Re:MPs: Octopuses feel pain and need legal protection
by 7952 on Sunday June 20, 2021 @01:07PM
(#27571910)
Anthropomorphism is probably just a result of human capacity for theory of mind. That is the ability to understand mental states in ourselves and others. We can look at the world from the animal hunting us, or the animal we are hunting. That is ridiculously useful, but may misfire sometimes. We think things are exhibiting human properties when we really shouldn't.
I guess it also applies at some level to animals and insects - we can assume they feel some of the basic things as us, but their "understanding" of it might be quite different.