This is utterly brilliant!! I turned veggie when I was 6 or 7 because I couldn’t bear being the reason for another beings unnecessary death. But still, I’ve used paint of varying kinds and glue - and still been part of the byproducts of the meat industry. A complicated question of where empathy begins and ends. Yes this is a very important piece of writing!!!
I'm glad it resonated with you (and I had a hunch it might!). I've been vegetarian/pescetarian/vegan, switching between them, never quite able to stick to the strictest diet despite my deep feeling that ethically I should... and I know I'm being such a hypocrite with it all. It's refreshing to be able to have these conversations about empathy where there's space to enter the grey space. It seems to me that usually these debates are so polarised that they are, in the end, almost worthless.
I loved these insights into jackdaws and crows, Rebecca.
Jackdaws' long-lasting partnerships reminded me of the novel O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker, where the jackdaw she raises bonds with her, remains loyal and it grieves when she dies. Apparently based on a real jackdaw Barker raised as a child.
Your questions about empathy are really thought-provoking.
What a rich and insightful piece of writing. You've educated me on the almost human nature of Jackdaws and their relationships. Love the links to modern society and empathy. I write poetry but sense similar themes in what you've written here.
I wonder if one of the differences between us and other animal species is not just that we draw a line beyond which we feel it's okay to show no compassion, but that some of us have no empathy whatsoever. With anything. Many of us transgress very fundamental laws of society, sometimes without any remorse or even understanding why it was a transgression. It's almost our hallmark. We call it individualism; or protecting ourselves first. I'm not sure other animals do that.
Such an interesting thought, Jane! There is a lot of variation in what we call prosocial behaviour in animals - some individuals are much more prosocial than others within the same species, but humans do seem particularly (and awfully) variable. Sounds like we need an experiment!
I’ve heard the bonobo chimpanzees cited as examples to prove all kinds of disputed behaviours. They are more aggressive than normal chimpanzees, and their behaviour is what we could call anti-social, and even criminal. I’ve seen this used to prove that it is possible to change gender (females behave like males) in other animal societies. I’ve also seen their behaviour explained by the fact that they live in a much harsher environment than other chimpanzees, suffering incursions by agressive humans, but that when they are moved across the river to the same environment as the ‘nice’ chimpanzees, they revert to ‘normal’ behaviour. So far, I don’t know of any corroborated instances of animals being as hateful to one another as we are, in their natural environment.
Bonobos are fascinating, and definitely not the always-lovely species that they've been portrayed as in popular media! Regarding how horrid animals can be to one another, I suppose it depends how you define that. Most of the awful things humans do to each other are found in the animal kingdom. I won't list it all here, but most animals - even those that are often prosocial - engage in behaviours we would deem to be terrible within human society. For example, jackdaws are monogamous, prosocial birds, but males will go to neighbouring nests and forcibly mate with non-partner females, sometimes injuring them badly in the process. This happens in many bird species. Lots of animals cannibalise one another, or get into territorial disputes that lead to gruesome deaths. I guess what I am getting at is that it's important not to gloss over the grizzly when thinking about the natural world. But, also, we cannot frame animal behaviour in the same moral lens we view out own.
That’s true. Nature tries out a lot of different social orders, without any moral dimension at all. I might be wrong here, but I do think we are the only species that breeds and modifies other animals for our needs/wants. I know we do it with plants too, but what we do to other animals is really horrible and such a colossal scale!
I am re-reading the essays of my favorite writer E.B. White. Your first sentence in this piece reminds me of him: spare, crisp, spot on.
I think you would enjoy his writing Rebecca. I included some good quotes from him (and others) about writing in my collection below which you might enjoy: ⬇️
The human animal can show high levels of empathy and compassion. But humans can also display high levels of destructive behaviour and cruelty that is so unlike any other non-human animal that I have observed.
The human animal is distinct, but not in any way superior. This idea is terribly outdated, and not supported by the briefest of observations of our species..
A rodent (and a small bevy of them before), uninvited guests all, have inspired me to think lately on this very topic--the lines we draw, their arbitrariness, the threads of our connection. My interaction with these creatures, uncharacteristic of me and troubling, is something I've tried to write about more than once and, I'm sure, will someday complete.
