Vlog: Animal Intelligence and Behaviour

[TheLtShinysides]

DO you listen to CUNT-TRY? I agree there are animals that use tools.....like......CHIMP-PANS­IES who collect nuts and lay them in the path of forest fires to roast them. And there are crows who collect nuts, berries and small animals who drop them on high traffic roads so they are ready to be eaten. DUHHH BALH BLAH BLAH UHHHHH BARF falal merry christmas. Wait? merry christmas? who celebrates the fact that their savior was nailed to a cross?! MERRY CHRIST-MASS? shit man... you guys are fucked up



[nohonor89]

"Only human beings guide their behaviour by a knowledge of what happened before they were born and a preconception of what may happen after they are dead". So, history.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

@nohonor89 I wish humans learned a bit more from history than they tend to ;)

[ForgottenFaces001]

these are all good points in this vid, people in both science and religion make unrational arguments against animals and there ability to think and feel.

i studied science and religion and theology and my teachers would always make straw man arguments against animals being able to think and feel.

there arguments were always weak. i will never see a animal in the same light as a human but i do see them as being living beings with thought and feeling and i respect that.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

@ForgottenFaces001 Well said! :)

[natedaug1]

Written language, passes on knowledge from generation to generation. Written language, existed in the past, they just did not have paper, they wrote it on walls and stuff. Awareness of our mortality, Heidegger calls it daesin, is another thing. The search for meaning in the world, through religion or whatever, is another. Also politics, animals aren't political.

[thestarduster]

Elephants have a language and can understand syntax. They are also the only other species that have any known form of a death ritual and a deep sense of grief and altruism. I think elephant intelligence is so underrated, and the intelligence of species, such as dolphins, are overrated.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Elephants are certainly one animal I'd be interested in reading more about :) Their long lifespan and reported long memory are other factors to look into too.

I think just like with humans, there should be different types of intelligence considered - emotional, logical, problem-solving, linguistic etc

[PerthPete1]

Talking to camera, coherently and logically, for close to nine minutes, on a topic like this is most impressive. Well done!

I liked your conclusion.

[sideburnsofthefuture]

I think the key difference between humans and other animals is mankind's ability to transfer knowledge from one generation to the next through written communication. (History has seen the debilitating effect of the loss of written records on human civilization.) Other animals start from scratch, and I write this an emu, so I know of what I speak. Most emus unfortunately write little of any literary value, mainly just trashy romance novels.

[sideburnsofthefuture]

Or maybe the difference is just that humans ask themselves what makes them different from other animals -- that and neckties. Other animals are far too intelligent to wear neckties.

[myangeldustatymail]

Give a monkey a brain and he suddenly thinks he's the center of the universe.

Other organisms don't need validation from humankind. They don't believe in a magical dude in the sky as humans do. You make me want to spawn.

[iwao72]

i suddenly want to behave animally towards you

[ScottReturns]

people act as if using tools is the be all end all rather than what it is, just one small facet of evolutionary potential. Who are we to set the intellectual bar at using tools?

[Arkalanos]

Chimpazees are in at least one instance smarter than humans, for is it not true that chimpanzees have been able to learn at least a portion of human language, and yet, what human has ever learned the language of chimpanzees?

[myangeldustatymail]

Clever.

[fuzzycabin]

"All creatures on Earth except for man know that the meaning of life is to enjoy it."

[shairaptor]

Animals can fly; we humans must build machines in order to do so. We suck! :D

Humans are physically the weakest animal. And leading wars and destroying the environment is not very intelligent! Animals are wise enough not to read the bible, lead wars etc. They live in harmony with nature.

And animals communicate and CAN compose! See whales, they sing hour long songs they composed etc. It's very impressive.

[petrof4056]

you write. The word "langage" was invented by humans and they compare with animals. We can't compare the animal communication and humans communication.

[freeideas]

Humans can build machines that fly, and build machines to build those machines. They can compose and arrange beautiful music for performance on dozens of instruments playing simultaneously. They can cleverly appear to read thoughts and escape from locked vaults. They can replace a damaged heart with another living heart. They can build structures large enough to be seen from space, and then SEE them from space. Is the difference in intelligence between humans and other animals not enormous?

