Ants

Play Classic FM and display posters of Lady Thatcher? :-)

Humans are supposed to be more intelligent. Sadly, with many people, they are determined to be as "lowly" as other creatures.

I know that they are a damn sight more intelligent than some humans.

In message , Bob writes

Perhaps because we humans have the awareness to show concern for other life forms.

I'm sure that just as some people don't make very good humans, there are hopeless wasps too. There are bound to be some that can't find their way around, aren't very good at nest building or don't cooperate with the others in the way they are supposed to.

We're just fortunate(?) that our success as a species as a whole allows us to prevent the more stupid and useless members of society from perishing as they would have in days gone by.

Bob

In message , Owain writes

A sentient being ?

In message , "Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)" writes

They don't play football for a start

Just like the dolphins. :-) [1]

I don't understand that - and don't bother to reply to me because I'm not going to be here.

Other animals don't do it with glee.

You think that they're not?

Thta says more about you than it does about wasps and about me.

Mary

For some reason ants don't like talcum powder. Maybe it makes them slide about.

Intelligence is the ability to learn, understand and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason:

I've no doubt that a wasp has the ability to learn but "have opinions based on reason", I doubt it.

Nick Brooks

Ever seen a cat with it's prey?

Anthropomorphism at its best :-)

Mary

Cats are not supposed to be blessed with the intelligence to know better. Humans are.

Errm, untrue. The example of cats already pointed out and the apes behave almost exactly like humans.

I know they are not, they barely rate on any scale of intelligence. They have a social structure and developed behaviour but they do not exhibit intelligence. One does not see a wasp examining a problem and trying to develop a solution, a trait that is fairly common among mammals and many species of birds.

Jackdaws and parrots show intelligence, so do cephalopods and cats and even that slavering yes man, the dog show intelligence. Wasps get into rooms and can't get out again.

You're right even when you're not eh?

Fingers in ears "nah! nah! nah! I'm not listening!". Are you IMM in disguise?

Nor do people.

Wasps are not even remotely intelligent. They're not even self-aware. An inherited set of instinctive responses does not constitute intelligence.

To insist that they are intelliegent shows an extreme lack of that same attribute.

Bob

Is there a definition of "intelligence" that I've missed, perhaps one specific to wasps?

Nick Brooks (allergic to wasp stings)

I thought she was saying that no other animals appear to enjoy killing, *not* that they are intelligent enough to know better.

In message , Bob writes

Maybe not where you live/work. :(

"geoff" wrote | >> Still, I suppose I shouldn't expect much else from someone who the | >> other day described wasps as "highly intelligent"! | >I know that they are a damn sight more intelligent than some humans. | They don't play football for a start

I think someone on this group has probably had a similar thought in their .sig from time to time (which will be where I read it).

Why don't horses bet on humans?

Owain