Thread: Aliens, closer than we thought?

I'm still waiting for Minervas Phoenix to come back and explain to me why I was over-reaching in my assumptions. Thread hit-and-running is easy to do. But sticking around to back up your position is where the fun lies, and where your growth comes from.

I didn't even say you were over-reaching in assumptions. How do you process your information? Not very carefully. Dolphins for one do not really fit entirely into the rigid paradigm of conditions for intelligent life that you stated. Also you cannot compare humans to space traveling species because we do not travel through space yet. If you observe carefully humans are doing more damage than good to the planet. Intelligent or not. I don't think you have met a species that has traveled through space effectively and consistently either. The moon is right beside us so that does not count as far distance or collective and consistently effective space travel. A couple of humans went there only once, and had to come back right away. Several years pass and humanity fails to travel through space to other systems, we just pollute the planet and use up resources for the most part. I don't know if you have noticed we also live in a multidimensional universe. Having physical arms and legs is not the main concern for space travel. Just like you don't need to evolve into a spaceship. Intelligence is the main concern. All I'm saying is you post like you speak for everyone who is the most intelligent without considering the situation properly. Not that I want to argue with you, you wanted a response so you got one. I can't do much more it's just my opinion.

you may surprised to know that the dolphin brain is actually much larger than the human brain. Dolphins have two hemispheres just like humans however, theirs are split into four lobes instead of three. The fourth lobe in the dolphin's brain actually hosts all of the senses, whereas in a human, the senses are split. Some believe that having all of the senses in one lobe allow the dolphin to make immediate and often complicated judgments that are well beyond the scope of a human ability.

A new scientific paper published in an international journal sheds light on the previously disputed intelligence of whales and dolphins

Whales and Dolphins are indeed highly intelligent, as has long been believed – this is the conclusion of a new paper from Mark Simmonds, International Director of Science for WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. The research stands in stark contrast to some recent reports that such animals fail to exhibit intelligence.

In his paper, Into the Brains of Whales, published this month in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Simmonds puts forward a compelling argument for the highly developed intelligence of both whales and dolphins. He asserts that, rather than brain anatomy or size, which is sometimes used to indicate cognitive ability, more accurate indicators of intelligence can be found in behaviour and social structures.

One such indicator is that of self-awareness. Bottlenose dolphins have been shown to be able to recognise themselves in a mirror, a behaviour that until recently has only been recorded in humans and great apes. Similarly, tool use can be seen as a mark of intelligence. In a masterstroke of innovation, some Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins carry sponges on the ends of their beaks to protect them when foraging for food on the sea bed.

Evidence of the typically human emotions, grief, parental love and joy, as well as the existence of complex social interactions and structures, are further indicators of the highly developed intelligence of whales and dolphins. In one example, despite the risk of dehydration, stranding and shark attack, a group of false killer whales floated for 3 days in the shallows of the straits of Florida, USA to protect an injured male. Such was their cohesion and reliance upon the group, individuals became agitated when rescuers tried to separate them, calming only when reunited.

The potential impacts of threats such as whaling, pollution and fishing nets on such highly intelligent animals, may be far greater and wider ranging than is currently thought. In drastically reducing populations, whalers may have destroyed not just numerous individuals, but also the cultural knowledge they had relating to exploitation of certain habitats and areas, ultimately altering the evolution of the species.

Simmonds comments. ‘It is the behaviour of animals that tells us about their mental capacities, not brain size or anatomy. Anyone who has interacted with dolphins usually swiftly and intuitively realises that they are meeting intelligent, emotional and extraordinary animals’.

In his paper he concludes. "Our relationship with these animals therefore needs to move to a new paradigm recognising these animals as unique individuals, communities, societies and cultures and valuing them as such"