Everything Happens for a Reason...

I'm sure it does.

I don't know why yet, but I am pretty sure that everything does happen for some particular reason. Whether it's divine intervention, or human stupidity, everything that happens in this world surely has got a reason of its own.

It's just that we don't know why.

And sometimes, we try to put a reason behind everything, only to find out that it's for all the wrong reasons.

*Have I lost you yet?*

Say... I've met with opposing schools of thoughts that beg to differ that Man is the only creature on earth who knows how to emote. Well, if you do believe in the theory that Man is made out of Body, Mind and Soul. Your Body is the physical, in which physical things are done, like caring for a friend, or killing someone. The Mind is the fuel that powers these actions, thinking up creative ways to do things with/using the Body. And the Soul is the spirit within that makes us feel happiness, sadness, and to a certain extent emptiness.

Now, the stumbling block come when we try to put reason onto such things. So, we reason that the Body is needed because we do live on a physical world. If we are not made up of mass, then we simply can't grab hold of a cup of water to drink. And that applies to everything living or dead. Creature or creation, we are made up of some form of physical embodiment.

Then, the Mind supposedly controls the body. In which, only living things like Man, dogs, and other agile and moving creatures supposedly have. Trees are not included in this group, because trees simply stay there, absorb nutrients from the ground, and grow... Have you seen a tree that runs away from the forest because of fear? Well, the line for this category has been seemingly blurred because Man has tried to categorise the agile/moving creatures into groups, according to its capacity of the Mind. So, we place ourselves as a little bit higher than the rest of the free-moving creatures on earth...

And the Soul, which a few humans claim that only we have is the most problematic of such definitions. Some believe that the soul is the essence of life which separates man from animals. And that is the existence of the soul may also apply in animals.
Well, to address this issue, we have to either take on the Darwinian view of Evolution, or to disprove and deny it. If indeed we were evolved from apes, and we are on the top of the food chain because of out superior mental capacity, then you would have to take it that EVERY living creature has a Soul. But if you refuse to believe that we are just a little better off than the common ape, that we are on top of the food chain because we are made differently from the beginning of time, then, Darwin, to you is just another crapper whose delusions have cheated more than half of the world for a very significant amount of time!

So, what about the common dog that seems to know how to emote? That they know how to demand for attention? or tell you by indicating to you that it wants to crap? Or that they have this superior ability to know that you are on your way home even if you're a good 5 miles away, just starting your car from your office parking lot? Paranormal?

A lot of us out there do not deny that we have the ability to emote, but quite a big amount of people are quick and ready to defend the view that animals, like the common dog, has also this ability. And because of that, we believe that dogs have a soul too. But do they? And if dogs have a soul because it can seemingly do all those things to interact with humans, then does it make the dog any better off than a dingo out in the wild? or the rats which share a similar strain of genetic structure as us? Over even insects?

*Oh, don't give me the "How do you know? You've never tried to interact with a bug before", notion.

So, then, prove it to me that you can interact with a bug. Or get your dog to accomplish a task that it has never been taught how to do, just like you can ask a little girl to get you a certain tool from your tool box by just expressing yourself on how the tool looks like. If you have a dog or a bug that has the mental ability of a 3 year old girl, then I rest my case.

But as of now, I would like to just put it into such a context, that we think animals have a Soul simply because we try to put reason into our dog's behaviour. Yes, some dogs have the ability to act 'humanly'. They seemingly have the ability to beg for your attention by doing things that humans also do to get the same, and they seemingly can emote as well. But does that prove the existence of a Soul in the dog?

Well, the more common rebuttal would be to ask yourself, "Have you ever seen a dog set-up a shrine for its dead friend?" Or a dog showing remorse for taking a chunk off your Jimmy Choos?

*And don't give me that crap whereby, "Maybe they have, just that you've never seen it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist"

Well, I think that this issue comes up as a result of us trying to put a reason into everything. And thus, when a dog whines at the appropriate time, then you try to put a reason to it. And when you start putting reasons to things that are just pure coincidental, then it makes the issue non-coincidental! And you have a 'reason' to believe that dogs do have a soul, and because of that, there's Dog Heaven. Funny, why there hasn't been any 'Sloth Heaven' or 'Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches Heaven'?

So, in such a short rant, I have tried to disprove the simple existence of a soul in animals...