tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post3135558718657762008..comments2024-01-03T17:02:06.646+00:00Comments on ASTROTABLETALK: ElephantsBarry Goddardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10050835957098177925noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-84210145525852102742013-12-03T02:34:32.609+00:002013-12-03T02:34:32.609+00:00 the hippocampus takes up to 0,7% of the total inn... the hippocampus takes up to 0,7% of the total inner space of the elephant brain, in humans it is 0,5% - not a mind-boggling diference after all...the insular cortex which is linked to conciousness has relatively less convolutions than in humans.I agree however - they are awesome, but please do not exaggerate things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-63775824516301366752013-12-03T02:19:10.557+00:002013-12-03T02:19:10.557+00:00Hippocampus is not linked to emotion - it is linke...Hippocampus is not linked to emotion - it is linked to sense of smell and smell memory, in dolphins the hippocampus is tiny, very tiny - does it mean that they have poor memory? An elephant can remember things for 60 years? Fine, I can do it too... Also brain size alone is not important that much anymore - just look at mice, crows, jays and magpies...and generally humans have more neurons in the brain than elephants, look on WikipediaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-67260515417052743522013-11-18T02:39:27.011+00:002013-11-18T02:39:27.011+00:00The last post made me chuckle...Why is it that we ...The last post made me chuckle...Why is it that we humans need to anthropomorphize other life forms in order to make sense of them? I agree that elephants are an amazing life form, and value their beauty and obvious complexity of social organization and intelligence. Comparing them to us is another matter. I guess we do this in order to gain some insight or way of understanding into a totally different life form. Yes, of course, we share some commonalities like being mammalian...but to suppose more than that is again, hubris. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-72370653015158974152013-11-09T16:02:21.335+00:002013-11-09T16:02:21.335+00:00..and of course there's this famous story:
I.....and of course there's this famous story:<br /><br /> In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. <br /><br /> As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.<br /><br /> Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. <br /><br /> Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenage son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. <br /><br /> Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. <br /><br /> The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly. <br /><br />Probably wasn't the same elephant. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-45450168267038128332013-11-06T07:28:00.480+00:002013-11-06T07:28:00.480+00:00Loved this article so much. Thank you.
I read a ...Loved this article so much. Thank you. <br /><br />I read a beautiful story in a Dalene Mathee book once about an elephant hunter in the Knysna forests probably around 1920ish. He had laid a trap for en elephant family who often came down a very steep forest path to drink from the pool below. The hunter waited. The elephant family came along - matriarch in front. They got to just before where the trap had been laid and suddenly stopped. Their trunks were swinging silently as they stood still for ages. And then they moved back up the path they had come. They could not turn around. The whole family had to take backwards steps up the path until they reached a flat area where they could turn and walk normally again. ... amazing wonderful beautiful creatures.natashanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-24898332322844311432013-11-05T22:31:12.921+00:002013-11-05T22:31:12.921+00:00thanks for a great read! i really agree with your ...thanks for a great read! i really agree with your thought process here!<br />jamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30912075.post-52636676669678829692013-11-05T20:21:38.050+00:002013-11-05T20:21:38.050+00:00Brilliant article! I have often thought that '...Brilliant article! I have often thought that 'hold on a minute', we have been told for so long we are the most intelligent species, but the more i think about it i do not think this is true. Maybe even compared to the likes of dolphins and elephants we are still in the nursery stage of development.I think we have reached a point...and whether we carry on to the next stages or not possibly depends on how we 'allow' evolution to 'alter us'.We went down a certain track..a left brained patriarchal track..and look where it led..to the military/industrial complex..to the 'anti life flow' systems glued in place...to the driver of the society train that is blind and yet drives on anyway.Maybe if we had remained in the matriarchal tribal way then we would have been more like dolphins and elephants are today...they are not making bombs and fighting wars..they are engaged in areas of experience probably few of us experience..that of massive intuitions and the like..dolphins and their sonar, the wide range of 'clicking' communications..i think we have the POTENTIAL to become more than we are..but its pretty obvious we are not there yet. but if we can imagine it, then it is possible, and many can imagine what an enlightened human could be..telepathic, whole, empathetic, a being in commune with all the other planetary species...ok i am going on a bit, but you can probably get my drift:)TheDeepGoathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01508779340341756560noreply@blogger.com