es, we made computers and countless types of technology, but say that you take a computer nerd and stick him in a jungle for a year, without technology or any type of equipment, would he survive?

Consider these thoughts while discusing:
Animals can detect weather
humans have have a written and spoken language
animals have sharper senses
humans can research
animals depend on nature
humans depend on technology
animals have a system (like female lion hunt for food, wolf packs have baby-sitters)
Humans have religions


Have fun and do not be judgmental, its also best to discuss with an OPEN MIND

I dont even know why you started this one. You already made the solution yourself. Theres nothing to discuss. Animals have a system, like you said.

If we chuck a computer nerd in the jungle. Lets chuck a Lioness in a computer room. Go figure, this is pointless. Animals are good at what they do and humans are good at whatever they do.

As an additional note: Humans ARE a superior race in that the more versatile and/or clever ones can adapt to their environment.

One thing you failed to mention is that there are humans whio depend on nature. Also we tend to be really adaptable if o nly we open our minds. HOwever most humans now adays arent so open minded thus less adaptable. In ll reality if you wish to state intelligence based on abiltiy to survive we are on same level. However there are areas we excel at they dont and vice versa.

I personally think humans are plain dumb. Now compared to animals, we're even dumber. Yes, we invented all sorts of technology, but that technology is killing our planet. Humans and animals both think, just in different ways. We don't know what they think and how, so we can't really judge whether or not we're smarter than animals.
Also, humans waste to much time and energy trying to learn everything. So what if we know about outer space and intermolecular forces? How does that help us survival-wise?

Originally Posted by Jenn_heart

Also, humans waste to much time and energy trying to learn everything. So what if we know about outer space and intermolecular forces? How does that help us survival-wise?

It helps us survival wise maybe not noticeably but our technology which is created off of our studies is actually increasiong the life expectancy of humans. Yes our technology is estroying the earth. However one most note that we are aiming to fix this with new technology. Soloar powered cars., hybrid cars, who knows soon we may not need gasoline or hair spray. One most realize that humans have their good and bad. The good (smart ones) are trying to fix planet, the bad (dumb ones) dont care and go well i wont be around when it happens. Its not so much that we are dumb. Its just that most of us dont care unless it directly affects uos personally.

I'm not really sure. Yes,humans have created some great things that helps mother earth thrive,but animals let's just say aren't like us. They rely on nature and well yes,helps our world be a better place, believe it or not. Animals were actually the first living creatures on our earth so my opinion is that animals are smarter than humans. :lol:

Originally Posted by Manseutus

It helps us survival wise maybe not noticeably but our technology which is created off of our studies is actually increasiong the life expectancy of humans. Yes our technology is estroying the earth. However one most note that we are aiming to fix this with new technology. Soloar powered cars., hybrid cars, who knows soon we may not need gasoline or hair spray. One most realize that humans have their good and bad. The good (smart ones) are trying to fix planet, the bad (dumb ones) dont care and go well i wont be around when it happens. Its not so much that we are dumb. Its just that most of us dont care unless it directly affects uos personally.

That's true. I just don't see many people caring.

I'd have to say yes, we are smarter, but that certainly doesn't mean that animals don't think. I mean, you'll see several instances of primates fashioning tools, or say, sheep with great powers of facial recognition, or a dog that has a dictionary like vocabulary, you'll even see examples of playlike behavior in octopuses (they had it in the national geographic that an octopus they were studying would actually squirt water at waterbottles as target practice, and would sometimes fire off at the staff just for chuckles). Of course there's Coco the gorilla, among other apes, who is quite fluent in sign language... I mean, you have endless examples of animals with a cognitive process, and maybe it's a bit more primitive than ours, but they definitely think. Maybe they don't concern themselves with epistemology or metaphysics or things of that nature, but there's definitely a thought process :P

You know, I really don't have an opinion on this yet. I think that humans are smarter for now, but if you turned, say, a collie dog into a human and let them wander around for a few days, IRL and on the internet, and see, and ask them a series of questions, it could be possible that they'd be just as smart as us. But for now, I really think monkeys and dogs are probably two of the smartest animals on this earth.

Ah, now that depends on the person himself. =) Obviously not everyone that is placed in a jungle could survive. But! If one is knowledgeable in nature and is a survival guide that has been through hardships of nature, naturally he would live.

We may not have senses to nature or can run faster than a cheetah but in most cases human are smarter. We have developed from cave men to what we are now over the years. Education helps us so much in life right now and how to survive in most parts. All you have to do is use your brain and common sense. Understand your surroundings and use your prior knowledge. Of course it is difficult in some jungle for a person and there is a chance of getting eaten but there is a chance that he would be rescued.

Though animals are smarter than us in their own ways. They know how to do some things that we can't but each one has its unique traits yes?

