6 ms·

Stupendous intelligence of honey badgers

21 points by Petiver 9y ago

n4r9 9y ago
I was excited by this title as I've heard about honey badgers in regards to their fearlessness but little about their intelligence. Alas, the article itself has nothing to a totally say on this matter.
joshuaheard 9y ago
I couldn't help but think of the YouTube video about honey badgers: "Honey badger don't care!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg
jacquesm 9y ago
I don't know much about honey badgers, I've never seen them in the wild but their very distant cousins (also in the 'dog like' sub-order) the raccoons are incredible. On a property in Canada I found a raccoon family living in the attic above the chicken coop... It had been a mystery for a long time how the raccoons got in and out of the chicken coop without leaving any traces other than dead or entirely disappearing chickens. They basically set themselves up on top of a fast food restaurant. Hungry? Let's go grab some chicken.
a2decrow 9y ago
TFA isn't about honey badgers or their intelligence, but about the arrogant stance of the common homo sapiens on other species. End of the day, humans aren't anything special. They're just another part of nature.
- noir_lord 9y ago
  When it comes to intelligence humans are special, its silly to say we aren't. By definition been the single most intelligent species on the planet makes us special. We get excited when other species display intelligence at a level we'd expect to see in a toddler because its fascinating to us, hell the fact that we systematically study other species itself puts us in another category.
  - a2decrow 9y ago
    Think about how dumb the average human is and then realize half of them are dumber than that. Humans have become the dominant species for two reasons: 1. Our ability to reason 2. Our technological superiority Many animals can rival or exceed the intelligence of the average human, but due to the fact that they're seen as "just animals" and that they can't communicate with us in a matter we understand (nor care about doing it) makes humans think they are superior in every way. Then, whenever scientific progression proves that animals aren't as dumb as they look, humans have to come up with new arguments to separate themselves from other species. It's the typical arrogant and limited view of the common homo sapiens. Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. -- Arthur Schopenhauer
    - noir_lord 9y ago
      > Many animals can rival or exceed the intelligence of the average human. That is an absurd assertion, the 'average' human being can use language at a level far beyond what any other species that demonstrates language can, complex tools, create even more complex tools from those already complex tools, write down the things they have learnt and gain knowledge from the things other humans have learnt and written down, create sophisticated predictive models of the world and test them refining the models as they go. Do animals have intelligence, absolutely, is it in the same realm as the average human, not even close. The difference in vast, there were other species with intelligence comparable to our own, they went extinct (and it's arguable that we are the reason why) I refer of course to the other species in the Genus Homo, the neanderthal's and others. We had competition from other species and we eliminated it not intentionally we just out-competed them (and interbred with them but since we where more numerous the end result was the same though their genes are still present).
      - a2decrow 9y ago
        What you are describing is called education and technological superiority. Take one of those away and see what happens. And whether the extinction of neanderthals and other species close to ours is due to intelligence or other influences can't be reliably proven. It's just the way nature evolved and it could have gone any other way as well.
- fsloth 9y ago
  "End of the day, humans aren't anything special." I suggest you read the book 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari - humans are quite unique not only among animals but among our closest relatives (Neanderthals, Denisovans, and who knows how many other close relatives we likely wiped out). The difference is not necessarily a glorious one but a concrete and obvious. The difference is our capacity to hold unreal things as concrete which allows us to coordinate our life through thousands and millions of individuals ( and not just in small troops where everyone knows everyone else).
jancsika 9y ago
The term "badger" only appears twice in the article: 1. As a throwaway: "But even here, other animals, insofar as they entered into the philosophical discussion of mind at all, were just that: animals. Not badger or beaver, bee or bull. Not geladas or gerenuk, chevrotain or fossa. But just generically animal." 2. As a juicy thread that is left completely unexamined. "But there are plenty of less familiar examples: from zebra fish and moray eels to the stupendous intelligence of the honey badger." This is the quintessential example of clickbait. Edit: Can anyone fill in the missing thread about the less familiar "stupendous intelligence of the honey badger"? I've seen the well-known clips of them escaping their area in the zoo. I'd love to read any other studies that shed more light on their behavior.
andygcook 9y ago
This video about a honey badger in captivity is fascinating. The honey badger figures out about 5 different ways to break free of it's cage, even using tools to do so. Well worth the watch. https://youtu.be/c36UNSoJenI https://youtu.be/c36UNSoJenI [edit: spelling]
dnotq 9y ago
Honey Badgers are pretty awesome. If I had another life to live I would move to Australia and spend at least 10 years working with honey badgers. PBS produced a great documentary on them called "Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem", which exemplifies their intelligence, curiosity, and persistence. If you are a ferret owner (or just like ferrets in general), you will immediately relate to the honey badger and have an affection for them. The documentary used to be on NetFlix but was pulled recently (not sure why). However, it is available to watch on the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365179375/ http://www.pbs.org/video/2365179375/ Amazon also has it for sale (absolutely worth the $6 they are asking for it), and of course someone posted it on YouTube. It is 53 minutes well worth spending.
- bitwize 9y ago
  Honey badgers don't live in Australia, except maybe in zoos. They are native to Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India.
  - ryandvm 9y ago
    It's gonna be a long 10 years.

