- #1
MathJakob
- 161
- 5
What allows us to "ask the question"
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that animals such as cats, dogs and monkeys all think about stuff but can they ask themselves questions.
For example cats spend most of their time outside, they're out when it's light, and out when it's dark, but what stops a cat from thinking 'why is it dark?' or 'what is that orange thing in the sky?'
When it rains I know my dog likes to sit in the armchair and look out the window, I find it hard to to think that a dog is incapable of thinking 'why is it raining or what is that water, where is it coming from'
Some of you might think this is a stupid thread as you already know the answer, you'll probably tell me conciousness but is there a part of the brain which we have that animals don't, or a part of the brain which is much more complex?
I always thought that the ability to ask a question is what separates intelligent animals from non-intelligent. Simply thinking of a question on your brain will lead you think derive a possible solution.
Or do animals simply not think? That can't be true because animals make decisions and those decisions must be based on thoughts or ideas rather than pure instinct.
Sometimes my cat goes to the back door, sometimes it goes to the front door, the back door leads to lots of other gardens while the front door doesn't Something must spark the cats decision on which door to want to go out from.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that animals such as cats, dogs and monkeys all think about stuff but can they ask themselves questions.
For example cats spend most of their time outside, they're out when it's light, and out when it's dark, but what stops a cat from thinking 'why is it dark?' or 'what is that orange thing in the sky?'
When it rains I know my dog likes to sit in the armchair and look out the window, I find it hard to to think that a dog is incapable of thinking 'why is it raining or what is that water, where is it coming from'
Some of you might think this is a stupid thread as you already know the answer, you'll probably tell me conciousness but is there a part of the brain which we have that animals don't, or a part of the brain which is much more complex?
I always thought that the ability to ask a question is what separates intelligent animals from non-intelligent. Simply thinking of a question on your brain will lead you think derive a possible solution.
Or do animals simply not think? That can't be true because animals make decisions and those decisions must be based on thoughts or ideas rather than pure instinct.
Sometimes my cat goes to the back door, sometimes it goes to the front door, the back door leads to lots of other gardens while the front door doesn't Something must spark the cats decision on which door to want to go out from.