[Skybird]

In recent years, the past 20 years or so, researchers sometimes radically altered earleir conclusions on animal'S intelligence and ability to experience a complex emotional life, including humour and sadness. The scinectific assessment of bird inteligence and bird brain'S structure is currently being almost rewritten. Several big mammals have been shown to show signficant indications of being able to feel sad for the loss of family members, both individually and collectively.

I am a born sceptic. But that only means to me that I try to not take something as granted prematurely, not to forget the value of emprical approaches and scientific methodology - and always remain to be open at all directions, or almost all.

The most honest answer we cna give to the whale'S behaqvour is that we do not kn ow what went thorhg its mind when behaving like it did. And that means we cannot rule out that it acted due to symopathy or altruistic motives. Could also be a reflex triggered by a key signmal issued by the small creature that was the diver with a potential threat nearby.

Sometimes I wonder about scientists, however. They see a swarm of dolphins jumping and dancing without any direciton or goal - and it doe snot come to their mind that thy maqybe simply enjoy life and express their joy of bein able to do what they are doing.

Is man really assuming that he is the only creatiure capable of having an empotional life, feeling joy, humour, sadness, loss, fear, expectation, sympathy, love?

Higher emotions need corresponding brains tructure to form and to become aware of them, its not as if empotions are in the heart. They are in the brain, like thoguhts and thi8nling, percpeiton and everything else. If a brain is complex enough to support the idea that there could be emotions, then why the hell trying to assume so hardly that nevertheless there are none?

Antropomorphising it would be to assume that there are emoptions comparable to that of a human where there are no brain structures complex enough to create them. From nothing comes nothing. A shown behaviour then can as well be the result of just reflexes that got genetically inherited.

Animals can have individual characters, sentiments, daily moods. Who claims the opposite has never had a dog or cat, nener dealt with horses, and never has seen ravens playing in the snow or enjoying to make somersaults in midair.

Sometimes the pleasure a creatures feels is so obvious that it rerally jumps into your eyes - if only you do not try hard to keep them closed tight. And sometimes the sadness is as obvious as well. It can catch even a whole group of animals, far beyond the imminent core family structure. Some apes, elephants, dolphins on my mind.

Its ironic a bit. We listen deep into space to learn about alien intelligence and life - while it is already here, right beside us.