I hear an octopus has the intelligence of a 7 year old or a monkey is as smart as a 5 year old….. how they figure that out.
In: Other
We understand the intellectual development of children very well; the body of research is thorough. We know at what age kids develop the ability to use abstract thought, when they can start thinking from someone else’s perspective, when they start considering consequences of now actions, before actions, and future actions – etc etc.
When we observe animals in the wild, or test them in captivity, we can begin to understand the animal’s intelligence and an easy gauge is to compare them to the cognitive ability of humans.
This has its limitations because for creatures like octopuses that demonstrate a level of intelligence far higher than what we understand *within the environment* they live in. They have 9 brains, their front two legs think independently from one another. They can see through their skin. They can solve puzzles we give them pretty easily, but so could a chimp – saying a an octopus has the intelligence of any hominid in any stage of life would stretch the analogy too far.
Latest Answers