Dr_Watso
Platinum Member
I think the best uniquely human things we've developed are the arts, philosophy and ethics.
You forgot exceptionally large burritos. I've never seen a cat make a burrito rivaling a small human child.
I think the best uniquely human things we've developed are the arts, philosophy and ethics.
You forgot exceptionally large burritos. I've never seen a cat make a burrito rivaling a small human child.
Fact: animals lead intense emotional lives. They strategise. They learn. The smarter ones use tools. They have a sense of humour. They develop different ways of doing things
Some animals are much more "intelligent" than they're credited for, we could not believe it, but we had the proof in front of us.
You forgot exceptionally large burritos. I've never seen a cat make a burrito rivaling a small human child.
I'd say deception is certainly a consious thought....
Amazingly, she shoves the peg back into its hole and starts eating again. A few minutes later the keeper walks back into the enclosure, and its like nothing happened while he was gone.
I could have sworn she faked a really angelic, innocent look.......
.... cool!
...
I tell my cats to stay, and they stay! See!
I'd say deception is certainly a consious thought.
Anyhow, the big issue here is judging other creatures by our own perception of humans offering the gold standard. Whilst we've certainly evolved to be the dominant life form on this planet, that doesn't mean that creatures operating at a different level are automatically excluded from higher brain function ability. Maybe it's about priorities too, and carving out a good life in the environment you're limited to by physical restrictions. After all, if you were a krill, you'd still spend most of your time avoiding whales.
I used to keep tropical marine creatures. I even had a tidal tank. I remember an experience with an octopus. I placed a shrimp into a water filled screw top jar, & secured the lid. I then dropped the jar into the tank. The octopus unscrewed the lid & snagged the shrimp in under a minute. That octopus had never encountered a screw top jar before, so instinct? I don't think so. It did, however, spend a few seconds grappling with the jar before it got the lid off, so maybe it went through a number of pre programmed stress tests to search for weaknesses before putting it's efforts into rotating the lid. Either way, impressive.
If there's food at the end of the line, nothing's impossible...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsuVLsDyln4
If there's food at the end of the line, nothing's impossible...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsuVLsDyln4
Going all tree-hugger on me, I see... an amusing twist of my words, but clearly not what I meant.
Think about it. If animals were self-aware, they would NOT be satisfied living the simple lives they live. They would do what humans did: adapt, evolve, and conquer! Create things! Build things! Dogs wouldn't be sleeping all day, or playing with chew toys, or licking themselves. Who can say what they would be doing?
Humans have dogs as pets, not the other way around. It is that way for a reason. Humans are self-aware, and dogs are not.