this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Cats don’t need to ask questions about the world because they are scientists and will figure it out for themselves if they don’t get shown the answers. They know where the snacks come from, at least in regards to their own world, that’s why they come running when they hear the package.

They knock stuff over to see what happens. They meow for treats to see what happens. They sit on your face to wake you up to see what happens. They get into things just to see what’s in them.

And when the result is something they want, they try it again to see if the result is consistent. Reproducible.

That’s why the best way to get a cat to stop doing something they do to you is to ignore them. They meow to wake you up for food? They do that because it’s been working. Stop responding, and the behavior will also stop.

[–] Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 0 points 2 hours ago

What you are doing is anthropomorphizing an animal's behavior and ascribing intent behind the action without having any substantial basis for that claim.

Cats are intelligent, yes, but what you have described is completely devoid of any understanding of animal behavior or psychology.

[–] yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

It’s not that cats can’t ask questions. It’s that they can’t ask abstract questions. That’s quite different.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 5 points 7 hours ago

They can, but they don't know how to dumb it down enough for their minions to understand.