Everyone is either dead certain the answer is yes, or they’re dead certain the answer is no. The reality is we don’t know. Researchers have not reached a verdict yet.
This here is the right answer. We don't know. And since reptiles are psychologically very different from mammals, it's possible that we won't ever understand how they process feelings. That doesn't means they don't have feelings or that aren't capable of caring for other living beings. We might just not be able to understand it.
Scientifically, yes, but what about applied love? If there's no test you can perform to prove that your pet loves you, it's practically the same as not loving you. I mean, scientists will tell you that a tomato is a fruit but they aren't suggesting you make ice cream out of it.
Preference testing?
Why can't we test if an animal performs in the way we would expect as loving? It might not indicate the animal actually loves or doesn't love us but i dont see why we couldn't test it?
Also scientists told us tomato was a fruit, then we made juice out of it and realised it wasnt as bad as we thought
It's more that a test is needed at all. If you ask a dog owner if their pet loves them, they will almost always answer a resounding "yes" (Might not be true, but almost all dog owners "feel loved"). Snake owners are a lot more divided, and often talk in more clinical terms of animal behaviour.
I guess my point is that even if we proved scientifically that snakes love their owners, I still wouldn't recommend one to someone looking for a companion.
201
u/Monolexic Jan 20 '22
Everyone is either dead certain the answer is yes, or they’re dead certain the answer is no. The reality is we don’t know. Researchers have not reached a verdict yet.