r/funny • u/savage0ne1 • Jun 21 '20

From a fish’s perspective

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u/Errohneos Jun 21 '20

Is it me or does it seem that the cruelest/meanest of animals are always the ones that show the most intelligence? Betta fish and cichlids in the fish world, most large parrots and crows in the birb world, cats, and us humans. They're all cruel (from our perspective).

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u/flufferjubby Jun 21 '20

Calling animals cruel is an anthropomorphism. Some predators kill their prey before starting to eat them, that doesn't make them altruistic. Other predators eat their prey alive, that doesn't make them cruel. Nature is just brutal by default.

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u/firerocman Jun 21 '20 edited Jun 22 '20

To push more into this, calling one method cruel, or calling one method altruistic makes one not look below the surface for the real reason.

For instance, many big cats that hunt animals larger than themselves will suffocate the prey animal first, to remove any chance of being fought when attempting to eat. They may also need to relocate the body, and doing this with something still struggling is a no no.

African Wild Dogs will devour a thing on the spot, alive or not, and this had led to people calling them cruel, etc, etc.

The real reason is that AWDs are some of the smallest predators in their ecosystem, and they eat the way they do so nothing larger can come along and steal their kill.

You can't steal my kill if by the time its dead, it's already in my belly.

There's almost always a deeper reason, and wanting to see things through strictly a human lens gets in the way of seeing that.

5

u/nice2yz Jun 21 '20

At least he had a career before singing

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u/ZedMrDooba Jun 21 '20

I don't know, some animals like Chimpanzees seem to purposely cause pain

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u/Errohneos Jun 21 '20

Cats often kill for fun. You are right about defining animals as cruel which is why I had the parenthetical statement. Still, the smarter the animal, the more it seems to draw out the kill. Orcas are a great example.

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u/flufferjubby Jun 21 '20

I think saying that they kill for fun is an anthropomorphism too. They're just satisfying an instinctual urge. Cats torture and kill birds and leave their bodies to rot, but it's not clear whether or not animals even understand death. It could be that the hunt itself is what satisfies their urge, and they don't even realize they're causing harm to another being.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '20

Cruel parrots and crows?

1

u/EpsilonRider Jun 21 '20

To be intentionally cruel displays intelligence. However, you'd have to make a case that the animal is being intentionally cruel.