Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Former Slashdot Contributor Jon Katz Believes He Can Talk To Animals (amazon.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the Doctor-Katz-little dept.

Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland got a surprise when he visited his local bookstore: Jon Katz turns 70 this August, and he's published a new book called Talking to Animals: How You Can Understand Animals and They Can Understand You. Katz was a former newspaper reporter (and a contributing editor to Rolling Stone) who wrote for HotWired, the first online presence for Wired magazine in the mid-1990s, before becoming a controversial contributor to Slashdot during the site's early days. Katz left Manhattan in the 1990s to live on a farm "surrounded by dogs, cats, sheep, horses, cows, goats, and chickens," according to the book's description, an experience he writes about on his blog. His new book promises that Katz now "marshals his experience to offer us a deeper insight into animals and the tools needed for effectively communicating with them."

5 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Meh... by drew_92123 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People have been talking to animals since time began... it's easy to train them to specific commands and to recognize their body language to know when they're hungry or playful... but I have yet to find anybody able to have a stimulating conversation with one. Even dogs, the animals most adapted to life with humans, aren't capable of that...

    Now if he said he had been working with apes and teaching them to sign I might be more willing to believe... but as things stand now I'm pretty sure he's fucking nuts.

  2. Oh, Jon Katz by Wuhao · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I remember when everyone hated him for not actually knowing anything and writing heavily-slanted pieces on whatever bullshit stories people told him that flattered his politics. Little did we know then that the future of blogging was a world of Jon Katzes.

    1. Re:Oh, Jon Katz by Grog6 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We would not have believed the way the world has gone since /. started.

      Who would have thought that the Clinton Years would be the most prosperous ones since the 60's to Now.

      And who would have thought that getting your dick sucked by an intern while talking to Yasser Arafat on the phone ISN'T the worst thing a President would do in office. :facepalm:

      --
      Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
  3. Re:Lol by KGIII · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I really wish they hadn't filtered that. You should be able to call me any name you want to.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  4. I miss Jon Katz by Tihstae · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And here goes years and years of good Karma. Does Karma still matter on /. ?

    His Hellmouth piece was great and brought some geek issues to the forefront and got some issues talked about in normal non-geek circles.

    I joined /. because of Jon Katz and the Hellmouth piece.

    Not all of his work was good. In fact some was quite awful but it always inspired conversation rather that what we now have here.