Is Anthropomorphism That Bad?

An important topic to talk about is anthropomorphism, which is giving human emotions something nonhuman, in this case an animal. The truth is, we don’t know how these guys are really feeling because we can’t directly communicate with them. Assumptions can be dangerous. There is science to body language that we can read, but most people don’t know how to accurately read body language, even I’m forever learning. We can mistake a head bob for playing when really it may be an aggressive response. We can think the birds crown going up as they are happy when really they’re uncomfortable.

I personally think it’s fun to “talk” or “think” for my animals in certain situations if that makes sense. I think it’s cute to think “oh he’s happy” or “tootsie HAS to be listening to me right now and understand me.” But, jokes aside, I know none of this isn’t true. Anthropomorphizing happens daily with us animal lovers, but it’s important to be able to also take a step away from that to be able to look at the situations objectively for the well-being of the animal.

A big example of this is when people say “that bird looks so sad in the cage.” I have gotten people messaging me about Crazy Bird (blue front amazon) looking sad in the photo I just posted before of him in his cage. They assumed he was “sad” because there are bars in front of him, and people have their own views on cages. When in reality, he was getting fed in that specific photo, and he was very excited to get fed. He was chowing down, and I’ve never been unhappy while I eat before. Now, have I seen birds in cages and questioned their quality of life for various factors, making me believe that it was affecting their mood? Absolutely. But it’s never the bird is sad, it’s these factors will be affecting the birds well-being, and that situation is sad. See the difference?

It’s fun to put a voice to your animal, it’s fun to think they look happy in a photo. But, it’s also best to remember they are animals and we can’t just assume without measurable proof!