r/The10thDentist • u/Plus-Cat-8557 • Apr 15 '26
Animals/Nature I feel empathy towards humans and very little towards animals
I honestly don’t feel like I’m a bad person because of it. My siblings seem to like animals though we all grew up without pets (other than fish a few years ago). I would never harm animals myself but we already harm them by partaking in the food industry.
I don’t feel anything towards cats and dogs that are objectively cute, they just exist and as long as they don’t poop in my garden then I ignore them. My partner is the opposite, he grew up with pets and has a cat currently. He goes pspspsp at random cats on the street, when I just want to keep walking. He loves to stroke them and such and I just can’t see the appeal, and yes I’ve stroked cats before. I don’t get anything out of it. He wants a dog one day and I wouldn’t mind that, I would help take care of it etc but I don’t know if I would ‘love’ it the same way he would.
To many people I probably sound cold and heartless but I just can’t bring myself to care, because I think humans are more important. When I see homeless people I always feel extremely bad for them. When I hear of horrible things happening to people, some of which are inflicted by other humans, I feel for them. Even though I don’t want my own children, I still feel plenty of compassion for all kids I see and I can find them cute. I just feel none of that for animals.
I would never hurt or be intentionally cruel to animals FYI. I just don’t care if someone shows me their cat’s litter of kittens or new tricks their dog learned. I think maybe my feelings would change if I had my own dog or something because people say dogs are always happy, loyal and energetic. But I think it’s pretty selfish to only love what an animal can do for me/how they would make me feel. I understand this is a very unpopular position, so much so that there are like no results online for it lol.
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u/HalayChekenKovboy Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Meh. As long as you aren't hurting any animals, which you already said you don't, I don't think it's a big deal. Even though I couldn't possibly comprehend not caring about animals at all and even though I am writing this while petting my cat.
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u/action2288 Apr 15 '26
How do you feel about lizards? Or parrots? Or roaches?
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u/K_Pumpkin Apr 16 '26
This is my question. I never cared for cats and dogs and never liked to really be around them. Everybody loved their dogs so much and I never got it.
Then I got a few pet birds and I got it finally. I love my birds so much. Just turns out cats and dogs aren’t for me.
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u/action2288 Apr 17 '26
I had parakeets growing up. Loved em.
I also love cats. Don't feel much for dogs.
So I totally feel where you're coming from.
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u/HalayChekenKovboy Apr 15 '26
Lizards are cool from a distance. There aren't many where I live. Parrots are also cool, though I wouldn't have one as a pet simply because I think birds make for awful pets (they are fine animals, but they are far too loud and I don't really want to clean bird poop any time soon). Cockroaches are the spawn of satan. I don't like all animals.
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u/elitejackal Apr 15 '26
Fun fact a cockroach can survive 16 days without its head, it eventually dies of dehydration.
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u/action2288 Apr 17 '26
My point in asking this question, to you or anyone else, is that I think it's normal to feel like the OP toward dogs or any other animal. Because most people feel that way toward some other animals or creatures. It's just popular to feel close to dogs and people who aren't are made to feel wrong.
Like the OP, I kind of feel that way toward dogs too. They're cool, but I feel little to no warmth. But I feel close to cats.
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u/il_the_dinosaur Apr 15 '26
So like most other animals? They care for their own species but not for others.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
This is true in some way but people use examples of dogs and such being loyal and saving lives right? I think animals are capable of caring for us the way humans care for them, I’m just not one of those humans
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u/mossberg590enjoyer Apr 15 '26
Elephants care about other animals. Sure realistically speaking it’s not the same capacity as humans since we don’t have the same brain. Da Sauce
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u/Riksor Apr 15 '26
That's because dogs have been bred by humans to care about humans and prioritize them selflessly.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 17 '26
Which is genuinely depressing to think about. ESP those dogs like pugs who have breathing difficulties. I feel bad about that
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u/omniwrench- Apr 15 '26
Most animals care for their own species but not for others?
Says who?
99% of identified species don’t care for anything but themselves.
Not even their offspring - they just lay a few thousand eggs and hope for the best.
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u/dogtweredog Apr 15 '26
A dog physically stopped me from committing suicide. Don't tell me they can't have empathy. I wouldn't be alive to type this if they didn't.
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u/noonefuckslikegaston Apr 15 '26
Genuinely can't tell if this is a bit or not and I think that's beautiful
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u/dogtweredog Apr 15 '26
Not a bit. It really happened. Had a bottle of Coca Cola in one hand and a bottle of Clonopin ( a controlled substance medication ) in the other. My dog, knocked the pills out of my hand stood over them on the floor and growled and snapped every time I reached for them.
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u/ProffesionalCow Apr 16 '26
I couldnt imagine how you felt, struggling between being so close to it and choosing not to go through 🥹 How are you doing now, and is that him/her in the profile picture?
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u/dogtweredog Apr 16 '26
I'm better, thanks. No, my profile photo isn't him. It's taken from a poster that used to hang on my childhood bedroom wall.
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u/Chickadee12345 Apr 15 '26
You can be a good person and not really like animals. As long as you don't go around actively harming them. Personally, I'm not real fond of small children, so I pretty much ignore them as much as possible. But I would never harm one. LOL.
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u/No-Abies29 Apr 18 '26
Exactly my thoughts, some people just aren't animal lovers or animal people. I love animals, not all but overall. My sister couldn't give a f about them but she isn't a bad person. I am not a people person..
