Saturday, November 20, 2010

Left To Its Uncertain Fate

The familiar behavior of a dog who's been 'temporarily abandoned':



What is going on in a dog's mind, this dog's mind, as it waits?
Does it 'realize' that it is 'waiting'?
Does the conceptual experience 'waiting' not apply?
Does the emotional, instinctual, or physical experience of waiting differ radically from the conceptual experience 'waiting'?

Is the experience one of utter anxiety? This dog certainly appears to be anxious. Yet in a different dog it may seem as though, once its owner takes leave, there is no immediate worry or afterthought-- it simply reacts to whatever happens or comes along, e.g. other people, other animals, passing cars, a sudden itch and immediate scratch, until that time its owner reappears and life as it was is resumed.


SELECTED TRANSCRIPT
Person 1: Oooh! Who are you! Are you shy?
Person 2: He's shy
Person 1: You're gonna bite me... I know that look
Person 3: That's not a biting look
Person 2: He's shy