As humans, we gravitate towards living beings that are similar to ourselves. Of course, we also enjoy the presence of differences, but we feel comfortable and safe and understood when we find those beings with which we have things in common.
I believe my kitten is one of the most adorable creatures on the planet. He has gigantic ears, massive eyes, and a tiny little nose. In fact, I think he's cuter than my gorgeous German Shepherd, Lola. Why do I think that Charlie (little kitten) is so cute? Because he resembles a human baby. Humans are attracted to people and animals that resemble babies because of their nurturing instincts. Naturally, we want to care for our young, the young that we once were. Baby features trigger that fatherly and especially motherly response - to care for little versions of ourselves.
Now, I still think that Lola is a pretty awesome dog, and she's pretty as well. She has big brown eyes, pretty sleek hair, and she's usually happy. She's also very athletic and occasionally she can get agitated, though not normally aggressive. Why do I like her so much? Well, I think that she resembles myself. We are attracted to animals that have qualities that we would use to describe ourselves. I think that I have a very similar personality to my dog. As we discussed in class, one of the main reasons that people feel so compelled towards lions is because they are the kings of the jungles - they are big and powerful and rule over all - possibly reflecting some people's conceptions of self.
What about pigs and cows and chickens? I wouldn't necessarily look at them and call them cute, but I also wouldn't look at them and call them ugly. I also can't say I don't have anything in common with a cow, but I can't really name many things that I do. What about fish, like a trout or a halibut? My initial reaction is that I have zero things in common with either of them outside of the fact we all need oxygen to survive. But do I feel drawn to a goldfish? Maybe...it's small and vulnerable. My personal theory, and I know it is the same for some of the people in my class, is that we are more likely to kill and eat animals that are less like ourselves.
When it comes to humans, we are drawn towards people with which we have things in common. In our romantic relationships, generally we are attracted to people that are like ourselves. Jumping to a bit of Freudian theory, we try to find mates that most closely resemble our opposite sex parent. In our friendships, there's usually one or two things that bond us, that make us friends in the first place. People don't often go up to someone randomly walking on the sidewalk and ask if they want to be friends. Also, we love groups - work groups, church groups, sports groups, book groups, etc - which all have common threads.
I think that there are a couple of reasons that humans are drawn to similar humans - we feel that we understand them and can connect with them better since we have things in common.
There is a certain type of person that is usually a result on generic personality tests called "the connector". The connector is a person that remembers everyone they meet, is very outgoing, and is not slow about talking with and connecting with people even in a large group setting. They're the people that many people enjoy knowing because they make you feel special and known. My theory is that we all have at least a little part of us that wants to be those connectors - to be able to relate to all kinds of people. Since not all people can naturally be connectors, we try to be by finding people we think we can connect with because of our similarities. Being with people that resemble ourselves makes us feel comfortable, feel wanted, and understood. Humans are social creatures and we have an innate drive to want to connect with people - and the shyest of us do so by connecting with only the people that make us feel the safest, the ones with which we have the most in common.
Getting back to how this relates to animals - why do we scorn cannibalism? Why do most humans think that is one of the worst offenses? Why does it disgust us so much? Because it is the closest we can get to eating ourselves without physically chewing on our own arms. Why would it be impossible for me to kill my kitten and eat him? Because I think he's adorable - because he resembles myself as a human baby - vulnerable, large features, in need of motherly care. Why would it be impossible for me to kill my dog and eat her? Because she's like me in a lot of ways - as abstract as they may be. Why do I scorn the consumption of lion meat? Because I view lions as having human qualities - king like and powerful rulers (as culturally subjective those connotations may be). Why would it be a little bit easier for me to eat a cow? Eh, not as much in common, or so I think. What about a fish or shellfish? That's pretty easy for me to do - what in the world do I see that reflects myself in a shrimp?
I am, and I think it's safe to say that the majority of humans are, drawn to give life and protect those beings that look like us and possess our qualities (in our opinions - which can differ greatly from culture to culture and person to person), and more apt to disregard the lives of those that don't. Why? Because it goes back to humans' desire to connect, to be wanted, to be understood. I feel slightly more understood by my cat than I do by a rainbow trout. It's also a survival instinct - we want to be with other beings that make us feel safe, with beings that we can predict since we think we know more about them from having similarities. Why would we want to take life away from something that makes us feel validated and protected?
Is this a good phenomenon? Not necessarily. Is this theory a stretch? Maybe, however I think that it's worth thinking about. What if there was an undiscovered breed of chicken that looked a lot more like swans? Would we eat them? What if there was a fish in the oceans the size of shrimp that looked like little dolphins? Would we eat them...? Say the world ran out of all forms of industrialized food to date - what would we eat first? The "cute" and "powerful" animals - or the weak and not as cute ones?
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