Science fiction stories about extraterrestrial life on other planets often talk about several species of creatures with high intelligence, in contrast to Earth, where humans dominate. Why don't we also have the same diversity? Is there something that initially prevents the development of a scenario the same as on other planets?
Why did you decide that the development of several types of highly intelligent creatures is only in the realm of science fiction? Some researchers believe that two sapiens fought for dominance on Earth. Just as today ordinary people are divided into democrats and others, so in the not so distant past of our planet, Homo sapiens fought for a place in the sun with Homo Neanderthals and, of course, this conflict is one of the most acute in the history of mankind.
Some say that the Cro-Magnons won, and the Neanderthals doomedly surrendered in a meaningless intellectual battle: did the dumber and dumber ones die out?
But the fact is that perhaps not all Neanderthals could not speak and were not intellectually developed. Although the name has become a household word for fools and dullards, archaeological studies show that Neanderthals had brain sizes comparable to humans. True, in other factors they differ sharply from modern man.
It must be said that in any discussion of the development of hominid (the family of primates) there are often speculations in statements of three types, such as:
Neanderthals and modern humans descended from a common ancestor approximately 400,000 years ago, and Neanderthals lived primarily in Europe while our ancestors lived primarily in Africa.
The species Homo sapiens (homo sapiens) began to evolve in Africa about 60 thousand years ago, and appeared in Europe maybe 45,000 years ago.
According to archaeological research, the existence of Neanderthals as a species was short. This question is a matter of debate, but perhaps the time is limited to 5000 years. What really happened? Some of the theories:
We killed them. For example, popular science author Jared Diamond believes that we may have destroyed the Neanderthals, just as Europeans destroyed many indigenous peoples through disease and war. Despite many shortcomings, Neanderthals were stocky and muscular, good in close combat. (But the same can be said about Goliath). Microorganisms brought from Europe - pathogens of diseases - led to the extinction of the population of the New World on a catastrophic scale. The Taino tribes became virtually extinct six decades after Columbus arrived in their lands in the 1490s. Thus, the fact that the Neanderthal species still existed for 5,000 years suggests that the extinction was not associated with diseases introduced by us.
Assimilation occurred, that is, we suppressed them with our development or the species simply mixed. Also unlikely. Gene studies show that Neanderthal men and Homo sapiens women had relationships, but not as often. Signs of Neanderthal DNA in the genome formula of most modern Europeans and Asians are no more than 4% of cases; among Africans the figures are even lower, whose direct ancestors had little contact with Neanderthals.
They couldn't adapt. Fashion version– Neanderthals were unable to adapt to the changing climate, although paleontologists say that the climate of that period was favorable for development. (Or they adhered to this version for a long time, but some facts from recent studies say the opposite). Many argue that Neanderthals did not have complex social organizations or good hunting skills (for example, they never seemed to have domesticated dogs), and were generally clumsy and slow and failed to adapt to an increasingly advanced world.
We drove them out. This is most likely the crux of the matter. The failure to adapt theory suggests that Neanderthals went extinct but Homo sapiens did not. The theory of competition, on the contrary, says that even if we did not destroy them in open wars, we surpassed them in the ability to develop scarce resources.
The evidence is indirect in most cases, but we will try to explain. Neanderthals were able to survive for hundreds of thousands of years. And with the advent of the human ancestor, they disappeared within 5000 years. Some cite as an explanation the competitive principle of exclusion: two species cannot occupy the same ecological niche; one will eventually displace the other.
This does not mean that two highly intelligent species cannot exist simultaneously. Consider, for example, dolphins, by many accounts the smartest animals on Earth. Dolphins are in second place in terms of the ratio of brain mass to total body weight. Some even say that their brains are so developed that they can be considered as prototypes of humans. The difference is that they are in a different ecosystem. And unlike Neanderthals, they do not compete with us in the struggle for resources.
The long history of mankind has brought people to the high level of development at which we now find ourselves. It is generally accepted that man is the only intelligent being on the planet. However, in science there is no precise definition of the criterion of reason. That’s why it’s difficult to give any characteristics. Disputes on this topic among scientists are still ongoing. It has been experimentally proven that dolphins, elephants, monkeys and other inhabitants of the planet can be classified as intelligent creatures. And lovers of mysticism generally believe that the Earth is inhabited not only by people, but also by other creatures that came from outer space.
Concept of mind
Man is the most intelligent creature on the planet. However, the concept of reason itself is quite broad. There are many criteria for evaluating this concept. At different approaches To this question, it may turn out that there are much more intelligent creatures on Earth than we are used to thinking. Scientists have conducted numerous experiments, during which evidence was obtained of the intelligence of animals and other creatures. For example, during experiments, monkeys, elephants and dolphins discovered the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror, which indicates the existence of the rudiments of consciousness. Such experiments allow people to understand nature and comprehend the origin of the mind.
