Comment and recommendation below: **
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: **snip** > To tell you the truth, if you want real aliens to talk to, why > consider that famous parrot that died a few days ago. That bird did > more to me than any cropcircle -- that bird made me believe in animal > minds being, as if, whole alien worlds that need traveling to, need > understanding. Even with the astounding evidence of animal minds that > are very sophisticated -- apes, birds, dogs, elephants, dolphins, > etc., the tabloids are trying to invent these whacky goofyass foci of > attention for the purpose of selling newspapers. To hell with, you > know, anything real. > > Where's the billions put into animal research? What could we learn > about the alien worlds of dolphin cultures that would impact our own > cultural sensibilities? What if the dolphins are actually speaking a > language that is as rich as our own? What if dolphins create artistic > masterpieces of holographic sound that on the other side of the world > a group of whales pause to appreciate? These opportunities are left > unexplored, but, hey, we'd better try to contact aliens we've never > contacted yet to date. > > I say, better for us to try to understand the species we already have > at our doorsteps -- try to understand what's right here, right now. > **snip to end** Edg, there's a couple of books by a guy, Eugene Linden, that my son turned me on to, one of which is titled "The Octopus and the Orangutan" and the other "The Parrot's Lament". Excellent material culled from interviews and visits with both the scientists and other hands-on/eyes-on zookeepers who work closely with animals and have concluded that animal intelligence is actual factual and not far distant from our own in many ways. Basically, it's all anecdotal stuff that isn't publishable as science but to these individuals there is no doubt that the animals they're working with are highly sentient and lucid. For instance, on the simian side you've got a zoo orang who manipulates a found wire into a lockpicking device, conceals it under his bottom lip when not needed, and uses it to visit others at night and to look for food that not locked up. In the cephalopod corner there are stories of octopi who break out of their own tank during the night and make the harrowing and frequently unsuccessful journey across bare linoleum to another tank in which either food or a possible mating opportunity exists. Lots more and all absolutely great stuff and a fine read. Recommended. Marek
