Diet for a New America 25th Anniversary Edition. John Robbins

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СКАЧАТЬ It is just like man’s vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.

      —MARK TWAIN

      Even among our own species, we often don’t recognize forms of intelligence that are perhaps a little different from the norm. Albert Einstein’s parents were sure he was retarded because he spoke haltingly until the age of nine and even after that would respond to questions only after a long period of deliberation. He performed so badly in his high school courses, except mathematics, that a teacher told him to drop out, saying, “You will never amount to anything, Einstein.”³⁶ Charles Darwin did so poorly in school that his father told him, “You will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.”³⁷ Thomas Edison was called “dunce” by his father and “addled” by his high school teacher and was told by his headmaster that he “would never make a success of anything.”³⁸ Henry Ford barely made it through school with the minimum grasp of reading and writing.³⁹ Sir Isaac Newton was so poor in school that he was allowed to continue only because he was a complete flop at running the family farm.⁴⁰ Pablo Picasso was pulled out of school at the age of 10 because he was doing so badly. His father hired a tutor to prepare him to go back to school, but the tutor gave up on the hopeless pupil.⁴¹ Giacomo Puccini, the Italian opera composer, was so poor at everything as a child, including music, that his first music teacher gave up in despair, concluding the boy had no talent.⁴²

      If we can be so far amiss in recognizing types of intelligence that are a bit different from the norm and yet belong to members of our own species who are destined to make great contributions, it seems likely we might fail to recognize some forms of intelligence that belong to beings of other species.

      Researchers have done exhaustive studies of animal and human brains. Most of these studies have been motivated by a desire to find a biological basis for the belief that there is a profound difference between human and animal forms of intelligence.

      No cut-and-dried dividing line has emerged. Comparing the “structure and function of the human brain with the brains of other animals,” scientists have found that humans and other animals differ less than is commonly thought.

       Surprisingly, the similarities are greater than the differences…A striking similarity between the human and non-human mammalian brain is seen in the electrical activity patterns of electroencephalograph (EEG) readings. A dog, for example, has the same states of activity as man, its EEG patterns being almost identical in wakefulness, quiet sleep, dreaming, and daydreaming. As for the chemistry of the central nervous and endocrine systems, we know that there is no difference in kind between human and other animals. The biochemistry of physiological and emotional states (of stress and anxiety, for example) differ little between mice and men.43

       Incredible Journeys

      There are so many instances in which animals have demonstrated profound intelligence that, frankly, I wonder sometimes about the intelligence of the people who insist that animals are dumb. Everyone has heard tales of dogs traveling great distances across unknown terrain to rejoin their people. What you might not know, however, is that many of these stories are documented, verified, and, incredible as they seem, literally true.

      For example, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Martin moved from Des Moines to Denver. But their German shepherd, Max, evidently preferred Des Moines, because he went back on his own, a distance of 750 snow-covered miles.⁴⁴

      Another German shepherd, living in Italy, missed his human companion, who had recently moved from Brindisi to Milan and left the animal behind. It took the dog four months to cover the 745 miles, but he managed to do it and found his person to boot.⁴⁵

      Even more remarkable is a shorter journey of “only” 200 miles, described by Sheila Burnford in her book The Incredible Journey. Three animals—an old English bull terrier, a young Labrador retriever, and, believe it or not, a Siamese cat—stayed together, took care of each other, and found their way across 200 miles of rugged Canadian wilderness in northwestern Ontario.⁴⁶

      I would never have thought a cat capable of such a feat. But I was wrong. There are actually many documented and verified accounts of cats traveling great distances to be with their people. The longest I know of is also one of the best authenticated. It concerns a New York veterinarian who moved to a new job and house in California and had to leave his cat behind, expecting to send for him later. But the cat disappeared prematurely, so the doctor understandably assumed he had seen the last of his cat. Five months later, however, the cat “calmly walked into the (new) house, and jumped onto its favorite armchair.” As you might imagine, the vet was startled. For a moment, he was so shocked he just stood there, gaping. Was this his cat? Then he remembered that his cat had once been in a bad fight, in which its tail had been bitten. The injury had left a distinct growth on the fourth vertebra of the cat’s tail. Remembering this, the vet walked over to the cat and felt its tail. Sure enough, there, on the fourth vertebra, was the telltale growth!⁴⁷

      We may surely be justified in considering the possibility that animals have access to a kind of intelligence beyond our comprehension. It is hard to attribute such accomplishments to mere instinct.

       Animals are interesting creatures…

       with their own unique kinds of intelligence and beauty…

       When treated well, most kinds of animals are friendly to people…

       Pigs are as capable of friendship with us as dogs and cats…

       But the animals raised for meat, eggs, and dairy products in the United States today…

       are treated terribly…

       Chickens are crammed into cages so tightly they can barely move and are driven insane…

       From below, the view is nothing to put on a picture postcard.

       When treated well, pigs are remarkably happy…

      and friendly creatures…

       But today they are crammed together СКАЧАТЬ