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Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

psychreg.org

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Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#11

Post by Ididntdothis »

dudul wrote: post #3
Ididntdothis wrote: post #2

For a while I worked at a place where they allowed dogs in the office. It’s probably not for everyone it but I personally felt this have the workplace a very nice touch and made it much more humane.

It is indeed not for everyone since I personally hated it :) I find it extremely distracting. When there is a dog around, you'll always find a bunch of people throwing the ball with it or something like that in the middle of the open space. And there is of course the dog owner who just doesn't care where the dog is. Doesn't care that it's coming to my desk to lick my shoes, or bothering me while I'm trying to eat in…

Totally agree. It’s a matter of personal preferences just as any other kind of office setup. Some people love open office, some don’t, some like dogs in the office, some don’t. It would be nice if was easier for people to work according to their preferences.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#13

Post by Ididntdothis »

papln wrote: post #9
dudul wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is indeed not for everyone since I personally hated it :) I find it extremely distracting. When there is a dog around, you'll always find a bunch of people throwing the ball with it or something like that in the middle of the open space. And there is of course the dog owner who just doesn't care where the dog is. Doesn't care that it's coming to my desk to lick my shoes, or bothering me while I'm trying to eat in…

> in the middle of the open space. There's your problem. You work in a bullpen. Dogs are one of many triggers for problems in bullpens.

True. When I worked at the place with dogs we had offices. Open office or cubes just suck in principle. With or without dogs.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#14

Post by papln »

makerofspoons wrote: post #6

I'm not sure we should be encouraging people to own more dogs and cats- they have a substantial carbon footprint for being extravagances: https://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carb...

We shouldn't be encouraging people in developed nations to have people either. They have a much larger carbon footprint.

The article you cite explains that clearly.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#15

Post by Liquix »

makerofspoons wrote: post #6

I'm not sure we should be encouraging people to own more dogs and cats- they have a substantial carbon footprint for being extravagances: https://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carb...

Something you classify as an 'extravagance' could be classified by others as 'best friend', 'most uplifting part of the day', revered by the egyptians' 'my only reason for getting out of bed when faced with crippling depression', etc.

Amusement parks, restaurants, and the manufacture of your latest high-tech gadget also generate carbon footprints. One could argue that none of those things are strictly necessary for society and could be classified as 'extravagances'. But we continue to use and purchase them - because they bring joy and value to us.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#16

Post by trevyn »

charliesharding wrote: post #12

Would it follow that having kids is good for our well-being too? Sometimes I wonder if the decline of the family/people choosing not to have kids is linked with increasing rates of mental health problems

Maybe, maybe not, but one should also consider the well-being of the kids in this world.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#17

Post by AdamJacobMuller »

papln wrote: post #14
makerofspoons wrote: post #6

I'm not sure we should be encouraging people to own more dogs and cats- they have a substantial carbon footprint for being extravagances: https://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carb...

We shouldn't be encouraging people in developed nations to have people either. They have a much larger carbon footprint. The article you cite explains that clearly.

why only developed? developing ones too! Really, we should just sterilize everyone. It's the best way to go carbon zero.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#19

Post by dawhizkid »

charliesharding wrote: post #12

Would it follow that having kids is good for our well-being too? Sometimes I wonder if the decline of the family/people choosing not to have kids is linked with increasing rates of mental health problems

I'm one of those people who has decided to purposefully not have kids because I do not believe they will have a better life than me due to climate change. I suspect there's an increasing number of people who think that way.

Re: Owning a Pet Is Good for Well-Being

#20

Post by gota »

makerofspoons wrote: post #6

I'm not sure we should be encouraging people to own more dogs and cats- they have a substantial carbon footprint for being extravagances: https://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carb...

> "Some people now spend more on feeding their pets than they do feeding their children,"

Yes, this is easy when you have zero children and more than zero pets; and I'll wager a good amount of money that its true only in that case

> In the U.S., American dogs bless us with 10 million tons of waste a year.

10 million tons of waste a year is really not that much for 350 million people, for the benefits of having pets its a great tradeoff

I highly doubt that the number of pets matters at all in accounting for the difference in carbon footprint between the US (15.7[1]) and Brazil (2.4[1]) or India (1.8[1]). Focusing on pets to reduce carbon footprint before fuel consumption or the short lifespan of industrialized goods is like improving your finances by foraging for coins in the street instead of cutting down on your all-inclusive U$300/month cable package

[1] metric tons of CO2 emission per capita, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_di...

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