Agreed. I once read a "science article" on whales. The article claimed "since whales are not humans, they cannot be lonely and therefore..." blah blah. I closed the article, immediately after I read that statement. Pretentiousness of humans is mind boggling.
My problem is more so that “being lonely” or “dreaming” is not something that has an actual definition.
In research, various different ad hoc definitions may be provided that are then measured, but these definitions run apart in different research that deals with it, and so all measure a different thing.
I once read research that defined “level of attractiveness" ad hoc as “the distance at which the participants place their chairs next to each other when asked to sit next to each other”, ehh, yes well...
For the sake of research, dreaming in humans is often purely defined as the stage of r.e.m. sleep, whatever the experiences the human may tell might be.
The other problem is, of course, that very often, the ad hoc definition chosen, can very easily be so chosen in support of the conclusion that the research wishes emerge.
Like giant mammals that have something close to the internet via aquatic sound transmission since before we got out of trees can't be a beautiful and complex psychic profusion. They must be chumps! These assholes didn't even invent money! Something something Star Trek IV.
