Oh Please, Not Another Corny Pet Story
I never thought I'd be one of those people who post corny photos and syrupy stories about their pets on the Internet, but I just got my first digital camera (an awesome HP R717 with 6.2 megapixels -- best price was at Circuit City online) and I'm going nuts with it. 
So you can add me to the list of corny pet-posters. World, meet Lola. To add some value to this otherwise self-indulgent little exercise, and provide me with an excuse for playing with my camera, I thought an accompanying essay on what we can learn from cats would be in order.
Cats are a great jumping-off point for pondering human beings. For example, I've learned a lot about personalities from my previous and current cats. My former cat, Kitty, was a shy sweetie-pie with a polite, asking-type meow. I thought the rather demanding, loud meow of my otherwise also sweet and shy new cat, Lola, was annoying at first, but then I convinced myself it was cute so it wouldn't drive me bananas, and now we get along swimmingly and I think she's the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone else who visits finds it annoying but I, in my current state of Buddha-like acceptance, simply smile indulgently at their understandable reactions. One person noted that my cat had been in a household previously with a large number of people and animals, and speculated that she may have become loud in an effort to be heard and simply kept that habit even now when it is no longer needed. Come to think of it, some people from big families are pretty loud, too, and nothing you can say or do will change them.
This makes me think that a lot of what we find annoying in people may be an aspect of their personality that they almost can't help, and how we might thereby be inspired to work on being more accepting (as long as the issue in question isn't one of abuse). On some level, people may be pre-programmed by a combination of their heredity and environment to react in a certain way. Not to disparage "free will," and I do believe we have choices in life, but I also believe we are not blank slates at birth but inherit some powerful genetic tendencies, such as our basic personality, which have an impact along with environment and free choice. Together, the less controllable forces in life can impact us in ways that require heroic efforts to overcome.
Of course, it's a slippery slope from this observation to some noxious views about inherited characteristics and genetic immutability that I don't share. I'm simply saying that I think we're more a product of both our biology and environment than most would care to acknowledge, and that understanding this can make one both more enlightened about oneself and more compassionate toward others.
The inheritance of our ancestors, and the environmental influences of family, culture, and geography in which we happen to be born, should not be underestimated in pondering what has made us who we are today. So much of what we think of as "ourselves" really is something we've absorbed into our bones from birth and then reflected back to the world, not realizing how much of it would be different if we had been born into a different family somewhere else. In fact, in such a case, we would no longer even be ourselves. Part of the human condition is defined by limitations; the noblest commitment is the acceptance of a limitation on one's freedom, in one sense, for a greater good or higher freedom. Devotion to one goal is impossible without the exclusion of conflicting goals. This realization is liberating in the sense that once we realize we are limited from birth in many ways and that unfettered freedom is an illusion, a few more limitations, consciously chosen, won't hurt and might even help.
As an example of the influence of a geographic accident on what we think of as our most cherished principles, people come up with all sorts of elaborate theological explanations for why their religion is best, and I'm not knocking theology, but on some level, an accident of birth is the key. If you were born in Kandahar instead of Kansas, you'd most likely be a Muslim right now. All of this makes it easier (at least in theory) to "live and let live" and be more forgiving of both personality quirks and differences of belief that otherwise might make you want to clobber someone, and to accept the limitations that come along with making a conscious commitment, because we are limited in many ways from birth by virtue of being human.
So I have to thank the Kittys and Lolas of this world for helping me to be a more understanding human being. Of course, what it means to be human is a question for another blog, what with the news about our human ancestors possibly having mated with chimpanzee ancestors. As any good geneticist will tell you, we share 90-some percent of the same DNA as chimps. Without naming names, and not intending to insult chimps, I'll just say that explains a lot. You can fill in the blanks with your chimp(s) of choice.
To adopt a cat in Montgomery County, Maryland, contact Friends of Montgomery County Animals.
