For all the similarity between man and animal, there is still a fundamental difference between them - this is the way of perceiving the surrounding world. In the arsenal of animals, only the first signaling system, i.e. they perceive the world with the help of reflexes and reactions to stimuli. The person also owns the second signaling system - language. Simply put, if an animal uses the "trial and error" method to achieve a result, a person achieves any result with the help of language and associated thinking.
Are pets smart?
Owners of cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, horses and other pets often endow their pets with extraordinary mental abilities. But is it really so? “No,” the scientists unanimously declare. Even if it seems to you that the cat understands what you are talking about. Animals are not able to perceive the information that this or that word carries. They only perceive its emotional coloring and stress. Therefore, for the animal, it is not the words themselves that are important, but the combination of sounds.
For the same reason, your dog can watch TV - he is attracted by the combination of sounds and he simply begins to follow the external stimulus.
“But what about those cases when the animal feels the illness of the owner?” - you ask. In this case, too, everything is understandable - with the illness of the owner, the usual regime for the animal is violated, for example, the feeding schedule and, naturally, the animal tries to find out the reason.
Possessing only tactile and oral means of communication, it comes into contact with the owner in order to find out the reason why he was not fed on time.
The owner for his pet is the only something meaningful creature that is perceived by him as a part of himself. It is to this phenomenon that a person is obliged in cases of miraculous salvation or warning of danger. Because in this case, the animal does not save the owner, but itself.
This is how "cruelly" scientists dispelled stereotypes and myths about their beloved Barsik and Mukhtar. But did this make them less loved !?
Is there any more stupid than stupid
Logically, the question arises: if animals are not so smart, then there must be the stupidest among them? Yes there is! The stupidest animals are hippos.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a scientist from the Zoological Institute (Switzerland) A. Portman developed a scale of the intellectual capabilities of animals, and according to it, dolphins were in the first place, and the hippopotamus was in the last. According to research carried out by scientists, this animal scored only 18 points on the scale of intelligence. However, despite such low results, this animal does not betray its lack of intelligence in any way. They adapted to existence in groups and even learned how to protect themselves from the scorching sun.
It's good that the hippopotamus itself does not know that it is considered the stupidest animal in the world, and it lives quite happily, instilling fear in the king of animals - the lion and the prince of Africa - the crocodile.
