[MD] Collective intelligence

[Micah]

Craig,

It would be proper to say - "I think my cat sees a bird". The key being, "I
think".

Micah





[Micah]
> you were describing what you thought [your cats] were thinking,
essentially "thinking" for them.

Start with a simpler example:  my cat is doing what I call (correctly or
incorrectly) "seeing a bird".
Q1) Does the cat see anything?
A1) Yes, it is not blind.
Q2) Does it see a bird?
A2) Well, it sees something rather than nothing & the something it sees is a
bird, not something else.
Q3) Does it see the bird AS a bird?
A3) Probably not.
Q4) So then it isn't seeing a bird as I do when I see a bird.
A4) Right. My cat sees a bird like cats do when they see a bird, not like
I/we do when I/we see a bird.
Q5) So shouldn't you specifically say "My cat sees a bird like cats do when
they see a bird" & not "My cat sees a bird like I do when I see a bird"?
A5) But why can't "My cat sees a bird" mean the same thing as the former,
since I never use it to mean the latter?
When I hold my cat up to the mirror, it sees a cat & not a bird.  Which
brings us to (a rephrasing of) the original question: does it see a
different cat or itself?
Craig