Atheistforums.com

Science Section => Science General Discussion => Biology, Psychology & Medicine => Topic started by: PopeyesPappy on November 30, 2017, 02:42:24 PM

Title: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: PopeyesPappy on November 30, 2017, 02:42:24 PM
Dogs really ARE smarter than cats (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5131945/Dogs-really-smarter-cats-research-suggests.html)
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: SGOS on November 30, 2017, 03:47:47 PM
This doesn't surprise me.  I like both cats and dogs, and even after my dog died, I went and replaced that empty spot with two cats, which I enjoyed a lot.  One of them especially.  I never thought they were smarter than dogs by any means, but they can be loveable.  I bonded more with my dog.  I don't know if that is an indicator of intelligence, but I think greater intelligence was a part of it.  My dog seemed much more in touch with my thoughts and feelings, and I felt we could come to agreements about things.  I don't question the research.  But this doesn't involve any disrespect for cats.  And much of the bonding experience with pets depends on which cat or dog you are talking about.  I've owned two golden retrievers, and both seemed highly intelligent. 

I also enjoyed owning a cat and a dog together.  It's interesting to watch them bond and play together, and in that scenario, sometimes I wondered which one was smarter.  The cat seemed to enjoy fooling the dog by hiding in wait and then springing out to surprise the dog with a friendly punch in the face, which would end up in a few minutes of chaos until the cat would terminate the event by disappearing again while the dog seemed to be wondering what just went on.  The wonderment stuck me as a sign of intelligence, but then fooling the dog may have also been intelligence.

I lived in a house while I was building it, and the cat would climb up on an un-sheetrocked header above a door way and take a playful swipe at me when I walked under it.  He never connected, and never intended to, as far as I could tell.  He just seemed to be telling me he could have if he wanted to.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Baruch on November 30, 2017, 07:26:02 PM
I will admit that dogs dress smarter ... because you can get them into dog coats, but you can't do that with cats, who are au natural.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Hydra009 on December 01, 2017, 10:45:00 PM
Quote from: SGOS on November 30, 2017, 03:47:47 PMMy dog seemed much more in touch with my thoughts and feelings, and I felt we could come to agreements about things.
Same here.  Of course, dogs are social animals much like humans, so that makes sense.  I'm astonished by my dog's ability to read my body language.  It often seems like he predicts my actions, but really, he's just reacting to shifts in my body language that I'm not consciously aware of.  Like looking towards the door before I decide to leave to take him for a walk.  The dog knows what that means before I do.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on December 02, 2017, 02:38:39 AM
I heard that cats vs dogs report too.  It depends on how you measure intelligence.  If anticipating how to react to humans is intelligence, dogs are successful.  Dogs are slavish.

The study assumes that numbers of neurons measure intelligence.  Are shrews less intelligent than walruses just because of quantity?  Crows beat some larger mammals in problem-solving tests.  They have fewer neurons. 

I suspect the test measured neurons dedicated to domestication, which is very different from intelligence. 
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Hijiri Byakuren on December 02, 2017, 11:23:24 AM
My cat taught himself to open doors. Never seen a dog do that without being trained.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Hydra009 on December 02, 2017, 11:44:23 AM
Quote from: Hijiri Byakuren on December 02, 2017, 11:23:24 AM
My cat taught himself to open doors. Never seen a dog do that without being trained.
My dog does that without being trained. :(
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Hydra009 on December 02, 2017, 11:53:16 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on December 02, 2017, 02:38:39 AMThe study assumes that numbers of neurons measure intelligence.
Well, there is a rough correlation.  But afaik, it's not the sole factor.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Baruch on December 02, 2017, 12:26:07 PM
I would let dolphins vote ... before I would let people vote ;-)

Voting wouldn't work for cats, each cat would vote for himself, and nobody would get even a plurality ;-)
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: SGOS on December 02, 2017, 01:03:36 PM
Much of it depends on what you define as intelligence.  Define it idiosyncratically, and design the test to measure that idiosyncratic definition, and you get scores to suit any bias you want.  Intelligence tests for humans have been criticized in the past for being culturally biased because the tests first devised were developed in western culture.  Testing intelligence in animals, at least the metric used in this study, tests a different set of criteria than used in human testing, and is even more arbitrary.  It assumes that number of neurons is the indicator.  It holds true generally, but acknowledge an exception here and there, and the assumption appears to be neither true or false.  It measures an indicator of intelligence, not actual intelligence, however that is defined.

To confuse the issue even further, back in college while studying the concept of intelligence, I remember a cryptic comment from my text book.  To make a point about the nebulous quality of intelligence, it first posed the question, "What is intelligence?"  It then gave one fairly common response taken from experts:  "Intelligence is whatever that quality is that intelligence tests measure."  I'll give you some time to mull that one over and some extra time to chuckle.

