Talking to the animals
Dr. Doolittle, who is able to talk to animals, is a character in the children’s fantasy books by Hugh Lofting. He was created by Lofting when writing letters to his children from the trenches in WW1 as he considered the real events too traumatic to reveal. There have been three films made and starring in the title role were Rex Harrison in 1967, Eddie Murphy in 1998 and Robert Downey Jr in 2020.
Now, let’s be honest. If you are the sort of person who reads this blog you almost certainly talk to your dog and maybe other animals as well. You do this despite knowing that whilst they are happy to have you communicate with them and will respond by wagging a tail, tipping their head to one side and staring intently at you, they are unable to verbally reply. It is, however, a recognised fact that we humans benefit greatly from the interaction we have with our pets. This is therapeutic, relieves stress and lowers our blood pressure.
For the scholars amongst my readers, and I have no doubt there are many of you (well, there is definitely one – “Hello Mike”), You will also recognise the word anthropomorphizing. The attribution of human traits and emotions to a non-human.
We do this all the time with our pets, particularly our dogs. I remember writing a story that included a child who revealed her innermost secrets to her goldfish!!
So wouldn’t you just love to communicate with your pet! I’m not sure how the conversation would develop, but it would certainly be interesting.
Maybe one day…
Well it’s not as fantastic as you might imagine because whilst it probably won’t happen anytime soon, for the younger generation, it’s a distinct possibility. Of course, if any of you are fantasizing about being the next Dr. Doolittle, forget it. It’s just not going to happen. Also, the idea that we will, at some point, have a translating app on our phone may be a trifle fanciful. However, in time us humans will be able to understand the sounds and decipher their meaning with much greater understanding. We already have an understanding of how a dog’s body language reacts to a stimulus, whether it be fear, aggression, or happiness.
So, how is this going to work? Well, it’s down to modern technology, and it’s already started with bats!!
As we observe any animal species and note the specific task that they are engaged in, we are able to audio record the sounds that they emit, and we can video their body language at the same time. By marrying up all three, the task, the sound and the body language, it becomes possible to work out how they communicate with each other and for what purpose. Examples of this become obvious. When we males show interest in a specific lady, we rapidly drop into courtship mode. Our body language and our chat up lines are fairly predictable as we seek to impress the female of our choice. The ladies who are the object of our affection will either be impressed or not. If we fail, then the door is open to another suitor. Animals operate on a similar system, not identical, but probably close enough for us to create a workable theorem.
I am sorry to say, however, that dog owners had better face a rather unpalatable truth when communicating with animals. I’m not sure that our dogs will be at the top of the list of animals we are able to communicate with simply because they are not self-aware, unlike other species. (See Self Awareness 22 February 2021). Top of the list will be certain primates and dolphins.
When you think about it, the animals operate in their own defined world, just like us, and when you think this through, our ability to communicate with other species could be critical in the future.
Many in the scientific community believe that it is likely that we are not the only intelligent species in the universe, and in the years to come, we may well need a way of quickly interpreting the strange language of the aliens who land. Which, of course, could be vital for intergalactic peace!!
“You don’t own a dog, you have a dog AND the dog has you.”
Chelsea Handler
(Comedienne)