In the search for extraterrestrial life, at least two desires are hoped to be satisfied. One, the satisfaction of confirming that life can and has occurred elsewhere. And two, the satisfaction of being acknowledged by an intelligent life form to confirm that we are both experiencing reality. I suspect that the second also confirms the noumenon, but that’s a separate essay.
Look no further than dogs to satisfy both. I’ll explain.
Cats are close to us. Herpes is probably closer. But dogs have had the greatest spiritual and culturally symbiotic relationship to us for the longest time.
For one, life happening on another planet is arbitrary. Especially because we’re damn near certain it’s possible. Life is here, already, and we can have emotional and spiritual connections with other lifeforms right now. For two, dogs may not be as intelligent as we are but the same oxytocin courses through their brains that gives us the satisfaction we desire when searching for acknowledgment anyway. They see us, they feel us, and they evidently love us for us and not just because they know we have food.
It’s banal, the relationship between dogs and humans. That’s the greatest sin. That we let such a bond that transcends taxonomy become ordinary. Another human can articulate that we are not alone because we have each other. But dogs provide a simple version of that witnessing from a completely different branch of the tree of life. We know it’s possible to share love with a different species. That’s it. We aren’t alone, not even as a human beings because we have—and have needed—dogs.