Quote Originally Posted by darkangel View Post
Yeah but don't you see the difference here?? We have the capacity to "overanalyze". A snake does what its genes tell him, and is never educated by anything but what its instincts govern. We're having a discussion about an abstract concept right now. My snake is probably lounging in his own poo with tumbleweeds sailing thru his little brain.
Yes, I see the difference. Though I am not sure in the big scheme of things it really does make a difference, we do the same things animals do we just have wordier justifications for those things.

I guess I just get a bit sensitive when people start saying "intellect" is what matters, or diminishing the unknown experiences of other beings. I am not saying you are diminishing anything, it is not directed at you, but when one can intellectualize that the "other" has no feelings or higher thought it can justify lots of bad things. For me it is not about how snakes perceive things, but about how people do; I don't stress over what snakes might do. : )