[freeideas]

The accomplishments you mention sound impressive because you are talking about animals. Let's put this into perspective: Any high school kid who could not do most of the things you describe would be considered severely retarded.

[caretonmundial]

wow hot chick , what about a date?

[shairaptor]

primitive fuck

[caretonmundial]

hahhahah, sorry ravenpoe I dint know you have a boyfriend whit advanced language communication techniques, and Shaira, get a better channel.

PS:If u are really interested in animals, here at Idaho we need a lot of help researching, caring and controlling the population of wolves and bears.

Get your hands dirty shaira, we need you at the field

[shairaptor]

Hehe sorry 'bout that. :) Yes caring about wolves and bears sounds like a good thing! We humans need to care especially for wolves, because they're returning to our woods which is great! Wolves are beautiful and great animals :)

[willtrib]

is it not true that phylogenetic comparisons between man and ape hold there is only a one chromosome difference between Bongo and you & I?

[SanRafaelSwell]

dolphins have true language complete with syntax and sentance structure, etc. They even have individual names called signature whistles.

[laurens890]

If you want to know what the difference is, watch Smarter Than An Ape? on NGC

[laughingjellytots]

your pronounciastion is so good

you sound asif your from england (:

[DanceExperiment]

hey i found you thru the friends activity feature and i'm subbing now

you make alot of great points in there

[elephantologist]

You made many many important points in your vlog. Very interesting. I loved the story you mentioned about Jane, the chimpanzee, and the red string. I too agree that animals are very intelligent beings and that we should not think we are "superior" beings. Animals could also be more intelligent than we humans are in many ways ( for example animals are not the ones who are destroying their home on a global scale, humans are).

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thank you very much, elephantologist! =) Your last point reminded me of an anonymous quote I once read: "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better."

[Almuric7]

Animals are the most discriminated against things on this planet.

Nice Post

[Zukaros]

I think the difference between our species and others is that we have the freedom of either following our natures or ignoring them if we choose so. A starving animal will struggle to the bitter end to find food and survive, while we have to struggle with ourselves to continue the struggle to survive, when we might as well lie down and give up. Freedom of choice that lies outside instincts and animal natures.

[UcanbeGOD]

Possibly. BUT you could argue that the reason a person may or may not lay down and die just because is that they are being pulled by their primitive desires to commit the act at hand and are in the end, a machine but a more complex machine.

[atree3]

very good

I'll be back

[Kataphraktoi17]

In a material sense nothing separates us form animals. The talk of abstract thinking or cognitive ability are nothing more then the particular faculties of a specific animals. However, humans are rational and dependent animals and within that framework we place a hierarchy of order on specific values we place on different animals. It's exactly why we place more on animals who we are dependent on then wild and feral animals; closer still, more importance on animals who share our same nature.

[Fennias]

wonderfull as always.

El Bog

[TheWarmLittleCentre]

Congratulations on the honors

[anon2U224]

Fascinating discussion. May I suggest that the difference between humans and the so-called lower animals is the difference between concrete thinking and abstract thinking? I have heard of no evidence that the "lower animals" have ever engaged in abstract thinking, not that many humans do either. LOL

[LoveMattersMost]

The difference between humans and animals? Animals just respond and react to their needs and their environment. Humans go a step further. We are not content with merely surviving; we ask, "Where did I come from?", "Is there a purpose to life?".

[mozartiikodesu]

Hi Jennifer!

Human beings' differing from an animal is that we can do conversation by means of language.

I kept 24 cats before.

But I haven't seen there talking.

However, they are not alive any longer.

[benzone50]

i think we underestimate animals intelligence as well, every day!

i remember reports of all the elephants & other animals fleeing for the hills before the tsunami hit in bali. humans were too slow to take note.

[ZachrielCL]

Animals are very smart, the problem maybe is that we can't see it because we have this "human" perception of how their reactions should be to certain stimulus, when actually they are reacting, but just in a way that we can't interpret right away. I always remember when my little doggy would put her paw in my hand, and that meant that she wanted me to rub her head XD

Great examples you used Jenny, this was so interesting!

