Animals in School

[fenrirblack]

Now that the cubs are in school I wanted to find out what other people think about this. I mean this is a big step forward for human and animal relations in the HPU. What are your thoughts, opinions, and what do you want to see there idea of animals going to public school going?

I have a lot to say about it. For starters, I am incredibly excited about the idea. Since Rick introduced the idea of the cubs going to high school I was completely onboard. But that leads to the question about how do other people feel about it? I can't imagine some of the teachers being thrilled by the idea and the parents, seriously they must be more understanding than in real life. I mean even though they've lived in a human neighborhood for nine years they are still, you know, different. It isn't as much as the students I'm worried about as much as the faculty. Although I would have loved to see the first day of school and the cubs getting on the bus for the first time. Can you imagine the looks they got? After a few months I'm sure its more normal now and the other students are more "yeah cool wolves in class" but still teenagers can be cruel. The last thing we need is a cliche high school drama featuring the cubs but at the same time I want to see more of the cubs navigating human school so I think I would be okay with it. I guess I really should say the last thing we need is to never see them in high school but instead just be satisfied with the knowledge that while all the other pet's misadventures are taking place the cubs are sitting in a classroom fighting the urge to claw their eyes out.

The next thing I wanted to say would be what does the future hold for this idea. I mean know animals are getting "real" jobs so what does that mean for the rest of the pets. What if, for example, Peanut decided he wanted to try public school. He's in his teens? so I could see someone as smart as him doing something along those lines. Maybe not seeing it because it would never happen but it could. Anyway, what I'm getting at is what would happen if the ECP really took off. Pets would suddenly be expected to "work." I've said before that the pets are basically like the children of some of these people. So when they reach a certain age they are expected to pull their own weight, move out, get a real job, go to college, visit on holidays. Is that where we see the comic going? Pets become "full citizens" and become dependents or are adopted by people with the same kind of laws that govern humans.

That is something that I've been curious about. I feel like at some point (if the ECP reaches its full potential) the government is going to create/rework laws that govern not only animal rights but the system in which animals are technically "owned" by humans. I feel like it would basically become a one way or the other situation. Like you can be a "pet" or you can choose to be a "citizen" If you choose citizen then you are considered a dependent and your owners would basically become your adopted parents legally. Like really legally. If you are a citizen then you pay taxes, go to school, and deal with the same garbage the rest of us deal with. Back on the subject of pets going to school. in a few years we have Olive, Rook, and Ace's turn. Will they go to pre-school? They're 3 so kindergarden is right around the corner. Will Bailey want them to go to school? King will but yeah we know why.

That is just for pets, what about feral animals? Like we don't know how Gale became a member of civilization. Remember the wolves are technically "pets" on paper. Unless that's changed over the last nine years. As sad as it is there are like so many laws and rules about how the ECP works that we have never truly gone into. Like for example, someone asked "Is Zach technically still a pet since he moved out?" The answer should be yes but is it? Is he legally?

Future generations of animals will be faced with the same choice. So where is this going and more importantly how will it work?

[D-Rock]

I'm honestly more wondering how they'll work around the existing food chain.

[Gameb18oy]

I disagree on the other pets getting jobs being unlikely, heck the wolves aren’t the first to get jobs if we count the K-9 unit, so I don’t think it’s out of the cards Rick might do this with more pets. Will say jobs and school are gonna be nice ways for Rick to figure out stuff to do with some of the characters that he probably doesn’t know what to do with half the time, and also, considering the cursed coin thing, the school might be a good place to setup a few human characters, for now the only people it could effect that we’d care about is the pet owners in Babylon gardens. It be a missed opportunity in a lot of ways if he avoids any arcs set in that school

[Champion Wallace]

This ties into the question of "Why aren't humans obsolete in this world?". The short answer is they don't have the mental capacity of humans (there's a more in-depth discussion in this thread). Basically, pets have natural advantages like fur and claws and they learn faster than humans (like being able to read at a sixth grade level when two years old), but they cap out at teenager-level intelligence. Housepets 7500 BC showed that cats in particular do not do as well at running a society or higher-level thinking in general.

Another aspect is giving pets the same status as the humans is like freeing every house-elf because of Dobby. Being a pet is a pretty sweet gig. To earn their keep, all pets have to do is act cute, pose in embarrassing sweaters, and get irritated when dinner is late. That sure beats a 9 to 5 job. Fox even said blatantly he likes being a pet, he likes humans, and he wants his squeaky bone.

