I am reading the book “ Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” and am surprised at how little I know about animals' cognition.
Darwin's quotes sum it the best:
“the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.”
Fantastic book! Even birds and other small animals are capable of some excellent cognition.
The author demonstrates that many animals have highly evolved senses of community, anticipation, problem-solving, use of tools, forward-thinking, and native intelligence. Their intelligence is appropriate to their lives, circumstances, environment, and place in the animal kingdom. Chimps who did poorly in recognizing human faces perfectly recognized chimp faces (which most humans would be poor at), and then we have octopuses, orcas, and dolphins to discuss.
Fun fact: there's only one thing better optimized to produce clicks than whales: TikTok
I am reading the book “ Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” and am surprised at how little I know about animals' cognition.
Darwin's quotes sum it the best:
“the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.”
Fantastic book! Even birds and other small animals are capable of some excellent cognition.
The author demonstrates that many animals have highly evolved senses of community, anticipation, problem-solving, use of tools, forward-thinking, and native intelligence. Their intelligence is appropriate to their lives, circumstances, environment, and place in the animal kingdom. Chimps who did poorly in recognizing human faces perfectly recognized chimp faces (which most humans would be poor at), and then we have octopuses, orcas, and dolphins to discuss.
www.amazon.com/Are-Smart-Enough-Know-Animals/dp/0393353664/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=JPY4N5T3BKTA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.u-gGk4mDRE_XFeidpzBJmdatChi5yrLoqnyVRVyy3j8GmW2hny4H3Ajab9V86yOKMJIwIfLKh1WDO7C7lgeAp4XAH-6bVM66Vt5vJEUralyYlRfoN8nPvG6xBFSz1EsCPXwilw_AyDB0KHM6__fA9g.7i3Maw0d3kraQZ0yfFvCRFFVtaWQE2IzlAel2TdhRO0&dib_tag=se&keywords=are+we+smart+enough+to+know+how+smart&qid=1716512067&sprefix=are+we+s%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-1
Neat!
If Moby Dick had been able to communicate with Captain Ahab with clicks, maybe that whole book never would have occurred.
Alternative answer: it could have been called "Moby Click."
Am I the only thinking Batman has more in common with sperm whales than bats?
If Aquaman and Batman had a baby...