Author Topic: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?  (Read 5593 times)

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Offline Old Rabbit

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Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« on: April 20, 2016, 12:45:27 pm »
 I have often thought that over the billiions of years of Evolution, How
many creatures have existed? How many died out due to war or lack
of viability. Science has shown there were several ape like hominoids
who for whatever reason failed to be part of our world. Climate change,
meteor strikes, ice ages, super volcanoes. It's a wonder higher forms of
life even exist after all that nature has thrown at us.

We can use science to tell us what types of creatures existed in the past,
but unless there is a fossil, bones and flesh disappear. So there might have
been a branch of the family tree that led to other highly intelligent animals.
Why should we (humans) be the only intelligence that ever dreamed of
what might be, or what if anything happens after death. Not only to learn
but learn how to wonder what they might not know. All animals can learn,
taught to sort familiar objects, and many other things. Some call it habit,
some call it intelligence. Animals appear to be better at reading body
language than we can or do. Anyone who has had a pet has learned how
to communicate with it. I think it's a small step from doing things to
live and living to do things.

We will likely never know of an ancient intelligence unless we find some
evidence written in something like gold. Then it's likely men will argue not
wanting to accept it's truth that man wasn't the only advanced race in our
past.

Any thoughts?   :orbunny:
« Last Edit: April 20, 2016, 12:51:00 pm by Old Rabbit »
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Offline Varg the wanderer

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2016, 07:11:58 pm »
I think man has been the only writing using, tool-making creature to have arisen on Earth so far. As for the future, well, who knows.

As for what's "out there": The engineer of Earth, it's life, and the visible universe seems awfully creative, energetic, and generous to have stopped with just us earthlings.
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Offline some_random_wusky

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2016, 08:09:49 pm »
if you take into account the entire universe, i think it is not only a possibility but a certainty that other advanced creatures exist(ed). after all, the right conditions for life existed just 10 million years after the big bang. some theorists say that, under certain conditions, an advanced race could evolve from a single-celled eukaryote to a sentient being in as little as 500 million years. the universe has been around for 28 times that long and the earths been around for 9 times as long
honestly thinks we need another mass extinction

Offline Takanuva

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2016, 11:49:11 pm »
Even on Earth too. Elephants grieve for their elders, dolphins and other cetaceans show signs of advanced intelligence. Killer whales have been known to aid sailors in hunting other whales and fish. While it is ignorant to apply our concept of intelligence and life to other species, it's remarkable the bonds we can share with our fellow creatures on this Earth.

Offline GrayWolf448

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2016, 03:41:21 am »
Like takanuva said there are some other creatures on earth that sorta have human like behaviors.


One thing iv thought about for awhile is what if they are about as smart as us but due to their body structure they were never able to advance to higher intelligence. If you take a human and raise it in a environment without teaching language, science, technology, and all of that other stuff they might actually behave not really human.

Offline Bluetabbycat

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2016, 04:49:42 pm »
Like takanuva said there are some other creatures on earth that sorta have human like behaviors.


One thing iv thought about for awhile is what if they are about as smart as us but due to their body structure they were never able to advance to higher intelligence. If you take a human and raise it in a environment without teaching language, science, technology, and all of that other stuff they might actually behave not really human.

This is something I've often wondered myself... Much of our 'intelligence' is learnt behaviour passed onto us by others from a very early age.

I think a great (if fictional) example of this is shown in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where Keiko and Miles O'brian take their young daughter to an uninhabited planet for a vacation together and they become separated. Long story short: they find her, but much more time has passed for her than it has for them, with the result that she's had to live totally alone for 15+ years. The result is that when they bring her home, she's totally feral; she's forgotten how to speak or interact normally with other humans.

I suppose the point I'm trying to get at is that as humans, there's a lot of what we think of as intelligence that we take for granted. All of what we have now is built on what came before. If you strip that away, what are you left with?

EDIT

Another thought's just occured to me. It's sometimes been suggested that humanity (or something like us; I like the idea of a saurian race having evolved before the KT event) has evolved before, due to worked metal objects such as bowls having been found squashed in sedimentary layers of rock. I'm not a geologist, so I have no idea if there is a logical explination as to how something like that could get there within humanity's timeline, or even if the pictures I saw were fake. But it does pose an interesting question....
« Last Edit: December 08, 2016, 05:05:20 pm by Bluetabbycat »

Offline Howie_Noble

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2016, 08:42:10 pm »
thank you for this interesting topic old Rabbit.
I recently found out that my dna, like many millions of other contemporary humans, contains a small amout of that of Neanderthals. discoveries show they had some rituals and social practices like that of humans. since there was species intermingling, that makes me wonder how alike our species were.
and I agree that it's too bad that we haven't found evidence of ancient inteligence that cound be comparable to or excedes humans, ... so far. I'd find it amazing if something like that was discovered.
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Offline Kalam

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2017, 04:37:48 am »
That's quite similar to "Fermi's question" I believe it is. Although more about space and aliens.

