The Issue of Non-Human Intelligence :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Question of Non-Human IntelligenceHuman beings have long assumed that they were at the pinnacle of the evolutionary pyramid thanks mainly to their more complex brain. They believe that this advanced brain makes them not just more intelligent but categorically divers(prenominal) from all other organisms. Recent advances in the fields of neurobiology and anatomy have begun to chisel away at this most scared of valet assumptions and demonstrate that human brains, and the intelligence associated with them, are not categorically different than other animals. Instead the research indicates that intelligence is on a continuum from lower animals to higher ones. These findings led to smart fields of research which sought to gain a better understanding of intelligence and its evolution by comparing the behaviors and the brains of various organisms. Despite existing for galore(postnominal) years and being supported by researchers in fields as varied as biology and linguistics there have been nearly as many steps backward as there have been forward. The central dilemma in studying intelligence is to come up with a universally acceptable definition of intelligence. Many researchers define intelligence as the ability to use language and create tools to manipulate the environment. While this definition may look fairly logical, especially because humans seem to be the axiomatic example for this definition, many researchers argues that its anthropocentric nature is too limiting. By placing parameters on intelligence which moreover humans meet, and lower primates fit to varying degrees, it is inherently impossible to find intelligence in any other species. A second paradox with this humanist definition of intelligence is that it is based largely on human introspection and the knowledge that we are conscious, rational, linguistic animals(1). Kenneth Marable argues if the same criterion that are apply to rule out non-human intelligence were applied to humans without th e benefit of introspection, we would doubt even our own intelligence(1). One of the first goals of inter-species intelligence studies was to create a quantitative scale to measure the intelligence of animals. Since the administration of IQ test to many different species seemed illogical, researchers turned to using scales which compared the size of an animals brain to the size of its carcass this value was known as the Encephalization Quotient. The Encephalization Quotient (EQ) allows researchers to ask the question Is the brain of a given species bigger or smaller than would be expected, compared with that of other animals its size?