-
We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.
If evolution is true, how come humans are the only intelligent beings?
Page 4 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
imported_Tomato
Diamond Member
That's what the dolphins want you to think. 😉
As to those who mention opposable thumbs, why can't other animals "evolve" so that they do?
Have we "evolved" into the perfect bodies that allow us to do the things we do?
Why do monkeys have opposable thumbs but yet are far from being as intelligent as we are?
Are they in the evolving process now, and will eventually be as smart as us?
Have we "evolved" into the perfect bodies that allow us to do the things we do?
Why do monkeys have opposable thumbs but yet are far from being as intelligent as we are?
Are they in the evolving process now, and will eventually be as smart as us?
Umm, dude evolution takes generations upon generations to see a noticable change. Either that or a drastic change in the environment. Modern day humans have been around for what, 20000 years? We're a little spec on a huge timescale.
We'll see how things are say in the year 2 million, and then you can come back to us. 😉
What brain development?
Are you saying that we are much smarter than those from thousands of years ago?
We are only "smarter" now because we learned from our past discoveries, RECORDED of this information, learned and researched it and further developed it.
If you destroy ALL the material things and technology in this world today, erase our memories, and leave us in the wild, we are no better off than they were.
As has been pointed out, the definitions of intelligence you stipulate are human-centric, and make your question more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than anything else. If you define intelligence in such a way that only humans can meet the criteria, then humans will appear to be the only intelligent species.
As others have pointed out as well, it seems that your understanding of evolution is flawed:
It's hard to answer this thread with your particular bias, I think. 😛
Rob
As others have pointed out as well, it seems that your understanding of evolution is flawed:
It's hard to answer this thread with your particular bias, I think. 😛
Rob
You have to remember that intelligent humans have only been around a fraction of the time when you take into account the length of evolution... so yes. We could just be the lucky one on the distribution curve... but others may develop intelligence later on as well. Monkeys for example, have been known to use tools. Some use rocks to break open nuts, some use a stick to get ants from inside an ant hill. Evolution is a process that involves eons.
Which is my point.
It took us eons to evolve into what we are today right?
Why are we the only ONES out of the MILLIONS of species out there? NOTHING else comes close to us.
Why hasn't chance allowed that maybe just ONE other species out there was evolving alongside us in the past eon?
Yet why are there MILLIONS of other species in the same intellectual level far below ours.
WinkOsmosis
Banned
You being taller than stronger than your grandfather doesn't have anything to do with evolution....
And it's been answered! There were other intelligent species, but they were wiped out. And things happen on a bell curve... we're just one of the lucky ones at the end of the spectrum. Just like in society, there is only 0.0000001% of people with IQs over 180 (though everybody gets the same education), we just happen to be the lucky race to have developed intelligence so early. Who's to say things won't look different 5 million years from now.
True that the definition of intelligence was created by us humans.
But regardless of these technicalities, it is pretty obvious that we are superior by far.
if an "intelligent" alien from another planet were to come here and give an assessment of life on earth, it'd be pretty clear for them to tell which is the dominant species.
GagHalfrunt
Lifer
See, here's where you and all the other "they're not as smart as us..." creationists lose your feeble arguments. They're not as smart as us because we're the ones defining intelligence. They're not as smart as us when graded on the scale of human intelligence like math, language skills, spatial relations and the other tests WE have invented to show how smart WE are. The tests are rigged because we don't understand even a shred of the true intelligence of other species, so we can't measure it. Other species are born able to survive. They have hunting skills, the ability to feed themselves and to protect themselves from predators. We don't. Can we begin to grasp the collective intelligence of a bee hive or an ant colony? The subtleties are far beyond us. Animals like dogs, monkeys and dolphins can be trained. They learn to understand us, yet we don't have a clue about how to understand them. The dolphins and whales clearly communicate with each other and they've learned to get the gist of what we want, but we have not deciphered a single syllable of their language. Hmmmm, who is really smarter? We consider ourselves to be the master species because that's what we want to believe. So we can do math, so what? That only makes us smarter than other species because we tell ourselves it does. In a rant on "Survival of the Fittest" Dennis Miller said "Remember that it's all about perspective, sure a lion is the undisputed king of the jungle, but airdrop him into Antarctica and he's just a penguins bitch..." We're the undisputed kings of having human intelligence, but we're still at the mercy of many species. We can't stop the spread of fire ants, a dog has the power to kill us, we can be brought down by a bee sting, we'll die of hypothermia if left in room temperature water long enough, we die of thirst if without water for 3 days, but other species can go for months without food and water. Get dropped in the desert next to a scorpion or camel and they know how to survive, but we wouldn't. Would knowing that 2+2=4 and having an IQ of 150 really help? Nope, you'd be crispy critters and they'd be fine. The only difference is that they wouldn't be dumb enough to think that they're smart.
However, intelligence isn't a measure of superiority in terms of success. What determines our success is simply our ability to reproduce and succeed in an environment. Our intelligence lends us that ability, just like a coat of fur on a polar bear lends it the ability to survive in a cold environment.
Personally, I believe that our intelligence stems from our ability to use language to pass on knowledge that isn't within our genes.
WarmAndSCSI
Banned
Yeah I wanna know!
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 24K
-
-