There are different options mind. In general, we can say that it is an integral part of the essence of a person or any other creature, which provides the possibility of meaningful activity. It is thanks to the mind that an adequate picture of the world is formed. He provokes everyone to solve problems possible ways, look for answers to the questions posed. The mind is a motivating force that forces you to perform certain actions.
Intelligent monkeys
According to scientists, there are not so few intelligent creatures on Earth. Monkeys can easily be included among them. Back in 1960, Gordon Gallup conducted interesting experience. The chimpanzee, under anesthesia, applied red paint to its cheek near the ear. The animal didn't even know about it. After the chimpanzee came to its senses, the pet was asked to look at itself in the mirror. It is worth noting that the animal was already familiar with its reflection and recognized itself.
So, seeing themselves in the mirror, they immediately grabbed the area painted with paint. During such simple experiments the animals quickly realized that something was wrong with them, which means the monkey remembers what it looked like before. Isn't this a sign of intelligence?
Later experiments were carried out with macaques. During the tests, it turned out that they did not perceive their reflection at all. The macaque sees an opponent in the mirror and tries to bite him. It was not possible to develop at least some recognition of one’s reflection.
In the seventies, scientific reports appeared that gorillas and orangutans are also capable of recognizing themselves in the mirror. But other monkeys - capuchins, macaques, gibbons - are not aware of themselves in reflection. By the way, other animals also took part in further experiments: cats, pigeons, dogs, elephants. But they all didn’t recognize themselves in the reflections either. Although, many animals are intelligent beings.
Further experiments
It would seem that the fact that dogs are intelligent creatures is undeniable. For long history Throughout humanity, these cute animals have been side by side with people for a long time and have long proven their extraordinary intelligence and abilities. However, in experiments carried out with a mirror, it turned out that dogs, seeing their image, perceive it as another dog. But since the animal does not smell anything, it quickly loses interest in its own reflection.
Not long ago in Canada, in the Vancouver area, owners began to discover broken mirrors on their cars. The first thing that came to mind was the appearance of a maniac. However, the solution to the strange phenomenon turned out to be quite simple. It was noticed that local woodpeckers have gotten into the habit of flying up to mirrors and breaking them with their powerful beaks. Ornithologists explained that this is very typical behavior for birds. They see an opponent in the reflection, and therefore enter into battle with him. By breaking the mirror, they defeat the enemy.
Dolphins
Many experts believe that dolphins are intelligent creatures. And there is plenty of that scientific evidence. ABOUT unusual abilities Dolphins have been known for a long time. These sea creatures hold enormous untapped potential. According to experts, dolphins have speech. Of course, it is incomprehensible to us, but numerous signals emitted by animals have been studied. V. Tarchevskaya, a researcher at the bioacoustic laboratory, notes that their institution has been working on the topic of sound communication of dolphins for many years.
The frequency range of signals emitted by these animals significantly exceeds that of humans. Sound communication between humans occurs at a frequency of 20 kHz, and for dolphins it occurs at a frequency of 300 kHz. Research has shown that animals have the same number of levels of sound organization as humans - six (sounds, syllables, phrases, words, etc.). A person’s semantic understanding appears at the level of words, but at what level it arises in sea creatures, is still unknown. Of course, dolphins are intelligent creatures. Despite numerous studies, there is still a lot about them that remains unknown and unsolved.
Self-awareness in dolphins
During research, the question has repeatedly arisen about whether dolphins have self-awareness. Many people have probably heard that there is an encephalization coefficient, which shows the ratio of brain mass to the mass of the whole body. There are many animals whose brain mass is larger than that of a human. An example is the brain of a sperm whale, weighing 7-8 kg. But when comparing the ratio of its mass to the body, the person wins. By the way, the encephalization coefficient of monkeys is approximately at the human level. But when calculating this value for dolphins, it turned out that marine inhabitants are in its level between humans and chimpanzees.
A logical question arose whether marine animals could perceive their reflection in a mirror. In 2001, an experiment was conducted in a swimming pool. Dolphins have been marked with a variety of invisible marks. That is, the animals felt that something was glued to them. But they did not see any foreign objects in the mirror lowered in the pool. Swimming up to him, they began to spin, exposing different parts of the body. Further analysis of the video footage confirmed that the dolphins turned towards the mirror exactly those parts of the body on which the marks were located. This means that animals are aware of themselves in reflection. This indicates that they have the rudiments of self-awareness. It is not for nothing that dolphins have long been recognized as intelligent creatures.
Sea Creature Abilities
The intelligence of sea creatures has always amazed people. So many interesting facts people who work with them in dolphinariums can tell. And it’s not just their excellent training abilities. Elementary communication between dolphins and people occurs at the level of gestures and sound signals. However, trainers say that very often such intelligent living beings do not need additional signals. They understand perfectly what they hear. Dolphins are generally incredibly amused by working with people; they are ready to follow them everywhere.
Dolphins are one of the most intelligent creatures on Earth. The recognition of this fact is undeniable. That’s why in some countries they were even recognized as individuals and were forbidden to be kept in captivity or to spend time with them. entertainment programs. India was one of the first countries in this regard; it has historically developed an understanding of animal rights. Not so long ago, the Minister of the Environment banned any shows not only with dolphins, but also with other cetaceans, since intelligent creatures and individuals should not be kept in captivity.
