What can maths tell us about how an animal is thinking?

Just like a galaxy, when we look closer at the behaviour of an animal, we can see that the level of detail changes compared with when we view it from a distance. Recently, my research team has been looking to see how the detail changes depending on the level of magnification and what that means for animal feelings. The results are surprising: it seems the more complex the behaviour, the happier the animal.Over the coming decades, with the human population growing rapidly and the demand for animal meat and products increasing, together with a simultaneous demand for cheaper meat and animal products, animal welfare risks becoming a luxury rather than standard. Knowing how the practices we are subjecting animals to affects how they are feeling is a critical part of being able to alleviate this future problem.