If A Lion Could Talk
Created | Updated Jun 26, 2005
Book Review: (part of the Popular Science Book Project - A4166336)
If A Lion Could Talk (How Animals Think) - Stephen Budiansky
A well-written book looking at the skills and limits of animal perception and possible kinds of animal minds, this book is a very accessible read for the non-scientific reader.
A good case is made for taking care when evaluating the capabilities of animals, to avoid researchers associating intelligence exclusively with a human interpretation (ignoring animal talents that humans don't possess), and also avoiding ascribing too much thought to the actions of animals when much simpler explanations would suffice.
Fervent believers in the near-human communication skills of our close evolutionary relatives, or of a continuum of intelligence in which humans are not particularly special may find their views somewhat challenged by this book. However, people who see animals as mindless automatons may also find little support. As usual, the truth lies tangled up somewhere between the extremes, and much can be gained from an attempt to unravel it.
Since animals are the product of a huge amount of evolution, it shouldn't be surprising that they are broadly as smart as they need to be, and if many apparently intelligent tasks can be accomplished by simple learning mechanisms and minimal reasoning, it needn't diminish our sense of wonder at just what can be done with limited hardware, nor make us feel too superior when we may well be using very similar techniques much of the time ourselves, even if we are smart enough to be able to think up more brilliant explanations after the event.
The ultimately conclusion is that there is a serious difference between humans and even quite outwardly similar creatures, even if it is one due not so much to raw brainpower, but to the transformative power of particular mental circuits, for language and higher consciousness
Other recommended reading:
Daniel Dennett - Consciousness Explained, Kinds Of Minds
Stephen Pinker - The Language Instinct, How The Mind Works
If A Lion Could Talk (How Animals Think) - Stephen Budiansky
A well-written book looking at the skills and limits of animal perception and possible kinds of animal minds, this book is a very accessible read for the non-scientific reader.
A good case is made for taking care when evaluating the capabilities of animals, to avoid researchers associating intelligence exclusively with a human interpretation (ignoring animal talents that humans don't possess), and also avoiding ascribing too much thought to the actions of animals when much simpler explanations would suffice.
Fervent believers in the near-human communication skills of our close evolutionary relatives, or of a continuum of intelligence in which humans are not particularly special may find their views somewhat challenged by this book. However, people who see animals as mindless automatons may also find little support. As usual, the truth lies tangled up somewhere between the extremes, and much can be gained from an attempt to unravel it.
Since animals are the product of a huge amount of evolution, it shouldn't be surprising that they are broadly as smart as they need to be, and if many apparently intelligent tasks can be accomplished by simple learning mechanisms and minimal reasoning, it needn't diminish our sense of wonder at just what can be done with limited hardware, nor make us feel too superior when we may well be using very similar techniques much of the time ourselves, even if we are smart enough to be able to think up more brilliant explanations after the event.
The ultimately conclusion is that there is a serious difference between humans and even quite outwardly similar creatures, even if it is one due not so much to raw brainpower, but to the transformative power of particular mental circuits, for language and higher consciousness
Other recommended reading:
Daniel Dennett - Consciousness Explained, Kinds Of Minds
Stephen Pinker - The Language Instinct, How The Mind Works
