2fer #7 By Matthew Yemola

Just like humans different animals can feel a vast varieties of emotions. Whether it's sadness over another animal's death or joy and comfort over finding a meal, animals are just as capable of feeling just as much as we are. This is the reason why dogs can be so loyal so some humans and territorial towards others. The reason certain animals tend to be more loyal is they can express different emotions.

Much like humans animals are capable of attaching emotions to objects and other animals. A study done by RSPCA has recently looked into how animals are capable of forming friendships with each other. For their study they used fish and were able to find that they form bonds with each other. “The researchers discovered that being in a group gives zebrafish a kind of “social buffering” so they are less afraid when confronted by danger”. The “social buffering” the study is talking about is something that humans also do. The effect these fish feel is often what we call strength in numbers.

Our understanding of how animals think and feel was once very crude and reasonably so as we were trying to understand how ourselves work. Over the past 200 years the understanding of the human mind has changed immensely. Over the past 70 years the understanding of animals minds have grown massively yet we continue to treat animals the same way instead of changing. “although captivity is known to cause profound emotional trauma to large mammals such as orcas and elephants, entertainment venues continue to keep these animals on display”. This quote shows us how the understanding of the animal's mind has changed but not the treatment. We are aware that captivity can cause “profound emotional trauma”  yet we continue to keep them there knowing that if something like this was done to a human it would be unethical.

While our understanding of neither the human or animal brain will never be complete and can still continuously learn from them. If we can change the way we treat other humans because of our advancements in knowledge then why can't we change our treatment of animals knowing that they have emotions of their own.

Over the course of english 3 I have written my 2 fer’s on a number of different topics and have had a varying level of success with these different topics. I have tried different methods for writing these 2 fer’s and have always taken my piers advice on editing. The reason I think this would be my best 2 fer is because I took into account all of my peers suggestions and wrote about a topic that I am extremely invested in.

Citations:

Langer, Emily. "Jaak Panksepp, 'rat tickler' who revealed emotional lives of animals, dies at 73." The Washington Post. WP Company, 21 Apr. 2017. Web. 01 May 2017.

Ian Johnston Science Correspondent. "Fish are sentient animals who form friendships and experience 'positive emotions', landmark study suggests." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 31 Mar. 2017. Web. 01 May 2017.