Kawaii!
In the real world, however, we have our own pets to make us satisfied. I read about the Seven Reasons Why Pets Make Us Happy by Esther Crain and knew about our connections with our pets. The article states that a researched performed by Marty Becker, DVM showed that having a deep connection with our pets give us incredible health and happiness benefits. He also says that if we spend more time being with our four-legged companions, we are going to feel better.
One of the health benefits of having a deep connection with our pets is we become more active. We move around whenever we play catch with our dog in the park, or whenever we dance around with our cat in the living room. We burn calories and we get our heart rate up, meaning we get big mood and energy boosts provided by quick bursts of exercise. Even if we only do small tasks like walking with our labradors on the sidewalk to and back twice a day, the exercise adds up over time. David Niven, Ph.D., a psychologist and social scientist at Ohio State university and the author of 100 Simple Secrets Why Dogs Make Us Happy says that dog owners walk 79 percent farther each day than people who doesn't have a dog.
The second benefit would be they keep us naturally healthy. The article states that the American Heart Association confirmed that pet ownership is linked to a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk factors. Those risk factors include lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and lower likelihood of obesity. Dr. Becker also states that cat owners were forty percent less likely than their feline-free counterparts to have a heart attack of stroke. He adds that our dogs and cats, or even our peculiar pets act as free medicine that can maintain optimum health.
They also help us develop empathy. We develop a sense that makes us think that all living creatures need comfort and feel pain, and all kids who are accompanied by pets in their early ages realize that. Even adults who bring home their pets tend to develop a stronger sense of empathy. "Taking care of an animal reminds you that all humans and animals have needs that may eclipse your own, and you are able to see things from others' point of view. That helps you become more caring and compassionate." says Niven.
Cuddle with me <3
The fourth benefit would be involving us feeling the feel of being needed. They give us a self-esteem kick. They make us feel needed because someone has to fill up their food bowls every morning. They make us feel important because they shower us with unconditional love, or by the fact that they're completely nonjudgmental about our lifestyles. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found out that pet owners reported higher levels of self-esteem as well as greater sense of belonging and a more meaningful existence than non-pet owners.
You may notice that your social connections grow whenever you're out with your pet. Strangers are more apt to smile, say hello, or even strike up a conversation due to this. They would openly talk about their own pet too. These may seem meaningless, but they actually make us feel less isolated and more in the jive of our community. People with pets can be perceived by others to be more social and open and that can make your social circle wider and more diverse, resulting in less loneliness.
Petting them would always brighten up our mood. It would soothe our pets to be stroked and touched by us, but we also get a huge physiological payback too. Hormones like serotonin and oxytocin are chemicals produced whenever we hug a person, and these chemicals make us feel more relaxed and at peace. It also decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is responsible for increasing blood sugar, suppresses the immune system and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. It also decreases bone formation, so nuzzling or rubbing your animal companion would be a great idea.
Pet me, master!
Lastly, our pets bring order to our lives. They help us bring routine and discipline to our day, and that benefits us as much as it does to them. These tasks become habits to bring structure to the day, and when we feel there is order and purpose to our lives, we tend to feel happier and be more productive.
I firmly believe in all of these reasons because I am a pet owner myself. Considering on having a pet would be a great idea for you to be able to interact with different animals and enlarge your social circle.
But why Pokemon? Pokemon are digital, and they do not represent - in any kind or form - real world animals. So why are we satisfied in playing with our artificial pets? Well, I happen to find an article discussing how we interact with our artificial pets.
The article is entitled Free Creatures by Frederic Kaplan. It discusses how digital pets are molded and designed to affect our senses as the same as our beloved pets. Our digital pets have been part of our leisure time and we engage into relationships with them.
It was not about the realism, nor it mimicking a real pet, however it deals with the "uselessness principle". They are creatures not meant to be slaves. They act as our partner in battles, yes, but we devote our time into taking care of these monsters and not make them something that is lower that us. They are designed to have autonomous goals to convey autonomous emotions. They just act there to be entertaining and to act as our companion. They also make us feel responsible. We have repeated interactions with it and so we develop a sense of responsibility towards them. It serves as a fragile being. Without us, it will be left weak and futile. We train these Pokemon and eventually we grow with them.
Pikachu has fainted!
The owner must feel guilty if he doesn't take care of his pet. Pokemon faint in battles when we don't train them to well. They put pressure on us by performing an effective blackmail. Another way of putting pressure unto the user is that they will link the maturation, or in this case, the evolution of pets to the way the user is taking care of his or her pet. They will manipulate the way the pet is maturing so that the way of taking care of the pet will be increased. This is true because it is harder to gain experience when the Pokemon levels up.
It is amazing how Pokemon can achieve capturing the trainer's hearts without using too much effort, but these tactics in the long run wouldn't do. Recently in Pokemon X and Y, Nintendo has released a new feature called Pokemon Amie wherein you can physically involve yourself into interacting with your Pokemon. You can pet them, play fetch, feed them and even talk to them. I think this gives a false satisfaction for the trainers as they respond with their pseudopets.
The article stated that the dynamics of the pet should be interesting to its owner. Pokemon, being in its own, acting like our pseudopets, have been successful because their dynamics are interesting to the media. We become more active - learning new knowledge and researching about math and calculations for battle on our own. It exercises our brain and makes us mentally healthy into thinking for solutions in different routes. They make us feel empathy because we need to take care of them. Without us, they'd just be stray animals in the wild. We are needed by them and in return they make us new friends. They make our social circles larger and appreciate Pokemon even more. Playing with them would always brighten up our mood. They bring order to our lives - a systematic order where we have set rules to follow.
Cutiepies!
Pokemon will always be satisfactory. And for me, as a Pokemon trainer and pet owner, would gladly accept my pseudopet as my real pet.
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