What do your pets think of human technology?

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iamnotaparakeet
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08 Mar 2008, 9:01 pm

My birds aren't afraid of the vacuum cleaner, but it appears a lot of animals are.



EvilKimEvil
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08 Mar 2008, 9:48 pm

My dog will watch TV when it depicts dogs or similar mammals. He especially likes the shows about dogs interacting with people. He tends to ignore the stereo, with some notable exceptions. When I put on a death metal record, he'll get up and go sit by the speaker.

His reactions to toys that move or make sounds are pretty funny. The most interesting reaction is provoked by a wind-up Yoda that does back flips. He barks at it and paws at it like he's trying to get it to play with him.

The reptiles react more negatively to human technology. The lizard doesn't like any kind of loud noise. Neither of them like having their pictures taken. The lizard seems to like it when I play my guitar and sing, but the snake hates the harmonica. He reacts by frantically racing around his enclosure and trying to get out. I've only seen him act that way when I play my harmonica.



pakled
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08 Mar 2008, 10:01 pm

Laser pointers will drive most cats into a frenzy...;) mainly a kitty thing...;)
Hate the vacuum cleaner
love snuggling up to the UPS, because it's warm, and the fans from the PC blow hot air that way.
they also love standing between me and the screen, walking on the keyboard, and generally getting all the attention they feel they lack...;) in fact, some of my worst typos here have been when they're helping me type...;)



slowmutant
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09 Mar 2008, 8:14 am

The anthropomorphization of animals is common but of course it would be wrong to assume animal have a pyschology anything like ours. Dolphins are clever animals, but I would think theirs is a whole other kind of intelligence. Again, it's the assumption that human beings are the smartest creatures that could possibly exist. Human beings have a lot of cleverness, but in the end where has all this cleverness gotten us? Self-annihilation, for the most part. If an animal is "smart" enough to make tribes and leaders and outcasts, the aggression is self-directed and eventual. (The primates, some of the mammalians.)

But insects are a different story. Ants exist in perfect colonies and achieved lasting communal harmony long before our race appeared. Go figure. :scratch:



slowmutant
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09 Mar 2008, 8:24 am

[/quote]Brain size does not determine intelligence.[/quote]

No, but neural structure does. If an elephant has a bigger brain than a man's, why is man the more intelligent species? It's the computational difference that seperates man from beast, pretty much. I'm smarter than my cat because my central processor is more effective than her feline CPU. Actual brain-mass is incidental, I think.



Lightning88
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09 Mar 2008, 8:25 am

My pets all love the TV, especially Thai, my siamese cat. Her favorite movie is 'Babel'. She always gets really close to the TV during the fiesta. Two of the dogs like the garage since they know someone's arriving home. None of the pets like the doorbell, except for Halloween, since he knows it's his opportunity to sneak out. He also likes computers (especially jumping on the desk and getting right in the way of the screen.). Winston especially hates the phone.



Whivit
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09 Mar 2008, 11:12 am

slowmutant wrote:
Quote:
Brain size does not determine intelligence.


No, but neural structure does. If an elephant has a bigger brain than a man's, why is man the more intelligent species? It's the computational difference that seperates man from beast, pretty much. I'm smarter than my cat because my central processor is more effective than her feline CPU. Actual brain-mass is incidental, I think.


You're not more intelligent than an elephant. You're intelligent in different ways. And please, please don't say 'that's what separates man from beast'; man is no different from any 'beast'. We're all animals.

Edit: Wait, if intelligence supposedly separates us from other animals, are ret*d people not human?



slowmutant
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09 Mar 2008, 12:25 pm

quote]You're not more intelligent than an elephant. You're intelligent in different ways. And please, please don't say 'that's what separates man from beast'; man is no different from any 'beast'. We're all animals.[quote]

Point taken, and I quite agree. Man is a beast; man is the worst of them all[i] But only human intelligence preoccupies with iPODs.



aries
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27 Mar 2008, 6:09 pm

Whivit wrote:
slowmutant wrote:
Quote:
Brain size does not determine intelligence.


No, but neural structure does. If an elephant has a bigger brain than a man's, why is man the more intelligent species? It's the computational difference that seperates man from beast, pretty much. I'm smarter than my cat because my central processor is more effective than her feline CPU. Actual brain-mass is incidental, I think.


You're not more intelligent than an elephant. You're intelligent in different ways. And please, please don't say 'that's what separates man from beast'; man is no different from any 'beast'. We're all animals.

Edit: Wait, if intelligence supposedly separates us from other animals, are ret*d people not human?


I quite agree. Case in point, chimps have a much better working memory than humans for numbers http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314681,00.html


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MissConstrue
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27 Mar 2008, 6:44 pm

Mine likes to flush the toilet. I'm now trying to keep the door shut. I think he's gotten this flushing figured out. After one flush, he sits and waits till the sound dies down then flushes it again. I can't get him to quit. Baaad Caaat. :x



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27 Mar 2008, 6:56 pm

pakled wrote:
Laser pointers will drive most cats into a frenzy...;) mainly a kitty thing...;)


I went to visit my daughter, and she made the mistake of demonstrating this to me. I was soooo amused I did it until kitty was near exhaustion ! !!


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iamnotaparakeet
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27 Mar 2008, 7:28 pm

aries wrote:
Whivit wrote:
slowmutant wrote:
Quote:
Brain size does not determine intelligence.


No, but neural structure does. If an elephant has a bigger brain than a man's, why is man the more intelligent species? It's the computational difference that seperates man from beast, pretty much. I'm smarter than my cat because my central processor is more effective than her feline CPU. Actual brain-mass is incidental, I think.


You're not more intelligent than an elephant. You're intelligent in different ways. And please, please don't say 'that's what separates man from beast'; man is no different from any 'beast'. We're all animals.

Edit: Wait, if intelligence supposedly separates us from other animals, are ret*d people not human?


I quite agree. Case in point, chimps have a much better working memory than humans for numbers http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314681,00.html


The chimps were rewarded with raisins, how much were the people being paid?



KingofKaboom
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27 Mar 2008, 7:33 pm

Prof_Pretorius wrote:
pakled wrote:
Laser pointers will drive most cats into a frenzy...;) mainly a kitty thing...;)


I went to visit my daughter, and she made the mistake of demonstrating this to me. I was soooo amused I did it until kitty was near exhaustion ! !!



King must admit that he has also.... never seen a cat pant, did that time..... But for what it's worth that cat hated everyone but me until it had kittens then it hated them too and ran away to the neighbors who care for it.


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27 Mar 2008, 7:35 pm

My cat's figured out everything that has to do with water- the toilet, bathtub, the refridgerator filtered water dispenser, even the sink, and she stays clear of them. She's horrified of water. When it rains outside she runs for the nearest shelter until she can beg to come inside. Though, the last part has nothing to do with technology.


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ClosetAspy
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28 Mar 2008, 7:13 pm

The computer doesn't interest my cats, but the refrigerator definitely does! Also running water, I have one cat who INSISTS on me dribbling the water in the bathtub so she can drink, and I think sometimes she does that just to see if the water is still working, because she goes in the bathroom and yells for me to come, then just sits there looking at the water. They don't quite get it that I cannot control the weather outside the way I can inside.



Prof_Pretorius
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29 Mar 2008, 11:28 pm

Our Lovebirds like to squeek and squack when I play Pink Floyd. I think its the guitars that excite them. They ignore other music.


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