This Blog Is NOT About Dog Treats

Over the last few years there have been so many articles, rumours, recalls, reports, and worries about dog treats that I have lost count. Dogs have died. Vets have given out warnings.

People are still buying dog treats.

I am sympathetic, but I still shake my head.

But if you read the title carefully, this blog is NOT about dog treats. It's about cause and effect, and I am desperately concerned about my species and their apparent inability to follow "If X, then Y".

If you like, you can look at human treats. Perhaps this sort of thing could be a basic primer. Again, this blog is NOT about human treats. But riddle me this:

Humans know, because they've been told often enough, that certain foods are healthier than others. Some folk are extremist about it, and that's their prerogrative, while others ignore any advice on nutrition completely. Somewhere between the two, most people know that some food items are best eaten rarely, as a treat. This is because they know that "If you eat junk treats all the time, then you will get sick." It makes no sense to opt for sickness, so most of us remember that. Nevertheless, some people eat far more junk treats than the human system can deal with and they get sick. And then they complain about it.

There's this old joke, where a man goes to his doctor and says "Doc, when I do this (action) it hurts!" so the doctor says "Well, stop doing it then." Ha ha ha ha ha. (O.o)

OK. If the action is walking, it's hard to avoid. If it's guzzling 4 litres of pop every day, maybe a lifestyle adaptation could be made. Oh, the unfairness of it.

I currently see one of my key roles in the life of my grandchildren as that of a teacher. The wise elder deal. Evolution prefers children to have grandparents, otherwise we'd all die as soon as our kids were of breeding age. Some research has been done on this, there is an obvious advantage to having older people around or there wouldn't be any. Nature is not wasteful.

And one of the things I aim to teach them is cause and effect. they teach it to themselves in a way, but sometimes pointing it out speeds the process up. I am especially keen on teaching #4 grandson that climbing on unsteady objects is a bad idea after what he did to his head last week.

But with the oldest two I can sit and discuss this sort of thing. I find it necessary to do it several times, but they are listening, because you can hear them warning each other: "If you do that then........"

"If you break Nona's pot, she'll kill you."

Sage advice.

The point is, chldren do learn this. They pick it up pretty fast. It does save their lives. It's what stops them touching hot things, running in the road, or getting murdered by their grandmother.

So why do adults have such a hard time with it? Hmm?

I don't think a day goes by that I don't see, hear, or read about somebody who is a perfectly sane, intelligent adult who is COMPLETELY ignoring the laws of cause and effect, as if it doesn't apply to them.

I am not going to furnish you with examples, just in case you recognize yourself among them. That would be awkward. Because IF I call somebody out on their stupidity THEN they tend to be offended and unhappy.