Post your thoughts on how we view animal intelligence?
I think it's hard for humans to acknowledge that animals are intelligent, just because we view ourselves as the top of the food chain. When there are tests formulated to measure animal intelligence, we assume that the way we think of things is how animals would think of them. When they fail to do the tests the "correct way," we conclude that there is less intelligence. However, there have been new studies that show animals just think differently, which of course makes sense. I think the difficulty in measuring human intelligence is HOW. In the article "The Brains of the Animal Kingdom" it discusses how animals have been underestimated. Elephants were viewed as incapable of using tools because they would not use a long stick to retrieve food outside their reach. However, it wasn't until recently that the test was viewed from the animal's perspective - as soon as the elephant picks up a stick, it loses its main sense organ, it's nose. I hope that with further tests, animals are not underestimated, and that researchers think outside of the box on how they would respond.
No comments:
Post a Comment