Poll: Are Humans Smart?
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Firstly: We are not the smartest. Dolphins are smarter than us which makes them the second smartest creatures an this planet. First place in case of smartiness are the mice! Diddn't you read D. Adams Hitchhikers Guide?
And now for real: For one intelligent individual there are a hundred (or many more) stupid mainstream braindeads lead by their instincts and nothing but their biology. Most people I know only come to decisions by fetching their moral rules which they are bred to have.
(sorry if that was completely bad english, I'm not native-speaking)
Such behaviour is not smart, it's average... most people do so. And that's nothing bad because most people are not intelligent enough to make own decisions.
Since I don't believe that there is a real characteristic like intelligence, but many characteristics that together form a more or less individual character it's always a stupid discussion about intelligence in my eyes. Everyone has a different understanding of the world an everything which is based on the way our brain has developed since we were a baby. Some undertstand very precisely what is happening around them, some do not. Those that do not, mostly don't even know that they don't know and as such don't care.
Humans just work, they work like everything else in the world just works. The complexity your brain works with may be that what makes you "intelligent".
btw: I voted for no cause only a few humans are capable of understanding why I voted no. If you are such subject, congratulations you are what I call intellient. At leats in some parts.
And now for real: For one intelligent individual there are a hundred (or many more) stupid mainstream braindeads lead by their instincts and nothing but their biology. Most people I know only come to decisions by fetching their moral rules which they are bred to have.
(sorry if that was completely bad english, I'm not native-speaking)
Such behaviour is not smart, it's average... most people do so. And that's nothing bad because most people are not intelligent enough to make own decisions.
Since I don't believe that there is a real characteristic like intelligence, but many characteristics that together form a more or less individual character it's always a stupid discussion about intelligence in my eyes. Everyone has a different understanding of the world an everything which is based on the way our brain has developed since we were a baby. Some undertstand very precisely what is happening around them, some do not. Those that do not, mostly don't even know that they don't know and as such don't care.
Humans just work, they work like everything else in the world just works. The complexity your brain works with may be that what makes you "intelligent".
btw: I voted for no cause only a few humans are capable of understanding why I voted no. If you are such subject, congratulations you are what I call intellient. At leats in some parts.
Actually, dolphins and whales communicate with a more complicated language than we do according to a lot of studies.Korolev said:
Countless species have extended their natural life span by adapting to better live around humans. Whether this involves pretending to be dogs (in the case of wolves) so people will give you food, patroling with three people intead of two (in the case of racoons) to ease the act of stealing food, or just making yourself look cuter and more cuddly while around humans (in the case of pigs who before domestication had tusks and wiry hair and now look mostly harmless) so that humans will get rid of all your parasites and generally make your life more pleasent, species are extending their life spans all the time.
As for not grasping the basics how the earth works, Racoons perfer to wash the food they find before they eat it. There would be no reason to do this except to remove germs. Ants build boats which are capable of crossing things like the Mississippi River, I think they would understand properties like boyancy and displacement. There are also the countless species (Crows, Monkeys, ect) who know to use things like gravity in problem solving.
As for animal morality I would point out that just because we don't recognize it doesn't mean it's not there. We can't get people to agree on what is morally correct even amoungst our own species (and there is often violent disagreement on this particular issue), how would we be able to discern what other species view as morally sound or how would we even know that their species had come to any kind of concensus? that being said though, Elephants have grave yards and mourn their dead and it would be impossible to name all the speicies that put the life of their children before their own.
And evolution gaurantees self improvment. All species are subject to evolution and therefore all species have some prospect of self improvement.
I once sat down and tried to make a list of all the things that empiraclly seperated Humanity from the animal kingdom. The only things I could think of were that humans create things for entertainment and have currency. Looking back I'm not entirely sure that those are unique to humans either.
I think we are an intelligent race, and we try to learn more about how things work.
The thing is, to define "smart" I need something to compare it to. We are smart compared to apes, dogs or Lindsay Lohan, but our knowledge is hardly trancendant.
The thing is, to define "smart" I need something to compare it to. We are smart compared to apes, dogs or Lindsay Lohan, but our knowledge is hardly trancendant.
I don't think the size of one's brain dictates how intelligent one is. Look at a cow's brain, it's huge, but a cow is one of the stupidest creatures I've ever seen. Also, may I remind you while Neanderthals were bigger, our ancestors the cro magnon were smart enough to make arrows and woven clothing. Something that escaped Neanderthals.Khedive Rex said:
...Why can't we be both?
A person is generally smart, and wants to do the right thing.
People, however, are too easily persuaded to panic and cause each other general harm. Oh well..
Apologies if I've confused you.
EDIT
People are smart, they just do stupid things.
A person is generally smart, and wants to do the right thing.
People, however, are too easily persuaded to panic and cause each other general harm. Oh well..
Apologies if I've confused you.
EDIT
People are smart, they just do stupid things.
