roadkill

Is emotional pain man made or natural?

I can't really decide dogs seem to have emotional pain when they are punished but I don't rember seeing a cat have any explicit signs of emotional pain when you yell at it.

Manic_Skafe

Natural - how it's exhibited is man-made.

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"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

Livia Regina

The emotions are natural. I don't know if they are specific to humans though. I'd imagine that animals do feel some emotional pain.

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Rule 37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload.'

Suave

It's kind of cheesy I suppose, but not long after my first guinea pig died, the second (his mate) died of unknown causes. We attributed it to grief. Also sidenote, don't get a male and female of any small mammal, or you'll end up giving away or selling a LOT of babies. I'm such a softie.

thefictionweliv

In Ape species they in a way pay last respects to fallen. If you've ever owned a pair for dogs when one is missing or dies the other often stops eating or playing. And I never understood why anyone would own cats .

Livia Regina

Interesting point. You also have to get at least two lovbirds or they won't live long...

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Rule 37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload.'

WillyPete

Elephants have been seen to act in odd ways at the death of a herd member.

CSflim

Of course it is natural.

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zen_tom

I can report that yes, even cats exhibit emotional pain at the loss of a loved one. (Or were they laughing as soon as I turned my back?)

I'd be surprised if any mammal failed to feel upset at some form of loss or other.

Locobot

The emotional divide in the animal kingdom seems to depend on whether or not an animal nurtures their young. So all mammals have an emotional component to their psyche. Birds seem to be a bit of a gray area, some lay their eggs in other's nests but this could possibly be analogous to parent's sending their children away during wartime.

It's possible though that many other animals exhibit emotion but that we are unable to recognize it as such. Hate and wrath are also emotions. It's possible that something like an alligator (which has a fairly advanced system of intra-species communication) feels emotional pain, but we don't know because their modes of expression are so foreign to us.

lom

Is this not so they don't have the duty to look after their offspring and can go on living their lives and produce more with the need to teach them all the ways of birdness. I would see it more as sending a child to school? In that case their 'pain' of losing their offspring is non existant because they know they are being better looked after. This is assuming birds understand alot and have strong emotions which in reality is unlikely so I would assume its just a natural occurance which evolution has brought about.