| Animal Intelligence | |
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Ashyr - Student  |
Due to a past thread, I was inspired to start a discussion on whether you guys think other animals are as intelligent or more intelligent that us. Some people say that say, dolphins, apes, ect are as smart if not smarter than humans. Discuss. _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan |
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Phantom - Student 
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I think that the tecnolegy way, we are smarter but in the whole killing the planet they do a better job at preseving it. _______________ -Phantom Ex-Master to Threat. Proud owner of Sazabi's 1500th comment! And Threats 50th comment "Insanity: a perfect rational adjustment to an insane world" |
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Ashyr - Student 
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Quote: 2.) But then why do we do so many STUPID things. The answer to this has been discussed in posts below. _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan |
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(Jedi)Obi-JK - Student 
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I think the real point here I would make is. 1.) We are definitely MORE intellegent 2.) But then why do we do so many STUPID things. My dog doesnt worry about going to war. If two animals fight to be the Alpha male 99% of the time they do it in a way where neaither will really get hurt. While they are not as smart they also dont posses our faults. Greed Envy Etc _______________ Silent Bob (Kevin Smith): You know, there's a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you. -Steve (Obi) |
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Ashyr - Student
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Quote: /me thinks Goats are the most intelligent of all God's Creatures.  -DM- I got it.   _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan |
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DaRtH-MoBiLiTy - Student 
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/me Throws Frozen Water on the Polar ice caps to protect them.... oh and Goats Still pwn us..... -DM- _______________ One Day, it will all end. |
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JavaGuy - Student 
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I think the "destroying the environment" hysteria is silly. Yes, Man sometimes pollutes. Objective measures show that pollution is not nearly as bad today as it was a hundred years ago, despite huge population growth and the fact the industry has grown by leaps and bounds. There are seven animals that use tools. There is only one anaimal that has ever made a conscious effort protect the environment: Man. I don't see elephants, which are extremely destructive to the environment and deforest whole regions, passing laws to limit or regulate deforestation, nor do I see them forming nonprofit organizations to protect forests. I do see lots of humans doing these things. Give the environmental hysteria a rest. We are not the first creature to affect our environment. We ARE the first species to save species that would have gone extinct without our help. _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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Ashyr - Student 
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Quote: They'd destroy their environment just like people do if they had the ability. That's exactly what I was trying to say by this: Quote: Intelligence is a completely different matter than wisdom. We are more intelligent, yet probobly just as wise as they are. They follow their instincts, naturally protect themselves, and do whatever they are impulsed to do (within the lines of the first two). We do the same. As we can most likely conclude, these may not always be the wisest choices in a given situation(except maybe #2). This shows a similarity in wisdom. So, the question, if they act just as foolishly as we do, why are they keeping things balanced while we destroy things? Our intelligence. Our intelligence is the thing that puts us on the top of the food chain, and gives us power. It gives us the ability to radically change things. This power, combined with the foolishness, creates the destruction. Animals are not as intellegent, and are not the dominant species. Therefore they do not have the ability to change things so radically. So their foolishness can only destroy things on a small level, and this is also controlled by us—the dominant species. That is why they stand idly by as we destroy things. So, my conclusion, if animals were as smart as us, they would do the same thing. I hope that puts things into perspective. _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan |
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Buzz - Student 
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Quote: who can tell that animals are WAY WAY more intelligent than we are ? at least they live in balance with their environment and watch us dooming ourselves. We are dumb! I'll submit that animals don't live in balance with nature. Nature balances itself out. Let's take the simple system of plants rabbits and wolves. Nature has it balanced so there are enough plants for the rabbits to eat and for the plants to continue surviving. There are also enough rabbits so the wolves can eat and the rabbits continue to survive. The wolves are the final balancer, their eating of the rabbits makes sure the plants continue on. Now say something comes along that makes the wolf population decrease. Now there aren't as many wolves to eat the rabbits. The rabbit population thrives because they don't know the system is no longer in balance and there shouldn't be that many of them. The increase in rabbits means more plants are eaten and now there aren't enough plants for the rabbits. So now the rabbits start dying of starvation. Eventually a point will be reached where enough rabbits die so a new equilibrium is restored. But not because the wolves and rabbits know they're living in balance with their environment, but because the environment balances itself. They'd destroy their environment just like people do if they had the ability. _______________ When you are going through Hell, keep going. -Sir Winston Churchill. Those who seek power and control of others, no matter the level, no matter the intentions, should never be given it. |
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JavaGuy - Student 
