Anthropomorphic?

[unojuno]

Without looking up this word in your dictionary, do you know the meaning?  Are you into Word Trivia--it's FUN & EASY!!  All you animal lovers out there need to know this one!

[cah5525]

no, don't know it but, yes... love word trivia - on my way to wiki

[cah5525]

Found it! And the first thing that came to mind was Orwell's Animal Farm.

[unojuno]

Yes, it does!  I find myself constantly assigning "human" emotions and characteristics to my dog.  She's as close to human as I have ever known, so it's an easy thing to do.

[jillrector]

Never even heard that word. It is a long one.

[discardedheart]

that means like.. giving human characteristics to animals or something.. right? like talking animals? lol.

idk ..
 

[unojuno]

Exactly!   Woof, Woof!!

[viva05]

I don't know?

[unojuno]

To assign "human attributes" and emotions to animals-- 

[burnkate]

I thought that was like personification or w.e ... am I wrong?

[LittleDebbieG]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of Orwell when reading the first post.

Yes, it does!  I find myself constantly assigning "human" emotions and characteristics to my dog.  She's as close to human as I have ever known, so it's an easy thing to do.

Are you actually "assigning" human emotions or characteristics to your dog.. or is your dog actually portraying dog emotions? Dogs can be happy and sad, scared and overjoyed. That's not entirely anthropomorphism. Now... when your dog starts standing upright to walk and dealing with complex emotional turmoil... then that would be a different story.

A dog who is happy to see you is a little different than the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. 

[unojuno]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of Orwell when reading the first post.

Yes, it does!  I find myself constantly assigning "human" emotions and characteristics to my dog.  She's as close to human as I have ever known, so it's an easy thing to do.

Are you actually "assigning" human emotions or characteristics to your dog.. or is your dog actually portraying dog emotions? Dogs can be happy and sad, scared and overjoyed. That's not entirely anthropomorphism. Now... when your dog starts standing upright to walk and dealing with complex emotional turmoil... then that would be a different story.

A dog who is happy to see you is a little different than the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. 

Personally I truly believe that dogs are more "complex" than we give them credit.  True, they are not able to analyze and define the complexities of life, but they DO have emotions such as fear, happiness, sadness, etc.  My dog has a wide "vocabulary", for instance,but I know it is only from association and repitition, that she has "learned" this language.  In any event even though they are not human, they communicate effectively--more so than a lot of people I know!! God Bless 'em!

[discardedheart]

Personally I truly believe that dogs are more "complex" than we give them credit.  True, they are not able to analyze and define the complexities of life, but they DO have emotions such as fear, happiness, sadness, etc.  My dog has a wide "vocabulary", for instance, but I know it is only from association and repitition, that she has "learned" this language.  In any event even though they are not human, they communicate effectively--more so than a lot of people I know!! God Bless 'em!

i completely agree with this.
i generally prefer animals over people, lol.

[unojuno]

Personally I truly believe that dogs are more "complex" than we give them credit.  True, they are not able to analyze and define the complexities of life, but they DO have emotions such as fear, happiness, sadness, etc.  My dog has a wide "vocabulary", for instance, but I know it is only from association and repitition, that she has "learned" this language.  In any event even though they are not human, they communicate effectively--more so than a lot of people I know!! God Bless 'em!

i completely agree with this.
i generally prefer animals over people, lol.

I tend to gravitate toward people who love animals--if they don;t, then I don't have time to waste on them.  In general I find that animal lovers are good folks!

[discardedheart]

I tend to gravitate toward people who love animals--if they don;t, then I don't have time to waste on them.  In general I find that animal lovers are good folks!

i most definitely agree with that.

once in high school, when a girlfriend of mine came over to spend the night with me for the first time, her mama (who had been nervous about her coming.. because of not knowing me or my fam ;p) pulled up outside and said, "well.. you'll be just fine here.. look at how many cats they have!" haha ;p i always found that really amusing..