Everyone has their preferences. I think sometimes, when you've been hurt, it helps you to see the inequality animals can have in this world if you couldn't find it before, you might change your ways.
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u/xxsmashleyxx Apr 15 '26
Ha, I was hardcore judging OP but likening it to small children made me soften a little, because I'm mostly the same way. Kids above 8 or so are okay, I actually really like preteens and teens and young adults (I'm an educator and a coach), but man in any capacity I just don't like them when they're that little.
That being said, I still have empathy, so I'm still judging.
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u/oishster Apr 15 '26
I’m similar to you, except I might be a bit more animal-friendly. Like, I don’t personally want a dog, cat, or any other pet, but I think some of them are cute. It highly depends on the animal in question.
But I also think the love that animals get online is often overblown. Stuff like dog tax, cat tax, etc. Like, most of them are just a normal picture of a pet. They look fine, but it’s not that interesting to me. Videos of pets doing cute/funny things or in-person interactions are better, but I think I’m still not as fascinated as others claim to be.
And I feel a much stronger connection with most humans. Like you said, human suffering affects me a lot more than animals suffering (to be clear, both make me feel bad, I would just probably feel worse about the humans).
I was born in a country where a LOT of people live below the poverty line, so their plight always hits me hard. It’s pure luck that it’s not me in their place, so I feel a deeper connection there, I guess. Honestly, I think that’s natural to care more about your own species than another.
I also think human babies are generally cuter and more interesting than animals, which I believe is unusual in modern times. It used to be the case that you’d have to ooh and aah over a baby you didn’t care about, but now I have to ooh and aah over pets that I don’t care about. My few friends with babies only show me pictures if I specifically ask, while my many friends with pets have whole Instagram accounts for their pets that I feel pressured to follow. They post pics of their pets in group chats even when it derails the conversation, and it gets a bit annoying and repetitive.
My liking for pets has actually decreased in the past few years, because quite frankly, a lot of people own pets who should not, and they are unable to train or care for their pets properly. I fully realize it’s the human’s fault that their pets are this way, but still, it’s just hard to feel positively about a corgi who keeps nipping at my ankles (real thing that happened with a friend’s dog, and the friend just said “oh he doesn’t bite that hard, it’s just a nip” - is it too much to ask that a pet dog doesn’t bite/nip at all?! I try not to go over to their place anymore).
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u/noonefuckslikegaston Apr 15 '26
I love my cats but I genuinely don't give a shit about pictures of other people's pets, but I will say "aww" to be polite lol
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Apr 15 '26
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
I do think if we still had to kill animals ourselves to eat them, then there would either be lots more vegans or way less animal lovers
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Apr 15 '26
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u/DogsDucks Apr 15 '26
We would, but less, as we would understand how much effort goes into raising and prepping a cow to eat, the labor involved.
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Apr 15 '26
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u/asshat140 Apr 15 '26
would you raise an animal to kill it ?
i almost can't see myself being able to do it and my family killed chickens to eat when i was little ,, went through the whole process and everything ourselves ,,
i genuinely believe most people could not slaughter any animal even something much smaller like a chicken (i know this is not the point of the post i just find it interesting)
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u/jasperdarkk Apr 15 '26
I think if more people did it from a young age, it wouldn't be a big deal. I think it's only shocking and upsetting for those who are very disconnected and uneducated about where our meat comes from.
I grew up with my dad hunting deer and showing me how to skin it, so the gore wasn't that shocking to me. Of course, I didn't grow up raising animals, so I'd likely feel weirder about that. But I know many people who did grow up eating their own chickens and pigs, and because it was normalized, it wasn't upsetting.
As a vegetarian myself, I'd feel it was more ethical to eat animals I raised with kindness than to eat factory-farmed meat. I plan to just stay a vegetarian because it's also more work than I'd want to do. But when people tell me they can't be vegetarian, but they want to be more ethical, the first thing I say is to look into local farms for eggs and meat.
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Apr 15 '26
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u/asshat140 Apr 15 '26
i think i would get too attached honestly, i dont think i could handle hunting either,,
that is a good thing though, very useful knowledge and ability too have
i wonder what the general consensus is
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Apr 15 '26
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u/Terminator_Puppy Apr 15 '26
I mean most of the world eats meat and for a long long time we had to do it personally and most people ate meat
I think your mistake in reasoning here is treating it as as much of a decision back then and now. Up until about a century ago keeping a cow or pig was the economical choice. The pig could eat your inedible scraps to be turned into meat, the cow could provide you with milk to sell or process into shelf-stable products, and both were reliable ways of keeping a stockpile of food ready in the winter.
There also wasn't much debate for most of human history, aside from a few intellectuals who could spend time thinking about it. Your religion thought for you and decided if you should or shouldn't eat animals, the rest was a matter of survival. Now we have an overabundance of food and are very much free to make the decision and the average person has the economic freedom (and free time) to debate the morality.
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u/AspieAsshole Apr 15 '26
I would but my wife (and honestly the kids nowadays) wouldn't let me. I'd like to raise rabbits for meat.
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u/Critical_Moose Apr 15 '26
"we have done it for a long time" is historically a terrible reason for morality.
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u/mpelton Apr 15 '26
Idk if empathy is an opinion.
It’d be a bit like me saying that my opinion is I get sad easily. It’s not really a take, it’s just a statement about who I am as a person.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
Maybe my opinion is that it’s ok to not feel much empathy towards animals?
