101–110 of 152 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> unfortunately too smart for their own good because their handiwork means [certain doom] Reminds me of a certain mammalian species.
Almost like this trait might be inherent in all mammals. Or does it go even higher? All animals? All life? Evolve intelligence, begin building your doom?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Almost like this trait might be inherent in all mammals. Or does it go even higher? All animals? All life? Evolve intelligence, begin building your doom?
Plants are possibly in that club too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event
In Aotearoa-New Zealand we set traps for introduced species like stoats, rats, possums, etc. that kill our endangered wildlife that evolved without natural predators. The Kea which are very smart mountain parrots will go and disarm the traps in order to eat the bait. They're smart enough to have figured out how to do this, and are one of just a handful of animals that habitually use tools, but are unfortunately too s…
This smartness and their very consciousness and ability to suffer is what makes industrialized meat production so ruthless.
> The video confirmed what many scientists had long suspected: that the kea uses its powerful, curved beak and claws to rip through the layer of wool and eat the fat from the back of the animal. Though the bird does not directly kill the sheep, death can result from infections or accidents suffered by animals when trying to escape.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plants are possibly in that club too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event
I thought this would be something more like how plants chemically communicate with each other about insect infestations so other plants can proactively protect themselves or "scream" (give off a pulse) when attacked.
This does miss the "crafty solution to an immediate problem" part that you and the original article mention, though.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s the bait? Interesting that either the Kea or their predators are omnivorous enough that would happen.
Apparently Eggs. Also the research shows that they enjoy the noise of setting off the trap. They also throw things off cliffs just to hear them hit the bottom. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/09/extraordi...
Parrots use their loose feathers as sticks, ripping them off and cleaning out the inside of their beaks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought this would be something more like how plants chemically communicate with each other about insect infestations so other plants can proactively protect themselves or "scream" (give off a pulse) when attacked.
GP was talking about life causing its own doom, so I thought that plants causing a climate change and mass extinction due to uncontrolled growth would be appropriate. This does miss the "crafty solution to an immediate problem" part that you and the original article mention, though.
In that vein, one of my environmental studies textbooks had a comic of microbes creating oxygen way back when and some of the microbes holding protests against them poisoning their environment with all that icky oxygen waste gas, ew.
In Aotearoa-New Zealand we set traps for introduced species like stoats, rats, possums, etc. that kill our endangered wildlife that evolved without natural predators. The Kea which are very smart mountain parrots will go and disarm the traps in order to eat the bait. They're smart enough to have figured out how to do this, and are one of just a handful of animals that habitually use tools, but are unfortunately too s…
> unfortunately too smart for their own good because their handiwork means [certain doom] Reminds me of a certain mammalian species.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Technology assures long term survival and it is in a species best interest to develop them. That is apparent. Now the question is how do you nurture technological development?
I can agree somewhat. Except if it makes genetics weaker on the very long term and tech becomes a requirement instead of optional. Glasses, smoking, IVF,... Ps. I wear goggles myselve. And I know the above will be a hated opinion.
It could go like "If we were to suddenly revert to, in the far future, some sort of stone age like environment, our distant descendants may be very unfit for that environment. This would be unfortunate."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a lot harder to study them if they're dead. I'm heartily in favor of assisting them to the extent they want to learn, it's possible that the more effort we make to communicate the more we'll learn ourselves. Also, if they're capable of learning then they're sapient by definition which means we have some moral obligations to them rather than being disinterested observers, because it's our species that is trying t…
Training them to disarm traps could cause more harm than good. Training them to avoid traps would maybe be better. If poachers learn that their prey are hanging around the traps all day disarming them they become lures. We also don't want an arms race between poachers and trained disarmers because the poachers are at a massive advantage. Once they know a significant number of their traps will be disarmed they will ju…
In Aotearoa-New Zealand we set traps for introduced species like stoats, rats, possums, etc. that kill our endangered wildlife that evolved without natural predators. The Kea which are very smart mountain parrots will go and disarm the traps in order to eat the bait. They're smart enough to have figured out how to do this, and are one of just a handful of animals that habitually use tools, but are unfortunately too s…