Kathleen wrote:Animals are not capable of telepathy, there are much more logical explanations for this supposed phenomenon.
It's not that animals are not capable of telepathy. It's that it hasn't been proved because it's easy to make a speculation and say that everything that seems like telepathy has a scientific explanation.
Remember, there was a time that it wasn't possible that the world was round.
Kathleen wrote:The belief that animals are capable of intellectual ability is an old concept. Humans often cannot sense the cues that animals do. For example, a dog doesn't actually understand he/she did something wrong if he/she destroyed something, and the look of guilt they have when you've caught them is their fear. They understand you are going to yell at them/punish them because they have great senses. (
http://www.clickandtreat.com/webart29.htm)
This is very true to a point. When my dog eats something off of the counter or goes to the bathroom in the living room when we're not home as soon as we enter the house she looks 'guilty'. Of course this is because she knows that when she does those things there are certain events that always follow. Just like they learn that when you click a treat is coming.
Michael wrote:Actually there is nothing telepathic or supernatural about it at all. There is quite a rational explanation for why it may appear that parrots could read our minds.
In most cases this is true. But there are also many cases where they haven't been able to find a scientific explanation for some events. Of course they insist that there is one, there has to be, but they just can't pin point it at this time.
Michael wrote:For instance with Kili I have noticed that she will often jump the gun and do a trick I have mentally prepared myself to cue her just as I start to if not just before I utter the word or show the hand signal. This could appear telepathic but what actually happens is one of two things:
A) Survival bias
B) Reading body language
I don't think that any of us here are saying that every single event that occurs that seems like the bird 'read our mind' is actually telepathy. Of course we realize that most of the time it's due to routine or body language.
This is a good article that covers an example of a dog that recognizes when the owner comes home (before you attack that statement, read the article, they disproved that it was just because the dog had a sense of time or recognized the sound of her car):
http://www.lostvalley.org/talkingleaves/node/155I believe animals do have certain abilities. Yes, most of these abilities have scientific explanations. Such as animals that 'predict' earthquakes and other natural disasters. They are picking up on subtle changes in their environment (I don't have the exact information on what they pick up on).
Maybe one day when our technology is better we'll be able to measure and explain what it is that's happening. But does the fact that there's a scientific reason for a dog predicting an earthquake and savings it's owner make that event any less amazing or important? Or what if there are birds that actually can describe the picture that their owner is looking at. Of course you'll say that there's some logical explanation for it or it's a hoax, but what if one day we discover how that event happened? Why does being able to explain it scientifically make it any less remarkable? Why does telepathy have to be a 'supernatural' or 'mystical' thing?
Most importantly, why should we stop being amazed by the incredible things our animals do just because there is, or could be, a scientific explanation for it?