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A review by warzala
The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
3.0
I've read a few books on animal intelligence, and I feel unconvinced. This book is not bad (certainly much better than Soul of an Octopus, a truly awful piece of garbage), but I think it makes two common mistakes. The first is anthropomorphizing animals. My favorite example is from jays "cheating on their partners" which requires a lot of intelligence of terms of not getting caught. Maybe they're just spreading their DNA? Maybe they just be sluts. There's no reason to think that the birds are trying not to "get caught" but the author imagines a soap opera where the birds are carefully crafting romantic trysts with one another, so bird smart.
Second is that the examples of intelligence are only impressive if you start from the assumption that the animals are dumb to begin with. If you start from the position of "evolution crafted this behavior for a very particular reason that we might not understand yet, but there is a reason." If a crow solves a puzzle, is it consciously planning everything out and imagining a blueprint in its mind, or is this just following a evolutionary response to not starving to death?
In general, these books never really get past the initial hurdle of "what is intelligence?" You can make the definition as broad or narrow as you want just to say that anything or anyone is intelligent.
Second is that the examples of intelligence are only impressive if you start from the assumption that the animals are dumb to begin with. If you start from the position of "evolution crafted this behavior for a very particular reason that we might not understand yet, but there is a reason." If a crow solves a puzzle, is it consciously planning everything out and imagining a blueprint in its mind, or is this just following a evolutionary response to not starving to death?
In general, these books never really get past the initial hurdle of "what is intelligence?" You can make the definition as broad or narrow as you want just to say that anything or anyone is intelligent.