One World, Many Minds

Anybody who has shared their homes with dogs or cats should already know the idea that humans are unique in the ability to think is ridiculous.

Just a few years ago, an biologist claimed that frogs don't feel pain because they don't have the same biochemical reactions to injury as humans. This shows that having a degree and a jobs as a scientist doesn't mean a person isn't an idiot.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=one-world-many-minds

December, 2008 in Environment
One World, Many Minds: Intelligence in the Animal Kingdom
We are used to thinking of humans as occupying the sole pinnacle of evolutionary intelligence. That's where we're wrong
By Paul Patton

One of the most common misconceptions about brain evolution is that it represents a linear process culminating in the amazing cognitive powers of humans, with the brains of other modern species representing previous stages. Such ideas have even influenced the thinking of neuroscientists and psychologists who compare the brains of different species used in biomedical research. Over the past 30 years, however, research in comparative neuroanatomy clearly has shown that complex brains—and sophisticated cognition—have evolved from simpler brains multiple times independently in separate lineages, or evolutionarily related groups: in mollusks such as octopuses, squid and cuttlefish; in bony fishes such as goldfish and, separately again, in cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and manta rays; and in reptiles and birds. Nonmammals have demonstrated advanced abilities such as learning by copying the behavior of others, finding their way in complicated spatial environments, manufacturing and using tools, and even conducting mental time travel (remembering specific past episodes or anticipating unique future events). Collectively, these findings are helping scientists to understand how intelligence can arise—and to appreciate the many forms it can take.