Fun Facts We Didn't Need To Know

[gwand]

That is cool but I wonder how it differs much from training a dog to bark three times with the prompt of the spoken of visual number three... or other numbers. While not verbal a horse can be taught to 'tap' of its hoof to a number prompt. While I haven't read anything on this I'd be amazed if a dolphin could not do it.

Bottom line is that we tend to not give enough credit to what some animals can do in relation to some sort of intelligence simply due to it being a different form than our own. Birds are a really good example of this as it has been discovered that some species of birds are on a par as to 'intelligence as dogs and cats.

This part is just speculation but studies show that humans use a small portion of their brain and that many animals can't have intelligence due to the smaller brain size. What if some animals use all of theirs? Seems to me that it would lessen the apparent size difference of the brain. Going with intelligence being a factor in intelligence than, by that logic, whales should be more intelligent than humans and, sometimes, I wonder if that just may not be true... As Spok said in Star Trek 4... "There are other species on earth. Only human arrogance would assume the signal must be meant for mankind.".

Some of the latest research on avian brain shows that the density of their neurons, the number of neurons per cubic millimeter of space, is greater than it is in primates. This explains why so much intelligence can be found in animals with small cranial vault.

 

[Oldspartan]

Today I discovered Buster dog is faster than a rabbit.

 

[jaylach]

Today I discovered Buster dog is faster than a rabbit.

I'm gonna assume that Buster is a dog. Had a Black Lab when I lived in Florida that was on a 30 foot diameter center peg line when I was at work. Man he was fast! Caught a squirrel in that 30 foot run.

Some of the latest research on avian brain shows that the density of their neurons, the number of neurons per cubic millimeter of space, is greater than it is in primates. This explains why so much intelligence can be found in animals with small cranial vault.

You mention primates. Do you know that, on the DNA level, there is only 1%, yes, that is one percent, difference between a human and a chimp? I can follow the following article in general but not detail. Yet it is a bit interesting.

Humans and chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA. This is the 1% difference

With only 1% difference, the human and chimpanzee protein-coding genomes are remarkably similar. Understanding the biological features that make us human

geneticliteracyproject.org

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I don't think any animals, even dolphins, are anywhere as "smart" as humans when it comes to things like problem solving, number sense, or language--the sorts of things by which we humans tend to measure intelligence. But animals are very smart in their own way. Elk, a relatively unintelligent animal by the measures above, somehow know which plants are poisonous and which are not, and can detect and identify a predator a quarter mile away, both tasks at which humans are relative idiots. (You could say that's keen senses, not intelligence, but given the way senses are hard-wired into the brain, it's hard to me not to think that senses are a form of intelligence) Young mountain lions learn to hunt by following their mothers, and can be surprisingly inventive and adaptable in their hunting methods. Same goes for wolves.

But my dog? He's just kind of a dumb, lovable moron.

 

[Ichthys]

Speaking of crows, I watched this YouTube short yesterday.

 

[Oldspartan]

Is instinct intel or is it just a hard wiring like breathing or herding .

 

[GaryE]

Is our own intelligence mostly instinct though? I think so, from a lifetime of watching people and the things we do. I think we reverse the question sometimes because our belief systems want us to feel special, when we assume we aren't as instinct driven as other animals.

 

[gwand]

Our behavior is a tablespoon of instinct, a teaspoon deterministic and a pinch of free will.

 

[Oldspartan]

I do not believe so. We choose within our self or administrative limits. We foresee the future and can plan for it, again within our own or administrative limits. We choose to ignore the future we see or address it based on how we see its effect on our immediate needs.

I watch chipmunks hoard food in hides holes but they do not remember where they put it. We dig it up in the spring. Just an example of instinct that is not actual intellect.

Most animals have behaviors passed genetically. We also have some but nurture can sometimes override our nature, sometimes not.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, I tend to think that our instincts are a mixture of nature and nurture. We are predisposed to certain behaviors genetically. Our upbringing gives us our concept of what's normal, and society and environment further shape what we will do in a given situation. But we can also choose to go against what comes natural, for good or bad. Many people don't, but we can.

 

[gwand]

If you believe in the modern lessons of astrophysics, including the Big Bang theory then you are driven to except a deterministic view of our reality with little or no room for free Will. In this scenario, the Big Bang set the universe in motion from an almost infinite string of cause and effect events. To maintain that our consciousness can alter this 12 billion year line of causality is to maintain that consciousness is not part of the physical world and can alter causal relationships. The world of physics is split between those who believe in free will, and those that believe in pure determinism. Both camps contain very bright people with mathematical theories, backing their positions.

 

[Endlersendlers]

Is our own intelligence mostly instinct though? I think so, from a lifetime of watching people and the things we do. I think we reverse the question sometimes because our belief systems want us to feel special, when we assume we aren't as instinct driven as other animals.

If you do something without having to think about it, that might be instinct. The more you think about it, unless you ultimately go with your “gut” anyway, it is probably intelligence. Even going with your gut might be intelligence. Your brain can subconsciously figure out a lot of variables that are slower when we stop to dissect them thinking it through in language. It takes longer to think in words.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

If you do something without having to think about it, that might be instinct. The more you think about it, unless you ultimately go with your “gut” anyway, it is probably intelligence. Even going with your gut might be intelligence. Your brain can subconsciously figure out a lot of variables that are slower when we stop to dissect them thinking it through in language. It takes longer to think in words.

Also, a lot of what we call "instinct" is simply learning that has been internalized. Same with "gut feeling." The style of archery I use, for example, is called "instinctive shooting," because it isn't a system of conscious aiming down the arrow or using sights. But it requires lots and lots of training to get good at it. (at least, that's what I hear; I'm still not exactly good at it) So it really isn't instinctive.

An instinctive skill would be something a baby is born knowing, like nursing or screaming when something is uncomfortable.

 

[gwand]

Changing topics

Fish are Adapting to Weightlessness on the Chinese Space Station

Four zebrafish are alive and well after nearly a month in space aboard China’s Tiangong space station. As part of an experiment testing the development of vertebrates in microgravity, the fish live and swim within a small habitat aboard the station. While the zebrafish have thus far survived...

www.universetoday.com

 

[JackGulley]

I wonder how they orient themselves. Do they tend to all treat the same direction as “down” at a time, or is everything just kinda trippy?