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> * Intelligent life has also been demonstrated to be unbelievably improbable. With nature as the best laboratory, out of all the species that have ever evolved
by mettamage 8y ago
> * Intelligent life has also been demonstrated to be unbelievably improbable. With nature as the best laboratory, out of all the species that have ever evolved, only one on Earth evolved intelligence.
I wonder whether this is actually true. Imagine the human society being transported to dolphin or shark bodies (they'd spawn there). Assume the following: food is not an issue in the short term and we retain our knowledge and we have quite a good control over our new bodies and can do what sharks or dolphins normally do.
Even with these advantages, could we recreate what we made on land?
- jonathankoren 8y agoNo. Dolphins don’t have thumbs, and fire is a lot more problematical underwater.
- zamalek 8y agoGood point. I would say that the defining feature of human intelligence is immediate and self-directed teaching. House training a dog takes many weeks and many rewards. Stopping smoking is a decision that a human makes and can immediately put into practice. Using sharks and dolphins as an example, both would learn to avoid fishing nets and communicate that danger (which is not unique to humans), remember it (which is) to each other and their offspring (again, unique to humans). What's not done is seemingly more important than what is, because beating opposable thumbs is pretty hard (as you've pointed out).