Rifkin states that Animals share many qualities with humans that we have never imagined He makes many claims of what is similar between humans and our animal counterparts.
- Rifkin makes a claim that even the most basic animals such as cows and pigs, which are raised just to be killed for food express some similar feelings with humans such as excitement, love and stress.
- Rifkin also claims that we used to believe that animals couldn't express individualism which is what many people believe separated humans from animals but now they are saying that Orangutans are using mirrors to look at themselves and perform tasks to compliment their physical appearance.
- Rifkin claims that many animals run of sheer instinct and that the aren't formally taught any skills to be used but new research shows that geese teach their goslings the migration routes in their childhood.
Evidence:
Rifkin provides an array of concrete evidence to support the claims that he makes about the new found similarities between humans and animals.
- Rifkin supports his claims of the pigs stating that their have been studies that show that pigs will likely become depressed if they are denied the right to a form of playtime or human contact and this will in turn depreciate their overall health.
- Rifkin provides evidence that Gorillas are capable of higher cognitive thinking as Koko the gorilla at the Gorilla foundation in Northern California has mastered the art of sign language and can comprehend several thousand English words.
- Rifkin wrote about a study that proved that crows were able to display higher thinking as they were able to release a piece of meat from a crack by making to hooked wires out of one bent one and one straight one.
