![]() My message here isn’t just for the audiences. If they don’t fall in love with the social accolades for delivering the message someone wants you to hear, then they fall in love with the money they get paid for fooling you. Far too many people derive their self-worth from hearing that sort of support from total strangers. When crowds of people are eating out of your hand and telling you that everything you’re saying is lovely and wonderful, now that’s a rush. What makes it all so dangerous is just how infectious attention can be. You need to be able to tell when someone just wants to fool you. You need to be able to tell when someone wants your attention so they can just trick you and feed you whatever false reality they want you to believe. That distinction seems arbitrary and minimal, I admit, but the subtle difference is vital. So does someone think you’re a dog to be tricked, or do they think you’re a monkey to be amazed? All content out there is intended to grab your attention for one reason or another. Perhaps the most valuable skill you can have when trying to wade through the muck out there is the ability to recognize why someone wants your attention. Maybe I mixed my metaphors in that last sentence a tad. If you can’t navigate these waters without recognizing the inherent dangers, then you’re bound to end up riding the wrong bus. Personalities traffic in frenzy and hyperbole and social media, especially, is a realm ruled by clans of the extra-enthused and under-informed. People are constantly spreading misinformation or outright lies for seemingly no reason. Admittedly, I’m not sure if there’s ever been a time when critical thinking was just an added little bonus in life’s skill sets, but you know I’m right here. We are in an era where critical thinking is exceptionally vital. The monkey magician wanted attention so they could turn it into enjoyment for someone else. The dog tricker wanted the dog’s attention strictly so that they could garner enjoyment for themselves at the dog’s expense. When someone stands up in front of a crowd and relays some type of information, they almost always fall into one of those two camps. When people are actively spreading information to others, they are generally doing so for one of two reasons: They either want your attention for their own benefit or for yours. But I want you to catch the same revelation I did the other day when this concept first hit me. So my own attitudes towards people who trick dogs might be based in hyperbole. For the person who performs a magic trick for a monkey, though, you’re just trying to introduce a little bit of wonder into the world. When you try to trick a dog, all you’re doing is trying to bamboozle someone else for your own benefit. It’s a base mentality that belies severe lack of empathy. As I’ve already hinted, my opinion of those who try to trick dogs is none too high. What I’m interested in is the all-too human attitudes and motivations at play for the people behind each of these actions. The monkey will always react with amazement and awe. The dog will always respond with trust, followed by disappointment when it realizes you’re tricking it. I’m not really interested in the animals receiving the tricks all that much, aside from their differing reactions. Let me show you my cards a little bit here. It looks silly to us because, well, it’s a person doing magic for a monkey, and more often than not we’re on the end of the trick where we can see just how stupidly simple it really was all along. Every time I’ve seen one of these videos, and I’ve seen a surprisingly large number of these videos, the monkey inevitably reacts with joy and amazement. What amazes me is how the animal always loves the trick. Have you ever seen one of those viral videos where someone performs a magic trick for a monkey? Maybe they make a little ball disappear or perform some simple, rudimentary sleight of hand at a zoo, and then the monkey reacts. ![]() Here’s an interesting question for you, though. What is the point in fooling a less-intelligent life form just to bolster your own ego? Why visit such heartless trickery on an innocent canine? It is an indefensible act. Pretending to throw a tennis ball so you can trick a dog is one of the lowest, most depraved acts of common humanity. As many times as it takes for that dog to learn that it can’t trust you.Īnd when the whole charade is over, all you’ve really succeeded in doing is taking what little love and magic was left in the world and diminishing it that much more. As many times as it takes for that dog to learn to watch the ball all the way through the throw. Most of the time, you don’t just pretend to throw the ball once. And you just denied it the pleasure of chasing that tennis ball. ![]() That dog is probably the most trusting, loving, beautiful soul on this planet. Have you ever started to throw a tennis ball for a dog and then only pretended to throw it? ![]()
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