The Genius of Dogs and How It Expands Our Understanding of Human Intelligence
By Maria Popova
For much of modern history, dogs have inspired a wealth of art and literature, profound philosophical meditations, scientific curiosity, deeply personal letters, photographic admiration, and even some cutting-edge data visualization. But what is it that makes dogs so special in and of themselves, and so dear to us?
Despite the mind-numbing title, The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think (public library) by Brian Hare, evolutionary anthropologist and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and Vanessa Woods offers a fascinating tour of radical research on canine cognition, from how the self-domestication of dogs gave them a new kind of social intelligence to what the minds of dogs reveal about our own. In fact, one of the most compelling parts of the book has less to do with dogs and more with genius itself.
In examining the definition of genius, Hare echoes British novelist Amelia E. Barr, who wisely noted in 1901 that “genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.” Hare points out that standardized tests provide a very narrow — and thus poor — definition of genius:
As you probably remember, tests such as IQ tests, GREs, and SATs focus on basic skills like reading, writing, and analytical abilities. The tests are favored because on average, they predict scholastic success. But they do not measure the full capabilities of each person. They do not explain Ted Turner, Ralph Lauren, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, who all dropped out of college and became billionaires.
Instead, Hare offers a conception of genius that borrows from Howard Gardner’s seminal 1983 theory of multiple intelligences:
A cognitive approach is about celebrating different kinds of intelligence. Genius means that someone can be gifted with one type of cognition while being average or below average in another.
For a perfect example, Hare points to reconstructionist Temple Grandin:
Temple Grandin, at Colorado State University, is autistic yet is also the author of several books, including Animals Make Us Human, and has done more for animal welfare than almost anyone. Although Grandin struggles to read people’s emotions and social cues, her extraordinary understanding of animals has allowed her to reduce the stress of millions of farm animals.
The cognitive revolution changed the way we think about intelligence. It began in the decade that all social revolutions seemed to have happened, the sixties. Rapid advances in computer technology allowed scientists to think differently about the brain and how it solves problems. Instead of the brain being either more or less full of intelligence, like a glass of wine, the brain is more like a computer, where different parts work together. USB ports,keyboards, and modems bring in new information from the environment; a processor helps digest and alter the information into a usable format, while a hard drive stores important information for later use. Neuroscientists realized that, like a computer, many parts of the brain are specialized for solving different types of problems.
An example of this comes from the study of memory, which we already know is fascinating in its fallibility:
One of the best-studied cognitive abilities is memory. In fact, we usually think of geniuses as people who have an extraordinary memory for facts and figures, since such people often score off the charts on IQ tests. But just as there are different types of intelligence, there are different types of memory. There is memory for events, faces, navigation, things that occurred recently or long ago — the list goes on. If you have a good memory in one of these areas, it does not necessarily mean your other types of memory are equally good.
Ultimately, the notion of multiple intelligences is what informs the research on dog cognition:
There are many definitions of intelligence competing for attention in popular culture. But the definition that has guided my research and that applies throughout the book is a very simple one. The genius of dogs — of all animals, for that matter, including humans — has two criteria:
- A mental skill that is strong compared with others, either within your own species or in closely related species.
- The ability to spontaneously make inferences.
The Genius of Dogs goes on to explore the specific types of intelligence at which dogs excel, including their empathic acumen of taking another’s visual perspective and learning from another’s actions, their ability to interpret and act upon human communicative gestures, and the unique ways in which they go about asking for help. Pair it with John Homans’s indispensable What’s a Dog For?, artist Maira Kalman’s illustrated love letter to our canine companions, and cognitive scientist Alexandra Horowitz on how a dog actually “sees” the world through smell.
