I think that is fascinating as well.
I recently read an interesting book on a related subject-- the development of
empathy in animals.
The Age of Empathy by Frans de WaalRegardless of how one feels about his political/philosophical leanings, the first two thirds of the book was (IMO) remarkably erudite and clearly written with respect to the known neurobiology involved, and it pulled in a lot of very good behavioral research.
One thing that I found particularly fascinating was the notion that many animal species may have
capacities that we simply haven't been smart enough to devise ways of
testing. After all, not all animals have the same manual dexterity, orthopedic structure, or sensory ennervation that human beings do.
It was interesting to consider that cetaceans may only fail the mirror test because they don't have limbs that allow them to touch their own bodies all over, for example.
But I imagine that for anyone that believes human beings to be uniquely differentiable from "the animal kingdom" it probably is fairly disturbing content.
Like you, Jamie, I find it fascinating stuff.
