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Elephants are one of the smartest animals, possessing self-awareness and metacognition, an extreme rarity in the animal kingdom. They are one of the few species

Elephants are one of the smartest animals, possessing self-awareness and metacognition, an extreme rarity in the animal kingdom. They are one of the few species to make art and mourn and bury their dead. That they have unique identifiers is not a surprise at all.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> one of the few species to make art Source?
- defrost 2y ago
  They're also one of the few species to build roads and bridges. I suspect the quiet part of the three assertions is "under human supervision". You can certainly visit various zoos and purchase art by elephants and watch them paint with brushes on large canvases. Typically less dense than a Jackson Pollack and less use of spaghetti than a Pro Hart* carpet. ( * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qb4n8yc2so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qb4n8yc2so )
  - ab5tract 2y ago
    Fun fact: Bison created deep, wide grooves in the plains and prairies that were subsequently used by the settlers moving west in their wagons.
- pvaldes 2y ago
  Assuming that the videos are real, elephants on zoos had being recorded painting scenes on canvasses that aren't completely abstract. They are trained to paint to please visitors, but curiously they seem to enjoy drawing trees. Is not clear to me if they just parrot the training or really try to send a message or draw some scene that they find instinctively pleasant. (but wouldn't be strange having in mind their intelligence).
Log_out_ 2y ago
How do they react to complex reveals? Google earth + ZOOM on a tablet? A video of evolutionary development and history?
- Log_out_ 2y ago
  Why is that controversial, the ability to recognize a map and handle the revealed absteaction via a zoom slider is a great tool to observe cognitive flexibility..
  - g15jv2dp 2y ago
    Show a human from 300 AD a tablet with google earth and zoom, and they'd have no idea wtf is going on. It's not about intelligence.
    - Log_out_ 2y ago
      They can recognize the surroundings, move to places they visited on the "magic" map and display curiosity towards the wider world and its shape.
  - tzarko 2y ago
    Using google earth on a tablet along with a zoom slider as a way of measuring cognition is the most HN take I’ve seen in a while.
waste_monk 2y ago
It's said that they never forget, and they never forgive.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> one of the few species to make art Source?

defrost 2y ago
They're also one of the few species to build roads and bridges. I suspect the quiet part of the three assertions is "under human supervision". You can certainly visit various zoos and purchase art by elephants and watch them paint with brushes on large canvases. Typically less dense than a Jackson Pollack and less use of spaghetti than a Pro Hart* carpet. ( * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qb4n8yc2so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qb4n8yc2so )
- ab5tract 2y ago
  Fun fact: Bison created deep, wide grooves in the plains and prairies that were subsequently used by the settlers moving west in their wagons.
pvaldes 2y ago
Assuming that the videos are real, elephants on zoos had being recorded painting scenes on canvasses that aren't completely abstract. They are trained to paint to please visitors, but curiously they seem to enjoy drawing trees. Is not clear to me if they just parrot the training or really try to send a message or draw some scene that they find instinctively pleasant. (but wouldn't be strange having in mind their intelligence).

Log_out_ 2y ago

How do they react to complex reveals? Google earth + ZOOM on a tablet? A video of evolutionary development and history?

Log_out_ 2y ago
Why is that controversial, the ability to recognize a map and handle the revealed absteaction via a zoom slider is a great tool to observe cognitive flexibility..
- g15jv2dp 2y ago
  Show a human from 300 AD a tablet with google earth and zoom, and they'd have no idea wtf is going on. It's not about intelligence.
  - Log_out_ 2y ago
    They can recognize the surroundings, move to places they visited on the "magic" map and display curiosity towards the wider world and its shape.
- tzarko 2y ago
  Using google earth on a tablet along with a zoom slider as a way of measuring cognition is the most HN take I’ve seen in a while.

waste_monk 2y ago

It's said that they never forget, and they never forgive.