21 points by Petiver 9y ago

n4r9 9y ago

I was excited by this title as I've heard about honey badgers in regards to their fearlessness but little about their intelligence. Alas, the article itself has nothing to a totally say on this matter.

joshuaheard 9y ago

I couldn't help but think of the YouTube video about honey badgers: "Honey badger don't care!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

jacquesm 9y ago

I don't know much about honey badgers, I've never seen them in the wild but their very distant cousins (also in the 'dog like' sub-order) the raccoons are incredible. On a property in Canada I found a raccoon family living in the attic above the chicken coop... It had been a mystery for a long time how the raccoons got in and out of the chicken coop without leaving any traces other than dead or entirely disappearing chickens. They basically set themselves up on top of a fast food restaurant. Hungry? Let's go grab some chicken.

a2decrow 9y ago

TFA isn't about honey badgers or their intelligence, but about the arrogant stance of the common homo sapiens on other species. End of the day, humans aren't anything special. They're just another part of nature.

noir_lord 9y ago
When it comes to intelligence humans are special, its silly to say we aren't. By definition been the single most intelligent species on the planet makes us special. We get excited when other species display intelligence at a level we'd expect to see in a toddler because its fascinating to us, hell the fact that we systematically study other species itself puts us in another category.
- a2decrow 9y ago
  Think about how dumb the average human is and then realize half of them are dumber than that. Humans have become the dominant species for two reasons: 1. Our ability to reason 2. Our technological superiority Many animals can rival or exceed the intelligence of the average human, but due to the fact that they're seen as "just animals" and that they can't communicate with us in a matter we understand (nor care about doing it) makes humans think they are superior in every way. Then, whenever scientific progression proves that animals aren't as dumb as they look, humans have to come up with new arguments to separate themselves from other species. It's the typical arrogant and limited view of the common homo sapiens. Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. -- Arthur Schopenhauer
  - noir_lord 9y ago
    > Many animals can rival or exceed the intelligence of the average human. That is an absurd assertion, the 'average' human being can use language at a level far beyond what any other species that demonstrates language can, complex tools, create even more complex tools from those already complex tools, write down the things they have learnt and gain knowledge from the things other humans have learnt and written down, create sophisticated predictive models of the world and test them refining the models as they go. Do animals have intelligence, absolutely, is it in the same realm as the average human, not even close. The difference in vast, there were other species with intelligence comparable to our own, they went extinct (and it's arguable that we are the reason why) I refer of course to the other species in the Genus Homo, the neanderthal's and others. We had competition from other species and we eliminated it not intentionally we just out-competed them (and interbred with them but since we where more numerous the end result was the same though their genes are still present).
    - a2decrow 9y ago
      What you are describing is called education and technological superiority. Take one of those away and see what happens. And whether the extinction of neanderthals and other species close to ours is due to intelligence or other influences can't be reliably proven. It's just the way nature evolved and it could have gone any other way as well.
fsloth 9y ago
"End of the day, humans aren't anything special." I suggest you read the book 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari - humans are quite unique not only among animals but among our closest relatives (Neanderthals, Denisovans, and who knows how many other close relatives we likely wiped out). The difference is not necessarily a glorious one but a concrete and obvious. The difference is our capacity to hold unreal things as concrete which allows us to coordinate our life through thousands and millions of individuals ( and not just in small troops where everyone knows everyone else).

jancsika 9y ago

The term "badger" only appears twice in the article: 1. As a throwaway: "But even here, other animals, insofar as they entered into the philosophical discussion of mind at all, were just that: animals. Not badger or beaver, bee or bull. Not geladas or gerenuk, chevrotain or fossa. But just generically animal." 2. As a juicy thread that is left completely unexamined. "But there are plenty of less familiar examples: from zebra fish and moray eels to the stupendous intelligence of the honey badger." This is the quintessential example of clickbait. Edit: Can anyone fill in the missing thread about the less familiar "stupendous intelligence of the honey badger"? I've seen the well-known clips of them escaping their area in the zoo. I'd love to read any other studies that shed more light on their behavior.

andygcook 9y ago

This video about a honey badger in captivity is fascinating. The honey badger figures out about 5 different ways to break free of it's cage, even using tools to do so. Well worth the watch. https://youtu.be/c36UNSoJenI https://youtu.be/c36UNSoJenI [edit: spelling]

dnotq 9y ago

Honey Badgers are pretty awesome. If I had another life to live I would move to Australia and spend at least 10 years working with honey badgers. PBS produced a great documentary on them called "Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem", which exemplifies their intelligence, curiosity, and persistence. If you are a ferret owner (or just like ferrets in general), you will immediately relate to the honey badger and have an affection for them. The documentary used to be on NetFlix but was pulled recently (not sure why). However, it is available to watch on the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365179375/ http://www.pbs.org/video/2365179375/ Amazon also has it for sale (absolutely worth the $6 they are asking for it), and of course someone posted it on YouTube. It is 53 minutes well worth spending.

bitwize 9y ago
Honey badgers don't live in Australia, except maybe in zoos. They are native to Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India.
- ryandvm 9y ago
  It's gonna be a long 10 years.