Quote:
Originally Posted by KnifeMissile
...you make it sound as if other animals hardly think at all.
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I never said animals are unintelligent. I said human intelligence is vastly superior to animal intelligence.
If I say a human adult is vastly more capable of complex thought than is a human toddler, does that make it sound like a human toddler can hardly think at all?
Quote:
Originally Posted by KnifeMissile
You want to see how we're not so much smarter than other animals? Visit any church or talk to any Creationist...
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Methinks
this – that ol' ax of yours, that you love to grind – is what's keeping you from conceding here that human beings are vastly superior to animals in intelligence.
So, seriously... If for some reason you had to save either a church full of Creationists, or a barn full of animals, and it had to be one or the other, which would it be? Seriously.
But, of course, it's a rhetorical questions, because we already know the great lengths a rescue team will go, and the enormous costs a society will bear, just to rescue a single human being in peril.
Quote:
Originally Posted by twistedmosaic
I feel inferior to a lot of cephalopods.
Things I can't do that an octopus can:
Survive under water
Regrow limbs
Fit through 1" diameter pipes (even a very large octupus can fit through very small spaces if motivated properly)
Emit prey-customized venom (one opens clams!)
Strangle a shark to death
Camoflage myself completely to blend in with my surroundings
Change the pigment of my skin at will
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Meh. I'm not impressed. Most of those things, human being are able to replicate through their technology. And with that technology, they're able to do far, far more and greater things than an octopus can do. Besides, just on a physical scale of things, an octopus is far more limited and far less adaptable on this earth than human beings are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by twistedmosaic
Did you know cuttlefish communicate with sign language?
Did you hear about the octopus who would sneak out of his (locked) tank, eat crabs from an aquarium a couple rows over, then return and relock his tank to remove suspicion from himself? The ONLY thing that keeps cephalopods down is their short lifespan, which makes their intelligence even more amazing.
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Still not impressed. But then, I've witnessed the many and wondrous things that a mere human toddler can do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shakran
1) Humans don't design computers anymore. They're designed by other computers.
2) Monkeys have been taught to fly simulated airplanes, and real space capsules. They may not be as smart as us, but they're quite a bit smarter than you give them credit for. Koko the gorilla even comes up with her own concepts and signs them to her caretaker.
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1. Big deal. Today's computers are designed by computers that were originally built by humans, right? And anyway, no computer of today is able to design a new computer all by itself. Humans have to provide the goal and its requirements, and the impetus to achieve those, as well as provide continual imput and guidance throughout the design process. (Not to mention we provide the required manufactured parts, operating power, manual labor, etc.)
2. Why is this so impressive? What's far more impressive is, those simulated airplanes and real space capsules were
designed and built by humans!