Still Waters Posted December 14, 2013 #1 Share Posted December 14, 2013 For many years, humans have believed we are the most intelligent beings on the planet. However, evolutionary biologists are now claiming that some members of the animal kingdom may in fact have superior brains - we just don't recognise their intelligence. http://www.independe...em-9003196.html 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted December 14, 2013 #2 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Hell ... most humans hardly recognise their own stupidity most times ... ~ 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEGIONS Posted December 14, 2013 #3 Share Posted December 14, 2013 we indeed never know how we look til we have our picture took Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DancingCorpse Posted December 14, 2013 #4 Share Posted December 14, 2013 I know a lot of the time I prefer hanging out with my puppy, it's a true blessing to observe how she interacts/perceives/manipulates everyday objects and forms her own amusement and rapport with the. Much of what we use to raise ourselves above animal instinct and behaviour is provided by machines or services anyhow, most of us would have to learn a lot to replace such tools. We all inhabit the same planet yet have our own resources and self-application, none seem superior. We go to the hospital if we're injured, call the police if there's danger, get therapy if we're devastated, countless animals somehow survive for a long time with things or inconveniences that would crush us. Could interpret that as dumber but they're just on a different wavelength I guess. They are child-like in their cocoons and impulses yet are confident in their ability to provide and satiate needs.So much superfluous junk we bother ourselves with (I'm talking in a survival sense here) is streamlined into a simple (to us) path. They are in constant paranoia yet seem so peaceful. Sometimes you wonder whether much of our race are dumber than animals or just don't fulfill their potential, could animals exceed them if given similar resources as our societies somehow? So much you can bring to such a topic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted December 14, 2013 #5 Share Posted December 14, 2013 I'm a big advocate for animal intelligence. However, I honestly do not see any other species as being "more intelligent" than humans. Let's face it, no other species can manipulate the environment to insure their survival, not even to mention science, art, music, literature. Like I say, when my dogs can take care of my every need (food, housing, medical) then they can be the boss...until then, I'm the 'smartest'. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted December 15, 2013 #6 Share Posted December 15, 2013 This is nonsense. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrant lizard Posted December 15, 2013 #7 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Ridiculous to suggest that certain animals are smarter than humans because they can scent mark and we can't smell it. Dolphins, elephants and great apes probably have levels of intellect we can't understand, but that doesn't mean they are smarter than humans, it just means they're smarter than we think they are. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted December 15, 2013 #8 Share Posted December 15, 2013 (edited) For many years, humans have believed we are the most intelligent beings on the planet. However, evolutionary biologists are now claiming that some members of the animal kingdom may in fact have superior brains - we just don't recognise their intelligence. http://www.independe...em-9003196.html We need to respect animals more, this is true. Also we need to understand that cruelty to animals affects us in more ways than we can understand. What makes us 'worse' than animals, if that word must be used is because we are intelligent in ways that animals can't be. They are limited by instinct, we are not, that is why we can be so self destructive in our actions. We over eat, work ourselves to death, kill one another on a massive scale, because we can do it, animals cannot. Of course I know I am also an animal, just with a higher brain. When we discover a life form other than our own that has some sort of culture, music, philosophy, then perhaps we can talk about it being more intelligent. Animals are better than us in many ways when it comes to survival. thy are stronger than we are, run faster, climb higher, and yes fly. They are one with nature in ways that we human cannot even begin to understand, we stand outside, apart, we are self-aware to the point of being tortured about it. We are self aware, self centered, also short sighted to the point of being brainless, yet we survive because of our intelligence. We protect ourselves by building, make our lives easier by inventing, seek meaning through religion and philosophy, psychology and learn about the world through science......so far no other life form on this planet is capable of doing that.....but I am open to being proven wrong. Edited December 15, 2013 by markdohle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdesert50 Posted December 15, 2013 #9 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Intelligent is showing the ability to easily learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situation. An antonym, stupid, is showing a lack of ability to learn, tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes and understand things. Now consider, for example, application of intelligent and stupid with regard to: boundaries and subsequent warfare, resources and subsequent environmental impact, procreation and subsequent overpopulation, self-preservation and subsequent self-indulgence … Are we really intelligent? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonshadow60 Posted December 15, 2013 #10 Share Posted December 15, 2013 No one wants to be told that the creature we put on the table at dinnertime is an intelligent being, so we measure their intellect by our standards. I believe they may be as intelligent as humans in their own way. Few of us could survive a cold winter outside, naked and alone, with nothing but our claws and teeth and wits to survive, but they do. