Mythology Of The Cat2020
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Most of the lesser complex animals, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and reptiles probably have a worldview along the lines of 'it just is' and accept whatever comes along - accompany the flow. But once you think about the relatively higher and more complex animals, like birds and mammals, then brain complexity becomes such to a greater or lesser degree, intelligence and therefore the ability to think and figure things out has got to be taken into consideration.
For those of you who have companion animals, or maybe those of you who have just watched animals at a distance, you'll have wondered how those animals view and maybe even believe life, the universe, and everything. That is, each animal must have some kind of personal worldview; a perspective or point of view probably forever beyond our understanding - usually but not always.
I'm picking on cats during this particular case because I've owned cats nearly all my life. This essay could even as easily are dogs or horses or another domesticated mammal.
So what are cats? Can we identify with them? Can they identify with us? Well, domesticated cats are playful; curious; adaptable; selfish; they dream; they like variety though they will even be creatures of habit; they will 'think' things through and make decisions; they need a vocal language and a body language; they display emotions; they need memory and thus somewhat a way of history; they need an equivalent sensory apparatus as we have; they need their own likes and dislikes whether it's food; an area to sleep, where they need or don't need to be scratched or rubbed or petted; and, briefly each cat has their own very unique personality. Cats are certainly very self-centered, perhaps a touch more so than typical adult humans, but certainly like human infants and toddlers whose worldview is extremely self-centered with a near 24/7 gimmie, gimmie, gimmie; I would like, I want, I want. Cats, a minimum of those intersecting with humans have a gimmie/I want aspect to them, and like infants/toddlers, the 'pester' factor can often reach extremes. In short, cats really seem to be mini albeit furry versions of humans, especially infants/toddlers. But, how close might that version really be?
For starters, and maybe like all animals, the cat probably features a worldview something like it being the center of things - the be-all-and-end-all - which the whole environment the cat finds itself in is there to supply for all the cat's requirements. From the domestic cat's point of view, the planet owes it a living! How else could the cat view things? One's self-perceptions tend to revolve around 'I am the center of the universe' because you're most intimately bound up in your worldview with yourself and not as intimately with anything. Therefore, anything, during a self-centered worldview must be subservient. in fact, the cat often finds out the hard way that parts of that external reality have differing opinions. That never seems to shift the cat's worldview however that it's 'top dog'* and deserves all the simplest that comes it's a way - which could not be all the 'best' that nature could provide but the cat doesn't know that.
Cats certainly haven't any comprehension, perhaps like toddlers, of being within the way, underfoot, in peril of being trodden on or sat upon, while helping themselves to whatever piece of household geography suits their fancy. One could conclude from their selfish (from our point of view) behavior, their worldview must be one among 'supreme being' and 'rank has its privileges', and such a worldview will persist a minimum of until such time as their tail gets stepped on or they get tossed out of the straightforward chair! They still probably see themselves as supreme beings - it's their worldview of you that's now somewhat changed.
The average head of the household and cat owner is perhaps somewhat of the opinion or has the rationale that 'I pay the bills, therefore I call the shots and what I say goes'! Cats can probably understand 'head of the household' therein in cat society, as altogether animal societies, all cats aren't equal - there's a hierarchy and one cat alone are going to be 'top dog' because it was. But there's nothing during a cat's worldview that corresponds to money or bills or economics or finance. Everything may be a gift, be it sunshine or the electric/gas/wood heater you, the owner, pay for. albeit the cat goes outside and catches and eats a mouse, it's still as free a lunch as far because the cat cares because of the food you set in its food bowl. so that bit about 'I'm the boss because I pay the bills' has no meaning or significance to the cat since the concept of 'bills' is foreign.
Cats haven't any mythology about shopping. The post Xmas sales and weekly specials at the supermarket are alien concepts. So is that almost supreme abstraction to humans - time. Birthdays are a non-event with no realization once they occur and with no relevance in any event. Ditto all those other special points in time like holidays we humans are hooked in to. Cats don't make a habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve. It's of no consequence. Weekends are not any different than weekdays.