Another brilliant post, Rebecca. I so loved learning about the jackdaws and rooks. I adore the way you think about these threads of connections between us all, we creatures who share this planet, threads deeply important to my understanding of our existence. And your writing is gorgeous.
I once tried to trap a mouse in an ethical trap and forgot I'd put the trap out, meaning the poor creature slowly died of dehydration. A quick death would have been so much kinder. I still feel awful about that, especially as I know if I'd been trapping something not considered a pest there's no way I would have forgotten to check the trap. A subconscious line. So many layers for us all to dissect, and it is so difficult to do so! I hope you find some clarity in your relationship with rodents. Thank you as always for your lovely comment!
Such potent, important questions! I feel the wayward, fickleness of this line all the time, squeezing my heart with every bend. Why even the box elders I swept away from the house this morning left me in a dizzy quandary about why I could remove them from warmth with no care yet go out of my way to rescue the grasshopper from the road? I appreciate the depth of knowledge you marry with your instinctual, empathic heart. I imagine this doesn’t make your field any easier, and you likely have lost many hours of sleep as the two seek resolution, but your rapt, compassionate presence to the questions is an act of love in and of itself. ❤️
Ah it's all so tricky isn't it! And to have the sort of brain that thinks about these things - what deserves shelter, what doesn't, where the line is - is (I think) simultaneously beautiful and hideous. And yes it certainly does make the field hard in some respects. I'm no longer in academia and feel much more able to dig into and dissect these questions, and I understand now how many philosophical niggles I had to fold away while working with animals (and how often I had to draw lines I wasn't sure I believed in, but didn't have the space to question). Thank you as always for your lovely comment x
I think about this every day, but that is a direct consequence of both halves: the half that is constantly in contact with non-human animals, and the half that comes up against their deaths ever so frequently. I wonder sometimes whether we actually do need to draw a line... I question even that. Am I actually protecting myself by limiting my empathy? You're inspiring me to put some thoughts down on the topic. Thank you for your words, as always.
Ah this is such a good question. I think on some level we do have to draw a line... we cannot empathise with every living thing and stay sane in this world can we? I'm not sure any one person has the emotional bandwidth to feel deeply for every creature when there is so much suffering (and so much accidentally inflicted by ourselves with one wrong footstep) - but maybe I am wrong. I'd love to read your thoughts on the topic.
You’re welcome. I was fascinated this morning to see what seemed like the whole parliament scattered through a field close to the rookery, probing the grass. I wish I’d had more time to watch (driving out) but then if I had been on foot they may not have stayed. Equally interesting, when we returned 4 hours later, the field was empty except for the long dark shadows cast by their trees…
They are rather suspicious critters so I doubt they'd have stayed if you were on foot - many a time have my birdwatching plans been thwarted by corvids who were onto me as soon as I spotted them! I hope you do get to spend some time watching them though. They are so entertaining!
Yes, where do we draw the line? I don't even know this within myself. I'm a vegetarian now, but many years before I became one, I drew a sudden line at squid and octopi when I learned about their wonderful ways of communication, their changing of colour and positioning in the water. I'm a linguist and have studied the complexities of language and I just couldn't eat something that clearly had language. The fact that I'd never be able to understand made it even more unthinkable to see these creatures on a plate.
This is so interesting to me because I find my line is informed by cognitive ability, but I've met others whose line is informed by a species' social life (no eating anything that forms friendships, for example) and others whose lines are drawn through visual similarity to humans or pets. It's fascinating how the logic of our lines (if there is any) is so variable.
This is utterly brilliant!! I turned veggie when I was 6 or 7 because I couldn’t bear being the reason for another beings unnecessary death. But still, I’ve used paint of varying kinds and glue - and still been part of the byproducts of the meat industry. A complicated question of where empathy begins and ends. Yes this is a very important piece of writing!!!
I'm glad it resonated with you (and I had a hunch it might!). I've been vegetarian/pescetarian/vegan, switching between them, never quite able to stick to the strictest diet despite my deep feeling that ethically I should... and I know I'm being such a hypocrite with it all. It's refreshing to be able to have these conversations about empathy where there's space to enter the grey space. It seems to me that usually these debates are so polarised that they are, in the end, almost worthless.
