Proof that fish "enjoy" <--that is an emotion, our contact and love.
Hope the link works:headbang2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcWvCrPru18
Hope the link works:headbang2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcWvCrPru18
Do fish have feelings?
- Thread starter lilmermaid
- Start date
For the sake of argument, you can't really prove any thought process or motivation from a single behavior. You could hand feed a docile fish for long enough and in the right manner as to make it welcome human hand contact.
I'm also not convinced that the fish loves the hand contact, it swims toward the appendage as often as it swims away from it. The other fish seem to be looking for food in the hand as their mouths open and close like with feeding behavior. Does anyone else notice this?
To further be the skeptical ***, this fish seems to be of the goldfish variety, and although I may be fairly ignorant to intricacies of the species, it is of my understanding that they are not the most smart or agile of fish.
I'm also not convinced that the fish loves the hand contact, it swims toward the appendage as often as it swims away from it. The other fish seem to be looking for food in the hand as their mouths open and close like with feeding behavior. Does anyone else notice this?
To further be the skeptical ***, this fish seems to be of the goldfish variety, and although I may be fairly ignorant to intricacies of the species, it is of my understanding that they are not the most smart or agile of fish.
the other day i was cleaning my gravel and bumped into one of my rams.. he in a low tone said "OWWWWWWWW" .. so i guess they do have feelings.. :lipssealedsmilie:
Goldfish not smart?!
http://www.fish-school.com/
Yeah that may 'just' be conditioning with food, but isn't that what intelligence is - problem solving for the sake of necessity or want? We aren't talking about scientific reasoning, that is pretty much a western thing.
I guess it is like Nagel's Bat... the philosopher questioned "What is it like to be a bat" and subjectivity basically leads to the idea that the only possible way one may know what it is like to be a bat, is to be a bat
I think based solely on territorial behaviour, sexual and courtship behaviour, mooching for food, etc., it is easy to deduce that fish are intelligent and have emotion...
Dictionary.com says...
Emotion: .any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.
They definitely feel fear and potentially hate, or at least jealousy/disliking. And these are definitely accompanied by certain physiological changes - ever see a fish get scared
I'm sure everyone with an aquarium has thought about how their fish perceive them... fun stuff What makes fishkeeping such a noble hobby, in my mind anyways, is that we spend all this time, effort, and love taking care of something that doesn't give us anything in return but living a healthy life and being there for us to observe.
http://www.fish-school.com/
Yeah that may 'just' be conditioning with food, but isn't that what intelligence is - problem solving for the sake of necessity or want? We aren't talking about scientific reasoning, that is pretty much a western thing.
I guess it is like Nagel's Bat... the philosopher questioned "What is it like to be a bat" and subjectivity basically leads to the idea that the only possible way one may know what it is like to be a bat, is to be a bat
I think based solely on territorial behaviour, sexual and courtship behaviour, mooching for food, etc., it is easy to deduce that fish are intelligent and have emotion...
Dictionary.com says...
Emotion: .any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.
They definitely feel fear and potentially hate, or at least jealousy/disliking. And these are definitely accompanied by certain physiological changes - ever see a fish get scared
I'm sure everyone with an aquarium has thought about how their fish perceive them... fun stuff
What makes fishkeeping such a noble hobby, in my mind anyways, is that we spend all this time, effort, and love taking care of something that doesn't give us anything in return but living a healthy life and being there for us to observe.
I would like to believe my fish have emotions, my oscars seem to at least. I have two that seem to snuggle each other and it looks like Love to me 
I have a stripped rafel <sp?> catfish who I swear loves to play with my panda cory cats and also my adf's. Of course sometimes when I watch my cichlid tank I swear they look bored or depressed and I just want to run and set them free but since I can't do that, I just hope they are happy that they are living with someone who loves them and tries their hardest to make their lives as happy as can be.
I have a stripped rafel <sp?> catfish who I swear loves to play with my panda cory cats and also my adf's. Of course sometimes when I watch my cichlid tank I swear they look bored or depressed and I just want to run and set them free but since I can't do that, I just hope they are happy that they are living with someone who loves them and tries their hardest to make their lives as happy as can be.
I believe fish have feelings, aswell as smarts. Observing them in the wild shows how smart alot of them are. As for emotions, I guess it really depends on what each person perceives to be emotion. I have fish that appear to get sad when they're put in a QT on their own. Also, all fish show fear, isn't that an emotion? It just really depends on what you think is emotion or not. We all know that fish are smart, maybe not the smartest, but they have the ability to learn. I have a female betta and an angelfish that I taught to play tug-o-war (no joke) Started using small earthworms, but they always came in half. So used a few bits of string, took a while, but they got the idea... eventually.
do fish have feelings!
I do not want to appear rude , but some of my fish seem to show more feelings them some people I've met. Try riding the bus once in awhile and you will see what i'm talking about! rude,snotty,no emotions!zombie like!:lipssealedsmilie:
DISCLAIMER: If this sounds like a pesonal decription well that's pretty scary. I'm not talking about you!:liar:
I do not want to appear rude , but some of my fish seem to show more feelings them some people I've met. Try riding the bus once in awhile and you will see what i'm talking about! rude,snotty,no emotions!zombie like!:lipssealedsmilie:
DISCLAIMER: If this sounds like a pesonal decription well that's pretty scary. I'm not talking about you!:liar:
I punched one of my corys in the face, he didn't seem to like it much and wouldn't talk to me again for a week, no matter how much I apologized. We are cool now. Boys will be boys.
