
“Since childhood, I firmly believe that animals are far smarter than we think. Scientific evidence demonstrates that our planet isn’t the epicenter of the solar system, but now it also shows that we are not the sole center of intelligence.
But what are considered degrees of intellect? Do you think that some creatures are far smarter than some folks?
Throughout my experiences, I think . Just because animals can’t talk or read, for instance, doesn’t automatically indicate that they can’t think or feel. When comparing one species of animals to another, or even to people, we could observe different degrees of intelligence.
So, we are deceiving ourselves into thinking that, for thousands of years we’re more intelligent than the rest of the animal kingdom. And that, despite growing evidence nowadays to the opposite. Of course, I don’t deny that we, human animals, are smart when it comes to doing what needs to be done in order to survive. But other species may be far smarter than we are, think or believe.
Intelligence is Relative
Numerous animals have brains that are exceptional, but the majority of people purely misunderstand many of their abilities. There are now facts that crows, dogs, octopuses or koalas, just to name a few, reveal superior intelligence. It’s widespread truth in the animal kingdom. In some cases, animals possess greater reasoning faculties than any human being. So, some of them are probably way smarter.
And some of their activities or behaviors can’t merely be considered instinct. When we look at different animals, we often can’t do what they do. Sometimes, the way they act or what they do are very complex, like a bat flying in the dark. These creatures can catch flying insects in midair directly with echolocation.
So, it doesn’t merely takes instinct but a lot of brainpower to realize such feat. Yet we don’t pay attention to these types of things because we think it is irrelevant. Most people do not evaluate the abilities of animals, but rather compare them in term of intellect. As long as they can’t reason, talk, or see, then they must not be as bright as we are.
Outlining Who is Way Smarter
Throughout the ages, the ruling classes, from religion to scholars, do replicate that same belief:”We, humans are incomparable because we’re the cleverest being in the animal kingdom.” They also pretend that animals have no feelings or soul. However, science and life show us that animals do have feelings, a soul, and reasoning faculties making them way smarter than we think.
So, this belief of thinking that we’re superior in intelligence goes back a few ten thousand years back. It began when man created agriculture, farms, and domestication of animals. It then gained momentum with the beliefs of religion, which regarded humans as the principal species in production.
But does it mean that our intelligence is at a higher level? Of course not; they’re just of different types. When a foreigner tries to speak with you using an imperfect, flawed or broken version of your language, your first impression is they are not very wise. But the truth is entirely different.
The Unconditional Love of Animals
When it comes to animals, they are way smarter than what we tend to give them credit for. They are merely smart on their own terms, which often look nothing like yours or mine. I think we can learn plenty of things from them such as love, empathy, and compassion. So when they care, you can witness that they really do; it isn’t simply a fake disguise like human beings do.
Of the animal kingdom, some of these beings adore humans unconditionally. If something happens to us, animals do not put us down, push us suddenly decide not to love us anymore. That attitude only shows that they are way smarter than we are.
No matter the circumstances, they are there at our side before the end, and too often, we take this for granted. Yet, some people have no trouble getting rid of an animal when it doesn’t fit their life or agenda anymore.
Every day, our pets communicate with us through their demands and make us do things they desire. The animal world is much more complicated than we seem to believe or think. My father is a racehorse trainer, so I grew around horses and lived for many years in an apartment over a racehorse stable. Cats and dogs were also an essential part of my life like with any typical equine barn.
From the 60’s, there were no smartphones or sophisticated cameras to create videos in seconds. But all my life, I witnessed behaviours, intelligence and memory tricks from animals.
1 day, my father bought a racehorse called”Murdoch” from a different town, twenty miles away. After a couple of days, he took the horse to the track to train him. While galloping, a tractor made an enormous noise that terrified the creature, and its rider fell off. The horse, then alone, dashed across the track and jumped over the barrier disappearing into the woods.
A Story of Being Way Smarter
It was time to get in the car. I rode along, at my dad’s side, to look for the horse. We searched everywhere but to no avail. A couple of hours later, on our return to the barn, the prior owner called. In amazement, she told my father that the creature was at her ranch.
It meant that the horse galloped over roads and through woods to contact his previous barn without a single scratch. He figured how to perform twenty miles of unknown territory and return where he came from. Not only the horse did this, but due to cameras around the ranch, we were able to see how he did enter the horse farm.
When arriving at the front entrance, the animal saw it was closed. Then found an open booth, entered it and waited , realizing that it had been the only home he knew.
Animals are amazing and deserve as much respect as individuals for their memory, intelligence, tenacity and unconditional love.
Horses, dogs, and cats, among many species that spend time around people, can recognize body language signs that you or I do not pay attention to.
Primates such as chimpanzees can easily beat people at remembering a set of numbers that they saw for a fraction of a second.
Octopuses learn how to open childproof caps on medication bottles, which a lot of us cannot unlock.
Bats do map out space with echolocation and sonar.
Birds figure out and understand the complex mechanisms of flying and landing.
Crows, pictured in horror movies for stupid reasons, are not just among the most intelligent birds, but they are way smarter than most animals. They can accomplish tasks that three and four-year-old children have trouble doing.
Animals Have Feelings
While they have different brain structures, experts estimate that animals such as crows and apes handle and use a mix of mental tools. It even includes imagination and the anticipation of potential future events so they can solve problems.
I witnessed a few crows learning how to use cars for cracking nuts. They wait patiently at intersections while keeping eye on the traffic lights. So, once the traffic stops they retrieve a nut that vehicles crushed, which they’ve put earlier on the street.
Furthermore, it’s now evident that elephants grieve. Once, in Ukraine, my mother in law took home a stray cat that was residing on a hospital ground. It was not a small kitten but a full grown cat. The cat was now living with her countryside house fifteen miles away from the hospital, and he seemed unhappy.
Give Animals Credit
One day, she opened the door, and the cat flew by her, running away into the fields. Ten days later, thinking that she dropped the creature forever, it showed up on the hospital ground. The animal had lost a lot of weight and appeared to suffer a minor injury, but he was alive. He had found his way home through areas and against incredible obstacles.
So, human beings need to stop this obsession of comparing animals to human aptitude. We pick things that we’re good at, like technology or language. And we then associate it with intelligence to other species of our world. But animals are way smarter than we think.