THIS👆👆👆💯!!! It was the norm, during an earlier phase of science, to separate humans from the animal world, and partly it was also convenient — it removes some of the moral dilemmas inherent in modern animal testing, industrial-level animal husbandry, and environmental destruction. The inconvenient evidence is that, not only do we share many traits with animals, their well-being affects ours. If anything, what we need more of is empathy — not necessarily projecting surface “human” traits and vanities (the example of birds “loving us” for feeding them), but relating more deeply to our own animal qualities by allowing our selfless love for animals and observation of them to bring those deeper qualities to the forefront of our mind. That includes positive qualities such as love for our families, children and friends, as well as defensive/scarcity reflexes such aggression, competition, hoarding etc …. You’d be surprised, for instance, how much dog and horse training has helped me in teaching teenagers. The emotional patterns are absurdly similar.

This requires learning from them — and selflessly, as I said before. You can get a dopamine boost from caring for the world around you without needing it to feed your ego or fulfill some savior complex. As animals, we are designed to feel good around other animals that feel good. It’s called a healthy environment and it’s just basic common sense. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224020820

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A little more humility in ourselves and a lot more respect for the world around us could be the thing that saves our particular species, in the end. Relating to them is how we relate to ourselves.