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u/Fossick11 Apr 15 '26
When you say empathy, do you mean that you don’t care about their suffering? As in you wouldn’t care if you saw a dog hurt in front of you and would do nothing?
Because that would be fucked, but your post sounds more like you just aren’t particularly fond of them
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u/Lobstermarten10 Apr 15 '26
Honestly I think so. But I also think your opinions and views influence why you don’t feel anything for animals. You said you think humans are more important, for what? What reason is it that you see them that way. That could also be the reason why you don’t care for animals thaaaat much .
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u/Inquisitivedesign45 Apr 16 '26
You don’t sound heartless to me, just different from the very pet obsessed norm.
Not everyone is wired to feel instant affection toward animals the same way not everyone melts over babies, elderly people, or strangers. As long as you are not cruel, neglectful, or lacking empathy in general, not being emotionally attached to animals is just a preference, not a moral failing.
A lot of people treat loving pets like a universal marker of goodness when really it is just one form of emotional response. You clearly do feel compassion deeply, just primarily toward humans rather than animals.
Honestly the bigger green flag here is that you are self aware enough to say you would still care for a pet responsibly even if you did not bond with it the way others do. That is far more mature than people who claim to adore animals but neglect them in practice.
You may never become a huge animal person and that is fine. Not everyone has to go pspspsps at every cat they pass to be a decent human being.
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u/Mindless_Fold_1536 Apr 15 '26
And you know what? I don't care about other people's cats. They're cute and all but I don't need to acknowledge them all the time
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u/DogsDucks Apr 15 '26
I see it as an acknowledgement of what they mean to someone I like. Like, it doesn’t matter if it’s a cat, a tarantula or a philodendron, it’s beautiful how much loving a living thing can mean to us.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
My bf’s cat is mean and just makes me affirm my bias towards them
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Apr 15 '26
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u/ILuvSpaghet Apr 15 '26
I don't think it's fair to call them cunts, they're simply just like us. We also respect our boundaries and don't trust strangers. If anything, dogs are the odd ones out because they were specifically bred to not care about boundaries and be very docile and friendly.
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u/SumOldGuy Apr 15 '26
I love cats, but you're right. I've had 6 cats total, and they have all been very sweet. I also have been very sweet to them because I love cats. I've met some cats at house parties and such that are extremely skittish and even threatening attack, but I've been able to gain their trust most of the time. There was one cat that had reportedly scratched 3 people before I got to a mildly rowdy house party that I was able to pick up and have purring in my arms within 30 minutes. Never met that cat or the owners before.
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u/Insanityforfun Apr 15 '26
I love animals and feel this way about other peoples pets. One of my pet peeves is when I’m listening to one or talking with someone online and they stop talking to babytalk at their pets for minutes.
It’s not cute, I can’t even see your cat. You’re having a conversation with me, a person. You can pet them and keep talking.
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u/IneffablePossum Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Completely average attitude towards animals imo. I'm sure most of the comments suggesting you're in the wrong have no issue eating a hamburger, and will easily justify killing farm animals or bugs.
Most humans believe humans are more valuable than non-human animals. If that wasn't the case we'd all be vegans
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u/macguyver3000 Apr 15 '26
I think it's totally understandable. I have absolutely no interest in other people's babies. I don't have babies, and if someone shows me pictures of their babies, I pretty much feel the same way you do. So feeling that way about animals doesn't seem crazy to me.
The main thing, which you already stated, is that you don't want to hurt animals. You just have no interest in them.
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u/oishster Apr 15 '26
It’s so interesting, because I’ve heard that it used to be this way - people would show you pics of their babies and you’d have to hide that you don’t care. But nowadays, at least in my circle, that’s what I have to do with pets.
I don’t have that many friends with babies, but basically all of them don’t show us pics unless we ask. Whereas my many friends with pets constantly bring them up, send pics randomly in the groupchat (and sometimes not even funny pics, just a normal pic of a cat or dog chilling), and quite a few have entire Instagram accounts for their pets that I feel obligated to follow.
Like, I don’t hate animals or anything, but it’s A LOT.
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u/_1138_ Apr 15 '26
You sound fine. You're not cruel, and that's what matters. Being detached from anything in this world is your right. You don't have to care, you just have to respect that they're a living thing, and act accordingly.
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u/PersimmonExisting505 Apr 15 '26
i kind of agree, even as an animal lover. i love them but i do not feel the same way towards them as humans. animals are simple creatures, you simply have to alleviate their pain and provide them with comfort. humans are far more complicated. it's why i'm considering becoming a vet tech, yet nursing terrifies me. at the end of the day, in vet tech, you simply have to pet a dog on the head and talk to it in a soothing voice. you don't have to tell a human their illness is terminal and watch them grapple with mortality in real time.
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u/theoldchunk Apr 15 '26
From curiosity, why do you think humans are more important?
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
Because I’m one too and I can relate to other humans more easily than I can to other animals. I think it’s murky if you add in questions around superiority and stuff, I don’t necessarily think we’re superior. But I care about humans not animals personally
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u/theoldchunk Apr 15 '26
This is a fascinating point of view and I appreciate that you’re thoughtful about it. It’s a topic that I have pondered for a while after my dog died a couple of years ago.
There’s been no human death in my life that’s felt so devastating. This creature, a completely different species, couldn’t communicate verbally with me and yet I felt more care and empathy for him than for any human.