Thing is, weather detection, sharp senses and a set of sharp teeth aren't intelligence.
Other animals lack abstract thought - they can't think beyond real, physical situations.
Science, mathematics, language, artistic expression - they all rely on abstract thought processes.

I think your real question is whether or not we are superior to other animals.
Dogs and horses may seem like happy, free animals, but I think living as one would be a pale existence in comparison to all the things we experience as a human. We tend to forget how... incredibly amazing our technology is. I mean, chances are we're seperated by almost a third of the planet's surface. But here we are, communicating. :D

Yes most animals lack abstract thought however the presence of abstract thought does not gurantee intelligence. If i remember correctly there was a study where they showed that dolphins had a higher average IQ then humans.

I think we are both intelligent in our own ways.

intelligence is relative. it depends on how intelligence is used and how it evolved to be used in a particular species. in the end I think the better question is, have we underestimated the intelligence of animals rather than "are humans really smarter?" humans have definitely underestimated the intelligence of several species, both avian and mammalian (not to mention octopi intelligence) in the past.

and when it comes down to it how many humans have successfully adapted to interacting and blending in with the society of another species? dogs are the product of wolves that decided to form a partnership with humans, they've blended in so well we've forgotten they're wolves. the domestic cat was the product of wildcats kept in temples in Egypt dedicated to Bast (originally a goddess associated with wild cats) that adapted, purely on their own without any selective breeding, into the domestic cat. imagine the intelligence it must take for one species to successfully adapt on it's own initiative (at least at the initial stages) to coexist with another.

however, I've yet to meet a nonhuman that can program a computer. but then, there's no other animal out there that has evolved to think and act in such a way it could do that.

I think I see what you're implying here...and I do agree, if I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing.

Intelligence is relative. An ocelot couldn't use a computer, no...but does a human instinctively know where to bite down on a mouse to bring instant death, and guarantee them a meal? No. Can a wolf open up and read a book? Hell no. But can a human communicate effectively WITHOUT a spoken or written language? Unless they know sign language, that's another hell no. Yet many animals can instinctively communicate silently. Like you mentioned, humans need fancy gadgets to predict the weather; animals are so in tune with nature that they can feel when a storm is coming...but you can bet that if they couldn't, they wouldn't have been able to build our fancy gadgets.

We have some things they don't. They have some things we don't. As long as we all survive, why does there have to be a "smartest species" competition?

I know I could never survive with chimps - I smile too much; I'd get everyone thinking I was messing with them. I could never survive with wolves - I don't know enough about hunting or foraging. And hell, to be honest, I think at this point I would very literally go insane if I even TRIED living like a wild animal just for not having my music. Animals have me beat in that area, and I'm not afraid to admit it. :|

BUT - I can type, and they can't! =P So it all works out to right about even.

We have thumbs. Enough said. :o

Yes, thumbs are clearly the missing link between animal thought and human sentience. Which is why monkey and ape civilization is so mind bogglingly complex. Well, thumbs certainly didn't prevent the gorillas in the Metro Toronto Zoo from nibbling on their own poop, that's for sure. :P

Originally Posted by Berginyon

Yes, thumbs are clearly the missing link between animal thought and human sentience. Which is why monkey and ape civilization is so mind bogglingly complex. Well, thumbs certainly didn't prevent the gorillas in the Metro Toronto Zoo from nibbling on their own poop, that's for sure. :P

Fo sho. xD

Sometimes I wonder, considering the general person.

I'd say that some animals might rival a human's
intelligence though. Maybe we're just more capable.

Like dolphins. They can't leave the water. Yet anyway.Someday, we might play second fiddle to another creature.

This reminds me of a recent National Geographic article, where scientists who spent years studying habits of animals and teaching them the human language were interviewed.
We've been able to prove that they can certain species have cognitive functions similar to our own, but these animals, by instinct, have a different goal in their lives than human society has made for ourselves.

Humans do have an upper-hand with the whole speech thing, but there are many animals that have ways of communicating.
Comparative Psychology (psychology that compares animals and humans) teaches us that there are a lot more similarities between animals and humans than we previously had thought!
Animals have feelings, like fear and jealously, and any creature with a brain dreams!
Yes we are the race that has control, but we are also the race that has invented weapons. So are we necessarily the smartest..?

Yep. Go larger frontal lobe and cerebellum!

That's the thing. Humans are aware and can speculate. Animals usually just do their best to live as they're accustomed to. We've adapted to different things, but all humans still have the very basic instincts.

With the exception of being able to talk I must say animals sometimes show abnormally smartness.

My cat almost jimmy rigged the door open. He jumped up and grabbed the door knob with its claws and tried to turn the knob. It was creepily hilarious and awsome.

Oh, that's right.
We don't rely on instinct as much as animals do.

And I've heard it said that we're the most
versatile species.

I think humans are smarter. We are kind of the the "dominate" species. (we kind of took over the world. xD.)
We are the ones who adapted to our enviroment the most.