Since animals started being domesticated for men's benefit, human beings have developed instruments to work with them. From plows pulled by oxen to modern techniques for artificial insemination, it seems that we have constantly developed technologies to maximize our benefit from animal sources.
However, even the most well-designed tools do not always work well. Since animals are living beings, their cooperation is often crucial for the success of some of these technologies. It means that men and animals have to develop communication somehow. But, most of the time, this connection is not possible because people and animals perceive the world in very different ways.
In the 1990's, farmers, veterinarians and other employees of McDonald's supplier farms were having a problem with their squeeze chute (Grandin, p.32). When a farm raises livestock, it is required by law to examine and treat the animals periodically. Since animals such as cattle are two large to be held, a squeeze chute is a special instrument to hold them still during examination.
The squeeze chute is a small stall into which the animal enters. When the animal is inside, its head is fixed by a small window called a head bail; the back door is closed, and then the animal can be more easily examined and treated.
However, even the most well-designed tools do not always work well. Since animals are living beings, their cooperation is often crucial for the success of some of these technologies. It means that men and animals have to develop communication somehow. But, most of the time, this connection is not possible because people and animals perceive the world in very different ways.
In the 1990's, farmers, veterinarians and other employees of McDonald's supplier farms were having a problem with their squeeze chute (Grandin, p.32). When a farm raises livestock, it is required by law to examine and treat the animals periodically. Since animals such as cattle are two large to be held, a squeeze chute is a special instrument to hold them still during examination.
The squeeze chute is a small stall into which the animal enters. When the animal is inside, its head is fixed by a small window called a head bail; the back door is closed, and then the animal can be more easily examined and treated.
The efficiency of this instrument depends on the level of safety to the animal and the operator, the accessibility for the animal, and the speed of the process when a large number of animals have to be handled in repetitive treatments. If the cattle won't walk into the squeeze chute, it is a huge problem to a farm. Since cows and bulls are too heavy to be pushed to the chute, many times operators have to use an electric prod - a traumatic method that affects the quality of meat, thereby causing loss of money for the company (Gonyou, p.1).
The farmers and McDonald's corporation were not able to resolve this problem until they consulted an autistic professional, Dr. Temple Grandin, who was able to see the problem that neurotypical people couldn't see at McDonald's supplier farms.
In 1999, McDonald's hired Dr. Grandin to audit their supplier farms and check what was wrong with their chutes system. At the farm, Dr. Grandin would crawl around mimicking the movements of the cattle in order to duplicate the experience of the animals and figure out why they avoided going to the chute. (Grandin, p.32)
After visiting many farms, Dr. Grandin concluded that the problem was “always a small detail, usually a detail humans hadn't even noticed” (Grandin, p.32). She also notes that “a huge amount of my consulting business is getting paid to see all the stuff normal people can't see. I do this constantly.”(Grandin, p.30)
It was not the case that Dr. Grandin could see what the entire staff couldn't because she was smarter. She was able to do it because, according to her, “autistic people can think the way animals think” (Grandin, p.6). This is the main thesis of her book “Animals in translation – Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animals Behavior”. According to her, autistic people and animals see the world similarly because they perceive details that neurotypical people miss and they are more sensitive to them, even to the slightest detail. (Grandin, p.30)
Dr. Grandin says that neurotypical people don't see things the way they are. Instead, their perception of the world is filtered through preexistent notions of how things are. This might explain, for example, why people can read texts in which every single word is misspelled. This is possible because they are not reading word-by-word or letter-by-letter; they are recognizing words and ideas that are already in their minds. On the other hand, “animals and autistic people”, she says, “don't see their ideas of things; they see the actual things themselves. We see the details that make up the world, while normal people blur all those details together into their general concept of the world”(Grandin, p.30) .
Crawling on her knees through each farm's chute system, Dr. Grandin easily noticed tiny details viewed by cattle as they entered the chutes. Small details such as a jacket hung on a fence, a moving piece of plastic, an object on the floor, changes in lighting and so forth. Details like these were in the cattle's line of sight and scare them.
It's important to remember that cattle are instinctively prey animals. Even though they are raised on a farm, they still act like prey. According to Dr. Grandin, “all the animals, predator or prey, have a built-in sense of caution that is triggered by new things”. If a predator sees a new thing in the environment, it instinctively chases it. Dogs are good examples of this. Prey animals do the opposite: if they see something different in the environment, they instinctively run, hide or avoid the new thing. This explains what was wrong with McDonald's supplier farms: the new thing, the detail, the change in the environment scared the cattle. The key was the detail!
According to Dr. Grandin, both animals and autistic people are visual thinkers. According to her, “visual thinkers of any species, animal or human, are detail-oriented. They see everything and they react to everything.” (Grandin, 26)
Visual thought or thinking in pictures is one of a number of other recognized forms of non-verbal thought such as kinesthetic, musical and mathematical thinking. In her book “Thinking in Pictures”, Dr Grandin says: “during my thinking process, I have no words in my head at all, just pictures. No matter what subject I'm thinking about.” (Grandin, p. 17)
Being a visual thinker for someone with a kind of autism similar to Dr Grandin's means, for instance, being able to memorize details in superhuman proportion. The British architecture artist Steven Wiltshire is a good example of this. He has autism and is known for being able to draw accurately an entire landscape just by seeing it once (http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/). Videos of his process of creation are available on websites such as www.youtube.com.
