I am my dog’s second brain
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian artist and inventor, is known for his vast array of sketches, notes, and drawings that spanned many different fields, including art, science, engineering, and architecture. Some have referred to his extensive collection of notes and sketches as his "second brain."
Da Vinci used a system of note-taking and sketching to record his ideas and observations, which he referred to as "codexes." These codexes were essentially a series of notebooks that contained a wide range of sketches and notes on various topics.
Da Vinci's notes and sketches covered anatomy, botany, engineering, and architecture. He often used his sketches to explore different ideas and concepts, and he would make notes alongside his sketches to record his observations and thoughts.
Da Vinci's codexes have been studied extensively by scholars and historians, and they provide a fascinating insight into his thought processes and creative genius. His extensive note-taking and sketching are often cited as an early example of the concept of a "second brain" and the benefits of using a structured system to capture and organize one's thoughts and ideas.
My own second brain is mostly digital. Not to compare myself with the genius and creativity of da Vinci, but having an iPhone and an iPad allows me to accomplish so much more than if I relied on writing notes in a notebook, or even typing on a typewriter. My motto is, “iPhone, therefore I am.” If something isn’t documented on my iPhone in some way, then it falls into a black hole of irrelevance. I do remember details of my life that aren’t stored in text or pictures on my iPhone, but they aren’t really actionable. More and more, if I notice something, it is captured, one way or another, on my iPhone and in the cloud, accessible instantly on my iPad.
When dogs and humans first started collaborating, more than 15,000 years ago, they established a natural and appropriate division of labor. Dogs are great at tracking scents and listening for possible intruders or predators. A canine companion can deter an attack by a human or nonhuman predator. In return, the human provides shelter for the dog. Although dogs do have a language of their own, human language can be stored in print, allowing the accumulation of knowledge over time. Dogs can’t do this themselves, so they rely on humans to be their second brain, similar to the way I rely on my dog to extend my senses of smell and hearing.
Mu and I are a team. Together, we have found hundreds of missing cats. Neither of us could have done this alone. Perhaps most importantly, I can drive the car and read maps. I can open the box of cookies. Actually, he could open a box of cookies, but then he would eat the entire box, cookies and cardboard. When Mu and I are working, I methodically guide him through the neighborhood, getting him in proximity to the likely places the lost cat would hide. If I get him in the right place, his nose can do the rest. Another part of my job is to read him, to know when he is detecting something related to the lost cat, or if he is just smelling where a neighborhood dog peed, in effect checking his Facebook feed. To get Mu in the right place at the right time, I use email, phone calls, text messages, maps, photos, video, GPS tracking, weather data, cameras, and even social media.
I am Mu’s memory. I have thousands of pictures of him. Every search we have ever done is documented to some extent. I wish I had kept detailed and organized records of all his searches. All the information is in my iPhone somewhere, but I couldn’t immediately tell you exactly how many searches we have done, only that we have been on a minimum of a thousand missions. I have written about many of Mu’s searches. I wanted to remember them for my own sake, to relive those experiences, but I also wanted to record what happened so that others can learn from our experience. Knowing how a particular cat was found could be helpful in locating a cat, a family member, that is missing currently.
Mu has been searching for lost cats for almost 11 years. I keep telling him that he can retire any time he chooses, but he is still eager to go to work. He gets upset on days when Tino and I have a search and he is left at home. I know Mu can’t keep working forever, and someday his career will be over. When that day comes, I will have thousands of pictures and dozens of stories written about his adventures. While he can’t look at those pictures or read those stories, his life is amplified far more than if I hadn’t acted as his second brain.
Yesterday, I was thinking of the cascade of goodness from Kelsy entering my life. Because I adopted Kelsy and she became my search dog, I ended up getting all the other dogs in my life, including Mu. I never would have known Mu if Kelsy hadn’t gotten me involved in Missing Pet Partnership. Kelsy went on hundreds of searches with me, but she was also the main reason I joined MPP, started Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue, started Useless Bay Sanctuary, and started Lost Dogs of King County. You could say that, in a very direct way, thousands of dogs and cats are alive today because Kelsy and I started training to find lost dogs 15 years ago.
Kelsy has been gone for six years, and I think of her every day. As I write this, Mu is near me, snoring. Tino and Fozzie are also here, sleeping quietly. Sky is in the other room, keeping an eye out for squirrels. Next to Mu, I visualize that Kelsy is there, resting, glancing at me occasionally. Kelsy is always there, in the virtual reality of my mind. Of course, I see pictures of Kelsy every day. Some day, I won’t have Mu here with me, physically. His body will be buried near Kelsy. But I know that every day of my life, I will always think of Mu. He will always be alive in my mind, and I will have thousands of pictures and videos of him, plus his stories. I am Mu’s second brain in the sense that I help him work and play and rest and be healthy, but I am also his second brain in the sense that the memory of him will last much longer than his body.
