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Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
Great apes pass a false-belief test, hinting at a theory of mind
Theory of mind is the recognition that others have mental states, just as you do. It is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to acknowledge that their mental state—their beliefs, their perspectives, how their experiences have shaped them—differs from your own. And therefore that, when people act a certain way, they are responding not to an objective reality but to their own particular perceptions of that reality, which are likely not the same as yours.
False-belief understanding lies at the crux of this concept. It involves understanding when another person has a mistaken belief, and a prerequisite for that understanding is figuring out what the other person believes. And now there's some evidence that we're not the only species with it.
Humans possess this theory of mind, along with its all-important false-belief understanding. But it is still an open question whether humans alone possess it. Our closest relatives, the great apes—bonobos, chimpanzees, and orangutans—have exhibited theory of mind in some experiments.
But it is possible that these other primates achieved this result by reading others' behaviors instead of their minds. Now, Josep Call, who studies great apes as a means to determine how cognition evolves, gave the animals something called "the goggles test" and concluded that yes, they do have false-belief understanding.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by unhandyandy on Tuesday November 12 2019, @02:16AM (2 children)
This notion that there's a rigid hierarchy of consciousness in which humans are at the apex is obviously BS. Clearly advanced alien races have more sophisticated criteria according to which we don't qualify as having a theory of mind.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday November 12 2019, @02:30AM
Well, actually having a theory of mind is not an issue. Having a mind (or lacking it thereof) rather is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @05:46AM
"Clearly advanced alien races have..."
Why go so far? Mice will do. Even dolphins.