Question of the ages: Who's smarter cats or dogs? According to this story on dog and cat intellegence in New Scientist, the Dogs vs. Cats Showdown, dogs win by a nose.
What do you think?
I know when I speak at conferences, and ask those in the crowd 'Who's smarter?' Three choices: (1) dogs or (2) cats or (3) they're about the same. Actually, cats win by a whisker.
Hey Steve..what can I say, I've discovered your blog so I figured I'd leave a ton of comments :-)
I know we do this comparison for fun, and I hate to be the one ruining it, but this is such a misnomer.
We know that human IQ tests are highly inadequate at determining a person's level of intelligence; what makes us think that we can judge dog's or cat's level of intelligence?
Instead of the traditional IQ test which measures one's linguistic and mathematical prowess (distinctly left brain functions), new tests are devised to encompass more of human potential. If I remember correctly there are 7 categories. Math and language (as expected), mechanical (fixing a car for example), physical (playing basketball for example), artistic (singing, painting, what not), interpersonal, interpersonal..and I think that makes 7...
So, the level of person's IQ is determined by the person's ability to act appropriately given a set of circumstances.
Example: Nuclear physicist is stranded in the middle of nowhere and his car wont start. Your mathematical and linguistic knowledge (is IQ same as knowledge? hmmm) is useless, but a mechanic comes along and fixes it right up. Who is smarter (or appears to be smarter) in that situation?
So the "IQ" is dependent on circumstances and your ability to deal with those circumstances effectively. And if thats the case, then both cats and dogs got us beat in the IQ test. Those "animals" are much better suited to survive and procreate then humans are (given the fact that we've devolved to rely on technology for our survival).
Besides, since both cats and dogs have evolved to address different evolutionary requirements, they are both very smart in their own dog/cat way :-)
There I go ruining everyone's good time...ok, put me down for dog :-)