4 Replies to “Possibly my favourite news item of the week”

  2. Yes. I’m not sure how many people seriously uphold that theory these days. I mean, I’m sure plenty of people do still believe that, but I think it’s probably out of date by now.This is an interesting article on the subject of animal minds:http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/animal-minds/virginia-morell-textHere's an extract:Charles Darwin, who attempted to explain how human intelligence developed, extended his theory of evolution to the human brain: Like the rest of our physiology, intelligence must have evolved from simpler organisms, since all animals face the same general challenges of life. They need to find mates, food, and a path through the woods, sea, or sky—tasks that Darwin argued require problem-solving and categorizing abilities. Indeed, Darwin went so far as to suggest that earthworms are cognitive beings because, based on his close observations, they have to make judgments about the kinds of leafy matter they use to block their tunnels. He hadn’t expected to find thinking invertebrates and remarked that the hint of earthworm intelligence “has surprised me more than anything else in regard to worms.”

    To Darwin, the earthworm discovery demonstrated that degrees of intelligence could be found throughout the animal kingdom. But the Darwinian approach to animal intelligence was cast aside in the early 20th century, when researchers decided that field observations were simply “anecdotes,” usually tainted by anthropomorphism. In an effort to be more rigorous, many embraced behaviorism, which regarded animals as little more than machines, and focused their studies on the laboratory white rat—since one “machine” would behave like any other.

    But if animals are simply machines, how can the appearance of human intelligence be explained? Without Darwin’s evolutionary perspective, the greater cognitive skills of people did not make sense biologically. Slowly the pendulum has swung away from the animal-as-machine model and back toward Darwin. A whole range of animal studies now suggest that the roots of cognition are deep, widespread, and highly malleable. Darwin, apparently, studied earthworms quite extensively.

  3. I do believe some dogs have the intelligence to know when another dog is in need. However, even though my min pin (CJ) is quite smart, it seems she couldn’t care less that her buddy (Camie, my Keeshond) is almost blind. She still runs zig zag in front of her to block her as she makes her way to my snapping fingers. CJ is a very jealous little brat.

  4. I used to have a dog. Unfortunately, I don’t think he had the intelligence even to know when he was actually hungry or not. If there was food in front of him, he would eat it, whether it was bigger than his own body mass or not. It seems some breeds are cleverer than others.

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