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Hi all.
Hopefully this question isn't a big rehash of something which has already been discussed.
My question seems simple: How do we tell the difference between behavior which is the result of inherited, evolved processes and behavior that is the result of intelligent decision making?
This question arises because I am currently reading _Climbing Mount Improbable_ by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins starts early in the book with the example of spider webs (and their probable 'evolution') demonstrating complex evolved behavior and the "appearance" of design in what is actually a naturally evolved system. He refers to such things as "designoid" (such as an organism which may appear deliberately designed but which is actually the result of random mutation/genetic change and nonrandom selection).
What sort of test might we apply to something in order to decide whether a behavior is based on a conscious decision making process and not a behavioral compulsion driven through evolution? Some examples I think of are pack hunting behaviors (such as wolves, or chimps hunting monkeys) that might look like 'tactics' and which could appear to be the result of complex communication and spacial reasoning; however, I might be guilty of applying anthropomorphism to the critters. They might not have a "choice" in how they go about their hunt, any more than the spider has a choice in the design of its web or the beaver in the construction of its dam.
Just like a spider might be genetically compelled to go through the physical motions of building a web, might not an ancient hominid be compelled to knap a hand axe, without any real conscious understanding of what it is doing?
Might the ability to learn new techniques and pass those techniques on to another generation via communication and learning be such a test? For example, a human learning a better construction technique for putting together a shelter, through observation and trial, and then passing that new technique on to his or her offspring, who do the same?
Put it this way. Imagine some hypothetical island off the northern coasts of Europe, where an isolated population of Neanderthals is discovered. What behavioral patterns / observable evidence might we look for to determine whether they are self-aware, thinking creatures using intelligent decision making processes (I hate to use the phrase "critical thinking" but that might be best) assuming that direct communication with them is impossible? Or maybe substitute "aliens on a far away planet" for Neanderthals. I suppose the tests might be the same.
I appreciate your thoughts on this matter. I'm very interested in this question, though it may be pretty murky.
Edited by Admin, : Add moderator note at top.
Edited by Admin, : Change title, was "Evolved Behavior Vs Intelligent Decisions".