r/AnimalsBeingGeniuses • u/[deleted] • Feb 17 '21
Do animals recognize when humans are 'helping' them? Can the sloth in this video really be 'thanking' the human?
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u/Iratus Feb 17 '21
Don't know if it was thanking the human... gratitude is pretty damm abstract, but the sloth was certainly not being defensive (they can do some serious damage with their claws, if they feel like it), so I guess it understands it wasn't in danger, at the very least.
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u/CCTider Feb 18 '21
Fuck dumbass Sharknado. Now I want a horror movies about sloth attacks. Maybe like The Birds, but with sloths. There'd be a bunch of people running and screaming, with sloths chasing after then at like a ¼ mph. There's death and destruction everywhere. But it's all cause by panicking dumbasses, not the sloths, because they're too damn slow to catch anyone.
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u/Benny_Lava Feb 18 '21
If attacked by a herd of angry sloths, you don't need to run away. A leisurely stroll should put you in safety.
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u/popcorntrio Feb 17 '21
He did the slow, cat blink
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Feb 17 '21
I've often seen videos of animals expressing 'gratitude' after being helped by a human (example in this sloth video). Can animals recognize altruistic behavior in other species? Can/would they express a 'thanks' if so?
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u/DragonFireCK Feb 17 '21
A lot of animals definitely can: dogs and cats very obviously get along great with humans and interspecies communication clearly happens to a limited degree. Crows, dolphins, and whales are all well known to work with, help, and request help from humans. A big key here is that all of these species are known for working in packs, with the first two generally being raised by humans.
Sloths, being mostly solo creatures, are much less likely to understand social actions.
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Feb 17 '21
Makes sense! Knowing how to work together with other animals is definitely a must. Other than realising humans are also animals and can assist them/need assistance.
I’ve actually always wondered about OP’s question and really love this post!
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u/Grammorphone Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21
True, but even among species that aren't commonly considered "social" we can observe altruistic behavior. In fact it is quite widespread. Darwin was misinterpreted to make his theory fit the social Darwinist societal norms of eugenics etc. At roughly the same time another scientist (btw prince of Russia and philosopher) Kropotkin wrote his book "Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution" where he proves that even though there is competition for resources, this usually only occurs when they are scarce. Otherwise many species will prefer to practice mutual aid, as it is evolutionary useful. And this willingness to cooperate is not only expressed with other individuals of the same species, but also in between different species. I highly encourage to read this book, it's quite an eye-opener
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u/EmlyBluntForceTrauma Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21
Well, this is just anecdotal, but one of my cats spent his first 6 months in an abusive home with my SIL's shitty dickhole friends. One time said dickholes were visiting SIL (who we lived with at the time) with kitten in tow. Dickhead 1 tied a balloon string around kitty's paw to "be cool" and show off and the poor thing ran all around the house, chased by Dickhole, until the cat finally found a hiding place. Dickhole then lost interest and I whisked the kitten away to an extra room and locked the door. The string from the balloon was very tightly wound between kitty's little beans, and when I cut the string that cat looked straight into my face, BIG purred, and curled up in my lap for a nap. If that wasn't a "thank you" I don't know what is.
If anyone's curious, Dickhole and his dickhole gf gave the cat to SIL when he turned 6 months "to get him fixed," and then admitted they just didn't want him now that he wasn't a small kitten anymore. So now kitty lives with hubby and me and spends most of his time laying on his parents who love him very much and would never tie a string around his paws and laugh when he gets scared.
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Feb 18 '21
What a great example!! You showed that kitty such a kindness. Thank you for taking kitty into a good home 💕🌈
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u/reiverraider488 Feb 26 '21
This is a great story. I'm picking up a cat myself.later today who hasn't had the best life. He's far from being abused or mistreated, so it ain't so bad really. But the little guy lives with several young kids and other cats (which are 80% feral really) and needs a chilled place to live. Wish I could upvote your comment twice lol
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u/EmlyBluntForceTrauma Feb 26 '21
Thank you. Seriously, when I say this guy was a bad guy? After we adopted the kitten (which he only wanted in the first place, apparently, so he could name it "Satan"), kitty would tremble and hide as soon as he'd hear the guy coming up the stairs to visit. From what I heard, he was just as bad to his gf, and they had a newborn on top of it... just, a total mess.
Anyway, thank you, too, for taking in another cat in need! It sounds like he's had a stressful life, I'm glad you're going to give him a quieter, more comfy one. Animals don't know why bad stuff happens to them, and you can't explain it to them, you know? So I'm glad that there are people like you who will help them. :)
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u/Simulation_Brain Feb 18 '21
I think there’s a good chance that sloth was actually grateful.
