A lot of people kiss their pets or non-human animals in general. I find that very weird. I understand that it is a sign of affection but it seems so off. One reason is that I doubt whether animals really understand this. Also it seems to be on a level of intimacy to me that I find weird sharing with a pet. Not necessarily romantically or sexually (that would be even more weird and wrong and probably illegal). But it is still “more”. I am not sure whether I can really explain why exactly I find that weird.
Anyway, what is something that is weird to you but not to most other people?
Religion just in general.
Not being an edgelord or hating, I really just don’t get it, it makes no sense to me at all and never has. When I was a kid I thought it was just like a thing people did for whatever reason, I was a kid and I didn’t know fucking anything and my family didn’t do religion, once I realized people take it super seriously and think it’s all real it really weirded me out, I thought it was just some kind of fandom thing like how I was into Power Rangers.
Voting for policies that are directly opposed to their best interests.
Dancing. Especially freestyle solo dancing like at a club or whatever.
From an objective perspective, it’s very odd.
I get that a lot of people enjoy it, and there are some very skilled couples dances which I get more, but the sort of thing you get at a club or concert is just - strange to me.
I will say anecdotally, my wife has aggressively kissed my dog since she was a puppy. The dog aldo knows we don’t like face licks and will boop my wife on the cheek with her nose repeatedly.
And to answer your question, people are into what they’re into, I just don’t get feet.
Being interested in sports. Not weird in itself but weird that they find it interesting. I just dont get it.
You can’t help it when an animal snuggles you! You just can’t deny them the love!! 💖
Killing each other because their imaginary friends are not friends with each other. Looking at you, religion wars.
Religious wars are usually about power, not actually because they believe in different imaginary beings. Religion gets control of our population or the people in power youth religion to control the population and then they bump heads with another group doing the same thing… and you get war.
The power games are for the people at the top, the ones with money. For the rest of the sheep its [religion, racism, nationalism, patriotism, whatever bogeymen that can be made up]. Just like in the US today. There’s no shortage of complete fundy nutcases wishfully cheering trump’s war in the Middle East as a path to Armageddon when in reality it’s nothing more than trump desperately trying to control the petro energy market as a power and money grab. Except he’s an idiot.
Which is indeed true, however, the people who buy into it often do it for religious reasons. You can’t start religious wars when the people aren’t religious or have a religion that doesn’t motivate them to crush others who think differently.
Caring about sports. Like they devote what amounts to a part time job watching grown men compete in children’s games. Watching Competitive exercise while they melt into a couch pounding junk food. Watching other people talk about how well they exercised. Discussing daily with their friends and family and coworkers… All about one group of people in a colored shirt moving a ball slightly better than people with a different colored shirt.
When I realized that guys typically need an activity to bond together, sports start to make a lot more sense. Sports are just a catalyst to male friendship. Yeah guys take the sports way too far, but it makes it more fun if there’s an emotional high or low when they watch it.
cuddling with my dog right now as I read this. I just gave him a bunch of kisses on his face, and now he’s cuddled up to me even more. He knows what’s up. The oxytocin flows.
Celebrity gossip and worship
Animals do lots of physical behaviors to each other, like grooming for fleas or ticks, that seem weird to us, but probably signify affection and closeness to them. They probably don’t just let any old random monkey start picking through their fur, any more than we’d allow some stranger to hold our hand on the subway.
Animals show lots of affection to each other, and they show affection to us. Of course they recognize when we do stuff that shows affection to them. They’d rather have tummy skritches, but they’ll sit still for some kisses.
Watch YouTube and similar video. If I want to know something, I’d rather read something for 5 minutes than watch something for 15. Throw some illustrations or gifs in there if you need.
If I want to be entertained, I have many games and books. Or Lemmy to fuck around on.
Different people learn in different ways. Video can also convey some things way better than written words. Video recipes are better at conveying colour, sound, texture and technique than written recipes.
Sure, and many some things are more easily conveyed in text.
There’s also a mass illiteracy problem. I expect that’s part of why youtube et al are so popular - many people can’t read well. I think many of them don’t even realize they’re semi-illiterate, and think reading is just uncomfortable, and they don’t know why anyone would do it on purpose.
