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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Zoobiquity summary
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers
The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health
19 mins
What is Zoobiquity about?
Zoobiquity describes the intimate similarities between humans and other animals by examining topics such as sexuality, health and psychological development. It illustrates how we, as humans, could have much to gain by increasing our understanding of the animals we share our planet with.
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Zoobiquity
summarized in 11 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 11
Humans and animals are so genetically similar that it makes sense for their doctors to collaborate.
Have you ever been to a zoo and found yourself taken aback by the “humanness” of the behavior of some monkeys or other animals? That closeness isn’t just a coincidence, or your imagination. It’s genetic.
Human beings and animals have many fundamental similarities, including their genes. In fact, the human genome is 98.6 percent identical to the chimpanzee's.
Biologists call the genetic similarities we share with other animals deep homology. Deep homology doesn’t just refer to species that are closely related, like wolves and dogs, or humans and chimps. It also refers to animals that are more distantly related. For example, it explains the connection between light-responsive vision in a hawk and photosensitivity in green algae.
Because of the intimate similarities between humans and animals, it’s logical that veterinary and medical researchers should collaborate. In fact, this used to be the case: two centuries ago, most physicians also tended to their town’s animals. This changed in the twentieth century, when people began to give physicians a higher social status, and they began to have more prestige and higher salaries. Unfortunately, these benefits weren’t extended to veterinarians.
The dividing line between doctors and vets still exists, although it is slowly being weakened. In 2007, for instance, the head of the American Medical Association and the head of the American Veterinary Medical Association arranged a meeting, hoping to foster collaboration between physicians and veterinarians.
If collaborative efforts like this continue, we might gain a better understanding of both human and animal biology. Our genetic similarities run deep – but how similar is our behavior, or the way diseases affect our bodies? The following blinks take a closer look at some of the astonishing similarities we share with the animals in our world.
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Best quote from Zoobiquity
Seeing too much of ourselves in other animals might not be the problem ... underappreciating our own animal natures may be.
—Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers
Who should read Zoobiquity?
- Anyone interested in medicine
- Anyone interested in biology or zoology
- Anyone interested in animals
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