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Cat People vs. Dog People

research.facebook.com

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Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#21

Post by popmystack »

cryptica wrote: post #10

I used to love dogs when I was a kid, now I'm definitely a cat person. I find dogs superficial and too simple-minded. If you feed them often enough, they will like you (guaranteed) - I find this kind of relationship unsatisfying - You are the master and so the dog has no choice but to like you. Kind of like how people are inclined to laugh when their boss makes a not-so-funny joke - That's the kind of dynamic you get…

None of this follows a linear line of thought. Dogs definitely can can show you "affection without any obvious reason." Cats can also be "bought" with food bribes just as easy as dogs. It could be argued that the whole "random affection" play applies to both dogs and cats and was brought about in an evolutionary fashion, in that being affectionate towards humans grants you a far higher chance of obtaining food and shelter. Would you consider that "fake"?

I find it very weird that you're trying to prescribe a "fake" vs "real" scheme when dealing with pet's emotions without offering a real, testable theory to how we should organize our pet's "true" motivations. Just lots of assumptions, really.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#22

Post by TA8aug »

overcast wrote: post #3

The book and movie comparisons throw me off. It looks like the majority of dog owners in this research are women, while the majority of cat owners are men. I'd have expected those to be reversed.

My gut reaction to the book and movie comparisons is that people who share cat photos tend to be liberal and people who share dog photos tend to be conservative (for the US definition of liberal and conservative). Maybe I'm off base.

Also, note that the comparison is about people who share cat or dog photos and their Facebook friends -- not about cat or dog people and their actual friends. I'm a dog person and many of my friends are cat people, but I wouldn't be interested in seeing their cat photos on Facebook. Nor would I be posting dog photos anywhere...

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#23

Post by Mahn »

cryptica wrote: post #10

I used to love dogs when I was a kid, now I'm definitely a cat person. I find dogs superficial and too simple-minded. If you feed them often enough, they will like you (guaranteed) - I find this kind of relationship unsatisfying - You are the master and so the dog has no choice but to like you. Kind of like how people are inclined to laugh when their boss makes a not-so-funny joke - That's the kind of dynamic you get…

I think at least some dogs are capable of genuine "altruistic" relationships too. My neighbour's dog for instance always get super excited when he sees me, jumps on me and everything, but I almost never feed him or look after him, I just play with him sometimes; we have more of a friendship dynamic than a master-slave relationship.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#24

Post by asdfologist »

honkhonkpants wrote: post #16

This seems like quite an intrusion into people's private data. If certain other large companies decided to crawl all over your data for shits and giggles, I'm fairly sure HN would have its pitchforks out.

What? This is orders of magnitude better than selling private data to ad companies, which is FB's main business. If of all things you choose to be outraged by aggregate statistics about cat vs. dog people, you may want to reconsider your priorities.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#25

Post by Franciscouzo »

auganov wrote: post #19
cryptica wrote: post #10

I used to love dogs when I was a kid, now I'm definitely a cat person. I find dogs superficial and too simple-minded. If you feed them often enough, they will like you (guaranteed) - I find this kind of relationship unsatisfying - You are the master and so the dog has no choice but to like you. Kind of like how people are inclined to laugh when their boss makes a not-so-funny joke - That's the kind of dynamic you get…

Most [all?] cultures agree. "Dog" is an insult across many languages, which indicates it's lower status. Never heard of "cat" being a standalone insult.

It is at least in Spanish, calling a woman "gata" is akin to telling them they're slutty.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#26

Post by chris_st »

auganov wrote: post #19
cryptica wrote: post #10

I used to love dogs when I was a kid, now I'm definitely a cat person. I find dogs superficial and too simple-minded. If you feed them often enough, they will like you (guaranteed) - I find this kind of relationship unsatisfying - You are the master and so the dog has no choice but to like you. Kind of like how people are inclined to laugh when their boss makes a not-so-funny joke - That's the kind of dynamic you get…

Most [all?] cultures agree. "Dog" is an insult across many languages, which indicates it's lower status. Never heard of "cat" being a standalone insult.

In american english, calling someone "catty" means they gossip maliciously.

Also, "cathouse" is another name for whorehouse.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#27

Post by auganov »

chris_st wrote: post #26
auganov wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most [all?] cultures agree. "Dog" is an insult across many languages, which indicates it's lower status. Never heard of "cat" being a standalone insult.

In american english, calling someone "catty" means they gossip maliciously. Also, "cathouse" is another name for whorehouse.

Yea, but that's a variation on cat. Not a standalone "cat', while a standalone "dog" has enough of a negative connotation in most languages.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#28

Post by jondubois »

auganov wrote: post #19
cryptica wrote: post #10

I used to love dogs when I was a kid, now I'm definitely a cat person. I find dogs superficial and too simple-minded. If you feed them often enough, they will like you (guaranteed) - I find this kind of relationship unsatisfying - You are the master and so the dog has no choice but to like you. Kind of like how people are inclined to laugh when their boss makes a not-so-funny joke - That's the kind of dynamic you get…

Most [all?] cultures agree. "Dog" is an insult across many languages, which indicates it's lower status. Never heard of "cat" being a standalone insult.

Haha, yes. Phrases like "sly dog" imply deception and a lack of morals.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#29

Post by honkhonkpants »

asdfologist wrote: post #24
honkhonkpants wrote: post #16

This seems like quite an intrusion into people's private data. If certain other large companies decided to crawl all over your data for shits and giggles, I'm fairly sure HN would have its pitchforks out.

What? This is orders of magnitude better than selling private data to ad companies, which is FB's main business. If of all things you choose to be outraged by aggregate statistics about cat vs. dog people, you may want to reconsider your priorities.

Is that what FB does? Or do they just use their data internally to target ads, without handing the data to the advertisers? I honestly don't know but I do know that people are always saying that Google sells your information to advertisers, and they don't. So I'm skeptical of this claim.

Anyway, maybe this whole analysis was based on public profile data.

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#30

Post by random_rr »

auganov wrote: post #19
cryptica wrote: post #10

I used to love dogs when I was a kid, now I'm definitely a cat person. I find dogs superficial and too simple-minded. If you feed them often enough, they will like you (guaranteed) - I find this kind of relationship unsatisfying - You are the master and so the dog has no choice but to like you. Kind of like how people are inclined to laugh when their boss makes a not-so-funny joke - That's the kind of dynamic you get…

Most [all?] cultures agree. "Dog" is an insult across many languages, which indicates it's lower status. Never heard of "cat" being a standalone insult.

What's up dawg? That pussy looks like a catty bitch.

I feel like it's a wash. Dogs have more favorable sentiments expressed about them, and more negative ones, because they have SUCH personalities that it's polarizing.

A cat that has an outgoing personality will often be compared to a dog, conversely, only a meek, quiet dog would be referred to as a cat.

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