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A review by kevin_shepherd
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal
5.0
“When any hypothesis... is advanced to explain a mental operation, which is common to men and beasts, we must apply the same hypothesis to both.” ~David Hume, 1739
Humans have underestimated the complexity and sophistication of animal minds for far too long. Like a select minority of his predecessors, Frans de Waal is a voice of reason - pitting fair and balanced rationale against the antiquated ideology of anthropocentrism.
“Although we cannot directly measure consciousness, other species show evidence of having precisely those capacities traditionally viewed as its indicators. To maintain that they possess these capacities in the absence of consciousness introduces an unnecessary dichotomy. It suggests that they do what we do but in fundamentally different ways. From an evolutionary standpoint, this sounds illogical. And logic is one of those other capacities we pride ourselves on.” (pg 234)
For a long time now I have been a volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation facility here in Oklahoma (wildcareoklahoma.org). Over the years I have seen firsthand a few of the behaviors de Waal writes about (we work with a LOT of crows!). Whereas nothing lifts my spirits more than seeing a recuperated animal released back into its natural environment, nothing saddens me more than the human indifference for the welfare of that animal. There is a pervasive attitude around these parts that we humans are the center of the universe and that things like self awareness, compassion, empathy and grief are somehow divinely endowed to us and us alone. If you have ever advocated on behalf of animals then you know what I am talking about and you really need to read de Waal, like right now.
“I can’t count the number of times I have been called naïve, romantic, soft, unscientific, anthropomorphic, anecdotal, or just a sloppy thinker for proposing that primates follow political strategies, reconcile after fights, empathize with others, or understand the social world around them. Based on a lifetime of firsthand experience, none of these claims seemed particularly audacious to me.” (pg 265)
Humans have underestimated the complexity and sophistication of animal minds for far too long. Like a select minority of his predecessors, Frans de Waal is a voice of reason - pitting fair and balanced rationale against the antiquated ideology of anthropocentrism.
“Although we cannot directly measure consciousness, other species show evidence of having precisely those capacities traditionally viewed as its indicators. To maintain that they possess these capacities in the absence of consciousness introduces an unnecessary dichotomy. It suggests that they do what we do but in fundamentally different ways. From an evolutionary standpoint, this sounds illogical. And logic is one of those other capacities we pride ourselves on.” (pg 234)
For a long time now I have been a volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation facility here in Oklahoma (wildcareoklahoma.org). Over the years I have seen firsthand a few of the behaviors de Waal writes about (we work with a LOT of crows!). Whereas nothing lifts my spirits more than seeing a recuperated animal released back into its natural environment, nothing saddens me more than the human indifference for the welfare of that animal. There is a pervasive attitude around these parts that we humans are the center of the universe and that things like self awareness, compassion, empathy and grief are somehow divinely endowed to us and us alone. If you have ever advocated on behalf of animals then you know what I am talking about and you really need to read de Waal, like right now.
“I can’t count the number of times I have been called naïve, romantic, soft, unscientific, anthropomorphic, anecdotal, or just a sloppy thinker for proposing that primates follow political strategies, reconcile after fights, empathize with others, or understand the social world around them. Based on a lifetime of firsthand experience, none of these claims seemed particularly audacious to me.” (pg 265)