Anthropomorphism - Thesis topic

Tash88 said:
Very interesting and a good idea, I'm doing a PhD on the relationship between humans and horses at the moment so have written about anthropomorphism extensively. I'm happy to help and to email you journal articles etc, I'm on my phone now so can't write much but feel free to pm me.
Click to expand...

Wish I'd done a PhD on something like that. May have made me more employable. :/

To the poster who said it's sad that all these "young girls" (people in their 20s?) say they don't need kids because they have a horse: I think you understood that thread in the wrong way. As I recall it, most posters on the thread were not saying they viewed the horse as a child-substitute, but that they preferred the horse to children. I know I do.

I read a lot of 19th century stuff for my PhD, which had nothing to do with animals, but I certainly came across things about dogs and horses while looking for data relevant to my research. People seem to regard horses as work animals, not friends or loving companions. You often encounter the odd scene in 19th century Scottish and English literature where, for instance, a person is beating a horse who has fallen down while pulling a cart from exhaustion and this is treated as pretty normal. I remember seeing in the forward of my edition of Black Beauty that it was one of the first books in Victorian Britain to give horses human consciousness and emotions and appeared in the context of an emerging animal rights movement amongst upper middle class Victorians (it was also connected with the abolition and temperance movement). Black Beauty easily fits into our modern paradigm of animals, but it was revolutionary at the time it was written.

A question that fascinates me engages with developments in the social construction of equine consciousness and emotion. How did we get from Black Beauty as indicative of the beginning of a paradigm shift, to something like The Tao of Equus, which argues that not only are horses thinking, feeling, emotional creatures, but actually have some kind of "higher" consciousness that we (humans) should strive to attain as a method of "self-improvement." I think there's some interesting social and intellectual history there. Beyond anthropomorphism (perhaps that's what I shall title the paper).
 
Caol Ila said:
To the poster who said it's sad that all these "young girls" (people in their 20s?) say they don't need kids because they have a horse: I think you understood that thread in the wrong way. As I recall it, most posters on the thread were not saying they viewed the horse as a child-substitute, but that they preferred the horse to children. I know I do.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I often say I can't have children because of the horses when people ask me when I'm going to start sprogging. I doesn't mean the horses are my babies. It means I make the active choice to have horses over children as I prefer horses.

I say all kinds of nonsense about, and to, my horses. Especially BH. It doesn't actually mean I think he is a person or that he even feels the things I attribute to him. It's just funny to do a silly voice and make him say silly things. :D
 
Well...oh my goodness! Thank you all so much for your replies! Really did not expect all this! I am actually going to have to go back over the thread and re-read! some interesting and very useful points made, all making me think about the topic again!

I haven't actually got it in my head what exactly I want to write about Anthropomorphism to be honest, I just know that it's something that really intrigues me!

My first idea was to develop my own Anthropomoprhic Scale, whereby I would ask participants to complete a survey and then place them on this scale depending on their results. To 'prove' these results I had then suggested that I would ask the participants to show me how they would teach a naive horse/pony to walk over, for example, a water tray. Would the people who I found to be 'more anthropomorphic' be 'nicey nicey' with the horse, ie. coax it over the tray with food etc and would the 'less anthropomorphic' people be more aggressive ie use whips, force etc. However, my tutor said that this would be a contradiction of health and safety policies bla bla..

Maybe my thesis idea was a bit to basic...my preliminary title is; "An investigation in to Anthropomorphism and how this alters people's perceptions of equine behaviour and associated emotions". My tutor hasn't seen this yet so maybe it doesn't even make sense? :/

I would like to fit some kind of experiment or practical test in to the thesis, I find it just makes it more interesting than just analysing surveys, statistics, data etc.

Any more ideas form anybody? You have all been such great help so far :)

I will get back to some of you all privately!

Thanks again,

Carrie
 
I guess it depends on the personality and their needs. Many people seem to pick up these habits from others and if you have an addictive personality maybe this will make you more susceptive to these traits? I think many people will use this behaviour with any animal that can't respond in a more complex way - thinking about it there may be a close correlation to the way people respond to others with disabilities - but then that wouldn't be anthromorphic! Any thoughts on owners with munchausen by proxy and their horses?
 
kerilli said:
I think jealousy and greed go hand in hand. The horse which isn't being petted (and kicks the stable door for attention, say) wants the food (or whatever it thinks the person might be about to give the other horse).

But imho a horse does NOT have a tantrum! ;) ;)
Click to expand...

Jealousy seems quite interesting to me as horses don't always seem to do it over food, I had one who appeared to be very jealous about being worked (horses never got fed when taken out). He could be quite nasty to other horses if you wanted to exercise them before him but was fine if he wasn't worked providing no one else was. He always wasn't very interested in food and would happily share his dinner.
 
It's actually something that fascinates me.

I don't believe I can truly understand a horse's brain any more than I could an alien's.

Yes I appreciate aspects of their behaviour and common traits....but as for how their mind works.....I'm not sure.

I found Andy Beck's e-book on behaviour very enjoyable.

I often wonder at people who believe horses sit plotting against them all day and when they make a move in fear/confusion/pain, "they're trying it on" "he's trying to get one over on me"......

Sounds really paranoid to me and I really don't believe horses plan in advance for more than a minute at a time :confused:
 
Oberon said:
It's actually something that fascinates me.

I often wonder at people who believe horses sit plotting against them all day and when they make a move in fear/confusion/pain, "they're trying it on" "he's trying to get one over on me"......

Sounds really paranoid to me and I really don't believe horses plan in advance for more than a minute at a time :confused:
Click to expand...

I agree, but maybe admit that I may have sometimes said things along those lines at some point! I don't really believe it though, it was maybe thought or said in annoyance or anger and probably more so anger at myself for not being able to understand or teach my horse correctly :( and get the desired result. In fact i would say a lot of people are guilty of this and at times haven't been able to admit that they are the problem, not only in a horsey situation but maybe with work or social situations!
 
Mine are my babies - and not by conscious choice. I do give them emotions but am accepting that they are horses and live in the now and not with higher conscious thought.

I'm trying to think of books!
 
aldato_daz said:
I agree, but maybe admit that I may have sometimes said things along those lines at some point! I don't really believe it though, it was maybe thought or said in annoyance or anger and probably more so anger at myself for not being able to understand or teach my horse correctly :( and get the desired result. In fact i would say a lot of people are guilty of this and at times haven't been able to admit that they are the problem, not only in a horsey situation but maybe with work or social situations!
Click to expand...

Spot on.

I've let loose at my horses for being 'ill mannered' on the odd day....and it always coincides with winter + work + tired + worrying about getting home/walk dog/cook dinner/get to bed early for work tomorrow......I'm getting frustrated and taking it out on them :(

People project their own insecurities onto the horse sometimes.

Did you see the Buck Brannaman film? With the aggressive colt that went for the handler? The female owner hand raised the colt and allowed him to become a monster. Then she divulged she had a ridiculous number of stallions at home - Buck mentioned a psychological reasoning for this when he was dressing her down and making her cry afterwards......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top