Compilations:

Animation practice

Bakugou doing what he does

Oh no...

On reptile and invertebrate cognition...

Something that bothers me when people talk about the cognitive limitations of certain animals is that vague, human-centric words get thrown around and treated like Indisputable Science. When really, the definitions attached to those words are really important.

Example 1: “Reptiles don’t feel happiness”

Well, what exactly do you mean by “happiness”? Do you mean the exact combination of cognitive and emotional sensation that constitutes human happiness? Reptiles certainly don’t experience human happiness, but neither do canines or birds (which don’t even experience mammalian happiness), and we don’t usually go around saying that dogs or parrots don’t feel happiness. We understand that dogs and parrots experience a positive emotional state that is similar to human happiness.

Reptiles aren’t as cognitively or emotionally complex as dogs, parrots, or humans, but they still experience pleasure and can form positive associations. Should we call that happiness? Is a positive emotional state, characterized by high levels of pleasure, an absence of pain, and all current needs being adequately met not a primitive version of what we call happiness?

Same with “reptiles don’t feel emotions”. Well, no, they don’t experience anything approaching the intensity of human emotions, as they don’t have big, thinky cortexes to attach meaning to the emotional reactions of their limbic system. But recent studies have shown that reptiles do have a primitive version of the limbic system and even the neocortex (that whole “reptile brain, mammal brain, human brain” theory has been all disproved by recent science).

At the very least reptiles experience the primitive emotions of pleasure and fear. There are even reptiles that mate for life and form social bonds (even to the point of caring for offspring that are not their own) and reptiles do actually have their own version of the hormone oxytocin (it’s so similar that vets can administer oxytocin to eggbound reptiles to make them lay). So there’s likely more emotional complexity there than we currently understand.

Example 2: “Tarantulas can’t learn”

What do you mean by “learn”? Do you mean that you can’t train a tarantula to spin on command? Or do you mean that a tarantula isn’t capable of changing its present behavior based on past experiences?

Pretty much any animal that can encode memories of past experiences can learn. Recent science has shown that even some plants may be able to somehow encode past experiences and become desensitized to repetitive stimuli and they don’t even have brains.

Like most animals, tarantulas will dampen their reaction to repeated stimuli. A tarantula that is regularly picked up will eventually have a less dramatic response to the stimulus of being placed into a hand. That’s a type of learning.

Tarantulas can also learn to associate a particular stimulus with an event that repeatedly comes afterward (like Pavlov’s Dogs). They will very quickly attune to the set of stimuli that occurs right before feeding time or their cage being opened. That’s learning.

Fun Fact: Studies have shown cockroaches can learn this way too and that cockroaches can recognize and show preferences for individual humans. Hissing cockroaches placed in the hands of someone they recognize are less likely to defensively hiss than when placed in the hands of a stranger.

This may seem like a silly thing to be bothered by, but the reality is that the way we talk about animal cognition can have a real, tangible impact on their welfare.

People can jump pretty quickly from “reptiles don’t experience happiness/emotion” to “reptiles can’t experience pain/discomfort”. Which can lead to devaluing the welfare of reptiles or assuming that as long as the animal is alive and not actively ill or injured there’s nothing else to worry about. This kind of thinking is a big part of the major pushback against enrichment in certain reptile keeping circles.

Similarly, enrichment is almost unheard of in most of insect and arachnid keeping despite the fact that there is a growing scientific consensus (and even a handful of studies) that invertebrates can benefit from enrichment. There also aren’t any welfare laws governing experiments on invertebrates (except cephalopods) because they’re largely considered to be akin to instinctual robots and unable to feel pain or discomfort.

As people who know the difference, it is really important to use specific language and explain what we mean when talking about the cognitive capabilities of animals (especially often maligned and misunderstood animals).

The best uncle ever

The space between the tides [CTC]

kacchan realising he doesn’t just think of deku as a rival and a friend. it confuses him, because it’s deku, someone who’s constantly getting under his skin.

it’s nothing like the flowery descriptions he’s always seen and heard of, but he’s not so stupid not to notice that it isn’t normal to suddenly catch yourself with a strong urge to kiss someone who supposedly have platonic feelings for

many people would call him an idiot for not noticing sooner, but the way romance or crushes are normally described just isn’t enough to encompass the gravity of how kacchan feels

it’s hard to notice something that’s been there for a long time

their relationship just isn’t the innocent first love that gives you butterflies. no, the thought of deku doesn’t make him break out into a cold, nervous sweat. it lights him aflame, encourages him to do better than the previous day, to keep those eyes on him

he’s seen the way others behave around the ones they’re attracted to, how they get so tongue tied and flustered, behaving so differently from themselves, and kacchan feels the opposite with deku. with him, kacchan feels the most like himself; in his rawest and most unfiltered form

a lot of what they have is long standing, already established, but deku continues to surprise him. keeps him on his toes, keeps him challenged.

it’s nothing like cherry blossom confessions and puppy love. and because he never had a proper form of comparison, he’s never been able to put a proper word to it.

Digital paintings of a little faun I made for an university project! This was really fun to do and I loved the result.

i just heard someone out in the hallway go “omae wa mo shinderu” and then someone screamed “NO!!!” and there was a loud smack

“don’t say another word…” (based of their fight against all might in the final exams)

midoriya izuku, everybody

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