For an animal, being a visual thinker means responding properly to the environment when it comes to getting food, recognizing a predator or prey. If an animal in the wild saw a jacket like the one hanging on the fence at a McDonald's supplier farm, this animal would react, either as a predator or a prey. According to Dr. Grandin, animals survive in the wild “by being highly attuned to the visual environment”.
It's important to recognized that, even though Dr. Grandin's thesis is based in her own experience as a autistic person, her experience may not generalize to all people with autism. Autism describes a brain disorder where one's capacity to communicate, have social relationships and behaving properly in different situations is impaired. However, we do not know if all autistic people think in pictures. In addition, the way autistic people's brains work is still quite a mystery.
Nevertheless, we can say that Dr. Gradin might be right. If some autistic people can think the way animals think, they might intermediate communication between animals and neurotypical humans by giving us greater ability to translate "animal talk”. If this is true, problems such as Mcdonald's squeeze chute could be easily solved. It would be only a matter of “asking the cows” what's wrong.
The farmers and McDonald's corporation were not able to resolve this problem until they consulted an autistic professional, Dr. Temple Grandin, who was able to see the problem that neurotypical people couldn't see at McDonald's supplier farms.
In 1999, McDonald's hired Dr. Grandin to audit their supplier farms and check what was wrong with their chutes system. At the farm, Dr. Grandin would crawl around mimicking the movements of the cattle in order to duplicate the experience of the animals and figure out why they avoided going to the chute. (Grandin, p.32)
After visiting many farms, Dr. Grandin concluded that the problem was “always a small detail, usually a detail humans hadn't even noticed” (Grandin, p.32). She also notes that “a huge amount of my consulting business is getting paid to see all the stuff normal people can't see. I do this constantly.”(Grandin, p.30)
It was not the case that Dr. Grandin could see what the entire staff couldn't because she was smarter. She was able to do it because, according to her, “autistic people can think the way animals think” (Grandin, p.6). This is the main thesis of her book “Animals in translation – Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animals Behavior”. According to her, autistic people and animals see the world similarly because they perceive details that neurotypical people miss and they are more sensitive to them, even to the slightest detail. (Grandin, p.30)
Dr. Grandin says that neurotypical people don't see things the way they are. Instead, their perception of the world is filtered through preexistent notions of how things are. This might explain, for example, why people can read texts in which every single word is misspelled. This is possible because they are not reading word-by-word or letter-by-letter; they are recognizing words and ideas that are already in their minds. On the other hand, “animals and autistic people”, she says, “don't see their ideas of things; they see the actual things themselves. We see the details that make up the world, while normal people blur all those details together into their general concept of the world”(Grandin, p.30) .
Crawling on her knees through each farm's chute system, Dr. Grandin easily noticed tiny details viewed by cattle as they entered the chutes. Small details such as a jacket hung on a fence, a moving piece of plastic, an object on the floor, changes in lighting and so forth. Details like these were in the cattle's line of sight and scare them.
It's important to remember that cattle are instinctively prey animals. Even though they are raised on a farm, they still act like prey. According to Dr. Grandin, “all the animals, predator or prey, have a built-in sense of caution that is triggered by new things”. If a predator sees a new thing in the environment, it instinctively chases it. Dogs are good examples of this. Prey animals do the opposite: if they see something different in the environment, they instinctively run, hide or avoid the new thing. This explains what was wrong with McDonald's supplier farms: the new thing, the detail, the change in the environment scared the cattle. The key was the detail!
According to Dr. Grandin, both animals and autistic people are visual thinkers. According to her, “visual thinkers of any species, animal or human, are detail-oriented. They see everything and they react to everything.” (Grandin, 26)
Visual thought or thinking in pictures is one of a number of other recognized forms of non-verbal thought such as kinesthetic, musical and mathematical thinking. In her book “Thinking in Pictures”, Dr Grandin says: “during my thinking process, I have no words in my head at all, just pictures. No matter what subject I'm thinking about.” (Grandin, p. 17)
Being a visual thinker for someone with a kind of autism similar to Dr Grandin's means, for instance, being able to memorize details in superhuman proportion. The British architecture artist Steven Wiltshire is a good example of this. He has autism and is known for being able to draw accurately an entire landscape just by seeing it once (http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/). Videos of his process of creation are available on websites such as www.youtube.com.
For an animal, being a visual thinker means responding properly to the environment when it comes to getting food, recognizing a predator or prey. If an animal in the wild saw a jacket like the one hanging on the fence at a McDonald's supplier farm, this animal would react, either as a predator or a prey. According to Dr. Grandin, animals survive in the wild “by being highly attuned to the visual environment”.
It's important to recognized that, even though Dr. Grandin's thesis is based in her own experience as a autistic person, her experience may not generalize to all people with autism. Autism describes a brain disorder where one's capacity to communicate, have social relationships and behaving properly in different situations is impaired. However, we do not know if all autistic people think in pictures. In addition, the way autistic people's brains work is still quite a mystery.
Nevertheless, we can say that Dr. Gradin might be right. If some autistic people can think the way animals think, they might intermediate communication between animals and neurotypical humans by giving us greater ability to translate "animal talk”. If this is true, problems such as Mcdonald's squeeze chute could be easily solved. It would be only a matter of “asking the cows” what's wrong.
Works cited:
Harold Gonyou: “Electric Prod Use Can Be Costly” 2007. Available on http://nationalhogfarmer.com
Harold Gonyou: “Electric Prod Use Can Be Costly” 2007. Available on http://nationalhogfarmer.com
Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson: Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. Published by Simon and Schuster, 2005
Temple Grandin: Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism. Published by Doubleday, 1995.
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