# Watch Animals Before Dismissing Their Feelings by Carl Safina > “If an animal is acting fearful, your best guess is that it feels afraid. If it’s playing with its babies, it’s having fun. That’s a really good first guess. For the most part, it gets you the right answer right away. Then if you keep watching, you have a better chance of confirming that answer or realizing you might have been mistaken.” > **— Carl Safina**, *Beyond Words: Carl Safina, Rutgers faculty interview* ## Sources and Context - **Original publication:** [Beyond Words: Carl Safina](https://sebsnjaesnews.rutgers.edu/2016/04/beyond-words-carl-safina-gsnb-82-87/) — Rutgers faculty interview; Safina offers an initial interpretive hypothesis and then calls for continued observation that might overturn it. - **Exact original wording:** “If an animal is acting fearful, your best guess is that it feels afraid. If it’s playing with its babies, it’s having fun. That’s a really good first guess. For the most part, it gets you the right answer right away. Then if you keep watching, you have a better chance of confirming that answer or realizing you might have been mistaken.” ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Insect World of Intelligence and Mind-Control Parasitism|The Insect World of Intelligence and Mind-Control Parasitism]] - **Article:** [[articles/Project Hail Mary and Other Intelligences|Project Hail Mary and Other Intelligences]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] - [[wiki/Nonhuman Intelligence|Nonhuman Intelligence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “If an animal is acting fearful, your best guess is that it feels afraid. If it’s playing with its babies, it’s having fun. That’s a really good first guess. For the most part, it gets you the right answer right away. Then if you keep watching, you have a better chance of confirming that answer or realizing you might have been mistaken.” — Carl Safina, Beyond Words: Carl Safina https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-carl-safina-watch-animals-before-dismissing-their-feelings ```