Ancalagon wrote:
fraac wrote:
No. A dog has no use for arithmetic. Arithmetic is irrational in a dog's world. Not too complicated, just meaningless.
Dogs can count. Not very high (I don't know how high off the top of my head), but they can count.
Dogs don't know much arithmetic at all, but they can tell the difference between one ball and two balls. That difference is not meaningless to a dog.
I can affirm this with one anecdote, my childhood dog could fetch. And she did so with a unique flair. You could tell her what to fetch, and how many of them. She got it right almost every time, with objects she knew, and small quantities.
My dad had taught her this. And frequently had her fetch him cans of beer from the fridge.
Smartest dog I've ever seen, that one.
So, she had use for arithmetic. It was complicated for her I'm sure, she only had the basic idea of small numbers, but she had use of it.
_________________
I am Ignostic.
Go ahead and define god, with universal acceptance of said definition.
I'll wait.