The purring cat and the squeaking mouse, like every other life form capable of thought, whether simple or complex, relies on rationality to survive, cats have to be rational to capture rats and rats, similarly, have to be rational to escape cats. — TheMadFool
I'm afraid not. Although we can't look inside the minds of cats and rats, we can draw reasonable inferences from their behavior, one being that they behave rationally and, germane to this discussion, irrationally too.Can't we flat out reject this? — Nils Loc
If this fails to convince you, the theme of this thread - it's rational to be irrational or it's irrational to be rational (sometimes) - is transferable to humans. — TheMadFool
neither rational or irrational — Nils Loc
I'm deeply intrigued by this claim. Can you edify me on this most fascinating idea of "neither rational nor irrational"? — TheMadFool
Just being wary of transferring aspects of human experience (reasoning in abstract) to animals. — Nils Loc
Is there a difference, a distinction, between youre behavior (in the jungle) and the rat Y's behavior (in the scenario described in the OP) in terms of information available for deduction (a sound) and the deduction made (defensive behavior)? No! — TheMadFool
what is going on in the mind of a rat? — Nils Loc
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