So you can add me to the list of corny pet-posters. World, meet Lola. To add some value to this otherwise self-indulgent little exercise, and provide me with an excuse for playing with my camera, I thought an accompanying essay on what we can learn from cats would be in order.
Cats are a great jumping-off point for pondering human beings. For example, I've learned a lot about personalities from my previous and current cats. My former cat, Kitty, was a shy sweetie-pie with a polite, asking-type meow. I thought the rather demanding, loud meow of my otherwise also sweet and shy new cat, Lola, was annoying at first, but then I convinced myself it was cute so it wouldn't drive me bananas, and now we get along swimmingly and I think she's the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone else who visits finds it annoying but I, in my current state of Buddha-like acceptance, simply smile indulgently at their understandable reactions. One person noted that my cat had been in a household previously with a large number of people and animals, and speculated that she may have become loud in an effort to be heard and simply kept that habit even now when it is no longer needed. Come to think of it, some people from big families are pretty loud, too, and nothing you can say or do will change them.
This makes me think that a lot of what we find annoying in people may be an aspect of their personality that they almost can't help, and how we might thereby be inspired to work on being more accepting (as long as the issue in question isn't one of abuse). On some level, people may be pre-programmed by a combination of their heredity and environment to react in a certain way. Not to disparage "free will," and I do believe we have choices in life, but I also believe we are not blank slates at birth but inherit some powerful genetic tendencies, such as our basic personality, which have an impact along with environment and free choice. Together, the less controllable forces in life can impact us in ways that require heroic efforts to overcome.
Of course, it's a slippery slope from this observation to some noxious views about inherited characteristics and genetic immutability that I don't share. I'm simply saying that I think we're more a product of both our biology and environment than most would care to acknowledge, and that understanding this can make one both more enlightened about oneself and more compassionate toward others.
The inheritance of our ancestors, and the environmental influences of family, culture, and geography in which we happen to be born, should not be underestimated in pondering what has made us who we are today. So much of what we think of as "ourselves" really is something we've absorbed into our bones from birth and then reflected back to the world, not realizing how much of it would be different if we had been born into a different family somewhere else. In fact, in such a case, we would no longer even be ourselves. Part of the human condition is defined by limitations; the noblest commitment is the acceptance of a limitation on one's freedom, in one sense, for a greater good or higher freedom. Devotion to one goal is impossible without the exclusion of conflicting goals. This realization is liberating in the sense that once we realize we are limited from birth in many ways and that unfettered freedom is an illusion, a few more limitations, consciously chosen, won't hurt and might even help.
As an example of the influence of a geographic accident on what we think of as our most cherished principles, people come up with all sorts of elaborate theological explanations for why their religion is best, and I'm not knocking theology, but on some level, an accident of birth is the key. If you were born in Kandahar instead of Kansas, you'd most likely be a Muslim right now. All of this makes it easier (at least in theory) to "live and let live" and be more forgiving of both personality quirks and differences of belief that otherwise might make you want to clobber someone, and to accept the limitations that come along with making a conscious commitment, because we are limited in many ways from birth by virtue of being human.
So I have to thank the Kittys and Lolas of this world for helping me to be a more understanding human being. Of course, what it means to be human is a question for another blog, what with the news about our human ancestors possibly having mated with chimpanzee ancestors. As any good geneticist will tell you, we share 90-some percent of the same DNA as chimps. Without naming names, and not intending to insult chimps, I'll just say that explains a lot. You can fill in the blanks with your chimp(s) of choice.
To adopt a cat in Montgomery County, Maryland, contact Friends of Montgomery County Animals.
posted by Christine M. Hanson | 3:29 PM
1 Comments:
"This makes me think that a lot of what we find annoying in people may be an aspect of their personality that they almost can't help, and how we might thereby be inspired to work on being more accepting." Truer words were never said. And how much of our interpersonal troubles result from not seeing this? JB
Post a Comment
<< Home