>
> --- In [email protected], "sparaig" <sparaig@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues"
> > > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information
> about
> > > > primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a
> great
> > > book
> > > > for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient
> past.
> > > >
> > > > http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068?
> > > v=glance&n=283155
> > >
> > > Aside from the fact that their societies are
> > > matriarchal, and that they would apparently
> > > rather make love than war, of course.
> > >
> > > I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against
> > > my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit
> > > "orderliness" and that this intuition may be a
> > > source of their sense of ethics.
> > >
> > > However, bonobos are among the very few species of
> > > non-human animals who have passed the "mirror test,"
> > > which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness.
> > >
> > > So I suggest that they may also have a primitive
> > > intuitive capacity that can sense "orderliness."
> > >
> > >
> >
> > I've seen housecats who apparently passed the mirror test.
>
> Not sure what you're thinking of as the "mirror test."
> It involves painting a spot of odorless dye on the
> animal's body, then putting it in front of a mirror.
> If it reacts in a manner consistent with recognizing
> that the dye is on its own body rather than in the
> mirror--e.g., reaching or looking for the spot on its
> body--that's passing the mirror test.
Never tried to use that with the cat I'm thinking of. She's been dead 20 years now, so it's
moot.
>
> Simply reacting to seeing one's image in a mirror
> doesn't constitute passing the test. In my
> observation, cats tend to react to their image in a
> mirror as if it's another cat; they don't appear to
> recognize it as an image of themselves.
>
That's the usual reaction. They look behind the mirror and so on. I've seen a cat sit in front
of the mirror and clean herself without [obviously] paying attention to the image in the
mirror. She may not have made the connection that the image was of herself, but she
appeared to realize that there was not really another cat to worry about.
On the other hand, there was a one-legged roadrunner at Pima Community College,
Tucson, who used to hop down the stairs to the entrance to the cafeteria and attack his
image in the window at the same time every day. It was a hoot to watch. He would grandly
hop down the steps, peck at his image for a few minutes, and then proudly hop away.
>
>
> I've also seen house cats look
> > both ways before crossing busy streets, and if they see a car
> coming, they step back on
> > the sidewalk.
> >
>
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