"Dogs, it seems, are Aristotelians, but with their own doggy teleology."
The above quote comes from a book review in The New York Times for the newly-published book INSIDE OF A DOG: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, by Alexandra Horowitz.
Even though we haven't read any Aristotle yet, and "teleology" makes you think of ginseng, the review will be a fun read. In your comment below, include 1 quote from the review that expresses a neat fact, and your reaction or any interesting thoughts that popped into your head as you read.
5 days ago
"In one enormously important variation from wolf behavior, dogs will look into our eyes. “Though they have inherited some aversion to staring too long at eyes, dogs seem to be predisposed to inspect our faces for information, for reassurance, for guidance.”"
ReplyDeleteAs a dog owner, I can say without a doubt that this is true. I've always wondered how my dog could react to the slightest facial expression, even the twitch of a lip. I also found the part about their sense of smell very interesting.
“'including not just the scene currently happening, but also a snatch of the just-happened and the up-ahead. The present has a shadow of the past and a ring of the future about it.' Now that’s umwelt."
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought this was just an exageration to get readers to believe that their dogs were amazing super-beings who could "see the future," but after I thought about it for a bit, it makes good sense.
A dog’s vision affects its sense of time, too. Dogs have a higher “flicker fusion” rate than we do, which is the rate at which retinal cells can process incoming light, or “the number of snapshots of the world that the eye takes in every second.”
ReplyDeleteI thought this was fascinating. When the author of the review explains how dogs are able to catch tennis balls and frisbees with such startling accuracy because of this superior vision, I thought of my own dog's incredible fetch abilities. It was also interesting to hear about how dogs also smell the past, present and future.
"one could say that dogs see the world faster than we do, but what they really do is see just a bit more world in every second."
ReplyDeleteit's interesting that dogs can notice and react to the somplest of human facial expressions. this is definetley something that could be useful to know when i get a dog. also, i wonder what it would be like to see much more of the world, after all, humans spend 30 minutes of the day blinking.
"People have to exhale before we can inhale new air. Dogs do not. They breath in, then their nostrils quiver and pull the air deeper into the nose as well as out through side slits."
ReplyDeleteI just found it cool how differently dogs are able to smell. Even though I don't have a dog, many people in my family have dogs. I've always been aware of their superior sense of smell but this article really spelled it out for me.
"Dogs respond to baby talk “partially because it distinguishes speech that is directed at them from the rest of the continuous yammering above their heads.”
ReplyDeleteI guess i just never knew why people talked to dogs in baby voices because ive been told they are pretty smart, this makes complete sense though.