In a prosperous and busy society where relations between people are nervous and distant, the dog for most people is no longer a "useful" tool. It has shed its functionality and along with other pets taken the role of psychological trustee, providing for people's spiritual needs and serving as a "social lubricant."
在人際關係緊張、疏離的繁忙社會，狗兒對大多數人不再是「有用」的工具，但脫離了功能性，狗與其他寵物進一步扮演了心理寄託的角色，提供人們另一層面的精神需求，成了「社會潤滑劑」。