What is Digg?79 Comments
- junkstuff1, on 08/06/2008, -1/+45I thought the title said "read their own minds."
- imLissy, on 08/06/2008, -1/+35Great, I can't stop yawning now
- Frejesal, on 08/06/2008, -3/+32I don't need scientists to tell me dat my widdle poochy knows when I is saaaaad
wtf am i typing. i dont even have a dog. what does my life even mean? - t3rmv3locity, on 08/06/2008, -0/+28The article goes wrong when it starts to talk about the evolution of the dog. It's suggested that humans just 'befriended' wolves, but they skipped an important step. The most probable theory that most evolutionary biologists agree upon is this:
1. Humans form settlements, and, consequently, make trash dumps full of food. The food is just sitting there, ready to be eaten, but the wolves were too timid to come into town, and would be scared off by any people.
2. The distance at which the wolves tended to run from the humans went down from generation to generation, as they made use of the dumps for food (this might have been kickstarted by a temporary lack of prey). More food means more offspring, and eventually a primitive dog evolved.
3. The dog was not 'domesticated' for a fairly long time. The early dog was more of a co-inhabitant of a village or city. An individual wouldn't belong to anybody, they would just be 'the dog that hangs out on their yard'.
4. At some point, after being familiar with the dogs, somebody got the idea to do something useful with them. At that point dogs became watchdogs, hunting companions, etc., and they developed some of the traits which separate dogs from wolves (alarm barking, attending to gaze or pointing gestures...)
That's a bit of what I learned in a semester of college spent studying dogs...now you can bury me for spending a semester in college studying dogs... - headzoo, on 08/06/2008, -4/+27Anyone that's ever owned a dog (that's 95% of us) don't need a scientific study to tell us our dogs can empathize. When we're excited and happy, our dogs are excited and happy. When we're down in the dumps, so are they. I think the reverse if often true among true dog lovers. It's no wonder we get along so well.
- Niightwitch, on 08/06/2008, -3/+24Those dogs are just copycats.
- 900se, on 08/06/2008, -0/+14Someone should explain to the submitter the difference between telepathy and empathy!
- inactive, on 08/06/2008, -1/+15that's great, but this isn't evidence that they can "read their owners' minds." the title of the article is completely inaccurate and totally misrepresents the study.
- basye, on 08/06/2008, -1/+12Yes, not only do they read my mind but they control it enough to indulge their obnoxious little egos. Damn doxies.
- archer104, on 08/06/2008, -0/+11Cats definitely yawn. My cat yawns whenever I try to get his attention. ***** *****!
- chkdg8, on 08/06/2008, -1/+12I've been saying this for years now. My dog knew that I knew too.
- h3lx, on 08/06/2008, -0/+9I learned all that from that history channel bit on the evolution of dogs in about an hour.
- zadadka, on 08/06/2008, -1/+9I'll agree that dog can be empathic towards its master/mistress, who it considers it's pack leader, but telepathic is just barking mad.
- Hurricane, on 08/06/2008, -0/+8Jeesh people, this has been studied before.
This is where an animal reads subtle body language before you even realize it yourself.
Counting horses (pick up accidental subtle body shifts from there trainer that they are on the right hoof beat).
Dogs that catch seizures in their masters just before they happen.
Cats that identify the last hours before someone dies, by hanging out near them or their room.
Possibly even animals that can read subtle changes in our scent and body movement that lets them in on hidden illnesses such as cancer.
Many highly intelligent animals that we have had domesticated for thousands of years can do it.
Us humans can do it too if we take the time to tune in. - DraxusD, on 08/06/2008, -1/+8Terrible, misleading title. Dog's being able to empathize, and in the scope of this test only when it comes to yawning, is a loooong way from being able to read our minds.
- killerbob2323, on 08/06/2008, -1/+8Copydogs?
- arestme, on 08/06/2008, -0/+7I just yawn in front of my dog and she looked at me like WTF is your problem wheres my treat?
