Animal Intellect

By Sarah B.

From what we as humans know, animals do not continually over-analyze things. A zebra looks at a plant and apparently accepts it as one. If he is hungry, and has seen other zebras eat it before, then so will he. He does not have an issue with gluttony or the other six deadly sins.

When I meditate, I find it hard to just slip into my higher self. Instead, I analyze the fact that I am closing my eyes that my left hand itches, that a piece of hair fell in my face. It is so difficult to just let my mind go. Animals do not seem to have that problem.

People communicate with other species often. We do so by making the animals understand commands. This creates a very one way conversation. For example, we use a form of sign language to tell dolphins what to do. Dolphins though, do not have hands, so we give them no chance to tell us anything.

Some people are trying to change this. According to the March 2008 issue of Time Magazine, a woman named Irene Pepperberg conversed with a parrot named Alex until his death at 31 years old. She taught him basic English in an attempt to learn more about how a parrot sees the world. Pepperberg discovered that the parrot could differentiate between colors, numbers, and shapes. Though those discoveries are interesting, Alex’s creativity is the most exciting breakthrough. Pepperberg said, “Apples taste a bit like bananas to him, and they look a little bit like cherries, so Alex made up a word for them: ‘ban-erry.’” It takes a mind set on more than survival to be creative.

There are so many possible thoughts in the mind of an animal. They appear to be simple, so it is very easy to assume animals are inferior to humans in nature, rather than our equals. What if in this simplicity, they have as much to teach us as we have to teach them?

In nature, dolphins are known to synchronize jumps and flips on their own. Louis Herman, a man who did a study on dolphins, created a relationship with a pair of dolphins he was working with and tried to encourage them to do this in the pool they were working in. After teaching them a sign for “create,” he asked the dolphins to come up with their own trick on the spot. They accomplished this feat in perfect synchronization in less than a minute. Herman said, “None of this was trained, and it looks to us absolutely mysterious. We don’t know how they do it – or did it.” Keeping them confined is against their nature and an insult to their intellect.

The mystery about them is frustrating, though it is a big reason why we automatically put animals on a level lower than humans. We do not understand the intelligence animals are capable of. In this way, we can believe we are better than them, and are justified in the way we restrict their freedoms.

Animals are able to live and let live, and they look to be much happier than the everyday person.