To be realistic. It's hard to believe with how infinite space seems to be that there wouldn't be something else out there. At the same time, it'd be rather scary to be the only things in this whole universe. Another thing that's been said is that. Our modern civilisation has been around for a relatively short time. It's been said that it's more than possible that a more advanced race or races (aliens) could have even taken over a good portion of the universe. At the same time, if so and if something else knows why we exist. What would keep them from contacting us? Or why.

Offline cause the rat

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2017, 09:32:57 pm »
Nope. We are not the only ones who plan or use tools. There are birds who use sticks to stab and pull termites from trees. Monkeys have been seen using rocks to open clams. And washing the cams out with sea water before eating. Dolphins have been know to hunt down and harm or kill sharks than have attacked one of their own. There are ants that grow fungus. The list goes on.
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Offline Old Rabbit

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2017, 12:46:01 pm »
It would be interesting to know what creatures have existed
over the millions of years. Man goes back perhaps 2 million
years. At least what looks to be the  direct ancestory.

That leaves many millions of years unaccounted for except
in fossils.

Not long ago they found a human foot prints in the same sediment
layer as some dinosaurs. Could that have been a human of a lost
civilization that existed over 50 million years ago?

Skeletons of animals are in some ways very similar to our own. So
perhaps a line of humanoids exsited at a much earlier time.

It's not likely given fossil evidence, but still interesting to think
about.

Archeologists are slow to  accept new information especially if it conflicts
with their own findings.

Studies of our universe shows even slight changes in physcal laws
would make life as we know it impossible. It's almost like the universe
was designed to support life as we know it. Now isn't that interesting.

In all our vast universe it's very unlikly we are the only intelegent beings.
Short of warp drive it's not likely we will ever know where other life
exists.  Perhaps in the future radio telesopes will be built in space to
such a vast size they might pick up signals from other intelegent life.
Untill then we probably won't know.

There is a possibility optical telecops in space may determen from spectral
tests of distant star systems. Could show eveidence of chemicals
resulting from life as we know it.

Only time will tell.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 12:53:41 pm by Old Rabbit »
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Offline Michen_S

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2017, 03:26:01 pm »
Though there are some things that are unique to humans regarding the physical realm (like developing modern technology), we're not the only ones who can plan or think. A lot of animals aren't as dumb as they look. Goldfish, who are accused to have a memory of three seconds, actually can learn tricks. Several kinds of monkeys have been seen using rocks as 'tools'. A lot of species have social constructs, though maybe less complex as human ones. A co-worker from a company had a parrot who could recognise the physical sex of a human who walked in. Spiders who make webs recognise different kinds of weather and somehow seem to know what kind of weather it's going to be, being more accurate than a machine ever could. Pigeons were used for the postal system and are good at remembering multiple locations. Researchers are even looking at the intelligence of plants since recently. Earth's nature in general isn't nearly as dumb as many people make it out to be.
So are we the only ones who can think or plan? Not even remotely close. No matter what religion you follow, you don't even have to go as much as a single year back to see it, nor do you need to walk more than a single mile.
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Offline Old Rabbit

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Re: Evolution, are we the only ones who ever thought or planned?
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2017, 12:23:17 pm »
Though there are some things that are unique to humans regarding the physical realm (like developing modern technology), we're not the only ones who can plan or think. A lot of animals aren't as dumb as they look. Goldfish, who are accused to have a memory of three seconds, actually can learn tricks. Several kinds of monkeys have been seen using rocks as 'tools'. A lot of species have social constructs, though maybe less complex as human ones. A co-worker from a company had a parrot who could recognise the physical sex of a human who walked in. Spiders who make webs recognise different kinds of weather and somehow seem to know what kind of weather it's going to be, being more accurate than a machine ever could. Pigeons were used for the postal system and are good at remembering multiple locations. Researchers are even looking at the intelligence of plants since recently. Earth's nature in general isn't nearly as dumb as many people make it out to be.
So are we the only ones who can think or plan? Not even remotely close. No matter what religion you follow, you don't even have to go as much as a single year back to see it, nor do you need to walk more than a single mile.

I agree sir. We humans have a bad habit of judging  animals by our
own abilities. Animals have different  priorities than we have. Being a
dog owner I can tell they vary in intelligence as humans do. It's their
natural instinct to be social, and work toward the top of their social
order. So they suck up so to speak. Just like many humans do under
the same conditions.

Several animals use tools as you said. The sea otter uses a rock to
open or break the shell of his food. I think many more animals
would use tools if their paws worked more like hands as some do.

Birds are very intelligent. Even the lowly chicken can be taught
to play tunes on a toy Piano. Their brains are likely not much
larger than a pea.  I think it's a mistake to judge intelligence by
brain size. Studies of the brain has shown it to be very adapatble.
If part is damaged other parts often take over the lost operation.

Perhaps in the future we can learn to better communicat wiht the
animal world. Perhaps even to lear from them things we have
forgotten with our use of tools.
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