Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?

bwaber reviewed Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? by Frans de Waal

A Riveting Tour through Animal Intelligence

5 stars

There's so much talk about the nature of intelligence today, and it's here that this book offers an essential contribution on the nature of ourselves relative to our fellow animals and how we value different abilities. Rather than seeing other species as completely different than ourselves, de Waal convincingly argues, with numerous experiments, that our different abilities are rather a matter of degree. He charts the fascinating history of ethology, and how the initial impulse to ascribe meaning to the behavior of other animals quickly became taboo until quite recently, and how that lens can help us understand how we treat and reason about other organisms. Highly recommend.

U de Recife reviewed Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? by Frans de Waal

Review of 'Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Once again Frans de Waal takes us through a journey into the realm of animals’ behavior. Combining his thorough experience with primates and his deep theoretical knowledge of animal cognition, this book provides a much needed and profound analysis of the field of ethology.

Starting with an almost too simple of question (that of the title), de Waal shows us that for a long time animal studies didn’t, or couldn’t pay enough regard to animal intelligence, for reasons that range from the fears of falling into an unscientific anthropomorphism to the basic psychological bias of wanting to preserve human exceptionalism.

As we follow his narrative, we embark on a history of ethology, its problems, its setbacks, its successes and even what may lie ahead for this field of study. As it is usual with his other books, de Waal provides ample examples of observations, experiments, field studies and many anecdotes …

Once again Frans de Waal takes us through a journey into the realm of animals’ behavior. Combining his thorough experience with primates and his deep theoretical knowledge of animal cognition, this book provides a much needed and profound analysis of the field of ethology.

Starting with an almost too simple of question (that of the title), de Waal shows us that for a long time animal studies didn’t, or couldn’t pay enough regard to animal intelligence, for reasons that range from the fears of falling into an unscientific anthropomorphism to the basic psychological bias of wanting to preserve human exceptionalism.

As we follow his narrative, we embark on a history of ethology, its problems, its setbacks, its successes and even what may lie ahead for this field of study. As it is usual with his other books, de Waal provides ample examples of observations, experiments, field studies and many anecdotes that not only make his case stronger, but also give us a glimpse of what an animal Umwelt (inner world) may look like.

This is a book for animal lovers; but this is also a book for those who “patronize [animals] for their incompleteness” (BESTON, 1928). On an era where ecological disaster looms, this, thus, is one of those books to read. Only by understanding animals and their worlds can we give the long due respect nature deserves