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In 1974, the philosopher Thomas Nagel first asked “What is it like to be a bat?”[1] Whilst originally an essay concerning the interaction between mind and body (and something highly worth reading for anybody with even a passing interest in the philosophy of mind), Nagel may have unintentionally left something important for the furry community to consider.

In his essay, Nagel wonders what it would be like to be a bat; what it would be like to see, hear, and experience the world from the subjective point of view that bats posses. He concludes that, as much as we may know about the brains of bats, about how echo location is supposed to work, and how they live day-to-day, we will never be able to understand exactly “what it is like to be a bat.” Despite our knowledge of echo-location, for example, without directly experiencing it, we can only imagine how it would feel to use it, and what we imagine would be conjured in relation to our experiences, not a bat’s. There is therefore an “aboutness” to being anything, a “how it feels to be X”, to everything conscious. This would hold true for every non-human creature, (as any bat furries may be pleased to hear). Therefore, when we identify as an animal, it can never be said that we have the “full picture” of it; only what we can observe, vis. You may identify as a wolf, but you are only identifying as the observable behaviours of wolves, and any inferences made from those, not as what a wolf actually experiences or thinks.

Now, consider “anthropomorphics.” Across multiple dictionaries, the consensus of the definition is “to ascribe human properties to something non-human”[2,3,4]. For example, we would be anthropomorphising the wind if we were to say “the wind is angry”; anger is a human emotion, but we are prescribing it to something inanimate. Similarly, when we attach human traits to animals, we are anthropomorphising them, such as when we imagine that a raven is cunning, or a pig is lazy.

What we must remember is that the pig is not actually lazy; we are merely taking what we call “laziness” in humans, and prescribing them to the pig. For all we know, from the pig’s point of view, it may be working very hard at whatever it is that it’s doing.

What I’ve said hitherto may seem like common sense, and, hopefully, it has. But consider what a person does when they create a furry character or fursona. Ordinarily, people believe that they are taking the animal and applying human features to it (anthropomorphising). However, it’s worth taking a look at the process of choosing.

Some choose an animal they like for an aesthetic reason, for example, “foxes look cool” (Result from the 2013 Furry Survey). Whilst others make their decision based upon perceived traits that an animal has: “Foxes are clever, and dignified” (Result from the 2013 Furry Survey), and “Real canines repay all the love and hate they receive in droves, which I admire, and represent the frank, sometimes ill-informed, honesty and loyalty that I exude” (Result from the 2013 Furry Survey).

The two attitudes can be categorised as either “aesthetic” or “personal”, the former being born from taking pleasure in the way an animal looks, the latter being formed by identifying with the subjective understanding of the already anthropomorphic traits the animal has.

In the case of the aesthetic, we can safely say that they have anthropomorphised; they have looked at an animal, and applied human features to it.

But in the “personal” category, something much more complex has happened. A person has taken the already anthropomorphic traits ascribed to an animal and used that as their “base”. For example, a person may have chosen a coyote due to the animal typically being thought of as “cunning”. What has happened here is not about the animal at all, but the representation, vis. the traits applied to it (which it does not intrinsically posses). The identity is with the “cunning” attached to the coyote – a purely human notion. Afterwards, due to it’s association, the coyote becomes a representation of “cunning”; it is used as a symbol to convey human thought, having nothing to do with actual coyotes. We cannot know “what it is like to be a coyote”, thus, we cannot say we identify as them on any level other than the one of which we understand them.

The term “zoomorphic”, generally, means “to use an animal symbolically”[5,6,7]. I believe that in the case of the “personal” category of choosing an animal character, this term is superior to “anthropomorphic”, for there is nothing to be made human; there is an identity with what is already human represented through an animal. The animal is symbolic; used to show something human, as opposed to existing independently of human perception, and having human traits applied to it.

This can be furthered through fictional entities, which can be argued to exist as embodiments of human concepts and ideas. A dragon, for example, does not exist independently of human imagination; it is a creature created as pure symbolism, although it may be representing different things across different times and cultures. Dragons, and other fictional entities, are human symbols, embodying various traits. To bring us back to earlier, there is no “what is it like to be a dragon.” It is impossible to apply human traits to something that already exists as human traits and say you have created an anthropomorphic dragon; the creature was already human, you have merely changed what it represented.

Where does this leave us? Personally, I feel that the clarification is more than just applying the appropriate term. It helps us to understand what we are doing, and what our characters mean, as well as what those around us are trying to achieve. If nothing else, I hope that this article has given you something to consider the next time you create an animal character, and what it really means.

