A parameter of civilization
We have repeatedly insisted on the relevance of the animal question, an issue destined to take a central place in the public conversation of the XNUMXst century, not only in relation to the animals themselves, but also in relation to humans who will have to deal with an intelligence superior to their own , that of thinking machines. As the visionary historian Yuval?Noah Harari writes, whose latest book – Homo Deus – is finally also available in Italian, the cruel treatment to which man subjects animals could be equivalent to that of man subjected to cognitive androids in a not too distant future. Provided that man manages to maintain control in this scenario, civilization's rating agencies will use the parameter "treatment of animals" to identify the place in the history of a community or a system of thought.
The awareness that animals must be treated as "people" who encapsulate natural rights, in their capacity as co-inhabitants of the planet, begins to conquer its territory in the most sensitive consciences and emotionally oriented intelligences. Primates and domestic animals have already achieved a certain legal status, but the road is still very long.
As happens more and more, and has happened in the past, the handful of precursors are made up of Silicon Valley libertarians who are shocking the world with their actions and their ideas as in the past did the Athenians, the humanists or the Bolsheviks. In the columns of the "Financial Times" Leslie Hook tells us how dogs have now become regular visitors to the offices of the major hi-tech companies in the valley and how these companies have organized themselves to welcome this new personal type within their spaces. It turns out that dogs also often have a recognized role in the code of ethics and in the daily management of work. Ilaria Amurri has translated this article for you, hoping that this noble habit will soon be adopted in all workplaces in the world.
A tidbit for Charlie
When Charlie goes to the office each morning, he greets the receptionist, who welcomes him with a bite of bacon. During the day, he likes to meditate in a small artificial turf garden, undisturbed by the noise of drones being tested or a nearby hangar filled with self-driving cars. Charlie is one of the dogs of X, the Alphabet subsidiary that works on futuristic projects called "moonshots", and according to his owner, Mike, Charlie is a very sociable type.
“I take him to meetings and he sits in a chair, he loves it, he loves people,” Mike says. "Then when we start talking about human stuff he gets bored, he falls asleep and starts snoring, then people on the conference call say 'what's that noise?'"
Snoring dogs are not considered out of place at Alphabet, Google's parent company, where animals are an integral part of the company's code of ethics: “Love for four-legged friends is an essential element of our corporate culture. We also like cats, but as we have a lot of dogs it seems to us that the cats might make them nervous if they enter our offices”. There's even a van for dogs and their owners who commute between San Francisco and Mountain View.
Other tech companies do more. At Zynga, a video game company named after Zinga, the founder's bulldog, dogs can enjoy peanut butter cookies baked right in the company kitchen. Among the various comforts there are also rides on the roof and a sort of "dog gym".
Amazon has about 4.000 dogs at its Seattle headquarters, roughly one for every eight employees. One of the new skyscrapers even has a high-tech rooftop garden reserved for dogs, complete with fire hydrants to encourage them to pee and a drainage pump for cleaning up.
An effective antidote
In the world of technology, dogs are the antidote for all digital problems. They have no screens or batteries and can even act as surrogate children in a city like San Francisco where there are more dogs than children. In these parts, in fact, pets are so humanized that the term "owner" has gone out of fashion, now we say "dad" or "mom" or at least "boss".
Anyone who takes their dog to work claims that its presence is crucial. “Productivity has tripled,” says X employee Kia, patting the head of Loona, her pet. “Even the most rigid engineers are overjoyed when they pick her up”. Others believe that dogs can improve the atmosphere of meetings and help break the ice between colleagues.
Most employees who don't have dogs are happy to have them around the office. “Sometimes, if I've had a really stressful day, I'll go play with a few dogs and after ten minutes I already feel much better,” explains a former employee of Lyft, a company that deals with ride-hailing.
… but not for everyone
Unfortunately, some employees have allergies, some dogs misbehave (even if their owners would never admit it), and some just don't like having dogs around all day. “I would never want to work in one of those companies, I'm not a dog person, that's all,” a friend confided in me. For this reason some companies manage the problem by confining dogs in special areas. Nonetheless, for many technology companies, dogs are part of the corporate philosophy. In the early days of Amazon, its first dog, a corgi named Rufus, helped launch a new version of the site (the dog was reportedly picked up and its paw used to click the startup update). Amazon then honored his memory by naming a building to him.
Yoshka
Google's first dog was a Leonberger named Yoshka. He and his boss were often the only ones to arrive at the office before 11.00, which made the Leonberger the de facto receptionist. Now Google employees go to work a little earlier, and a cafe on campus has been named after Yoshka.
Why did tech companies become the pack leaders of office dogs? Maybe the explanation is evolutionary. Thousands of years ago, humans and dogs started coevolving and humans selected dogs to be social. A symbiotic relationship then developed, as the dogs helped hunt and guard in exchange for friendship and protection.
Today, in the world of technology, dogs no longer serve to control fire, but play an equally vital role in modern offices, helping their owners to socialize. And there is a great need for socialization.
