her to tell her story.

You're giving her too much credit, or are you saying that you couldn't think of ways to attract people to your talk if you wouldn't mind talking whatever bs comes to your mind?

Just pointing this out

 

[arthwollipot]

Are you talking about cows or the woman who thinks* she can talk to them?

*and I'm using that word quite wrongly

You're right - she seemed to do absolutely no actual thinking - she preferred feeling.

By the way, there's also an extensive discussion on the Australasian Skeptics Forum: http://australasianskeptics.info/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=116

 

[Beaver Hateman]

I confess to being something of a cat whisperer, but this is only because I understand their behavior, and the intent of their vocalizations and body language -- knowledge I've acquired through years of interacting with cats and reading about them -- and can manipulate that knowledge to my advantage.

I suspect that this lady has acquired similar knowledge of cows and other animals with which she interacts, but that she attributes it to some kind of mysterious, unquantifiable psychic force rather than what it really is -- human intelligence and sensitivity to subtle clues in animal (and human) body language and vocalizations.

This, to me, is just as much nonsense as the animal telepath. You're applying the same confirmation bias to your interactions with animals but you claim it's down to 'intelligence and sensitivity', those being traits that you'd like to believe you possess.

 

[bluesjnr]

Wise cow " Hey why are walking, in line, up this ramp, into that building? What is that thing the human is using to make our brethren fall down? I will have to apply my wisdom to this strange problem. Maybe I will offer the human some milk"

ZAP!

Sometime later:-

 

[arthwollipot]

This, to me, is just as much nonsense as the animal telepath. You're applying the same confirmation bias to your interactions with animals but you claim it's down to 'intelligence and sensitivity', those being traits that you'd like to believe you possess.

No, I disagree. Vortigern was describing pretty much exactly the way I deal with animals. I often joke that "I speak Dog" or "I speak Cat" because I know what their expressions, body language, and vocalisations mean. And they know that I know it. Anya, for example, has a "let me out stretch" that she knows will get me to open the front door. Portia vocalises a lot in the morning when she's feeling affectionate and wants attention. Jodi does the same thing, but she attributes it to her "intuition" and telepathy.

 

[Lolly]

Jodi does the same thing, but she attributes it to her "intuition" and telepathy.

Most pet owners will learn from interacting with their pets and understand what is meant by what the animals do and "say", but there is a reasonable basis for that understanding: observation. If your cat always wants to go out when he wakes up and he uses a particular "meow" to wake you up to open the door, you learn that he wants to go out when he uses that meow. I know when my dog is going to have a go at another dog because I can read the signs on her face. A muscle tenses and I know what she's about to do, because I've seen her do it before.

It is different to assert that a cow has "offered you milk", that plants are talking to you, or that you are communicating with dead animals, because there's no reasonable basis for claiming any of those things.

 

[arthwollipot]

Oh, she absolutely makes **** up. She believes that she's genuinely communicating telepathically. Some of that can be explained by what Vortigern and I have described.

 

[wasapi]

No, I disagree. Vortigern was describing pretty much exactly the way I deal with animals. I often joke that "I speak Dog" or "I speak Cat" because I know what their expressions, body language, and vocalisations mean. And they know that I know it. Anya, for example, has a "let me out stretch" that she knows will get me to open the front door. Portia vocalises a lot in the morning when she's feeling affectionate and wants attention. Jodi does the same thing, but she attributes it to her "intuition" and telepathy.

I too disaggree. And they are traits that he DOES possess.

 

[Vortigern99]

This, to me, is just as much nonsense as the animal telepath. You're applying the same confirmation bias to your interactions with animals but you claim it's down to 'intelligence and sensitivity', those being traits that you'd like to believe you possess.

I admire your skepticism. You certainly do not have to accept, sight unseen and without a shred of evidence, my claim to be "something of a cat whisperer".

However, your counter-claim is itself based on a total absence of evidence, and so must be treated with the same degree of skepticism by any thinking person. You can guess, but you cannot possibly know to a certainty that I'm "applying... confirmation bias", since you have not witnessed any of my interactions with cats.

Similarly, your assertion that I would "like to believe {I} possess" certain traits derives from nothing more than a guess, sight unseen and without a shred of evidence to support it. You cannot possibly know what I would "like to believe", since you have not met me, nor interacted with me beyond the exchange of a couple of snarky internet messages.

 

[Vortigern99]

To clarify just a bit more, since my comments seem to have caused a minor stir, when I said "intelligence and sensitivity" I was speaking of traits shared in common by all human beings, not by me in some kind of special, elitist sense.

All human beings (apart from the mentally disabled) are "intelligent and sensitive" with regard to grasping the nuances of language and vocalization, and of recognizing certain clues in body language and gesture. With training, study and practice, this universal human intelligence and sensitivity can be extended to interactions with some animals, as well.

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_behavior#Body_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_behavior#Vocal_calls

http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_Behavior.html

Believe it or not, quite a bit of scientific research has gone into understanding cat behavior. Especially confirming our communication abilities with them. Our communication with cats is less detailed than our communication with dogs as I understand it. Mostly this is due to a more recent history of domestication for cats compared to dogs.

 

[Loss Leader]

My question to her would be, "How could I tell the difference between what you're saying and someone who is simply lying about being an animal telepath?"

 

[Emet]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_behavior#Body_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_behavior#Vocal_calls

http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_Behavior.html

Believe it or not, quite a bit of scientific research has gone into understanding cat behavior. Especially confirming our communication abilities with them. Our communication with cats is less detailed than our communication with dogs as I understand it. Mostly this is due to a more recent history of domestication for cats compared to dogs.

Yes. It is also related to how cats communicate with each other, vs. how dogs communicate with each other.

I recently attended a lecture by the author of this link, given to vets. She had plenty of videos for us to watch. As we learned what to watch for, two things became readily apparent. Many people do not understand (or see) how dogs and cats communicate to people and to each other; but the communication was clear between the species of animals in the videos.

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/Pr05000/pr00378.htm