A girl who gets gifts from birds • Hacker News Board

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#91

Post by notahacker » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 8:36 PM UTC

tbrake wrote: post #36

Varcht wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I blame this on the "DreamWorks Effect", animators have done such a good job giving animals human traits and emotions that millinials+ really can't help but be animists.

I used to have a similar theory but personification of animals has been a part of human storytelling since the beginning of time. I'm just unsure if modern CGI is any more compelling in forming lasting notions of animism than, say, Bambi was.

Indeed at the beginning of the 20th century animals with human characteristics were attracting so much literary criticism even Theodore Roosevelt felt tempted to join the debate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_fakers_controversy

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#92

Post by gandy » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 8:39 PM UTC

Give and receive. This is some support for the idea that the law of reciprocity is ingrained fundamentally in us, even to lower form species like birds.

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#93

Post by gandy » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 8:40 PM UTC

Give and receive. This is support that the law of reciprocity might be ingrained in us--evident even in lower form species like birds.

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#94

Post by trendroid » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 8:46 PM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #38

Varcht wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I blame this on the "DreamWorks Effect", animators have done such a good job giving animals human traits and emotions that millinials+ really can't help but be animists.

Confused... you're saying that the crow in the video is not playing with the object? What other interpretation is there? It's not an instinctual nest building activity to go sledding on a foreign object, is it? I'm a Gen-Xer, and I think that crow is sledding for fun.

If you look closely its trying to pick at something that it finds curious. Sledding could possibly be an accidental outcome of it being sitting on a thin edge, not the original purpose.

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#95

Post by lotsofmangos » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 8:48 PM UTC

mxfh wrote: post #4

There already exists an automated exploit for this behavior: Joshua Klein's Crow Machine: https://www.josh.is/crow-machine/ see also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=470840

Paying crows peanuts to 'find' money has to be the best business plan ever. This could be bigger than Apple.

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#96

Post by marcusgarvey » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 8:58 PM UTC

At what point do we start calling them "people"?

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#97

Post by magentosargento » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 9:00 PM UTC

lotsofmangos wrote: post #72

rokhayakebe wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man looks up to the sky in distress. Man prays to the Sun. Tomorrow problem is solved. Assumes Sun fixed problem. Meme spreads among men. Addendum: Other man says this is random. Sun believer says don't insult my problem solver. Other man persists. Sun believer kills him.

I think I may have worked at that company. Was the sun believer called Phil?

Twist: It was Sun Microsystems

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#98

Post by MollyR » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 9:00 PM UTC

marincounty wrote: post #20

gadders wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of our intelligence research is mammal-biassed. When we think of intelligent animals we think primates, dolphins, dogs and maybe pigs. We ignore birds and octopus.

I have a weird feeling most animals think a lot; it's not just instinct, or Behaviorism. I also have a weird feeling as humans we attribute too much of our actions to thinking, and not enough to instinct and Behaviorism? I still have huge issues with strict Behaviorists though. My Psychiatrist practices subtle reinforcement techniques, and they never worked, but I just can't tell him; he's a nice guy. I think he need…

I've thought about this as well. A lot of the things I do don't really seem to be thought or thinking but instinct, with rationalization later. Lately I've been wondering if people think or animals actually "think". Perhaps everything we do extends from some kind of simple instinct in the case of insects to an extremely advanced form of instinct humans, primates, corvids, etc.

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#99

Post by balabaster » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 9:06 PM UTC

wozniacki wrote: post #79

drobati wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always heard that crows are incredibly smart. Great story. :)

Crows are incredibly smart. They are known to memorize curbside garbage pick up routes of city vehicles and the specific days for each neighborhood, within a city. They are also quick to adapt, given a change in schedule and only visit those specific neighborhoods only on those specific days, from miles away. Here's a video of crow performing a multi-step tool action test - a test of intelligence - for the first time…

This one's my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUiGEDnf5e4

Crow keeps undoing the guys shoe laces so he can steal the frying pan while the guy's doing his shoe laces up. Classic.

Re: A girl who gets gifts from birds

#100

Post by gaius » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 9:07 PM UTC

adamnemecek wrote: post #74

gaius wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counter-argument: The popularity of the Narnia books.

That's not a counter argument

Of course it is. It is evidence that many if not most Christians are perfectly happy with the notion of animals with souls, free will etc.