[Obbl]

The one thing about school I'm curious about would be the time commitment. Animals can't devote 18 years to school cause that's a good half of their life. They'd have to do something like learn at home or an all animal school for the first few years and then finish up at a public high school maybe? Or just get their GED after they're Peanut's age-ish and just get a four-year degree? Dunno what would be best

I don't really think it'd need to be an all or nothing deal for animals. Cause even humans aren't required to get a job except that eating is a necessity. So all this could really do is open doors for ferals to get work if they want/need it. I could see some families expecting their pets to get a job and contribute after a certain age, though. At least once this all becomes normal

[Gameb18oy]

This ties into the question of "Why aren't humans obsolete in this world?". The short answer is they don't have the mental capacity of humans (there's a more in-depth discussion in this thread). Basically, pets have natural advantages like fur and claws and they learn faster than humans (like being able to read at a sixth grade level when two years old), but they cap out at teenager-level intelligence. Housepets 7500 BC showed that cats in particular do not do as well at running a society or higher-level thinking in general.

Another aspect is giving pets the same status as the humans is like freeing every house-elf because of Dobby. Being a pet is a pretty sweet gig. To earn their keep, all pets have to do is act cute, pose in embarrassing sweaters, and get irritated when dinner is late. That sure beats a 9 to 5 job. Fox even said blatantly he likes being a pet, he likes humans, and he wants his squeaky bone.

While that’s always been the explanation, personally, I’ve never seen it strongly demonstrated in the comic, just supplemental material you have to dig to find. Maybe it used to be the case and the animals just accept that, but all their hangups feel like things I see humans doing or feeling.

[Gameb18oy]

This ties into the question of "Why aren't humans obsolete in this world?". The short answer is they don't have the mental capacity of humans (there's a more in-depth discussion in this thread). Basically, pets have natural advantages like fur and claws and they learn faster than humans (like being able to read at a sixth grade level when two years old), but they cap out at teenager-level intelligence. Housepets 7500 BC showed that cats in particular do not do as well at running a society or higher-level thinking in general.

Another aspect is giving pets the same status as the humans is like freeing every house-elf because of Dobby. Being a pet is a pretty sweet gig. To earn their keep, all pets have to do is act cute, pose in embarrassing sweaters, and get irritated when dinner is late. That sure beats a 9 to 5 job. Fox even said blatantly he likes being a pet, he likes humans, and he wants his squeaky bone.

While that’s always been the explanation, personally, I’ve never seen it strongly demonstrated in the comic, just supplemental material you have to dig to find. Maybe it used to be the case and the animals just accept that, but all their hangups feel like things I see humans doing or feeling.

Also not that this refutes the 7500 BC story, but considering in the time travel story that took them back to 5000 BC in the comic, I feel an argument can be made that they can learn. No humans ever showed up in that part and both sides seem to have figured out how to run some basic societies.

[FlanDab]

This ties into the question of "Why aren't humans obsolete in this world?". The short answer is they don't have the mental capacity of humans (there's a more in-depth discussion in this thread). Basically, pets have natural advantages like fur and claws and they learn faster than humans (like being able to read at a sixth grade level when two years old), but they cap out at teenager-level intelligence. Housepets 7500 BC showed that cats in particular do not do as well at running a society or higher-level thinking in general.

Another aspect is giving pets the same status as the humans is like freeing every house-elf because of Dobby. Being a pet is a pretty sweet gig. To earn their keep, all pets have to do is act cute, pose in embarrassing sweaters, and get irritated when dinner is late. That sure beats a 9 to 5 job. Fox even said blatantly he likes being a pet, he likes humans, and he wants his squeaky bone.

While that’s always been the explanation, personally, I’ve never seen it strongly demonstrated in the comic, just supplemental material you have to dig to find. Maybe it used to be the case and the animals just accept that, but all their hangups feel like things I see humans doing or feeling.

Also not that this refutes the 7500 BC story, but considering in the time travel story that took them back to 5000 BC in the comic, I feel an argument can be made that they can learn. No humans ever showed up in that part and both sides seem to have figured out how to run some basic societies.

They did have Dragon on their sides.