I think we are smart, but immaturity and some other instincts get in the way, like pack mentality. Helpful to survive yes, but we left the jungle a long time ago.
People evolved both technologically and socially. People have been at a constant rate: at any point in history there were wars and brutalities between us. As someone said, it's all relative: We are smarter than a pig; we are smarter than medieval people; etc. The fact is that stupidity is much more available, and it doesn't require any kind of effort.
Conclusion: I'm undecided whether we are stupid or smart. Does it really matter if we are smart or stupid? Shouldn't we just coexist and not be bothered by the "I'm better/bigger/etc than you" mentality?
Conclusion: I'm undecided whether we are stupid or smart. Does it really matter if we are smart or stupid? Shouldn't we just coexist and not be bothered by the "I'm better/bigger/etc than you" mentality?
This~ Lots of people appear to be dashing into the topic, reading the OP, ignoring the rest of the thread, and repeating, virtually word for word, what some other guy said within half an hour of the topic's creation.GeeDave said:
This makes sense in the same way that being stabbed in the foot is better than being stabbed in the face. It's not such a great idea to base judgement of anything solely on how it compares to its competition.
We are, by definition, the smartest creatures on the planet, unfortunately that still makes the average human just this side of pants on head retarded. A human is a reasonably intelligent creature, they can do way more things than any animal can, have a better capacity for memory and innovation. I still voted no because I have (stupid) high standards for the term smart.
On the subject of human communication, the languages spoken by humans are incredibly complicated, every language has different words for different things, and thing you include body language and tone in every aspect of these words the scientists who say some creatures have a more complicated language than our own (languages) tend to fail to account for body language and tone.
The size of a creatures brain, in proportion to the rest of their body is the defining factor of how much intelligence they have, specifically the thought-processing portion of the brain. You can have a huge brain but if all it is good for is helping you smell or see better then you still aren't that bright.
On the subject of human communication, the languages spoken by humans are incredibly complicated, every language has different words for different things, and thing you include body language and tone in every aspect of these words the scientists who say some creatures have a more complicated language than our own (languages) tend to fail to account for body language and tone.
The size of a creatures brain, in proportion to the rest of their body is the defining factor of how much intelligence they have, specifically the thought-processing portion of the brain. You can have a huge brain but if all it is good for is helping you smell or see better then you still aren't that bright.
But now any nutter can say what he believes on the intent and people will believe them. Humans aren't stupid, they just rarely seek more intelligence. For example if i made a really biased argument for the world ending in 2012 with no skepticism some people would be convinced. Humans are very intelligent, we just don't think all the time.jim_doki said:
The Pratchett rules of mob dynamics states that you take the person with the lowest intelligence in the mob then devide that by the number of people in the mob.
Once people start shouting and moving the reason is drowned out and people are just taken along with it.
while humans maybe intellegent, I wouldnt exactly call us smart.
Yes we can achive some "amazing things", yes we are capable of doing some thing that the rst of the animal kngdomm is capable of doing (except of apes, they're starting to get the concept of building bridges an spears, its only a matter of time befor they can make guns).
Heres were thign begin to fall apart though. Dispite the fact that we are capable of a great multidue of things these achivements are only made possible by a minute percetage of the population. This however leaves the majority of our population quite... challanged incomperason to our discoverys.
So basicly while we may be "intelligent" i wouldnt call us smart.
P.S. Im somebody
Yes we can achive some "amazing things", yes we are capable of doing some thing that the rst of the animal kngdomm is capable of doing (except of apes, they're starting to get the concept of building bridges an spears, its only a matter of time befor they can make guns).
Heres were thign begin to fall apart though. Dispite the fact that we are capable of a great multidue of things these achivements are only made possible by a minute percetage of the population. This however leaves the majority of our population quite... challanged incomperason to our discoverys.
So basicly while we may be "intelligent" i wouldnt call us smart.
P.S. Im somebody
There's a huge difference between stupid and ignorant.
Ignorant: Someone who doesn't know.
Stupid: Someone who prefers to do his own way of thinking and refuse to learn.
In some way, this can be insulting, but think about it.
Also, an old saying is "You can't think the stomach empty". When the agricultural revolution started, humans finally thought of something else other then their hunger. Animal are always searching for food, that's why they don't develop some intelligence. You might say, what about domestical animal. These animals gaved up their savagery for some food.
EDIT: Also we qualify ourselves as intelligent enough. Who knows maybe some space aliens will find us dumb, or maybe we will be smarter.
Ignorant: Someone who doesn't know.
Stupid: Someone who prefers to do his own way of thinking and refuse to learn.
In some way, this can be insulting, but think about it.
Also, an old saying is "You can't think the stomach empty". When the agricultural revolution started, humans finally thought of something else other then their hunger. Animal are always searching for food, that's why they don't develop some intelligence. You might say, what about domestical animal. These animals gaved up their savagery for some food.