I loved these insights into jackdaws and crows, Rebecca.
Jackdaws' long-lasting partnerships reminded me of the novel O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker, where the jackdaw she raises bonds with her, remains loyal and it grieves when she dies. Apparently based on a real jackdaw Barker raised as a child.
Your questions about empathy are really thought-provoking.
Oh I haven't read this but I think I need to - it sounds right up my street! I'm glad you enjoyed the read, Wendy :)
What a rich and insightful piece of writing. You've educated me on the almost human nature of Jackdaws and their relationships. Love the links to modern society and empathy. I write poetry but sense similar themes in what you've written here.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad it resonated with you, and very happy to have spread some jackdaw love 😊
I wonder if one of the differences between us and other animal species is not just that we draw a line beyond which we feel it's okay to show no compassion, but that some of us have no empathy whatsoever. With anything. Many of us transgress very fundamental laws of society, sometimes without any remorse or even understanding why it was a transgression. It's almost our hallmark. We call it individualism; or protecting ourselves first. I'm not sure other animals do that.
Such an interesting thought, Jane! There is a lot of variation in what we call prosocial behaviour in animals - some individuals are much more prosocial than others within the same species, but humans do seem particularly (and awfully) variable. Sounds like we need an experiment!
I’ve heard the bonobo chimpanzees cited as examples to prove all kinds of disputed behaviours. They are more aggressive than normal chimpanzees, and their behaviour is what we could call anti-social, and even criminal. I’ve seen this used to prove that it is possible to change gender (females behave like males) in other animal societies. I’ve also seen their behaviour explained by the fact that they live in a much harsher environment than other chimpanzees, suffering incursions by agressive humans, but that when they are moved across the river to the same environment as the ‘nice’ chimpanzees, they revert to ‘normal’ behaviour. So far, I don’t know of any corroborated instances of animals being as hateful to one another as we are, in their natural environment.
Bonobos are fascinating, and definitely not the always-lovely species that they've been portrayed as in popular media! Regarding how horrid animals can be to one another, I suppose it depends how you define that. Most of the awful things humans do to each other are found in the animal kingdom. I won't list it all here, but most animals - even those that are often prosocial - engage in behaviours we would deem to be terrible within human society. For example, jackdaws are monogamous, prosocial birds, but males will go to neighbouring nests and forcibly mate with non-partner females, sometimes injuring them badly in the process. This happens in many bird species. Lots of animals cannibalise one another, or get into territorial disputes that lead to gruesome deaths. I guess what I am getting at is that it's important not to gloss over the grizzly when thinking about the natural world. But, also, we cannot frame animal behaviour in the same moral lens we view out own.
That’s true. Nature tries out a lot of different social orders, without any moral dimension at all. I might be wrong here, but I do think we are the only species that breeds and modifies other animals for our needs/wants. I know we do it with plants too, but what we do to other animals is really horrible and such a colossal scale!
I am re-reading the essays of my favorite writer E.B. White. Your first sentence in this piece reminds me of him: spare, crisp, spot on.
I think you would enjoy his writing Rebecca. I included some good quotes from him (and others) about writing in my collection below which you might enjoy: ⬇️
https://open.substack.com/pub/bairdbrightman/p/writing?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I, too, loved the first sentence of this piece.
It's unanimous!
Thanks so much both, and thank you for the link Baird - looking forward to giving this a read!
Your wonderful observations here made me think of one of my favorite poems by Wallace Stevens:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45236/thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-blackbird
Oh I love this!! Thank you for introducing me to it!
My goodness Rebecca! This wonderful essay has inspired me to write THREE comments. I will stop with this one!
Your observations of non-human beings reminds me of this quote from Charles Darwin:
"Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected with the social instincts which in us would be called moral."
The human animal can show high levels of empathy and compassion. But humans can also display high levels of destructive behaviour and cruelty that is so unlike any other non-human animal that I have observed.
The human animal is distinct, but not in any way superior. This idea is terribly outdated, and not supported by the briefest of observations of our species..