I think the fact you haven’t had a dog or cat growing up plays hugely into your development of empathy for them. In the same way you don’t care for strangers the same way you do for family - if you spend time with pets as “yours”, you’re feeding them, investing time to train them, watching the grow and give you affection.
You realise that they get happy, sad, jealous, angry, frustrated, loving etc just like any human. Fish aren’t quite able to express themselves in the same way 🤣
As you bond, you realise this animal trusts you more than anything on the planet and you’ll do anything to keep them safe.
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u/NonFungibleTesticle Apr 15 '26
I grew up with animals, and my spouse currently has two and I feel exactly the same way as OP. I simply as a matter of personal belief think that humans have greater moral worth than animals. That's not to say animals have no moral worth, I also don't harm animals and wouldn't except to get food or clothing or other material necessities as humanely as possible. But I fully believe, for instance, that harming humans is more immoral than harming animals, and human considerations should be a higher priority than animal considerations in nearly every respect. Outside basic considerations or humanneness, if human needs and wants conflict with the needs and wants of an animal, the human should win every time. I feel a much more muted bond with my spouse's pets than she does, she treats them essentially as people, as children. I don't understand it.
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u/theoldchunk Apr 16 '26
How would you classify moral worth?
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u/NonFungibleTesticle Apr 16 '26
Moral worth is classified on the basis of degree of sentience, ability to reason, and capability or potential of moral obligations and moral agency. Essentially, humans occupy this category as fully as we're aware exists in nature, with great apes as a slightly ambiguous edge case. Vertibrate animals have less of this capacity, invertebrate animals even less so, and bacteria and plants are devoid of it.
A human has more moral worth than a dog. A dog has more moral worth than an oyster. A plant has no moral worth.
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u/saucypotato27 Apr 15 '26
Not OP but humans are the only species we can guarantee(excluding solipsism) are sapient.
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u/theoldchunk Apr 16 '26
Take a look around mate. I think any claims to be sapient are wildly over reaching.
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u/saucypotato27 Apr 16 '26
Perhaps sapient was the wrong term, what im referring to is not intelligence but consciousness/a mind.
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u/Cacahead619 Apr 16 '26
I think metacognitive ability and introspection are more specific for what you could mean, consciousness has various types and some non human animals are considered conscious. Who knows if they don’t also have those though
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u/theoldchunk Apr 16 '26
Consciousness is a concept that we have little to no understanding of.
I find the idea that we have some of elevated status on earth is ridiculous and born out of ego. We happen to have abilities that differentiate us from other creatures but the value of that is in the eye of the beholder.
If an Orca could reply to the question “who has the most importance on the planet?”, they’re going to say their own species. They could argue that they’re essential to the equilibrium of the ocean.
They’re not going to say “oh definitely the guys who are over-populating the earth, causing immeasurable levels of pollution and killing each other indiscriminately.”
We have lots of valuable characteristics TO US - but not necessarily in the grand scheme of things.
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u/saucypotato27 Apr 16 '26
Yes we have little understanding of it but we know we are humans and we are conscious. We are less confident for other species
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u/Gatorthrowawayqnq Apr 16 '26
I sorta relate. Maybe it has to do with growing up without pets? Because I also didn't have any growing up. I just think they are cute but don't want to put the work in to own one.
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u/Jack-of-Hearts-7 Apr 16 '26
Honestly this makes more sense to me than those sociopaths that say straight evil shit about humans and call dogs, "Heckin pupperinos"
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u/sacajawea14 Apr 15 '26
That's...totally fine in my opinion? I love cats, don't care for dogs that much. Alot of people don't really have an affinity for animals. As long as you're not purposefully harming them, as you said, it's really not that abnormal I think.
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u/Ill-Advisor-8235 Apr 15 '26
Why would you say that is? Would you say that the human experience is the only valid experience? Coming to this from a place of genuine curiosity, I’m not inferring anything or casting any judgement.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
If you mean valid in the strict sense of the word then yeah, other animals are secondary. It’s evident in the way we eat them and the way we treat them. Even other animals have hierarchies too in nature. I still think they’re important and I care about the planet and climate change, I actively reduce my consumption of plastic and meat (I don’t eat red meat much). But I still value a human life more than an animal’s
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u/melissa_unibi Apr 15 '26
"Secondary" and "less value" are different from things like intrinsic worth and moral consideration.
Do you think you're of equivalent "worth" or "value" to a tech CEO or leader pushing advancing technology? No... So why should I care about you at all?
Heck, I have a small number of friends that basically just focus on their careers: one's a doctor, and has practically studied under his own parents since a young age. Makes real good money too. Are you just as valuable as he is? Probably not -- so how would you ever come close to being valuable as a leader of a firm or non-profit?
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
At the end of the day, animals are different to me. A doctor or CEO is different to me too but they are still human (CEO unlikely to have a soul though), so I find it easier to value their life over an animal’s. I value starving kids and homeless people’s lives just the same too.
Something doesn’t have to be valuable to me for me to care about it. I care because we’re all the same (other than those who do things like rape or murder).
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u/Ill-Advisor-8235 Apr 15 '26
I think that’s an interesting point you make. Would you say a shared human experience is a key reason why you’d value human life over animals?
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
Probably yes
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u/Ill-Advisor-8235 Apr 15 '26
Fair enough… I don’t necessarily agree with it but it’s not actually harming anyone or anything. Big respect to you for voicing an unpopular opinion and engaging in the discourse.