- Codename, on 08/06/2008, -0/+6In other news: Cat's can see the future.
- KingGorilla, on 08/06/2008, -0/+5uhm, wanting to run around, rub its belly, hump things, eat bacon, and lick their own balls. That's pretty much it
- vickers500, on 08/06/2008, -0/+5take the red pill, you'll understand soon enough
- Hurricane, on 08/06/2008, -1/+5I would bury you, but then less people would read your shame.
- woodrow8292, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4In other news, Cats still don't give a ***** what anyone thinks.
- sabster, on 08/06/2008, -4/+8i just yawned in front of my dog and she yawned right after i did........... wow
- diemunkiesdie, on 08/06/2008, -3/+7Lol, way to blow things out of proportion! Everyone knew that dogs could empathize with us, how is this new information? Have scientists also recently discovered that water is wet?
- iChopPryde, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4If Dog's can read our minds then they would realize how stupid we really are and wouldn't want to be our friends!
- Shadow120, on 08/06/2008, -1/+5Automatic Digg DOWN for every digger who buries a story based on the site it comes from, all site have arrays of different writers, some better than others, but you shouldn't generalize. This article isn't exactly saying the Russians are going to nuke us from space, so why should it matter?
P.S the Telegraph is a broadsheet. Not a tabloid. Get it right, Mr CAPITAL LETTERSS : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Telegraph - MrSkills, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3If you read the article, you'll see that it's a misleading title. The study had nothing to do with telepathy, only empathy. They were testing whether the dog would yawn after *watching* a human yawn. No mind-reading involved.
- vickers500, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3*****, now you got me started
- megaloid, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Your dog has Force powers.
- inactive, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Agreed. I've known it in cats, too - although it's not as common...
- inactive, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2So that's why my dog runs away from me, I keep having sexual fantasies with everything I look at.
- Leprince, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2NO! You got me started!
- therumfoodle, on 08/07/2008, -0/+2Apparently you have to read someone's mind to catch a yawn now. That makes me some kind of superhuman. I once had this really boring class in which I read just about every student's mind in the back of the classroom.
- EatingPaste, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2My border collie can definitely read my mind.
- ultra_lime, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2The Onion?
- Hurricane, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2My cat will walk on a leash.
But I see where you are coming from.
Many people think dogs are smarter than cats when in reality both are about the same intelligence.
Cats retain more independence.
We identify communally with dogs due to their ancestral pack behavior, cats are lone hunters and self sufficient.
The anthropomorphic view is that dogs are more human like. - intangible, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Have you been secretly watching me?
- fracktica, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Your border collie can probably do basic algebra.
- inactive, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2fetch sticks, no want bath, walk please
- Memnochxx, on 08/06/2008, -1/+3Who's to say we don't catch dog yawns?
- Yage2006, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1They learn your behaviors by observing your actions.
They DO NOT read your mind are NOT psychic.
/Buried
- inactive, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Empathy=mind reading? I guess that sort of works...
- Kdurrty, on 08/06/2008, -4/+5I call B.S.
- ajkrik, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1Dogs aren't that evolved yet.
- archer104, on 08/06/2008, -1/+2wow. that is incredibly funny.
- skanton, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1A dog is a loners best friend!
- MrSkills, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Actually the study never mentions telepathy - it involved the dogs *watching* people yawn, and was a test of empathy. It's just a misleading title - and a surprising one. The Telegraph is usually pretty sober when it comes to scientific reports.
- nebion, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Not having a spoken language probably makes animals much more perceptive of body language.
It's perhaps more of a case of people being poor at paying attention to body language because they're used to communicating explicitly via spoken language. - Spuby, on 08/06/2008, -1/+2Misleading title, though I have to admit for a moment it made me feel guilty for the humping behaviour. My dog's humping behavior.
- fx666, on 08/06/2008, -1/+2It is the other way around -- people are able to read their pets' minds. I just read my dog's mind and he says that the person who wrote this "scientific" article in the Telegraph is an idiot.
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