[1]T. Nagel, What is is it like to be a bat? “The Philosophical Review LXXXIII, 4 (October 1974)”, Pp. 435­50.] http://organizations.utep.edu/portals/1475/nagel_bat.pdf

[2]Merriman and Webster Dictionary: http://www.merriam­webster.com/dictionary/anthropomorphic

[3]The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/anthropomorphic

[4]The Dictionary Online: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anthropomorphic

[5] Merriman and Webster Dictionary: http://www.merriam­webster.com/dictionary/zoomorphic

[6]The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/zoomorphic

[7]The Dictionary Online: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zoomorphic

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http://i.imgur.com/rIubcLI.png

I only did the coloring, found the outlines on radpandas.com/refsheets

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I know there's me and /u/spacecoreV8 but any others popped up? If anyone wants to ask anything about goo I'll be happy to answer. Or if you just want a warm slimy hug there free and plentiful!

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Hey guys, I've been trying to be more social and get more involved in the fandom lately and I was wondering if there were a lot of other furs already involved in my other hobby (world of warcraft). Seems like there'd be a lot of us there with all the furry races :p I'm not looking for a super serious raiding guild/position (can't really commit the time nowadays), or even necessarily an in-game guild at all. With all the cross server things they allow now I almost feel like you could have a 'guild' that's just on irc or skype or whatever and invite people from any server into raids/dungeons. Until/if they actually implement real cross server guilds, at least.

My battle.net tag is hugeguts#1844 and this guy's my main, though I have some max level Horde characters too: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/ysera/Jebiddiah/simple

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If you’re not reading Dogpatch Press, you should be watching Culturally F’d!  It’s the Furry youtube series that asks: Where does the love of anthropomorphics come from? How far back can we dig in history and mass media to really get to the bottom of it? Why does every culture across the face of the earth have […]

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And now, here's Part 3! Sky is the fursona of /u/scamer38 and Lucario is the fursona of /u/Lucario117. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sky was sneaking near the wall of the hallway. It was about midnight so the lab’s computers had activated the night system, a system necessary for a place without natural sunlight to tell the time of the day. It had been agreed on that Sky and Lucario would stay the night, then leave the next morning.

However, the cheetah wanted to take a peek at Los’s research. There was something curious about all of this business. How did Los make the chemical formula in a bout of malnutrition? Why did the name Venet seem familiar? Sky would’ve usually just asked the questions straight up and demand to see the lab but he was underwater and at the mercy of others who knew the lab better than he did. Sometimes sneaking around was a better course than attacking.

He finally sneaked up to the door and was about to turn the handle when Sky was blinded by a stream of light from his side. He jerked around quickly and found the canine standing there, holding the proton gun.

“What are you doing here, you foul beast?” Los asked, his voice full of accusation.

The cheetah tried to feign innocence. “Oh you know, just taking a walk. Couldn’t sleep and all that.” He eyed the gun. “Care to put that away? I don’t like guns pointed at me.”

“I’d bet you'd like that, wouldn’t you?” The brown canine stepped closer to the cheetah.

Sky decided to get to the point. “Yes I would. But frankly, let’s both be honest. We both know that you didn’t create the Venet oil. You got it from someone or something. I’m just here to check your lab out and make sure it won’t destroy the world or nothing cause otherwise I’d be terribly bored.”

“Get back to your room,” Los primed the gun, “Or there will be consequences.”

“Very well, have a nice night.” Sky’s greeting was ruined by the look of suspicion and anger in his eyes. The cheetah walked away, leaving Los alone.

“I just need more time. I just need more time.” Los mumbled walking into his lab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Sky was having his tea, eyeing Los. Sal entered the room. The feline looking worried.

“Sky, I don’t know how to tell you this. But your machine’s gone.”

“What?” Sky spit out his tea. “Did you check the entire cargo hold?” The feline nodded. “Then where could it be?”

“Ah, why should it matter?” Los commented. “We can just send you back up in the cargo like how you entered here, no matter how unorthodox it is.”

The cheetah had fury on his face as he walked to the careless canine. “I’ll let you know DOSAT was the most advanced technology for its time.”

“Then why doesn’t it exist?” Los waved his hands, “Why aren’t we driving about in our cars full of little gimmicks and gadgets that could shoot a horse down in France?”

“I’ve given up on trying to understand you.” Sky went back to his seat. “Where could it have gone? Do we have any security cameras?”