If I have anything that could be called a soul, it is a shared soul that encompasses all the dogs and cats I have shared my life with. I am the second brain of all of them, and I keep their memories organized in a system of loci that I call Kelsy’s Forest. Chena, Gizmo, Heidi, Tanzy, Duck, Charlie, Smookler, Norbert, Porter, Max, Boots, Jinx, Wolfgang, Tess, Bear, Kelsy, Olive, Mu, Fozzie, Sky, Viktor, and Tino all have positions along the mental path I walk through the imaginary forest, an analog of an actual trail through a living forest. My soul wraps around my animals, but it also encompasses their forest. I share my soul with the trees and the ferns and the trilliums. I am, or I want to be, the second brain of my forest. The forest is intelligent in its own way, with trees communicating underground, exchanging nutrients and chemical messages along a fungal network. The forest has it’s own memory. I want to be the second brain of my forest mostly for her protection, to keep out the invasive species that would degrade the forest. I can help her thrive in ways such as propagating trilliums to increase their numbers. Currently I am removing invasive knotweed from where it is sprouting across the street from the park because I know it will spread into the forest if left alone. I am a white blood cell in my forest. I am her documentarian. I am a steward. I strive to be her second brain.
Humans in general are a cancer on the planet. We are wrecking the biosphere and causing thousands of species to go extinct, for no good reason. It doesn’t have to be that way. Humans have the capacity to be stewards of the planet, to be a second brain for the biosphere. Although the earth has a memory of a sort, and nature has her own intelligence, human intelligence and memory could serve as a useful second brain for the planet. Ultimately, all life on earth will die when the sun expands and the oceans boil away. Although that won’t happen for billions of years, it wouldn’t hurt to start preparing for that day. 4 billion years is enough time to ensure the survival of Earth’s life, but we do need to get busy. As far as we know, life on earth is a miraculously beautiful creation found nowhere else in the universe. If life exists elsewhere, it certainly must be different than our beautiful planet. Humans offer the earth the capacity to live beyond her natural lifespan of 8 billion years. A new earth can spring to life somewhere else in the galaxy, and life there can have a detailed and explicit memory of life on earth. I don’t want to be a cancer on my planet. I want to be a white blood cell. I want to be a neuron in the second brain of the earth. I want to be a steward. My shared soul wraps around my dogs and my forest and the natural world. In my limited capacity, I want to be a second brain for the earth.
While humans cannot literally become a nervous system for the Earth, they can act in ways that support the health and well-being of the biosphere. Here are some ways in which humans can act like a brain or nervous system for the Earth's biosphere:
1. Monitor and analyze environmental data: Humans can collect and analyze data on the state of the biosphere, including air and water quality, land use, and biodiversity. This information can help identify areas where action is needed to support the health of the environment.
2. Plan and implement conservation efforts: Humans can develop and implement conservation efforts to protect ecosystems and species, such as reforestation, habitat restoration, and sustainable agriculture practices.
3. Foster global cooperation: Humans can work together across borders to develop and implement policies that promote environmental protection and sustainability.
4. Use technology to support sustainability: Humans can use technology to reduce their impact on the environment, such as renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and water conservation methods.
5. Educate and raise awareness: Humans can educate themselves and others on the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability, and raise awareness of the need for action to support the health of the biosphere.
6. Record and preserve biological data: We can scientifically study all species, even the ones we can’t save from extinction, so that the biological wisdom contained in their existence won’t be completely lost.
We evolved from nature, from the biosphere, and we can evolve to be a benefit to the earth, not a burden. I’m sure millions of people would prefer to live in harmony with the planet, although we may be a minority currently. I hope some day enough humans will be of a like mind that we can become a second brain for the planet, enhancing and protecting life, not destroying it. Until that day, we can be the second brain for a dog, a mutt that was unwanted. Mu probably would have lived a horrible life and died an early death if I hadn’t brought him for $100 dollars to get him away from cruel and thoughtless people. I am very happy that I could give Mu a good life, with a job and a purpose. Just think of how much good he has done, how many lives he has impacted. That’s nothing compared to the joy he has brought me. He makes me happy just by doing nothing. Just by snoring. I want to be Mu’s second brain to enhance his life, to keep him happy, to help him contribute to society, but also because my brain his better with him in it. For the rest of my life, Mu will live in my mind and in my second brain. If, someday, humans learn to become stewards of the earth, and stop desecrating her, it may be because we had practice being the second brain of our companion species, the dog.