Dolphins outwit Human

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iCraig said:
Dolphins are sentient like us aren't they?

Meaning they are self-aware, they know who and what they are. Amazing. :cool:
Dolphins are sentient but I don't think that is what you mean, sentience is the ability to perceive which all animals on some level can do. Dolphins show cognition, the ability to perceive, represent, reason, learn and act. :) It can be debated that they are concious too.

TheCrow said:
aren't dolphins also the only other animal that has sex for fun like us? Good on them if my information is correct. :D
I vaguely remember hearing lions have sex for fun aswell.
 
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Amp34 said:
Pretty much all animals are sentient beings, it's just people don't seem to like the idea that humans are just animals. Be it slightly more intelligent and able with the opposable thumb than the average animal..

It depends on the context used I think, sentience can mean an advanced level of conciousness, where you can ponder your own existence, but also where you simply have senses. A cat is sentient but it doesn't have sentience, if that makes sense?
Google said:
Self-aware, choice-making consciousness. Humans and cetaceans (dolphins and whales) are the two sentient species on earth.
 
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D.P. said:
Bonobo chimps do as well, and lots of male-male and female-female intercourse as well. They also use sex as a social tool to manipulate others
They've also evolved an elaborate courtship ritual, which consists of... um, the male sitting there with his legs open and showing his erection. If only it were that simple for us. ;)
 
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it hasn't outwitted us has it.

it just knows it will receive food if it brings litter. And we still supply it becuase where amazed by it's ingenuity. It's quite easy for the trainers to tell if it's a new piece of rubbish or a tear off.

still a remarkable feet though.
 
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AcidHell2 said:
it hasn't outwitted us has it.

it just knows it will receive food if it brings litter. And we still supply it becuase where amazed by it's ingenuity. It's quite easy for the trainers to tell if it's a new piece of rubbish or a tear off.
Until the trainers realised what the dolphin was doing, it had effectively outwitted them. The trainers thought that they had trained the dolphin to clear up litter from its pool. In actuality, the dolphin had trained the trainers to keep bringing it fish, without having to clear up any litter.
 
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iCraig said:
It depends on the context used I think, sentience can mean an advanced level of conciousness, where you can ponder your own existence, but also where you simply have senses. A cat is sentient but it doesn't have sentience, if that makes sense?

I disagree, I study cybernetics and in my studies sentience always refers to the capacity to perceive through sensory organs, it seems it is often used in other contexts due to people not understandstanding what it means.

More evidence is required to acertain cognition, how does the dolphin learn? can it learn by analogy, induction, deduction, or is it simply rote and instruction?

iCraig said:

Can you tell me whether a dolphin can imagine? Does it have emotions? Does it have a sense of place? Can it abstract? Can it think about thinking about thinking about thinking etc does it comprehend the recursiveness of thinking about thinking, as it is doing it?

All of which are considered a requirement of consciousness as we perceive ourselves to have. Dolphins however do demonstrate phenomenal and self conciousness.
 
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I have swam with then and they bloody powerful and big, the stuff they did was amazing, they did a shark attack trick and the dolphins would swim around you so nothing could get near you.
 
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