Thurber’s Tail: How Dogs Make Us Laugh
Every morning, after Thurber eats breakfast and does his business, I lay back down to read the news on my phone and to ease into the morning.
And Thurber jumps up on the bed with a ball or bone in his jaws, tail wagging with mischief in his eyes, as he dares me to try to take it from him — which causes me to laugh out loud.
Dog-Induced Laughter Promotes Civility and Empathy
Thurber's antics make me laugh so hard and so often, I can only imagine how much public civility would be improved if everyone in our country could experience the daily joy he brings me.
Civility is "the foundational virtue of citizenship," developmental psychologist Marilyn Price-Mitchell wrote a decade ago in Psychology Today.
It's behavior "that recognizes the humanity of others, allowing us to live peacefully together in neighborhoods and communities."
She explained that the psychological elements of civility include awareness, respect, self-control and empathy — the very characteristics a professional dog trainer is currently helping me develop in Thurber.
Empathy — the ability to understand and share the feelings of another — is certainly a skill we Americans are losing in our increasingly isolated, angry, social-media-driven world.
But pets like my best buddy Thurber can help bring us together and help us restore our argumentative nation to a civil, well-functioning republic.
Child development specialist Denise Daniels explains in The Washington Post that "emotional intelligence," or EQ, is a measure of empathy.
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Copyright 2022 Tom Purcell, All Rights Reserved. Credit: Cagle.com
