““A leading common sense–based reason for exploring other animals’ realities, which is also a scientific one, is the pursuit of truth. Science since the seventeenth century has developed a collection of subfields that reflect our considerable abilities to inquire in disciplined and creative ways about the universe we share with countless other organisms and inorganic objects and systems. A standard goal in all these sciences is “the truth,” which coincides perfectly with our natural curiosity. “Getting it right” about the realities around us also helps us have confidence in our ethical judgments about the world around us and its nonhuman creatures. Another common sense–based reason for trying to learn about other animals is that humans have long recognized similarities between humans and many other living beings. Traditional sources, such as the Bible, the Qur’an, sacred writings from India and China, and the stories of indigenous peoples, often reflect the commonality attested to in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes (this translation is from the Revised Standard Version): For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth?””
