If animals can do math, but can't count;
If animals can't do math, we often see animals that can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on TV.
Scientists have also been trying to prove that animals have mathematical concepts.
A scam in which animals are good at mathematics
We often see on TV that an animal can skillfully use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to get the final result, which is often expressed by the number of calls or other tapping sounds.
The earliest genius of animal mathematics was a horse, Hans.
189 1 year, a German teacher began to teach Hans mathematics. Hans started with the addition and subtraction of basic units and gave the answer through the number of strokes of horseshoe. Gradually, Hans' mathematical ability became stronger and stronger, and he was able to calculate more complicated problems, including multiplication, division and subtraction of two digits.
Hans' mathematical ability spread all over Europe and became the hottest animal star at that time. In order to verify his talent, the German Education Commission tested and appraised Hans.
The result is surprising. Hans is not a veritable mathematical genius, but he just "observes words and senses".
In other words, the answer given by Hans is not calculated according to the question, but by observing the movements and expressions of the questioner. For example, when Hans' clicks are close to the correct answer, the questioner's head will move slightly, or his back will straighten. When he saw these micro-movements or micro-expressions, Hans knew that he could stop tapping. Give people an illusion, as if Hans had worked it out himself.
Besides horses, dogs have performed such stunts, but the results are all the same. Dogs are not that sensitive to math. They can answer math problems correctly because the owner reminds and controls the dog's behavior through the "dog flute" that ordinary people can't hear.
How much can animals tell?
Nevertheless, animals still have a certain understanding of mathematics, and many animals can know the size of numbers.
Lions can judge their numbers by their calls.
Lions have a strong sense of territory, and Britain once did an experiment. In the experiment, five lionesses stayed together, while the roar of three lions was played. So the five lionesses rushed in the direction of the roar.
In other words, the lion can tell whether the number of opponents is more or less by sound, and if the number is less than his own team, he will attack. Lions are good at using numbers to measure their chances of success.
Wolves also have this ability.
Few animals have accounting figures.
Scientists believe that at present, we haven't met animals that can really count, but there are many intelligent species in the animal kingdom, and they can still complete the counting task through the training the day after tomorrow.
Alex is a gray parrot and has been trained by animal psychologists for 30 years. He is very clever and can complete unprecedented bird skills, including language, consciousness, basic reading and mathematics.
In five green blocks, six green blocks, four rose balls, three rose balls and other objects with different numbers and colors, when the experimenter points to one of them and asks, "How many rose balls?" Alex can answer accurately.
Ai, a primate, is a very clever chimpanzee. After training, he became the first animal to use Arabic numerals. He knows the symbols "1" and "2", and he can click the numbers in sequence, which shows that he understands that the numbers are continuous and have differences in size.
1987, the researchers also proved through experiments that chimpanzees can calculate the sum of the number of chocolates in two bowls (up to 5 chocolates in each bowl).
Generally speaking, many animals show super mathematical ability, but their mathematical concepts are different from ours. The mathematical skills of animals are either unrepeatable and exist in very few individuals, or they only have general mathematical concepts and cannot be really counted.
Does an animal that can't count know that it is missing a child?
To be sure, animals know that their children are missing, but they determine whether the children are there, not by counting, but by characteristics such as smell and crying.
The most obvious is the pet dog.
When I was a child, my dog gave birth to a litter of nine puppies. At this time, grandparents always give puppies to others.
Every time nine puppies are taken away, the bitch will keep looking at home, and even be unhappy for a while, which shows that she clearly knows that her child is missing.
However, if there are too many children, which exceeds the parenting ability of the animal mother, one or two will not be noticed. After all, animals are not marked by the numbers 1, 2, 3.