Equally the cat has apparently no worldview of tomorrow or of the longer-term (though it's a memory of the past). It doesn't but a period. I've never observed a cat hideaway a couple of its dry cat chow pellets for a future emergency or a midnight snack. A cat is extremely 'now' oriented. A cat probably has no concept of death, far less an afterlife. I've always attended to have two cats at a time on the theoretical grounds they need companionship when I'm not around. As such, one cat will finally get to travel thereto great 'litter box up the sky' and intrinsically the surviving cat (for a short time at least) are going to be without its companion feline 'friend'. I've never noticed however any real change within the behavior of the surviving cat. The demise and removal of the opposite animal have apparently all the relevance of my tossing an empty can into the bin . Now if I tossed out the cat's favorite lounge chair that might probably cause more of a reaction!
It's difficult to show a cat anything that may not already be hardwired into its little grey cells. I mean you do not tend to possess guard cats, seeing-eye cats, or cats that stay up, stop on command at the corner, beg, and play fetch, etc. when their human owners say so. The cat's worldview is sort of foreign to such concepts, though there's little difference between a cat's IQ and a dog's IQ. Maybe that's why the old saying 'dogs have masters; cats have slaves'!
So those are several significant differences between the worldview mythologies of the cat relative to humans (or even dogs, who, are documented to 'grieve' upon the death of a fellow companion dog or of their owner. If I died, my cat's loyalty would shift quick-smart to a subsequent human who fed it).
I noted above that cat's dream and why not. I judge this because often once they are asleep I frequently notice their paws and mouths twitching as if in response to something happening inside their head. I assume it isn't some abstraction that occupies this assumed dream state. It's probably associated with visions of chasing and eating fat mice and plump flightless birds! there is no way of telling needless to say, but that is what I think. If they dream, they dream practical cat-related things.
I've never gotten the impression that a cat ponders anything at any time but practical matters that have an immediate about it within the here and immediately. a clear example is that any cat always finds itself on the incorrect side of a door, and you're expected to correct that state of affairs as often as is important - which is extremely often indeed. No wonder people install cat flaps! Anyway, things like philosophy and religion and therefore the arts and arithmetic and anything abstract not only isn't considered and immediately dismissed, the cat probably can't even imagine such things so as for them to be dismissed as of no relevance to the cat's worldview. There's
For those of you who have companion animals, or maybe those of you who have just watched animals at a distance, you'll have wondered how those animals view and maybe even believe life, the universe, and everything. That is, each animal must have some kind of personal worldview; a perspective or point of view probably forever beyond our understanding - usually but not always.
I'm picking on cats during this particular case because I've owned cats nearly all my life. This essay could even as easily are dogs or horses or another domesticated mammal.
So what are cats? Can we identify with them? Can they identify with us? Well, domesticated cats are playful; curious; adaptable; selfish; they dream; they like variety though they will even be creatures of habit; they will 'think' things through and make decisions; they need a vocal language and a body language; they display emotions; they need memory and thus somewhat a way of history; they need an equivalent sensory apparatus as we have; they need their own likes and dislikes whether it's food; an area to sleep, where they need or don't need to be scratched or rubbed or petted; and, briefly each cat has their own very unique personality. Cats are certainly very self-centered, perhaps a touch more so than typical adult humans, but certainly like human infants and toddlers whose worldview is extremely self-centered with a near 24/7 gimmie, gimmie, gimmie; I would like, I want, I want. Cats, a minimum of those intersecting with humans have a gimmie/I want aspect to them, and like infants/toddlers, the 'pester' factor can often reach extremes. In short, cats really seem to be mini albeit furry versions of humans, especially infants/toddlers. But, how close might that version really be?
For starters, and maybe like all animals, the cat probably features a worldview something like it being the center of things - the be-all-and-end-all - which the whole environment the cat finds itself in is there to supply for all the cat's requirements. From the domestic cat's point of view, the planet owes it a living! How else could the cat view things? One's self-perceptions tend to revolve around 'I am the center of the universe' because you're most intimately bound up in your worldview with yourself and not as intimately with anything. Therefore, anything, during a self-centered worldview must be subservient. in fact, the cat often finds out the hard way that parts of that external reality have differing opinions. That never seems to shift the cat's worldview however that it's 'top dog'* and deserves all the simplest that comes it's a way - which could not be all the 'best' that nature could provide but the cat doesn't know that.
Cats certainly haven't any comprehension, perhaps like toddlers, of being within the way, underfoot, in peril of being trodden on or sat upon, while helping themselves to whatever piece of household geography suits their fancy. One could conclude from their selfish (from our point of view) behavior, their worldview must be one among 'supreme being' and 'rank has its privileges', and such a worldview will persist a minimum of until such time as their tail gets stepped on or they get tossed out of the straightforward chair! They still probably see themselves as supreme beings - it's their worldview of you that's now somewhat changed.