Following India, Hungary, Costa Rica and Chile banned entertainment with marine animals. And the reason for this decision was the cruel capture of dolphins in the Caribbean, Thailand, Japan and the Solomon Islands. No humane means are used during capture. The process itself is quite brutal. The flocks are driven into shallow water and suitable females are selected; the remaining members of the flock are mercilessly killed.
Elephants
There are not many species of intelligent creatures on the planet. But gradually their ranks are replenished with new representatives. Among them are elephants. The mental capabilities of animals have been noticed and used by people for their own purposes for a long time. But recent research by contemporaries allows us to classify them as intelligent beings. Scientists have discovered that elephants are able to communicate with each other over long distances. At the same time, they produce sounds inaccessible to the human ear. Only sometimes people may notice a slight rustle.
Experiments with mirrors were also carried out with the participation of elephants. After it was placed with the animals and they became familiar with the object, marks were applied to the body. Some marks were invisible, while others were visible. After some time, the elephant began to look in the mirror and try to rub off the colored cross with her trunk. This means that elephants recognize themselves in the mirror. This means they are self-aware. But there is a small nuance - animals do not distinguish colors.
But elephants have very good memory. They are able to remember people's faces and events, which indicates their level of intelligence. They remember their friendship with a person for years, but they will not forgive the offender.
Fight of two minds
Some researchers believe that at one time two intelligent species fought each other for dominance. In this light, modern science fiction films about the struggle between cybermind and humans do not seem so impossible. Researchers believe that in the past it is quite likely that there was a struggle for survival between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, as a result of which the latter won. And Neanderthals died out as a less developed species. There are no scientifically confirmed facts of these events. But as a quality it has a right to exist.
Perhaps not all Neanderthals were so undeveloped. Because archaeological excavations indicate that the size of their brain is comparable to the size of a modern person. But other indicators are very different.
Theories of extinction
According to archaeologists, Homo sapiens and Neanderthals existed side by side for about five thousand years. Subsequently, the latter disappeared as a species. What is the reason for this, scientists do not yet know. There are different hypotheses. In particular, one of them says that Homo sapiens could have brought new diseases to foreign lands, from which all Neanderthals gradually died out. This version is supported by Jared Diamond. However, it seems doubtful, since five thousand years is a considerable period of time.
Other researchers believe that Neanderthals were unable to adapt to climate conditions. Although paleontologists say that living conditions in that era were very favorable.
It is also assumed that Homo sapiens simply supplanted the Neanderthals as a less developed species. But this hypothesis is also not entirely clear, since the existence of two intelligent beings on the planet is quite possible. For example, throughout human history, dolphins live side by side with people who harm their population, but they still live in the same world.
Instead of an afterword
There is no scientific evidence yet. All assumptions remain just guesses, which also have the right to life.
Contents of the article
INTELLIGENCE, or consciousness. In common understanding, a rational being is a being that perceives, thinks, learns, has desires and emotions, makes free choices and demonstrates purposeful behavior. Philosophical and scientific theories of the mind attempt to understand the nature of this psychic (or mental) activity and its characteristics, as well as the nature of the self or conscious subject who carries out this activity.
Research into these problems has been influenced by developments in brain science, logic and computing, microelectronics, and philosophy of science. The essence of modern theories becomes clearer if we turn to the history of the concept of mind (consciousness) and those concepts that led to the current level of theoretical ideas.
Theories of antiquity.
In ancient times, mental phenomena were considered to belong to all of nature. The behavior of the sea, weather, rivers, as well as the sun and moon - all this was explained by the desires and whims of the spirits who seemed to inhabit these phenomena. The sea showed anger, took revenge for the neglectful attitude towards itself; the sun distributed seasonal portions of warmth, making gifts from time to time; rain carefully poured onto the ground in response to ritual requests. This humanization of nature is called animism. Animism attempts to explain the behavior of all things in terms that typically characterize actions in relation to humans and relatively complex living things.
In the 5th century BC Ancient Greek philosophers proposed purely physical and mechanical explanations of natural phenomena. Only the behavior of humans and animals began to be explained in terms of mental activity. However, this raised the question: “What distinguishes conscious, sentient, intelligent beings from all others?”
In the Latin translation of the Greek. pneuma – spiritus. The concept of spirit as something ephemeral, spreading over matter and giving it new properties, reappears in the Christian doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the theories of medieval alchemists about chemical transformations.
The theories of the Stoics and Plato are an example of substance dualism: the mind is an individual substance that has a non-physical nature. Aristotle's view is an example of attributive dualism: instead of separate kinds of substances, there are separate kinds of properties. Finally, Democritus' theory is an example of materialism, which believes that all things, as well as all properties, ultimately have a physical nature.
Theories of the Renaissance and Modern Times.
