Would you consider yourself an intelligent animal?

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Would you consider yourself an intelligent animal?
(1) Yes, that's all humans are, (very) intelligent animals! 70%  70%  [ 33 ]
(2) Yes, humans are intelligent animals, but with an extra "soul" attached to them. 13%  13%  [ 6 ]
(3) I'm not really sure about it! 11%  11%  [ 5 ]
(4) No! Humans are not intelligent animals. Both are living, but humans cannot be considered to be animals. 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
(5) No! The question is rhetorical, because humans and animals cannot even be compared! 6%  6%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 47

qawer
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23 Feb 2013, 6:37 pm

Would you consider yourself an intelligent animal?

Do autistics consider themselves to be less animalistic compared to the population overall?



Verdandi
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23 Feb 2013, 6:43 pm

I do not know what you mean by animalistic.

All humans are animals, and product of the same process through which all other animals (and plants, and fungi, and protozoans) came to be. While categorical separations are valid as humans have many skills other animal species do not and many animal species have skills humans do not, there is nothing that truly separates us from other life.



CSBurks
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23 Feb 2013, 6:55 pm

Humans, a far as we know, are the only sapient animals on the planet.



starkid
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23 Feb 2013, 6:59 pm

Define intelligent.



hyperlexian
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23 Feb 2013, 7:04 pm

qawer wrote:
Would you consider yourself an intelligent animal?

as opposed to what?

Quote:
Do autistics consider themselves to be less animalistic compared to the population overall?

no, i consider myself essentially indistinguishable from other humans in that regard.


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Marybird
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23 Feb 2013, 7:16 pm

Yes! And there are many other very intelligent species of animals living on this planet too.



Who_Am_I
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23 Feb 2013, 7:24 pm

Yes, I consider myself an intelligent animal.


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Yuugiri
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23 Feb 2013, 7:34 pm

I'm not sure what humans would be besides intelligent animals.


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naturalplastic
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23 Feb 2013, 7:43 pm

This is a really skewed survey because you left off the option of "Yes we are animals, and No we are not intelligent."

Some might say that the assertion that we are "inteligent" is unproven -given the superstitions,wars and genocides and so forth that we humans are given to.

And even the option of -we are 'niether animals NOR intelligent' might be a possible opinion someone might hold.

All you're offering is "yes to intelligent, and yes to animal" - and "yes to intelligent, and no to animal", and then repeating that last choice two more times in thinly disguised form.

Shame on you!

My own opinion is that we are members of the animal kingdom, and are intelligent, and the soul issue is a black box- if we have one- some higher animals may also have one.

Are aspies/auties less (shouldnt "or more" also be an option) animalistic than others?

Never thought about it that way before.

Now that you bring it up- autistics are probably influenced by their pre-primate brains (reptilian and early mammal in behavior), and NTs are more primate like, IMHO.

Both types of humans are quite animalistic.



OddDuckNash99
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23 Feb 2013, 7:46 pm

I picked option #5- humans and animals can't be compared. Not saying that humans aren't a type of animal (we're primates, of course). What I mean is that you can't compare human intelligence with non-human intelligence due to the differing brain structures and abilities. That's like comparing apples to oranges. I don't consider myself "smarter" than non-humans, because non-humans have abilities that I can't do, like a dog's superior sense of smell.


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lostonearth35
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23 Feb 2013, 8:01 pm

I consider humans to be no less or more animals than the so-called lower life forms in the world. I generally do not believe or give much thought about if humans have actual souls, but if we do than animals should, too. But then that makes me feel guilty for not being a vegan. I like honey and would rather eat it than cancer-causing, bitter-tasting artificial sweeteners. I think testing things like medications and vaccines on rodents before even considering it's safe for humans is a wise. I think PETA is a hypocritical , cult-like organization. I believe pigs are smarter than dogs, but they taste better, too. :lol: I wonder why people don't try and save all the plant species that are also endangered and threatened, some partly by too many animals in one place. Maybe in the afterlife I will have to apologize to all the animals I've eaten, and to all the bugs and insects I've killed, whether it was intentional or accidental. This is because of something I once read in a Peanuts comic strip. :lol: I do consider myself to be maybe more intelligent than most non-human creatures, mainly by my ability to read, write and create things like art, and I consider most humans with similar or better skills in such things to also be intelligent. But that makes up a fairly small amount out of the billions of humans on Earth. :x I sometimes think there is a disease of some kind that is turning many people stupid, and that is why North American society does not really value things like intelligence and talent, and people become "celebrities" by acting idiotic on reality shows, and war and gun violence is seen as the answer to all the world's problems, and being an alcoholic or a drug addict is more acceptable than having a mental illness like schizophrenia. And when I say or do stupid things, such as suddenly forgetting how to spell a word I've spelled for decades, I think I am succumbing to this "stupid disease" as well. Another symptom is rambling on for too long like I have just done so now I will stop. :(



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23 Feb 2013, 8:39 pm

I think it's possible that some other animals such as dogs or something evolve to have the intelligence that human beings currently have. So, I don't think human beings are fundamentally different or anything. The difference between human beings and other animals is relative rather than absolute.

I don't think there is such a thing as a "soul" in a sense that some people see it. Some people say when one dies the soul will go somewhere independently of the body, but I think when one dies, all the chemical reactions (secretion of hormones etc) in the body cease. Since people's emotions etc are the results of the chemical reactions etc within the body, when one dies, the "soul" (caused by chemical reactions) also dies.



ZombieBrideXD
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23 Feb 2013, 9:16 pm

Humans are animals, the only thing different between us and other animals is our imagination, so i don't think that we deserve a different label because we can imagine.



ZombieBrideXD
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23 Feb 2013, 9:18 pm

jk1 wrote:

I don't think there is such a thing as a "soul" in a sense that some people see it. Some people say when one dies the soul will go somewhere independently of the body, but I think when one dies, all the chemical reactions (secretion of hormones etc) in the body cease. Since people's emotions etc are the results of the chemical reactions etc within the body, when one dies, the "soul" (caused by chemical reactions) also dies.


I agree Completely, the idea of a 'soul' is completely illogical, i don't even believe in free will, i believe we are aware of our subconscious decisions, but our conscious mind makes no decisions



MrStewart
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23 Feb 2013, 10:46 pm

Yes. I have strong doubts about the value of intelligence beyond additional capacity to manipulate environment to rise above innate physical capacity to secure food chain dominance.

I wonder if it matters, relative to the universe's functioning, that humans just so happen to be the dominant species on this planet. How are we different than a particularly stubborn mold or species of spore? Does it matter that we can build, innovate, harness electricity, etc? Are we any more valuable to the universe than plants? Trees? Vermin? Cattle?

edit--- as for the concept of 'soul'. I think the idea is the height of obnoxious human ego. I think it is ridiculous.



scarp
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24 Feb 2013, 12:46 am

I think that humans are very "clever" in some ways (eg, building complex machinery, participating in elaborate economic systems, thinking philosophically) but very stupid in other ways (by not living in balance with our environment or preserving our natural resources).

In some ways, I think some autistic people are slightly more "animal-like" (what a nebulous term) with regards to some of their behaviors -- such as walking on the balls of the feet (seems sensible to me) or participating in "hunting" behaviors (eg, fascination with traps, jumping over things, etc).