Do Animals "Know" Things?

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Do Animals "Know" Things?
Tweet Topic Started: Aug 12 2014, 06:31 PM (1,338 Views)
RaineStorm	Aug 12 2014, 06:31 PM Post #1
Posts: 210 Group: Member Member #11,521 Joined: July 17, 2014 Gender Female Country United States	The question sounds vague but I'm having trouble finding the right words to express it. I think we've all witnessed animals (especially pets) displaying emotions, showing off their great social skills, and solving problems that we thought would be too complex for them. What I'm asking is about more intangible and harder to observe functions. Things like the simple "Do animals contemplate the possibility that they may die someday?" or a more complex "Can they understand that the world is round/rotates/revolves around the sun?". How much do you think animals in general are aware of the things that happen around them and how it fits into the big picture? Here is a link to a dog that appears to be trying to help freshly caught fish stay alive by using his nose to push water from puddles at them. Is he genuinely concerned for the members of another (class? i think in the classification system dogs and fish are different classes but the same phylum) or is he simply trying to "bury" them to eat later. Something to keep in mind with this is that the concept of applying human emotions/behaviors to animals or even inanimate objects is actually something people do very often. It's called Anthropomorphizing. Okay, I've said enough. I want to hear your opinions, not mine.



POOHEAD189	Aug 12 2014, 06:42 PM Post #2
Posts: 3,186 Group: Member Member #4,559 Joined: October 30, 2009 Favourite Anime Dragonball/Z Favourite Manga Dragonball	I think animals know a lot more than we think. An example would be Hippos mourning dead animals they find (or even killed by the Hippos themselves in self defense). Edited by POOHEAD189, Aug 12 2014, 06:46 PM.
	Tha gaol agam ort. <3


+ Ginyu	Aug 12 2014, 09:14 PM Post #3
Leve Feyenoord 1! Posts: 4,490 Group: Elite Member Member #9,685 Joined: June 30, 2013 Gender Female Country Netherlands Favourite Anime NJPW What Browser do you use? Chrome Favourite Manga Reading is for nerds, yo!	No, animals act purely on instinct. Certain things that happened in the past trigger certain parts in the brain of the animal that makes them do things, but animals aren't conscious of it. It's like a Pavlov effect. They do things instinctively. I think I know what you're trying to say, but the answer is no. If you call a dog, it'll come to you, knowing it'll get a treat or something. The dog doesn't think: "Master is calling my name, I better go over there so I'll get some food." The dog's brain instead does this: Hears sound of master calling name brain associates it with a treat brain associates the treat with approaching the master dog is urged to run towards the master dog gets the treat. No conscious thinking present
	Ask GinyuTokusentai


Zenet	Aug 12 2014, 09:23 PM Post #4
Posts: 2,755 Group: Member Member #8,544 Joined: November 11, 2012 Gender Not Specified	Yes animal know things or they wouldn't be able to function on doing things. Though I think they don't know things in the sense of language / Words. In the same sense when your driving you don't think in words on how to get to your destination you just do it for most part.



SuperSaiyan1993	Aug 12 2014, 09:24 PM Post #5
Super Saiyan among Super Saiyans Posts: 3,294 Group: Member Member #7,044 Joined: December 7, 2011 Gender Male Country United States Favourite Anime Dragonball Z, Avatar	What Ginyu said. Most animals purely rely only on classical and operant conditioning as evinced by Pavlov and Skinner. The reason for this is that most of their brains lack the cognitive faculties with which we humans were blessed; the prefrontal cortex for instance. A few animals have shown some signs of cognitive intelligence like dolphins and monkeys, but they are lightyears away from our intellectual capabilities. Edited by SuperSaiyan1993, Aug 12 2014, 09:25 PM.
	We Super Saiyans are in a league of our own.


+ Steve	Aug 12 2014, 09:31 PM Post #6
Greetings. I will be your waifu this season. Posts: 19,471 Group: Legend Member #5,710 Joined: February 7, 2011 Gender Male Country United Kingdom Favourite Anime Hunter x Hunter(2011) What Browser do you use? Mozilla Firefox Favourite Manga Berserk all day erry day	I don't think that is how it works Ginyu, that's how you train some to be obedient but naturally obedient ones seem to understand you fine. Our dog does anyway I haven't even taught him that many words but he knows exactly what I mean when I say wait or stop or when I tell him to say goodbye to my girlfriend. Can't see how thoughts and feelings like that would be an exclusive human or human-like feature really. Animals are a lot more instinctual but it's not all that. Instinct would elect animals to sever all bonds with partners or offspring that have been killed and yet many mourn over them.
	Definitely not a succubus, fear not


Mihawk	Aug 12 2014, 09:43 PM Post #7
Posts: 4,804 Group: Prodigy Member #4,783 Joined: March 2, 2010 Gender Not Specified	I've read a few studies that show that animals do in fact show empathy towards other living things. Some interesting reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_in_animals



RaineStorm	Aug 12 2014, 10:07 PM Post #8
Posts: 210 Group: Member Member #11,521 Joined: July 17, 2014 Gender Female Country United States	@ Ginyu and SuperSaiyan - I understand what you are saying and why you are saying that. I was hoping someone would answer this way so I could ask you this next question, which is one of the main things that keeps me from seeing it the same way you do: What about instances where animals have saved lives (either of humans or other animals) by putting their own lives on the line? Examples of this would be a dog saving a cat from a house fire or pushing a person out of the way of oncoming traffic.