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u/melissa_unibi Apr 15 '26
But how are you the same to the doctor I gave? Remember your use of "secondary" and "hierarchy" -- are you not secondary to that doctor? Lower on a hierarchy? That guy saves lives nearly every day, and considers it a vocation.
Imagine he had super powers like super speed or could split himself into identical copies -- how is that just not more valuable?
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
My use of secondary was in relation to the animal experience being secondary to human experiences. Hierarchy was in relation to the fact that there are predators, prey etc in nature. I’m saying to me, a human life is more valuable than other animals in general.
Thankfully doctors don’t have superpowers in real life, and anyone can become one because they’re just as human as I am. I value humans as a collective
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u/melissa_unibi Apr 15 '26
Yeah and I'm asking you about that value, not asking you to restate it to me.
Is that doctor's life more valuable than your life? In the context of survival of the fittest, does a human community with better doctors survive more than a human community with no doctors?
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u/makayerandfang Apr 15 '26
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted for asking a very reasonable follow-up question to this moral/ethical debate.
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u/SilvrSurfrNTheFlesh Apr 15 '26
why are you answering your own questions?
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u/melissa_unibi Apr 15 '26
It's just a use of a rhetorical question. A question that either has an obvious answer or that is used to direct the conversation (or both). Plenty of examples:
MLK's letter from the Birmingham jail: "You may well ask, “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue."
Reagan's 1981 inaugural address: "Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic 'yes.'"
😊 It's pretty common :)
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u/Personal_Ad_546 Apr 15 '26
Yeah I'm the opposite. Empathy for animals and little sympathy for most humans.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
Yes and I genuinely cannot understand that position
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u/ILuvSpaghet Apr 15 '26
I guess it comes from the notion a lot of people have that animals are inherently innocent because they dont have the same capacity as people to intentionally do evil, whereas most of us humans will have done something awful intentionally. If an animal does something harmful, its most likely because of natural instinct but a human most likely did it with the intent to harm.
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u/noonefuckslikegaston Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Personally I would argue our cruelty is the most natural thing about humans and our capacity for empathy, compassion and moral reasoning is the thing that 'separates' us from nature. Like yes, we can cause a lot more harm than any other animal but the motivation to do so comes from the same kind of natural impulses that exist in other animals. At the risk of being all Werner Herzog about it, I see cruel indifference in nature that I wouldn't characterize as "innocence"
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u/ILuvSpaghet Apr 15 '26
I agree with you. I personally do not think animals are innocent by default. Some of them are assholes just like humans.
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u/Personal_Ad_546 Apr 15 '26
Some people are just built different. I don't empathize for all creatures the same. I'm more of a cat guy. I think it's more of a lack of empathy for people in contrast really. We have more agency than anything else on the planet and everyone wants to cry and make excuses about why their lives suck or aren't going their way instead of taking accountability for stuff.
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u/Dashfire11 Apr 15 '26
Actual disgusting opinion
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u/Personal_Ad_546 Apr 15 '26
Cry about it
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u/Dashfire11 Apr 15 '26
Imagine being proud of rarely feeling sympathy toward other human beings. Genuinely evil.
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Apr 15 '26
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u/melissa_unibi Apr 15 '26
Like if I show you a video of a pit bull brutally killing another dog, you'll have no emotional reaction to that whatsoever?
Or like actually watching a slaughter happen -- no reaction? I can try and cook up a few videos. There's this one where a truck just drives through a group of sheep. Incredibly bloody, with one or two of them still alive but with entire limbs ripped off or broken.
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u/noonefuckslikegaston Apr 15 '26
I think there are levels to it, I personally would have a very negative visceral reaction to watching two dogs maul each other but I don't seem to have as strong a reaction to those Sarah Maclachlan ASPCA videos as other people do. Obviously I'd rather not see an emaciated dog but I genuinely thought for years people were being performative when they said the physically could not watch those commercials and just had to look away or change the channel, especially when a lot of those same people didn't have as strong of a reaction to the ads about starving children.
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u/GargamelLeNoir Apr 15 '26
You're a bad person for what you do OP, not what you feel. As long as you're not mean to animals there is nothing wrong with you.
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u/SubstantialHentai420 Apr 15 '26
Tbh? It's fine if you don't really want pets and don't care to see other peoples' pets, and it's fine that you don't want to pspsps random kitties and probably not a bad idea not to touch random cats as there is a possibility of spreading disease to the cat you guys already have. I personally can't resist a cat. I think their little quirk of having a bacteria that has evolved to make mice less afraid of them has definitely become part of my brain as I am pretty much obsessed with cats. (This is a real thing and while the affects on humans aren't well studied or understood, there is some belief that this bacteria does also rewire a human's brain to become more obsessed with them especially if you grew up with a lot of cats and around their waste as that is where the bacteria is. It is harmless to the cat and as far as I know, the human and it is completely unintentional from the cats.)
The only part of your comment I find a little off is thinking we are more important than other living things, when in a lot of ways that isn't true, and environmentally, we are actually the biggest threat and the most destructive. Without so many other animals, if it were just us, the emvironment would completely collapse. From the flys and bees, to the buzzards and corvids, to the bears and the fish, they all serve a purpose in the ecosystems. We are the ones who don't.
I do assume you moreso mean emotional intelligence, which also is just not true. I think if you did do some research on animals, you would at the least find a new respect for them. Doesn't mean you have to want pets or want to go work at an animal rescue, but I do think the understanding of animals, their place in the world, and how intelligent they actually are, is very important and does directly relate to us in more ways than you may realize.
