Cassiopaean Sandbox > Our 2D Friends
Are Dogs Smarter Than Cats?
Radagast:
Like you Laura I am heavily biased on this one.
For one thing the dogs advantage when judged by humans stems from the fact they are pack animals which means they have highly developed social intelligence.
Judged by our standards dogs are definitely smarter. Judged by 2D standard they are not.
On one to one bases cat will almost always outsmart the dog, in fact contrary to popular belief dogs are most common victims of cat-dog encounters. But when faced with pack of dogs cats get wrong end of the stick. Even then, not so often -mostly very young, very old or sickly cats get to be harmed by dogs.
I think humans invested so much in dogs and horses that they have become special category in animal kingdom unlike any other animal.
But as I said I think I am very much biased.
Funnily enough this afternoon I was contemplating how much we can judge animals by our own standards.
During lunch I was observing a flock of ducks and my jaw literally dropped when the brutal gang rape scene unfolded.
I heard of this before but noting could prepare me for the brutality of real life event. When it was finished, to my utter amazment "poor" female duck seemed not even slightly disturbed with the whole incident. Only few minutes ago I cringed as it seemed that sex frenzied drakes will kill her, but there she was image of tranquility, just shook her feathers and continued her business as usual, while the crazy gang was already chasing another female. It was me who was shocked the most with this whole rape scene.
I think the reason I was so shocked with this scene is because we are conditioned with images of birds as gentle lovers, like doves or swans for example.
In fact most male birds do not have any equivalent of a penis. Sex between consenting birds involves lining up two holes, one in the male and one in the female, so they really do have to be consenting. It is for this reason that the world of birds has evolved such elaborate courtship rituals, much more so than any other type of animal; because the sexual act requires the co-operation of both parties.
Of course in nature there's always an exception.
Male ducks, known as drakes, have enormous sexual organs. These are known as phalluses rather than penises, and can be as long as the drake. This enables a drake to enjoy sex without the co-operation of the female. Therefore the rape is as common in the duck world as foraging for food.
Female ducks have even evolved to counter the threat of undesired insemination by having correspondingly long and complex genital passages, known in birds as the lower oviduct. The duck's oviduct is not just a straight tube but has side passages as well. The female duck can store the sperm in a side chamber, and later eject it if she isn't ready for fertilization.
Coming back to the topic of this thread the same thing is known to happen amongst cats during the mating season. The difference being queens get serious injuries by their rapers.
I don't think this is possible in dogs. The bitch is always the one who says yes and there is no way she will let any dog mount her unless she is ovulating. Male dogs just follow her around hoping she will bestow this honour on them. In addition the bitch is truly in charge as she is capable of delivering offspring of several different fathers in the same litter.
So by our standards dogs live in matriarchal society while cats live in patriarchal ( another nature exception like in birds world - lions, although male lions will often slaughter the offspring of other males when they take over to insure only their genes are carried, this behavior is also seen in stray cats that are forced to live in urban colonies) equivalent of our monotheistic world.
Also dogs will never play psychopathic games with their pray as cats do for sheer fun.
So to add some food for thought - If we follow the premise as above so below and if cats are representative of psychopaths or OP's and dogs of souled individuals the key is networking and connecting with higher denizens in STO manner like dogs do
If I manage I will post something more about very interesting animal that is considered to be evolutionary link between cats and dogs.
PS. I resent this automatic editing of b word. It is legitimate scientific term for a female dog, and why do female cats get to be called queens :P
shellycheval:
Human beings have a difficult time judging the intelligence of other humans let alone other species. Intelligence tests designed by one culture have been observed to have problems measuring the intelligence of another human culture, let alone an entirely different, alien if you will, species. I have read in more than one source that dogs are better at reading humans than any other animal including apes and other humans. Dogs, like many other animals can read our emotions, sense muscle tension; they can smell disease in our bodies and often appear aware of our intentions before we are. Alfred Payson Terhune, a popular author from the 1930s era, wrote many maudlin but entertaining dog stories that often featured collies, and he claimed that collies were prejudiced against dark skinned people, but what more recent research and observation has shown is that dogs reflect the biases of their owners. More than one scientist claims that dogs chose to bond with humans as a survival strategy and over the millennium, with selective breeding, dogs have evolved in an almost symbiotic fashion with people each seeking to please the other for mutual gain. This interdependent bond that has developed between two species of social pack predators skews their way of thinking about each other IMHO. Dogs are more trusting of humans than they should be and humans tend to romanticize and mirror dogs more than any other species of animals. So it seem like a logical extension for humans to claim that dogs are smarter than cats and most other creatures.
Cats to some extent also domesticated by hanging out with people; by killing the vermin that threatened grain supplies they were rewarded by being allowed to live close to people, but cats, due to being solitary predators, never “joined the pack.” Cats are historically some of the most maligned and misunderstood animals part of which is because we are often horrified by their killing techniques which ironically humans also engage in—torture, and by the fact that they don’t suck up to us the way dogs do. Dogs, on the other hand, have the notoriety of being the only animal that will attack and kill other animals and humans on command to please their human handlers. Many of us find cats to be very affectionate and even trainable but they only behave that way if they like you and trust you. Unlike dogs who must respect the people they will work for, cats only have to like and feel safe around their people. My cats follow me around the farm, go for walks with me and my collie mix dogs; the cats hang out where I’m working, sit on my lap, kiss and are wonderful loving, and very smart pets. This whole dog cat dichotomy mystifies me—why does it have to be either or for so many people?
So, from a lifetime of living with cats and dogs and horses, I do not think that one species is more intelligent than another—I think they all have very different ways of perceiving the world. I think that dogs measure closest to what we humans consider smart behavior because they reflect our own ideas about what is intelligence. Considering the mess we have made of the planet their allegiance is remarkable and is a sign of what we humans see as one of their nobler characteristics—loyalty to the point of self destruction—which may be heartwarming to us but is it smart?
shellycheval
Vulcan59:
Nice summary shellycheval. Thanks for posting it. :thup:
clerck de bonk:
--- Quote from: Vulcan59 on October 05, 2009, 10:34:32 AM ---Nice summary shellycheval. Thanks for posting it. :thup:
--- End quote ---
I second that :D, not much to add but I would like to stress this one
--- Quote from: shellycheval on October 05, 2009, 09:55:14 AM ---...This whole dog cat dichotomy mystifies me—why does it have to be either or for so many people?
--- End quote ---
Truly, why?
the_hammer:
--- Quote from: clerck de bonk ---I second that :D, not much to add but I would like to stress this one
--- Quote from: shellycheval on October 05, 2009, 09:55:14 AM ---...This whole dog cat dichotomy mystifies me—why does it have to be either or for so many people?
--- End quote ---
Truly, why?
--- End quote ---
Of course I can only speak on behalf of myself, but I think the reason behind me preferring cats is that I have been attacked by a dog and therefore feel uncomfertable around most dogs. Based on this bias (I think), I prefer the cats way of being. A cat would get out of a situation it doesn't want to participate in and demands respect where as I see the dogs way of being as very submissive, which I don't find equally smart..
Moderator's note: The quotes have been fixed.
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