Recently my Mom wanted to attend some lectures held by the parish, but she didn’t want to go alone.  I agreed to go with her to keep her company.

One particularly…odd?  bizarre?  frustrating?…lecture series was on The Theology of the Body – a collection of talks given by the late Pope John Paul II.  I could probably fill a month’s worth of posts about all of the “Huh?” moments I had, but this particular item stood out to several people who were there.

In the talks, Fr. Man-Bun told everyone that animals have no inner lives. That they don’t think.  That they can’t understand symbols or representations.  I couldn’t help but think, “Has this man never met an animal before?”  Shortly before this talk, I happened to read an article about what has been termed “Dog Sudoku” which resembles video games for dogs.  (Click here to read more about Dog Sudoku.)  Pups love these things!

I’ve watched my boys lost in thought or studying photos.  I’ve seen pups rat on a sibling who gets in trouble.  I’ve seen dogs move chairs around in order to climb up on to reach something the want.  I’ve even known dogs who loved to hide and then jump out and scare whoever was walking past.  In these I see planning and thinking and even tool use.

And what about crows?!?  Have you ever seen a documentary about how intelligent they are?  Researchers have identified a vocabulary of nearly 300 words in crow.  The birds can plan 5 steps ahead in solving a problem.  They can pass information to at least two generations of offspring.  Just because someone hasn’t thought to look for inner lives in other species doesn’t mean they don’t have them.

Sorry, Father Man-Bun.  I simply cannot agree.

Seriously, is there any doubt about what these two are thinking?

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