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Orcas are smart enough to give each other distinct names and seem to understand the concept of verbs/nouns when identifying human words[1]. They could very well
by nicklecompte 3y ago
Orcas are smart enough to give each other distinct names and seem to understand the concept of verbs/nouns when identifying human words[1]. They could very well be smarter than us, but they'd never dominate the planet technologically: their flippers have no evolutionary path to developing fingers and thumbs.
[1] Some people point out that we've never learned orca language but they've learned ours. This is true, but it's also true that orca scientists have never kidnapped human children and intentionally tried to teach them orca language. So it's more of a poetic comparison than a scientific one.
- gregfjohnson 3y agoHeard the following joke a while back, seems pertinent: Gaia making a mental note: "Hmm. The jury is definitely out on whether it's a good idea to combine large fore-brains with opposable thumbs.."
- jbotz 3y agoAlso, all the aquatic animals have one rather serious obstacle to developing an advanced/technological society: no way to make/use fire. Personally I think the only thing that really categorically distinguishes humans from other smart animals is that, the use of fire. Yeah, our language abilities are impressive too, but they may have fully developed after we already started using fire, telling stories around the campfire at night. Fire is what makes it possible for us to make use of more energy than we can physically consume; humans are best defined as the ape that mastered fire.
- nicklecompte 3y agoObviously you're not wrong about fire being a major blocking point for sea creatures[1] - hard to make metals without fire. But possibly mermaids could "cook" their food via fermentation, e.g. putting food in a sealed swim bladder, then burying it in the sand. This could fulfill the same brain calorie requirements. [1] Of course, maybe in Andromeda some sea-hackers are reading Hacker Sea-News and arguing land-based animals could never develop civilization because something-something.
- gpderetta 3y agoThey might be learn to make use of underground volcanoes and gas vents. Maybe too deep for marine mammals?
- nicklecompte 3y agoYeah, too deep to keep watch over I think, unless they went for air in shifts. There's also the issue that if you're on land, gravity means you don't need an airtight container to cook/smelt/etc. But underwater it would be hard to prevent things from leaking to the sea. I think mermaids could do fish kebabs over a gas vent (though they'd lose a lot of food), but they couldn't use it as a kiln.