[PvK]

Originally posted by dogscoff:

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but I wouldn't call their thoughts "totally alien". They're very easy to relate to - not very far from human thoughts and emotions in many ways, even if there are differences

The only reason that their behaviour doesn't seem "totally alien" to us is that we are used to it. We understand (or think we do) the way animals think because we have studied them and/ or domesticated them and/or try to interpret their behaviour using our human behaviour as a template. If we landed on an alien planet and saw a bunch of creatures with the exact same behaviour, intelligence and level of communication as dolphins we would spend decades trying to communicate with them because we would think there was a chance they were sentient.

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I guess I don't understand your definitions of terms very well. We seem to mean very different things when we each say "totally alien." One one level, sure, anything from this planet is not totally alien. On another, I can relate to and recognize in myself many of the behaviours exhibited by animals.

I don't really follow your example of alien dolphin-like animals, either. Of course scientists would study the heck out of any alien life form. Scientists study dolphins, too.

Other scientists do preposterous things like tell a dog not to eat food, then leave it alone with the food, and get excited to discover that the dog will go eat the food when humans aren't looking. This German study made the BBC world news a year or two ago. Meanwhile, non-scientists who know dogs generally know this anyway. What that demonstrates to me is that many scientists, like when I studied cognitive science a bit a decade ago, are severely confused about animal intelligence.

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not very far from human thoughts and emotions

As I said, there are similarities but they will occur almost everywhere we find life. Any life form on any planet that needs to learn the value of running away will develop fear- or something very similar to fear. Parallel evolution.

Any life form that benefits from living ina society will evolve bonds with others within its society- friendship, love, comradeship, pack mentality- call it what you will.

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Well the difference is that these animals evolved on the same planet we did, in the same environment, with the same kinds of conditions and competitors, and from common ancient ancestors.

Humans, animals, fish, reptiles, insects, all have eyes, brains, spines, nervous systems, mouths, digestive tracts, limbs for locomotion, sexual reproduction, etc.

Not all environments require running away. Not all ecologies involve predation. Not all imaginible life forms even have "societies". Not all societies need have the same elements, even if human ones, or human and animal ones, tend to.

Yes there are some situations that seem like they would exist or need to exist in most environments. But even life on this planet shows that there are many solutions to most problems.

PvK

[ March 25, 2004, 17:56: Message edited by: PvK ]