Post a picture of a cat!

[sleemanj]

All these cat/dog presses buttons, or apes signing, or parrots conversing videos need to be taken with a huge amount of skepticism, namely because the footage which is included is obviously a very small part of footage that is collected, that's how editing works, none of these videos are going to be including a lot of nonsense presses, and the people presenting this work are vested and biased, conciously or subconciously, to want this to work.



Skip to 29 minutes or so for conclusion and discussion, hint: the video title isn't really the truth.

It's nice to think that you can setup some buttons and teach your pet to communicate with you, but it's very easy to fool yourself into thinking they are when in fact, they are just being conditioned "hit a button and something happens".

[Nominal Animal]

videos need to be taken with a huge amount of skepticism

Sure, it's just video clips showing things the human authors want to show to others.

However, that entire argument (that animals do not have 'language', and simply associate the button or gesture with an action), is complete and utter bullshit.  Using the same logic and reasoning, I can 'prove' that I am the only sentient being in the universe, and everybody else is just an automaton reacting to my behaviour.  You could make the exact same video you linked to about Stephen Hawking, and claim that he was in a passive vegetative state, with his personal assistants actually controlling the speech synthesizer and his correspondence with others.

(To be honest, I do believe that majority of humans are amazingly stupid, and often wonder how individuals have managed to grow into adulthood with so little intelligence, seemingly completely unable to hold a rational thought or apply any kind of logic.)

I have interacted with animals, including wild animals, in ways that have proven to me that two-way communication does occur.  I don't care about the silly argument about whether that communication is language or not, because it is irrelevant: it is like arguing whether apples are red or green, or whether strawberries are vegetables or fruit.  I'm not interested in any philosophical discussion wrt. communication or language, because the two-way communication I've observed and participated in, is practical and functional.

What fascinates me about Billi the cat, is that I cannot read her expressions at all.  To me, she looks blank: I get nothing at all.  (Don't read much into the tail movement, as it does vary from cat to cat, and does not always indicate anything.  The original box cat Maru (mugumogu on youtube) is an excellent example.)
Thus, any kind of communication that occurs –– even if it is just a few minutes a week, among "noise"! –– is extremely interesting to me.

If it bothers you, consider it self-introspection on my part.  Perhaps I am only interested in these videos, because they tell me more about myself.

[Carel]

(To be honest, I do believe that majority of humans are amazingly stupid, and often wonder how individuals have managed to grow into adulthood with so little intelligence, seemingly completely unable to hold a rational thought or apply any kind of logic.)

I would like to change this into: "All people are stupid in different ways, myself included". From there we can go to the increase in stupidity through electronic media in general.

So, if I see Billy and its like circus acts, I think: Can we please spare the animals this? Just respect them as they are and meet them halfway the bridge to understand each other. They try. we try, it's life, but please without batteries.

[BU508A]

Got this week this nice t-shirt:

[xrunner]

Where can I get one?

Got this week this nice t-shirt:

[JohnnyMalaria]

Those videos of Billi (?) "speaking" by tapping buttons are idiotic.

Looking at one of them through my lens of having lived with cats for half my life tells me this:

The cat is saying (quite forcibly at times with his tail): For god's sake woman, just give me the goddam food.

Seriously, he does not seem to be enjoying any of it. Again, based on the dozen or so cats I've lived with.

[BU508A]

Where can I get one?

Got this week this nice t-shirt:

Got it from qwertee, but unfortunately they are sold out.

[sleemanj]

However, that entire argument ...

Language is more than isolated tokens (words, buttons, signs),  language is composing and articulating arbitrary thoughts from multiple tokens in ways which have not been pre-trained, that is to say, it requires forming new sentances to impart ideas.

Average people do this with speach, Steven Hawking did this by assembling sentances on a computer screen, sign language speakers do this with physical expressions, authors do this with writing, but no species other than humans has been so far convincingly shown to do this to an unbiased observer who is presented a complete an uncurated account of all interactions. 

Anyway we are very off topic now.  But here is a picture of  4.9 cats, only the little black one front right remains now



Scully is somewhere over 20 years old now, as evidence by the days of CRTs, ancient Epsons, and what looks to be my Windowmaker era.