The average head of the household and cat owner is perhaps somewhat of the opinion or has the rationale that 'I pay the bills, therefore I call the shots and what I say goes'! Cats can probably understand 'head of the household' therein in cat society, as altogether animal societies, all cats aren't equal - there's a hierarchy and one cat alone are going to be 'top dog' because it was. But there's nothing during a cat's worldview that corresponds to money or bills or economics or finance. Everything may be a gift, be it sunshine or the electric/gas/wood heater you, the owner, pay for. albeit the cat goes outside and catches and eats a mouse, it's still as free a lunch as far because the cat cares because of the food you set in its food bowl. so that bit about 'I'm the boss because I pay the bills' has no meaning or significance to the cat since the concept of 'bills' is foreign.
Cats haven't any mythology about shopping. The post Xmas sales and weekly specials at the supermarket are alien concepts. So is that almost supreme abstraction to humans - time. Birthdays are a non-event with no realization once they occur and with no relevance in any event. Ditto all those other special points in time like holidays we humans are hooked in to. Cats don't make a habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve. It's of no consequence. Weekends are not any different than weekdays.
Equally the cat has apparently no worldview of tomorrow or of the longer-term (though it's a memory of the past). It doesn't but a period. I've never observed a cat hideaway a couple of its dry cat chow pellets for a future emergency or a midnight snack. A cat is extremely 'now' oriented. A cat probably has no concept of death, far less an afterlife. I've always attended to have two cats at a time on the theoretical grounds they need companionship when I'm not around. As such, one cat will finally get to travel thereto great 'litter box up the sky' and intrinsically the surviving cat (for a short time at least) are going to be without its companion feline 'friend'. I've never noticed however any real change within the behavior of the surviving cat. The demise and removal of the opposite animal have apparently all the relevance of my tossing an empty can into the bin . Now if I tossed out the cat's favorite lounge chair that might probably cause more of a reaction!
It's difficult to show a cat anything that may not already be hardwired into its little grey cells. I mean you do not tend to possess guard cats, seeing-eye cats, or cats that stay up, stop on command at the corner, beg, and play fetch, etc. when their human owners say so. The cat's worldview is sort of foreign to such concepts, though there's little difference between a cat's IQ and a dog's IQ. Maybe that's why the old saying 'dogs have masters; cats have slaves'!
So those are several significant differences between the worldview mythologies of the cat relative to humans (or even dogs, who, are documented to 'grieve' upon the death of a fellow companion dog or of their owner. If I died, my cat's loyalty would shift quick-smart to a subsequent human who fed it).
I noted above that cat's dream and why not. I judge this because often once they are asleep I frequently notice their paws and mouths twitching as if in response to something happening inside their head. I assume it isn't some abstraction that occupies this assumed dream state. It's probably associated with visions of chasing and eating fat mice and plump flightless birds! there is no way of telling needless to say, but that is what I think. If they dream, they dream practical cat-related things.
I've never gotten the impression that a cat ponders anything at any time but practical matters that have an immediate about it within the here and immediately. a clear example is that any cat always finds itself on the incorrect side of a door, and you're expected to correct that state of affairs as often as is important - which is extremely often indeed. No wonder people install cat flaps! Anyway, things like philosophy and religion and therefore the arts and arithmetic and anything abstract not only isn't considered and immediately dismissed, the cat probably can't even imagine such things so as for them to be dismissed as of no relevance to the cat's worldview. There's
no creativity in their little grey cells whatever. I considerably doubt whether any cat has pondered whether or not it's discretion. My cats don't answer cat art, just like the pictures of cats on calendars. Music soothes the savage beast but with one minor exception all my cats are oblivious to whatever sort of music CD I'm playing, be it classical or jazz, country & western or film scores; vocal or instrumental. That one exception is that I once had a cat that might react to whistling within a song that emanated from the speakers. Still, cats probably therefore never need to endure that annoying experience of getting an irritating song play endlessly, over and over and once again inside their head!
If the cats were of a person's frame of mind, they could imagine something like: within the beginning the good cat deity, let's name it Bastet (also spelled Bast, Baast, Ubasti, and Baset) after the traditional Egyptian cat goddess, created not only the domestic feline but all that's part and parcel of their world. within the beginning, Bastet created the ever pristine litter box; the ever full food and water bowls, and much of birds and mice for felines to chase, catch and snack on. That's, in fact, consistent with the mythology of the cat if the cat had a human's imagination. Well actually, not. No cat has imagined any self-contained mythology about the origin and evolution of cats. If cats have worldview mythology outside of the concepts of self and now, then it probably centers on what strange companions humans are. and I am 99% sure that while such human activities could be fascinating, they're equally incomprehensible.
