What are animals thinking and feeling? 

了解更多信息：https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_safina_what_are_animals_thinking_and_feeling

作者：李时霈 40386323@ads.qub.ac.uk

卡尔·萨芬纳在 TED 演讲中指出，与我们共享地球的其他生物也能思考、感受、使用工具和 表达情感。他将鲸鱼、狼、大象和信天翁的故事融合在一起，借助生态学、生物学和行为科 学领域的研究和趣闻轶事，展示了动物大脑内部的活动以及我们如何了解它们的想法和情感。 卡尔认为，思考和感受并非人类独有的能力，他认为有多种途径可以了解动物，比如观察动 物的进化、研究它们的大脑以及观察它们的行为。神经元最早由水母发展而来，最早的脊索 动物由水母进化而来，最早的脊椎动物由最早的脊索动物进化而来。人类是从从海洋中出现 的脊椎动物进化而来的。小龙虾的神经元和神经细胞与人类相同，如果小龙虾在试图从洞穴 中爬出时受到轻微电击，它会产生焦虑。如果给小龙虾服用与人类焦虑症患者相同的药物， 焦虑就会缓解，它会继续探索洞穴。但人们并不关心小龙虾的焦虑。

Carl Safina’s TED presentation argued that other creatures who share the earth with us can think, feel, use tools and express emotions. He mixes together tales of whales, wolves, elephants, and albatrosses using research and anecdotes from the fields of ecology, biology and behavioural science to show what transpires within an animal’s brain and how can we ascertain their thoughts and emotions. Carl indicated that thinking and feeling are not capacities of the human mind, he thinks there are several ways can get to know animals by observing animals’ evolution, look at their brains and watch what they do. Neurones were first developed by jellyfish, the first chordates evolved from jellyfish, the first vertebrates evolved from the first chordates. Human are evolved from vertebrates that emerged from the sea. Crayfish have the same neurone and nerve cell with human, if a crayfish is given by a small electric shock when it tries to crawl out of burrow, it can cause anxiety. And if the crayfish is given by medicine that is same to people with anxiety disorders, the anxiety will relax and continue to explore the burrow. But people does not care about crayfish anxiety.

鲸鱼：

先前对鲸鱼的研究表明，它们清楚自己是谁，知道自己的伙伴和竞争对手。它们始终清楚自 己的位置。鲸鱼是具有复杂行为的复杂物种。为了确保群体的成功，鲸鱼经常表现出高度的 社会行为，包括合作。抹香鲸拥有地球上最大的大脑，重约 7.8 千克，而成年人类大脑的平 均重量约为 1300 克。然而，一个物种的大脑大小并不一定意味着它比人类更聪明。据研究 人员洛里·马里诺博士称，尽管这些物种的大脑“沿着与人类大脑不同的神经解剖学路径发 展”，但它们的大脑“展示了地球上复杂智力的另一种进化途径”。尽管大脑的组织结构存 在重大差异，但鲸目动物和人类在多种深刻的认知能力方面存在共性，比如自我认知能力。 鲸目动物和人类是哺乳动物心理共同进化的迷人例证。由于这些相似之处，鲸目动物和人类 都容易受到精神和社会压力的影响，这可能会造成严重危害。例如，鲸鱼恶劣的生活条件会 对它们的身体和心理健康产生不成比例的不良影响。缺乏觅食机会的捕食者常常会出现与压 力相关的疾病，如溃疡、踱步和自残等刻板行为，以及异常的攻击性。这对于确立我们与鲸 目动物互动和对待它们的道德标准至关重要（Marine，L 2004）。如果研究人员能探究一下 人类和鲸鱼在精神和社会压力程度上的差异，这项研究可能会更有意义。还有一个潜在的担 忧是，将人类的情感归因于动物可能违背了关于动物的本质。最近在一些鲸鱼物种中发现了 梭形细胞，也称为冯·埃科诺米神经元，或专门的脑细胞。梭形细胞与同理心等情感有关， 并被认为负责在复杂的社交环境中“迅速做出直觉决策”。但直到最近，人们还认为只有人 类和少数几种灵长类动物才有这些专门的脑细胞（Brakes，P，2011）。鉴于鲸鱼利用声音 进行交流且缺少咧嘴笑所需的面部肌肉，它们很可能也是通过发声来表达情感的。由于科学 家们刚刚开始理解鲸鱼丰富多样的语言，要全面了解它们的情感还需要一段时间。

Whales：

Previous studies of whales have dealt that they are well aware of who they are, they are aware of their buddies and competitors. They constantly remain aware of their location. Whales are complex species with complex behaviours. In order to secure the success of groups, whales frequently display a high degree of social behaviour, including collaboration. Sperms whales have the planet’s largest brain with weight around 7.8kg, the average adult human brain weighs about 1,300g. However, a species brain size does not necessarily suggest that it is smarter than humans. Despite having developed "along a different neuroanatomical trajectory" from the human brain, these species brains served as "an illustration of an alternate evolutionary route for complex intelligence on Earth," according to researcher Dr. Lori Marino. Despite major differences in the organisation of the brain, cetaceans and humans share a variety of profound cognitive abilities, such as the ability to recognise oneself. Cetaceans and humans are a fascinating example of how mammalian psychology has evolved together. Because of these similarities, cetaceans and humans are both vulnerable to mental and social stress, which can cause serious harm. For example, the poor living conditions of whales can have disproportionate adverse effects on the animals physical and psychological well-being. Predators deprived of foraging opportunities frequently develop stress-related problems such as ulcers, stereotypic behaviours such as pacing and self-mutilation, and abnormal aggression. This is essential for setting ethical standards for our interactions and treatment of cetaceans (Marine,L 2004). The study would have been more relevant if the researcher has ask the difference of human and whales mental and social stress extent. There is another potential concern because attributing human emotions to animals probably violate the fundamental about animals. Spindle cells, also known as Von Economy neurones, or specialised brain cells, have recently been found in some whale species. Spindle cells are linked to emotions like empathy and are assumed to be in charge of "rapidly making intuitive decisions in complex social circumstances." But up until recently, it was thought that only humans and a few other primates had these specialised brain cells (Brakes,P, 2011). It is plausible to assume that since whales utilise sounds to communicate and lack the facial muscles needed to grin, they likewise express their emotions through vocalisation. Since scientists have just recently started to comprehend the rich and varied language of whales, it will take some time to fully understand their emotions.

