Can we really intuit an animal’s feelings, or are we merely projecting our own?
When a dog growls at you, is it angry? When a squirrel flees up a tree at your approach, is it fearful? When an elephant stands for days on a spot where another has died, is it grieving? If you live with an animal (the non-human kind) you might think the answer is obvious, but the scientific question remains tantalisingly open.
Let’s start with some well-established findings. Every animal’s brain regulates its organs, hormones and the other systems of its body via electricity and swirling chemicals. Inside your own body, these processes keep you alive and also, somehow, produce your general mood in ways that scientists are still puzzling out. Your mood is kind of a summary of how your whole body is doing. It ranges from pleasant to unpleasant and from still to activated. Mood is not emotion – it is always with you, even when you’re not emotional.
