Animals cant reason. I dont understand what that means exactly?!?!
Answers: People say the difference between us and animals is the ability to reason. I dont quite understand-does it mean like they dont think things through? Please explain this to me.
Okay, seriously, the only decent answer here was Luna's.
People say we and animals are totally different. First of all, we ARE animals. It's not like we're a totally different group; look at our anatomy, it consists of exactly the same main organs as other animals, right? We all have hearts, we all have brains, we all have stomachs, livers, etc. In my opinion, people who say we aren't animals just think they're better. It's a psychological thing. You can usually tell if someone is egotistical or not just by seeing if they separate themselves from animals. And I'm not being mean or inconsiderate, that's just how it is.
People say the thing that separates us from animals is the inability for them to reason. This is talking about the brain. Any conversation that could stem from this statement is all about the brain and its capabilities. If we can't even understand our OWN brains, why are we making assumptions and guesses about other life forms' brains and how they can function?
I think the thing that separates us from other animals is not something from natural selection, like brain functions/capabilities. It is the fact that we were made in God's image. He made Adam and Eve, and until they ate the forbidden fruit, we and every other animal were absolutely equal aside from how we look like God. They ate the fruit, and became wise and knew more about other things, like God. Thus, the human race to come gained this knowledge. We've passed it on to our children, and have used that knowledge to build off of to become what we are today and to have the intellect and technology that we have today.
My perspective on things. And yes, I did bring up Christianity, because this is how I believe things happened. And I hate to be so blunt in all of this, but that's just the kinda mood I'm in right now. Sorry...
Actually you may not have this ability as well. Were your parents monkeys per chance?
Yes basically. Animals don't have introspective thought so they don't think things like I am embarrassed today because I am having a bad hair day or it's ok that I eat the garbage because it's going to the dump anyways. Animals are driving by pain and pleasure memories, so what brought them pleasure before they will do again and what brought them pain before they will avoid. Humans on the other had will endure pains to get what they want, pains of learning to ride a bike, because they know, they reason, that once they learn it will be fun to ride the bike.
You have answered your own question, they don't think things through, but they do learn though they don't know why.
They learn an electric fence is unpleasant and don't understand why.
Dairy cattle learn when it is milking time and line up but will not put the 2+2 together.
Sheep will follow the leader, not knowing why.
If you want to drive a mob of sheep across a river, attach a harness to one and gently tow it across on your quad bike and the others will follow.
That is tru - animals don't have the ability to reason. For example, lets say that when I came home from work, I found out that my dog had peed on the rug while I was gone. Well some people would drag the dog over to the puddle, stick his nose in it and yell at him, then perhaps lock him in the bathroom for an hour as punishment.
Well since the dog can't reason, he's got no idea what the hell just happened. He has no idea why you were rubbing his nose in the mess, and why you locked him in the bathroom. This form of "training" usually gets people nowhere cause animals can't think the way we do. If we don't catch the dog in the act of peeing on the rug, punishing him afterwards isn't going to do anything! And before the dog pees on the rug, he doesn't sit there and think, "hmmm am I going to get in trouble for doing this??"
I hope this makes sense to you!
actually there is new research that shows some animals have self awareness and can recognize themselves.
as for reason, its just that they don't think things through. then again a lot of people i know don't either.
whether or not they reason or are self aware though they still ABSOLUTELY feel pain. and that's what matters to me- they feel fear, pain and suffering just like any other animal which includes humans.
Animals can reason. They learn from experiences and use judgment to perform certain tasks based on their experiences. Many of their actions have never been learned, yet they perform these actions because of their cognitive abilities and their ability to reason.
Here is just one example. A friend of mine has a parrot, and that bird roams around the house. It has watched what others do to turn on the water faucet to get water, and it goes and pushes against it to get a drink. It has watched how people get into rooms and it perches and rolls on the door knob to turn it. If the door is already partly open, it will nudge it with its head to open the door further and get into the other room. This is something it learned to do by reasoning how people did it.
Blah blah blah. What we humans call reason is collecting tax dollars mostly from the poor and creating weapons of mass destruction and starting wars. Human reason is causing wars to continue for centuries and centuries with no one remembering why they even started. Some will say it is lack of reason. Some will say it is lack of love. Whatever. Animals can't reason? God please let me be a dolphin in my next life.
most animals can't think about why things happen. they can learn cause and effect to some degree. some animals are intelligent enough to figure out how to do things without having been shown. most have to be taught.
they can olny drive themselfs on plesure and pain
We are animals. The development of our brains is what gives us our domination of this earth. Most other life forms on this planet do not have a developed enough brain to understand self awareness. Our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, do have self awareness, but animals such as chickens and cows and fish do not have self awareness.
does it mean like they dont think things through?
It means they CAN'T think things through. Their brain is not capable. This, of course, does not pertain to ALL other non-human animals.
Reasoning is problem solving/intelligence. It simply means they aren't as intelligent as humans.
You call yourself a flex vegan. What is the reasoning behind calling yourself "a person who avoids using animal products when there is an alternative, but eats---meat(edited to "animal products""? It's nonsense.
EDIT: Allow me to correct, you eat animal products but not meat.
Yes, that's what makes you non-vegan. There's no such thing as flex vegan. It's like smoking a pack of cigarettes everyday and calling yourself a non-smoker in between butts.
This is just my two cents on the subject so take it for what it is.
When people say that animals can't reason, this means that they act purely by instinct and urges. Animals react and behave in which they are hard wired to behave.
Also most animals are not logical, thinking, self-aware, creatures. I say some because studies have shown that some of the higher order primates can think, they are self-aware, and can use a low level of logic (That of a young child, like a 5 or 6 year old.)
So, unless you are living with a Chimpanzee, an orangutan, or a gorilla then the animal you have cannot reason.
Hear is another tip for you, look up the definition of "REASONING" or "TO REASON", and maybe this will give you a better understanding of why people say animals can't reason.
Hope that my answer was helpful. Continue to seek for the truth.
No animals cannot reason between right and wrong. Even dogs, who we train do not know right from wrong, they only know punishment or reward, specifically reward. No, they cannot think things through as well, if they did then why the h*ll do deer jump out in front of a moving car? This proves why we are at the top of the food chain.