Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

This is a "Warts and all" Diary.

[RED-DOG]

Wanna see my wart?

[Laxie]

Wait til after lunch...please and thank you. 

[RED-DOG]

Ralph walked the walk, now he's got the T shirt.

[MANTIS01]

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

I remember a David Attenborough programme that summed this up rather well. There was a guy tracking a bear by simply following the animal's paw prints. So easy you would say. But Attenborough stated that we are the only animal on the planet to see the marks as anything other than just indentations in the earth. We can consider what made them....we can use our imagination.

[tikay]

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

I rather liked the take of Mr Dyson, (the Inventor bloke) when asked what one wish he might have in life for others. He said (words to the effect)....

"That children be given a chance, & encouraged, to study science & nature, to better to see it in all it's glory".

[tikay]

Wanna see my wart?

Given the underwhelming wave of requests to see it Tom, I think you can consider that as a "no".

[RED-DOG]

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

I remember a David Attenborough programme that summed this up rather well. There was a guy tracking a bear by simply following the animal's paw prints. So easy you would say. But Attenborough stated that we are the only animal on the planet to see the marks as anything other than just indentations in the earth. We can consider what made them....we can use our imagination.

Actual conscious thought, the ability to imagine what something would be like, or wonder what would happen if, is a rare gift indeed.


Of course I am biased, but I think I have owned one of the most intelligent dogs ever bred. I could teach him anything, and command him with a flick of my finger or a nod of my head. His capacity for learning was astounding and, (an irrelevance in this context I know) I loved him dearly.

I watched him one night as he tried to settle down in his bed. He couldn't get comfortable because one of the kids had left a small toy right in the middle and he couldn't avoid lying on it. It was uncomfortable and it stuck into his ribs. In the end, abandoned the bed because he couldn't grasp the concept of moving the toy, it was an action that would require conscious thought.

[kinboshi]

The next most intelligent animals:

http://www.greatapetrust.org/player/video.php?vid=11

[Geo the Sarge]

The next most intelligent animals:

http://www.greatapetrust.org/player/video.php?vid=11

Through intelligence or repition?

When asked to pour the perrier water into the jelly, the animal is lifting the jelly jar beofre it is mentioned.

Geo

[Longy]

The next most intelligent animals:

http://www.greatapetrust.org/player/video.php?vid=11

Are they? I always thought there was an arguement that Dolphins were more intelligent, their use of Sonar etc.

[RED-DOG]

This is the Laddies $1100 buy in, $250,000 added LEOCOP main event. 10,000 chips, 30 min clock.

Only 668 runners. 1st prize $229,500, money down to $2,019.60 for 70th.

Click to see full-size image.

[Geo the Sarge]

The next most intelligent animals:

http://www.greatapetrust.org/player/video.php?vid=11

Are they? I always thought there was an arguement that Dolphins were more intelligent, their use of Sonar etc.

Squirrels have a shout too:

I believe that this course was built incrementally with the squirrell working out a stage each day.

http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Squirrel_Obstacle_Course_259_2007.php

Geo

[kinboshi]

The next most intelligent animals:

http://www.greatapetrust.org/player/video.php?vid=11

Through intelligence or repition?

When asked to pour the perrier water into the jelly, the animal is lifting the jelly jar beofre it is mentioned.

Geo

Read the study papers on this research.  The bonobos were taught the names for objects but were able to abstract meanings of sentences that they hadn't heard before. 

Humans learn language through the same process - repetition of vocabulary combined with the innate ability to understand language principles that can be developed over time.

[kinboshi]

The next most intelligent animals:

http://www.greatapetrust.org/player/video.php?vid=11

Are they? I always thought there was an arguement that Dolphins were more intelligent, their use of Sonar etc.

I don't think that the use of sonar itself is an indication of a higher intelligence (bats use sonar but certainly aren't one of the most intelligent mammals), but I have heard some people put forward that dolphins are more intelligent than apes or monkeys.