[ExI] puzzle - animal consciousness

[spike]

From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace



>…There are three roads and the dog's master has gone down one of them.  The dog sniffs along two of them, finding no scent of his master, and so, without sniffing (!), takes the third.  Did he think?

 

Ja.

 

>…IMO:  flawed puzzle.  A dog simply would not do this…

I agree the dog would sniff the third path, even if he knows the master went that way.

However, dogs do think and dogs do reason.  Granted some dogs are not very good at it, but then humans vary widely in their ability to reason as well.  It often seems that some humans are not as good at reasoning as some smart dogs.  

Cats also reason, to some extent.  When they are in the mood.

>…Your opinion?  bill w

 

My opinion, my good doctor and friend, is that you should spend some quality time with dogs.  Failing that, post this question to an online dog enthusiast group.  They may offer plenty of fun examples of reasoning in dogs.  Do report back with those examples please.  A marvelous creatures is the canine domesticus, such good sports.  There are plenty of dog lovers in our group.

 

spike

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