Squeekers isn't getting all the credit due him, he doesn't just count or
tell time, he does both with some planning (and maybe pattern
discrimination) thrown in for good measure.  He doesn't just hear four
chimes and go up to get Bill.  Bill said he comes up at 10 of 4.  He hears
the three count and recognizes that.  (I don't know if the clock chimes the
halves or the quarters for this part.)  He then hears a half hour or 3/4
hour chime (which may or may not differ from each other, but they are
different from the hour chime) and still waits a bit from that (or waits 50
minutes from the 3:00 chime). Then he goes to rouse Bill so he can go for
his walk.  This is more complex behavior than it seems if he is really
keying off the number of chimes.
 
On to anthropomorphism - I'm from the old school (cuz I'm an old fool.
Whoop, there it is) and avoid attributing emotions to animals (at least in
public).  This is not to say that animals don't have emotions.  The brain
structure associated with emotional reactions (limbic system) is present
from reptiles on up and is one of the oldest parts of the human brain.  The
problem is that humans cannot fathom the mental perspective of animals; we
share no common basis of experience.  The only reason we have a limited
understanding of each other is that we can talk (we don't always listen
though).
 
Aside from Dr. Dolittle, no one has talked with the animals.  We can see
their behavior, but we don't know what underlying mental process is
associated with it. Anthropomorphism is just attributing what the person
viewing the behavior would feel if he was doing the same thing.  Since there
are many cases when the same outward human behavior can be motivated by
different underlying feelings, we make errors when we interpret the acts of
other people.  To extend this interpretation to the realm where we have no
clue is the source of the error.  At some future point when we can make
direct neural links (or find Vulcans who can mind meld) we may be able to
tell what emotions our fuzzies feel.  Until then, it is just a personal
guess, no matter what the alphabet after our name is.  That is the case
against attributing emotions to animals.  The strictly religious may even
argue that they have no soul and therefore no feelings, but I'm not in that
camp.
   ( )--(a)
   (@=@=) \     Till next time.......Rudy the ferlosopher
   O__)  \ \___
      \   \
      /\ * )  \  (UN)WANTED -- PUBLIC ENEMY #1
           Dispatch on sight (humanely, of course).
[Posted in FML issue 1228]