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Originally Posted by unsunghero
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While I like this post and found it interesting, I think that cows stare at you because they don’t understand your words but not because they have no memory
I think if a cow has no memory I should be able to brand a big tough bull, then a week later hand you a smoldering brand to go walk up to it with and see how it reacts [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] |
Yes. Spot on. In the first essay of The Genealogy of Morals ("Where did the ability to make promises come from?") our old pal Nietzsche argues that, in the animal stage, only extreme pain leaves a peripheral memory. So, the early stages of human social evolution is filled with incredible cruelty, as we struggle -- for tens of thousands of years -- to get each other to remember things.
And even then such animal peripheral memory is barely operational. The point here is, peripheral memory is difficult to evolve.
Your example is right on point. I once had a dear rescue dog, who whenever I got a broom or anything like that, she would run away. The old girl remembered that broom-thing till the end of her life, but she could never straighten out I wasn't the same dude. She also was *in general* an antsy dog. Someone hurt her core memory.
So: modification. The cow will remember you if you wind up and punch it hard in the nose. But not you. Just human fists.
"Never let things get to you" is a perfect everyday expression that summarizes the important difference between peripheral and core consciousness. Oops, I gave away the trick.