LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.15 (10) [E]

Lowlands-L lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Mon Aug 15 22:14:14 UTC 2005 

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 15.AUG.2005 (10) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.15 (06) [E]

For Jonny, re his dog and the postman. This is a new explanation of Pavlov's
notion, but this time with the mail instead of the bell as a trigger.
It is amazing how animals as well as we humans ( we are animals too )use any
little bit of inference we can get from the world around us to learn more
about that world in order to "master" it. Met vriendelijke groeten.
Jacqueline

----------

From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.15 (06) [E]

Jonny wrote:
> Why did this tricky animal recognize him to be a postman??? I know her to
be
> very intelligent- but this time there must have been going on any weird
> thing, any communication and signs (and this could be seen as kind of
> connection back to linguism...;-)) I do not understand but jealously have
to
> adore.

Well, I don't think this unusual at all. It's just that your dog likes its
treats and is living in hopes to get a few extras from whoever happened
along... big brown soulful puppy dog eyes possibly being the oldest form of
interspecies communication where humans are involved...

Gabriele Kahn

----------

From: Rikus Kiers <kiersbv at tiscali.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.15 (06) [E]

Dear Johannes,
You wrote about the intelligence of your dog in recognising a postman.
A possible explanation is that the dog simply smells the typical dust which
originates from paper and the bags in which the post on large scale is
transported.
A second explanation is that a postman when he comes always carries post,
most other people don't.
Possibly it is a combination.
When I was a student I used to work as a postman. My friends always smelled
the typical world-wide post-dust, when I worked.
Many years later I became a policy and decisionmaker for the late dutch PTT.
I smellled again who was operational in the postservice. My smell is much
worse than your dog's.
Volgende maol schrief ik je in het drents.
Groeten

Rikus Kiers

----------

From: jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.15 (06) [E]

Beste Reinhard,

looking at my today's posting I sent under 'Animals' I had to find out you
having changed it to 'Interspecies communication'.
I had been dealing with this phenomen in the past, and had been sure it was
my special expression (I called it in G: 'Interspezielle Kommunikation').
Patent infringement, eh ;-)!

But- isn't it fascinating, to have just a short look into an e.g. dog's
'face' and to know wether it's friendly or aggressive? Or to see any archaic
animal as a warane or crocodile and to feel its momentary mood?

Always then I am consciencly about my own and personal originating from the
same process of evolution as all other living beings on our planet- a member
of this universe, not less, not more.

Greutens/Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Interspecies communication

Dear Jonny,

Perhaps I'm no one to consult in this regard, because I may be pretty darn
abnormal in this anthopocentric world of ours -- but I see that I'm not
totally alone in not dividing living creatures up as "humans" vs "animals."
I see humans as a subgroup next to other such subgroups, and I love our
other relatives with much the same passion and compassion, though admittedly
erring on the side of "human" as a human myself.

"Animal communication" is very interesting to me, and that's where the 
really "abnormal" part comes in: I have to confess that I'm a bit of a Dr. 
Doolittle.  ;-)  Let's just say that some people say I "have the gift," like 
horse whisperers do, for instance.  Other folks probably think I'm a bit (or 
more than a bit) cuckoo and will end up as a weird old man that talks to 
rats behind trash cans.

I do nothing weird or magical, merely watch and observe how members of a
given species communicate with each other.  It is easy to tell what a given
call, gesture or demeanor means by observing the reaction to it.  Anyone can
do it, but it requires that you dispense with your attitude of separateness
and superiority as a human, that you respect and honor the species you
observe, that you put yourself into its mental world with no judgment and
with a minimum of anthropomorphizing.  Oh, and you ought not be all that
prissy and self-conscious about your appearance, because some of this
requires seemingly comical sounds and gestures.

For example, I learned that to make wild waterfowl trust you you need to bob 
your head when you approach.  This is what happens in their world, and when 
I do it I can walk among otherwise very skiddish feathered friends.  As soon 
as I start bobbing (which means "I mean no harm" = "Hello there, friends!") 
they resume feeding.  When I was a kid I interacted with our canary as if he 
was a budgerigar (parakeet).  He'd sit on my shoulder or head while I did my 
homework.  I didn't think it was anything special, until people told me that 
it was highly unusual.

In Victoria, British Columbia, I once communed very quietly and gently with 
Charley, the massive tourist cab horse, while my human companions were doing 
human things involving money.  I got Charley into a spot of trouble: he was 
so taken by me that he followed me and dragged the entire cab along the 
sidewalk with him ...

I learned to avoid looking directly at cats, dogs, horses, etc., at least 
when I first meet them.  Our looking at them even affectionately is the same 
as staring in their perception, and that feels threatening to them.  In the 
case of cats I slowly blink my eyes a few times, and immediately they 
welcome me.  (Try it if you haven't already, and watch them do it.)  In 
Santa Barbara, our neighbor had two cats that were scared of everyone, even 
of her, and people called them "totally paranoid." I didn't know about their 
reputation and had long made friends with them by the time I heard about it. 
People laughed in disbelieve when I said I thought they were friendly all 
right, until one day there was some scratching at our door, and when I 
opened, my two new friends were sitting on the doormat asking me to come out 
to play ... and everyone's jaw dropped.

It's nothing special, as I said, just a matter of attitude and observation.
I am sure that this was also the "secret" of St. Francis of Assisi (whose
name is my middle name), many a Sadhu and Bodhisattva and others of their
ilk.  Not that I would think of myself anywhere near their levels, mind you.
I simply love people, which is why I am fascinated by them and their
communication, and I don't stop there.

On the other hand, I don't attribute magical abilities to non-human species. 
In the case of your dog, Jonny, I go with what has been said before.  I am 
convinced that your dog picked up on certain clues, perhaps simply on the 
clue of someone delivering something to you and
on the way you react to it.

In my view, it is no different from watching and listening when I encounter 
people of different cultures and languages.  Dealing with people is just 
easier, because my human form and experience facilitate imitation.  It's 
merely a matter of attitude and willingness, no matter which species you are 
dealing with.

All right, so the language connection is clear here.  But where's the 
Lowlands twist?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

==============================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================

More information about the LOWLANDS-L mailing list