Animal language (Animals)

by David Turell , Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 21:43 (3383 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

DHW: I have no quarrel with the argument that our creative abilities and abstract thinking far exceed those of our fellow animals. But the suggestion that only we have the ability to create and think abstractly once again carries human self-aggrandisement to the point of absurdity. You (David) are always on about origins. How do you think the first birds made their nests,-> 
> Tony: Not a problem for pre-programming. I'm working on code right now that can create seemingly random stuff from a template. At the end of the day though, it will never go beyond what it is programmed to do.-Instinct could be God's programming, but there is no evidence here, only faith, just as dhw has faith in how much design and planning birds can do with their nests. Why do all weaver bird's intricate nests look so much alike? Set plans for the species. DHW seems to want the weaverbirds to have worked this out bit by bit until they got it right. Where did they keep their eggs until the plans got properly developed? That is a great Darwinian just-so proposal.