UNBOUNDED: Jane Goodall saw nature as a spiritual sanctuary
UNBOUNDED: Jane Goodall saw nature as a spiritual sanctuary
When asked whether she identified with a particular faith tradition, Jane Goodall smiled impishly and replied, “Is the forest not a cathedral? For me, it is, with its canopies of trees and beautiful lights.” For her, the sacred was not confined to ritual spaces; it was alive in root and branch, in the luminous weave of life itself. That was Jane Goodall’s genius: an eloquence that dissolved boundaries between science and spirit, between human and animal, between nature as backdrop and nature as sanctuary… It was the summer of 2000, at the United Nations’ World Peace Summit of Religious and […]
STUDY: Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats
STUDY: Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats
The study suggests that over 20 species of birds from all around the world that are separated by over 50 million years of evolution use the same call when they see their respective brood parasite species. However, past work has shown that birds that have never seen a cuckoo do not produce this call, but they do after watching others produce it when there is a cuckoo nearby. In other words, while the response to the call is instinctive, producing the call itself is learned. Language enables us to connect with each other and coordinate to achieve incredible feats. Our […]
The ‘Bambi’ Effect: The many downsides of ‘babifying’ cute animals
The ‘Bambi’ Effect: The many downsides of ‘babifying’ cute animals
“Cute” is not neutral. Big eyes, round faces, bobble-headed proportions trigger caretaking impulses and lower our guard. Once an animal is framed as a baby, interference feels like love and access feels like care. That framing travels: It softens wildlife encounters, justifies “hands-on” selfies, and underwrites a pet market that literally breeds infant-like traits into adult dogs at real welfare costs. That visibility normalizes ownership and contact; it becomes an alibi for exploitation. The aesthetics of tenderness can hide profound entitlement… A very common practice for making nonhuman animals (animals) more appealing or selling various products is to infantilize them […]
