Should We Hold Conversations With Animals? It seems like whatever comes around goes around again. Recently there was an announcement which stated scientists were working on a way for us to communicate with our pet dogs and cats. Years ago, a dog collar came out which had some electronics on it and when your dog barked the inventor claimed it was able to interpret what the barks meant. For example, sometimes when the dog barked a certain way the collar would say “I want to go out.” This time this attempt to interpret what the pet means will be run by artificial intelligence. Maybe if it is successful we might hear things we don’t want to. Do dogs and cats curse? Who knows. Maybe we might hear things like, “You jackass how long do I have to bark before you feed me?” Will some people get so angry at their pets they will take away their talking privileges? I think there will be some very bad interpretation going on and a lot of it will be, because dogs and cats certainly are not human and their brains just don’t work the same way. So how do the scientists think they can accomplish the bark and meow to English translations. They claim they are going to use another new technology which is basically mind reading. We know science has begun to be able to see pictures on a screen of what we humans are thinking about and they propose to use the same techniques on our pets and tie it into the translator. This technology is not entirely perfected yet and the scientists are saying it will be abut ten years before the translation device will be ready. One scientist claims dogs consider humans as friends not just feeders and because of this they lay in the brain scan machines without moving, because they trust us and this makes it easier to read their minds. The dogs love the praise they get for doing this, because of the social bond they have with humans. This technology might even serve a higher purpose. When a dog is taken to a vet because it is not feeling well, it might be able to tell the vet what is bothering it in the future. Do some animals talk to each other? According to one scientist who has studied prairie dogs (which are rodents) for over thirty years they do. He gives the example of how they give a high-pitched warning if a predator is in the area so the rest of the prairie dogs can avoid it. He also thinks they can recognize the way humans dress and when they see different people dressed in different ways the sounds they make change. Wow this seems a little far out to me, but I guess this guy should know what he is talking about. The scientist stated he thought if he could figure out the language of prairie dogs he certainly could figure out the language of dogs and cats. What might a cat be thinking about? Some say it is if he was big enough he could eat you. Sorry cat lovers. The question is do we want to talk to our pets. Did you ever notice how a dog will keep after you for a treat? Now imagine this scenario. You dog wants a treat and does a little begging, but receives no treat. The next thing he does is start to complain about not getting a treat and just keeps it up. Sometimes it is very hard to dissuade a dog from begging, but if they could talk they might just pester you. Could a dog who speaks start an argument with you? Imagine you feed your dog, but he is watching you eat people food and refuses to eat dog food. He now starts to complain about the fact you are giving him dog food while you are dining out on delicious steaks or some other food he considers to be tempting. You get angry and reply forgetting you are talking to a dog and an argument ensues. This never would have happened if it weren’t for the translation machine. There might be some real benefits for dogs and soldiers or police who use dogs in different dangerous situations. Take the case of the military. They use dogs to sniff out explosives. The dog might be able to verbally warn his human handler of danger. He might say there is a deadly bomb nearby, be careful. Another thing he might say is he smells the enemy who is nearby and tells his handler again to be careful. In extreme circumstances he might even be able to relay a conversation he heard conducted by the enemy and tell it to his handler and best friend. Could this be a double-edged sword? Could government agencies call our pets to testify in some cases and then use their testimony against us? Our pets wouldn’t realize what was going on and they might spill the beans in some cases. One thing I have to wonder about is will pets eventually learn our language since surely some of these devices will be on all the time and our pets will be talking to each other using them. Do we want a bunch of pets who can talk? If dogs and cats can talk to each other, maybe we can understand what rats and mice are saying and use this against them. Do rats say to each other lets go into a certain building there is plenty of food available in there? Maybe an exterminator could eavesdrop on their conversations and be able to stop them before they get where they are going. This also makes me wonder how far we might be able to take this thing. Will we be able to communicate with most animals on our planet some day and maybe even fish and bugs? You might be outside at a nice BBQ and overhear a mosquito saying he was about to attack you. This invention might completely change our lives. Would it be for the better or for the worse? It might make things a lot noisier if all the life around us is chattering away. I think I like the way things are now. |