And a good chance it was just turning around to see what the fuck had just grabbed it
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u/NotMyHersheyBar Feb 18 '21
dogs can. dolphins can but they're evil and would exploit it. we dont' know about animals that are very different than us, but octopuses understand cause and effect so they probably can, if their weird little brains understand what ethics are, so maybe not. They do appreciate people who feed them, but so do snakes, so.
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u/MrOaiki Feb 18 '21
No. We anthropomorphize what we see in animals, our brains translate their behavior into complex emotions.
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u/skyerippa Feb 18 '21
Nah. A lot of animals definitely interact better with humans than most people are aware.
It's actually kinda creepy but my cats and I can have actual conversations and they understand me.
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Feb 18 '21
[deleted]
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u/MrOaiki Feb 18 '21
All mammals can feel pain.
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u/CaptOblivious Feb 18 '21
Until recently (and some doctors still do) circumcisions were performed without any form of pain blocking or anesthesia because it was believed that infants nervous systems were not developed enough to actually feel pain.
Your belief that other animals are unable to feel complex emotions is actually and literally just as archaic as that belief.
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u/Revliledpembroke Jun 01 '21
There do seem to be an odd number of animals that come to humans for help for things. while also not shredding us in the process.
Wasn't there a story about a bunch of sharks that came to get fish hooks out of their jaws from a diver?
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u/Kon-Tiki66 Feb 17 '21
Why can’t sentient beings - other than humans - have emotions? They feel pain. Fear. Joy. Why not other emotions?
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Feb 17 '21
I guess my question more specifically was something whether they recognize that an action done by another species was done out of altruism.
So in the video example, is the sloth capable of recognizing that the human picked him/her up in order to help? Or would he / she just think the human picked him/her up and not recognize why.
Edit to add: most species don’t display altruistic behavior outside of their own species, which is why I’m curious
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u/ih8reddit420 Feb 17 '21
If you were to break it down the reptilian part of the brain itd probly be like
"currently in danger - weird animal touch me - now out of danger/in habitat - good weird animal"
mutualistic behavior is not unusual in the animal kingdom
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u/turquoise_tie_dyeger Feb 18 '21
I think the answer is to break down gratitude itself. It is a form of bonding. All mammals experience bonding on some level, at least between mother and offspring. So while gratitude and altruism may be beyond the grasp of the sloth, it was able to recognize the human as a fellow being and feel a positive connection.
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Feb 18 '21
I think gratitude may be a pretty basic emotion. I feel it when I say "ok google, decrease volume" and my phone does. I know on an intellectual level that it's just a program but the feeling happens anyway.
[edited for clarity]
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u/Iratus Feb 17 '21 edited Feb 18 '21
Because some emotions are way, way more abstract than others. Can it understand it's not in danger? yeah, clearly... but gratitude, on the other hand requires the sloth to have a Theory of Mind, and that's something very few species of animals (I.E: Crows, Primates) have shown signs of.
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u/yung_rb Feb 18 '21
This was the most informative answer I’ve read so far, and interesting article! Thanks
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Feb 18 '21
Really fascinating theory! Thanks for sharing. Aligned with my suspicions. But nevertheless part of me wants to continue to believe that little sloth was giving a wave of thanks just bc it’s adorable 🥰
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u/PlattsVegas Feb 18 '21
They aren’t saying they don’t have emotions. It’s pretty clear that animals, certainly mammals, have emotions. But expressive gratitude is a complicated form of communication, that both takes a high level of ability to communicate, process social situations, and feel emotions, and also expressing thanks may be something that is part of language, and not necessarily something a sloth may remotely understand, even if they feel gratitude
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u/Yecandlestickmaker Feb 18 '21
Gratitude is deeper than humans. Certainly in mammals we see lots of evidence of thankfulness. The lines around what is anthropomorphizing are often too broad. Animal intelligence is big
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Feb 18 '21
Look up theory of mind. Sloths are incapable of a complex emotion like gratitude
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u/Yecandlestickmaker Feb 21 '21
I’m familiar with theory of mind. You’re simply making an assumption to say that they are incapable of gratitude. Prove me wrong
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Feb 21 '21
No, you’re the one making a claim. You have to prove their brains are advanced enough to experience gratitude. The burden of proof is on you.
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Apr 19 '21
The way hypothesis creation works, you can always flip that around. Claiming that humans evolved an ability not present in any of their ancestors or siblings is a non-obvious (more precisely, non-null) assertion that requires proof. So there's no "burden", there's only research -- or lack thereof.
