Have you ever been called a crazy pet person? Or a crazy cat lady? Well, contrary to the popular belief, it turns out that we are not crazy! Those of us who talk to our pets are actually smart.
Personally, I am a person who talks to my cats all the time. I talk to them about their curfews and safety. I tell them why they cannot go out in the middle of the night and get wet. I tell them why it is better to not sleep on my boyfriend’s mothers’ lap when she visits. Whatever I tell them, I am sure they understand. In fact, all I need is just one meow and I know that we have agreed!
And we are not crazy!! Scientists say that those who actually talk to their pets are intelligent. It’s time to rethink that “crazy cat lady” stereotype non-animal owners use.
This is not limited to talking to animals. There are many among us who talk to ‘non-human things.’ By non-human things I mean the objects that we refer to. For example, many of us yell at our computers hoping that they will start functioning properly; some of us have named our cars and even TVs. And if you belong to either of these categories, there is nothing to worry about. You are absolutely not crazy.
Nicholas Epley is a professor of behavioral science; he is also an expert on anthropomorphism at the University of Chicago. In his Quartz article, he says, (which is about giving non-human objects names and human-like qualities), “For centuries, our willingness to recognize minds in nonhumans has been seen as a kind of stupidity, a childlike tendency toward anthropomorphism and superstition that educated and clear-thinking adults have outgrown.”
He further explains why he thinks this is mistaken and unfortunate, “I think this view is both mistaken and unfortunate. Recognizing the mind of another human being involves the same psychological processes as recognizing a mind in other animals, a god, or even a gadget. It is a reflection of our brain’s greatest ability rather than a sign of our stupidity.”
What he says, in a nutshell, is that being able to read your cat’s tilted head and dog’s tail wagging is a byproduct of being able to read the emotions and intentions of other people. So, those who talk to animals are, in fact, empathetic, sensitive people, not crazy people.
The fact that we see faces in shadows and the belief that our dogs are dreaming of us all stems from our hard-wired skill of recognizing and reading emotions, faces, and intentions.
According to science, talking to your pet is a sign of intelligence, EQ, and sensitivity.
We cannot do anything about those who think that talking to non-human things is crazy, but we can assure one thing; if you talk to your pet and your car, you are not crazy! You are intelligent!
