Clever Corvids: using tools (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, August 29, 2015, 14:21 (3374 days ago) @ dhw


> David's comment: Tool use has to be learned. It is not programmed as an instinct.
> 
> dhw: In other words, crows follow the same procedures as we do: they learn from one another, and they also use their own intelligence to solve problems. Why would they have started using tools in the first place if they weren't intelligent? -Of course clever corvids are intelligent compared to other birds.-> dhw: And other scientists in a different field tell us that although bacteria don't have the physical means to use tools as such, they still have the intelligence to solve problems. And yet for some reason, there are folk who insist that corvid problem-solving is "not programmed as an instinct", whereas bacterial problem-solving is. Strange, isn't it?-Who said bacteria follow instincts in their behaviour? Bacteria use programmed biochemical responses. Instincts do appear to be programmed behaviour in conscious animals, but we don't know how it works.