Category: Animal minds
Are vertebrates really smarter than invertebrates?
| May 21, 2013 | Posted by News under Animal minds |
Put another way, is there any such thing as a “tree of intelligence”? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just assume that humans are far and away outliers? more
Atheism and sexual deviancy
| August 22, 2012 | Posted by David Anderson under Animal minds, Atheism, Religion, Science, worldview issues and society |
“Is sex outside of marriage a sin? Is it a public matter? Is it forgivable?” No, of course sex outside marriage is not a public matter, and yes, of course it is forgivable. Only a person infected by the sort of sanctimonious self-righteousness that religion uniquely inspires would apply the meaningless word ‘sin’ to private… more
Neuroscientists claim octopus has consciousness
| August 21, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Neuroscience, News |
The problem is that no one knows what consciousness is, exactly, or how it arises, and – hat tip to Thomas Nagel – no one knows what it is like to be a bat, or octopus. more
Bonobo Kanzi learns to make tools
| August 21, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Intelligent Design, News |
Both apes had been taught by humans how to make the tools, but only Kanji appears to have profited from the lesson. more
What those thieving chimpanzees can ;) teach us about the difference between them and us … maybe
| August 16, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Intelligent Design, News |
“It’s interesting that the humanness of sharing is so blandly accepted by these authors as an “evolved trait” when just a bit of thought establishes the impossibility of the enterprise.” more
Breaking, breaking: Chimpanzees steal and don’t care how crime affects the neighbourhood
| August 16, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
How can this be? Were Jane Goodall and all the rest of the 99% chimpanzee gang unable to teach them kindergarten manners? more
Dolphins show truly impressive math skills
| July 18, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Biomimicry, Intelligent Design, News |
“”These dolphins were either ‘blinding’ their most spectacular sensory apparatus when hunting – which would be odd, though they still have sight to reply on – or they have a sonar that can do what human sonar cannot” more
Fruit flies learn to count?
| July 12, 2012 | Posted by O'Leary under Animal minds, Epigenetics, News |
Could be epigenetics, but the researchers are calling it directed evolution. We should sic BioLogos on more
Coffee!!: Otter pup’s swimming lesson
| July 5, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
Sickeningly cute, especially the part where she basically PULLS her reluctant offspring into the water. more
Do rats laugh? At cats?
| July 5, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Intelligent Design, News |
Laughter is an intellectual response to life, a recognition of the difference between what is and what could or should be. more
Convergent evolution: Separate development of the genetic patterns of intelligence?
| June 27, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Intelligent Design, News |
Note once again the significance of convergent evolution – not evolving toward but converging on – the same solution, despite no close “common descent” relationship. more
Researchers: Pigeons, otherwise stupid, learn to recognize people they know
| June 25, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
“It is notoriously difficult to get inside the black box of an animal’s brain in order to establish, for example, whether they can appreciate another’s visual perspective or even whether they have a ‘theory of mind’.” more
From “A Sound Barrier: Why Chimps Aren’t Talking” (Salvo 21), on chimpanzee vs. human intelligence
| June 12, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
“Not only is the boundary wall still brick, but the chimps are not alone on the other side.” more
Nothing would benefit chimpanzees more than a healthy dose of creationism in science.
| June 10, 2012 | Posted by O'Leary under Animal minds, Intelligent Design, News |
They’d be so much better off if these chimps r’ us people devoted their energies to understanding them well enough to protect their habitats and otherwise just left them alone. more
Immune system cells behave like animal predators, not robots, study finds
| May 29, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Design inference, News |
“… similar to strategies that predators such as monkeys, sharks and blue-fin tuna use to hunt their prey.” more
Nevermore: Ravens show long term memory for friends and foes
| April 21, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
The “tree of intelligence” is the same firewood as Darwin’s toppled “tree of life” if smart birds rival primates. Less Darwin, more knowledge. more
Fri nite frite: Oscar the Deathcat on YouTube.
| April 20, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
The cat that gets friendly with elderly, demented people when he “knows” they have definitely begun to die. more
Finally, chimpanzees actually do teach us something …
| April 18, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, Intelligent Design, News |
” … chimpanzees, animals well known to be capable of learning by imitation, copy only higher-ranking members of their species.” more
Seeing the “human” side of orangutans
| April 17, 2012 | Posted by News under Animal minds, News |
The researcher was careful not to say that their work teaches us “how humans evolved to construct shelters” – probably because there is little evidence that most humans have ever wanted to live in trees. more
Baboons taught to recognize words? Check the fine print.
| April 13, 2012 | Posted by O'Leary under Animal minds, News |
In short, they set up a test that did not involve reading for comprehension, then claimed that baboons can recognize words. more