During the late Renaissance, European thinkers surpassed the Greeks in astronomy, physics, and physiology. The cumulative result of their work was an essentially mechanical understanding of most natural phenomena, and the question of the place of mind in the Universe once again arose. R. Descartes (1596–1650) proposed a new, more radical form of substance dualism. From his point of view, the mind does not have spatial extension, which is the very essence of matter. To this new idea he added one more: the mind is capable of clear and distinct comprehension, a perfect understanding of its own nature. The essence of reason, according to Descartes, lies in the activity of thinking, the ability to reason.
As one might guess, Descartes had difficulty explaining how a systematic interaction between a non-spatial mind and a completely mechanical body was possible. He postulated the presence of "animal spirits" (more "substantial" than mind, and more subtle than ordinary matter) as intermediaries between mind and matter. Descartes considered the location of interaction to be the pineal gland in the lower central part of the brain. However, no one found this theory satisfactory. The idea of a non-physical mind influencing a mechanical brain also violated the laws of conservation of momentum and kinetic energy. Descartes was aware of some of these problems, but could not solve them.
Another theory was proposed by J. La Mettrie (1709–1751). Based on the latest discoveries of physiologists, he agreed with Descartes that the so-called. The "vital" forces of animals and humans can be explained in purely physical terms. However, La Mettrie went further: from his point of view, the mental activity that distinguishes man is also a purely physical phenomenon. In an anonymously published essay Man-machine(1748) La Mettrie revived Democritus's idea that at the basis of all life and mental activity, including Cartesian rational thinking, there is nothing other than the complex organization of matter. While putting forward convincing arguments in favor of this thesis, he was unable to give any specific explanation cognitive activity. La Mettrie's book was often reviled because it was considered offensive from a religious point of view. However, gradually the bonds that bound thinking weakened.
While the materialists sought to reduce consciousness to matter, the idealists tried to carry out a reduction of the opposite kind. Idealism is the view that matter does not exist independently of consciousness. Consciousness is the only reality, and matter exists only in the sense that certain images systematically arise in human consciousness (subjective idealism) or perhaps in divine consciousness (objective idealism). The physical world is like a dream, miraculous either to man or to God. The most characteristic representative of this view is considered to be J. Berkeley (1685–1753).
I. Kant (1724–1804) made an important contribution to discussions about reason. In his Critique of Pure Reason(1781) he argued that human perception of the external world is to a large extent determined by the activity of the mind, since the forms of sensibility and categories of understanding bring the necessary order to the chaos of “raw” sensory material. Therefore, the material objects of our experience may be empirically real—real to all human experience—but they are not necessarily real in a transcendental sense, from God's point of view. What reality-in-itself is like remains unknown and incomprehensible to man.
Kant believed that the world of inner feelings, thoughts and sensations and other attributes of the mind are equally its constructions. The mind's contact with itself is also mediated by structural and conceptual patterns and is therefore no more direct than contact with the rest of the world. Reason is accessible to itself only through apperceptions. Accordingly, what the mind-in-itself looks like remains unknown and incomprehensible to humans. This is a direct denial of Descartes' thesis that the mind directly knows its own nature. Thus, Kant is an atypical idealist. He does not insist that reason underlies reality. The fundamental components of reality—things-in-themselves—remain unknown.
Kant's position was fundamental to the theory of mind, since it allowed that the true nature of mental phenomena may be different from what it appears to be, and denied introspection the right to judge the true nature of the mind and its various activities. The next step was taken by Kant’s compatriot, G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831), who developed the idea that, despite the correctness of Kant’s statement about the opacity of reason to itself, reason is nevertheless capable of moving towards the comprehension of its true nature. Hegel saw a plasticity in the tools of knowledge that Kant did not see. Through science, reflection and the development of concepts, Hegel argued, reason could someday hope to achieve the truth about itself.
THEORIES OF THE PAST CENTURY
Dualistic theories.
The position of substance dualism, although widely popular, is shared by few professional philosophers and scientists. The reason for this is partly the success of the materialist research program, partly the inability of substance dualism to make theoretical and experimental progress. So far they have not offered an explanation of how thinking and feeling arise. Difficulties regarding the mechanisms and even the very possibility of interaction between soul and body have also not been resolved. If the immaterial soul truly served as the basis of reason and self-awareness, and its dependence on the brain was limited only to sensory input and volitional output, then the functioning of reason and self-awareness would be almost independent of possible damage to the brain or attempts to manipulate it. However, this contradicts the actual state of affairs. Cell degeneration in brain diseases and exposure to chemicals can completely destroy the ability to think. A simple blow to the head can not only render a person unable to perceive the outside world, but also destroy his ability to be self-aware. All this is not surprising if we consider consciousness to be a function of the brain, but it makes no sense if we consider it to be a function of something completely different.
