Animal Minds; how much can we learn about them? (Animals)

by David Turell , Saturday, December 12, 2015, 15:55 (3051 days ago) @ dhw

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> DAVID: As above, and before, I have no idea how God guided evolution, but I'm sure he did.
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> dhw: That still doesn't explain why he would “guide” the weaverbird to build its weird nest, or why he would “guide” other organisms extant or extinct to do equally weird and wonderful things.... But it is one of the wonders of faith that one can believe in something even if one has no idea how or why...That is not meant ironically. I respect your faith, and I have no answers of my own.-I'm not the only one. The book: Nature's I.Q., extraordinary animal behaviors that defy evolution , 2009, has more than 100 examples. The authors, who believe in ID, (one is a theologian) use the weaver bird. They demonstrate the intricate types of weaving knots the birds use. They point to the obvious, only a complete nest is useful and therefore the nest was not developed stepwise. They conclude, since all nests are exactly the same for each type of weaver: "they simply obey a series of instincts programmed into them. They are unable to revise or modify the 'program'."-Always the two, 'how' and 'why'. Note again, you want to know 'why'. They don't care about 'why', but the simple observation of such events indicate to them and me intelligent planning did it. There is no other explanation, so why ask why? The 'how' answer is obvious.-It occurs to me that if you would delve deeper, see the intricacy of the knots, instead of superficially looking at pictures of the nests, you would better understand the point of view. I have brought you all sorts of information to support my point of view, but my submissions and discussions are much more superficial than if you did your own study. I know how busy you are, but!