dog or cat?

are you more like a dog or a cat? which one do you act the most like, or feel the most affinity towards? i always thought of myself as a dog person, because i like dogs a lot and i understand them and can get along with them. i do not understand other people, because of my asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism that, among other things, means i do not have any “empathy”. but what exactly is “empathy” anyway, and why does everyone think it is so great? i do have sympathy for those who are suffering, and a strong sense of right and wrong. but empathy is something completely different. empathy apparently refers to some sort of psychic powers, to the ability of people to magically sense how other people are feeling and what motivates them, and to really figure out what people are really like inside or something like that. i don’t really know what the hell it means. but i have been thinking, and it seems to me like dogs have a lot of empathy, whereas cats have none. at least this is what is apparent to me after interacting with a cat the last few days, and thinking back on other times i have interacted with dogs and cats. a dog, you see, has some sense of friendliness or hostility, and can judge the intentions of someone pretty well. at first, dogs are usually hesitant to make any snap judgements, but after observing you for a little while, they make up their minds whether you are friend or foe. if they judge you as a friend, they will let you do pretty much anything and go along with it without complaining, whereas if they judge you as a foe, they will fight you ferociously. a cat, on the other hand, has no empathy at all, and appears to be just like someone with asperger’s or autism. a cat does not have any real sense of friend or foe, and cannot figure out anyone’s intentions, so some cats are always suspicious, not trusting anyone except perhaps their owner, whereas other cats are friendly and trust everyone, even strangers they have just met. cats behave strangely, because they have such a great difficulty telling friend from foe. this is incredibly frustrating for them, it seems, from observing them. yesterday this cat was looking me straight in the eyes, and was quite scared it seemed, because the poor creature did not trust me and had no idea i was friendly. cats have a natural hatred for authority or being bossed around, have no empathy, and are basically loners. while some of them do become friendly and socialize, they also have no empathy and are still frustrated by how unpredictable everyone is. you see, if a cat expects me to behave one way and i behave a completely different way, this is not something the cat likes to see. and a cat, with its tiny little brain and inability for rational thought or words, is basically just a dumb animal. but one that is just like me, or anyone else with an autism spectrum disorder. a dog is also a dumb animal, but dogs have empathy, because dogs are excellent at pattern recognition, operate on a simple pavlovian level, and have a pack mentality and a strong sense of loyalty. this is a fundamentally different way of thinking from cats, who think in terms of me versus the world, and are basically hardwired to be independent, not trust anyone, etc. for a long time i simply thought cats were crazy or stupid or something, because of how ridiculous they behave compared to the sensible behavior of dogs. but i have realized, perhaps the cats are the smarter ones after all. yes, they act really dumb sometimes, being nice and cuddly one second and then suddenly cutting your skin open with their claws with no warning the next second. but really, doesn’t this behavior serve a useful purpose? it acts as a deterrent towards people doing things the cat doesn’t like. don’t many cats have an irrational level of fear, and go around afraid of everything all the time? yes, but this does keep them out of danger, and it would be better than being dumb and getting into situations where they get killed. my point is, although i like dogs a lot better than cats, and i understand them much better and can get along with them a lot easier, i think i am actually a lot like a cat myself. and i certainly cannot understand people, because people are far too complex to ever understand completely. but when i look into the eyes of a cat and see its fear and lack of understanding, i feel a sense of understanding myself, and feel like i understand the cat’s point of view and can sympathize. i think maybe that is empathy. so, now i can have empathy towards both dogs and cats, but still not towards people... they are just too difficult to figure out.