The Real Intelligence of Animals

Thank you for this thread DaMod!

One of the most disgusting things about the human race is the lack of respect it has for other life forms we share the planet with. We farm them for food, hunt them and use them as test subjects for controversial experiments and research. If only these animals could talk... I find it so sad they we treat them as a resource because they deserve so much better.

One of the prettiest native birds in my home country, the Kea, has proven to be very intelligent and great at solving problems. Have a look at this video

YouTube Link

Starred and flagged, definitely.

always thought it was funny....THERE the stupid ones...yet there not killing the earth, killing EACH OTHER over petty difference such as difference in color of fur (or in our case skin),using up ALL of our resources,destroying millions of of trees, not to mention destroying EVERY OTHER animal species....so whos REALLY the stupid animals? them or US?

Thankyou Op for bringing this to our attention.

I do trully believe animals are more intelligent then we give them credit for. They work more closely with nature then humans do. Animals are also afraid to die just as much as humans are.
Animals fed cooked foods humans eat become just as sick as the human does. But animals who eat from nature in the wild live longer then their domesticated counterparts.
I recommend everyone read Anastasia and the ringing cedar son this too.
Humans need to awaken to stop abusing animal and plant life. There is more to them we dont know yet need to start understanding before its too late.
Bees are the most important insect being on the planet. They polinate all the food we eat. Without them all plant, human and animal kingdom start dying and lead us to self distruction. I will start a thread on bees soon.

Here is a bee thread:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 7-6-2009 by Applesandoranges]

I understand that this topic is a beacon to the Animal Rights crowd, and that the majority of the posts heretofore have been supportive of the rights of animals, and often maligning the our own species. Animals certainly deserve a degree of rights, and to be protected against wanton cruelty and extinction, so allow me to add my voice to that particular chorus.

Regardless of that fact, the intial vid posted by the OP is utterly ridiculous (no offense to the OP). Just because animals display a degree of ability to mimick certain learned behaviors does not denote a sentient intelligence. There is obvious a baseline intelligence to be found in most every animal, since such a trait is a requirement for survival. A bird's ability to identify a green key, or an orange toy truck is just a trained adaption, though. Parrots must be able to identify food sources in the wild, and are wonderful at mimicking human voices; if everytime you gave a bird a green key, you repeated "Green Key" to him and gave him a pepper or a fruit when he responded the same, the bird would come to understand what you want. Polly would chirp back "green key", and wait for his banana. Its intelligence, but displayed in the form of a learned response. Koko and many other animals display emotion, obviously. We've all seen frightened dogs, angry cats, etc.

That being said, Homo sapien sapien is by FAR the most advanced, and intelligent species to have ever lived. We are the apex of evolution, an inarguable fact. To those who comment on the hubris of Man (capital M), wallow in your inexplicable guilt; your predecessors secured that ability for you by not only rising from nature, but excelling to the point of basically dominating it. Sure, humans have done some horrific things, and wrought devastation to our own environs, but such actions occured due to our ability to fulfill our wants, needs and desires to the Nth degree. Is it wise to do so? Perhaps not. Our minds, and intelligence gave us the ability to, though. So, whilst arguing about how incompetent a species we really are, and how smart that dolphin at the beach was, just remember that you do so from the secure cocoon of human civilization, with the free time provided by the same, on technology spawned by it.

We have a thumb. Whales have a larger neocortex. They don't have a thumb however and havn't brought the planet to the brink of destruction. Hmmmm.....
Also, quite sure we had et help in our evolution too.

Edit to add: They, the disbelieving skeptical crowd of pseudo scientists, IQ tested Koko. They refused to change a few of the questions, to be more species friendly. Ie. like a question showing an ice cream cone, and a flower, and other things, asking which you would eat. Koko preferred the flowers. However, despite having some prejudice in the wording, she got a 90-95 IQ. Michael was 85. She would have been over 100 if graded for her species.



[edit on 7-6-2009 by mystiq]

I started visiting ATS to learn more about UFOs, existence of aliens and seek the truth of whether angels exist. I was no match for the decadence of these mysteries.
Can you imagine the sudden realization that my cattle dog's blaze was morphing into an alien's head with some sort of angelic being with wings rising from it!?! It is becoming more pronounced by the day. Thaats my dag!!


I'mean you don't have to be on any Sensory Input Distortion to see it.

This dog can be and probably is both, an angel and an alien - in my opinion his intelligence if off the scale, if not telepathic.

But the stone that I really want to see overturned is the whole 100th monkey syndrome dealio.
The ability to tap into some collective intelligence once it reaches critical mass is fascinating.
Is there an energy or certain magnetism, some pool of plasma of just 'knowing' that animals and us can just tap into and enjoy?

One vid I saw that showed me intelligence through wicked evolution was of a shrimp that blew away its prey etc. with a sonic weapon.