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Bees build hives, which are rather extraordinary. But a bee builds a hive because it is genetically hard-wired to do so, specialized through hundreds of millions of years of natural selection. A bee's "mind" understands what it is building only slightly better than a hammer understands that it is falling when you drop it...and has about as much choice in the matter. Let's do a thought experiment. Take any species of bee from one climate and put it in a different climate. Take some humans from one climate and put them in a different climate. Watch what kind of shelter they build for themselves: The humans think it over, look around at the materials available to them, and use their imaginations to envision the different kinds of shelters they could build. Then they use reason to decide which of the those things might really work as well in the real world as in their imaginations. After narrowing down the imaginary choices to a handful of ones that are really possible to build with the available materials, they again use their imaginations and the power of reason to try to decide the various costs and benefits of building each one: Is this really going to keep me warm and dry? Will it fall apart more easily than a different shelter I might build? Even if it is the best of my options, will it take so long to build that I'll freeze to death before I get it finished? Should I perhaps build an easier shelter first and then worry about a better one later? The bees build exactly the kind of hive that they are hard-wired to build. They have no concept of whether it will be appropriate to the climate. If materials like what they are accustomed to building with are not available, they are out of luck, unlike the humans who, deprived of abundant lumber, for example, might build with mud bricks, or figure out something else ingenious. Quote: Many animals make homes, and on the rare occasion they use sticks and miscelaneous (completely spelled wrong, and I'm too lazy to look it up) things to reach objects, ect. Yes. If I recall correctly from biology class, there are seven animals in the world that use tools. The only ones I remember are Man, the sea otter, and some kind of ape that uses sticks to fish ants out of ant hills to eat them. This later is interesting because researchers first thought this was a simple task...and then discovered that they themselves could not do it. Turns out it takes a lot of practice to learn. Then they thought that the apes could just do it instinctively, like bees making hives, but no, baby apes raised in captivity can't do it. They learn it from their parents, which means it's a kind of culture, something passed on through teaching from one generation to the next. Not Hamlet, no, but very cool._______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. This comment was edited by JavaGuy on Dec 04 2004 01:56am. |
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Ashyr - Student
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Quote:
Quote: 2. They don't make homes, tools to make their lives easier, ect. Many animals make homes, bird's nests, beaver dam's, etc. And I'm pretty sure some gorillas use tools. Forgive me, I didn't really think that out very well, you're right. Many animals make homes, and on the rare occasion they use sticks and miscelaneous (completely spelled wrong, and I'm too lazy to look it up) things to reach objects, ect. _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan |
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Jacen Aratan - Student |
Depends on what humans we're talking about. I mean, if it's Flash, the coolest dude around.... |
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Flash - Student 
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Smarter than humans? Uhh, I'd have to disagree, I don't see any animals building and inventing all of the things we are... |
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(Jedi)Obi-JK - Student
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I would say dogs (because I have the most experience with dealing with them) show fairly high intelegence. Now we are the species that teaches them to communicate with us, but they do learn to communicate. 1.) Almost every dog in the world will stand by a door of the house, and either paw at it, bark, wimper, or do something. And I think that dogs do actually learn from this. My parents dog, will now sit by its food bag and bark (not like a mean or evern a loud bark) if it is hungry and someone forgot to feed it. Bascially the dog figured out on its own that it can do what it does when it needs to learn use the rest room (backyard) in multiple instances and that will let its care takers know it needs something, not just a specific thing. On another note, I would say dogs maybe smarter than humans, they get all thier meals paid for them, and served to them, they get a pat on the head for not pooping in the house, and someone else cleans up after them when they are done with thier business, sounds like the good life to me! _______________ Silent Bob (Kevin Smith): You know, there's a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you. -Steve (Obi) |
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DaRtH-MoBiLiTy - Student 
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/me thinks Goats are the most intelligent of all God's Creatures. -DM- _______________ One Day, it will all end. |
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Bail Hope of Belouve - Student 
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Quote: 2. They don't make homes, tools to make their lives easier, ect. oh yeah, especially those birds who make their own nest _______________ Visit the Belouve Family Website! Quote: I try to have fun with my friends and try to make a difference as best I can. What does making a difference mean? Well, it can be as simple as saying hello, answering a question that seems obvious or heck, just talking. -- Vladarion
Want to know Vladarion? Read the Article about his life here. |
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Proximo - Student 
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Quote: 2. They don't make homes, tools to make their lives easier, ect. Many animals make homes, bird's nests, beaver dam's, etc. And I'm pretty sure some gorillas use tools. _______________ Gladiators, I salute you. |
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Trelane - Student 
