"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."
Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Heh.

Well, dolphins are smart, but they can never come to our technological level because they cannot develop fire.

...What kind of crackpot thinks he knows what dolphins think?

Anyway, that's interesting. Intelligence is just a word, it can mean different things.

They are smarter...they don't need schools to educate and McDonald's to eat :D

We only build cars cos of a physical form, dolphins don't have arms and can't build machinery as it would obviously rust or wear away. You try building a car with flippers while trying to swim. Whats the point of a dolphin having a car? It can swim faster than most speed limits anyway

Anyway, Dolphins are pretty cool. And probably damned smart too.

Well, dolphins are smart, but they can never come to our technological level because they cannot develop fire.

Pollux not to sound like a smart ass or anything but how can they develop fire when they live in water?:)

Im pretty sure that in a alternate universe dolhins came up from out of the water and killed primative man....it would just make to much sense.:bugeye:

As you should already know Coffee God.

Dolphins and man shared the land and man drove dolphins to the water.

Dolphins are sure to drive us to the oceans AND DROWN KRUSTY. NOOOOO!!!

Oh my goodness Thunder God I had forgotten all about that. We must try to fight them back! (who would of thought that they were so good at walking):eek:

'SNORKY TALK MAN'

Anywho, if a Doplhins brain was transplanted into a mans body, what would happen? Theres the obvious fall about the floor and looking confused. But after it got used to being in that body. What would happen?

The human body would probably die from eating so much raw fish. Or it would be the smartest creature ever to ive and would dominate the earth with a vast army of giant Carrots. Of course me with my coffee powers would send that dolphin/human strait into a caffiene coma!:D

But no dolphins arent smarter then humans, they always get caught in those nets.:(

What makes u think that dolphins are smart? Becouse they save people? Actually they "save" everything that is floating and about same size as they.

Pollux not to sound like a smart ass or anything but how can they develop fire when they live in water?

That's my point exactly, maybe you should focus your eyes and re-read my post?:p

Originally posted by pilpaX
What makes u think that dolphins are smart? Becouse they save people? Actually they "save" everything that is floating and about same size as they.

read my quote

"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

who cares if dolphins are smarter?

that isn't important on a universal scale, yes

What makes u think that dolphins are smart? Becouse they save people? Actually they "save" everything that is floating and about same size as they.

Maybe dolphins are smarter then us.

why I think dolphins are smarter?
how do I know, I think I was the one who asked the question in the first place;)

anyways- if there are reasons, then they are in the quote I provided

cheers

My Mom was killed by a dolphin Avatar. Later one took my hand right off, there all nice and friendly until you get to close:eek:

Can't say who's smarter, but dolphin casserole...yummm!

I think we judge smartness in relation to ourselves. Of course dolphins can't make tools and can't operate heavy machinery and so forth, but they do exhibit behavior much like humans. This is why we deem dolphins smart, well at least smarter than other animals. They can communicate with one another and also with us. These behaviors show a sort of evolution or gravitation towards intellect. They won't be doing advanced Calculus anytime soon but that's because their environment dictates this. We have expanded ourselves to almost every reach of the earth and therefore require lodging. We started building homes and after a while we built bigger homes and after a while more built large buildings and skyscrapers. Throughout all this we've advanced our intellect, our smartness to accomodate our needs. Dolphins number 1 priority in the "wild" is to survive. So there is only a certain degree of smartness that they can reach. I don't think dolphins are dumb. But I also don't think they are smarter than us.

YES YES YES. Halo, thats what I've been getting at

What would a Dolphin need an airplane for anyway :confused:

An away game in Denver, perhaps?

Ha ha ha, very funny. How can they play Gridiron football anyway :confused:

"Hitchhiker's Guide..." is a great book, very funny. Good for anyone who likes sci-fi, its mostly sci-fi humor.

I have no reason to say dolphins are or not...there are studies saying they could be atleast equal in their learning ability anyway. And their language system seems very complex...which may or may not point to intelligence. I guess we won't know till we develope a Cetacean/Human translator. (Dolphins are cetaceans right...?).

I'd like to talk to a dolphin.

Ever see the simpsons halloween special when the dolphins come out of the water and attack Springfield? GREAT episode, one of my favs. In the end of that bit all the people are in the ocean, with homer sitting on the floating couch. Classic. :D

Ever see the simpsons halloween special when the dolphins come out of the water and attack Springfield? GREAT episode, one of my favs. In the end of that bit all the people are in the ocean, with homer sitting on the floating couch. Classic

DUDE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!

