4 ms·

I take the quotes around "laugh" to indicate that the word is being used analogously. Laughter can be caused by the comprehension of an absurdity, a frustrated

I take the quotes around "laugh" to indicate that the word is being used analogously. Laughter can be caused by the comprehension of an absurdity, a frustrated intention or by something that violates a norm. I would not readily ascribe this sort of comprehension to the aforementioned animals and would be careful not to anthropomorphize other species, as tempting as it might be.

Aachen 5y ago
Exactly, the original article linked at the bottom makes it clear that ars is full of bs and these animals are just indicating playfulness, like one kitten playing with another, not amusement or (as you better put it) comprehension of the absurdity of a situation.
- pharrington 5y ago
  Why would you think a self aware, fuzzy stealth killing machine has no concept of absurdity?
  - danielam 5y ago
    Concept implies abstraction and the mark of abstract thought is language. Karl Popper's four functions of language might help here. Language has an expressive function, a signaling function, a descriptive function and an argumentative function. No other animal besides Man shows any sign of the anything but the first two, but it's the second two that require abstract concepts. These animals may very well possess imagination, but imagination is essentially concrete. You don't imagine Triangularity, but rather specific triangles (though in human beings, by virtue of having an intellect, the image of a triangle is "accompanied by" the concept of Triangularity).
nkoren 5y ago
Swimming by myself in the Sea of Cortez, I was surrounded by a pod of bottlenose dolphins. After observing me for a while, they suddenly started laughing, did a few flips and other acrobatic displays, and then swam away. I was left in no doubt -- none whatsoever -- that they were laughing at the absurdity of what I evidently considered "swimming". Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing them... but I'm pretty sure they were dolphopomorphizing me first, and it was cracking them up. Anyhow, those dolphins were a bunch of punks.
- maxden 5y ago
  They might have been protecting you from an unseen predator. There have a been a few knows cases of it. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/24/internationalnews https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/24/internationa...

Aachen 5y ago

Exactly, the original article linked at the bottom makes it clear that ars is full of bs and these animals are just indicating playfulness, like one kitten playing with another, not amusement or (as you better put it) comprehension of the absurdity of a situation.

pharrington 5y ago
Why would you think a self aware, fuzzy stealth killing machine has no concept of absurdity?
- danielam 5y ago
  Concept implies abstraction and the mark of abstract thought is language. Karl Popper's four functions of language might help here. Language has an expressive function, a signaling function, a descriptive function and an argumentative function. No other animal besides Man shows any sign of the anything but the first two, but it's the second two that require abstract concepts. These animals may very well possess imagination, but imagination is essentially concrete. You don't imagine Triangularity, but rather specific triangles (though in human beings, by virtue of having an intellect, the image of a triangle is "accompanied by" the concept of Triangularity).

nkoren 5y ago

Swimming by myself in the Sea of Cortez, I was surrounded by a pod of bottlenose dolphins. After observing me for a while, they suddenly started laughing, did a few flips and other acrobatic displays, and then swam away. I was left in no doubt -- none whatsoever -- that they were laughing at the absurdity of what I evidently considered "swimming". Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing them... but I'm pretty sure they were dolphopomorphizing me first, and it was cracking them up. Anyhow, those dolphins were a bunch of punks.

maxden 5y ago
They might have been protecting you from an unseen predator. There have a been a few knows cases of it. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/24/internationalnews https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/24/internationa...