Attributional dualism fares better than substance dualism. In any case, some philosophers are ready to subscribe to one of its two versions. From the point of view of "epiphenomenalism", intelligent behavior is entirely caused by the activity of the brain, but some non-physical properties of the brain (which do not play any causal role in behavior) are by-products of its physical activity. Among them are various characteristics of the mental kind. Epiphenomenalism was proposed by T. Huxley (1825–1895) as a compromise between two contradictory motives: to really give scientific explanation behavior and respect the equally real but immaterial experience of human introspection. Many consider this attempt at compromise clumsy, since mental characteristics are simply mechanically added at the end of the process; they do not play any causal role and their genesis remains unclear.
According to the second version of attributional dualism, mental characteristics are “emergent.” The properties of consciousness are “emerged” by the brain, which in the process of evolution has reached a rather complex level of organization. Likewise, color emerged when the combination of atoms formed physical objects that could reflect electromagnetic radiation in complex ways. In contrast to epiphenomenalism, this version of attributive dualism attributes causal power to the properties of consciousness, which makes it more plausible. In contrast to materialism, it denies that such properties can be explained or predicted on purely physical grounds. This is where emergent theory runs into difficulties. Physical science prides itself on the reductionist explanations it offers for objective sensory qualities such as temperature, pitch, and color. If these qualities are taken to be a model of emergence for subjective mental qualities, then it would be natural to expect a reductionist explanation of them. The latter threatens attributive dualism in that it may again return to the position of materialism.
The position of attributional dualism seems stronger if we consider the main problem facing materialism to be the meaningfulness of our statements and beliefs. As K. Popper and a number of other philosophers pointed out, it is difficult to understand how meaning can be explained purely physical point vision. This issue will be discussed in the next section.
Materialistic theories.
Since the 19th century. careful study of the evolution and physiology of living things has profoundly influenced concepts of consciousness. It is now recognized that the complex living organisms so widely represented in the animal kingdom are the result of countless experiments blindly carried out by nature, and benefit from the reproductive successes of their ancestors. Higher animals are distinguished not only by their complex structure, but also by their complexly organized behavior. Complex behavior requires a sophisticated control system, and this requirement is fulfilled by the nervous system. The evolution of creatures capable of increasingly complex behavior entailed the development of corresponding complexly organized types nervous system. There must be something that receives sensory information about the outside world and then controls the muscles of that being accordingly. Built on the remains of living beings who lived in ancient times, history reveals the development of increasingly complex and branched types of nervous systems in organisms capable of increasingly complex behavior. A billion years ago, the transformation of loosely organized central ganglia from nerve cells into a well-structured spinal cord began. Subsequently, this brain forms a bulge at one end, which has a higher density of cells inside it and is capable of more complex reactions. These thickenings are then divided into three interconnected parts, which have different functions in response to the world around us and behavior management. 500 million years ago the primitive brain appears. Subsequently, brain development proceeded at a very different directions. With the advent of mammals, two new organs emerged that were of essential importance: the cerebellum, which is responsible for motor activity, and two cerebral hemispheres responsible for processing a variety of sensory data and control complex circuits potential behavior. Finally, among countless other variations of the same type, the human nervous system appears, serving, like other creatures, to receive sensory information about the world, evaluate it and control bodily actions.
But the listed functions are also functions of the human psyche, the self-conscious mind. This leads to the conclusion that the self-aware mind is a functioning nervous system centered in the brain. On reflection, such a conclusion is difficult to avoid. Evolution in nature is purely physical. The genesis and development of each individual, determined by parental DNA, also has a physical nature. The way mature representatives of our species are structured is also entirely physical. If people have a mind - which is obvious - then everything points to its physical nature.
Even if we agree with this line of reasoning, the discussion of the materialist point of view does not end there. There are at least four types of materialist theories of consciousness, and the choice between them remains open.
Behaviorism.
The term refers primarily to the methodology of the research program that dominated empirical psychology in the mid-20th century, but it can also be used to refer to a general scientific attitude. From the point of view of a behaviorist, a “rational being” is a being that has a very complex set of innate and conditioned reflexes, i.e. physiologically determined attitudes, stable and unstable, capable of providing specific behavioral responses to specific sensory stimuli. What distinguishes humans and other higher animals from simpler creatures is their extraordinary variety of interconnected reflexes and the ability to form new reflexes. Among the main representatives of this approach are J. Watson (1878–1958) and B. Skinner (1904–1990).
Behaviorists pass a brief verdict on the fullness of the inner life of consciousness which finds expression in ordinary language. In their view, the task of psychology is to explain human and animal behavior, and this should be done without recourse to the ancient, suspicious and mythological language with which common sense describes mental states. The motives of the behaviorists are understandable: other sciences, such as physics and chemistry, were forced to discard common sense concepts and look anew at phenomena accessible to everyone in order to advance their knowledge. Focusing on observable behavior seemed to be the price that had to be paid for making psychology a science.
