Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

I have found quite an interesting article here arguing that some animals (and dolphins, of course, are among them) show parallels with human meta-cognition. Which essentially means that some animals can think like we do: can “reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind.” And that all sounds very fancy, but I’ve believed that animals share such similarities with us for a great many years, now.

I find the subject of animal consciousness is an interesting one. People are generally quite quick to assume that animals don’t think like we do, don’t think things through. Although dolphins have always had this shadow of intelligence hanging over them, not many other animals get respect in the brains department.

Mostly I’m interested in it, because every day, my dog shows me something that not only demonstrates her intelligence, but demonstrates it in a way that proves she can reflect upon her state of mind, and even attempt to regulate it. She is ruled by her stomach; she eats non-stop, and would probably eat herself to death if given half a chance. But she does try, in a grumbling, groaning, disgruntled sort of way, to think of other things, when you tell her it’s not time for dinner yet. Perhaps she’s thinking of some sort of dog holiday, out in the sun, or perhaps it’s something else, but she tries to do something to forget about her hunger.

Similarly, she communicates everything to you. She uses her eyes, she tries to speak to you. She’s a very communicative dog. And certainly when she’s feeling ill, she will come and tell you so. She walks around, uncomfortable, whinging quietly, and when she tries to settle, you can see by her facial expressions that she’s not very happy at all. Is this not reflecting on her state of mind? I think it is.

Dolphins are not the only intelligent animals out there.

It’s late, my dog’s asleep on the next sofa, and I’m writing away with a film on in the background. I’m sort of half listening and watching, and half writing. And I’m getting strangely drawn into it, too. It’s called Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, which makes it all the more unexpected. I suppose it comes at a time when I’m analysing the conventions of a story, and what makes a good story, and what makes a bad one.

All the traditional conventions of a rom-com are alive and well with this one.

I also stumbled across an article a little bit earlier, and it was strange enough to share. A curious beastie has washed up on the shores of Allonby Beach. The pictures look like a strange mix of octopus and sea shells – it’s a big tangle of slippery looking tentacles. Although it looks like some sort of face-sucking alien, it is apparently goose barnacles.

Just when I thought the news was becoming stale…

After browsing through a few news articles, it seemed only fitting to go with what was becoming quite a dominant subject: animals and ladybirds. On the animal front, there are apparently wild hamsters that live around Strasbourg, and the French government are failing to look after them. I must admit that I never even knew there were hamsters in the wild, although they’re certainly rare: these ones are the only wild hamsters in Europe. Rather wonderfully, they are called The Great Hamster of Alsace, and they appear to live up to their name, often growing up to 10 inches long. As well as being bigger than their cousins, they are also considered much prettier – but not pretty enough, it seems. The French government are being fined quite heftily, in a move that the European Commission “hope” will convince them to take better care of the creatures in the future.

I can’t help but find the wording of the article amusing. The government are described as being “like a seven-year-old child”, facing punishment after mistreating a pet. But the fine is £14.5 million – which is more than just a slap on the wrist. To “hope” it will be enough to encourage them in the future just doesn’t seem appropriate. I know if I suddenly got charged £15 million for not looking after a hamster or two, I’d be inclined to act – and act quite quickly. Hoping simply wouldn’t come into it.

Contrasting this is a story where the government is looking to kill, rather than preserve. Kill ladybirds, to be precise. Apparently one particular breed is a danger to 1,000 species, so in order to counteract the problem scientists have decided to make them infertile. As a way of getting rid of things, I can’t imagine a much more horrible way than infertility. If giant scientists came along and decided to do that to us, things would not be peachy. It would be a slow, haunting death for any race.

I just thought the contrast was quite interesting…

Looking at the weather today, which was both beautiful and frightening in its savagery, the word Biblical came to mind. It was pleasant enough in the morning. My dog and I were even sunbathing at one stage. But then it started clouding over…

And as the day progressed, it became more than simply cloudy. It was a uniform greyness, menacing and promising rain by the bucket load. Thunder rumbled and our house shook. The roads in the surrounding villages began to flood, too; becaming one-way where they otherwise wouldn’t have been as cars tried to drive around vast, rippling lakes. In one area there was even snow. It felt like the beginnings of The Day After Tomorrow.
It was only when the thunder subsided that the lightning came. But oh my, did it come. It lit up the sky for hours on end; there was quite literally a steady stream of it all across the horizon and everywhere in close proximity as well. It was easy to see why people in ages past believed in Zeus, the great thunderer.

It was a spectacle; beautiful to see. Yet, at the same time, it felt dangerous. It was quite frightening in a way – certainly, I’ve never seen anything like it before. The news stories have already started coming in. Rather horribly, sixteen cows have died after being struck by the lighting. It serves as a reminder of just how dangerous the weather can be.

Anything to do with travel, and my parents have been only to keen to find it, read it, digest it. They showed me this, which is a collection of travel blogs, and blogs on news and anything travel-related.

It seems that, quite recently, there was something on there that mentioned the Philippines, because after reading it, they mentioned looking into property there. I think it was light-hearted; not too seriously considered. However, from the looks of it, there is plenty on offer there. My dad especially likes his birds and wildlife, so the chance to see a Philippine Eagle would be something special; but even so, that’s the sort of thing you can do on holidays. You don’t need to look at property for sale in the Philippines in order to experience some of the magic on offer there.

The thing that worries me about it is the unavoidable danger of living in these places: just recently, there was quite large earthquake, with an aftershock that rumbled throughout the Philippines. I’m sure it would be tempting to use it as a holiday destination, and if they did get a house over there then perhaps they could rent it out through the year, and keep it as an option for themselves when they fancied a trip to warmer climes – but I’m certainly hoping it was proposed more in jest than seriousness, because it is a bit of a different beast to France.

You don’t often hear of earthquakes rattling the vineyards over there.