+ Steve	Aug 12 2014, 10:08 PM Post #9
Greetings. I will be your waifu this season. Posts: 19,471 Group: Legend Member #5,710 Joined: February 7, 2011 Gender Male Country United Kingdom Favourite Anime Hunter x Hunter(2011) What Browser do you use? Mozilla Firefox Favourite Manga Berserk all day erry day	Animals being soul-less emotion-less monsters to me has always just seemed like a way people try to make themselves sound better than other animals. Just because we can't understand their feelings fully doesn't mean they don't have similar ones. "They" are not animals, we all are. Why would humans be such a massive exception? Of course brainless things like jellyfish won't feel...anything I guess EDIT yeah Raine there are too many cases of that happening for it to seem at all legit animals don't have feelings. And plenty of times dogs have saved people, even babies it's been people they don't even know not a master they're loyal to. And what about animals raising humans? Edited by Steve, Aug 12 2014, 10:10 PM.
	Definitely not a succubus, fear not


RaineStorm	Aug 12 2014, 10:16 PM Post #10
Posts: 210 Group: Member Member #11,521 Joined: July 17, 2014 Gender Female Country United States	After reading most of the page Itachi linked I'm starting to wonder if maybe everyone is kind of right. Maybe animals do most things instinctively but some can feel the six "basic" emotions (fear, anger, disgust, surprise, happiness, and sadness) and very few can even have "complex" emotions (such as jealousy, empathy, etc.). If that were the case it would seem the more domesticated animals are more likely to display the higher levels of... cognition?



* Stark	Aug 12 2014, 10:20 PM Post #11
Rock Lobster Posts: 3,424 Group: Retired Staff Member #7,041 Joined: December 6, 2011 Gender Not Specified Country None Favourite Anime Game Of Thrones What Browser do you use? Google Chrome Favourite Manga A Song Of Ice And Fire	Some animals can know thing-- like the gorilla that was taught around 200 human words in sign language. Not only did she learn words, but she also knew how to use some in the right context. When she was told that her master's child had died, she expressed fear and sadness. Pretty crazy. While Pavlov's reflex is a pretty good example Skinner's box also expands really well on the matter of animals associating an action to a reward, therefore a positive renforce-- that IS learning and it can't be denied.



SuperSaiyan1993	Aug 12 2014, 10:37 PM Post #12
Super Saiyan among Super Saiyans Posts: 3,294 Group: Member Member #7,044 Joined: December 7, 2011 Gender Male Country United States Favourite Anime Dragonball Z, Avatar	I think that emotions and cognitive capabilities are not the same thing. Yes, animals are capable of cognitive intelligence. All I am saying is that it's very limited, for the most part, when compared to human faculties. Animals can grow to love other animals and humans whom are not related to them, of course. I think they can learn from past experience, but they cannot plan and reflect like we can. Edited by SuperSaiyan1993, Aug 12 2014, 10:39 PM.
	We Super Saiyans are in a league of our own.


* Stark	Aug 12 2014, 10:57 PM Post #13
Rock Lobster Posts: 3,424 Group: Retired Staff Member #7,041 Joined: December 6, 2011 Gender Not Specified Country None Favourite Anime Game Of Thrones What Browser do you use? Google Chrome Favourite Manga A Song Of Ice And Fire	Some animals can plan. Far from being as smart as humans, although some can quite come close. Crows have as good planning abilities as a 7 year old kid.



Tonneh	Aug 13 2014, 11:05 AM Post #14
Posts: 81 Group: Member Member #9,925 Joined: August 17, 2013 Gender Male Favourite Anime Dragonball Z	GinyuTokusentai Aug 12 2014, 09:14 PM No, animals act purely on instinct. Certain things that happened in the past trigger certain parts in the brain of the animal that makes them do things, but animals aren't conscious of it. It's like a Pavlov effect. They do things instinctively. I think I know what you're trying to say, but the answer is no. If you call a dog, it'll come to you, knowing it'll get a treat or something. The dog doesn't think: "Master is calling my name, I better go over there so I'll get some food." The dog's brain instead does this: Hears sound of master calling name brain associates it with a treat brain associates the treat with approaching the master dog is urged to run towards the master dog gets the treat. No conscious thinking present How is that different from a human? lol On a side note: Mate this is a GREAT topic. I think that certain animals can be taught to realize things in the same context as humans, but it will take a lot of time to teach. I don't think they are born with it, they are taught, like us humans. But it is survival instinct. They have to eat like we do.



~~Volt the Mean~~	Aug 13 2014, 11:22 AM Post #15
Posts: 909 Group: Suspended Member #8,024 Joined: July 28, 2012 Gender Male Country United States	my dog would only wag his tail whenever i would bring a girl home. #illuminati #BlameObama #PutinSucks lol



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