Some are more equal than others

A couple of years ago, I watched a BBC Horizon documentary by Danny Wallace, entitled Chimps are People Too. It made a solid argument that, under the philosophical and scientific definitions of ‘person’, chimpanzees actually fulfilled the criteria more closely than all human children, and even some human adults.

A few weeks ago, the BBC screened a two-part documentary called Super Smart Animals in which scientist Liz Bonnin travelled the world proving that various different species of animals were capable of sophisticated brain function, learning and thought processes previously only credited to humans, such as self-awareness, problem-solving, memory, emotion, language and communication, creativity, deceit, and development and use of tools. She concluded from the results of this extensive research that brain size matters very little, and the gap between human and animal intelligence may be considerably less than we previously thought.

This week, newspapers reported on the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest science convention. The biggest story told of a group of scientists and ethicists who put forward a proposal that whales, dolphins and porpoises, due to their now unquestionable intelligence, should be classified as ‘non-human persons’, and offered rights equal to those of humans in terms of life, liberty and wellbeing.

While I rejoice at the recent trending of this subject, I also can’t believe it’s taken so long for science to discover what I have never doubted - that high levels of intelligence, emotional capacity and individuality exist in other beings. But then we are a species that, after thousands of years of evolution and civilisation, still doesn’t grant equal rights to those of its own kind who might possess the wrong skin colour or genitalia, so it’s hardly surprising. For the most intelligent life form, we can be awfully slow to catch on.

It brings to mind a favourite quote of mine from writer Robert Brault: ‘Man is rated as the highest animal, at least among all animals who returned the questionnaire.’

I’m sure that if we ever did boast the language capacity to distribute said poll to other species, most of them would show similar bias. To me, humans electing themselves most intelligent animal is a bit like the USA’s ‘World Series’ baseball championships always being won by a home team, when everybody knows that no other nations ever compete. We placed ourselves in pole position without any real justification and ran with it, completely ignoring the competition until now.

            As well as the definition of ‘person’, the argument also depends on the similarly tricky definition of ‘intelligence’. The dictionary puts it as simply as ‘the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills’. Well, I’m not an expert, but I’ve spent a lifetime living and working closely with numerous species, including humans, dogs, cats, horses, elephants, lions, reptiles and rodents that could all demonstrate those abilities. There is now a significant and growing amount of scientific research, books and natural history programmes which suggest that a whole lot of other species are capable of the same, and we have previously underestimated their capacity for it.

Humans in general also don’t seem to acknowledge that intelligence is relative, and exists in many forms, for many purposes. There is also huge variation of intelligence levels within every single species, humanity included. Learning, complex language and tool use may be what define us now, but we mustn’t forget that it was our comparatively weak senses and physical attributes that made those evolutionary developments necessary. Our chosen lifestyle has now made those qualities essential to our integration and survival, and so we’re exposed to and become proficient in them from a very early age. The observation of any wild animal shows that they each follow the same patterns of using individual skills, adaption, learning and education to ensure their own acceptance and survival in their own world, even though we make those things increasingly difficult for them.

Animals often show great intelligence in the very things that humans view as stupid, simply because our anthropomorphic stance prevents us from understanding them properly. For example, horses will repeatedly jump at sudden movements or unfamiliar objects because they are herbivores with 360-degree vision and a strong flight response that are simply not programmed to behave like us. It would be very stupid and incredibly dangerous for them not to respond in this way.

Scientific research has also taught us, through the numerous bonobos, parrots and dogs that have mastered human language to name but one example, that animals have always been interested in and capable of learning our ways when given the opportunity. Yet it’s only now that humanity is beginning to apply the same attention and credibility to the unique talents of other species.

If all animals received equivalent rights, freedom, protection, personal development, communication and intensive education as civilised humans, I suspect they could surpass our expectations and achievements in ways we couldn’t possibly imagine. Equally, if all human offspring were left to grow up wild, unconditioned and untrained, our species would display language, skills and behaviour far removed from that which we’ve grown to expect. I’ve often wondered what would become of the human race if all of our manufactured comforts, appliances and life-easing luxuries were suddenly taken away and we were forced to return to our natural state. I doubt we would fare so well against the animal kingdom if we were made to fight fair.

