Language is a prerequisite to rational thought only according to one particular philosophical school of thought, not according to the meaning of the w...
Yes! A pack of wolves 'owns' its territory by marking it and defending it against another pack that may try to hunt there. Their 'right' to this terri...
Not unlike human children, until their culture teaches them not only to tolerate but to cultivate and promote double- and triple-think. Many of us cop...
How it's normally done is: choose a dictionary definition of 'reason', rather than a philosophical stance. Then, set a problem that requires awareness...
Exactly the kind of relationship you can't have with an automaton. Experiencing this mutual animosity, he yet insisted that dogs don't think and feel ...
Right. And they listen attentively when you bitch about your day, babysit your kids, make sure you get enough exercise, make you laugh and love you ba...
And you love your thermostat in the same way for the same reasons? We are all animals. They are chimpanzees and bonobos and we are humans. The big bla...
And he argued the proof as "they don't do philosophy". He argued the mechanistic view of animals against Cudworth over some period of correspondence. ...
My observation at the time was the contradiction in him, not the dog. The anthropo-exclusive part says "They're nothing more than machines", while the...
Tangentially related anecdote: I once had an acquaintance who steadfastly denied that animals other than man had intelligence or any form of thought; ...
Animal-watching is as fascinating to me as, if not more than, child-watching. Desmond Morris watched babies, but I find 4-8 year-olds more interesting...
Of course it is. If you don't interfere, you can watch the process, which is exactly the same as a human would do. Regard the obstacle. Can you go ove...
Can you tell that a man is thinking before he says or does something? Sometimes, when he opens his mouth it becomes obvious that very little thought w...
Depends on one's philosophical stance, doesn't it? The words have no fixed meaning, apparently - only relative value as to what counts and what doesn'...
The philosophical positions are clear enough. Humans philosophize; nature does not. It's probably foolish of me (and obviously futile) to hold out for...
Sure. If you define a word to mean what you want it to mean it will mean what you want it to mean. I have not seen that particular definition: "ration...
I don't need to suggest; you've listed most of 'em. I never contested the uniqueness of humans or the feats of cogitation they required. All i said wa...
In the first instance, survival. Rational thought is simply the most effective approach to solving problems. All species are confronted with problems ...
You are truly and indubitably alone in all these strictly human areas. My contention is that reason and rational thought are not confined within nor l...
Can't you be special, bigger, smarter, wider, more powerful, more dangerous, more imaginative, more poetic, the only one that looks into space, builds...
Sure. My objection was to the definition of the word, precisely because evolution accounts for the many traits common to species with a common ancestr...
It's not The Void; not a concept. It's just a word for empty that was translated to void. The world is already here, just kind of messy. His pet human...
It's perfectly rational - and intelligent. They were not interested in rockets, but they sure devised a lot of ways to get what Mako wanted. Is it pro...
Even if you call 'a kind of biomechanics' intelligence and growth in favourable conditions decision-making (which definitions are not widely shared), ...
About the interim steps? Pastoral peoples were migratory or nomadic and didn't leave many records. Still, we know that they herded livestock - which i...
If God made the universe, yes. (Where he lived before he made the universe is anybody's guess.) Otherwise, no: intelligence had to wait until a brain ...
That extensive mycelial network! Pretty amazing, actually. At some point - about 7000 years ago, but there were interim steps that took much longer - ...
Their vocalizations may sound harsh to you, but are meaningful to another chimp. We might as well be communicating, you in ASL and I in Japanese. Or j...
And when it's time to eat and she can't smell anything edible, she goes out to the kitchen, picks up her food dish and brings it back to place in my l...
Have you followed any of the tests that scientists have devised to differentiate between stimulus-response and rational problem-solving? Here is an ex...
My informal observation: up to six times without showing exasperation, after which they don't give it back. All babies seem to do it; I think they con...
I hope that's tongue-in-cheek. I once had a grey squirrel as a pet - not on purpose; the children down the street rescued her their cat. So I raised h...
I don't suppose the test can be administered to newborns. The subject must have the skill to distinguish objects and generalize how 'things' are expec...
I think the calculus question is simply a case of habitual cart-reversal. We know about the mathematical or scientific conventions that have been work...
He doesn't need to. Evolving as a species that hunts running prey, he has an instinctive grasp of vectors. All that's happened between when our own an...
Robins seem to be okay with big fat earthworms, and the garden soil isn't complaining. But birds that are adapted to feeding in the air - swallow, mar...
Mosquitoes we've had aplenty this wet summer, but I haven't seen more than half a dozen butterflies and had to hand-pollinate my tomatoes and peppers ...
....not to mention predict football games... Has anyone asked an octopus for 13 keys to winning an American election? I wouldn't want one for a pet. R...
Comments