>

I think many animals are very smart but i also agree some arent and we call them smart.
Like how we do toddlers, or our children. 
But like the saying goes: "If we judge a fish for its ability to climb a tree, we'll think they're stupid."
Animals are very smart, they are extremely capable at surviving in their natural habitat with the means that are given to them. 
People have this bad habit of anthropomorphizing things and holding them to human standards within human contexts.
Wolves for example are incredible hunters, if you were to take away human tools and weapons most humans wouldn't even be able to compete against them. >

I feel like surviving in your natural habit is a basic thing and not a sign of great intelligence. If you locked a wolf in a house it will die because it doesnt know how to open a fridge. >

What would stop the wolf from breaking a window?
~~Whataboutism, am I right?~~ >

The wolf is very polite and would not do that >

I mean my guide dog is pretty smart in my opinion. Has saved me from being hit by silent deadly electric cars that make no noise more than once. >

That is a very good dog. And guide dogs are more intelligent than other dogs. But your dog was trained to do it. It didnt figure it out on its own. It was normal that it did that because it's goal was to protect you. >

I mean humans are also trained how to do most things no? Thats called school and parents. >

And is going to school and having parents is what defines smart? The guy that invented chemistry is smart, the one studying it is average. >

They are very smart... For an example; ants can make bridges to cross massive water bodies they couldn't do by themselves. That's pretty intelligent. Or how dolphins literally are  second only to us humans in smarts >


dolphins literally are second only to us

That’s means nothing. In any given ranking system, there is always gonna be a second place… what’s your point. It doesn’t mean they are anywhere near first. >

Not really, we measure their intelligence by seeing what they are capable of doing which are usually things like problem solving and tool use which can indicate high intellect with a few examples of of highly intelligent animals like

Cats
Dogs
Pigs
Elephants
Corvids
Parrots
Octopi
Other great apes like Chimpanzees
Racoons
Dolphins and other cetaceans
Fringed jumping spider

And perhaps a few more >

Ants dolphins rats >

Added dolphins and thanks >

Oh, primates and elephants. >

They also overestimate humans. >

Humans overestimate humans lol >

How very rude of you, take an upvote from me and my pets >

‘smart’ is complicated and nuanced and mostly subjective, and definitely relative. You are an animal. Are you smart? The gulf between humans and other animals only exists culturally, as in we’ve formed it like a religion in the recent few thousand years. >

Ngl ive started to contemplate what the standard for smart is since i started this post. But i will stick with "a thing is smart if it is above it's peers in terms of thinking/abilities". And by that, the things that people classify as smart in animals are very basic. >

Yes, they seem basic because they aren't people >

I know, but if every animal can be taught that if it brings you something it will get a reward, then is a crow fetching you money in exchange for seed smart?
What i mean in my post is that any animal that does anything beyond eating and sleeping is meet with an "omgosh its soooo smart just like a human!". Its just a very low standard for intelligence. Animal have comprehension abilities. >

1.) Depends. Think in context of the animal, but the answer is pretty much always yes
2.) Have you considered there are reasons so many animals are considered smart? Probably because people who know better than you know how to judge this better than you >

They gauge the intelligence but smart is subjective. When an animal can recognize itself in a reflection it is considered intelligent. But i just think "yeah, why cant it do that?" Animals have brains, they can think beyond food. That is my upopular opinion. >

Why wouldn't recognizing itself in a reflection be smart? 
And there are also quite a few steps between thinking of food and recognizing itself. You're opinion isn't unpopular, it's misinformed >

When people call an animal smart, they mean they are smart in the context of animals, not in the context of humans. You are just misunderstanding people and then disagreeing with them because you misunderstand. Perhaps it is you who is not smart my friend. >

Humans are animals still. Yes no animal comes close to human interms of intelligence but i think its more of the fact people keep forgetting or don’t want to accept humans are animals >

Yes, obviously. I haven’t forgotten that humans are technically a part of the animal kingdom, the term ‘animal’ is just commonly used to mean species in the animal kingdom that are not humans. I think my meaning was fairly obvious, and I’m not sure why you care so much whether people refer to humans as animals or not. >

Not that i care but im mainly saying this because when people talk about animal intelligence they tend to think humans are some o different entity entirely >

I dunno. My old dog pushed firewood into a corner until he could run up the pile and jump the fence >

Discussion aside: lol
But yeah is it a suprise that it did that? Tiny ants can build bridges why cant your dog? Your dog can think beyond food and play and sleep. >

Human smart and animal smart is different. Nobody puts human intelligence benchmarks on dogs because it’s not fair. >

Hahaha you are right. My son was so impressed the dog could do everything on his own (eat, poop, walk) while a human baby, the same age, cannot.