Throughout the animal kingdom, from the simplest creature to the most complex, some form of communication takes place. Although most of us think of it in terms of sound, actually there are four methods of communication—auditory (sound), visual (sight), tactile (touch), and chemical (smell and taste). https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/nonpwdpubs/young_naturalist/animals/chemical_communication/#:~:text=Throughout%20the%20animal%20kingdom%2C%20from,chemical%20(smell%20and%20taste).
Nature or nurture? Why not both? Instinct - nature - given, but any pet owner can recite occasions when the animal exhibited evidence of rational thinking. My guess is that the both killing and mistreatment of animals makes it a necessity to resist acknowledging their "personhood." — tim wood
In mathematics, a rational function is any function that can be defined by a rational fraction, which is an algebraic fraction such that both the numerator and the denominator are polynomials. The coefficients of the polynomials need not be rational numbers; they may be taken in any field K. In this case, one speaks of a rational function and a rational fraction over K. The values of the variables may be taken in any field L containing K. Then the domain of the function is the set of the values of the variables for which the denominator is not zero, and the codomain is L.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_function
By "evidence of rational thinking" I have in mind that animals can learn and having learned appear to apply what they have learned, replicating the actions of their lesson learned to obtain a desired result. But a greater challenge to you is for an account of "problem solving" by animals - and that won't be easy. Perhaps a start would be a quick description of the process.What do you mean by rational thinking? I have no doubt that animals are good at problem-solving. — Athena
In Feeling and Knowing: Making Minds Conscious, Antonio Damasio writes:Question: Is an animal's response the result of rationally thinking through a communication or something else? — Athena
andIntelligence, in the general perspective of all living organisms, signifies the ability to resolve successfully the problems posed by the struggle for life. — Damasio
It's a long road between that non-explicit competences type of intelligence and human intelligence. Difficult to know when/where rational thinking begins.We know that the most numerous living organisms on earth are unicellular, such as bacteria. Are they intelligent? Indeed they are, remarkably so. Do they have minds? No, they do not, I believe, and neither do they have consciousness. They are autonomous creatures; they clearly have a form of “cognition” relative to their environment, and yet, instead of depending on minds and consciousness, they rely on non-explicit competences—based on molecular and sub-molecular processes—that govern their lives efficiently according to the dictates of homeostasis. — Damasio
To think rationally is to use (valid) reasons for your actions. If an animal can learn new information that it was not born with (instincts) and use that information in a way that provides some advantage to its survival then we could say that it is capable of rationally thinking. For instance, my cat has learned some English words like, "treat" and "outside", and has even learned to communicate to me her needs to receive treats and to go outside even though she does not have the ability to say those words. Rational thinking provides the ability for the animal to make predictions using the patterns it has experienced in its environment.Question: Is an animal's response the result of rationally thinking through a communication or something else? — Athena
Is natural selection a rational process?It's a long road between that non-explicit competences type of intelligence and human intelligence. Difficult to know when/where rational thinking begins. — Patterner
I don't know. Rational processes have come into being through it. Does that make it a rational process?Is natural selection a rational process? — Harry Hindu
By "evidence of rational thinking" I have in mind that animals can learn and having learned appear to apply what they have learned, replicating the actions of their lesson learned to obtain a desired result. But a greater challenge to you is for an account of "problem solving" by animals - and that won't be easy. Perhaps a start would be a quick description of the process. — tim wood
To think rationally is to use (valid) reasons for your actions. If an animal can learn new information that it was not born with (instincts) and use that information in a way that provides some advantage to its survival then we could say that it is capable of rationally thinking. For instance, my cat has learned some English words like, "treat" and "outside", and has even learned to communicate to me her needs to receive treats and to go outside even though she does not have the ability to say those words. Rational thinking provides the ability for the animal to make predictions using the patterns it has experienced in its environment. — Harry Hindu
I don't know. Rational processes have come into being through it. Does that make it a rational process? — Patterner
You read emails, they read peemails.When I walked my dog, I decided his sniffing was equal to humans reading a newspaper and that made me more patient as I waited for him to move on. — Athena
Just as we, they try to be rational. That helps them to survive. Information like what is food, where is food and predators and how to avoid them (or kill them) that can kill you are important.Question: Is an animal's response the result of rationally thinking through a communication or something else? — Athena
I don't think so. Certain things can and cannot happen in this universe, due to its properties and laws. For example, a human cannot live if it is born with its heart outside its body. At least not without extreme medical intervention, and not before such intervention was possible. I don't see how it is rational for this to happen.↪Patterner If we can explain the workings of the universe if a logical way and logic permits us to acquire some truth about the universe, does that mean that all the processes in the universe are logical or rational? — Harry Hindu
No, for the above reason.In a deterministic universe would it be safe to say that all processes are rational, — Harry Hindu
Under relatively simple conditions, yes. We can calculate where Pluto will be in a hundred years. But we cannot predict what mutations to human DNA will take place at any point in the future. Or how many children my son will have, or if any will be poets, cure cancer, or be a mass murderer.and as such we are able to determine causes from observed effects and predict effects from observed causes? — Harry Hindu
No. It is not reason that they use, although they can be described as intelligent.Question: Is an animal's response the result of rationally thinking through a communication or something else? — Athena
Animals do not put together an argument to arrive at a conclusion. A valid/sound conclusion is the goal when one is engaged in reasoning. For example, if I have some information on the chance that it's going to rain this morning -- atmosphere, clouds, radar -- I can conclude validly that it's going to rain this morning. — L'éléphant
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