Inside the minds of animals - Bryan B Rasmussen
-
0:06 - 0:10Your dog loves to curl up on the couch,
but so do you, -
0:10 - 0:14so you shoo him off
and settle in for a cozy evening. -
0:14 - 0:16After all, you're the human around here.
-
0:16 - 0:19You're an intelligent being,
not a simple creature of instinct. -
0:19 - 0:23You can plan and dream, and oh-
-
0:23 - 0:26Did your dog just outsmart you
and feel happy about it? -
0:26 - 0:28Or was he just following his instincts?
-
0:28 - 0:30Is there even a difference?
-
0:30 - 0:32What is he thinking?
-
0:32 - 0:34Well, it depends on
what we mean by "thinking" -
0:34 - 0:38and the criteria we use to evaluate it.
-
0:38 - 0:42Aristotle and Descartes both use
the criteria of instinct and intelligence -
0:42 - 0:45to divide animals from humans.
-
0:45 - 0:48Aristotle believed
that humans possess reason, -
0:48 - 0:53while animals could only follow brute
instincts for survival and reproduction. -
0:53 - 0:55Almost 2000 years later,
-
0:55 - 1:00Descartes suggested
a more extreme version of that idea, -
1:00 - 1:04arguing that animals following instincts
were indistinguishable -
1:04 - 1:09from robots responding mechanically
to stimuli in their environments. -
1:09 - 1:13But the consensus against animal
intelligence began to unravel -
1:13 - 1:16with Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
-
1:16 - 1:21Darwin hypothesized that intelligence
could evolve from simpler instincts. -
1:21 - 1:26He had observed earthworms making choices
about how to drag oddly shaped leaves -
1:26 - 1:27into their boroughs,
-
1:27 - 1:33and was struck that a human might employ
similar means to solve a similar problem. -
1:33 - 1:37And if, as he thought, humans
are descended from simpler creatures, -
1:37 - 1:42then perhaps our minds lie
at the far end of a continuum, -
1:42 - 1:47differing from theirs in degree,
but not in kind. -
1:47 - 1:51Recent experiments showing that many
species can solve complex problems -
1:51 - 1:54confirm Darwin's initial hypothesis.
-
1:54 - 1:57Elephants use objects to reach
inaccessible places. -
1:57 - 1:59Crows make their own tools,
-
1:59 - 2:03and can use water displacement
to get a reward. -
2:03 - 2:07Octopuses can open jars
after watching others do so, -
2:07 - 2:10and can even remember
the process months later. -
2:10 - 2:13Such tasks involve considering
aspects of a problem -
2:13 - 2:19separately from the immediate situation,
and retaining the strategy for later use. -
2:19 - 2:22Still, while animals
can solve complex problems, -
2:22 - 2:26how do we know what, or even that,
they are thinking? -
2:26 - 2:30Behaviorists, such as Pavlov
and Thorndike, argue -
2:30 - 2:32that animals that appear to think
-
2:32 - 2:36are usually only responding
to reward or punishment. -
2:36 - 2:38This was the case with Clever Hans,
-
2:38 - 2:43a horse with the amazing ability
to tap out answers to math problems. -
2:43 - 2:47But it turns out Hans
wasn't especially good at math, -
2:47 - 2:52but at reading his unwitting
trainer's subtle nonverbal cues -
2:52 - 2:55for when to stop tapping.
-
2:55 - 2:59So Hans couldn't count,
but does that mean he wasn't thinking? -
2:59 - 3:02After all, he could interpret
nuanced social messages, -
3:02 - 3:06a quality he shared with many other
non-human animals. -
3:06 - 3:10Elephants recognize each other
after years apart, -
3:10 - 3:13and even seem to mourn their dead.
-
3:13 - 3:16Bees communicate
using a special waggle dance -
3:16 - 3:21to indicate the location and quality
of a food source to other bees. -
3:21 - 3:25Chimpanzees engage
in complex deception schemes, -
3:25 - 3:30suggesting not only do they think,
but they understand that others do, too. -
3:30 - 3:32And then there is Alex the Grey Parrot,
-
3:32 - 3:34who could use human language
-
3:34 - 3:37to distinguish the colors
and shapes of absent objects, -
3:37 - 3:43and even understand abstract concepts,
like bigger and smaller. -
3:43 - 3:45That sounds a lot like intelligence,
-
3:45 - 3:48and not just the work
of mindless machines. -
3:48 - 3:52But while a non-human animal can solve
problems and even communicate, -
3:52 - 3:56for humans, thinking
also involves consciousness, -
3:56 - 4:01the ability to reflect on our actions,
not simply to perform them. -
4:01 - 4:06So far, none of our studies tell us
if having the intelligence to outsmart us -
4:06 - 4:11means that our dog
can also feel good about doing so. -
4:11 - 4:15What we really want to know is
what is it like to be a dog, -
4:15 - 4:16or an octopus,
-
4:16 - 4:18or a crow?
-
4:18 - 4:21Philosophers of mind call this
The Hard Problem, -
4:21 - 4:24because while you and I can report
what it feels like to be a human, -
4:24 - 4:26nobody speaks horse.
-
4:26 - 4:28Even a talking parrot, like Alex,
-
4:28 - 4:33couldn't tell us how he feels
about the colors he could name. -
4:33 - 4:35And what if consciousness
comes in different forms? -
4:35 - 4:39Would we even recognize
the consciousness of bees? -
4:39 - 4:44For that matter, how can we know for sure
that other people have consciouness? -
4:44 - 4:47Perhaps they're just
well-functioning zombies. -
4:47 - 4:51Regardless, animal minds continue to test
the limits of our understanding -
4:51 - 4:57and how we frame them may reveal more
about our minds than theirs.
- Title:
- Inside the minds of animals - Bryan B Rasmussen
- Description:
-
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/inside-the-minds-of-animals-bryan-b-rasmussen
Do animals think? It’s a question that has intrigued scientists for thousands of years, inspiring them to come up with different methods and criteria to measure the intelligence of animals. Bryan B Rasmussen navigates through this controversial question, showing how determining intelligence often says more about how humans think than about anything else.
Lesson by Bryan B Rasmussen, animation by Mike Schell.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 05:13
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Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for Inside the minds of animals - Bryan B Rasmussen | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for Inside the minds of animals - Bryan B Rasmussen | ||
Jennifer Cody edited English subtitles for Inside the minds of animals - Bryan B Rasmussen | ||
Jennifer Cody edited English subtitles for Inside the minds of animals - Bryan B Rasmussen |