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Do you think animals experience the passage of time?

gsdx

gsdx

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A spider in its web for days at a time.
A horse tied to the hitching post for hours waiting for the cowboy to come out of the saloon.
A cow lying in a field chewing its cud.
A cat or a dog sitting in front of you, staring you down, waiting for you to give it a treat.
Fish swimming around in a fish bowl or aquarium.

What do you think? Do they experience the passage of time (other than day and night) or is it a uniquely human attribute?
 
The parts of the brain implicated in time perception aren't as developed in animals. I don't think humans are the only animals to perceive (or rather construct*) time, but I don't think other animals perceive it to the same extent that we do.

* Many people (from physicists to mystics to psychologists) have argued that time itself is an illusion, forged by our mind's ability to construct memories and project possible future scenarios. Time is a perceptual dimension that cannot really be accessed directly, and our perception of it is itself relative and not absolute (that's what Einstein was getting at with his e=mc^2 business). All that we have is here and now in this moment -- time only exists as a construct.

"Imagine the Earth devoid of human life, inhabited only by plants and animals. Would it still have a past and a future? Could we still speak of time in any meaningful way? The question "What time is it?" or "What's the date today?" - if anybody were there to ask it - would be quite meaningless. The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question. "What time?" they would ask. "Well, of course, it's now. The time is now. What else is there?" -- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
 
I dont' know if they "perceive the passage of time" anything like humans do. However, they can definitely "tell times." Every dog I've ever had will TELL ME, better than the clock, when it's time for its walk or treat. I have no idea how they "can tell" it's "the time I usually do x." But they do. With disturbing accuracy.
 
All living beings experience circadian rhythm, so yes. The easiest example is there are nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular animals.
But whether they actually feel it is unknown.

Sometimes I wonder though if fishes were bored swimming without purpose all day.
 
JP. said:
As a fish enthusiast I would say livebearers such as guppy/molly and also small tetra fish aren't very smart
Click to expand...

But even the dullest person can feel bored, so why not fish? :lol: #pointlessquestion
 
The way I "conceptualize" it is even if they don't perceive it in terms of "thump, thump, thump" as seconds pass... and perceive in more in terms of milestones, landmarks, times of day, changes in light... as everything even down to microcellular organisms do to guide their movements or activity levels throughout a day and night... it's still a form of perception of time.
 
I KNOW that they are aware of what time it is -- so; therefore, they SHOULD be aware of the PASSING of time...

When I was in first grade, I had an AWESOME cat named Jinx...

The driveway to my childhood home was 1/4 mile long -- YET, Jinx would meet me at the end of the driveway EVERY DAY -- ON TIME -- when the bus dropped me off...

I had a coat with a hood on it -- and I would put him inside of the hood hanging behind my head for the walk back to the house...

I LOVED JINX!!! ..|

:):):)
 
reone said:
Hmm doesn't it seem a bit unfair to assume that our own context is required for perception in other living things? Just because they can't converse with us about it doesn't mean that they can't perceive it in some way and use it for their own benefit. A tree may not know the hour of the day, but when you live for 300 years one hour seems a lot less significant. And also, it will know the season. It has ways of perceiving the time of year, which overall, seems like it would have much more impact on what a tree might be doing at a given moment than one hour.
Click to expand...
True. I didn't mean to imply that animals don't have any sense of time and exist solely in a perpetual state of "now-ness." I would say that time exists for animals to the extent it is needed for their survival. Humans, being relatively defenseless animals (we're not particularly big, strong, have lots of fur, claws, teeth, or armoring, etc.), have evolved a brain that allowed us to plan ahead much further in time than other animals. I know dogs have long memories, and can remember owners from years ago. Sea turtles somehow remember the beach they were born on. But they probably think of time quite differently than we do. I think they may see it as more cyclical than linear.

That quote, however, is really about how we as humans have made time into this huge, pervasive, dominating force, when in reality, it is best thought of as a heuristic or a perceptual tool: we create all the time we need to get by from day to day by creating "checkpoints" or temporal landmarks about the past and future and placing our present situation somewhere in between. Most of us do far more of this than is necessary, especially if we're prone to anxiety or relentless guilt/shame.
 