Public domain photographs via Flickr Commons
Published February 8, 2013
"""The Genius of Dogs and How It Expands Our Understanding of Human Intelligence"" - Maria Popova, Mtaalamu wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti." Lakini ni nini kinachoweka mbwa kuwa wa pekee na wapendwa sana? "Kupitia kitabu chake ""The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think"" kilichoandikwa na Brian Hare, mwanasayansi wa mageuzi na mwanzilishi wa Duke Canine Cognition Center, Vanessa Woods anaelezea jinsi mbwa wanavyoweza kugundua akili zao na jinsi zinavyoweza kugundua akili zao." Kwa kweli, moja ya sehemu ya kuvutia zaidi ya kitabu ina kidogo kufanya na mbwa na zaidi na genius yenyewe. "Hare alitoa ufafanuzi wa kipekee wa kipaji cha akili, ""Hare anasema kwamba vipimo vya kawaida hutoa ufafanuzi mdogo sana wa kipaji cha akili, kama vile IQ, GRE, na SAT, ambazo zinazingatia ujuzi wa msingi kama kusoma, kuandika, na uwezo wa uchambuzi.""" Majaribio hayo hupendwa kwa sababu kwa wastani, yanatabiri mafanikio ya shule. Lakini hazipimi uwezo kamili wa kila mtu. "Ted Turner, Ralph Lauren, Bill Gates, na Mark Zuckerberg, ambao wote waliacha chuo kikuu na kuwa bilionea.""" "Hare alitoa wazo la kipaji ambalo linatokana na nadharia ya Howard Gardner ya akili nyingi ya 1983: ""Mkakati wa utambuzi ni kuhusu kusherehekea aina tofauti za akili.""" Uwezo wa kipaji ni kwamba mtu anaweza kuwa na kipawa cha aina moja ya utambuzi wakati kuwa wastani au chini ya wastani katika nyingine. "Hare alitoa mfano mzuri kwa Temple Grandin, ambaye anafanya kazi katika Chuo Kikuu cha Colorado, ambaye ni mwandishi wa vitabu kadhaa, ikiwa ni pamoja na ""Wanyama Hutufanya Watu,"" na amefanya zaidi kwa ustawi wa wanyama kuliko mtu yeyote." Ingawa Grandin anajitahidi kusoma hisia za watu na ishara za kijamii, uelewa wake wa ajabu wa wanyama umemruhusu kupunguza mkazo wa mamilioni ya wanyama wa shamba. Mapinduzi ya utambuzi yalibadilisha njia tunayofikiria akili. Ilianza katika muongo ambao mapinduzi yote ya kijamii yalionekana kuwa yametokea, miaka ya sitini. Maendeleo ya haraka katika teknolojia ya kompyuta yaliwawezesha wanasayansi kufikiri kwa njia tofauti kuhusu ubongo na jinsi unavyoweza kutatua matatizo. Badala ya kuwa na akili nyingi kama glasi ya divai, ubongo ni kama kompyuta ambayo sehemu zake mbalimbali hufanya kazi pamoja. Vituo vya USB, keyboards, na modems huleta habari mpya kutoka kwa mazingira; processor husaidia kumeng'enya na kubadilisha habari katika muundo unaoweza kutumika, wakati diski ngumu huhifadhi habari muhimu kwa matumizi ya baadaye. Wataalamu wa mfumo wa neva walitambua kwamba, kama kompyuta, sehemu nyingi za ubongo zimebuniwa ili kutatua aina mbalimbali za matatizo. Mfano wa hii hutoka kwa utafiti wa kumbukumbu, ambayo tayari tunajua ni ya kuvutia katika makosa yake: Moja ya uwezo wa utambuzi uliochunguzwa vizuri ni kumbukumbu. Kwa kawaida, watu huona watu wenye akili kama watu wenye uwezo wa kukumbuka mambo kwa njia ya pekee, kwa kuwa mara nyingi watu hao hupata alama nzuri sana katika vipimo vya akili. Lakini kama vile kuna aina tofauti za akili, kuna aina tofauti za kumbukumbu. Kuna kumbukumbu kwa ajili ya matukio, nyuso, urambazaji, mambo ambayo yalitokea hivi karibuni au muda mrefu uliopita <unk> orodha inaendelea. Ikiwa kumbukumbu yako ni nzuri katika moja ya maeneo haya, haimaanishi kuwa kumbukumbu zako zingine ni nzuri pia. "Hata hivyo, ""ufahamu wa mbwa"" ni kitu ambacho kinajulikana sana katika utafiti wa utambuzi wa mbwa, na kuna ufafanuzi mwingi wa akili unaoshindana kwa uangalifu katika utamaduni wa kawaida." Lakini ufafanuzi ambao umeongoza utafiti wangu na ambao unatumika katika kitabu chote ni rahisi sana. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Uwezo wa mbwa - wa wanyama wote, kwa jambo hilo, ikiwa ni pamoja na wanadamu - una vigezo viwili: Uwezo wa akili ambao ni nguvu ikilinganishwa na wengine, ama ndani ya spishi yako mwenyewe au katika spishi zinazohusiana sana.""" - Uwezo wa kufanya mikataa kwa ghafula. Genius of Dogs inaendelea kuchunguza aina maalum za akili ambazo mbwa hufaulu, ikiwa ni pamoja na busara yao ya hisia ya kuchukua mtazamo wa kuona wa mwingine na kujifunza kutoka kwa vitendo vya mwingine, uwezo wao wa kutafsiri na kutenda kwa ishara za mawasiliano ya binadamu, na njia za kipekee ambazo wao huenda juu ya kuomba msaada. "Hii ni pamoja na ""What's a Dog For?"" ya John Homan, barua ya upendo iliyoonyeshwa ya msanii Maira Kalman kwa wenzetu wa mbwa, na mwanasayansi wa utambuzi Alexandra Horowitz juu ya jinsi mbwa kweli ""anavyoona"" ulimwengu kupitia harufu." Picha za uwanja wa umma kupitia Flickr Commons, Februari 8, 2013