Are you a vegetarian or do you eat meat, and why? I'm a vegetarian because I believe slaughtering animals is wrong and that meat is unnecessary for humans. You can disagree with me, as long as you actually have something interesting to say. For example, don't say something dumb like "meat tastes good".
Again, this happens in every animal on the planet, even in humans. So by your definition here, even we humans are unintelligent animals
Well, I said not dominated by pure instinct, so occasional episodes are allowed. But if i shined a flashlight in your eyes, i garauntee wou wouldn't freeze (pardon my horrible spelling).
For one thing - we don't actively choose to release adrenaline. We do it in response to an instinctual trigger (although saying that, I do have some control of most of my glands but that's besides the point).
Well, I said not dominated by pure instinct, so occasional episodes are allowed. But if i shined a flashlight in your eyes, i garauntee wou wouldn't freeze (pardon my horrible spelling).
True, because I haven't evolved such a response. However if you startle me I'm going to probably jump, and then I'll probably attack you before I realize what I'm doing. That's pure instinct.
You are taking something which an animal does instinctively as a response to a threatening stimuli and then equating it to the animal's intelligence. These are totally unrelated aspects of the creature in question.
For one thing - we don't actively choose to release adrenaline. We do it in response to an instinctual trigger (although saying that, I do have some control of most of my glands but that's besides the point).
I have heard of instances in which people who meditate (not as a simple stress reliever, i mean like the Hindu fakirs that are really into it) can control their adrenaline. Isn't that awesome?
I have heard of instances in which people who meditate (not as a simple stress reliever, i mean like the Hindu fakirs that are really into it) can control their adrenaline. Isn't that awesome?
Yep, and completely irrelevant. If I startle you, you're going to jump. That's a pure instinct, and by your definition pure instinct is indicative of unintelligence, ergo, by your own logic you are dumb enough to eat. See the flaws with your criteria?
You are taking something which an animal does instinctively as a response to a threatening stimuli and then equating it to the animal's intelligence
An animal's ability to distinguish something that truly threatens it from stimuli that appear threatening is its intelligence in a way. Light that a deer sees is not in itself threatening, but the car behind it that the deer lets itself get hit by is. The deer fails to make that distinction, which a more intelligent animal (like a dog) could make.
I wasn't advocating you do, was just pointing out that they aren't as stupid as you think.
An animal that can solve problems
I can't think of an animal that isn't capable of this to some extent.
learn and obey commands
Most if not all of the animals we commonly eat are capable of this to some extent.
and aren't dominated by pure instinct such as the deer are in the (now overused) example with the flashlight.
Every animal to some extent is dominated by pure instinct.
With that last one every animal is tasty enough to eat. With out it almost no animal is fit for eating. These would seem to be poor qualities to define "too intelligent".
The deer fails to make that distinction, which a more intelligent animal (like a dog) could make.
Just like the jumping example the response to freeze is not connected to making any sort of distinction. You could easily see the thing jumping out at you will hurt you or not but despite this distinction you would likely still to jump.
