Venting Do animals think?

[°Celsuis_Caesar]

A rant here:

I was staring at a fire ant today and started to think the fact that our lives are practically the same; A small thing in this world (Humans&Universe) and works to provide for its colony (Society) does the insect or common animal think like we do? Tired, suicidal, etc? If not how did we come to be like this; Some alien genetics experiment or evolution, blast.

Anyway I suppose I just want an answer to the 'Why' in why we are here…

And to pass time.

 

[Insomniac]

Idk, just here to say that plants are the highest life form in my opinion.

 

[StarryStarry]

A rant here:

I was staring at a fire ant today and started to think the fact that our lives are practically the same; A small thing in this world (Humans&Universe) and works to provide for its colony (Society) does the insect or common animal think like we do? Tired, suicidal, etc? If not how did we come to be like this; Some alien genetics experiment or evolution, blast.

Anyway I suppose I just want an answer to the 'Why' in why we are here…

And to pass time.

All I can say is my cat is smarter than most of the people I've been in contact with and this would include all those idiot attorneys who wasted their hard earned daddy's money on law school.

 

[Snake of Eden]

It looks like one of the perks for being none human is that there isnt much self-awareness to make space for existential crisis to occur. Who knows. But it seems that way

 

[Noctis]

Animals can think, but they may not be self-aware. A rat, fish, or bird can be trained to do something or go to a certain place for food, but there's not conclusive evidence that they understand we are all living creatures with minds, and they're just a small part of all that.

 

[Dot]

Dg learnng langug & concpts

 

[meetapple]

Some animals can think. They certainly can't think in an abstract manner. This reminds me of the monologue by Christopher Lee in the Wicker Man.

 

[9BBN]

There are smart animals that can recognize themselves in a mirror. We don't know enough about the brain to say how much animals are thinking, but they're probably thinking. My guess is it's unlikely that plants "think," but they do interact with their environment and reproduce themselves.

 

[johnr]

All I can say is my cat is smarter than most of the people I've been in contact with and this would include all those idiot attorneys who wasted their hard earned daddy's money on law school.

I'm a retired attorney who put himself through school.

 

[StarryStarry]

I'm a retired attorney who put himself through school.

There are a few good attorneys, don't know what you were like when you were active, but I've worked for attorneys for 30 years and had one good one. So I guess it's up to you to figure out what kind of attorney/supervisor you were.

 

[death137]

 

[gottago222]

they do think but not the same way we do. animals do everything out of instinct

 

[Hercules]

I think animals are more intelligent than we give them credit for.

There are a few good attorneys, don't know what you were like when you were active, but I've worked for attorneys for 30 years and had one good one. So I guess it's up to you to figure out what kind of attorney/supervisor you were.

Cats are very smart. Several years ago, scientists did a study on how intelligent cats are. They believe that cats have the emotional intelligence equivalent to a 4 or 5 year old child.

 

[StarryStarry]

I think animals are more intelligent than we give them credit for.

Cats are very smart. Several years ago, scientists did a study on how intelligent cats are. They believe that cats have the emotional intelligence equivalent to a 4 or 5 year old child.

Sweet Pea has more compassion and understanding than the majority of humans I've had to deal with.

 

[Chiisai]

I believe all living beings are capable of thinking (Even those anatomically doesnt have a brain - see Man with no brain), its just that we tend to associate our level of thinking with theirs and make it as a standard to assess whether these living beings are really capable of thinking or not. In a way, that makes us sort of elitists and bigots. Its just like how we define science. Anything we can explain is science, and things we cant are paranormal, myths, magic. But in truth, everything has a science behind it, its just that some cannot be explained nor be understood with our current level of science/technological comprehension. Going back to whether animals and other living beings think or not, I think they do. We just dont think the same way they do, nor do they the same way with us.

 

[mistvissione11e]

On a tangent off of animals, but has anyone stared into an animal and contemplated its own existence that it suddenly bounces off to you and u realize a bottomless abyss in the idea of the animal itself? An example of this I read in a book is very similar to how Jorge Luis Borges put it in the short story El Sur, "Entró. Ahí estaba el gato, dormido. Pidió una taza de café, la endulzó lentamente; la probó (ese placer le había sido vedado en la clínica) y pensó, mientras alisaba el negro pelaje, que aquel contacto era ilusorio y que estaban como separados por un cristal, porque el hombre vive en el tiempo, en la sucesión, y el mágico animal, en la actualidad, en la eternidad del instante."
Translation
"He entered the cafe. There was the cat, asleep. He ordered a cup of coffee, slowly stirred the sugar, sipped it (this pleasure had been denied him in the clinic), and thought, as he smoothed the cat's black coat, that this contact was an illusion and that the two beings, man and cat, were as good as separated by a glass, for man lives in time, in succession, while the magical animal lives in the present, in the eternity of the instant."

 

[WoAiGou]

I would not be surprised if some cetaceans and maybe some birds and primates are capable of questioning their existence. There are several studies with rats displaying altruism, even wild animals occasionally go out of their way to save other species. They absolutely think, maybe not at our level, but the main thing going for us is being bipedal and having hands, which allows us to manipulate our environments. Give orcas hands and I'd be willing to bet they'd be space faring eventually lol. It's an interesting question though, at what point in evolution did a species develop the ability to think and go off instinctual auto pilot. Even fish can display some sense of awareness, playing forming friendships, so the process probably started hundreds of millions of years ago.

 

[settheory]

The distinction between pure instinct and thought is blurry. Perhaps, for some more advanced, intelligent beings, the distinction that is the most important to them might put their minds and human minds on different levels but those of humans and other animals of Earth on practically the same.

 

[stevieu]

You only have to look into the eyes of an animal to know the answer to this. Self-awareness and theory of mind is another matter of course.

Wasn't it only recently that animals were formally seen as sentient beings in UK law? I mean come on... state the bloody obvious.

Animals mourn the loss of their companions, they react to our emotions, they comfort us when we're sad and bounce off our happiness.

I enjoy having conversations with my cat purely through body language, eye contact and facial expressions and she sure knows when I'm joking about with her!

The more effort you make to bond with an animal, the more you'll realise just how intelligent they are and how superior we are not. We too are born, live out a life and are expected to procreate and die, much in the way the rest of the animal kingdom does.

Seeing the fear in the eyes of animals going to slaughter or in cows having their calfs ripped away from them to feed human gluttony, for example, is heartbreaking.

As a species, we pick and choose our 'favourites' and how well they can 'serve us', but at the end of the day, they all deserve equal respect and kindness. Alas, I have digressed...

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Of course they can, just at varying degrees. Humans are animals too and just cause we can think more, we're not any better.

In fact I sometimes believe our ability to think more complicated thoughts just works against our species in so many ways. The fire ant is only thinking about the good of the colony but that same single-mindedness makes the species as a whole way more effective at what it sets out to do (basically sustain its own colony while spreading its influence far to invade not unlike most humans).