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushymopman Posted December 15, 2013 #11 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I will hold my hand up, i always thought animals where dumb, but after observing them more closely i have changed my views, and have a new found respect for them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonardo Posted December 15, 2013 #12 Share Posted December 15, 2013 (edited) We are animals. So it's a given that "some animals are as smart as humans", because "some animals" are humans. It's this artificial separation of "human" from "animal" that leads to our arrogant belief in "human exceptionalism". Edited December 15, 2013 by Leonardo 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrknownothing Posted December 15, 2013 #13 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Guess we're not talking about the ones that haven't figured out to look both ways before crossing the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted December 15, 2013 #14 Share Posted December 15, 2013 'Intelligence' is not about making 'money' or 'hoarding' material things for 'attachment' ... the world that we created for ourselves to help us believe we are more than what we naturally are is 'the illusion' ... when those are no longer available, and that will not take much, when we are again back in the bosom of Gaia ... we will become as helpless as sucklings once again ... what then will become of us ? what will this 'intelligence' the we boast so highly of now will be of any help to us then ? Have you ever starved in the middle of the jungle due to an unexpected thunderstorm just because there is not a grocery/sundry shop or mall fifty miles all around ? You have all the money you need to keep from starving but still you starved till the morning and only until then you can even hope to attempt to seek any kind of nourishment ... I was 'awakened' while I starved ... ~ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Greenman Posted December 15, 2013 #15 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I have a service alert dog and I know for a fact she is smarter than I am. The worst part is she learned her alert behavior from the cat. They know before I do my legs will give out and I fall. It took me three falls to figure out what the cat was telling me with the leg tap and the run to the bedroom for me to lay down. Then the dog picked it up. I was able to make the dog a service dog so I can take her anywhere I go. I am really grateful for what they do for me. I am just a stupid tailless monkey, after all. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted December 15, 2013 #16 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I have a service alert dog and I know for a fact she is smarter than I am. The worst part is she learned her alert behavior from the cat. They know before I do my legs will give out and I fall. It took me three falls to figure out what the cat was telling me with the leg tap and the run to the bedroom for me to lay down. Then the dog picked it up. I was able to make the dog a service dog so I can take her anywhere I go. I am really grateful for what they do for me. I am just a stupid tailless monkey, after all. As a tailless monkey maybe so ... but as you ... well you are smarter than the average bear ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashyne Posted December 15, 2013 #17 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Intelligence is nothing more than an ability to survive excellently in one's given environment. Anything more than that is creativity and innovation. Humans may be creative and innovative, but all species that have been able to thrive for millions of years without dying out are intelligent. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted December 15, 2013 #18 Share Posted December 15, 2013 When non-human animals start forming "religions", we're all in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSpoonyOne Posted December 15, 2013 #19 Share Posted December 15, 2013 No one wants to be told that the creature we put on the table at dinnertime is an intelligent being, so we measure their intellect by our standards. I believe they may be as intelligent as humans in their own way. Few of us could survive a cold winter outside, naked and alone, with nothing but our claws and teeth and wits to survive, but they do. Yes, but we could, it would be different if by evolutionary design we were enable to, but that isn't the case. The overwhealming majority of people are born and live their lives largely within the comforts of their own 21st century lives, I don't need to remind anyone that it's been a long time since most people on Earth had to survive outside, naked and alone, using only our wits and hands to survive, even 'cave men' has tools, so we're going back very far. The point is that it isn't impossible for us to do so, we have just spent several millenia changing into a species that isn't taught from birth to do so. We're not alone. Take a tiger cub born in a zoo, does it instinctively possess certain traits that would aid its survival in the wild? Yes. Would it be anywhere near as competant as a tiger that has spent it's entire life free in the wild, no. There's a reason certain animals are deemed unfit to be released into the wild due to a lack of survival skills. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonardo Posted December 15, 2013 #20 Share Posted December 15, 2013 There is a very good argument for humans being amongst the most stupid of all animals. After all, we have these incredible natural gifts and look at what we choose to do with them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud the mackem Posted December 16, 2013 #21 Share Posted December 16, 2013 If we aren't as smart as animals how did we get to the top of the Predator tree,when thousands of years ago there were Sabre toothed Tigers,Wolves and all kinds of other predators wandering around ready to make a meal of us, yet the woman had helpless babies to rear, so I guess the guys weren't as stupid then, as some of them are now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaraKitty Posted December 16, 2013 #22 Share Posted December 16, 2013 What's worse is we think teaching them english or sign language will help bridge the gap. Maybe.. oh I dunno.. try learning their language?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaraKitty Posted December 16, 2013 #23 Share Posted December 16, 2013 If we aren't as smart as animals how did we get to the top of the Predator tree,when thousands of years ago there were Sabre toothed Tigers,Wolves and all kinds of other predators wandering around ready to make a meal of us, yet the woman had helpless babies to rear, so I guess the guys weren't as stupid then, as some of them are now. opposable thumbs helps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiloh17 Posted December 16, 2013 #24 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Well, seeing how monkeys were in space before man, I'd say yes, they are smarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud the mackem Posted December 16, 2013 #25 Share Posted December 16, 2013 How long would humans last if all the Super markets shut, there would be a mass extinction within weeks,but animals would survive with maybe a few humans who know how to live off the land and sea by trapping and fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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