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We know that crows and many other animals use tools, which represents at least one level of linguistic abstraction ("It's not just a rock, it's a member of a mo

We know that crows and many other animals use tools, which represents at least one level of linguistic abstraction ("It's not just a rock, it's a member of a more general category of things capable of smashing open food"). I've always thought that recursion, specifically the ability to apply abstraction to itself, was a unique human trait. We don't just abstract one level, we keep going - building tools that help us build tools, building social structures that facilitate the production of these meta-tools, etc. So while we see other animals using tools that they find in their environment, I don't know of any evidence that they recurse on that, i.e. they always use tools for their primary purpose but never engage in systematic production of tools, or tools that make other tools. But given this article, maybe it's not mental capacity or linguistic recursion that limits tool making but something more mechanical like simply dexterity?

b112 4y ago
One comment, re: tools to build tools. I've seen animals use rocks, in videos, to debark sticks, to be used to perform another task. That's a tool to make a tool, and I bet there are other cases. In fact, I recall a video of a monkey, using a sharpened stone, to break the window of its habitat. To sharpen the stone, it used something else (the video did not say anything other than the monkey sharpened the stone). So that is another case.
- perrygeo 4y ago
  Yes - but have you ever seen a troop of monkeys organize themselves to produce a surplus of sharp stones for their collective advantage? Thankfully, monkeys do not have this recursive ability. Sadly, humans do.
  - b112 4y ago
    No on organizing themselves, but!, they do cache food. Most animals do. And parents share their cache with their young, naturally. And some animals have a larger definition of "family", than just young. Some have communal concepts. So I wonder, how close is the next step? The behaviour is there. I bet if a tool was rare, or hard to find, they would cache it. And that would leave the door open for communal caching. But my point is, animals "get" caching. Frankly, human caching behaviour must be instinctual to some degree. I wonder. A few things are required to have it even make sense. Take growing food. It requires a way to keep other animals at bay, otherwise, your work is all lost. But I think, it also requires the ability to clear land. Well anyhow. Enough rambling.

b112 4y ago

One comment, re: tools to build tools. I've seen animals use rocks, in videos, to debark sticks, to be used to perform another task. That's a tool to make a tool, and I bet there are other cases. In fact, I recall a video of a monkey, using a sharpened stone, to break the window of its habitat. To sharpen the stone, it used something else (the video did not say anything other than the monkey sharpened the stone). So that is another case.

perrygeo 4y ago
Yes - but have you ever seen a troop of monkeys organize themselves to produce a surplus of sharp stones for their collective advantage? Thankfully, monkeys do not have this recursive ability. Sadly, humans do.
- b112 4y ago
  No on organizing themselves, but!, they do cache food. Most animals do. And parents share their cache with their young, naturally. And some animals have a larger definition of "family", than just young. Some have communal concepts. So I wonder, how close is the next step? The behaviour is there. I bet if a tool was rare, or hard to find, they would cache it. And that would leave the door open for communal caching. But my point is, animals "get" caching. Frankly, human caching behaviour must be instinctual to some degree. I wonder. A few things are required to have it even make sense. Take growing food. It requires a way to keep other animals at bay, otherwise, your work is all lost. But I think, it also requires the ability to clear land. Well anyhow. Enough rambling.