Cats Do Control Humans, Study Finds | Hacker News Reader

Cats Do Control Humans, Study Finds

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24 pointsCaptainMorgan11 comments

This is gonna sound strange an probably not a discussion for HN, but I found the study interesting...

I'm a cat person, but I also like dogs - I just don't have the time or space to give them a good home. So, meanwhile I'll suffice with cats. I always make it a point to train my dogs with the utmost respect and obedience, had them most of growing up just like cats, so I usually put in a lot of time training dogs, but we haven't had one in about 4-5 years.

Maybe this study does 'suggest' or show something (I haven't seen the data), but I know my cat doesn't control me. At least anyways, when it comes to food. There are some that I can see where they are trying to manipulate, but heck, what would you do if you were starving? I usually leave food down (dry) all day and night for my present felines, unless it's wet food it doesn't smell, and I only give them wet food when I feel they deserve it (maybe once or twice a week), based on the type of day I've had. And reiterating, I'm a bastard when it comes to discipline, so it makes sense when they give my wife more attention...

They'll cry when they want to get out of a room that I've locked them in for their safety on some occasions, but that's about it - and when that happens, there's no doubt I'm firm and stubborn, so based on the study, my cats don't yet have the cry down for us, lol.. are they stupid? Maybe. The article says that they've only figured out the call for food - nothing else. Funny? definitely. But evil? Some are, the current ones I own are not, but I have had owned troubled cats before, I've also owned troubled dogs before. My local radio show host insinuated from this and other studies that cats are evil; there's another article floating around about whether they're "Little Satans" and if they get the "concept of nukes" to watch out.

http://atheologian.blogspot.com/2009/07/study-suggests-cats-...

LOL

Ultimately, I love animals, and like any good hacker, a cat while typically nocturnal can certainly be a worthwhile companion while hacking away in the wee hours. My advisor when I'm busy at work: http://img194.imageshack.us/i/myadvisor.jpg/

So maybe the topic of hackers owning animals has come up before -- care to share any thoughts on your pets with respect to this article?

Cheers

Since food is always available to your cats, you probably wouldn't have gotten the same cry the study suggests. That cry is just for food and supposedly hits the same frequency as a human babys. So, cats aren't exactly controlling their owners, rather just using that specific purr/cry to make it more likely they'll get food. Now, if we can get some study done on the puppy dog eyes and how we (I) can become immune to that.

Indeed. There's an okay discussion going on at New Scientist, where they talk about how we can liken a human baby to doing the exact same thing - getting what they can (food). So I think we can use a better word than "exploiting" which has negative connotations - it's more based on survival. I must say though that when I put down the wet food, I certainly get a different cry, likely because they like it and I give it to them only when I think it's appropriate (rare) - not when they want it. They do run out of dry food daily or every other day, but they don't call for it, or cry for it... they'll come running when the bag or box is opening, but it's like "aww.. dry food again!? I guess we'll live".

Baby pups at malls or breeding grounds are simply too difficult to ignore. ;)

With both of these species, going back to the Egyptians for cats, and not sure when for dogs, over time they've evolved to be alongside us - and sheesh, we have kennels, animal daycare, grooming, the Wag Hotel in San Fran, and a new airline that is in talks to be only used for our pets?? Isn't it our fault as humans for the "exploitation"? I don't think it should come as a surprise, but the media putting a negative spin on it isn't necessary I think...

I only have anecdotal evidence to back this up but I think dogs and cats are generally as well behaved as their owners force them to. I'm not one to be lax on discipline either and I've never had much of a problem with anyone's pets, even ones that are normally unruly that I have to babysit. They typically learn very fast that the stuff they used to get away with isn't working and they have to be well behaved to get what they want.

Your cat may have tried the baby meow bit in the past, realized it didn't work and moved on.

What will be very interesting is if you have a baby in the future, listen to the cat to see if it starts imitating the baby's cry. If this study's conclusion are in fact correct I imagine it's likely to happen.

The "baby meow" is just an anxiety meow. "Look, I'm a kitten, and I need something Right Now," it says. I don't think it's intentional in the sense that they'll try it and stop using it if it doesn't work (except in the sense that they might stop interacting with you at all if you pay no attention to them, give them no food, etc).

Similar things actually work on babies. That is, if you respond immediately when a baby starts crying it will learn to cry when it needs attention. If you let it cry for a bit, the baby will learn not to do that.

(This is actually not as unethical as I'm making it sound. Basically it has to do with attachment styles and teaching the kid not to be clingy. Generally you do things like this if the baby is waking up and crying at night. Of course, I'm not a parent, so this is just based on what I've read.)

Sorry I couldn't resist:

https://store.theonion.com/kitten-thinks-of-nothing-but-murd...

Obligatory XKCD:

http://xkcd.com/231/

Reddit had this with a less linkbaity headline: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/90s4u/so_you_know_h...

And linked to the new scientist not yahoo.

Certainly Spot had Data well-trained.

(I know I'll probably be down-mud for that, but it'll be worth it.)

After reading this, I heard the most baby-like cat meow coming from outside, but it turned out to actually be a baby.

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