by Roger Abrantes | May 18, 2014 | Strøtanker
“Treat me like a dog, honey!” If we were as patient, caring, and understanding toward our spouses as we are toward our dogs, I’m sure the rate of divorces would fall dramatically. Dog owner: “My dog bites me sometimes when he gets too excited playing with a toy. What...
by Roger Abrantes | May 14, 2014 | Strøtanker
Do we understand behavior? The conundrum of the behavioral sciences is that they are not exact sciences in the same sense as physics or mathematics. Behavior is like the spectrum of light: it is as difficult to say when yellow turns into orange as when one behavior...
by Roger Abrantes | Apr 21, 2014 | Strøtanker
Do you think they fight about what positive and negative reinforcers or punishers are? Do you think they waste precious time arguing about dominance and submission? Do you think they care about collars, leashes, harnesses, target sticks, clickers, kongs—or looking...
by Roger Abrantes | Apr 13, 2014 | Strøtanker
I do enjoy being kind to animals, other than humans—and I don’t need a rational justification as to why that’s right for me. I respect them for what they are and interact with them on equal terms. I don’t believe it is right to subjugate them to my will, control them,...
by Roger Abrantes | Apr 9, 2014 | Strøtanker
The biggest difference between humans and dogs is not that we reason, and they don’t. If you want to observe rational behavior, look at the dog. If you want to see an emotional response, watch the owner. Some animals, other than humans, do reason. They have...
by Roger Abrantes | Apr 4, 2014 | Strøtanker
“I’m a citizen of the World,” I say when asked where I come from—and I am, in mind and heart. Diogenes, in about 412 BC, was probably the first to use the expression and express the very same sentiment. Socrates (469-399 BC) concurred: “I am not an Athenian or a...