狼：

直到最近，人们普遍认为消灭狼和其他食肉动物会刺激经济活动，从而造福所有人。然而，越来越多的证据表明，结论恰恰相反，即捕杀食肉动物的计划充其量只是生态效益好坏参半， 而且是对美国西部畜牧业的一种经济上无效的补贴。目前，在美国本土与加拿大接壤的有限 荒野地区，仅存不到 2000 只狼。尽管该物种曾几近灭绝，但如今其数量已有所回升。截至 1970 年，在美国本土的 50 年间，仍有 20 个州悬赏捕杀狼。尽管灰狼已被列为濒危物 种，但其保护状况仍不确定且充满矛盾。一方面有一项联邦法规要求引入狼，另一方面又禁 止骚扰或伤害它们（戈布尔，D，1992 年）。据卡尔的介绍，公园管理人员在 20 世纪 90 年 代将黄石国家公园内的狼全部消灭，但 60 年后，由于没有狼，麋鹿数量变得难以控制，他 们不得不重新引入狼。游客离开后，仍有成千上万的人想看狼，这可能是因为这里是世界上 唯一一个能轻易看到狼的地方。由于捕猎狼的控制计划成效显著，该物种在其整个分布范围 或其重要部分面临灭绝的危险，以及反对猎杀狼的进一步论据，狼被决定列入《濒危物种法》 （ESA）中的濒危物种。除了保护植物和动物外，保护支持脆弱和濒危物种的生态系统也至关重要。

Wolves:

Until recently, it was widely believed that eliminating wolves and other predators would stimulate economic activity, which would benefit all people. However, a rising amount of evidence points to a different conclusion, which is that predator control programmes are, at best, a mixed bag of ecological outcomes and an economically ineffective subsidy to the western livestock industry. Less than 2,000 wolves can currently be found distributed along the Canadian border in limited areas of wildness in the contiguous United States. Although the species had been all but extinct in the conterminous United States for fifty years as of 1970, twenty states still had wolf bounties. Despite the grey wolf being categorised as an endangered species, the protection is still unsure and contradictory. While one federal statute calls for the entry of wolves, another forbids harassing or hurting them (Goble,D, 1992). According to Carls presentation, park officials eliminated all the wolves in the 1990s in Yellowstone National Park, but 60 years later they had to reintroduce them since the elk population had become unmanageable without them. Thousands of people wanted to see the wolves after the tourists left, possibly because it was the only spot in the world where they could do so easily. The wolf was decided to be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)31 due to the efficacy of the predator control programme, the species impending extinction across all or a significant portion of its range, and further arguments against the hunting of wolves. It is imperative to safeguard ecosystems that support fragile and endangered species in addition to plants and animals.

狼群通过面部表情进行交流。这种交流能力可能有助于狼在进化早期与狩猎采集者建立关系。杜伦大学动物行为研究实验室的埃拉娜·霍布基尔克（Elana Hobkirk）声称，狼是有感知能力 的生物，能够感受到快乐、慷慨和愤怒，这给这种策略带来了重大劣势。通过观察狼群中狼 的面部表情，并评估这些表情是否代表了动物的内在感受，人们可以观察到狼是如何看待彼 此的。为了探究近亲犬类是否能发出同样范围的信号，她将结果与狗进行了比较。由于与灵 长类动物的表情相似，狼和狗都使用类似的信号（Mallett, R, 2020）。

Wolf packs communicate through facial expressions. The ability to communicate may have helped wolves form relationships with hunter-gatherers earlier in their evolutionary history. Elana Hobkirk of Durham Universitys animal behaviour study lab claimed that wolves are sentient beings capable of feeling joy, generosity, and rage, which presents a significant disadvantage to this strategy. by observing the facial expressions of wolves in packs and evaluating whether they represent the underlying feelings of the animals, one can observe how the wolves regard one another. To investigate if close domestic relatives could create the same range of signals, she compared the results to those of dogs. Due to their similarity to primate expressions, wolves and dogs both use comparable signals (Mallett,R, 2020).

References:

1. Brakes, P. and Simmonds, M.P. (2011) Whales and dolphins: Cognition, culture, conservation and human perceptions.

2. Marino, L., McShea, D.W. and Uhen, M.D. (2004) “Origin and evolution of large brains in toothed whales,” The Anatomical Record, 281A(2), pp. 1247–1255.

3. Goble, D.D., 1992. Of wolves and welfare ranching. Harv. Envtl. L. Rev., 16, p.101.

4. Mallett, R. (2020) How translating wolf facial expressions could help us understand domesticated dogs, How translating wolf facial expressions could help us understand dogs | BBC Science Focus Magazine. Available at: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/translating-wolf facial-expressions-could-help-us-understand-domesticated-dogs/ (Accessed: December 15, 2022).