Humanish by Justin Gregg review how much of a person is your pet?

"Gregg's work is both a dissection and an ode to the irresistible allure of anthropomorphism, our tendency to apply human characteristics to non-humans, whether animals, objects, AI, or God. An expert on animal cognition who also teaches improv, Gregg deftly guides us through our alternately charming, destructive and wrong-headed fantasies about everything from marine mammals to our iPhones. A guiding spirit of this book is 17th-century philosopher Francis Bacon:"

"In the 1970s a former Soviet naval officer named Igor Charkovsky popularised a concept which came to be known as dolphin-assisted birth. Likely inspired by New Age theories, he urged expectant mothers to dip in the ice-cold water of the Black Sea, commune with dolphins, and give birth underwater. In the very near future, he claimed, a newborn child would be able to live in the ocean with a pod of dolphins and feed on dolphin milk."

"Anthropomorphism has long been a dirty word amongst those who study animal behaviour, but Gregg sees it as a positive force Gregg introduces us to dog owners who insert neuticles, prosthetic testicular implants, into their neutered pet to relieve them of the shame of castration. This is a purely Freudian drama; the UK's Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' line is that silicone implants offer no benefit to a dog whatsoever."

Igor Charkovsky advocated dolphin-assisted birth in the 1970s, urging pregnant women to give birth underwater and asserting newborns could live with dolphins and feed on dolphin milk. Anthropomorphism prompts people to attribute human traits to animals, objects, AI, and the divine, generating enduring, often erroneous beliefs and practices. Francis Bacon's false-mirror metaphor captures how human perception mingles its own nature with reality and distorts it. Anthropomorphism is criticized in animal behavior science yet can exert positive and negative cultural influence. Examples include prosthetic testicular implants for dogs and entrenched assumptions about pets, showing emotional investment and cultural persistence.

Read at www.theguardian.com