The behaviorist approach has yielded many results, especially in the study of living beings with a simple organization, but has encountered serious obstacles in the study of higher animals. Here the relationship between sensory input and subsequent behavior is found to be so complex, subtle and varied that simple model reflex turned out to be insufficient not only to explain, but also to describe the real state of affairs. An example is a person's use of language. The need to postulate internal cognitive states and mechanisms became increasingly obvious, and psychology abandoned the purely external, “peripheral” analysis characteristic of classical behaviorism. The movement that arose in opposition to behaviorism is called “cognitive psychology” and is developing in three directions, each of which has its defenders and critics and is reflected in the corresponding philosophical theories of consciousness: 1) identity theory, 2) functionalism, 3) eliminative materialism.
Cognitive psychology
studies the behavior of higher animals, including human verbal behavior, and attempts to reconstruct the complex organization of internal cognitive states that give rise to this behavior. The field of cognitive psychology includes many studies dealing with the entire spectrum of cognitive abilities (for example, memory, attention, speech, reasoning). The emphasis here is on the intrinsic computational properties of cognitive states, such as what actually happens when someone “remembers” an object or event. Cognitive research has a pronounced empirical nature: the subject of study is cognition as a naturally occurring process, and theories are divided depending on whose behavior is being studied - humans or animals.
Neurosciences.
Neurophysiology, neuropharmacology and neuropsychology deal directly with the study of the brain. Its physical structure, the electrical and chemical processes occurring in it, as well as the activity of the brain as a whole are analyzed. The use of modern techniques has allowed us to obtain impressive results. The structural and functional features of the visual system were studied, from the retina through several parts of the midbrain to the layered system of cells in the visual cortex. There is progress in explaining pattern recognition and volumetric perception. Scientists are close to discovering the chemical nature of the most important mental illnesses - schizophrenia and chronic depression, caused by a deficiency or imbalance of chemical transmitters of impulses between nerve cells. Systematic study of brain damage caused by trauma or tumor has produced a global map of the brain regions involved in perception and motor functions. The functional organization of the brain begins to become clearer, although many of its properties remain unexplained.
The research programs described above occupy a dominant position in the study of intelligence. Even in the darkest periods of the history of science, optimism has helped to advance its development, and the turn of the millennium is undoubtedly a period of breakthrough in the sciences of consciousness.
Literature:
Velichkovsky B.M. Modern cognitive psychology. M., 1982
Searle J. Consciousness, brain and science. – Path, 1993, No. 4
Recent research by biologists has led to a sensational conclusion: dolphins are the most intelligent creatures on the planet
The dolphin is an intelligent animal. New arguments in favor of this hypothesis were provided by recent studies by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania. For quite a long time, experts have studied the language of dolphins and obtained truly amazing results. As is known, sound signals occur in the nasal canal of dolphins at the moment air passes through it. It was possible to establish that animals use sixty basic signals and five levels of their combination. Dolphins are capable of creating a “dictionary” of 1012! It’s unlikely that dolphins use so many “words,” but the volume of their active “vocabulary” is impressive - about 14 thousand signals! For comparison: the same number of words is the average vocabulary person. And in everyday life, people get by with 800-1000 words.
The dolphin signal, when translated into human language, is a kind of hieroglyph that means more than a single word. The fact that dolphins have a language that is more complex than that of humans is a real sensation.
Rare abilities
Nature sometimes makes amazing riddles. And one of these mysteries, without a doubt, remains dolphins. Despite the fact that they often live in full view of humans, we know very little about them. But even the little that is known about these animals is amazing. Dolphins have truly amazing abilities. So amazing that the American John Lilly, who studied brain physiology at the University of Pennsylvania, called dolphins a “parallel civilization.”
First of all, scientists are surprised by the volume and structure of the dolphin brain. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania placed the animal in the womb of a magnetic resonance imaging scanner and saw that the structure of the nervous system in dolphins is so advanced that it sometimes seems as if it is better developed than that of humans. “The brain of a bottlenose dolphin,” says Professor Laela Sai, “weighs 1,700 grams, which is 350 grams more than that of an adult male. In terms of complexity, the dolphin’s brain is in no way inferior to the human brain: it has even more folds, tubercles and convolutions.” Total number The number of nerve cells in a dolphin is higher than in humans. Previously, scientists believed that the dolphin's brain was so large because its nerve cells were not as densely packed as in humans. However, we were convinced of the opposite: the brain in the cranium is located identically. True, in appearance the dolphin’s brain is more spherical than the brain of homo sapiens, which is slightly flattened. Dolphins have association cortical areas identical to humans. “This fact indirectly indicates that dolphins can be intelligent,” say marine biologists.
The parietal, or motor, lobe of the dolphin's brain is larger in area than the parietal and frontal lobes of humans combined. Why did nature gift these creatures so much? What is this - the result of centuries-old evolution or, perhaps, the “inheritance” of intelligent ancestors?
It is curious that the occipital optic lobes of dolphins are extremely large, but they do not rely much on vision. Then what do they need them for? As you know, dolphins “see” to a greater extent with their ears, emitting ultrasound. An acoustic lens on the dolphin's head focuses the ultrasound, directing it to various objects. Thanks to this, the dolphin “sees” with its ears. He “feels” the underwater object, determining its shape.