Translated, whatever mythology our domestic feline companions come up thereupon explains to their satisfaction their worldview, it'll bear little resemblance to actual human activities on behalf of the animal, just like the concept of cash to buy the products and services it receives. The cats haven't any conception of livestock (slaughtered as pet food), of biological evolution (that provided the birds and mice and therefore the abilities of the cat to chase, catch and snack on them), of the infrastructure that gets them their water (and other goodies) that finishes up because the outcome in their water bowls, etc.
So while I even have no idea what worldview mythology my cats have (and they probably aren't the precise same - each cat's worldview is going to be partially unique) it's wrong.
However, we will speculate; take scenarios that are part and parcel of their world, natural or otherwise, and check out to work out how they see and interpret things through their eyes.
So what goes through a cat's mind when it isn't immediately concerned with me; now - when it isn't in immediate need of catering to varied biological requirements and functions? The cat is simply sitting, awake, alert, observing, but what's it thinking? Does it need to be deep in thought at all? Probably not I think. In fact, it's more likely as not they're observing only for the sake of observing - always on the lookout for something to chase and eat (that's probably just hardwired into their brain), or for something which may chase and eat them.
I mean my cats have an interest in birds; I'm curious about birds too - except for totally different reasons. On the opposite hand, my cats have an interest during a clean litter box, but what goes through their minds when whenever they are going to the litter box it's pristine, albeit it didn't therein condition a touch while back for obvious reasons? Do they associate that 'it wasn't then but now it's pristine' phenomenon with a cat deity or with me or neither? cat chow appears on-demand in bowls they dine out of, yet they need no comprehension of the chain of events between manufacture, distribution, the necessity for money to get, transport, open and pour into those bowls that food. So how do they account for the food that somehow magically appears before them? Do they need a food bowl mythology? Or, perhaps it's a phenomenon that just is, and that they think no more about it than a fish ponders the character of the water it swims in. for a few reasons, I find it very hard to picture my cats deep in thought wondering about all those whys and wherefores related to the food they consume.
Well, we've some idea what a cat's worldview mythology is (me; now), and is (nothing abstract) but you, the owner, isn't an abstraction. How does one slot into your animal's mythology?
Cats must have a field day concerning inventing mythology that accounts for the strange habits of these creatures they share their environment with - humans. for instance, my cats see me getting dressed every morning - I'm putting on the fur. Since cats don't get to dress, this behavior must be really weird to them. Ditto making the bed or washing the dishes. The cats must be totally freaked out by my habit of deliberately getting wet via a daily shower or bath. What activity could repulse a cat quite that? Yuck! How do cats explain the dwelling they reside in alongside all the things it contains? I do know where it all comes from, but how do they account for it all? Do they even bother to undertake to account for it? a part of that each one is my pc (PC). They see me typing away on this PC but I'm sure they need no comprehension of what this PC device is or why I'm pecking away thereon rather than listening to them. once I leave of the house, shopping says or off to the club for a couple of cold beers, do they wonder where and why? Do they worry that I'd not come because if I do not they're going to find themselves during a pretty pickle? Or, is that the fact I'm away of no interest and no consequence and causes no speculation? Since they do not seem agitated once I leave, I think they need no comprehension of the likelihood that I'd not return, being hit by the proverbial bus instead.
If the cats were of a person's frame of mind, they could imagine something like: within the beginning the good cat deity, let's name it Bastet (also spelled Bast, Baast, Ubasti, and Baset) after the traditional Egyptian cat goddess, created not only the domestic feline but all that's part and parcel of their world. within the beginning, Bastet created the ever pristine litter box; the ever full food and water bowls, and much of birds and mice for felines to chase, catch and snack on. That's, in fact, consistent with the mythology of the cat if the cat had a human's imagination. Well actually, not. No cat has imagined any self-contained mythology about the origin and evolution of cats. If cats have worldview mythology outside of the concepts of self and now, then it probably centers on what strange companions humans are. and I am 99% sure that while such human activities could be fascinating, they're equally incomprehensible.
