I think that it’s on a sliding scale. Some animals clearly have some kind of inner thought process, and clearly have their own personalities. Others not as much. I know that with cats, for instance, there are tools you can use that allow cats to communicate certain concepts to people, stings of buttons that are each linked to a discrete word. Cats can learn to string button presses together to ‘say’ things to their keepers. (Apparently the most common thing they ask for is clean water, so clean your cat’s water daily.) That may not be evidence of “thought” in the way that you’re thinking about it, but there’s clearly some form of cognition going on there.
I used to have a cat who did this. He would lead me to the bathroom, jump into the tub, and then wait patiently until I turned on the bath faucet – just a trickle!
I think that it’s on a sliding scale. Some animals clearly have some kind of inner thought process, and clearly have their own personalities. Others not as much. I know that with cats, for instance, there are tools you can use that allow cats to communicate certain concepts to people, stings of buttons that are each linked to a discrete word. Cats can learn to string button presses together to ‘say’ things to their keepers. (Apparently the most common thing they ask for is clean water, so clean your cat’s water daily.) That may not be evidence of “thought” in the way that you’re thinking about it, but there’s clearly some form of cognition going on there.
I used to have a cat who did this. He would lead me to the bathroom, jump into the tub, and then wait patiently until I turned on the bath faucet – just a trickle!