There is a correlation between intelligence tests and academic success in humans to be sure, but it's hardly a one to one correlation.  This is because we don't fully understand what we identify as intelligence.  It's an arbitrarily defined quality in humans, and even more arbitrary in animals.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on December 18, 2017, 04:54:40 PM
Quote from: Baruch on December 02, 2017, 12:26:07 PM
I would let dolphins vote ... before I would let people vote ;-)

Well, before YOU vote anyway, LOL!
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Baruch on December 18, 2017, 09:53:01 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on December 18, 2017, 04:54:40 PM
Well, before YOU vote anyway, LOL!

What was the porpoise of that post?
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 03:07:22 PM
Quote from: Baruch on December 18, 2017, 09:53:01 PM
What was the porpoise of that post?

Transporting gulls across across staid lions for immortal porpoises?
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: SGOS on February 28, 2018, 05:06:00 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 03:07:22 PM
Transporting gulls across across staid lions for immortal porpoises?
That may be the most complicated pun I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on February 28, 2018, 05:10:02 PM
Quote from: SGOS on February 28, 2018, 05:06:00 PM
That may be the most complicated pun I've ever seen.
They say that the lions at Trafalgar  Square get up and roar every time a virgin walks past.

In other words, it's a great place for a nap.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 05:22:28 PM
Quote from: SGOS on February 28, 2018, 05:06:00 PM
That may be the most complicated pun I've ever seen.

I'm glad SOMEONE caught it.  I've kept that one in my pocket for years (and no, not the originator).  LOL!
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 05:27:20 PM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on February 28, 2018, 05:10:02 PM
They say that the lions at Trafalgar  Square get up and roar every time a virgin walks past.

In other words, it's a great place for a nap.

Same myth about the bronze terrapin at the Univ of Maryland quadrangle.  I read that they recently had to move it because so many women rubbed the head of it walking by that the features were becoming indistinct and needed to be recast slightly.  I'm not sure if that rubbing was a hope or a vague promissary note.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 05:28:09 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 05:22:28 PM
I'm glad SOMEONE caught it.  I've kept that one in my pocket for years (and no, not the originator).  LOL!
So, instead of playing pocket pool, you've been playing pocket pun, huh?
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on February 28, 2018, 05:29:48 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 05:28:09 PM
So, instead of playing pocket pool, you've been playing pocket pun, huh?
The pun also rises?
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 05:40:07 PM
When all else fails, drop back 10 and pun.
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Hakurei Reimu on February 28, 2018, 06:17:43 PM
...I'm not going to give up my cat for a dog, no matter what your vile propaganda tells me, cynophiles! ;)
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 06:21:23 PM
Quote from: Hakurei Reimu on February 28, 2018, 06:17:43 PM
...I'm not going to give up my cat for a dog, no matter what your vile propaganda tells me, cynophiles! ;)

I felinish all the way...
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 06:24:25 PM
Soon we'll be able to have our cats and dogs at the same time, like CatDog:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Afdxd6sUQ


Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 06:25:40 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 05:40:07 PM
When all else fails, drop back 10 and pun.

Word-play is PUNishment enough to suit the day, and nights abed should not be wordy lest the dawn oPUN our eyes to the .light of morn dew soon...
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 06:27:35 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 06:24:25 PM
Soon we'll be able to have our cats and dogs at the same time, like CatDog:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Afdxd6sUQ

I beaver embarassed to say I doggedly watched that a mew times...
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 06:35:40 PM
Too much word play could cause pundemonium!
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 06:41:00 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 28, 2018, 06:35:40 PM
Too much word play could cause pundemonium!

Oh deer, can this ghat veiny worse?
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Baruch on February 28, 2018, 08:30:22 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on February 28, 2018, 06:41:00 PM
Oh deer, can this ghat veiny worse?

Your Hindus are taking the waters in Bath England?
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Cavebear on March 05, 2018, 06:09:08 PM
"Dogs have owners; cats have staff".

The Staff...
Title: Re: Just in: Dogs are smarter than cats.
Post by: Unbeliever on September 15, 2018, 03:57:56 PM
I wonder how the experiment on foxes will turn out, once they've been bred for even more socialization with humans. It'll probably take quite a few more generations, and the raising of pups outside laboratories, to really find out.

QuoteThis week, we meet the very cute and very bizarre result of an almost 60-year-long experiment: they’re foxes that have been specially bred for their dog-like friendliness toward people. We do a little behavior research of our own, and discover what scientists continue to learn from the world’s most famous experiment in domestication. The fox experiment continues under the supervision of Lyudmila Trut at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics. Her book “How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog)”, co-authored by Lee Alan Dugatkin, details the history and science behind the experiment.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dwjS_eI-lQ

They're still probably not as smart as cats, though.