Are you smarter than a Goldfish?

[NannaLou]

Even an infant is smarter than a goldfish. No animal is equally as smart as a human being. All animals act out of instinct no matter what... Sure, dogs show love but not the love we can show with "real" emotion. Animals do have a sort of emotion but nothing as advanced as humans do. This is not calling animals stupid but they cannot go out and create things or do math problems like us.

Some animals do, elephants for one and gorillas…

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwinj_mRoNf2AhU1oVwKHTTqA-IQwqsBegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPZG0MgCSZ2g&usg=AOvVaw2PvjdBgTaXNXg4Qgj1vEwP

 

[Rocky998]

We also act out of instinct @Rocky998 . And we have to stop and decide what intelligence is, and what it means. We can do remarkable things within the confines of how our brains work. But if you look at the current, quickly developing research on animal cognition, there is a lot of intelligence in this world. We aren't that special - we just have abilities no other other species has (while some of them have skills we can only dream of. If we could see like we are learning some other species see - wow).
We're seeing strong evidence of problem solving, memory, emotion and other mental skills in our fellow animals - it's one of the most intriguing new avenues in science right now. As a human, I've learned to keep my jaw from dropping too often when I look at this stuff. I doubt I'll ever get my head around the implications of it, if there are any different than how we act toward other species from our own instincts.
I would have completely denied the possibility of what's being found when I was 16. It completely goes against everything I had been taught back then. Now though, I have an ever growing respect for what is happening in the heads and nervous systems of other creatures.

Well yes all of us have done stupid things... But you have to admit... The things destroyong the enviorment also show off our intelligence... Like cars as different fuels we make... Very bad for the environment but no other living creature on earth can do the things we do, like build cities and stuff or create movies and video games. We actually have a real kind of emotion... Animals are just... Well their just animals soong their thing and not watching the news or showing off a new dress they bought on Amazon.

 

[Rocky998]

Some animals do, elephants for one and gorillas…

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwinj_mRoNf2AhU1oVwKHTTqA-IQwqsBegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPZG0MgCSZ2g&usg=AOvVaw2PvjdBgTaXNXg4Qgj1vEwP

It is very adorable! But all animals show a sort of grief if they have been with something for a while... Like a dog losing its owner... The dog knows that the owner is gone but doesnt really have the concept of death. They just know their gone and therefore they show a form of grief or sadness when they see he/she isnt coming back

 

[NannaLou]

My Mum died 5 weeks ago, I don’t think my youngest 2 grandchildren fully understand ‘death’ and the finality of it…but they are certainly grieving. You grieve the loss of someone/something you love not death itself.

 

[Rocky998]

My Mum died 5 weeks ago, I don’t think my youngest 2 grandchildren fully understand ‘death’ and the finality of it…but they are certainly grieving. You grieve the loss of someone/something you love not death itself.

How old are they? If their really young, then of course they will have no concept of why they cant see their family but they are still very sad they cant see them anymore. As their brains mature they will soon understand. A 5yr old will understand death if their parents dont raise them under the lie that everything is sunshine and rainbows... My brother was younger (about 3-4yrs old) when he understood death... Not much about it but he did know that when something dies it is gone forever.

I am also very sorry about your mother.

 

[GaryE]

My Mum died 5 weeks ago, I don’t think my youngest 2 grandchildren fully understand ‘death’ and the finality of it…but they are certainly grieving. You grieve the loss of someone/something you love not death itself.

My condolences. It's a tough time, and I have no useful words - just old fashioned human solidarity.

 

[GaryE]

Well yes all of us have done stupid things... But you have to admit... The things destroyong the enviorment also show off our intelligence... Like cars as different fuels we make... Very bad for the environment but no other living creature on earth can do the things we do, like build cities and stuff or create movies and video games. We actually have a real kind of emotion... Animals are just... Well their just animals soong their thing and not watching the news or showing off a new dress they bought on Amazon.

There's no question most humans are intelligent (my ex brother in la... move on) But doing things from instinct doesn't imply stupidly or blindly acting. We're like any other animal when it comes to mate choice, family behaviour, status seeking, some wider social behaviours, etc. We make choices, but I think the limits of what we choose are defined by our instincts.

The studies on animal emotion that are making me stop and think are based on brain scans and not anecdotes. In a lot of experiments, other species have had the same brain regions light up as we do when we feel emotion. It would seem emotion may have developed a lot earlier than we used to think. We even used to think we were the only animal with emotions - brain scans are putting that into the sun revolving around the earth category. We really want to be special, but in cosmic terms, we're just extra smart results of a process. It's humbling.

We invent, manufacture, write poetry, become scientists, etc, and other species don't do that. Goldfish sure don't. But we've also relatively recently invented the tools that let us watch the brains of other animals, and what we're seeing is knocking down some old arrogant ideas. Fun times. I find it all unexpected when I think of what I was taught, but exciting for what I can learn.

 

[NannaLou]

My condolences. It's a tough time, and I have no useful words - just old fashioned human solidarity.

Thank you x