5 ms·

How about: -art (cave paintings, etc) -music it's striking to see 6-12 month old infants bopping up and down to music. They're not taught to do this and I'v

How about: -art (cave paintings, etc) -music it's striking to see 6-12 month old infants bopping up and down to music. They're not taught to do this and I've never heard of animals responding to music...

rplnt 9y ago
There's loads of videos of various parrots bopping and dancing to music. Can't tell if it's learned behavior, but they do it.
- saguro 9y ago
  Does it even matter? It's a learned behavior in humans too. Nurture plays a far bigger role in what we do than people give it credit for.
  - roadnottaken 9y ago
    I thought that before I had kids...
Y-bar 9y ago
Art? Maybe http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140723-are-we-the-only-creative-species http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140723-are-we-the-only-cre...
duncan_bayne 9y ago
Science? Engineering? Space travel? And we're only just getting started. Wait for climate engineering and asteroid / Lunar mining...
- robotresearcher 9y ago
  “[M]an had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- musage 9y ago
  Personal integrity? Calm? Harmony with surroundings? I wonder if there are animals that produce ElsaGate videos, or come up with rationalizations for them. I'm sure there's animals who eat their offspring in certain situations, but are there any that just bite them to death, to then proceed to run in hysterical circles, counting symbols and telling themselves "narratives"? Where can I find such a pathetic thing in the wild?
jaredandrews 9y ago
Elephants? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition#Art_and_music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition#Art_and_mus...
nkoren 9y ago
Here's a cockatoo that genuinely seems to dig Elvis (worth waiting until 2:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuDyuQFKE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuDyuQFKE. And Whales have music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_vocalization#Song_of_the_Humpback_Whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_vocalization#Song_of_the... -- their singing employs musical rhythm and phrasing, and is culturally transmitted rather than instinctual. Scientists are generally quick to give such vocalisations -- along with bird song, etc. -- purely functional attributes, thereby dismissing any aesthetic or emotional meaning it might have for the animal. "It's a territorial signifier". "It's for mate selection." Etc. This is a mistake: Mozart used his music to get laid; what musician doesn't? We can't know what these sounds truly mean -- subjectively, not functionally -- to an animal, because we can't talk about it with them. But that doesn't mean that it is empty of meaning.

rplnt 9y ago

There's loads of videos of various parrots bopping and dancing to music. Can't tell if it's learned behavior, but they do it.

saguro 9y ago
Does it even matter? It's a learned behavior in humans too. Nurture plays a far bigger role in what we do than people give it credit for.
- roadnottaken 9y ago
  I thought that before I had kids...

Y-bar 9y ago

Art? Maybe http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140723-are-we-the-only-creative-species http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140723-are-we-the-only-cre...

duncan_bayne 9y ago

Science? Engineering? Space travel? And we're only just getting started. Wait for climate engineering and asteroid / Lunar mining...

robotresearcher 9y ago
“[M]an had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
musage 9y ago
Personal integrity? Calm? Harmony with surroundings? I wonder if there are animals that produce ElsaGate videos, or come up with rationalizations for them. I'm sure there's animals who eat their offspring in certain situations, but are there any that just bite them to death, to then proceed to run in hysterical circles, counting symbols and telling themselves "narratives"? Where can I find such a pathetic thing in the wild?

jaredandrews 9y ago

Elephants? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition#Art_and_music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition#Art_and_mus...

nkoren 9y ago

Here's a cockatoo that genuinely seems to dig Elvis (worth waiting until 2:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuDyuQFKE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuDyuQFKE. And Whales have music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_vocalization#Song_of_the_Humpback_Whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_vocalization#Song_of_the... -- their singing employs musical rhythm and phrasing, and is culturally transmitted rather than instinctual. Scientists are generally quick to give such vocalisations -- along with bird song, etc. -- purely functional attributes, thereby dismissing any aesthetic or emotional meaning it might have for the animal. "It's a territorial signifier". "It's for mate selection." Etc. This is a mistake: Mozart used his music to get laid; what musician doesn't? We can't know what these sounds truly mean -- subjectively, not functionally -- to an animal, because we can't talk about it with them. But that doesn't mean that it is empty of meaning.