6 ms·
Well pigs are smarter than dogs, and many people eat them.
by ch4s3 10y ago
Well pigs are smarter than dogs, and many people eat them.
- overcast 10y agoI don't feel great about that either, but octopuses have shown repeatedly their problem solving abilities.
- ch4s3 10y agoPerhaps that would be an interesting area of study. I think the lack of dexterous limbs probably inhibits the pig's ability to solve certain problems they would otherwise be mentally capable of tackling.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- oneeyedpigeon 10y agoI've seen an experiment in which pigs controlled an object on a screen, using a 'joystick', by controlling it with their snout. It certainly looked as if they were demonstrating a level of intelligence.
- ch4s3 10y agoI read about that study as well, it's what I was thinking of when I made the previous comment! Cool stuff! Do you have a link by any chance?
- oneeyedpigeon 10y agoAll I know is that it was a TV programme in the UK; sorry, I know that's not very useful!
- maxxxxx 10y agoWe had two pigs together with our horse and they were really creative at figuring out how to open doors and get into the food containers.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- jnbiche 10y agoYeah, but a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.
- howlin 10y agoPigs have personality too. But most people would never know it given how livestock are treated.
- okreallywtf 10y agoAs someone who has been around beef-cattle and also had milk cows growing up, cows are much the same way. They have a lot of personality and are not altogether different than dogs or anything else. Cattle raised for beef have a lot less human interaction and therefore have less "personality". Our cows knew their names and were very affectionate but they also had been interacted with since birth.
- maxxxxx 10y agoMost farm animals are probably psychotic and can't develop a personality just because of the circumstances they are raised in. If you threw 20 humans into a small pen where they have to live from birth to death they would probably be crippled psychologically and not appear very smart too.
- enraged_camel 10y agoDogs have co-evolved with humans for tens of thousands of years, and demonstrate traits and behaviors that makes it much easier for humans to empathize and socialize with them. For example, you can tell when a dog is happy because their facial expressions resemble a human smile. Not so with livestock. Sure, you can figure it out after spending time with them, but it's inarguably not the same thing.
- prodmerc 10y agoNo, dogs don't smile. Some learn the baring of teeth as being peaceful instead of defensive, but most of them don't, or rather can't smile. You can find the same exact "smile" in goats, sheep and pigs, they're definitely not making that face because they're happy.
- fibbery 10y agoPersonally, I don't eat anything above a certain (arbitrarily defined) intelligence threshold. So octopus and pig are out. Chicken, however...
- AndrewOMartin 10y agoI've got bad news for you buddy. :) (2 January 2017) http://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-news/think-chicken---think-intelligent--caring-and-complex--/11952522 http://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-new...
- Johnythree 10y agoI dunno. Have been feeding the neighbour's chooks for the last few weeks. Amazing creatures, incredibly friendly and even affectionate. I really enjoy going to visit them. I come away with a huge grin on my face.
- Cybiote 10y agoYep, pigs are highly intelligent. They've been shown to be able to learn how to use mirrors to locate food, are possibly capable of theory of mind, deception and visual perspective taking. Some of these can be disputed as associative learning but we're also finding out that the same can also be said of aspects of higher human cognition. And from work in machine learning, we know how far even just associative learning and pattern matching can take you. This is a short survey article that goes into more detail on pig intelligence: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982210009176 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982210...
- codehero 10y agoPet pig owner here. Pigs are problem solvers. Pigs are optimizers. The following videos of my pig demonstrate this. Video 2: Pig is first learning the task. Video 3: Pig has slightly optimized the task. Video 1: Pig has mastered the task. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/37f48azh2bt4xk4/Wy3iHDMp1e?preview=CocoTechnique.3gp https://www.dropbox.com/sh/37f48azh2bt4xk4/Wy3iHDMp1e?previe...
- ch4s3 10y agoThat's pretty excellent. For those who don't watch the videos, they feature a feeding device that must be spun to release food. Video 2 features the pig figuring out that spinning the wheel releases food, and by the last video, the pig is spinning the wheel numerous times to release several food drops before eating.