The Civilization of Frogs
A Clever Frog © AdamHunterPeck (Used with permission)
Humans aren’t the only tool-using animals. We share that trait with many apes, dolphins, birds, octopus, etc. There are also some opportunistic animals that take advantage of our tool use (seagulls following garbage barges, among others).
Is it possible for other animals to catch up to us in terms of tool use? The concept of ‘uplifting’ animals has been explored many times in science fiction, but is it possible? Or would that better be considered ‘advanced domestication’?
Furthermore, how far would non-human tool use need to evolve before we will acknowledge non-human sapience? Must animals first match ancient modern humans in terms of the scale and frequency of tool use? Or will we adopt some alternative measure for them?
If we removed humans from the picture somehow (choose your own apocalypse), would other animals ‘rise’ to fill our evolutionary niche? Would the competition be intense? Or does nature already have an early favorite in mind? For that matter, would removing human pressure from the equation alleviate the necessity of advancing tool use by other animals?
For that matter, is tool use and development the most important measure of animal sapience? Could focusing on tools blind us to subtler yet more sophisticated indicators? Or is attempting to quantify animal intelligence essentially ‘wank’ given how little we understand our own minds?
What would the civilization of frogs be like, anyway?
For me, the problem with these sapience tests is that I don’t think there is a single solid point at which a species is intelligent or self aware; it seems more like a spectrum. I can’t think of anything we do that other species don’t do as well *to some degree*. It’s not as though humans just woke up one morning and had complicated language and space shuttles. There’s a process, and I’m not sure where the tipping point between “clever animal” and “self aware person” really lies.
But I think humans might actually be a driving force towards tool use and intelligence in other animals. This is something I’ll have to flesh out more in my own time…thanks for making me think!
WHen humans help the intellectual development of another species (intentionally or not), it’s called biological uplift. It’s been used numerous times in SF, and there’s no question that it’s happening right now, albeit unintentionally. I kind of doubt that we as a species have the patience to do it on purpose.
And then there’s the stuff that’s smart but (arguably) not proof of intelligence / civilisation. Most pet owners will admit that they’ve been trained by their pets at least as much as they have trained the animals. People who would argue that they have resisted this and that they are in charge have at least learnt the signals that the animal in question understands and are communicating with them in a manner more closely associated with their species than with humans.
Did any of that make sense?
haha loved the image!