Is there any documented evidence or proof that horses are capable of experiencing romantic love? (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2015-09-02 21:59:03 by [deleted]
Just out of curiosity. It seems like there's nothing to indicate that they can, and it's the main reason why I don't get how people can be romantically attracted to them.
[deleted]
What?? That doesn't mean anything. I could have an orgasm from fucking some random person I picked up at a bar, but that doesn't mean I'm in love with them. It just means that they fucked me good.
They can express a fondness/strong bond with a human, but for the most part I don't think they experience romance the same way we humans do. I actually think it's unhealthy for a horse to be anthropromorphized by a human. That said I do think they are capable of expressing far more emotions than us hairless apes give them credit for. Horses are incredibly intelligent and expressive creatures once you get past their instinctual quirks.
Edit - spelling
I don't think there's substantial evidence that any species at all experiences romance, or even love, in the same way that humans do. Do you have any? It would certainly be enlightening to hear about it.
Also why does a species' capability to romance (or lack thereof) dictate whether they can be loved by a human partner? That doesn't make sense to me.
I just don't see why someone would want to fall in love with something which basically only sees them as a good friend and/or respected leader who gives them sex. It seems like a FWB relationship would be ideal instead.
In short, it's not a matter of whether someone wants to fall in love with someone. People get infatuated all the time without the explicit expectation of equal reciprocation.
Understanding an interspecies sexual relationship as a friends with benefits arrangement (no matter what member of which species you choose to have it with) is a bit more enlightened in my book, but people don't always think that way.
Ultimately, I'm not in a place to tell anyone how much they can love another, no matter who it is or what species they are. That is, unless it starts getting destructive or harmful for one party or another.
What measurable difference would there be if they did, or if they didn't? I mean, what would it really look like — the Clever Hans effect makes is difficult (not impossible, difficult, even with humans) to prove sexual desire, and you're asking about an internal mental state.
probably all boils down to attraction, which is something we can't really control, it would seem (though it also seems it can change over time).
people are attracted to horses. there isn't any need for justification, just as there isn't any need for justification regarding attraction to dogs, big cats, deer, cows, bears, dolphins, etc. etc...
We form complex partnerships that combine many factors from emotional to rational to other aspects of the psyche that we may not even be able to quantify and it will vary from person to person, from couple to couple. As a species WE do not know how to define and classify love, as it exists on such a nuanced, abstract plane of our social lives. How can we possibly hope to understand what kinds of feelings another whole species with an entirely different system of thought and association and cognition may have?
The best we can do is love the way we love, and give love the way others want to receive it, to the best of our abilities by using all communication, cues and clues available to us. This applies to our relationships with anything from humans, to animals to even ourselves.