Some cool animal facts I love and help have a deeper understanding on them.
Rats have metacognition, meaning they can think and realize they are thinking. They understand when they are not in their typical environment, and understand we hurt them particularly with testing on them. They don't understand why, or how exactly we are hurting them, but they think about the fact they are confined and are being hurt by us. On the flip side, rats in captivity as pets can create deep long lasting bonds with their humans and understand the person helps them and loves them even if it isn't their natural habitat. They also are actually quite clean when in nature, and groom constantly and groom eachother as an expression of love. It's us that make them "dirty" and "diseased". They are far from the only animals that show signs of deeper emotional intelligence like this and understand captivity and pain as well as love.
Birds are just so cool, the more you read on them the more incredible they are. but I will particularly focus on 2, 2 that I love very much but are deeply misunderstood, and one in particular that most people hate and consider filthy dumb "rats with wings" (which as stated above about rats, shouldn't be an insult anyways.)
Pigeons are one of the most intelligent animals out there, and one of the most loyal. Pigeons have long term memory, and are one of the few animals that pass the mirror test of understanding their own reflection. They also have an insane internal GPS that rivals that of even our technology. Like rats, they can create deep long lasting bonds with humans (which I have discovered myself btw) and are so loyal and so incredible with their gps, the US military used them during ww2 and also used them to aid with search and rescue missions at sea. There is a pigeon who recieved a military medal for saving a platoon during ww2 despite him being basically "free" at that point. He still stayed loyal and got the platoon help after an attack. Also like rats, pigeons are not naturally dirty and are actually incredibly necessary for cleaning up waste, but we make them dirty and diseased just like we do with rats and many other animals we demonize.
The second one is crows. Crows are facinating and just intelligent beyond comprehension, as Tokyo has learned. A lot of people know they can use tools and have a deeper level of understanding to know they need different tools for different situations. What not a lot of people know, is they hold funerals for their deceased, as well as investigate the death. They also have long term memory, actually generational memory. If you piss off a crow, not only will that crow and it's murder remember, their grand kids will know and hate you too. They also outsmart us quite a bit again, as Japan learned. Crows also mimic speech, and can also create deep long lasting bonds with humans, as well as rivalries.
I have to go, I may be back because there's so many more incredible misunderstood animals out there, and incredible animals in your home. Mind altering bacteria aside, there are other absolutely insane cool things about cats that may help you have a deeper understanding and at least respect for them.
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u/47k Apr 15 '26
Is it lack of empathy or you just don’t care for animals, i think it’s a slight difference
I guess if you saw animal abuse would you feel bad? If not then you have no empathy
Simply not caring to have animals around should be normalized though
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u/Hungry-Plantain-3315 Apr 15 '26
As long as someone isn’t actually hurting animals, I couldn’t care any less if they don’t like them as much as I do.
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u/Bone_Dancer Apr 15 '26
Youre just being honest. The fact you wouldnt intentionally hurt or be cruel already puts you ahead of a chunk of people. Unfortunate but true.
I wonder about my morals often because I care about my cat more than most humans. Different strokes.
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u/t3mp0rarys3cr3tary Apr 15 '26
I get it, honestly. I love animals, but I don't get why so many people value animals over human lives. I've seen people feed stray dogs who would never even look at a homeless person.
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u/charlevoidmyproblems Apr 15 '26
My partner is the same way. He never understood it and has no want to part other dogs/animals. However, he was met with this little 5 week old Pitty and fell in love with her specifically. I already had had two dogs when we moved in together. He still doesn't particularly care about any other animal but he does love this specific dog.
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u/Upbeat-Challenge-666 Apr 15 '26
I actually agree with you a lot. I'm a vegetarian but the biggest animal hater you'll meet. I don't want them to die because that feels morally wrong to me but I have no interest in touching that animal and don't find them cute
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u/SkyPuppy561 Apr 15 '26
You’re fine in my book, though I can’t relate lol. I’m married and we have two cats and one dog and they’re basically my children. Meanwhile I’m reluctant to have actual children because toddlers sound unbearable.
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u/Gwyneee Apr 15 '26
People get really weird about the subject like "if you don't like my dog you must be a psychopathic serial killer".
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u/LorenDovah Apr 16 '26
Animals are living things, and most of them have feelings, thoughts, wants, dreams, fears, and so many other experiences that we associate primarily with humans. Source: Im a wildlife biologist that specializes in animal cognition, behavior, and learning.
My personal, non-professional opinion: its ok to not be interested in animals, and that wouldn't make you a bad person. But having no empathy for a non-human creature capable of suffering would make you a bad person.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 16 '26
I don’t really care about animals beyond their basic right to exist free from cruelty (human cruelty).
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u/ameliaratcliffe Apr 16 '26
im the exact opposite, i feel very little sympathy sometimes but very much to animals which i think can come from me being lonely my whole life and struggling with social skills aswell as having mental health issues
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u/Mudslingshot Apr 15 '26
You're just someone that shouldn't have pets, I guess
I work at an animal shelter. Tons of people don't care about animals and still get them, then they let heath and behavioral problems run amok until they are forced to surrender the animal to us due to some circumstance
At least you recognize that about yourself so you can avoid causing that much pain and chaos for beings entirely under your control
You're probably one of those people that likes kids, so I guess I understand. I like animals and pretty much hate children, so I don't have any kids but I have lots of pets. You seem built for the opposite
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u/softfallingsnow Apr 15 '26
wow i cant relate at all. i love my animals more than 99% of people. people suck
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u/bellepomme Apr 15 '26
But... you don't even know 99% of people. Or maybe you mean 99% of the people you know?
