It would seem that humans and brutes take in information and process it in ways that are very similar and at the same time very different (personal experience). In the end, the acquisition, processing, usage, and transfer, of information may explain why I think Bo-dog is ultimately happier than the president or any person in our country at this time.
First, let’s take a look at the way Bo (1) acquires information from what I’ll call his event world. Obviously, the dog intakes sense information much like the President. Bo can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. Lo, while walking along Pennsylvania Avenue at the end of a retractable leash, Bo spies one of D.C.'s fire hydrants at a distance. This memory excites Bo. As he gets nearer, he smells urine. Bo-dog likes that smell.
(2) Processing information is already kicking in. Bo decides the odor is similar to urine smelled elsewhere. It may or may not be his. Now (3) utilization perks him up. How will he use this information? Since there is nothing to fear, he will not pull away and run. Rather, the odor prods Bo to satisfy a mere instinctual desire to pee. He (4) transfers this information to his four legs, lifts one of them high in the air, and pisses his heart out.
Afterward, he makes no real decision. A tug on his leash takes away any real choice Bo has to linger at the hydrant. He knows not where he goes—he simply follows. This routine is familiar to Bo. He has followed the same instinct a bazillion times. This is how he processes information. The furry beast does not seem sad in any way. On the contrary, Bo-dog appears to be happy, satisfied, and somewhat proud, walking from pole to pole, hydrant to hydrant, leaving a squirt behind whenever possible. Public urination does not intimidate him.
Now let’s look at his master, President Obama, sitting in the Oval Office. He (1) acquires information from his event world with his senses just like Bo-dog: seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling. But Obama has an additional sense—language. This mental sense of the President is goading him to apply scientific methods to the information of world politics. He must determine what to do with Afghanistan and ultimately Pakistan. The lives of many depend on how he deals with information.
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