by Hopeflower » Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:59 pm
I would venture a guess that intelligence spawns violent tendencies, but that wouldn't be an entirely true statement. Male lions kill cubs when they take over a pride because they don't want the females wasting time raising another male's cubs, simply out of instinct to further their own genes. Ant colonies will literally wipe out weaker ones within a matter of hours to get rid of competition for food. It's simply survival.
On the other hand, I suppose the logical question to ask could be, do some animals feel some base form of emotion triggered by instinct? We've seen that elephants likely mourn their dead, and that dolphins will help an injured or sick one to the surface to breathe. Not long ago I saw a touching video in which a cat was hit by a car, and her mate stayed by her side and tried to revive her for about two hours. Many animals have been known to save the lives of their owners, such as dogs, cats, and birds, to name a few.
It would be arrogant to assume animals feel the way we do, but I suppose it would also be so to assume that we're the only species capable of emotion. In the end...maybe there's no real way to know. We probably can't give animals the same tests we would to gauge a human's reactions to certain things. We can't ask ourselves, "Well why do humans rape and murder", because the answer won't really apply.
maybe there are some questions that just don't have answers.
"Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come."
"Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything that you're willing to practice, you can do." ~ Bob Ross
"The future is always uncertain and painful but it must be lived." ~ Unknown