Are we the only intelligent life on earth?

steddyeddy

Hey all just wondering what your take on animals having emotions and intelligence is. In my view some of the so called higher order creature (That was not intended to sound as sarcastic as it probrably read) are quite intelligent and have emotions similar to humans. The apes are the obvious examples of this but imho there are other species over looked. Elephants are extremely intelligent and emotional animals. Anyone who has worked with them will tell you the same. The following video shows one example of many when elephants "mourned" the death of another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjtrdpSwEUY

Paddysnapper

No! not at all aliens are among us.... Just look at Jedward... Not to sure about the Intelligence bit though:eek:

Turtwig

My first post (I think) in Zoology. How much does that suck when I was vying for it all those yonks back? Thrilled to see the forum prospering.

It depends what you mean by over looked?In terms of the average person in the general public. Octopuses and African Grey Parrots are pretty neat and often overlooked.

Edit : How the heck did I forget crows?

The Internet Explorer

Rest in Peace cousin Elephant.

steddyeddy

Jernal wrote: »

My first post (I think) in Zoology. How much does that suck when I was vying for it all those yonks back? Thrilled to see the forum prospering.

It depends what you mean by over looked?In terms of the average person in the general public. Octopuses and African Grey Parrots are pretty neat and often overlooked.

Well I suppose Im mean that it was previously that there was a type of brain cells exclusive to us and the great apes called spindle nuerons. These cells are involved in the higher functions and are also thought to play a big part in emotion. Its now clear that these types of neurons are also found in elephants and a lot of the higher marine mammals.

Humans used to think that emotions were something exclusive to us and then eventually scientists reluctantly extended that to all the apes. Now it seems the discovery of theses cells in other social animals means that we can infer that these animals can mourn, feel loss, guilt, sadness and happiness. Many times elephant conservationists will tell you when an infants mother dies often the infant refuses to eat and "gives up". This trait is also seen in the great apes. By overlooked I mean it was thought that only the apes (including us) possesed higher emotions.

realgirl

We are definitely not the only intelligent life on earth IMO. Humans measure intelligence in other life forms by the similarities they show to human behaviour. Personally I think this is incredibly short sighted. E.g. crocodiles have survived on this planet for millions of years - are humans more intelligent than them because we know that fact, or are they more intelligent than us because they've survived for so long..?

steddyeddy

Very true I often wonder how intelligent we would be living in a jungle setting without any training. Chimps know what to eat to prevent fungal infections and when and where to get certain foods. We wouldnt last a day in a situation that some creatures spend their life in.

Birdnuts

realgirl wrote: »

We are definitely not the only intelligent life on earth IMO. Humans measure intelligence in other life forms by the similarities they show to human behaviour. Personally I think this is incredibly short sighted. E.g. crocodiles have survived on this planet for millions of years - are humans more intelligent than them because we know that fact, or are they more intelligent than us because they've survived for so long..?

Good point - at the rate our species is thrashing the planet with all its attendant problems like resource wars, collapsing ecosystems etc. we'll be lucky to see out this centuary in one piece!!

Mickeroo

I wouldn't say we're the only intelligent life form on earth, I don't think it can be disputed that we're the most intelligent though. We're certainly the most self aware and the most adaptable animal going to the best of my knowledge, plenty of humans live in tribal cultures in jungles and do just fine.

loveisdivine

Well its no surprise that humans think they are the most intelligent, when its human that are setting the criteria for being intelligent.

Its all just a matter of what you perceive as intelligence.

Personally I think that an awful lot of animals are more "intelligent" than us, and frankly, more important to the planet than us.

But then again I'm the kind of person that would probably be happier in life if I was part of one of those tribes that lives in the jungle. A more rewarding and natural life.