Do other animals reason?

Question

Are we the lone species on this planet to have the power of reason? How do we know for certain?

Answer 1

"Reason" is a pretty slippery word.

Many animals plan actions, learn behaviors from others in their

group, use simple tools, act together in a cooperative manner, etc.

Just how do you define 'reason'?

Answer 2

Animals think. Depends upon your definition of reason. I figure they reason that if they get close to the fire they will get hot. If they get in the water they will get wet and, therefore, cold. They put two and two together. Some are proven to be self aware.

I doubt they do math but my dogs definitely think. Maybe simple ideas or thoughts. However, they do think. They have a past. They recognize people from past meetings. They want to go for a ride. They know if they have been there before or if its a new place. One moved because he was getting grumpy about the new dog. He just up and moved to the neighbor's house down highway. He still knows me but the will not stay at home. They have a good idea what a gun is. One fears them and the other knows its hunting time.

The cats think too. I am not exactly sure what since they rarely speak. They seem pretty much above me.

My horse thinks. Mainly about food I admit but she thinks about raiding the deer feeders all the time. She knows what barbed wire is and knows if I drive south I will open that gate and she knows if she hurries she might slip through. Chance? No, she is thinking about the food over the fence. Doesn't matter if I go east, west or north.

Animals think. Deep reasoning? Its anybodies guess.

Answer 3

It could be, maybe Squirrels actually think they are the most advanced race! Who knows?! Maybe they are.... Maybe they are so advanced that their super technology is un discoverable by humans! :D

Answer 4

to a certain extent, yes.Most animals can learn from past experiences. But bugs and other small creatures with small brains are less sophisticated in that respect. But as the dog whisperer says, animals live in the now not the past or the future. If you have seen cats or dogs look at something and "study it" than you might get a feeling that they are "wondering" what it is. But humans are the only creatures with the power of TRUE speech and reason. Animals cannot truly wonder the meaning of life or ponder what others are thinking. They are not self-conscious, and they cannot be "evil" or "good". They are what humans make them to be in the sense that we can bend their function or nature to our will or purpose. Humans are the highest on the food chain because not only are our brains large, but we have the ability to truly understand things with deeper meaning.