I think my snake loves me

[DarrinLowe]

The whole "my snake recognizes me so it must love me" argument is not a very strong one. I could argue that a snake recognizes your scent as something that is non-threatening. Much like if it were in the wild. It it smells or detects no threats in an area, it will seek out the most comfortable spot. In captivity it does the same thing. Your scent is something they associate with no threats. While they may not associate you as an individual person that they become attached to, they do understand that with your smell comes no threat of predation. You are also warm, which in a home that is sitting at room temperature (72), they are going to seek out something that is radiating heat to be close to. That is often why some snakes will prefer to stay on you rather than roam the room. You are warm and they sense no threats. This does not mean they love you. It just means you are a comfy, warm, rock which no predators around.

Wouldn't the mere fact that a snake associates your scent with safety represent atleast a primitive form of love? You're contradicting yourself my friend. If a snake was only seeking warmth and security I'm sure the seemingly unnoticed by us, vibrations of the human body would be enough to throw it off. The problem is that you're being far too closed minded in your concept of love. A snake is not a human being, therefore it cannot love in a human being manner, though the snake is living so it is capable of loving in such a way, regardless of wether the snake does love in that way, does not change the fact that it is capable, in one way or another of loving. To assume that it is a simple being that merely succumbs to a genetic code, that instinctively determines it's actions would be the same as assuming that human beings are built much the same, but have evolved to such a level that our minds convince ourselves we have a purpose, so that we continue to follow our own base instincts, due to becoming too aware of ourselves as an existence. So think about the implications of your words before you voice them.

What it comes down to, is wether you believe in god. Which provides a rather mixed perspective, as one who does not believe in god, must believe that all animals are capable of what we perceive as love, as all animals are capable of evolution. If one believes in god, then we are the mere shepards of a world of absent minded primitives that may only base their lives off of instinctive associations.