sensing other people vs animals

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This is a topic that came to mind after reading another thread; I decided to start a new one rather than get that thread slightly off topic.Do you find it almost effortless to "talk" to animals and sense what they are feeling? Why do you think it is that it is so much easier to sense an animal's wants and needs than another persons? It seems illogical but it's true for many of us. Is it because it's easier to gaze at an animal intently and thereby read subtle clues?

I'm not sure but it's an interesting question. My guess is that animals have much more obvious body language than people do and the amount of time I spend with animals vs people, so I get used to how they think. There's also not a lot of sensory distractions like noise or other animals around us chatting wildly, like there usually are in social interactions with people.

"feed me", "pet me"... it's not that hard

I find it is easier to tell what animals are feeling because they don't hide their emotions.

simple. an animal is of another species. great understanding is not required except for the obvious. so our understanding may be good enough. a person is of the same species. greater understanding is expected. when you don't it's seen as odd.

it's possible that animals don't expect us to understnad everything as they're of another species and so they're fine that way.

You might find the book Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin interesting. It will give you a lot to think about. I'm the same way (always have been) about animals vs. people. I could write my own book on the subject of how communication with animals differs from with people, but I better not start here or else I won't stop.

No.
It is impossible to know what someone is feeling, either emotionally or physically.
I cannot even identify my own emotions, so it seems far fetched to assume I can sense others' emotions.

Animals...or non-human animals rather, I believe are easier to read non-verbal cues from, because unlike humans, they have a much more limited set of wants, needs, and demands, and animals are always honest, while humans may have complex wants, needs, and sentients, and will convey an emotion or sentient at times, by superficially displaying the opposite of that emotion, need or sentient, for the sake of being "polite".

I think this is where most of the confusion comes in.

I was just talking about this with my boyfriend earlier today!
I've always found that I can tell better what animals are feeling because their body language seems more logical to me. I can't describe it very well, but it seems that the movements and expressive movements of animals seem to make a lot more sense to me. I suppose that must be what it's like to read human emotions for a NT...

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