who says humans are the only self aware animal...

un real!

I actually got emotional watching that and thinking of all the wrongs that have been done to them.
I'm a changed man after seeing that.

Absolutely stunning.

"inFINSible wrote:

un real!

I actually got emotional watching that and thinking of all the wrongs that have been done to them.
I'm a changed man after seeing that.

Absolutely stunning.

that's not unlike my own thoughts Darin.. we are both artists.. you better than me, but I know you too appreciate the choices made by the pachyderm.. "redoing" the line because it wasn't dark enough, the flower and leaves.. amazing stuff. I couldn't do a better job of drawing an elephant caricature if I had all day. And this was a young elephant, probably not as skilled with his/her trunk as it will be..

"cnc66 wrote:

that's not unlike my own thoughts Darin.. we are both artists.. you better than me, but I know you too appreciate the choices made by the pachyderm.. "redoing" the line because it wasn't dark enough, the flower and leaves.. amazing stuff. I couldn't do a better job of drawing an elephant caricature if I had all day. And this was a young elephant, probably not as skilled with his/her trunk as it will be..

I'm speechless....I really am.

"cnc66 wrote:

that's not unlike my own thoughts Darin.. we are both artists.. you better than me, but I know you too appreciate the choices made by the pachyderm.. "redoing" the line because it wasn't dark enough, the flower and leaves.. amazing stuff. I couldn't do a better job of drawing an elephant caricature if I had all day. And this was a young elephant, probably not as skilled with his/her trunk as it will be..

And the decision for her to add a flower, means she wasn't only copying a thought or something she was looking at, but she had an idea and made an artistic expression.

This is one of the many reasons animal lovers, like myself, have the passion that we do for animals. They're not people, but in many ways they are as equally significant.

If you ever want to see more of the "humanity of animals", keep an eye out for Orangutan Island on Animal Planet. The first season is over, but they'll probably play it again, or have it online. You won't believe some of the things they do and accomplish.

"Finascious D wrote:

And the decision for her to add a flower, means she wasn't only copying a thought or something she was looking at, but she had an idea and made an artistic expression.

This is one of the many reasons animal lovers, like myself, have the passion that we do for animals. They're not people, but in many ways they are as equally significant.

If you ever want to see more of the "humanity of animals", keep an eye out for Orangutan Island on Animal Planet. The first season is over, but they'll probably play it again, or have it online. You won't believe some of the things they do and accomplish.

:up: Chimp Eden is awesome as well.

"inFINSible wrote:

:up: Chimp Eden is awesome as well.

Oh yeah, it is.

Still, I prefer OI, because it gets more into the dynamics of culture building. Its almost as if we are watching what it was like for our ancestors build a community for the first time. I'd make the show mandatory viewing in all anthropology classes.

Of course it had training, but it definitely seems to show a level of intelligence that many insist it wouldn't have.

wow...Just wow..I for one will never think of elephants the same way ever again.

I had the opportunity to ride a hefalump (elephant) while in India...
Amazing animals, much smarter than they look... and you can almost see the compassion and intelligence in their eyes when they look at you.

Skeptic here. Yes, it is an amazing video, but I wonder if it is a 'one trick elephant'. Was it taught that specific picture?? Can it draw creatively without any outside input?? What I mean to say is, can it draw something it wasn't taught to draw? It would be one thing if it was taught to draw the elephant and the flower separately, and then put them together on it's own... I guess the saddest part of this is that I realize I no longer take anything, no matter how amazing, at face value anymore. :sad:

"JCowScot wrote:

Skeptic here. Yes, it is an amazing video, but I wonder if it is a 'one trick elephant'. Was it taught that specific picture?? Can it draw creatively without any outside input?? What I mean to say is, can it draw something it wasn't taught to draw? It would be one thing if it was taught to draw the elephant and the flower separately, and then put them together on it's own... I guess the saddest part of this is that I realize I no longer take anything, no matter how amazing, at face value anymore. :sad:

I just don't find it that less amazing if he can do nothing but paint that. The fact the elephant could paint something with such percision is pretty impressive in my eyes.

Probably one of the most amazing videos Ive ever seen. Even if he was 'taught' to paint that specific picture its still unbelieveable.

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

I just don't find it that less amazing if he can do nothing but paint that. The fact the elephant could paint something with such percision is pretty impressive in my eyes.

I agree wholeheartedly. The most marvelous thing to me was the control it displayed in it's trunk while painting. To have such fine motor skills in such a large muscle mass is rather amazing. I was remarking on the sentience that some on this board ascribed to the animal. Like it just woke up that morning and said, " Hmmm...I think I'll paint myself holding a flower today..." THAT part I'm skeptical about; and to me, without that part of the puzzle, yes- the video loses some of it's amazement. I'm not really 'wowed' per se by what a trained animal can do. Animals are smart and some can be trained to do almost anything. What amazes me is when an animal goes against it's programmed behavior in a given situation and acts in a way that wouldn't normally be ascribed to that animal (ie- a lion adopting baby wildebeests). That I find fascinating.

Wow... just wow...

Well that was just about the craziest thing I've ever seen ... I don't care if he was "taught" or not ... there's some type of awareness there to go back and correct lines, trace back over them, etc.

Great video, thanks for sharing it.

Very well trained Elephant!

Humans aren't the only self-aware animal.

The elephant being self aware was discussed before this incident: Self Awareness in Elephants.

And even before that, dolphins have proven to be self aware: Self Awareness in Dolphins.

Great apes have also shown self awareness.

I question whether its a robotic elephant or not. Robotic arms can easily be programmed to do just that.

I am a huge fan of elephants. Several of them adorn my desk at work.

"DrAstroZoom wrote:

I am a huge fan of elephants. Several of them adorn my desk at work.

That's a big desk.

"inFINSible wrote:

That's a big desk.

:lol:

:hi5:

Amazing!

"DrAstroZoom wrote:

I am a huge fan of elephants. Several of them adorn my desk at work.

Your workplace must have a large budget for waste extraction.

Smart asses, the lot of ya!