[Nominal Animal]

Anyway we are very off topic now.  But here is a picture of  4.9 cats, only the little black one front right remains now

Righty-o.  What matters, is that these critters make our lives more interesting.  Hopefully we reciprocate somehow.  Give Scully a chin scritch from me, please.

[Carel]

Not exactly a picture of a cat, but a graphical representation of the FDX-B petchip RFID protocol. Project redundancy.

[Neper]

Please note:

We shoot every third person posting links to 'funniest animals' videos on Youtube. Two have already been here, today.

[Carel]

Another merge in the scene photo. It seems they know it. The black one in the background rests in the shadows or disappears completely in the bushes. The red one prefers grass, plants and reed. He is fascinated by the wildlife in the water, he also likes wildlife documentaries on TV.

[Bud]

He is fascinated by the wildlife in the water, he also likes wildlife documentaries on TV.

Speaking of which, mine has no any interest in TV images...Also, i noticed she does not react in any way to cat sounds/calls/screams coming out from TV - i wonder if some part of "cat messaging" sound spectrum is getting cut off or distorted because of compression, etc. Any guesses?

[Carel]

Speaking of which, mine has no any interest in TV images...Also, i noticed she does not react in any way to cat sounds/calls/screams coming out from TV - i wonder if some part of "cat messaging" sound spectrum is getting cut off or distorted because of compression, etc. Any guesses?

Your cat is further in development, he doesn't take the TV serious. My cats know for sure there is trouble outside, so they hide or go looking through the windows. I always mute catfights.

[Tom45]

Another theory of cat communication:

[Cubdriver]

I have one that can, and does!



-Pat

[BU508A]

Faraday is such a beautiful cat. Sure, that you want to keep her? I would take her instantly. 

[capt bullshot]

Faraday is such a beautiful cat. Sure, that you want to keep her? I would take her instantly. 

It's not the matter if you'd take the cat, but rather if the cat would take you

[BU508A]

Faraday is such a beautiful cat. Sure, that you want to keep her? I would take her instantly. 

It's not the matter if you'd take the cat, but rather if the cat would take you

Hahahaha, so true! 

[Cubdriver]

Faraday is such a beautiful cat. Sure, that you want to keep her? I would take her instantly. 

It's not the matter if you'd take the cat, but rather if the cat would take you

Hahahaha, so true! 

LOL - I think he rather likes it here, but it's good to know he has an option should the need arise!

I'm pretty sure his inclination to verbosity comes from being half Siamese.




-Pat

[jonovid]

cat's tongue is a hair comb just look at the mat of teeth on the cat's tongue, for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle,
ends up as swallowed hairballs or fur ball  some hair stays in the stomach that cat's must vomit up.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/kqed-deep-look-cats-tongue-sandpaper
my cat is a longhair

[Cubdriver]

cat's tongue is a hair comb just look at the mat of teeth on the cat's tongue, for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle,
ends up as swallowed hairballs or fur ball  some hair stays in the stomach that cat's must vomit up.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/kqed-deep-look-cats-tongue-sandpaper
my cat is a longhair

Yeah, that pic certainly caught the texture of his tongue.  Piglet here is great for horking up hairballs; I got to clean one of them up this morning.  Always a joy!!  And she's a shorthair!  You have my sympathies on hairballs!   





-Pat

[Cerebus]

cat's tongue is a hair comb just look at the mat of teeth on the cat's tongue, for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle,
ends up as swallowed hairballs or fur ball  some hair stays in the stomach that cat's must vomit up.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/kqed-deep-look-cats-tongue-sandpaper
my cat is a longhair

Other animals that groom themselves by licking make do without the sandpaper tongue. Most biologists explanation for the cat's tongue is that it is adapted for rasping meat from bones. Anyone who has been licked repeatedly in the same place by a cat can attest that this seems like a highly plausible explanation. It's just a happy accident that it makes a good comb too.

So next time that you think your cat is being cute trying to groom you, consider instead that it is just taking a quick meat sample so see if you're ready to eat! 

[Black Phoenix]

Probably this was already post here but:

[timenutgoblin]

Probably this was already post here but:

I haven't seen that meme before until now.