EDIT: Also we qualify ourselves as intelligent enough. Who knows maybe some space aliens will find us dumb, or maybe we will be smarter.
"Humans are, by any way you want to measure intelligence, the smartest creatures known to man."
You said it right there.
If I look at my dog, I can't realy think of myself as realy smart for more then 5 minutes. I mean, all she does is sleep and look good. In return, she gets to live in an expensive house, all her illnesses are given professional (as professional as humanly possible) care and she is guaranteed to have food every day.
Not that it would be my perfect life, or even the life I want to have, but still, I think it gives food for thought.
You said it right there.
If I look at my dog, I can't realy think of myself as realy smart for more then 5 minutes. I mean, all she does is sleep and look good. In return, she gets to live in an expensive house, all her illnesses are given professional (as professional as humanly possible) care and she is guaranteed to have food every day.
Not that it would be my perfect life, or even the life I want to have, but still, I think it gives food for thought.
Looking at this question from an objective standpoint humans are the most intelligent species on the earth. Our brains are the most complex arangement of matter in the known universe. We can analyze multiple situations for solutions. We can understand the very laws which define this world and use those laws to build extrodinarily complex tools. We can comunicate concepts as complex as theoretical physics. We are an extrordinarily intellegent species. We are also a bunch of idiots who more often than not either waste these abilities or use them so selfishly that our individual situation improves at the detriment of others situations. So as a spiecies we are quite smart but as individuals or small groups, relative to the size of the species as a whole, we can be idiots geniuses or anything in between depending on how we use our intelligence
@ Khedive Rex
Just because a racoon washes its food before it eats it does not mean that it knows that germs exist, it just means that somewhere down the line a racoon discovered that they were less likely to get sick if they washed the food first and it taught it to its children. Also humans were building boats long before we understood fluid dynamics.
@ Khedive Rex
Just because a racoon washes its food before it eats it does not mean that it knows that germs exist, it just means that somewhere down the line a racoon discovered that they were less likely to get sick if they washed the food first and it taught it to its children. Also humans were building boats long before we understood fluid dynamics.
Sure, mankind is intelligent.
However, with all the knowledge and resources we have, there are still people that have trouble getting any food at all.
Oh, and any surplus we might encounter, we don't share. Instead, we concentrate it and keep it for ourselves. Surely, that's the way forward!
As intelligent as we might me, smart is an adjective we'll never earn.
However, with all the knowledge and resources we have, there are still people that have trouble getting any food at all.
Oh, and any surplus we might encounter, we don't share. Instead, we concentrate it and keep it for ourselves. Surely, that's the way forward!
As intelligent as we might me, smart is an adjective we'll never earn.
We might have a lot of design flaws, but we are defenetly the smartest dressed creatures on this earth.
If you have to ask such a question, then you are obviously having second thoughts as to your usefulness to the species.
Yes we are "intelligent" but seeing as this frame of reference only applies to mammals that can write in a verity of understood languages, we can't really see how intelligent squid, dolphins, cats or dogs are as we don't have any method of communication. You could always take the piss and start using Douglas Adams-esque references to dolphins being supremely intelligent, and the only ones that are left on earth are there to warn us of an impending doom, despite us treating them like amusements.
But, if you think about it, you might be "intelligent" but how much of today's achievements do you really understand? If you were given a heap of components, could you build something so "outdated" as a CRT TV? Or write a play to capture the hearts of an audience? As a culture we are only as brilliant as our brightest, and the rest of us are just excess. But again, its not like we are going to go killing each other because of our lack of usefulness. That's what we do to animals, seeing as they are the "lower" forms of life.
Mullahgrrl: Definately.
And please don't use the internet as a frame of reference to a great creation, even some of its creators have said they would have rather not created it seeing what it has been used for. Use fission, fusion, the wheel, gears, the transistor, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, the cotton gin, musical instruments, just not the internet.
Yes we are "intelligent" but seeing as this frame of reference only applies to mammals that can write in a verity of understood languages, we can't really see how intelligent squid, dolphins, cats or dogs are as we don't have any method of communication. You could always take the piss and start using Douglas Adams-esque references to dolphins being supremely intelligent, and the only ones that are left on earth are there to warn us of an impending doom, despite us treating them like amusements.
But, if you think about it, you might be "intelligent" but how much of today's achievements do you really understand? If you were given a heap of components, could you build something so "outdated" as a CRT TV? Or write a play to capture the hearts of an audience? As a culture we are only as brilliant as our brightest, and the rest of us are just excess. But again, its not like we are going to go killing each other because of our lack of usefulness. That's what we do to animals, seeing as they are the "lower" forms of life.
Mullahgrrl: Definately.
And please don't use the internet as a frame of reference to a great creation, even some of its creators have said they would have rather not created it seeing what it has been used for. Use fission, fusion, the wheel, gears, the transistor, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, the cotton gin, musical instruments, just not the internet.