[merickinhawaii]

Very good. I hope this gets out to people that have not heard of this! Meeting Jane Goodall(sorry not sure of spelling) must have been very awesome!! Stay in touch. mahalo & Aloha!

[KurtGnu]

Barney sure knows when he's been naughty.. and he shows it too!! :)

[JollyRoger136]

That's an interesting thing to do, showing us and telling us those researches.

Not that I've not heard them before, but I sure saw some new stuff here, thank you.

I'm really glad to see a bunch of comments below, and see that more and more people care about the other forms of life on the planet and not just for them selves. So, best of luck to you, thank you, and best wishes to all, too. After all, it all depends on us!

[ThreeofThree]

Fourth comment: I wonder if it will post this one.

[zebidee55]

Struggling with the comment system Ash? See what happens when you put too many hyperlinks in? ;DDD

What were the other three?

[ThreeofThree]

I was stupid and didn't copy them. I was optimistic then veryyy angry. Two were what I meant to say. The one before this was...very angry at the comment system. :D

[LoveMattersMost]

Nice summary of human/animal traits. After much thought, we agree animals think and plan as we do, but I believe their intelligence is a purely reactive one. For example, see fruit-feel hungry and eat it. Or see lion, feel fear, and run up a tree. While humans share their knee-jerk reactive intelligence like a race-car driver in a race, we can also pull away to a higher level of abstraction and "see ourselves in the race." In other words a chimp may "think" but it doesn't "see itself thinking".

[LoveMattersMost]

I hope this comment doesn't arouse strong feelings in people, but if we really believe the gist of the video and the comments(as I do), shouldn't we all practice non-violence to animals and not hunt, fish, or eat meat etc.? I see all life forms as being from some common, great source- call it God. Each one inhabits a more or less aware, conscious, or intelligent body. Based on the "awareness" level of the body, we should choose to eat a plant based diet. O-boy I can see the phones light up now!

[stephenashley93]

have you read "The Life of Pi"? it is an excellent book and I think it is a little on topic.

[leweeja66]

Very well put. We are tragic in our benevolence and cruel in our arrogance when it comes to the other species of this small planet. J

[markakroll]

Humans are animals. The subtle difference is that humans contemplate themselves & their whereabouts. We have the desire to be understood, hence the development of superior communication skills (ie writing, vocabulary, poetry.) Further, the understanding of our world temporally. The similarities are that in a pinch, we will revert to animal survivalism. This skill pack has been programmed into your cortex through evolution and is conveniently located in the [lizard brain] found in all humans.

[dadasopher]

Very thoughtful video: articulate, willing to consider new, emerging evidence, open to new points of view, and a model of wisdom, which we humans need. Dostoyevski's Underground Man said that the Human Being is an "animal that walks on two legs and is ungrateful," a bitter remark that suggests we are not necessarily the paragon of animals. Many of us who've lived with animals find them to be individuals, persons with - as far as I can tell - as much soul as humans, if not more.

[proffmongo]

It's those damn opposable thumbs that have made humans so selfish and ignorant!!! LOL!!!

Animals could teach us soooooo much!!!!

Children too!!!

But we don't choose to look and listen!

Damn opposable thumbs!!! ~:^)

[TeehpodT]

I had a cat once that sure acted guilty after knocking stuff over. She would sit in the corner and look ashamed.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

I have seen the same look and behaviour of guilt in my cat when he is caught rifling through the rubbish bin for tidbits of food. Perhaps one could argue that the reason behind human guilt is not as basic as that behind this animal guilt we observe, but I think humans share that kind of basic guilt too. There was no difference between the look of my cat in that instant and the look of a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar, hehe!

[prosepp]

indeed,

humans have very complex language systems - but they seem to be in the situation mankind was in the situation at building the Babylon tower: They don´t understand each other

[koryargonic]

the only difference between humans and animals is that humans think they have a right to get all arrogant about the little differences that exist. Honestly, I believe that humans are the same as other animals, only those particular abilities that you are talking about are enhanced

[ASAngelo]

5*s

A significant difference between humans & animals I've observed is that of competitive technology. Humans find increasingly complex ways to proliferate boredom, laziness, dissension and war. It seems wild animals are primarily occupied with trying to subsist.