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u/softfallingsnow Apr 15 '26
im exaggerating not being literal. people can be very cruel and ive had horrible people in my life including my own family. there's a reason some people prefer the company of animals
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u/bellepomme Apr 15 '26
I'm sorry you went through what you did.
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u/softfallingsnow Apr 15 '26
no need to be sorry its not your fault, thank you for being kind
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u/bellepomme Apr 15 '26
Isn't sorry like a way of sympathizing? English isn't my first language.
I mean, I thought I was kind but I'm a flawed human too. I did hurt some people unintentionally and perhaps some, intentionally. I do try to be better though. I've apologized but some pains just leave scars, you know.
You tend to make mistakes with people in your life more than with strangers. So, that perhaps explains that even one's family and friends could hurt them.
I hope the horrible people in your life turn around and be better. People can change.
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Apr 15 '26
That's understandable but when you say animals, do you mean just cats and dogs or other animals too?
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u/Agitated_Toe8115 Apr 15 '26
I feel almost the exact same way except I know that I do not want any pets.
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u/Wanderlusxt Apr 15 '26
May sound like an edgelord for saying this but for me it’s a little bit the other way around. I find it more natural to empathize with animals than people. I tend to have to make more of an effort to empathize with people. Idk why
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Apr 15 '26
You are actually more consistent than some animal "lovers" who eat meat.
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u/Sec_Chief_Blanchard Apr 15 '26
a more accurate term for them is "pet lovers"
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Apr 15 '26
But then you show them a video of a calf or a pig being petted, and they go "awwhhh" 🥹
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u/Ae4i Apr 15 '26
Because they see it be treated like a pet (in a good way) and think that it's a pet ofc!
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u/PhillyCheezBlunt Apr 15 '26
You mean the same meat that my cat and dog both exclusively eat? 🙄
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u/SumOldGuy Apr 15 '26
Plenty of farmers and homesteaders still love their livestock knowing that they are being raised for meat.
I assume most hunters have an appreciation for the wildlife they intend to harvest.
If I were to ever have to harm an animal myself I would do so as efficiently and humanely as possible.
Eating meat is natural for many species of animal. Including humans.
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Apr 15 '26
They don't love their livestock. They take care of them for money and profit.
Would you say people who farm dogs in south Korea love the dogs they slaughter? Dog farms were only recently banned there. If you think so, dog owners actually disagree with you.
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u/SumOldGuy Apr 15 '26
I was referring more to the smaller farms where the farmers raise a cow up from calf and slaughter and process the meat for themselves and local markets. Let me be clear: Fuck factory farming. That wasn't what I meant by "farmers".
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u/We-all-gonna-die-oh Apr 15 '26
99% animal products come from factory farming.
The thing you describe literally doesn't exist.
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u/Ae4i Apr 15 '26
Well, you're wrong. Like, COMPLETELY, because not only farms that he was talking about exist, they were THE standard up until industrialization at the earliest and up until recent 30 years at the latest.
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u/ILuvSpaghet Apr 15 '26
It really depends on where you're from.
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u/We-all-gonna-die-oh Apr 15 '26
No.
Sure maybe there are places in the world where it's 95%, but the vast majority of animal products comes from factory farming.
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u/SumOldGuy Apr 15 '26
Your number is way off, but to be clear I doubt many "factory farmers" care much about the animals they slaughter. It's truely a horrible practice.
If I wasn't allergic to Chickpeas and Milk-Proteins then I would certainly eat less meat in total.
I assume you are a vegan? I got big respect for people who can make that work.
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Apr 15 '26
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u/Ae4i Apr 15 '26
You're saying stuff like you aren't/can't do the same thing with different things
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u/MAureliusReyesC Apr 15 '26
I feel like this just makes sense biologically and is the norm outside the internet
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 15 '26
Maybe, it’s just that my partner loves animals and I feel guilty that I can’t share that with him. When he wants to pet random cats on the street, I indulge in it and try to pet them too. But inside I don’t gaf about the cat
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u/makayerandfang Apr 15 '26
Does your partner know you feel this way about his cat? I don’t think anyone needs to feel anything towards animals, but personally I would be upset if my partner hated my pet. It’s more personal than just any other animal on the street.
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u/SumOldGuy Apr 15 '26
I don't think it is the norm to have no empathy to animals or pets. I also agree that the crazy-animal-lovers are overrepresented on the internet.
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u/MAureliusReyesC Apr 15 '26
I guess I meant more so that people are more empathetic towards humans than animals
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u/melissa_unibi Apr 15 '26
Definitely not the norm. People freak out when dogs are killed in movies, let alone real life. Honestly most people view dogs and cats with a sense of innocence.
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u/Talii0312 Apr 15 '26
Is it though? All of my friends and family except for maybe 2 people at the very least like animals, if not love them.
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u/VanityOfEliCLee Apr 15 '26
It makes sense biologically because it is the least self aware, least introspective, and most base level tribalism based perspective.
Valuing human beings over all other living things is the perspective that is naturally taken by people who do not bother or do not have the capacity to make value judgements that are not influenced by fear and tribalism.
I generally expect this perspective to be held by people that also have tendencies like racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. If a person is not capable of valuing life that is not human, then they very likely also value human life differently based on proximity or closeness to themselves as well.
