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Why are there no other species that can grasp even the most basic fundamentals of mathematics or that seek to record a history.
Did we just wipe out the competion?

2007-01-25 08:29:44 · 7 answers · asked by Ignorant is i. 2 in Science & Mathematics Biology

7 answers

We are at the top of the evolutionary scale with respect to brain capacity and activity. (At least on our planet!)
Most of the lower order animals, do not have the same size brain in relation to their body as we do. Even those that have a large brain, don't have the same development in the areas that affect intelligence.
And due to evolution itself, they have only developed in the areas which help them the most. In the case of the cockroach, how hard is it to find food, run when the light comes on or air moves, and breed at a rate of birth-to-death in 2 weeks? Obviously they haven't needed to evolve very much!!!
However, your reference to "record a history", does not give credit to the evolutionary "recording of history" that has happened. Since humans are predators of almost all living animal species, the "fear of man" has been recorded in their history but it happens to be genetic. They just know we're the enemy, but since it isn't written history, they never had to read it to learn it.

Personally, I'm not so sure that we are "so much more intelligent than our animal brethren" even with our brain capacity. Take this example for instance and think about it:
During deer season, there are numerous deer available for hunters to kill. Even so, most hunters after sitting in a tree stand all season, will be lucky to come back with the limit (I'll say 3-5 just to make this easy). This is not because the deer aren't there, it's because they outsmart the hunters, because genetics have given them the survival instinct.
Now take their "so much smarter human brethren". A crack-head with a gun runs into the convenience store and waves the gun around. Chances are very good that he'll bag his limit (up to 10-15 people) in 3-5 minutes due to panic and stupidity on the customer's part. We just don't have the same survival instinct to have seen that danger coming as the deer did, nor did we react in a way that saved our lives.

2007-01-25 08:45:02 · answer #1 · answered by Goyo 6 · 0 0

Animals survive by their intelligence.Animals don't pollute.You seldom see an overweight animal,unless it is a family pet. Animals kill only what they can eat.Animals have a social order so they can co-exist with each other. Animals can communicate with each other. Look at the penguin and what it endures to keep the egg safe until it hatches.Both the male and female contribute to the survival of the baby, each knows its job. Animals teach their young how to survive. We hear on the news how a female dog has nursed another species of animal because the mother has died.. . Dogs can be trained to assist the blind, the hearing impaired and to be companion animals. Dogs work with the police force and go on search and rescue missions . Horses have been used to provide therapy and mobility for disabled children.Animals kill for survival not power. I've read of pet's waking up their master and alerting them to a danger such as fire. A mother cat repeatedly re-entered a burning building to save her litter of kittens.You are correct that man is able to record his history.Read man's history and some of it proves that we have much to be ashamed of.Who is truly superior?

2007-01-25 08:54:08 · answer #2 · answered by gussie 7 · 0 0

You're going to get a lof of answers that say, "Oh, ARE they??", seeing what man has done to Earth.

What differentiates man from animals (so far, as of this writing!) is our ability to do symbolic thinking, which includes written language. Man is not unique in having language at all, many other species such as the Great Plains ground dogs have been shown to possess quite sophisicated vocabularies. I believe the reason why man developed symbolic think is that it was a consequence of our ability to use tools and make markings. Then we began to think about our own markings, just as we had thought about other things in nature. No other species had ever reached that point, in that very few species are even tool users to begin with, much less mark things with tools. Our sophisication with tools was dependent our the evolution of our hands, which facilitated the use of them.

2007-01-25 08:45:10 · answer #3 · answered by Scythian1950 7 · 0 0

Maybe so, for the moment. Read Kurt Vonnegut's "Galapagos" sometime. In it, he questions whether our large brains are really that helpful to us as a species, from an evolutionary question.

Our large brains have given us atomic weapons, global wars, genetically modified crops, food products with no nutritional value, religious extremism and network television.

2007-01-25 08:39:58 · answer #4 · answered by Jeff 3 · 0 0

That's where God comes in.

2007-01-25 11:56:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

vanity

can you sleep all winter?

Ob1

2007-01-25 09:03:41 · answer #6 · answered by old_brain 5 · 0 0

Oh ARE they!!!!

2007-01-25 08:49:30 · answer #7 · answered by Billy T 5 · 0 0

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