Me and Counsler have already been through that :bugeye:

EDIT: Also, remember that Dolphin in Seaquest DSV. He was pretty smart

Heh. Just take a look at their cortex in their brains. Who has the bigger one? Humans. End of story.

Heres another question

How much of the brain do Dolphins use?

Humans only use 10% of its current capability, I wander how much Dolphins use. Could be the deciding factor here folks

if humans use only 10% of our brains, what do we do with the other....45%?

That 10% schmeil is a bunch of bullshit. We use ALL of our brain's parts but we don't use them to their full extent.

Illusion, can you back this up? Any respected links?

EDIT: Also, remember that Dolphin in Seaquest DSV. He was pretty smart

I think they used drugs to enhance it. I cant believe none of you have mentioned flipper yet! The gayest dolphin on the planet!

That 10% schmeil is a bunch of bullshit. We use ALL of our brain's parts but we don't use them to their full extent.

Illusion probably only uses about 4% of his brain.:D Just kidding illusion. I though that it was more like 6%?!

Originally posted by airdog
if humans use only 10% of our brains, what do we do with the other....45%?

Hahahaha. Am I the only one that found that funny? :p

http://www.csicop.org/si/9903/ten-percent-myth.html

Are dolphins smarter than humans? Hell, guppies are smarter than half the people on this planet.

Half the people ARE guppies

EDIT: Thanks for the link, I'll take a nose around at it

My exgirlfriend loves dolphins... of course the dolphins were smarter then her.

I believe that doplhins are actually smarter than lots of humans, I even believe most fish are smarter than some people (even with their memory span :bugeye: )

We are much smarter. How often do humans get caught in tuna traps?

pretty much get cought on landmines:bugeye:

pretty much get cought on landmines

I know some very stupid humans (exgirlfriend) who are stupid enough to step on land mines. Sometimes I hope that they (exgirlfriend) steps on one.:D

you don't need to be stupid- they are usually burried in ground and can be noticed only with metal detectors.
So humans are also kinda stupid- the method only is different- nets for dolphins, mines for humans.
My point is still valid.

btw- a true story- when my father was in Bosnia he was told by the local peacekeeping guys how those ehtnic fighters checked if there's a mine field. They gave a football ball to kids and watchd as they go play on the particular field. So they could know if it's safe to build a camp there.
a trully terrifying case

Thats horrible Avatar..... they were playing football!!!! Havent they ever heard of basketball before!!! That is such a cruel sport.

No really, thats awful. Weren't the ethnic fighters smart enough to throw rocks on the field?

I don't know- I only tell you what I was told

nebula, I'd like to see you spotting an almost invisible net underwater while travelling at high speeds.

What is it with people? Don't compare them to us. They don't need technology so why would they want to make cars.

Now that I think about it Dolphins probably have a vast underwater kingdom. They live in perfect harmony with nature and man until man started to pollute the water and the air. So now they bring out the ULTIMATE DOLPHIN WEAPON! EL NINO!!! Think about it. Why go to war with someone when you can just wipe them out indirectly with storms and such..... very scarey.

I think I just heard a van pull up outside guys.... Oh my God! Its dolphainsakls alkdsl dk

Hehe I was just kidding guys. Dolphins cant come out of the water we all know that. As for the secret kingdom that was all bull. THERE IS NO SECRET KINGDOM.

Have a nice day. End Transmission.

OHMIGOD, THEY'RE THE GUNGANS :eek:

Too much cappuccino eh Coffee God? :)

c'mon- you all are talking as if I ment that dolphins were super intelligent beings. I see you fail to see the full thought of that quote.
It's not a question about dolphins, it's a question about us and what we think is regarded as intelligence and what we think of ourselves to that matter. About our value system and superiority feeling just because others are not like us, and....
ahhh... I quit!

DUDE, WHAT THE HELL HAVE I BEEN SAYING....gees

whoops, too much caps, sorry :bugeye:

This is Compund Coffe. Yes that will do nicely. "Uh Dan I dont think you should type this stuff out."
"I cant type ive got fins, you need to shut up this one has that voice activation software crap."

"Oh I see, just remind them that theres no secret kingdom whatsoever."

"I was about to do that before you interupted."

THERE IS NO SECRET KINGDOM IN THE OCEAN..
"You idiot dont tell them where it is."

