This opinion is based on reading peopleâs thoughts on the internet and remembering what I was taught in my own time in school (where they essentially stumbled into teaching that humans were some kind of âpeakâ of the evolutionary process)
I think people have waaaaayyyy too much faith in human intelligence and itâs leading to the destruction of the world.
1- People keep thinking a scientist or a ârich entrepreneurâ is going to come up with some magic bullet to save the world, if we taught more about how other animals have tools, language, larger and older and more complex brain structures than us - People might realize itâs similar to believing that dolphin will arise from the sea with some idea to stop climate change
2- we keep participating in these systems that have been created under the assumption that we are âmaking progressâ. I would argue that the minority of human invention represents real progress.
3- It leads to undervaluing the earth and taking it for granted. We worship ourselves as gods (literally). Almost everything you have wasnât invented by humans. It was the result of billions of years of selective design. Yet we teach as if things we harvest from nature were âinventedâ by humans. In reality, we often have no way to produce or even of conceive of these things without a natural example.
Thanks for reading
Humans have a large range when it comes to intelligence. Saying the average raven is comparable to human child is a fair statment but I donât see any other animal making monuments and going to space. I donât disagree with your points only the title. Issues come from people not educated properly. Which I could argue is systemic. Eventually we may be able to do the things we see in sci-fi but I doubt any other animal will anytime soon.
I donât see any other animal making monuments and going to space
But these are weird ( and biased) ways to measure intelligence. I could also say I donât see other species besides Cephalopods with a body-wide distributed brain network that can reform itâs entire body to mimic in a few seconds, not to mention regularly escape from entirely alien containment measures.
Even the mention of âdoing things we see in sci-fiâ is weirdly human centric. Like dinosaurs lived on the earth for billions of years. How bout we accomplish that? There was a book that explored this idea that species are obsessed with themselves by Dan Quinn called âIshmaelâ. The whole book isnât really about that theme but itâs got an allegory about jellyfish that explores it.
edit: this is getting downvotes so let me ask another way:
- if âaccomplishing the things we see in sci fiâ (like say, going to Mars) results in the extinction of the human species shortly after, do you think the remaining species on the planet will remember humans as âsmartâ or âobsessed with vehicles/exploration to the point of self-destructionâ? If you could float above the remains of the civilization and make a judgement, would you think it was worth it?
No animal shows anywhere near the range of neuroplasticity of humans. Humans can exist comfortably on almost all biospheres on earth and even space thanks to the technology we developed. Including the technology of language which features the word intelligence which we use for the way we grow and adapt. Thatâs what we use our brains for and what we specialize in. We donât use our brains for sonar the way bats do, but that isnât intelligence.
Does that make humans inherently superior or give us the right to render the planet uninhabitable? No, of course not, and animals are smarter than many people give them credit for. But calling animal intelligence comparable to that of humans simply isnât accurate.
Other animals have language
Edit: when I tried to research the nueroplasticity claim I didnât see the answer youâre giving. I saw sources claiming many animals have this and that rats have shown more nueroplasticity than humans
Lol I mean it is an unpopular opinion you would think people upvote the ones they dislike. No one is disagreeing that other animals are infact integeligent. What people disagree is the level of intelligence and how to measure it. The path to destruction due to blatant incompetence may just be a step to something better like we saw during the industrial revolution. Humans are not the only species to shape and use resources but it is more apparent (at least at the higher end intellect) that we can reflect on our actions and adjust. Humans are moving toward renewable sources and more eco friendly practices but it just does not feel fast enough. Humans as a species in its current state only existed for like 10K years and permanently effected the planet in that time. No other species has even done that. Good or bad we left our mark which proves a higher level of intelligence in the a short time we have been around. To answer your question, I do think it is worth it if we can get to the point of sustainability outside earth. Anything short of that would make it a complete waste of the potential we were given because any species that would have the ability to judge us for our failure would have achieved that goal. I know I do when I play Stellaris :). Plus failures are always good lessons on what not to do for them. I wish our predecessors where better but now we have to make the difference. Thanks grandpa. Letâs blame on the lead.
Dolphins actually do have a top plan to stop climate change. Unfortunately, they donât have appendages capable of carrying out the take over of earth and destroying all humans.
I like to think the first step would be to trying minor attacks to gauge the speed of humans fighting back. Such as sending a larger species to attack an important commerical tradeline. Sort of like if orcas started attacking ships in a place luke the gibralter strait. Starting with small sail boats eventually moving to sink larger vessels eventually crippling world trade by blockade.
Why would they bother when they can just fly off into space back to their home planet? Of course theyâll likely thank us for all the fish before they leave, but as humans donât speak dolphin itâll just look like a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double backwards somersault through a hoop while whistling the Star Spangled Banner.
Disagree. Weâre by far the most intelligent species on the planet, but this is kind of like the AI problem - being intelligent doesnât make us benevolent or immune to screwed up incentives, and it doesnât automatically solve all coordination problems.
I might agree we are âintelligent without being wiseâ but then I would say that THAT should be taught.
Currently we function as the equivalent of the neighborhood mad scientist. Obsessed with their own ideas but actively destroying everything and everyone including themselves. Smart not wise.
Individually, we are above average. But our advantage over other animals is language x technology. We are able to collect knowledge, preserve it and pass it down to our descendents. This body of knowledge spanning 10,000 years is the reason for our supremacy. We are a proto-hive mind.
Not to the same degree, show me the animal with internet storage or books.
Again humans are biased towards methods that use artifacts/tools.
If youâre a whale underwater your whalesong is as good as the internet, but whatever its not a physical object and its a totally sustainable method that doesnât require harvesting half the planet so WE DGAF, doesnât count!
Agreed. Human intelligence is way over valued. i feel much of this thinking has roots in exceptionalism.
