What Do Animals Think and Feel?: An Investigation into Emotion and Behavior

by Karsten Brensing

Overview

A fascinating study of animal behavior that reveals them to be as sentient and self-aware as we humans are.

In What Do Animals Think and Feel? biologist Karsten Brensing has something astonishing to tell us about the animal kingdom: namely that animals, by any reasonable assessment, have developed the sophisticated systems of social organization and behaviour that human beings call "culture."

Dolphins call one another by name and orcas inhabit a culture that is over 700,000 years old. Chimpanzees wage strategic warfare, while bonobos delight in dirty talk. Ravens enjoy snowboarding on snow-covered roofs, and snails like to spin on hamster exercise wheels. Humpback whales follow the dictates of fashion and rats are dedicated party animals. Ants recognize themselves in mirrors and spruce themselves up before they return home. Ducklings can pass complicated tests in abstract thinking. Dogs punish disloyalty, though they are also capable of forgiveness if you apologize to them.

Brensing draws on the latest scientific findings as well as his own experience working with animals, to reveal a world of behavioral and cognitive sophistication that is remarkable similar to our own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643135540
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,082,951
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Karsten Brensing is a biologist, behavioral scientist, and author of popular science books on the welfare of animals, especially dolphins. He lives in Germany.

Table of Contents

I What bowls me over (or, put more simply, Introduction) 1

II Going at it like animals 5

1 Alien sex 7

2 Sex toys 12

3 Rape 17

4 Gangbangs 19

5 Hormones in the driving seat 23

6 Pheromone parties 32

7 BDSM 36

III Unknown cultures 39

8 What would Sherlock Holmes' verdict have been? 41

9 Music and fashion 51

10 On good taste 53

11 Patent office or open-source? 58

'Chimpanzee Stone Age' 60

Heavy nomads and light nutcrackers 62

'Spongers and 'shelters': animal lifestyles 65

Animal architects 67

Tools without culture 72

12 The secret language of animals 74

Audible language 75

Dialects in the animal kingdom 86

Talking dirty 92

Gestures and symbols 93

Body language and pointing 95

13 What's culture got to do with conservation? 99

IV A sense of community 103

14 The hedonistic society 105

The chemistry of enjoyment 108

What is play? 111

Anyone who breaks the rules loses! 115

15 The Oedipus complex 120

16 A monarchy with room for democrats 122

17 Bestial biographies 128

18 Like Facebook, only different 137

19 The invention of morality 147

20 Death cults and war 158

21 The brokers 165

V On thought 169

22 If you think that you're thinking, then you're only thinking you're thinking 170

Mental images 171

Logic 175

Abstract thought 179

Strategic thinking and creativity 183

Mathematics 191

The marshmallow test - on thinking about thinking 192

23 Who am I, and who exactly are you? 196

Self-awareness 196

Personality 204

1 know that you exist 217

'Clever Hans' 219

Theory of mind 222

False belief 224

24 Against reason 231

25 The thinking apparatus 241

26 Shamans 250

Under the influence 252

Chickenpox parties and other forms of medicine 259

VI Sentimentality 269

27 The interface 270

28 Dopamine - flooring the happiness pedal? 271

29 Cold as a fish 275

30 Rats - nature's party animals 278

VII The pinnacle of creation 283

31 The human USP 283

Brain development 289

Mental illnesses and psychotropic drugs 291

32 Experimental errors 293

Misinterpretations 293

False negative results 295

Comparative behavioural research 299

33 Of humans and animals: whale watching versus whale hunting and drive hunting 300

VIII Epilogue 311

Endnotes 321

Acknowledgements 356

Index 358

Editorial Reviews

06/08/2020

Biologist and behavioral scientist Brensing examines in this dense but rewarding study the “incredible social lives” animals have among themselves, filled “with colleagues, friends, relatives, enemies and strategically planned territorial wars.” Early chapters examine mating rituals and sex, in sometimes graphic detail. Brensing covers masturbation, “widespread in the animal kingdom,” both for recreation and, for animals that only mate at certain times of the year, to ensure “a constant supply of young, fresh semen.” He also talks bluntly about rape, among animals as different as the hyena and the red-sided garter snake—both of whose females have evolved protective “chastity belts.” Later sections examine learning, some “genetically preprogrammed,” as when, in one generation after another, young birds learn from their parents how to fly. Other cases represent original learning taking place: after one orca in a marine park discovered how to use bait to catch seagulls, the others quickly learned how to do the same. Thoughtful and comprehensive, Brensing’s survey will leave readers well-informed about animal thought and behavior. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Karsten Brensing is an idealist, committed to the coexistence of humans and animals.

Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

"Brensing shows impressively that there is no reason to deny animals an inner life of pain, fear, grief and joy.

Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung

"A very exciting read.

General-Anzeiger (Switzerland)

"Brensing shows impressively that there is no reason to deny animals an inner life of pain, fear, grief and joy.

Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung

"Brensing shows impressively that there is no reason to deny animals an inner life of pain, fear, grief and joy.

Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung

08/28/2020

Animals are sentient beings, as German biologist and behavioral scientist Brensing explains in this scholarly work. With this conscious state, we should treat all animals with respect and interest, maintains the author, be they ants, bonobos, crows, or dolphins. Offering plenty of comparisons of animals with humans, this book delves into topics such as sexual behavior, culture, and "sentimentality" (or biochemical reactions). Brensing casually illustrates each of his points with research from other experts, personal anecdotes, hoaxes, realistic examples (such as a meeting between Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin for behavioral biology), and historical and mythological stories. His pleasant, conversational tone wanders in and out of stories and species. If readers wish to follow a tangent or skip around, page numbers provided within the text serve as cross-references. The endnotes are ample, but readers might find themselves wishing for footnotes. VERDICT Readers seeking an informal yet well-researched look at animal behavior will enjoy browsing through this guide.—Elissa Cooper, Helen Plum Memorial Lib., Lombard, IL

Library Journal

2020-07-22
A medley of anecdotes about animal behavior.

Can dolphins think strategically? To answer that question, Brensing, a German biologist and behavioral scientist who has written multiple books about the wonders of animal life, shares the following anecdote: Kelly, a dolphin at the Mississippi-based Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, was trained to collect pieces of litter in her pool and exchange them with her trainer for fish. “One day,” writes the author, “rather than bringing it to the trainer, Kelly chose to hide a little scrap of paper she had found, possibly because she wasn’t particularly hungry” at that moment. More spectacularly, once Kelly decided to exchange her paper for fish, she first tore it into several smaller pieces, so that she could receive a fish for each piece. Brensing’s point is clear: Yes, dolphins can strategize, and they also demonstrate a vast range of eye-opening abilities—as do countless other animals. The book is a compendium of fascinating information, but the narrative is scattershot and sometimes overly conversational (“Crazy, isn’t it?”). The author’s tendency to energetically jump from topic to topic—Ants can recognize themselves in a mirror! Dogs play games organized by a few polite rules! Masturbation is “widespread in the animal kingdom”—makes for dizzying reading. Furthermore, Brensing often dumbs down his explanations to the point that some of them no longer make sense. “In order to make this experiment comprehensible,” he writes in his discussion of mouse memory, “I need to grossly simplify something that is extremely complex and draw a somewhat dodgy analogy.” Many readers will wonder why. The best science writers describe complex subjects to lay audiences without resorting to “dodgy analogies.” Perhaps Brensing should have had a bit more faith in his readers; he might have ended up with a more satisfying book. Often marred by oversimplifications, the narrative would have benefited from a tighter focus.

A collection of intriguing material presented unevenly.

Kirkus Reviews