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jlf1961 -> RE: The human animal ? (12/6/2008 2:00:47 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MadAxeman
One gorilla doesn't make the species equal.
Herding prey is not complicated, many animals do it. Even bees let other bees know where a good source of nectar is.
The statement was that "the capability of abstract thought makes us superior."
And you are correct, many animals herd prey.
However, if I may point out, most animals herd prey in a 2 dimensional environment, however, humans, dolphins and whales herd prey in a 3 dimensional environment, thus the task is not simple, and requires deductive reasoning.
Consider the following, modern hunter killer subs use computers to develop a firing solution on an enemy submarine.
While the sub can "see" with its passive sonar arrays, they have no clue as to if the target is shallower or deeper than they are, thus the computer is put to use.
Using active sonar changes the situation entirely, and the enemy now knows where the submarine is.
In modern air combat, AWACS aircraft and on board systems are used to plot intercepts. In the early eras of jet fighters, interceptors were vectored into intercept positions, but the altitude was a guess, and the location was within +/- ten miles.
After that the pilot had to use his training, intuition and instinct to avoid being killed while trying to kill his target, clear example of abstract thought, and in 3 dimensions.
Now dolphins use their acute hearing to get a bearing on a school of prey fish, plot intercepts in such a manner as to come up from below and keep the school in a tight ball and close to the surface.
They blow bubbles to contain the fish while they feed. Other sea going mammals will usually come to the disturbance, and take advantage of the situation.
Now, if a human fighter pilot from any world war to the present is considered to be using abstract thought and training to locate and kill without himself being killed, while communicating with others, why is it so hard to grasp the concept of the dolphins doing the same thing.
One more point in the dolphins favor, dolphins do not complete destroy their habitat to make it acceptable for themselves, nor do they use up all the resources in one area.
The same is true for killer whales along the north west coast.
The common point is that the same pods of whales and dolphins have been living in the same area for a recorded 30 years.
Lastly, both dolphins and killer whales have been observed in pursuit of prey that has changed direction in which case, the killer whale or dolphin changes direction as well, but in a tighter arc to shorten the distance.
Few if any other animals do that, with the exception of humans.
FYI, this particular move is called "plotting an intercept curve," a fundamental three dimensional combat tactic.
Finally, humans like some of the more primitive life forms on the planet such as locusts and some grazing animals will completely eliminate all the resources within its habitat, before moving on.
This again supports the argument that the human race is more akin to a parasite and a virus than anything else.
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