BrimstoneAndTreacle said:
"Imagine the Earth devoid of human life, inhabited only by plants and animals. Would it still have a past and a future? Could we still speak of time in any meaningful way? The question "What time is it?" or "What's the date today?" - if anybody were there to ask it - would be quite meaningless. The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question. "What time?" they would ask. "Well, of course, it's now. The time is now. What else is there?" -- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Click to expand...

This is actually a very good point, for sometimes I wonder about this too.

I would say that 'the perpetual state of currency' is not wholly incorrect, for for most of their times they live in currency. Maybe there are future-anticipating activities such as food depositions or reproductive behaviour, but other than that, nothing else. I would say animal's perception of time is more of a macro-frame setting instead of micro-frame that everything seems to be in 'now'.

Oh how I miss learning ethology and chronobiology.
 
freefall said:
All living beings experience circadian rhythm, so yes. The easiest example is there are nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular animals.
But whether they actually feel it is unknown.

Sometimes I wonder though if fishes were bored swimming without purpose all day.
Click to expand...

[text version of animated .gif:

Goldfish is swimming around in circles in the bowl, with a recurring thought balloon above its head.

"Deja vu!"

"Deja vu!"

"Deja vu!"

"Deja vu!"

"Deja vu!"

"Deja vu!"]
 
My Cockatiels are absolutely aware of the passage of time, my male cockatiel does an electric alarm clock imitation at 8 a.m. every morning within about a 10 minute accuracy every morning.
 
xbuzzerx said:
I dont' know if they "perceive the passage of time" anything like humans do. However, they can definitely "tell times." Every dog I've ever had will TELL ME, better than the clock, when it's time for its walk or treat. I have no idea how they "can tell" it's "the time I usually do x." But they do. With disturbing accuracy.
Click to expand...

This.

My dog has two different routes he likes to take when we walk. He alternates these almost perfectly every other day. So, not only does he know what time of day it is, he remembers what he did yesterday, and uses it to decide what he will do today.

And it is not unusual for his memory of which route we are due to take to be better than mine.
 
If you think about it, life for animals would be very difficult if they didn't have a sense of time. They clearly know their times. Migratory animals for instance know when to start migrating. Other animals time their breeding season properly to ensure enough of their young survive to adulthood.

My kitten always jumps on my face when I'm sleeping at around 3-4 AM. Since I sometimes leave for work early (6 AM), this is convenient because I don't need my alarm clock anymore. How my kitten knows it's the right time to jump on my face is a mystery. But he knows...
 
my dog has separation anxiety so yes he feels the passage of time if I am late coming home
 
swerve said:
I KNOW that they are aware of what time it is -- so; therefore, they SHOULD be aware of the PASSING of time...

When I was in first grade, I had an AWESOME cat named Jinx...

The driveway to my childhood home was 1/4 mile long -- YET, Jinx would meet me at the end of the driveway EVERY DAY -- ON TIME -- when the bus dropped me off...

I had a coat with a hood on it -- and I would put him inside of the hood hanging behind my head for the walk back to the house...

I LOVED JINX!!! ..|

:):):)
Click to expand...

That's extremely cute.
Cats seem to have a regular daily routine. Wonder if they pick up on weekends?
 
Time as in feeding time yes.
Time in a duration/passage sense not so much.
Every night after I tend to my cat I pick her up and let her sit on my lap for a while before I put her back in her cage. (Long story....it was either that or have her put down. I couldn't bear the thought...... :( )
Anyway......whether she's on my lap for 10 minutes or 45 minutes seems to make no difference to her.
She seems to be equally happy with the time we spend that closely no matter the "time"....... :)
 
seven2go said:
Time in a duration/passage sense not so much.
Click to expand...
Elephants can return to favorite feeding/watering grounds years after they last visited them, but at around the same date they did years ago. Some animals can clearly have enough memory to know about the passage of time and when its the right time to go back to a place.
 
Yes, my dog comes up to me and says, "isn't it about time you got off your fat fucking arse and took me for a walk"

Not to mention, when am I going to get fed...........

so, in answer to your Q, yes.
 
I think our understanding of animals and time is quite far along .
I mean just look at all the Mass Migrations that happen all over the world , in time with seasons and the need for food .

BreakTheIce , made a great observation when he says that they seem to know when it is time to do things.

Really great question OP .

Though i think Einstein may be a bit much for them (and us)..............:lol:
 
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