A rodent (and a small bevy of them before), uninvited guests all, have inspired me to think lately on this very topic--the lines we draw, their arbitrariness, the threads of our connection. My interaction with these creatures, uncharacteristic of me and troubling, is something I've tried to write about more than once and, I'm sure, will someday complete.
Another brilliant post, Rebecca. I so loved learning about the jackdaws and rooks. I adore the way you think about these threads of connections between us all, we creatures who share this planet, threads deeply important to my understanding of our existence. And your writing is gorgeous.
I once tried to trap a mouse in an ethical trap and forgot I'd put the trap out, meaning the poor creature slowly died of dehydration. A quick death would have been so much kinder. I still feel awful about that, especially as I know if I'd been trapping something not considered a pest there's no way I would have forgotten to check the trap. A subconscious line. So many layers for us all to dissect, and it is so difficult to do so! I hope you find some clarity in your relationship with rodents. Thank you as always for your lovely comment!
Such potent, important questions! I feel the wayward, fickleness of this line all the time, squeezing my heart with every bend. Why even the box elders I swept away from the house this morning left me in a dizzy quandary about why I could remove them from warmth with no care yet go out of my way to rescue the grasshopper from the road? I appreciate the depth of knowledge you marry with your instinctual, empathic heart. I imagine this doesn’t make your field any easier, and you likely have lost many hours of sleep as the two seek resolution, but your rapt, compassionate presence to the questions is an act of love in and of itself. ❤️
Ah it's all so tricky isn't it! And to have the sort of brain that thinks about these things - what deserves shelter, what doesn't, where the line is - is (I think) simultaneously beautiful and hideous. And yes it certainly does make the field hard in some respects. I'm no longer in academia and feel much more able to dig into and dissect these questions, and I understand now how many philosophical niggles I had to fold away while working with animals (and how often I had to draw lines I wasn't sure I believed in, but didn't have the space to question). Thank you as always for your lovely comment x
A fabulous piece of writing, insightful and thought provoking 💚
Thank you, Catherine!
Such a thoughtful, fascinating, eloquent and tender read; I feel enriched! Thank you.
Thank you for this lovely comment, Liz!
A gorgeous story Rebecca, I love the way you weave ‘threads’ throughout and I enjoyed sitting in the graveyard with you, watching the Jackdaws.
I think about this every day, but that is a direct consequence of both halves: the half that is constantly in contact with non-human animals, and the half that comes up against their deaths ever so frequently. I wonder sometimes whether we actually do need to draw a line... I question even that. Am I actually protecting myself by limiting my empathy? You're inspiring me to put some thoughts down on the topic. Thank you for your words, as always.
Ah this is such a good question. I think on some level we do have to draw a line... we cannot empathise with every living thing and stay sane in this world can we? I'm not sure any one person has the emotional bandwidth to feel deeply for every creature when there is so much suffering (and so much accidentally inflicted by ourselves with one wrong footstep) - but maybe I am wrong. I'd love to read your thoughts on the topic.
Thank you for another beautiful read, and for your insights. I shall regard our visiting jackdaws and rooks in a new light.
This makes my heart sing! Thank you, Michela.
You’re welcome. I was fascinated this morning to see what seemed like the whole parliament scattered through a field close to the rookery, probing the grass. I wish I’d had more time to watch (driving out) but then if I had been on foot they may not have stayed. Equally interesting, when we returned 4 hours later, the field was empty except for the long dark shadows cast by their trees…
They are rather suspicious critters so I doubt they'd have stayed if you were on foot - many a time have my birdwatching plans been thwarted by corvids who were onto me as soon as I spotted them! I hope you do get to spend some time watching them though. They are so entertaining!
Yes, where do we draw the line? I don't even know this within myself. I'm a vegetarian now, but many years before I became one, I drew a sudden line at squid and octopi when I learned about their wonderful ways of communication, their changing of colour and positioning in the water. I'm a linguist and have studied the complexities of language and I just couldn't eat something that clearly had language. The fact that I'd never be able to understand made it even more unthinkable to see these creatures on a plate.
This is so interesting to me because I find my line is informed by cognitive ability, but I've met others whose line is informed by a species' social life (no eating anything that forms friendships, for example) and others whose lines are drawn through visual similarity to humans or pets. It's fascinating how the logic of our lines (if there is any) is so variable.