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A review by nhborg
Why Look at Animals? by John Berger
4.0
This was really depressing. I’m mostly referring to the title essay when I say this. The other essays varied in quality and impact, showing a large variation in style. But the 26 pages of «Why look at animals?» were powerful, inquisitive, confronting, and agonizing. I wasn’t convinced by every single train of thought, but many of the ideas are recognizable from the familiar and were easy to be impacted by with the right delivery. After reading this at 2 AM it was hard to go through the night and following day under the burdening conviction that our collective idea of animals is ruined. It took a toll on me.
I wanted to check out this work as a self-appointed supplement to a university course I’m currently enrolled in: «Course in Animal Research in Norway», giving theoretical and practical qualifications for performing experimental procedures with model animals and thorough ethical evaluation. I almost wrote a long and derailed account about the ambivalence I feel about this, but suffice to say that I find the topic interesting to learn about but hard to enter the conceptual standpoint of. Squished between the theoretical course load, the guilt and sorrow induced by «WLAA?», and a sprinkle of nausea served by Sartre (another current read), I could feel myself spiraling down an undesirable mental path.
At first I considered finally picking up «The Animal Therefore I Am» by Jacques Derrida to do a deep dive into the topic, but no. I feel a desperate need for a palate cleanser and will try to find something cozy or fun off my shelves.
On a lighter note, here’s a quote from the essay «Opening a gate». This was a much lighter and somewhat hopeful read, but still related to the topic.
«We live our daily lives in a constant exchange with the set of daily appearances surrounding us - often they are very familiar, sometimes they are unexpected and new, but they always confirm us in our lives . (…)
Yet it can happen, suddenly, unexpectedly, and most frequently in the half-light-of-glimpses, that we catch sight of another visible order which intersects with ours and has nothing to do with it. (…) We come upon a part of the visible which wasn’t destined for us. Perhaps it was destined for night-birds, reindeer, ferrets, eels, whales…»
It is easy to go about life as if the human world is the only one that is. Should I do laundry tomorrow or on Wednesday? Would this job position be a suitable stepping stone in my career? In what ways will the economy be affected by the current political climate?
We shouldn’t blame ourselves for this kind of egocentrism. As the quote says, nearly every impression we encounter in our daily lives will naturally confirm it. Still, it’s important to realize that our way of existence is only one out of many. Take a moment right now to imagine what it is like to be a puffin bird, perched on a shelf on the mountainside, overseeing the vast stretch of ocean while feeling the tug of the wind and light spray of salt water on its feathers. What about a resting shark gliding steadily through the dark, open sea. A termite depositing pieces of soil trying to construct the channels of a new mound. A bacterium in the act of dividing within the gastro-intestinal tract. Try to glimpse into another creature’s point of view and share their «umwelt», just for a moment.
I wanted to check out this work as a self-appointed supplement to a university course I’m currently enrolled in: «Course in Animal Research in Norway», giving theoretical and practical qualifications for performing experimental procedures with model animals and thorough ethical evaluation. I almost wrote a long and derailed account about the ambivalence I feel about this, but suffice to say that I find the topic interesting to learn about but hard to enter the conceptual standpoint of. Squished between the theoretical course load, the guilt and sorrow induced by «WLAA?», and a sprinkle of nausea served by Sartre (another current read), I could feel myself spiraling down an undesirable mental path.
At first I considered finally picking up «The Animal Therefore I Am» by Jacques Derrida to do a deep dive into the topic, but no. I feel a desperate need for a palate cleanser and will try to find something cozy or fun off my shelves.
On a lighter note, here’s a quote from the essay «Opening a gate». This was a much lighter and somewhat hopeful read, but still related to the topic.
«We live our daily lives in a constant exchange with the set of daily appearances surrounding us - often they are very familiar, sometimes they are unexpected and new, but they always confirm us in our lives . (…)
Yet it can happen, suddenly, unexpectedly, and most frequently in the half-light-of-glimpses, that we catch sight of another visible order which intersects with ours and has nothing to do with it. (…) We come upon a part of the visible which wasn’t destined for us. Perhaps it was destined for night-birds, reindeer, ferrets, eels, whales…»
It is easy to go about life as if the human world is the only one that is. Should I do laundry tomorrow or on Wednesday? Would this job position be a suitable stepping stone in my career? In what ways will the economy be affected by the current political climate?
We shouldn’t blame ourselves for this kind of egocentrism. As the quote says, nearly every impression we encounter in our daily lives will naturally confirm it. Still, it’s important to realize that our way of existence is only one out of many. Take a moment right now to imagine what it is like to be a puffin bird, perched on a shelf on the mountainside, overseeing the vast stretch of ocean while feeling the tug of the wind and light spray of salt water on its feathers. What about a resting shark gliding steadily through the dark, open sea. A termite depositing pieces of soil trying to construct the channels of a new mound. A bacterium in the act of dividing within the gastro-intestinal tract. Try to glimpse into another creature’s point of view and share their «umwelt», just for a moment.