The truth about geeks and cats

In this article about why there seems to be an especial love for cats in the geek community, a seriously good point is made… both about cats and, less obviously, about aliens: what motivates *you* might not motivate *them,* and what motivates *them* might not motivate *you.*

Cats are further removed from human thinking than dogs. Dogs, like humans, are pack animals that form clear hierarchies and understand dominance and submission. Those not at the top seek the direction and approval of the top, and sometimes seek to overthrow those at the top. Cats, on the other hand, are far more individualistic, generally speaking. In any well-run human household with dogs, you can tell that the dogs look to the Top Human for instructions when a new circumstance arrives. Cats? I’ve rarely noticed any of my cats looking to *me* when something goes wrong.

The article describes a long-term effort to stop two housecats from constantly fighting. A resolution was eventually achieved by the humans… but it was not a resolution that they could have foreseen. They only came to it by going to someone who had long studied cat psychology. Cats think *different* than most humans, and if you want them to behave themselves, you’d better have some understanding of just *how* they think different. Top of the list is… cats want to be left alone. When they want to be part of the team, it’s for their reasons and on their terms. The best line in the whole article, IMO:

If you wanted to convey to a cat that you come in peace, you’d do it by getting back in your spaceship and going home.

Writing about believable aliens could benefit from trying to understand terrestrial non-humans. This is something I am attempting in the next sci-fi story I’m currently scribbling away at in off moments (same set of characters that were in “Mass Disappearance”).