Translated, whatever mythology our domestic feline companions come up thereupon explains to their satisfaction their worldview, it'll bear little resemblance to actual human activities on behalf of the animal, just like the concept of cash to buy the products and services it receives. The cats haven't any conception of livestock (slaughtered as pet food), of biological evolution (that provided the birds and mice and therefore the abilities of the cat to chase, catch and snack on them), of the infrastructure that gets them their water (and other goodies) that finishes up because the outcome in their water bowls, etc.
So while I even have no idea what worldview mythology my cats have (and they probably aren't the precise same - each cat's worldview is going to be partially unique) it's wrong.
However, we will speculate; take scenarios that are part and parcel of their world, natural or otherwise, and check out to work out how they see and interpret things through their eyes.
So what goes through a cat's mind when it isn't immediately concerned with me; now - when it isn't in immediate need of catering to varied biological requirements and functions? The cat is simply sitting, awake, alert, observing, but what's it thinking? Does it need to be deep in thought at all? Probably not I think. In fact, it's more likely as not they're observing only for the sake of observing - always on the lookout for something to chase and eat (that's probably just hardwired into their brain), or for something which may chase and eat them.
I mean my cats have an interest in birds; I'm curious about birds too - except for totally different reasons. On the opposite hand, my cats have an interest during a clean litter box, but what goes through their minds when whenever they are going to the litter box it's pristine, albeit it didn't therein condition a touch while back for obvious reasons? Do they associate that 'it wasn't then but now it's pristine' phenomenon with a cat deity or with me or neither? cat chow appears on-demand in bowls they dine out of, yet they need no comprehension of the chain of events between manufacture, distribution, the necessity for money to get, transport, open and pour into those bowls that food. So how do they account for the food that somehow magically appears before them? Do they need a food bowl mythology? Or, perhaps it's a phenomenon that just is, and that they think no more about it than a fish ponders the character of the water it swims in. for a few reasons, I find it very hard to picture my cats deep in thought wondering about all those whys and wherefores related to the food they consume.
Well, we've some idea what a cat's worldview mythology is (me; now), and is (nothing abstract) but you, the owner, isn't an abstraction. How does one slot into your animal's mythology?
Cats must have a field day concerning inventing mythology that accounts for the strange habits of these creatures they share their environment with - humans. for instance, my cats see me getting dressed every morning - I'm putting on the fur. Since cats don't get to dress, this behavior must be really weird to them. Ditto making the bed or washing the dishes. The cats must be totally freaked out by my habit of deliberately getting wet via a daily shower or bath. What activity could repulse a cat quite that? Yuck! How do cats explain the dwelling they reside in alongside all the things it contains? I do know where it all comes from, but how do they account for it all? Do they even bother to undertake to account for it? a part of that each one is my pc (PC). They see me typing away on this PC but I'm sure they need no comprehension of what this PC device is or why I'm pecking away thereon rather than listening to them. once I leave of the house, shopping says or off to the club for a couple of cold beers, do they wonder where and why? Do they worry that I'd not come because if I do not they're going to find themselves during a pretty pickle? Or, is that the fact I'm away of no interest and no consequence and causes no speculation? Since they do not seem agitated once I leave, I think they need no comprehension of the likelihood that I'd not return, being hit by the proverbial bus instead.
Cats wish to lie and stretch call at and take in the heat of the Sun. How do they account for sunshine and this warmth since presumably they ignoramus of stellar astrophysics, fusion, photons, etc.? Might it's, if it's in the least, that our cats conclude that within the beginning that great cat deity Bastet created the Sun to offer pleasure and heat to them, but, Bastet hides the Sun at regular intervals (at night) to not totally spoil us cats? Probably not I think. the heat of the Sun probably just is (like the water is to the fish) - actually, they could not even make the connection between the Sun, sunshine, and therefore the warmth that provides them.
Conclusions & Summary: So what's a domestic cat's worldview mythology? Well, if the cat could speak, I'd say something like this: "It's all about me; it's all about now; everything else just is and if it doesn't affect me now, it isn't relevant." The more I feel about it, the more I draw a parallel between a cat being an endless toddler (me; now; everything else just is, albeit interesting and deserve exploring), but a minimum of without the temper tantrums!
*The standing observation or joke is that a dog thinks to itself that 'my human feeds me and plays with me and appears after me, therefore he must be a god'. The cat thinks to itself that 'my human feeds me and plays with me and appears after me, therefore I need to be a god!' There's an awful lot of relevance therein observation IMHO.
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