Sounds and Gestures

I once lived with a cat. It may sound like something out of a fairy tale, but we talked with each other every day. For two males to eat, sleep, play, and quarrel together, there was no way around having conversations. Of course, we didn’t talk using the Korean language. Yet we were able to share what was on each other’s minds. This was thanks to a mutual, earnest eagerness to communicate.

Once you’ve had an experience like this, the claim that animals have no sense of self becomes laughable. There’s no need to overthink it. Each animal has its own perspective on itself and on the world. So do cats, elephants, wolves, and orcas. Even insects, which may seem like lowly creatures, empathize with one another’s pain.

If a sense of self is not a trait unique to humans, does that mean nothing remains that makes humans special? Of course not. On the contrary, the very phenomenon in which claims of the sort that humans are superior to other species overwhelm reality is precisely what makes humans special. Animals other than humans, by contrast, appear without exception to be extreme realists. They accept the reality given to them. Humans, on the other hand, confuse phenomena with claims. This trait of humans is not a matter of right or wrong. It is simply an endlessly human characteristic.

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