“No, we don’t. It’s just the three of us so we don’t really need it.” Har answered.

“Still, it’s bio-synced to only me so someone had to remove it physically. It’s hidden somewhere in this lab. And it was most likely one of us in this room…” Sky glared suspiciously at all of them, even Lucario.

He looked at the pokemon who was acting nervous from his glare. “You don’t know anything about technology so you couldn’t control a crane even if you tried.” The cheetah concluded. Lucario sighed with relief.

“You were looking for the DOSAT though.” Sky looked at Sal. “Where were you before that?”

“I-I was getting up from bed.” The feline stammered, “Then I went looking for the DOSAT. I wanted to see how it worked.” Sal remembered a special avian in her bed. Her eyes shifted nervously to Har. The avian gave a brief glimpse back.

If Sky had caught this strange exchange. he said nothing about it. “What about you Har?”

“Same here. Only I just went to check over the mechanics in case any faults happened overnight.” Har answered, shifting a little as he remembered last night’s activities.

“And Los. You were in your lab, I know that. Where were you before that? And after that?” The cheetah looked at the canine.

Los looked into his eyes with a serious look.”I was in my lab the entire night.” He said no more.

“Well then, I’m forced to conclude at least two of you can be eliminated from my list of suspects. Har, you’re free to go. You had no chance to be near the DOSAT despite the fact you like mechanical stuff. Sal, Los, that leaves the two of you.

Sal, you wanted to see the DOSAT but you have no knowledge in special machines so it’s unlikely you wanted to see it for the sake of curiosity for machines. No, you prefer environmental science. Therefore, you are lying. Tell the truth.”

The feline sighed. “Fine. I was-”

“You don’t have to do this!” Har exclaimed, putting his hands around her. “You don’t have to.”

“I do. Me and Har were trying to have a baby last night. It’s against the laws to have any relationship or children down here since they wanted us to be focused on our work. And we were. Until we worked together more often,” Sal looked in Har’s eyes. “until we fell in love.” They kissed.

Sky made a sour face. “Very well, that leaves Los. You can either accept responsibility and show me the DOSAT or be convicted of crimes.” Just as he said this, the lights went off.

The emergency lights went on, throwing red light upon everyone’s surprised faces. Sky looked around with a serious face, looking for the source. The radio buzzed overhead.

A slithery voice presented itself. “He iss not the thieff. We are. And we sshall have your sstrange machine until you give back what iss rightfully oursss.”

Los’s eyes grew wide as he heard this and started running off. “They can’t have it!”

Sky stayed and asked the air, “What was taken? What do you want?”

“We want our oil and child back.” The voice spoke again. “The Venetians want our oil and child back…”

“What oil and child? Oh dear.” A sudden realization came to Sky’s face. “Los!” He started running off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile outside of the lab was the Kras along with a small submarine where the Venetians were. The Kras swam backwards, then flew forwards, ramming her head against the lab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cheetah fell over on the first impact but he got up quickly enough. Sky got to Los’s lab with the others following him and he opened the door. The group stood there, shocked.

Inside was Los covered in green blood, a knife in his hand. A small blue sea monster resembling the Kras was on the floor next to him crying out quietly. Eventually it stopped and laid still.

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What will inspire furrydom’s next generation? We talk old and new media that attracts and inspires newcomers to seek the fandom out, and discuss changes in the social landscape. How will the fandom look in five years?

Metadata and Credits WagzTail Season 3 Episode 96

Runtime: 30m

Cast: Braniff, Eli, Firefoxkac, Levi, Wolfin

Editor: Levi

Format: 128kbps ABR split-stereo MP3 Copyright: © 2015 WagzTail.com. Some Rights Reserved. This podcast is released by WagzTail.com as CC BY-ND 3.0. If distributed with a facility that has an existing agreement in place with a Professional Rights Organisation (PRO), file a cue sheet for 30:00 to Fabien Renoult (BMI) 1.67%, Josquin des Pres (BMI) 1.67%, WagzTail.com 96.67%. Rights have been acquired to all content for national and international broadcast and web release with no royalties due.

Looking to a Furry Future - What will inspire furrydom’s next generation? We talk old and new media that attracts and inspires newcomers to seek the fandom out, and discuss changes in the social landscape. How will the fandom look in five years?

gets a mention in this article on downtown Knoxville

http://www.knoxnews.com/knoxville/pop-culture/downtown-randall-brown-we-have-that-spice-of-life_14847061