(February 10, 2012 at 3:41 am)padraic Wrote:Quote:Dogs can recognize themselves.
Available evidence shows that neither dogs nor cats can pass 'the mirror test',and are not self aware.
Quote:Animals that have passed the mirror test include:
Humans
All of the other great apes,
three kinds of Gibbons
Bonobos[5]
Chimpanzees[5][6]
Orangutans[7]
Gorillas
Bottlenose dolphins[8]
Orcas[9]
Elephants[10]
European Magpies[11]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test
Don't know much about the mirror test by others, what I can say is that my rotties look into a mirror and shortly figure out they are looking at themselves. They also recognize me in the mirror, if they see me appear in the mirror they will turn and look straight at me, they understand I'm behind them. Dogs are amazing creatures that do not have the respect due them for their intelligence. Maybe one day the scientific community will catch on. I've trained the same rottie to respond to commands in English, Handsign and German, I could run him through an exercise using all three languages and he would respond perfectly no matter how I mixed the languages with each exercise.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.