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They are not complex enough to have personalities. Being shy or bold are not personalities, but just lowlevel behaviors dictated by the presence or lack of part
by DEADMINCE 3y ago
They are not complex enough to have personalities. Being shy or bold are not personalities, but just lowlevel behaviors dictated by the presence or lack of particular genes.
- IncreasePosts 3y agoWhat do you think the minimum complexity would be before an animal can show a personality?
- getwiththeprog 3y agoSomewhere between mosquito and lizard.
- DEADMINCE 3y agoSo, let's define personality. I think this definition[[0] from the APA Dictionary of Psychology makes sense: Personality is any person's collection of interrelated behavioral, cognitive and emotional patterns that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life. Now, let's define 'cognitive'. For that we'll rely on Merriam-Webster. Their definition[1] says: of, relating to, being, or involving conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering) So, at a minimum I think a being needs to be capable of reasoning to have a personality. The shorter answer is I think a personality can be a combination of innate behavioral traits, but it also has to be things like temperament, likes, dislikes, to some extent skills, and similar things shaped in part by environment. [0] https://dictionary.apa.org/personality https://dictionary.apa.org/personality [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive
- rqtwteye 3y agoHow do you know chickens aren’t reasoning about things?
- DEADMINCE 3y agoPretty much the same reason I know there isn't a pink teapot orbiting Jupiter. In this case though we have decades of research into chicken cognition and nothing to indicate they have self-awareness or an ability to reason. The simplest answer is not that chickens have personalities, but that some humans anthropomorphize chickens.
- rqtwteye 3y agoI am not anthropomorphizing chickens. I think they live in a different world, have different interests and think about different things than humans.
- DEADMINCE 3y agoThat you are assigning them capabilities that humans have, but research has not indicated chickens do, I would say you are indeed anthropomorphizing chickens. Can you support your stance with research rather than anecdotal observations?
- rqtwteye 3y agoThat’s like old fashioned biology when people thought only humans have consciousness and other animals are just mindless machines.
- DEADMINCE 3y agoThey are clearly not just automata but they are not self-aware either.