I smiled to myself as the 'discussion' turned to the behaviour of ravens. It was bound to happen. You have a way of using your hands in this wonderful logue that I'd not noticed before. How elegantly expressive they are Miss Raven.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Yes, very true! Ah and yes, I could not resist bringing ravens into the discussion, hehe. They are very crafty birds and I find them such fun to observe in nature.

My hands certainly get a gesture life of their own when I become absorbed in describing something, hehe..

[ASAngelo]

I agree.

[popebenadict16]

i know a primate hes the archbishop of verona.xx

[TheRavenOfPoe]

I think we all know a few people that seem more like primates than humans, hehe!

[zebidee55]

LOL Jen - Primate, not primate.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

You do not think he was doing a play on the word and cheekily suggesting that the archbishop is both primate and Primate? hehe

If he was not then it was my own mind being cheeky about it, lol!

[zebidee55]

LOL - I thought you had missed the double meaning, and were just thinking he was calling a random figure a monkey.

*note to self - give Jen more credit*

[FabianaRickman]

Awesome vid, Jen! I totally agree! Animals are very intelligent creatures and quite similar to humans in many ways and this is why they should be protected and respected by us! About ravens, while I was in Australia I saw a raven grab a pack of chips and fly away with it, just as I stepped out of Hungry Jacks! They're clever and amusing birds!!! :D

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thanks Fabiana! And ravens most certainly are, hehe!

[AliasSpecWriter]

I really liked this vlog-- I respect animals very much :)

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thank you Susan!

[blueastcoast]

very cool, it's true though.. I have 2 cats and they are VERY smart, they will be able to solve problems such as when I play with their favorite toy, and I put it somewhere out of reach, they will find a way to get to the place that is out of reach, or they will meow at a certain object that they would need to achieve getting their ball back, or just meowing when they want to go outside, or waiting by the food dish when their hungry.. The examples you used are awesome! Good video ;D

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thanks Jordan! =) I would love to see your cats! Maybe you could introduce them in a video? I am forever having to resist making only purely videos of my cat when I get my camera set up, hehe..

[zebidee55]

Oh you'd love his cats! They're so cute! I propose a KittyFest!!

[blueastcoast]

ohh yeah lol I forgot I showed you my cats =P

Cmon Michael I thought you liked cats, why don't you have any ;D??

[zebidee55]

I can't have them because of my rental agreement, otherwise I'd have my GF's one now. Instead I had to cat sit it the other week. I have video, but of course it is caught in the 'Private' glitch.

We always had them growing up. Mainly Siamese.

[blueastcoast]

I love my Siamese cat, even though he's wicked annoying a lot of the time, meowing at absolutely nothing..

[zebidee55]

Ah yes - a 'feature' of the breed. Most of ours were OK though.

I can see a run of kitty videos now...

[blueastcoast]

Most great artists of our times had cats ya know =]

[EddyBergman]

That was very interesting. I remember seeing something similar about a chimp. I remember the woman who studied the chimps had thaught one of them signlanguage and at one time she brought in a female and, by using hand signs, the first chimp told her that he loved the female and wanted to go to her. It was like watching a normal conversation. I think we have no idea of the complexity of animals minds. I think they are capable of far more than we ever thought.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Yes true! I remember hearing of the gorilla Koko being taught hundreds of different signs based loosely on American Sign Language. Koko even had her own pet cats, hehe

[stars1861]

Great video(as usual). Maybe some animals don't respond to our intelligence tests because it's not important to them. How many humans could be taken totaly out of their element,dropped into the woods or ocean totaly alone and survive for long?

