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Susana Monsó’s Followers (16)
Susana Monsó
Born
Spain
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Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
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published
2024
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10 editions
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Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.
“In contrast to other branches of science and the humanities, philosophy lacks a predetermined object of study. There can be philosophy of anything because philosophy is a method, a way of looking at the world and reflecting on it, rather than the study of a particular, concrete phenomenon. This allows philosophers to be in constant dialog with other areas of knowledge, to move with ease from one discipline to another, to take nothing for granted, to question every assumption, and to offer refreshing and innovative points of view that can serve as catalysts for any debate.”
― Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
― Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
“[…The] mirror test also presupposes that the tested animals care about their appearance in one way or another, for something like this is necessary for them to have the motivation to interact with the mark that has been placed on them. However, it’s not immediately clear that other animals are vain enough to care about their own looks.”
― Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
― Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
“There are descriptions of self-mutilations in animals who are locked up in zoos, as well as in laboratory rodents who have been administered stimulating drugs. Cases have also been reported in domestic animals. Some horses, for instance, have shown a tendency to bite themselves, as well as kick and lunge at objects. Among cats and dogs it’s also relatively common to see compulsive self-licking, nibbling, or scratching, which in extreme cases can result in serious injuries…
Somewhat more suggestive cases are of dolphins who have supposedly ended their own lives. At least two cases have been reported, both occurring in dolphins who were captured from the wild and held captive in inadequate conditions. One is dolphin Kathy, the “actor” who portrayed Flipper for the longest period of time on the TV series of the same name. The other is Peter, a dolphin from the 1960s led by John Lilly, which involved the psychedelic drug LSD, zoophilia, and attempts on behalf of the experimenters to communicate verbally and telepathically with the dolphins. Both Kathy and Peter ended their own lives by voluntarily stopping breathing, according to the witnesses.”
― Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
Somewhat more suggestive cases are of dolphins who have supposedly ended their own lives. At least two cases have been reported, both occurring in dolphins who were captured from the wild and held captive in inadequate conditions. One is dolphin Kathy, the “actor” who portrayed Flipper for the longest period of time on the TV series of the same name. The other is Peter, a dolphin from the 1960s led by John Lilly, which involved the psychedelic drug LSD, zoophilia, and attempts on behalf of the experimenters to communicate verbally and telepathically with the dolphins. Both Kathy and Peter ended their own lives by voluntarily stopping breathing, according to the witnesses.”
― Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
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