Rate my weirdness. If I need to change a broken handle on a 2013 f150, (not a mechanic but I’m handy) you tube will be my first check. I can visually get a quick walk through of the task I’m thinking of doing. It is usually the first place I look. YouTube has basically. Turned into 24 7 commercials for products but when understood there is still decent information out there that saves alot of time. As for Entertainment I will still put it on usually somebody building something or cooking something mostly as background. That being said if I had to watch ads all the time there is no way I would watch it.
For very visual things, video can be understandable. “How do you do this jumping sequence in this game?” or “how do you assemble this doohickey?”
I am probably the weirdo but I absolutely do not want video on as “background”. I don’t dual-screen, either. I’ll put music on when cooking sometimes.
If you think pets dont understand kisses you have never owned a pet.
One reason is that I doubt whether animals really understand this
You would be objectively wrong on that. It’s been shown that affection to animals fires off the same parts of the brain in them as it does in humans, and delivers the same chemicals.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6826447/
Just because animals can’t communicate like you or me (though I firmly believe pets have a language that you can understand if you own one long enough), it doesn’t mean they don’t have the same feelings of bonding and closeness. Biologically we’re all very similar, so the Oxytocin that we get from being loved is identical to the oxytocin that THEY get when being loved.
Every cat I’ve ever met has a nice little language. It was always possible to tell when they were happy or annoyed at the very least. I love them. I always hope they know I love them.
Thank you for the link. Does the paper reveal anything about kissing specifically? Haven’t had the time to read it yet.
I know that humans and other animals can feel affection for each other and that physical contact, e.g., by stroking, induces a sensation of ‘affective touch’ facilitated by C-tactile fibers. So while kissing itself might induce similar effects by similar pressure force and temperature, I wonder whether it really makes a difference to ‘poking’ your pet with your finger in a similar way. In other words: if the physical sensation is similar, does another animal understand a kiss versus another form of affective touch?Dogs have the ability to read body language. So a gentle behaviour like kissing or cuddling would definitely be perceived differently than an abrupt gesture like poking them.
I kiss my parrot because it is a cultural ritual we have built together. I make smoochy noises at him and he mimics them back to me because he wants to communicate. I kiss his little beak and he supposes this is a thing I must like doing so he starts doing it back. It makes me smile and make happy noises, which he recognizes. Now we have a fun thing we do that means we’re buddies. He trains me to offer up my nose for him to smooch if he makes a specific little whispery sound. His only reward is the opportunity to boop me on the nose with his beak but he evidently finds this incredibly amusing and will occasionally whisper at me relentlessly until I give in. He will let me smooch the back of his head at nighttime because it means he gets to stay up later. His feathers are soft and he smells nice so I like it too.
This was a delightful read that made me smile, thank you for sharing!
I’m stealing that
grab as you please, it’s from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=291ET6Py6H8
Beautiful. I hope you post a video of your parrot doing the smoochie noises because that’s just perfect…
I want to echo what Velma said…I recently received an incredibly painful text from my older brother, but your example of how animals love other animals, really grounds me. Im tearing up, but in relief, in awe, and in utter joy. This little anecdote is a great gift. Thanks for sharing!
Animals are easy to love, sometimes easier than loving other humans. Ultimately we all just want to connect, I’m glad I did with you today!
Don’t Artisans “stop hiring humans” sign make more sense now?
There is just something evil and repulsive about humans.
We’re vile.
But sometimes cute also.
Oo what kind of parrot? And what country do you guys love birds that much? I want to visit 😁 we have 2, ourselves.
He’s a green cheeked conure. I also have an African Grey who doesn’t like to be smooched. What kind do you have?
Aww I love Greys!! They’re so smart and have such a wide vocabulary.
We sort of happened upon them from a couple who needed to surrender, but a Blue Fronted Amazon and more recently, a Goffin’s Cockatoo.
My Grey is kind of a dummy (or maybe just too smart to perform for my approval) but I love her anyway. She’s the sweetest and loves just hanging out on my shoulder.
I had a Blue Fronted years ago, he was the best boy ever. He was an amazing singer and mimic and loved to cuddle. Thanks for taking in birds that need homes!!