[Gameb18oy]

Aside from giving their leaders superpowers, I don’t really think it was shown if Dragon helped them that much, at least directly. Personally, I kinda wonder if Rick writes stories anymore with the stuff in that tale in mind. It doesn’t seem like it at times

[FlanDab]

Aside from giving their leaders superpowers, I don’t really think it was shown if Dragon helped them that much, at least directly. Personally, I kinda wonder if Rick writes stories anymore with the stuff in that tale in mind. It doesn’t seem like it at times

One of the things you do in god games is that you teach how and tell your "people" to do stuff, including building. I'm inclined to believe that Dragon has a part in building their society.

[Champion Wallace]

Aside from giving their leaders superpowers, I don’t really think it was shown if Dragon helped them that much, at least directly. Personally, I kinda wonder if Rick writes stories anymore with the stuff in that tale in mind. It doesn’t seem like it at times

It's true that Dragon was never shown helping them, but that doesn't mean we should rule it out. We know that Dragon had a vested interest in the two villages being successful; if a human raiding party wiped them out then she'd lose all her followers and would have to start again powering up an avatar. We know that Dragon had the means to lead development without anything getting lost in the translation of obscure omens; Dragon could do all the planning and instruct Satau and possible Ptah and/or the rest of the animals by talking to them like a normal person. There's also the fact the "adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it (Horace)" and having a Spirit Dragon looking over you is pretty prosperous; it's difficult to credit these animals with creating working societies because if, for example, they were left to their own devises and failed to prepare for a famine, Dragon could bail them out by using her personal power to create a feast. In summary, there is no direct evidence that Dragon played a part in the Merimde developing on par with a human settlement, but there is the why and the how she would get involved, and because we can't say for sure she didn't have a hand in their development, sadly Housepets 5000 BC fails to be an example of how dogs and cats function independently of humans. Something to leave you with: it doesn't fit with with what was seen after they go back in time, but Satau tells Grape that his perception of a dog's role in life is working with humans for food so unless Rick Griffin reconsidered it before any hard-to-draw humans would've showed up, it's possible the animals partnered with a nearby human settlement or recently usurped the human leaders inherited the villages.

[Gameb18oy]

Aside from giving their leaders superpowers, I don’t really think it was shown if Dragon helped them that much, at least directly. Personally, I kinda wonder if Rick writes stories anymore with the stuff in that tale in mind. It doesn’t seem like it at times

It's true that Dragon was never shown helping them, but that doesn't mean we should rule it out. We know that Dragon had a vested interest in the two villages being successful; if a human raiding party wiped them out then she'd lose all her followers and would have to start again powering up an avatar. We know that Dragon had the means to lead development without anything getting lost in the translation of obscure omens; Dragon could do all the planning and instruct Satau and possible Ptah and/or the rest of the animals by talking to them like a normal person. There's also the fact the "adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it (Horace)" and having a Spirit Dragon looking over you is pretty prosperous; it's difficult to credit these animals with creating working societies because if, for example, they were left to their own devises and failed to prepare for a famine, Dragon could bail them out by using her personal power to create a feast. In summary, there is no direct evidence that Dragon played a part in the Merimde developing on par with a human settlement, but there is the why and the how she would get involved, and because we can't say for sure she didn't have a hand in their development, sadly Housepets 5000 BC fails to be an example of how dogs and cats function independently of humans. Something to leave you with: it doesn't fit with with what was seen after they go back in time, but Satau tells Grape that his perception of a dog's role in life is working with humans for food so unless Rick Griffin reconsidered it before any hard-to-draw humans would've showed up, it's possible the animals partnered with a nearby human settlement or recently usurped the human leaders inherited the villages.

... I feel you took a little too much effort in telling me you disagree with what I’m saying.

[Buster]

or perhaps not enough.

[Gameb18oy]

or perhaps not enough.

If you’re suggesting more was necessary, why? Not like more words will change the fact ultimately he was saying “I feel differently, and I’ll tell you my reasons why”

[Buster]

because it was an interesting read.

[NHWestoN]

No disagreement there. Still, there are already an awful lot of comic strips doing school venues.

[Buster]

um, what? i was talking about finding wallace's rants interesting.

[furrygamer793]

I doubt they will really talk about the wolves being in school that much

[NHWestoN]

Jes'Wouldn't want to see Housepets turn into Archie…….

[Gameb18oy]

Jes'Wouldn't want to see Housepets turn into Archie…….

... I mean, not permanently... but be fun for an arc or two

[NHWestoN]

Oh, for an arc or two, YEAH! As an old teacher, I'd love that. Just wouldn't want it to turn into a perpetual narrative loop.