Poll: do animals feel love?

[neoontime]

In my biology class we eventually got off topic and started talking about animals and their emotions. My science teacher classified that animals feel bonds rather than love in a sense that they only form relationships in order to get something out of it. What do you think escapist.

P.S. I checked and found no direct polls or threads to this through page 4

 

[robert022614]

umm i said maybe but it seems it went with only some so...ok

 

[OmegaXzors]

Well, my gerbils (one male, one female) cuddle, sleep on top of each other, lick each other clean, and have a facial expression as if they're in constant ecstasy. I'd say feel something.

Of course, "LOVE" is debatable. Because a lot of people think that homosexuals can never love.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Well, when my dog stares into my soul and licks my face I think that is love. He could leave at anytime, he's smart enough to get his own food but he hangs out with me because he loves to. But I'm not going to debate about it. If "Science" says they are incapable of love, so be it but I know the truth.

 

[flamingjimmy]

Definitely not in the way we understand the term, perhaps in some sort of less meaningful way, it's not like love is some absolute state anyway, there are many varying degrees.

People can anthropomorphise their pets all they want but there's no way anyone's dog feels the same emotion I do for my girlfriend.

 

[Marter]

I'll say yes, but only the more intelligent ones. I think that Dolphins, Horses, Cats, Dogs, etc feel emotions do a certain extent, just not to the extent that humans do.

 

[GeckaWeot]

Animals, all of them, have some sort of bond, I agree with that, but some animals, especially the domesticated variety, have to have more than some dime-a-dozen "bond" to their name. Dogs come first to mind, overtly and sometimes stupidly loyal to their owners, cats to a secondary degree, the little narcoleptic demons.

 

[Mykonos]

So damn cute, hard to not love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ycejyi2t4A&feature=related

 

[DefunctTheory]

They feel chemical love. Most animals lack the emotional attachment we know as 'love.'

 

[Insanum]

well it depends, Love is usually a combination of emotions, I personally see it as a feeling of devotion, lust, care, friendship (in itself a large collection of catagories) as well as other things.

I have no doubt animals feel the same way. Survival is an instinct the average citizen of the west doesnt come across, but yet you have a need to protect your children...How is that love for your children any different to that of a squirrel protecting its young?

 

[Angry Caterpillar]

I'd like to think my dog loves me. On the other hand, how much he 'loves' me tends to be in direct comparison to how much I've fed him recently. Besides, you can't know an animal loves any more than you can know which religion is true. Proof can't be presented.

 

[Gigaguy64]

Depends on how you use the word love.


I believe that some animals can feel emotions and therefor a kind of love, mostly domesticated breeds and animals with a higher intelligence than most.

But most animals just feel a natural attraction to one another that cant really be classified as love.

 

[Avaholic03]

You'll have to define "love" first. Dependency? Attachment? Physical Attraction?

Sure, animals feel many things humans might call "love", but it's impossible to prove that they are capable of loving, or if it's just how we perceive their outward expressions.

 

[neoontime]

I dunno about love, but... the animals don't really feel pain, THEY JUST GET USED TO IT.

I like to think they do, anyway. Whenever my cat jumps onto my lap and claws affectionately at my groinal area, I like to think there's some love involved.

that and maybe the warmth of your loins

 

[neoontime]

well it depends, Love is usually a combination of emotions, I personally see it as a feeling of devotion, lust, care, friendship (in itself a large collection of catagories) as well as other things.

I have no doubt animals feel the same way. Survival is an instinct the average citizen of the west doesnt come across, but yet you have a need to protect your children...How is that love for your children any different to that of a squirrel protecting its young?

Well we learned that the squirrel only protects its young in order to keep its genes going, i mean if one dies to them there will always be another mating season

 

[Grounogeos]

I refuse to believe that human beings are the only creatures capable of feeling emotions (or that emotions are caused by things in the body, for that matter, but that's getting off-topic...).

 

[Insanum]

well it depends, Love is usually a combination of emotions, I personally see it as a feeling of devotion, lust, care, friendship (in itself a large collection of catagories) as well as other things.

I have no doubt animals feel the same way. Survival is an instinct the average citizen of the west doesnt come across, but yet you have a need to protect your children...How is that love for your children any different to that of a squirrel protecting its young?

Well we learned that the squirrel only protects its young in order to keep its genes going, i mean if one dies to them there will always be another mating season

But have you seen a human mother protect her child? Its the same principle. People save children first because of the same reason, 'cept the say its "love" if its human.

 

[Darth Caelum]

Not in our conventional sense, if they feel love at all.
Love implies that you must be Completely Self Aware. Animals, in my humble opinion, are not considered self-aware so they can't really feel the kind of love we feel. Perhaps a level or two below our's?

 

[ROBO_LEADER]

The portion of your brain that allows for emotional connections is present in most animals. In a dog, for instance, it makes up about 7% of their brain. So yes, they probably can.