As defined by Webster Dictionary. Anthropomorphic means:
1. described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes
2. ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things
The idea of anthropomorphic theory troubles me. On one hand I get it. I can assume an animal is feeling or thinking something that they are not based on how feel about that something, but I can’t help to think that it’s now also used as a way to keep people from acknowledging that animals are more aware than we have given them credit for the last few hundred years.
It’s so easy to continue doing what we are doing when things like, “well we don’t really know for SURE that they feel pain, or have emotions, or can think” are said. Belittling these beings experiences by saying we might be just attributing our own feelings onto what they are experiencing or not.
Is it just another veil to keep us from really looking and taking responsibility for our part in it? Is it a justification to not have to acknowledge what is really going on and then having to do something about it?
So this bothers me in a big way and is often painfully close in my world.
As much as I want other people to stop making excuses and to treat animals well, I realize that I can’t change other people. I also understand that the pain I feel is about something that needs healing within me.
I’ve come to understand that my external world is a reflection of my inner world. It’s not always a one to one, but it’s a reflection.
So what is my issue with anthropomorphism trying to show me. What do I see in the mirror?
Where am I doing this? If it’s not with animals, what veil am I using from acknowledging what is really going on? What don’t I want to face? What do I want to continue to justify? What do I not want to feel any pain about or responsibility from?
I don’t have the answers yet, but the more I get angry at humans for their justifications for hurting animals and using them for their own desires the more I have to acknowledge that it is a mirror trying to show me something that is happening within me that needs to be healed.
Any ideas?