All of the qualities that make us human

[saxon51]

I think the most pertinent part of my post was 'problem-solving '. That seems to indicate learning and then understanding the learning and taking decisions depending on the problem.

 

I don't disagree that a lot may be down to instinct but animals can solve problems (have you seen the rook getting food out of a cup of water by dropping stones into the glass to lift the food?) and have demonstrated this on multiple occasions.

I must admit that I have never seen this. Must be quite something. But back to my original post. Do you think the leopard is aware that it is his colouring that helps him hunt? And if we stick a high viz on him do you think he'd catch on before starving to death?

[Halibut]

I must admit that I have never seen this. Must be quite something. But back to my original post. Do you think the leopard is aware that it is his colouring that helps him hunt? And if we stick a high viz on him do you think he'd catch on before starving to death?

 

I certainly don't.

[MrSmith]

These are good points.

 

An octopus having no contact with its parents though does not rule out instinct.

 

I get your point about octopusses (or should that be octopi?) being trained, but there again, so can most animals. Humans, however, can normally pick up these traits of their own accord. Animals having these abilities through human intervention probably have no awareness of why they are doing these things.

 

A beaver is simply doing what most animals do. Nest build.

 

Lions stalking the plains do so successfully because the ones born a different colour would normally have died.

 

It's difficult to assess how different animals would behave if taken from their own environment, as opposed to the human who would try to survive in several different ways.

 

I do understand your points though.

 

So if I took you from your environment and placed you in the desert or arctic would you survive without the aid of other humans? You would need to build shelter find food and water.

 

The Inuits of the Arctic survive because they have learnt survival skills from their ancestors much like other animals.

[MrSmith]

I think the most pertinent part of my post was 'problem-solving '. That seems to indicate learning and then understanding the learning and taking decisions depending on the problem.

 

I don't disagree that a lot may be down to instinct but animals can solve problems (have you seen the rook getting food out of a cup of water by dropping stones into the glass to lift the food?) and have demonstrated this on multiple occasions.

 

That experiment puzzled children up to the age of 11 I seem to remember, the rook had never seen it before and solved it in seconds.

[Halibut]

The Inuits of the Arctic survive because they have learnt survival skills from their ancestors much like other animals.

 

Unlike any other animal anywhere however the Inuits have a sense of humour.

[Expat owl]

I must admit that I have never seen this. Must be quite something. But back to my original post. Do you think the leopard is aware that it is his colouring that helps him hunt? And if we stick a high viz on him do you think he'd catch on before starving to death?

 

No, I don't think that the leopard is aware of his colouring in a way that other animals are.

 

but, Would a high viz jacket hinder his ability to hunt. Possibly, but not to the extent that you'd think. Many animals see colour in a different way to us. Deer don't clearly contrast and react to Day-Glo yellow or Safety Orange. They cannot clearly differeniate these particular colour frequencies from others.

 

Therefore deer, etc may not be aware of a high viz jacket and so the Leopards hunting ability is undeminished.

 

Other animals may well be aware of the colour but remember that the Leopard is also a scavenger and will take others kills as it's own.

[saxon51]

No, I don't think that the leopard is aware of his colouring in a way that other animals are.

 

but, Would a high viz jacket hinder his ability to hunt. Possibly, but not to the extent that you'd think. Many animals see colour in a different way to us. Deer don't clearly contrast and react to Day-Glo yellow or Safety Orange. They cannot clearly differeniate these particular colour frequencies from others.

 

Therefore deer, etc may not be aware of a high viz jacket and so the Leopards hunting ability is undeminished.

 

Other animals may well be aware of the colour but remember that the Leopard is also a scavenger and will take others kills as it's own.

 

I don't think I am coming across too clearly.

 

What I mean is: does the leopard realise that it is its colouring that makes it a successful hunter and therefore consciously utilize it within the surroundings, or does it blindly go about its business unaware that it is using the camouflage it has inherited? And if it was suddenly given a different colouring, would it be aware that this was the reason why its kill rate had dropped off? Would it immediately alter its tactics before it gave up and starved?

[MrSmith]

Unlike any other animal anywhere however the Inuits have a sense of humour.

 

Primates can really laugh when they see a fellow ape trip on a banana peel or suffer a minor misfortune. Moreover, it is found that apes also play practical jokes on each other but this more frequent on the young and juveniles but not to the older adults.

 

[Phanerothyme]

Show me an octopus that can demonstrate to make, or laugh at, a joke and we're onto something.

 

I can show you cephalopods that exhibit empathy, deceit, embarassment, jealousy and anger - providing you can recognise them. Of course the big problem is you don't have the cephalopod's head for jokes, or understand their language, so you're never going to understand their humour.

[Phanerothyme]

There are no qualities a human has that aren't shared by some other members of the Animalia phylum.