Rough Doublings of Rate of Progress in Natural History

[jordan179]

I was thinking about the longevity of life on Earth, and I saw this interesting pattern. All the dates are very approximate, and I'm aware that my rounding may be creating a pattern where none really exists. Anyway, roughly

Comments

[skywaterblue]

It's quite funny to watch paleontologists speculate about dinosaur intelligence. When I last left off, they had downgraded the intellegence they thought that the Dromeosauride species possessed. (Probably in reaction to the Jurassic Park films.) Since then, however, there have been a bunch of studies showing that our current Corvus are quite bright and it's very likely that all the Dromeosauride family members had bird brains in addition to the feathers...

But then again, I'm a person who thinks elephants and orcas are likely sentient as well as apes. We're a lonely species, looking to the stars when our companions are all around us.

[jordan179]

But then again, I'm a person who thinks elephants and orcas are likely sentient as well as apes. We're a lonely species, looking to the stars when our companions are all around us.

Great apes, possibly some other primates, elephants, orcas, possibly other ceteceans, at least some parrots, at least some corvids ... and we're not acknowledging it, instead of responding with wonder and joy that we are not alone, we are twisting the evidence to tell ourselves that they are not sapient simply because (1) they probably aren't as smart as us (but why do other sapients have to be Wise Elders?), and (2) they have only very limited technology (but is being sapient really about having invented guns?). And of course the real reason (3) we want to feel superior and special (isn't being the only Earthlife that's invented rocketships and atomic bombs special enough

[skywaterblue]

If only someone took the idea of talking to them seriously. My first guess would be to try with orcas, since at least with whales we know they have names and dialects...

[jordan179]

If only someone took the idea of talking to them seriously.

Some people do, mostly behavioral scientists who have worked closely with great apes or parrots. Unfortunately a lot of them are considered to be flakes, even when they aren't. One problem is that you have to "personalize" or "anthromorphize" a sapient animal to communicate effectively with it: if you treat it as a "thing" it will notice this and become uncooperative. Penny Patterson's breakthrough with Koko came when she stopped treating her as just an experimental subject, and a lot of the scientific community feels that the obvious love Penny feels for Koko renders her results unreliable

[skywaterblue]

Well, exactly. People interested in this are considered to be flakes, which is really terrible.

I think orcas are the best choice among the cetaceans for us to talk to for the simple reason that we may have more in common with them culturally than other whales. Resident pods seem to organize themselves among family lines that are easy for human beings to understand, and their complex skills at hunting likewise give us something in common. They also stay in the same neighborhood, allowing for researchers to get to know them as individuals.

One of the difficulties with orcas, however, is that the three different races of orca have very different views on interacting with humanity. The transient orcas are not keen on people following them with boats all day.

[kalance]

I recall at some point that researchers would use a "mirror test" on certain animals. If the creature indicated that it knew it was looking at itself, then it was probable evidence of sentience. For example, a gorilla might use the mirror to help find and pick leaves out of its fur, so it knows it's looking at itself. Meanwhile, a chicken will attack the reflection until it kills itself. It obviously doesn't know it's looking at itself.

Conclusion: Coco is sentient, chickens are not.

Mammals in general seem to demonstrate higher levels of intelligence. Many can be trained, and most demonstrate the capacity to learn in some fashion or another. Even finches use spears to hunt food. One need wonder how far humanity really would have gone if we lacked the ability to wield tools, ie. thumbs. Having thoughts is one thing, the ability to follow through, another. My dogs know that to open a door, you need to turn the knob, they just have trouble performing the actual act when it isn't a handle(or pulling at the same time if it