planckunit
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2007
- Messages
- 105
Wow, now you've finally convinced me that dolphins are smarter than humans.LordKrishna said:a higher ape who creates psychedelics.
Wow, now you've finally convinced me that dolphins are smarter than humans.LordKrishna said:a higher ape who creates psychedelics.
LordKrishna said:In zoology it is a rule not to compair animal intelligence to human intelligence. Because we will end up looking for the animal which is most "human".
well another thing to look at is brain size and what areas of the brain are used for what and the size of those area's.Xorkoth said:Now that I agree with. Who's the say that humans have the standard of intelligence? That has always bothered me about determining animal intelligence. Like how most people say that dogs are smarter than cats, when it seems clear to me that cats are quite a bit more intelligent as a whole than dogs are as a whole. But humans are often more likely to think a dog is smarter than a cat because a dog will follow commands and a cat will do what it wants. But get the respect of a cat and they'll show you their whole selves. Just like humans.
Aldousage said:Shulgin isn't an ape. I think it's a bit insulting to suggest that he is. He's a hominid, evolved from an ancestry we share with the great apes. Although opponents of Darwin are famous for it, there's no logical or linguistic reason to refer to humans as apes.
It's true that humans decide what is smart. I understand that to many this seems unfair. As an agnostic, I accept the fact that we may only THINK we're smart. Normally, I would add that I'd like to seem some evidence to support this theory, but as a human, I might not be able to comprehend it with the same academic lucidity as, say, a badger.
I believe that our mental superiority is due to the sophistication of our neural networks. I may be mistaken, and intelligence should not be determined by complexity of language, detailed knowledge of our environment (and other environments), works of art and science, and other human abilities/acheivements. Perhaps, despite their simplistic and underdeveloped brains, otters are in fact the most intelligent mammals on the planet, not for humano-biased neurological/technological reasons, but instead due to the length and texture of their fur.
It's kind of fun to pretend that, for example, the songs of birds are actually detailed discussions on the treatises of Sir Devin Linwell (a seventeenth century seagull philosopher noted for his brave "third wing" theory). That said, I don't think it's something we ought to take seriously.
Peacelove,
Aldousage
fastandbulbous said:Some species have names that look like someone ate a whole bag of Scrabble letter tiles then vomited up a name (or at least an anagram of the letters brought back up).
I mean how else could you explain 'Pan troglodytes' ? (it's the name for the common chimpanzee)![]()
As far as I know, more recent quantification of the genetic differences between humans and our nearest relatives in the animal kingdom puts that figure at around 95%--down from the earlier figure at around 98.5%. Anyways, the base genetic similarities don't mean much, as we share around 40% of our genes with a head of lettuce.LordKrishna said:and sense you brought up evolution, then you would agree that gorillas, chimps and orangs are all great apes? well there genes differ from us by less then 2%, each other by less then 1%. I don't see how they all can be grouped together but we are somehow separate.
I repeat, talking monkeys.
Does our saying that we knowledgeably and willfully seek out psychedelics make it so?Riemann Zeta said:I would highly doubt that dolphins are knowledgeably and willfully tripping. Do the higher apes willfully seek out psychedelic compounds? If not, then there is no way in hell that dolphins would be.
Anyways, the base genetic similarities don't mean much, as we share around 40% of our genes with a head of lettuce.
LordKrishna said:yeah, you remember when Terrance Mckenna talked about DMT and how its about casting a net into our consciousness and bringing back information? Maybe he meant actually casting a net out into the ocean and catching this fish and bring back...
no I dont.