“The inhabitants of the deep sea have two hearing organs: one is normal, the other is ultrasonic,” says researcher Mario Etti. — The external passage is closed, which increases the ability to hear in water. The receptors of another organ are located on the sides of the lower jaw; they perceive the slightest sound vibrations. A dolphin hears with its lower jaw much better than we hear with our ears. The hearing of dolphins and killer whales is 400-1000 times sharper than humans. Thanks to the many cavities in the blowhole (nasal valve), acoustic vibrations arise that spread over enormous distances in the water. Thus, blue whales and sperm whales can hear the sounds made by their fellows thousands of kilometers away!
As already mentioned, dolphins masterfully control their speech apparatus. By blowing the same portion of air back and forth, they generate such a range of sounds that their variations and quantity far exceed the sounds made by humans. Moreover, each dolphin has an individual voice, its own pace and timbre of speech, manner of expressing itself and “handwriting” of thinking.
It is very interesting that the organs of hearing and speech working simultaneously create an amazing wealth of sound palette. The capabilities of the mammal's brain are so high that it is able to separately analyze spectra traveling at a frequency of 3000 pulses per second! In this case, the time interval between pulses is only about 0.3 milliseconds! And therefore, for dolphins, human speech is a very slow process. They're talking at high speed. In addition, they are able to isolate details in the speech of their fellow humans that people are not even aware of, since our ears cannot catch them.
But that's not all. Scientists have conducted a series of experiments proving that dolphins can exchange very complex messages. Here is just one example. The dolphin was given a certain task that his fellow dolphin, located in the neighboring enclosure, had to complete. Through the wall of the enclosure, one dolphin “told” the other what to do. For example, take a red triangle and give it to a person. Both dolphins received a fish as a reward. However, it was clear that they were not working for remuneration; they were fascinated by the process of creative experimentation itself. The researchers conducted thousands of experiments, the tasks were constantly changing, and the dolphins never made a mistake. The only possible conclusion from this is that dolphins perfectly understand everything that happens and navigate the world like people.
Biologists who conducted experiments noticed with surprise that often the experimental subjects themselves began to control the course of the experiment and its organizers - people... The energy of creative search was transferred to the dolphins, and they suggested that the experimenters complicate and modify the task, while the scientists unexpectedly noticed that they were becoming an experimental model for the dolphins who tried to switch roles with them. So who studied whom?
Cousins in mind?
One theory about the origin of dolphins is that they and other cetaceans descended from ancient animals that moved from land to sea. Possible ancestors are the 20-meter Basilosaurus and the fossil Dorudon. Neither of them had as many brains as dolphins have today. Why did animals that went to sea to live need brains that were superior in structure to humans? After all, sharks have been swimming calmly in the same water for hundreds of millions of years. They have a very small brain, and it is enough for them to catch prey.
There is another interesting hypothesis. Some scientists believe that in the process of evolution there was a period when the distant ancestors of humans, for some reason, were forced to leave land and live in water for some time. They had to get food by diving to great depths. Due to constant oxygen starvation, the brain volume of these creatures increased noticeably. Then, after another change in living conditions, our aquatic ancestors returned to land... But maybe not all of them returned, but some branch remained in the ocean and evolved into dolphins? And the current inhabitants of the deep sea are our “cousins in mind”? Not long ago, Japanese sailors discovered and brought ashore an unusual bottlenose, which was recorded to have atavism - “hind limbs”, very reminiscent of feet...
Why do dolphins need this? powerful intellect? They do not build houses, do not create communications, they do not have television or the Internet. However, it may turn out that they don’t need it. They have had enough of the colossal opportunities they have. Perhaps dolphins already live in the virtual world of their consciousness and they simply have no need external signs comfort and all that we call the benefits of civilization. And they look at us, people, from the height of their intellect as backward creatures, unable to understand them or be useful to them in any way, and besides, in many cases they act barbarously towards other creatures. Their community is a real parallel civilization.
And therefore it may turn out that humanity is in vain looking for brothers in mind in the depths of the Universe, while they are very close. You just need to take a closer look at them, and perhaps then all the wealth will be revealed to a person parallel worlds. Nearby are entire ant metropolises, bee cities and urban bird nests. Why not other worlds - with their own laws, routines, history? But it will be difficult for a person to come to terms with the fact that there is no need to look for romantic parallel civilizations, and all previous searches are empty efforts. Although from time to time astronomers record signals in the vast expanses of endless galaxies that resemble a dolphin whistle.
OPINIONS
Brain work
Dr. Jerry Presley, marine fauna specialist from Woodshole Oceanographic Institution (USA):
— There are hypotheses that explain the evolution of the brain of mammals due to their aquatic lifestyle. The brain in this case is considered as a cybernetic system consisting of neuron elements, the reliability of which can be increased by increasing the number of spare elements. In other words, if there is a weak link, then it is better to duplicate it. The reason for the enlargement of the dolphin brain was oxygen starvation. Deep diving is a malfunction of the brain. And therefore, the advantage is given to the one who can hold his breath and whose brain does not suffer. For example, the sperm whale has a larger brain than the blue whale because it dives to depths of about a kilometer.
