Selectively breeding animals to give them human intelligence

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If you mean that we have successfully bred, say sheepdogs, for intelligence, then I guess the answer is "yes".


Erm... see above. The whole point of selective breeding is to improve on the rate that the desired traits might occur naturally (if they did so at all).


No. That's exactly what "breeding the best with the best" is all about. If you want to increase a particular trait, you do exactly that. You could wait forever, hoping that it would be selected for, naturally (which probabilistically is certain, given infinite time), or you step in and provide your own selection criteria.

If anyone has any reason for supposing that there is anything in "human intelligence" that is qualitatively different from the intelligence displayed throughout the animal kingdom, I'd be amused to hear what it is.

It was sad when we lost Alex just over a year ago.

Aren't people like animals enough as it is. Driven by your instincts - I hardly see how that is going to help anyone.

People are not like animals - they are animals. Homo sapiens sapiens, kingdom Animalia.

One of our animal instincts seems now to be altruism - contrary to what used to be believed. I.e. we are driven by our animal instincts to help everyone.

Actually, I'm not sure whom you were addressing with your remark.

I just skipped over it. I may have missed the point.

Ok, look. There are different claims that we can both make about evolution. My statement refers to the evolutionary theory of a new species from selective breeding, hence we are refering to "human intelligence" in animals, not just pre existing traits within a specific breed. If the idea is to make a breed more "human" than we are talking about much more than selective breeding to evolve trait distribution more efficiently than natural selection and genetic drift would allow it to occur. My point is that it would take evolving a new species for animals to become for better or worse, capable of "human intelligence", and I'm not aware that selective breeding alone can accomplish this. However, you can evolve a breed selectively to inherit the best traits that already exist within the breed subset, a bio evolutionary process. However, it is unknown (for this hypothetical experiment) as to whether there will not be complications that set even the bio evolutionary process back in time, or devolve a subgroup within the experiment, i.e. new mutations, disorders, disabilities with negative effects. There also seems to be evidence that no matter how superb the genes are in selective breeding, that in animals with multiple offspring or litters, the female gives birth to a range of the dominant gene distribution amongst the litter. For instance, dogs and wolves typically have litters in which the pups aren't equal no matter how distinct the bloodline traits are that have been handed down through the parents. So, if you are selectively breeding dogs, then you will still have the weaker members of the breed population, and that will also set back the speed of evolving the breed even if you don't allow those weaker members to mate. This isn't proof that it can't be done, but in my opinion it would take genetic engineering alongside rigorous selective breeding in order to get the best example that a species can offer with pre existing traits of any particular breed. If you want to start cross species genetic mutations in order to breed animals with all the learning capabilities that human beings have, or in other words, genetically hybrid human brains, then be my guest, but this isn't an example of evolution (theory) either.

Gary, women can't breed with each other... zing. (for Gary's eyes only)

Thank you for agreeing with me: that your original statement was somewhat too dogmatic.

We have bred animals for intelligence.

No one offers a qualitative difference between "intelligence" and "human intelligence". So far as I can see, that is just a quantitative difference.

Therefore, in answer to the OP's question, re the thread title, "Would it be possible?" I will still say yes - based on the existing evidence.

As to how long it would take, to obtain the result merely by selective breeding, I wouldn't like to guess. We've rather taken our time, breeding dogs for such things. However, it would certainly occurs far quicker that non-selective breeding.

Speeding the process by direct genetic manipulation? On the current level of knowledge, I doubt it. I may be wrong, but I don't think anyone has identified even one "intelligence" gene yet.

It is unlikely that there is a single gene for intelligence. When human type intelligence emerged it also lead to a different style of living which was propagate by cultural means.

ruveyn

human intelligence 'emerged' THROUGH cultural means.

Merle

I can't wait for chimps and gorillas to start building little villages out of sticks and stone houses.