hh on Nostr: Beavers' dam-building instinct is one of those things people with low critical skills ...
Beavers' dam-building instinct is one of those things people with low critical skills and education tend to anthropomorphize, leading to absurd beliefs like "beaver intelligence".
In fact, beavers build dams based on a purely evolutionary instinct, and a very narrow one at that, because it's based entirely on sound. They build dams packed with mud and wood to isolate their burrows and food storage chambers from water leaks. But they can't even identify a leak visually, only when the sound of running water is clear and loud enough.
So you can literally stick a hose inside a beaver burrow and destroy it by slowly flooding it. The beaver won't do anything about it. Similarly, you can make beavers build burrows on dry land. All you need to do is play the sound of running water on a speaker - they will build the burrow on top of the "leak", that is, the speaker.
Intelligence is the ability to solve new problems, which beavers clearly lack. Ditto for ants, nesting birds and so on. Instinct can mimic intelligence, but it's mostly our own human brain, which is so good at and so trained at finding patterns, looking for "higher meaning" where there is none.
Published at
2024-06-10 18:20:58Event JSON
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"content": "Beavers' dam-building instinct is one of those things people with low critical skills and education tend to anthropomorphize, leading to absurd beliefs like \"beaver intelligence\".\n\nIn fact, beavers build dams based on a purely evolutionary instinct, and a very narrow one at that, because it's based entirely on sound. They build dams packed with mud and wood to isolate their burrows and food storage chambers from water leaks. But they can't even identify a leak visually, only when the sound of running water is clear and loud enough.\n\nSo you can literally stick a hose inside a beaver burrow and destroy it by slowly flooding it. The beaver won't do anything about it. Similarly, you can make beavers build burrows on dry land. All you need to do is play the sound of running water on a speaker - they will build the burrow on top of the \"leak\", that is, the speaker.\n\nIntelligence is the ability to solve new problems, which beavers clearly lack. Ditto for ants, nesting birds and so on. Instinct can mimic intelligence, but it's mostly our own human brain, which is so good at and so trained at finding patterns, looking for \"higher meaning\" where there is none. \n\nnostr: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",
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