Are Humans The Only Species That Can Conceptualize?

[Illuminaughty]

Humans are the only sentient being. I think that's what you were aiming for.

[DavidOdden]

Humans are the only sentient being. I think that's what you were aiming for.

No, since sentience is basic consciousness and many animals have that.

[Illuminaughty]

No, since sentience is basic consciousness and many animals have that.

I was always under the impression sentience indicated self-awareness and thus the capability of abstract theorization, a trait no animal possesses to a signifigant extent (tool usage).

[goldmonkee]

I was always under the impression sentience indicated self-awareness and thus the capability of abstract theorization, a trait no animal possesses to a signifigant extent (tool usage).

Heard the other day that chimpanzees were reported as using a spear to get food, which I would consider "tool" usage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7022201007.html

Haven't looked into it much yet, although there's a video series (seen on PBS) that explores this very topic. I believe it was like a documentary, filming scientists performing the tests at various places. Probably been 10 years since I saw it, but I'll try and find it. One thing I remember was them putting a dot of paint onto a monkeys face, then later giving it a mirror and it trying to get the paint off himself. It's interesting

[DavidV]

Conceptualization is a very complex behavior, so there is no simple test for it. We can't expect a test based solely on the completion of a steps of mechanical actions. If conceptualization were easy to do, we would have been able to program computers to do it. Nature itself program animals with complex algorithms than simulate thinking. However the combination of all facilities working together produces dramatic and unmistakable differences between humans and animals.