"It is of interest to note that while some dolphins
are reported to have learned English - up to fifty
words used in correct context - no human being
has been reported to have learned dolphinese."
-Carl Sagan

I honestly don't think humans are smarter than dolphins at this evolutionary stage. They are 40 million years older than us and that counts for alot. Their brains are proportionately the same size as ours but they would use them for real life and philosophy and not waste it on politics and celebrity's lives. The numerous cetacean languages are easily as diverse as the human languages and in most cases more diverse.
They can also create four and a half times more sounds per unit of time than us. That accompanied with their long illustrious history HAS to equate to some serious spiritual wisdom. Wisdom not only greater than ours but incomprehendable to our "rookie" brains.
Of course we are technologically smarter but who is to say that counts for jack shit? We work to eat, they play and eat and probably do a hell of alot of thinking. How much did you learn from society and the educational system? compare that to how much you have learned by yourself just from thinking and observing. For me there is no comparison, more than most of my knowledge has come from wondering, thinking and observing, activities which cetaceans probably do in spades.
We are so new to the planet that in a way we are the planets dumbest animal. We aren't spiritually prepared for the brains we possess, our "progression" will inevitably be the end of us, probably before we reach one million, the average lifespan for a species is 50 million years, we will be an evolutionary joke without a doubt and we'll take down a few innocent species with us.
But ,even though we had a good crack at it for a hundred years, I don't think we will finish the cetaceans and I don't think they will ever finish themselves.
We know so much about humans that its all too easy to say they are the smartest creaures on earth but the more you learn about cetaceans and watch them the more apparent their supreme intelligence becomes. I have more to say somewhere in my head but I'll leave it at that.
An amazing eye-opening book is "whale nation" seriously check it out.

Dolphins love to look at themselves if a mirror is nearby. They will have a look of disgust at any imperfection on their bodies, such as a black circle.

Out of the entire article that I've found, which I will post in a moment, this seems to be the most human thing about dolphins. If they get pissed off about little things on their body, then that means they have self awareness. They know that they're alive, and that they have control over their bodies, and that what they do affects the world. I happen to think that's pretty cool.

Dolphins have a special way of communicating with other dolphins. They use the same ultrsonic sound or sonar that they use for navigation. They have a more sophisticated language than other creatures and have been seen chatting to one another for long periods of times. Dolphins don't have vocal chords, however, and can't use facial expressions or body language like humans.

When you think about it, we do a lot of communicating through ways other than our vocal chords. We also have a written language. Not having those two things make their language, IMO, somewhat inferior to our own. They may be able to learn a few words of our language, but I don't know if they'd be able to understand facial or bodily expressions.

Here (http://allsands.com/Science/dolphinsintelli_tqh_gn.htm)

http://graphics.theonion.com/pics_3630/dolphin.gif

Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs (http://www.theonion.com/onion3630/dolphins_evolve_thumbs.html)

It is unknown what precipitated the dolphins' sudden development of opposable thumbs. Some dolphin behaviorists believe that the gentle marine mammal, pushed to the brink by humanity's reckless pollution and exploitation of the sea, tapped into some previously unmined mental powers to spontaneously generate a thumb-like appendage. However, given that 95 percent of the world's dolphin experts have committed suicide since learning of the development, the full story may never be known.

The Onion is always insanely funny. I had a subscription, but appear to have lost it for some reason...

I agree that the fact we have written history does give us an advantage in communication. But still, they would most probably have a form of legend and philosophy, stories and theories would have been passed down from parents to children and so on. Over 30 million years thats got to bring out some REALLY profound stuff. I think we have the potential to become more intelligent because of our hands and ability to pass knowledge on globally and store knowledge and so on but at this stage it is arrogant to assume we are. They have been around so much longer than us. It pains me to think we might be selling them short and it would be a great injustice to do so.
There would be individuals amongst them just like us, some would be dumb and some would be smart. I think the best vs the best of each species would be pretty damn close.
As a species I believe they are superior to us, they live in harmony with the planet, dream, play and have sex.... they have alot of sex, thats good thinkin'!

Originally posted by Pollux V
The Onion is always insanely funny. I had a subscription, but appear to have lost it for some reason...
:p
I've loved the onion for a while now but that was the awesomest aricle I've ever seen. I'd love to meet the guy who wrote that. Its so funny how tools start washing up on the shore, god thats good :p
They know their stuff too.

i saw on TV that dolphins have names and therefore it must be true...it might also have been mentioned above, but i was too lazy to read everything...

but anyhoo...

if they have names then they are 'human.'