           
To be honest, in following Darwin’s widely accepted theories, I have always been baffled as to how the great apes won the evolutionary race in the first place. Of the land mammals, surely the cats, with their intelligence, independence, physical excellence, resistance to manipulation and innate sense of superiority, should have been the frontrunners. If we are to try and compare the incomparable skills and abilities of every species in existence, they are arguably the best all-rounder. The only conclusion I’ve ever been able to reach is that they’re not in charge because they didn’t want to be. Maybe they’re happy with their lot, maybe they’re grateful just to satisfy their needs, maybe they think life is complicated enough without adding to its frustrations, and maybe they’re simply glad to be alive. It makes me think of another quote from one of my favourite writers, the late genius that was Douglas Adams:‎'Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much...the wheel, New York, wars and so on...while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man...for precisely the same reason.'

            In this debate, I’m wholeheartedly on the side of the dolphins. Human intelligence has achieved a lot. Some of it has been great, amazing even, but overall, haven’t we forgotten what life’s about and merely made everything more difficult for ourselves? Animals have simple aims – to find nourishment, maintain body temperature, procreate, protect the family, etc. Our basic aims are in fact, exactly the same, it’s just that in order to achieve them we are forced to go to school for ten years or more, give our precious time to working long hours in hateful jobs in order to earn money, which we then give to estate agents for shelter, supermarkets for food, and utility companies so that we can keep warm. We even pay for water, a commodity which is as abundant as the air we breathe, yet we think that it must be expensively filled with chemicals and piped to our fingertips before we can drink it. After all that, there’s little time or money left to allow us to do the things we actually want to and fully enjoy our lives.

            Animals live for the moment, they’re not overly concerned with past or future, and they don’t waste time worrying and obsessing about things they have no control over. They learn from their mistakes instead of reliving them and beating themselves up about it. They take only what they need from the Earth, rather than helping themselves to whatever they want, regardless of the far reaching consequences. They don’t care about all the superficial trivialities that we invented, like time, money and outward appearance, and thus escape all the misery they cause us. They are always true to themselves, unless human interference prevents it. They are extremely demonstrative of their emotions at the exact time they feel them, rather than making themselves ill by bottling everything up or taking them out on the wrong thing. They also never forget the importance of playing, and certainly never consider themselves too old to partake in it. I could go on, but I think it's clear that in terms of spirituality and wellbeing, most other animals know the secrets of a happy life far better than us.

           

What perplexes me even more than the automatic assumption of supreme intelligence in our species is the arrogance in thinking that it somehow gifts us ownership and governance of the Earth, and the Godlike authority to dictate which other creatures are deserving of life, liberty and wellbeing, despite being unable to secure our own. It reminds me of another quote, from Victorian journalist and author Ambrose Bierce, who gave his definition of the word ‘ocean’ as follows: ‘A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man – who has no gills.’ 

You have to admit, he has a valid point. Why, if the planet is ours, is more than 70% of it completely inhospitable to us?

Until we massively overpopulated and began trying to control and meddle with it, this planet was a smooth-running, delicately balanced eco-system which supported, and indeed depended upon, all species coexisting. But as rulers, we’ve tipped the scale, and dedicated centuries to inventing new and ingenious ways to kill ourselves and everything else. We’ve torn up the plants and trees that provide our oxygen and replaced them with concrete, smoke-belching monstrosities. We’ve poisoned the air, soil and seas with chemicals that we had no prior concept of the dangers of. We’re still persisting in fighting a hopeless losing battle against nature, which even in its weakened state could easily wipe us out within days. Though natural selection can seem every bit as cruel and unfair as humanity, it is never as calculating, selfish or destructive in its purpose.

Ultimately, humanity is ensuring the premature death of an entire planet and as a direct consequence, its own species, which defeats the main objective of every species - survival. We can’t possibly exist independently of Earth or its billions of other inhabitants, and I fear that eventually, we’ll learn that lesson as we do most others – in the hardest way possible.

So to me, science is only now confirming what was always blatantly obvious if the time had been taken to observe, interact and understand. But then these days, our supposedly intelligent, free-thinking species refuses to believe anything unless scientists prove it absolutely true. That is, until another scientist proves differently further down the line, then we place absolute trust in them instead.

            So, if it makes human people think differently, I sincerely hope that scientists do continue this campaign, maybe extending the rights and recognition of intelligence to include other primates and eventually all sentient species. Maybe in time, humans can become enlightened and compassionate enough to bring an end to the horrendous torture and suffering that we currently deem okay to inflict not only on animals, but also our fellow human beings. Before we staged our takeover coup, rights to life, freedom and equal opportunities came just from being born on Earth, regardless of species. Only humans reached the dubious conclusion that this synchronicity was the wrong way to live, and that doesn't strike me as very clever.

Unfortunately, our inflated egos, insatiable greed for power and complete denial of the responsibility it brings make it unlikely that we will ever be humble enough to acknowledge that there is only one thing we possess that no other creature does, and that's opposable thumbs. Woohoo.

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