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A while back on TV there was a show about a scientist in BC (canada) who was studying Killer Whales, and their language. She noticed that whenever a whale would return to the pod (after being away a while eating fishish or whatever) members of the pod would make a specific noise..kinda like "whaaaa" So one day she say a big bull whale come up for air and as he passed her boat she shouted "WHAAAA". He stopped, popped his head out of the water (as if to say "huh?" , looked at her and returned the greeting before ducking back under water.She told another story about getting lost in some nasty nasty fog. A really bad thing considering she was only in a little 12 ft. boat. She lost land, and had no idea where she was. The pod she had been studying circled her boat, and through a little coersion led her safely back to shore. Just a couple of examples of whales demonstrating higher intelligence I suppose. Namely language skills and advanced reasoning. |
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Garos - Student 
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Quote: I think dolphins (and other wsea mammals)are likely as smart as humans, they simply manifest it differantly than we do. They essentailly have a mind completly alien to us, so it's hard to determine how smart they actually are. They probably think we're pretty stupid, but they like us because we give them fishies. Recently down here in Australia land, there were some swimmers, and they went a bit too far in to the water. A group of dolphins surrounded them and pushed them back to the shore. There was a shark right out where they were swimming! It would've eaten them! |
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Ashyr - Student
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Quote: Intelligent, yes. Just not on our level. There is intelligence there though. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they are devoid of intelligence, I'm saying that they still don't measure up to humans. Quote: who can tell that animals are WAY WAY more intelligent than we are ? at least they live in balance with their environment and watch us dooming ourselves. We are dumb! Intelligence is a completely different matter than wisdom. We are more intelligent, yet probobly just as wise as they are. They follow their instincts, naturally protect themselves, and do whatever they are impulsed to do (within the lines of the first two). We do the same. As we can most likely conclude, these may not always be the wisest choices in a given situation(except maybe #2). This shows a similarity in wisdom. So, the question, if they act just as foolishly as we do, why are they keeping things balanced while we destroy things? Our intelligence. Our intelligence is the thing that puts us on the top of the food chain, and gives us power. It gives us the ability to radically change things. This power, combined with the foolishness, creates the destruction. Animals are not as intellegent, and are not the dominant species. Therefore they do not have the ability to change things so radically. So their foolishness can only destroy things on a small level, and this is also controlled by us—the dominant species. That is why they stand idly by as we destroy things. So, my conclusion, if animals were as smart as us, they would do the same thing. I hope that puts things into perspective. _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan This comment was edited by Ashyr on Dec 03 2004 12:26am. |
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Trelane - Student 
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I think dolphins (and other wsea mammals)are likely as smart as humans, they simply manifest it differantly than we do. They essentailly have a mind completly alien to us, so it's hard to determine how smart they actually are. They probably think we're pretty stupid, but they like us because we give them fishies. |
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Garos - Student 
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My dog is SO smart! ...I can't really be bothered typing out some of the stuff she does, but trust me when I say it's amazing considering that we never taught her to do it!!! |
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Fizz of Belouve - Student 
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who can tell that animals are WAY WAY more intelligent than we are ? at least they live in balance with their environment and watch us dooming ourselves. We are dumb! _______________ One of the Belouve boys, founder of the mighty FiZZsters Midbie council #20 - Fizz - #1933 - Jan '03 - Aug '04 "Renfield, you idiot!" |
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Buzz - Student 
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Gorillas have learned sign language. And have formed sentences on their own. Dolphins and other mammals communicate with eachother and we have no idea what they're saying. How do we know they aren't trying to communicate with us and we're the ones who aren't able to understand them. Dogs have been shown to have intelligence on the level approximate to a 5 year old child. Squids have a larger cerebellum, or some other part of the brain than we do. Some chimps utilize simple tools to help them get ants to eat. Intelligent, yes. Just not on our level. There is intelligence there though. _______________ When you are going through Hell, keep going. -Sir Winston Churchill. Those who seek power and control of others, no matter the level, no matter the intentions, should never be given it. |
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Khâ D'Kana - Student 
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/me agrees But I think they are smarter than some of us More seriously, I think point 1 explain by itself why humans are smarter than animals. We searched and found ways to communicate with other species. Don't forget our ability to abstract things. To ask us this type of questions, etc. ~Khâ D'Kana _______________ In light of day, nor dark of night, no evil shall escape our sight. Proud member of the D'Kana family |
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Ashyr - Student
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My opinion: I think that animals are not as smart as humans. Why? 1. Animals haven't formed any way to communicate to humans, as we have them. 2. They don't make homes, tools to make their lives easier, ect. 3. Why else do you think that humans are the dominant species on this planet? Are we the strongest? Fastest? Have the lonest fangs? No. It's because he are the most intelligent. Our minds can counqure over their brawn. If monkeys were smarter, they would be the dominant species of the planet (like planet of the apes )I'd like to hear other opinions. _______________ Top ten reasons to get a better computer...|My fan |
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