YouTube Link

reply to post by DaMod

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Thanks for the post O.P. Unfortunately, some people will never get it. If I was an E.T. I wouldn't come to Earth. People might find them tasty. S&F for you.

Glad to see the thread continuing !!!
I thought I'd throw in that everything on this planet has a purpose on the earth. Every single creature has a role in maintaining the delicate system that supports life on this glorious planet, everything but HUMANS. The earth doesn't need us, animals don't need us, plants don't need us, but boy do we need them!!!! Funny huh? We have absolutley no purpose in this ecosystem. We are only a thorn in the side of all other life. We constantly destroy everything we depend on to live, and call ourselves superior - intelligent? We are the ones that don't belong, we are the aliens here.

Outstanding DaMod!

It really does make me feel that humanity is just a ham-fisted cretin smashing its way through the world with little regard to what else is here. Damn, we're a very arrogant species.

It only takes a glance at my three cats and dog to see that, yeah, there's definitely something behind those eyes, and in the way that they interact with eachother, especially the relationship between my eldest cat and the orphan kitten. It shows real selflessness in the way that the older one has taught the kitten all it needs to know.

Never underestimate the animal kingdom, I feel we're just scratching the surface as to how intelligent a lot of species are.

We should also never mix 'intelligence' with 'human knowledge'. It's like comparing knowledge to wisdom. Extremely different.

reply to post by DaMod

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Thanks for posting an informative thread that wasn't about some asinine theory or psychotic ramblings...Starred and Flagged. Though it was informative; I'm still convinced homo sapiens are the most intelligent animal on Earth. P.S. are you a vegetarian? I don't think I could eat meat if I thought animals were so much smarter than we currently think...

reply to post by DaMod

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This is one of the most intelligent threads I have read. Truly inspirational and a beautiful way to teach people just how amazing animals are! Starred and Flagged all the way.

I was talking with someone yesterday about this thread, and about the aspect of soul, for I believe strongly that they have individual souls and personalities as we do, and are evolving into higher level beings just as we do. I do not believe we ever go back however, as some think is possible. And the conversation led into a group ascension/evolutionary process of the animal kingdom, including the fish, and all living things, and that it was the misguided human race that was holding this back. We were obstructing the ascension at this time, the evolutionary leap that they were taking with us. We need to truly respect all living things.



[edit on 7-6-2009 by mystiq]

reply to post by gypsychology909

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Gypsychology909-thats a great dog!

My contribution to this thread.
These is my favorite bird.

Amazing! Bird sounds from the lyre bird - David Attenborough - BBC wildlife
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by abovetech

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Abovetech -thats a great video
Camera shutter and car alarm -no way!

I have always firmly believed animals were intelligent with their own societies.. My dog , She is a border colli-Husky Mix.
She is very human like. She will sit at the table and have dinner with you , and won't take your food. She will eat her dinner of the table , she will observe you cook. And won't drool over the awaiting feast... And she knows when the other dog is down , or if im down. She is just so smart , but some people think they are just mindless minions.
I think it's just so amazing how animals are. I am really glad you started this thread , lol Thanks a bunch OP

reply to post by mystiq

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An elephant can use logic! I came across a news story from South Africa a few years ago. A young/baby elephant had strayed into a residential area and fallen into an empty swimming pool. The mother found her young but could not help it out. After much distress, the mother eventually found a plank of wood, pushed it over the edge of the pool, creating a means for the baby to climb out!

reply to post by ghaleon12

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Finding food is not just an instinctual thing. Pack or group animals such as wolves and dophins display remarkable hunting skills including cooperation, and strategic planning.

Actually no, I am not a vegetarian.. I would be if I didn't like red meat so much. I actually hunt and fish too (I practice catch and release). To my defense I eat whatever I hunt and find hunting necessary to the greater good for these animal populations. Overpopulation would be a huge problem for some hunted species where it not for controlled hunts. I am still a huge animal lover though and have a ton of respect for mother nature. I even recycle!

Dolphins are actually the most intelligent animal on earth as far as pure brain power is concerned. This thread was posted to say that animals are 1. more intelligent than we give them credit for. And 2. I think there are more cases of self awareness than we know of. I mean you have to take into account for us to prove it, an animal would first have to understand the concept of a reflection, and would have to speak English. How else could we really "prove" an animal is self aware? The science in this area is definitely biased. Also take into consideration that most of the stuff we know is due to to fact that we where trained to know it by other humans. Remember we are in essence also trained animals.

[edit on 8-6-2009 by DaMod]

reply to post by DaMod

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Elephants have found to mourn loved ones who have passed on. They tend to create cemetaries, and families go to the same place to die. Elephants can recongize if it is a relative even if they never me them, and still caress the bones and rumble to them.

If that doesn't say something, I don't know what does.