My dogs show more emotion and intelligence than 50% of the people I meet everyday.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thank you stars1861! I think that one of the greatest aspects of owning pets is that it gives us the rare chance to spend so much time getting to know and understand an animal that we can no longer deny those greatest qualities in them ;)

[wildwyckedknight]

Very interesting vlog. Not sure what motivated you to talk about this, but you did a good job. I've seen some of Jane Goodall's video's as well and I highly respect her and her work. I do believe that animals have more intelligence than they are given credit for.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thanks John! It is a topic that has always interested and fascinated me and it has been on my ever growing list of 'videos to make' for a very long time, hehe

[Shriekspear]

The bird kingdom is smarter then people think,. I mean if someone called me a bird brain I would say thanks!. But I have seen seagulls drop shells onto the street and wait for a care to run it over and to get what was inside that shell, Same with ravens and how they drop nuts onto the streets awaiting a car to run it over.. Animals also have more emotions than humans think they do, I was very connected with a dog I had, So we should never take the animal kingdom for granted, Witty video!

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Yes indeed! It is fascinating to see how animals use our new technology - like cars and road systems - to their advantage ;)

[DavidRandallCurtis]

Animals don't write bad poetry like I do that freaks other people out and and make them take a few steps back as they say, "Yeahhhhh.. THAT'S intersting... but I don't think that I want any part of it."

[TheRavenOfPoe]

hehe! Poetry, both good and bad, is certainly unique to humans. What strange creatures we are!

[proteanview]

I like your process. I particularly like the story of the squid. Who knew? I have this micro ecosystem in my yard, at least that's what I like to think of it. It consists of crickets, snails & lizards. I was about to eliminate them, but I'm now supposing that they're contributing to something. I think I'll just let nature run its course. Interesting video... as always.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thank you Ed! =) Yes, even the smallest creatures are part of this great complex system of nature and that is easy to forget sometimes and so we seem to have this default action of disregarding them. When I take the time to sit and observe something like a snail it takes only a few quiet moments before I am in awe of it. The logarithmic spiral of its shell, the way it glides along slowly, and its tiny eyes atop its two tentacles - fascinating!

[FuturesPassed]

It's amazing that all these animals have shown intellegence in the same general format. Tools, problem solving, and interaction are how we judge these animals, and their intellegence.

You'd think some animal would have found a different way to advance intellectually, possibly in a form we wouldn't recognize.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Yes, very good point! And perhaps there is and we still have not recognised it yet, hehe

[strawberrysubmarine]

It all depends on how you define intelligence... A useful working definition is to consider intelligence as the adaptation of an object to its environment. That is much less egocentric than reframing against a complexity scale of human behaviours...

[zebidee55]

Very very good points. You only have to see Kea parrots to know they have problem solving skills and a sense of humour.

I think the arbitrary definition of 'animal' as anything not human, is an interesting one, and then from there it all breaks down into philosophical justification for that logic.

The one that scares me is that Australian Aboriginals used to be counted as 'wildlife' not included in the census.

[zebidee55]

Technical question - when you use the example of squid and the mazes, did you mean octopus?

[TheRavenOfPoe]

The anecdote of the mazes was from a hazy memory I have of a documentary I saw years ago, and I could not remember exactly which type of cephalopod they were testing, hehe, I was tossing up between an octopus or squid and I'm still not sure.

[zebidee55]

As long as you didn't confuse your cephalopods with your cetaceans. That would have been a tight squeeze. (or a big maze)

LOL! Research dammit! I don't watch TROP for vague information!! ;DDDDDDDD

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Yes! It is abhorrent to think how recently Australian Aboriginals were not recognised as people by the government let alone considered equal.

[zebidee55]

I went trawling through the usual suspects to back up my statement, and it appears that in even the first census it was only full blood Aboriginals that were not counted. There was a more relevant political clause that was removed from the Constitution in 1967 "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal natives shall not be counted." but it related to allocation of seats in Parliament and per-capita grants. Still bad.

[frumpyframpton]

Difference between humans and animals? One we are, one we pretend we're not. There are some cool studies with apes where they use keyboards that produce speech (press X to say "milk" etc...) and communicate with people. Well done!

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Oh yes! I think I've seen the keyboard method used with the Bonobo in particular - quite interesting to watch! =)