Are shame, guilt, and love exclusively human emotions, or do other animals experience them too?

Answer 1

Everyone generally acknowledges that animals feel fear ...so take it further, why wouldn't they experience other emotions as well? We are conditioned from a early age to differentiate the meat that we are eating to the animals we see in the farm, zoo, park etc. But if people actually stopped and thought for one minute, about the certain fear-other emotions possibility theory, they would almost certainly become vegetarian. There is a huge industry that is certainly not going to promote the possibilty that animals have emotions. Once you realise that animals do in fact feel, it changes everything. Not to sound all evangelical, but the closest way I can describe the feeling is - it's a Matrix moment .

Answer 2

I think that animals feel shame, guilt and love and they also feel scared or sad. These emotions are not exclusively human. Sometimes animals are more kind to their babies than humans. Animals can be tender and friendly.

Answer 3

Anyone who has owned a dog or a cat would certainly know that animals are totally capable of feeling guilt and shame when they know that they have done something wrong. Animals are certainly capable of expressing love... unconditional love which many humans seem totally incapable of expressing. They are also capable of expressing loyalty, as well as sadness and loneliness; fear or courage; joy and happiness... and if they are capable of expressing those attributes, then they are also capable of feeling them, too.

Apparently, many other animals are capable of expressing compassion and concern, as exemplified in this article that was published in Yahoo news today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060808/sc_afp/sciencebritainanimals

Answer 4

Did you ever house train a puppy? They look so guilty when they've messed in the house. You can tell when you need to go clean it up. It's not the same look they give you when you do find it and ask them what it is....they bow their heads, tuck their tails. It looks like they are feeling ashamed.
My children and I have pondered whether our puppies have the capacity to like or dislike memebers of the family. I think it depends on who has the food.

Answer 5

Kindly use descriptive definitions to enable me give u appropriate answers.
To some people the term love means to have sex with anything that has a vagina.
They end up using the statement "when we were making love".

You amaze me when you say some people have shame.
If they have shame they won't have sex with dogs. So you see your question is grossly ambiguous.

Answer 6

Yes,I believe they do in their own animalistic ways they also experience those emotions.They verbally expresses those too and pretty expresses their sentiments in actions.I've watched too much nationational geographic episodes to acknowledge that fact that in a way they do try to relay their message to each other,perhaps not as enhanced as we humans do but they certainly know how to express themselves alright..a language they can only understand and interpret.:-)

Answer 7

Yes. I had to teach my dog to feel guilty in order to potty train her. On the other hand, once I had a cat who must have loved another cat I had, because when he died, she exhibited grieving behavior. I also had another cat who exhibited grief after my husband died (he was her favorite person). When both of them were alive, she acted jealous towards me. I also had a friend whose horses acted jealous if the other got her attention.

Answer 8

Smarter animals like dogs but not fish

Answer 9

they are human because that's what seperates human from animals the only comit is sex. so the human being is an animal+the mind that contains those feelings.

Answer 10

Samuel Clemens said it best:

Man is the only animal who blushes, or has reason to.