
Mothers’ brains show similar responses to her baby and her dog - Libertatea
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/10/mothers-brains-show-similar-responses-to-her-baby-and-her-dog/
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smokey_the_bear
I have two dogs, that we've had for 6 and 7 years. I also have a 2 year old
and a baby. I don't love the dogs anywhere near as much as I used to, pre-
baby.

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GuiA
I dated a girl a while back whose older sister + her husband had a dog. They
loved her, played with her every day, walked her every weekend, etc.

Then they had two kids. Now the dog is locked out in a cage in the yard of
which it rarely gets out, and its sole human contact is getting fed twice a
day and maybe fetching a ball 20 minutes then and now. It's really sad.

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AdmiralAsshat
The results of the study shouldn't be surprising. The traits which we breed
for in our domesticated pets--big eyes, round forehead, pudgy cheeks--these
are traits that make them look "cute," but many of them (sans things like
fluffiness) ultimately make them resemble babies. That's why we find them
cute. To boot, we breed them to be tinier, more docile, and more affectionate
towards us.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny)

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ubercore
I believe those features arise as a side-effect of domestication, they're not
the actual goal of domestication. In the silver fox experiment, things like
floppy ears arose without being specifically selected for.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox)

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dazmax
I wouldn't say floppy ears and mottled fur are baby-like.

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thret
This is why if you accidentally injure or kill (say with your car) a cat or a
dog, you need to treat the situation as though it is a child. The legal
ramifications are wildly different but the emotional hurt you have caused a
family is at least similar and should be handled with respect and compassion.

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sunjain
I have 6 yr old and a dog. Dog i've had for little more than a yr. There is a
running joke in the house that - if there is a fire in the house, and I can
only save one - I will save dog first and then kid. I think it has to do with
innocence..kids have that pure innocence(at least until they are 6/7 yrs old),
and dogs the same...there is no hidden motives, no long term agenda...they are
just interested in play... interested in whatever is going on in the moment.
And this is what attracts us.

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pawn
I have a 3 year old niece who plots my demise not unlike Stewey from Family
Guy. She's so much more ornery than her older brother and sister are/were.

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Xcelerate
I always find it interesting when people say "I love my dog/cat as much as
people love their children!" This always prompts me to ask them "Would you die
for your dog?", in which case the inevitable two second hesitation that
follows and horror-struck look on their face answers my question. (Then again,
there's a lot of people that wouldn't die for their kids either...)

I think that people can certainly form emotional connections to pets (I like
cats myself), but biologically, there's a special attachment to humans. I
mean, there's regions of the brain dedicated to specifically differentiating
between human faces.

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ANTSANTS
That "horror-struck look" doesn't mean "I suddenly realized I don't love my
pet as much as I would an actual human child." It means "what the fuck is
wrong with this guy, and how can I stop talking to him as quickly as
possible?"

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Xcelerate
Hmm... I hadn't thought of it that way. But I find it much more horrific that
people are comparing loving animals to children. You don't agree? That's why
my comment is made as a follow-up to theirs.

I mean, we eat cows and pigs, and all sorts of other animals. What makes cats
or dogs particularly special, other than being cuter and perhaps a little more
social? It seems for these people arguing their animals are to be as revered
as human beings are, they would also have to be vegan, which most are not.

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ANTSANTS
You're missing the point. If someone says they love their pet, you just don't
ask that kind of question. It's like showing up at a church with a Dawkins
book; who cares if you're "right," you still look like an asshole.

Or, to be more obvious, it'd be like asking a happily married person if they
really thought they picked the best person or if they just settled for the
best they could get.

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dustyreagan
This is interesting, but I wonder what the results would be if you compared
the dog, and baby, to your best friend. In other words, I wonder if the dog
would have closer matching results to the baby, or the friend.

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yarrel
Dogs are excellent hackers.

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67726e
On the internet, no one knows you're a dog...

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ozy23378
Le Reddit army has arrived! xD

