Do animals THINK or they just react?

Question

Many people believe that animals can Think, but... well what would you say? they do or they dont?

Answer 1

Since they are lower life forms than humans, they rely on the limbic system of their brains....the place where fear, anger, and primal instincts reside. Only humans have developed a cerebral cortex...the logical and rational thinking part of our brains.

BTW, humans still rely on their own primitive limbic systems when it comes to fight or flight responses, anger, deep emotions and yes...the irrational religious belief systems.

Answer 2

Some think, some don't. Obviously an animal like a jellyfish, that has no brain, can't think, but more complex animals, such as lizards, cats, dogs, humans, have a degree of thought, some more so than others. If you've ever watched a cat closely when It's trying to figure something out, or a dog when it's confused by a trick, you can no doubt tell that these animals can think. Humans aren't the only animals that have the ability to think. If we were, it would be a very boring world.

Answer 3

You obviously haven't been around many animals. Animals not only think, they scheme. They not only scheme within their own species, but you'll find dogs and cats cooperating with each other to get a human to do something.

One gal I knew had a dog and a cat who were the ENFORCERS in the trailer court. The dog (a toy poodle) would go find the big dog that needed to be taught a lesson and lead him back. He was the bait.

Now the cat was a Siamese and he'd be perched on the trailer hitch waiting for the poodle to go by with the big dog behind him. When the poodle ran by, the cat would launch himself on to the big dog and dig in with all claws and teeth. He'd ride that big dog home, clawing him all the way.

A little far out, right? Maybe it was an accident. Nope. The poodle went and got the other big dog and they repeated it. Planned actions. Animals think.

Answer 4

I agree with many of the answers, The more complex animals certainly think. Many of the lower ones (say bugs)have very limited thoughts or perhaps just reactions. Go the the light - pretty light - happy bug . Even one celled photosynthetic critters have that basic thought/reaction.

How much are they aware of them self? Do they fear, do they love. Some seem to.
To what extent are they aware of death? Some love and grieve partners (I think of elephants who have been document to revisit "burial" sites of partners for years.

My best guess is that they do not feel they need a purpose in life and that is one separation from humans.

Answer 5

i believe that animals react in much similar ways that humans do. humans are, in fact, animals. if a human mind is capable of thought, then what is the difference in the mind of an animal that makes them incapable of thought?
on the contrary, if you say that animals only react, then is it possible that we as humans only "react" as well. thought is just an illusion, and really our 'thinking' is just a series of reactions, one after another after another. but personally i dont believe this is the case.
i believe that, because the human mind is capable of thought and also capable of the thought process, (for example, you do not place your hand on a hot stove becuase you know it will cause pain, even if you are cold. if you did not have that thought process, you would just react to your body being cold and wanting to warm up, therefore resulting in a burn.) and because we are animals.. then animals are perfectly capable of the thought process as well.

in conclusion... or if you just didnt want to read that whole shpiel.... animals CAN think.

Answer 6

Even if animals merely "react", reaction is a form of thinking. In fact, all thought is in some sense or another a form of reaction, some being simple forms of reaction, some being complex. But all thoughts that we have follow a causal chain. So, for example, you look at the sky and notice on overcast . . . in "reaction" to this observation you think, "hmmm . . . looks like it is going to rain."

Some thoughts are "reactions" to other thoughts. For example, you think, "what is 3 x 24?" -- and this thought no doubt a reaction to something that caused you to need to caluculate such -- and then in "reaction" to that thought you think, "72".

So thought can be a reaction to stimuli, observation, or a reaction to other thoughts. Thought can also be a "reaction" to unconscious impulses, or a reaction to feelings. But fundamentally, all thought always has some cause. In this sense, thought isn't essentially any different than mere impulses, which are also reactions of a sort, except by degree of complexity.

So I imagine it is really in the degree of complexity that human thought differs from animal thought. Nevertheless, whether we are reacting to a question on Yahoo! Answers, or whether a dog or cat is reacting to being called for dinner, both are essentially reactions, one merely being far more complex than the other.

Furthermore, human beings share many thoughts in common with animals, we can already in a sense imagine how animals think by looking at our more "primitive" thoughts . . . for example, when we see a beautiful woman (assuming we are attracted to women) and thinking nonverbally (i.e., without actually thinking the words) to ourself something to the effect of "I'd like to her", or when we are hungry and thinking, again, nonverbally, "I'd like something to eat."

But it does seem fairly clear that animals don't think using abstract concepts, the way human beings do. Thus their thinking is vastly more limited. For a dog, for example, such a thing as money or the idea of art makes no sense, as those concepts depend on the higher mind which is capable of abstraction.

Nevertheless, it does seem clear that animals do, in some sense, think.

Answer 7

When weighing intelligence many difficult things are encountered. The following is my experience:

I have many dogs, and I have found this to be true:

If intelligence is divided into distinct areas, then

1. it may be seen that where human areas overlap exactly the animal intelligence area, our logic is nearly or exactly alike!

2. where there is no overlapping, the animal is totally unable to process the information that we have no trouble processing. (One could say that these areas are blind spots)

3. in a few areas where intelligence overlaps, it is sometimes seen that the intelligence is there and even the desire to comply, but physical limitations caused by differences of construction make compliance to a set human way of coping beyond the animals ability. That might of course apply reversely.

If animals didn't have highly developed logic in specific areas they wouldn't be able to survive on their own.

Answer 8

It depends on the kind of animal; some are reptilians, some mammalians, some equipped with higher brains:

1. Higher-brained: human beings. Answer is obvious.

2. Mammalians: monkeys, cows, etc. I believe they do.

3. Reptilian whose brains are do not have the upper layer; the nooks and crannies, but a reptilian brain. I think they do not.

4. Other living forms like sea corals. I think they do not.

Good luck!

Answer 9

We know that animals (cats, dogs) dream...we can tell when they're asleep as they move their legs and make certain sounds.

Dreams are manifestations of the active brain of a thinking animal or human being.

Answer 10

I've heard it said that people respond to symbols and animal respond only to signs. What this means is when you say "Bob," everybody thinks of Bob because his name symbolizes him, but Bob's dog thinks "Bob, where's bob?" Animals think, but it's a much more basic level- just like how they communicate, they can signal danger or food, or help, but not "i'll meet you behind the house after dark." they think in signs.