Olga Silaeva, Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after. A. N. Severtsova:
— There is an opinion that humans differ from animals in the presence of a language system. However, this is not true. Language as a means of communication between individuals exists in almost all animals and insects. Dolphin vocabulary is about a thousand words. That is, dolphins have a very developed speech culture.
DOLPHINS ARE TALKING. IF NECESSARY
The technique proposed by St. Petersburg scientists allows, in an experiment with dolphins, to separate all their signals in time and space. Researchers can distinguish echolocation pulses, which a dolphin uses to probe a target, from communication signals. Experiments in which the situation can be repeated and controlled make it possible to begin to decipher signals.
It is necessary to create a situation where the fact of communication between dolphins and the meaning of the sounds they make are beyond doubt - the methodology for such an experiment is proposed by employees of the Research Institute of Physiology named after. A.A. Ukhtomsky St. Petersburg State University. The incentive for animal communication in this experiment is an unrealized action.
Dolphins were taught to distinguish between two objects of different shape and color - following a sound signal, the dolphin “went to the board” and waited to see which one would be lowered into the water. If it was a duralumin cylinder, the manipulator should be pushed, the brass sphere should remain in the starting position for 5-15 seconds. Three dolphins took part in the experiment. While one was working in the central compartment of the enclosure, the others were in the side compartments, separated by nets, carefully watching their comrade. When all the participants completed the task nine times in a row and were very pleased with themselves and each other, the researchers changed the task: now they had to respond to the brass sphere and ignore the cylinder. “At the board” there was a male, two females, who had already passed the tests and were well-fed, acted as spectators.
The dolphin continued to act as he had been taught, but now this action turned out to be incorrect. He couldn't figure out what was going on and was wrong over and over again. After the eleventh failure, the observing females turned their heads towards him and simultaneously “screamed.” The male looked at one of them and answered her, then also communicated with the other. The twelfth attempt was again unsuccessful; the reaction of the females was much more violent. Now the animals did not limit themselves to turning their heads and turned their whole bodies towards each other. After talking with the first “classmate,” the male turned to the other and vigorously continued the dialogue with her. For the thirteenth time he did everything right, the spectators remained silent. On the fourteenth, he again made a mistake, which caused a furious altercation between the dolphins - the male turned his head to each of the females.
The experiment clearly demonstrates the communication process. The dolphins behaved like people watching who they were talking to. The moment of communication can be unmistakably recorded by turning the head and torso. Why did the dolphins voice? The respondent experienced increased emotional stress due to constant errors. The observers were in the same state, empathizing but unable to do anything. This caused a surge of emotions, an appeal to the male and the entire subsequent dialogue.
Observations of dolphins in their natural habitat have shown an amazing variety of acoustic signals, because hearing allows one to navigate in water much better than vision. With the help of sound signals, dolphins receive basic information about their surroundings, look for food, and communicate with each other. The sound “vocabulary” of dolphins is very extensive, but over 50 years of research, experts have learned to accurately determine only short echolocation pulses; they can only guess at the purpose of other signals.
When animals swim together, many signals can be recorded, but they have not yet been identified. But it is easy to distinguish between echolocation impulses, with the help of which a dolphin probes a target, and communication signals when the animals turn to each other. Experiments in which the situation can be repeated and controlled will allow us to begin to decipher these signals.
The ability to love Fromm Allan
Is man a rational being?
Is man a rational being?
During Freud's time, the prevailing view was that all human actions are motivated by reason. People considered themselves rational beings who strive for what is pleasant and good and avoid pain and evil, as their rational, reasonable consciousness dictates. We find an emphasis on reason and rationality in all social teachings until the moment when Freud expressed his revolutionary assumptions at the end of the 19th century. It was believed that a person may lack education, intelligence, that his ability to think may be imperfect, but the rational basis of all his actions was not questioned.
Freud himself began with a belief in human rationality. At first he was not interested in psychology, early years He devoted his career to medical research in the field of anatomical research. Freud enjoyed working in the laboratory and conducted research that led to the discovery of the anesthetic properties of cocaine. He also described some cases of pediatric neuropathology; his descriptions can still be found in modern medical literature.
It can be considered a great success that he won the right to a scientific trip to France, where he was able to study with two outstanding French physicians and psychiatrists, Charcot and Bernheim. Charcot was then head of the clinic at the famous Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, where his treatment of patients with hypnosis attracted worldwide attention.
A hundred years earlier, the German physician Franz Anton Mesmer used hypnosis in France. He called his discovery “animal magnetism”; others called it “mesmerism”. He enjoyed enormous success with the general public, but the French Academy of Medicine condemned him for his theatrical use of hypnosis techniques, and he went to Switzerland, where he died in obscurity in 1815. The great Charcot revived his method and used it to treat patients suffering from hysteria.
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