Chimps reaching towards the intelligence of humans?

Pic

Pretty neat demostration of a chimpanzee taking pictures. They have done many impressive things that we humans do like for example a chimp smoking a cigarette. Of course the link is not to show that the animal is getting smarter, it was more of showing that even chimps can handle the technology. However the picture is showing me the potential of the chimps as well as other animals that have shown remarkable intelligence.

Need help on link, thank you.

[edit on 16-5-2006 by deltaboy]

[Mod edit - Link fixed. welcome ]

[edit on 16/5/2006 by Umbrax]

Animals have the exact same deduction capabilities as we do, but to a less degree. I have seen dogs, cats and horses formulate logical rules without having prior experience; just pure deduction, no stimulus involved.

As an example I will mention this: once upon a time I was a guest in a friend's house. This friend had a very clever dog. One time the dog saw his boss coming through the front yard, so the dog wanted to go out and meet him. But he couldn't reach the door handle...so he came to me, looked at me for a while, then I stood up in order to see what it wanted. Then it drove me through the living room, and when we got to the door, it started jumping up and down towards the door handle. I immediately realized he wanted to go out.

Another example: in a local shop there was a stray dog that visited for food and shelter. One day a man came and tried to make friends with the dog, albeit in a strange way. The dog got frustrated and started barking, and the man got scared and kicked the dog. The next time the man came to the shop, the dog played dead!

Another example: a dog has been hit by a car. Next time the dog crossed a street, it looked up and down a street to see if a car was coming!

All these incidents plus all the documentaries plus all the latest discoveries about dolphin names has made me believe that we humans are nothing more than animals with a more advanced brains; and that all our traits exist more or less in animals, too. Of course religious people will flame me, but if they stood back and watched the overwhelming evidence, the world would be a better place.

I am always amazed when I see chips...they behave so much like humans! they laugh to get sympathies, males fight over females, resources and domination, females make contacts with the strongest males, etc.

And did you see the photo of the gorilla using a log "hiking pole" to balance itself when crossing a river?!!!

www.theage.com.au... -the-mud-gorillas-revealed/2005/09/30/1127804661658.html

Ive always said we dont give enough credit to the intelligence of other animals.

I used to have a cat, large black cat, it would sit on one of the chairs at the dining room table, place its paws on the table, and stare at you when it was hungry.

I suppose it realised that when we get hungry, we go to the table, and of course, we understood what he meant, so we fed him whenever he did that. He continued to repeat the process every time he was hungry.

Chimps are clever, you gotta give them that. But they're not getting any smarter, just like we're not getting any smarter.

There were people running around 20,000 years ago who were every bit as smart as Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein, they just didn't have a social structure or language/ mathematics system to work within.

When (or if) chimps move to a next stage of evolution, then maybe they'll be smarter. But then, they won't be chimps anymore, either.

I'd wager that a dolphin is smarter than any chimp and if any mammal is reaching towards the intelligence of humans, it would be dolphins before chimps.





seekerof

Originally posted by Seekerof
...if any mammal is reaching towards the intelligence of humans, it would be dolphins before chimps...

I'd have to say cats have an intelligence far greater than given credit for...they have even gotten us humans to build their own door for them...it's just the lack of opposeable thumbs that have stopped them from being able to use a tin opener and feed themselves straight from the tin.

[edit on 16-5-2006 by timski]

Originally posted by Seekerof
I'd wager that a dolphin is smarter than any chimp and if any mammal is reaching towards the intelligence of humans, it would be dolphins before chimps.

seekerof

Really? I don't see any dolphins moderating ATS.

I'll take a thumb over sheer intelligence any day.

Smart Monkeys, not just climbing the evolutionary ladder anymore...

Originally posted by Enkidu
There were people running around 20,000 years ago who were every bit as smart as Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein, they just didn't have a social structure or language/ mathematics system to work within.

Well the brain capacity was probably the same, but the smarts aren't just the brain volume and general structure. It also depends on how you program it. A more complex world (society, science etc) provides stimuli to the brain that didn't exist 20000 years ago. I don't believe that Einsteins and Hawkings existed in ancient times... Even though at birth people had similar potential...

Originally posted by Seekerof
I'd wager that a dolphin is smarter than any chimp and if any mammal is reaching towards the intelligence of humans, it would be dolphins before chimps.





seekerof

It's not just size, it's sophistication, and the Dolphin's brain, unfortunately, doesn't even touch on the sheer complexity of our brains. They are wired up for a completely different environment then we are and to try to say that they are any where near us, or us them, would be a reach, to put it mildly. Density wise, added in with the number of average connections within the brain, nothin is even close to ours as of yet.

Well, they've been able to teach chimps and gorillas to communicate in American sign language, I think that's pretty amazing. It is through this communication that they've discovered the complexity and sophistication of their thoughts and emotions. Anyone remember Koko?

Originally posted by Aelita
A more complex world (society, science etc) provides stimuli to the brain that didn't exist 20000 years ago.

We like to think that our world is more complex. But I sure don't know a lot about animal migrations and tracking, which plants are okay to eat and which are poison, how to make a flint arrowhead, how to construct a good shelter against the weather, etc., etc. Our intelligence defines the world, not the other way around. In my humble opinion.

You guys have hit the nail on the head right there.

The most intelligent primates can easily grasp sign language or learn to use touchscreen computers to get different things. While lacking in the vocal sophistication (a trait which contributed greatly to our ease in development) they are still very intelligent in general.

The difference is we have a more advanced culture. We can pass on information from generation from generation. We record our findings, scientific research, thoughts and dreams. I don't doubt lower primates will someday reach this point, but it was our ability to communicate and store publicly vast amounts of life using sophisticated means.Without schools for example, each generation of lower primates unfortunately must discover everything from scratch.