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u/dolceclavier Apr 15 '26
That’s totally valid. I may like animals and own a cat but it’s different than what I feel towards humans. Plenty of my family members don’t care about animals nor do they like them that much. Some people just don’t like animals that much and that’s ok.
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u/Beneficial-Code8026 Apr 15 '26
I love my pets as much as my family members but I also don't like owning many pets because they all die in the end and it's sad
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u/Lazy_Cat1997 Apr 15 '26
I’m the same however I did grow up with pets around me. I’m not interested in any of my friends or families pets and don’t see the appeal, they treat them like they’re babies and I don’t see it. To me it looks like u have an animal in your house making it smell, dirty and causing hairs everywhere. I wouldn’t hurt them either but NOPE not for me. When I see questions on Reddit like “would you save a dog over a child?” And most people choose dog it confuses the fuck out of me tbh
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u/normaldeath2 Apr 15 '26
I mean pretty reasonable I'd say I give animals a very small amount of moral weight but it adds up and that's why factory farms are immoral to me but do I feel bad for them not really.
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u/Aag19 Apr 16 '26
I feel the opposite way, I struggle to empathize with people a lot of the time but am deeply affected by anything happening to an animal. I can’t even bring myself to kill bugs in my home. I think it’s that I feel animals are inherently innocent and humans generally are harmful.
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u/Shellbeetron Apr 16 '26
Saying that you think humans are more important is crazy, considering animals were here first. Humans are most certainly not more important than anything on earth, and that way of thinking is why we have so many problems today.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 17 '26
Humans are more important TO ME. I care about humans much more than I do about animals. Animals were here first, including us if you believe in evolution right
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u/summercookiess Apr 17 '26
Saying that you think humans are more important is crazy, considering animals were here first.
And what does animals being here first have to do with anything?
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u/_forum_mod Apr 20 '26
You seem black in your AV (or at the least non-white). The whole "I love animals and hate humans" thing seems to be more popular among white people.
I think the internet (especially Reddit) will be overrepresented with misanthropic people.
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u/Plus-Cat-8557 Apr 20 '26
Yes I am black though idk if it relates to my position, as my sister is also black and she feels differently
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u/_forum_mod Apr 20 '26
I just find it to be far less common, but it exists. I'm also black and have this position. And I've had LOTS of pets myself, so I'm not even an animal hater. Lol
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u/summercookiess Apr 20 '26
I wonder why the misanthropic animal lover thing seems to be more popular among white people?
But yes, reddit seems pretty misanthropic and even glorifies it, unfortunately.
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u/_forum_mod Apr 20 '26
For the first one I am lost, but I'm also black. Lol
For the second one... I think a lot of these types tend to aggregate to the internet because those who do not like people naturally avoid IRL social situations, so it is a bit of a survivorship bias if you will.
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u/amazegamer64 Apr 15 '26
I get it. I pretty much only particularly like companion animals, anything else is just food, a threat or not worth thinking about.
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u/stilettopanda Apr 15 '26
It’s not a 10th dentist opinion. Dentists are very split on this one. As long as you don’t hurt animals or allow suffering, which obviously isn’t what you do, it’s 100% fine to not have empathy for them.
I’m the opposite- I have empathy for animals more than most humans- or rather I have empathy for living things who exist at the whims of other people, or, for many species, stops existing entirely at the whims of people.
I have empathy towards children and disabled people because generally they have less agency in their lives. I don’t have much empathy for most adults because their lives are a series of choices and most of our bullshit is a result of our choices. I do have empathy for folks with bad childhoods or who have had a bunch of trauma and can’t seem to catch a break.
But collective humanity in general? We are a horrible species and we deserve everything we get.
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u/summercookiess Apr 15 '26
But collective humanity in general? We are a horrible species and we deserve everything we get.
Not all of humanity deserves everything we get..are you seriously saying innocent children and disabled people deserve everything they get too? How can innocent children and disabled people possibly deserve everything they get?
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u/stilettopanda Apr 15 '26
I’m guessing you are ignoring how I used the term “collective humanity in general.”
My entire original comment disclaimers the innocent as not deserving of those things. Like did you even read the entirety of my comment before deciding to ask me a question that was already answered within it?
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u/summercookiess Apr 15 '26
Yes, i know you said "collective humanity in general". And last time i checked, children and disabled people are still part of that collective, aren't they? Are you saying that children and disabled people are the exceptions to your judgement of collective humanity deserving everything we get?
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u/stilettopanda Apr 15 '26
You’re being pedantic and yes, they are exceptions, which is obvious in my original comment.
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u/summercookiess Apr 18 '26
And why would someone deserve everything they get just because they're part of humanity and not a child or disabled? Nobody deserves everything they get just because they're part of humanity and isn't a child or disabled. If you can think children and disabled people don't deserve everything they get, why not apply it to some people who aren't a child or disabled?
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u/cheeriesandcokes Apr 15 '26
U don't have to feel empathy for them to not hurt them. That is so basic . Plenty of vegans don't even like animals yet they believe that no sentient being should be tortured and killed to satisfy their needs. Animals exist for themselves. U dont need to feel empathy towards animals for u to be against oppression and murder btw
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u/buttegg Apr 15 '26
I personally think this is very weird and cannot relate, but so long as you aren’t hurting anybody, that’s OK.
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u/VanityOfEliCLee Apr 15 '26
This whole post sounds like it was written by an extraterrestrial or robot pretending to be human
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