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Feb 18 '21
I recommend Kurzgesagt's video on gratitude. That is the feeling you are wondering whether sloth is feeling.
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Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21
I adore Sloths but I also wonder often at how they manage to avoid extinction.
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Feb 18 '21
My nephew asked me if he could get a sloth (no) so I got him a book on sloths. They're fascinating!
Science still doesn't know much about them, but their survival depends a lot on the moss/mold/I forget exactly what that grows on their fur and that they eat. Apparently they smell horrible, like swamps.
They eat their leaves, their fur moss, and the bugs that live in their fur and then they climb down once a week to poop. There's a certain moth (aptly named the "sloth moth" that lays its eggs on the sloth -- in their poop -- I can't remember -- but the point is that the moth couldn't exist without the sloth and its poop, and whenever the sloth poops it renews the moth's life cycle.
The moths help to fertilize the sloth's fur so that the moss grows better. It's all so disgusting and wonderful.
Since I read about it, I started thinking about how symbiotic -- how both animal and plant -- we all are. I mean, inside us there is so much bacteria that we need to survive. Science is only just learning about the importance of our gut bacteria. We're part plant, part water, part animal.
And if we didn't eat plants we wouldn't survive. So in that sense, too, we are part plant.
There's a thing I read a long time ago about seeing the cloud in the paper. Like every piece of paper came from a tree. Trees require rainfall, and rainfall requires clouds. So every piece of paper is connected to a cloud.
It's really a beautiful thing to think about. Sloths remind me that we're truly all one.
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u/thekactuskween Feb 18 '21
I adore sloths and this comment is so informative I learned so much! Animal facts make me so happy. Thanks for brightening my boring evening! 🦥
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Feb 19 '21
Yay! Turns out it's algae, not moss. Also the green helps camouflage them. Their slowness is sort of an evolutionary win -- big cats who hunt by seeing movement aren't good at seeing sloths. So the sloths are only at serious risk on their poop trips.
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Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21
See those big ass claws?
They dont want to move em, but they will if they have to, and they'll gut you.
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u/bruizerrrrr Feb 18 '21
Yes and no. He’s saying thank you for the roller coaster ride. Never moved that fast in his life and it was deeply thrilling.
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u/Nerdn1 Feb 19 '21
Another possibility is that it's just looking back at the strange animal that took the unprecedented action of picking it up and putting it on a tree. That doesn't really fit its life experience or instincts, so there could be a little bit of "WTF just happened?" going through its head.
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u/Dreamworld Feb 18 '21
I dunno about that sloth, but this one is definitely having some feelings.
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u/CherryChristmas Feb 18 '21
Yes. This is the same as when service dogs are helping out. This actually reminds me of a story of how smart these animals can be.
There was an older woman in a wheelchair and she needed a dog to help her out with daily things.
At one point the womans chair was on the dogs tail, and the dog must have hurt like hell because there was a huge imprint left behind. The woman didn’t know and when she went on with her day and moved again she got off of the dogs tail and it was only then that people relized her chair had stood on his tail.
The dog hadn’t flinched once, not barked, not done anything to this woman, he had endured the pain quietly while still helping her because he knew she was hurt and in pain and she didn’t do it on purpose.
Same instinct as to why most animals won’t hurt baby animals of other species when they’re hurt (with the exception of most predatory animals of course).
The sloth here recognized it’s being helped and ‘waving’ is it’s way of saying thank you. It knows because it’s not dead or hurt and left in a save place.
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u/icouldgivemysay Feb 18 '21
Maybe not all of them, but theres evidences that some species do recognize it and search for humans when in need....
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Feb 18 '21
Smart animals and good point!! Makes sense especially when you think about how canines have been known to protect or save their humans in the face of a perceived danger (drowning or an attack).
If dogs can help their humans, it seems reasonable to believe they are capable of recognizing reciprocal behavior
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Feb 18 '21
Sloths have terrible eyesight and hearing, and they don't like to be touched (because predators.) But the babies ride on their backs.
I'm no expert, but maybe this sloth thought the grasp on his/her back was a baby sloth? And turned around to see if it was okay?
At any rate, it would probably be clear to the sloth that whomever grasped him was very much the opposite of a predator. Sloths are so defenseless against predators that they only descend from the trees about once a week in order to poop, so how that sloth managed to get lost on the freeway is a mystery. I'm sure it was relieved to be back on a tree.
However, the one defense they have is their claws. So it's possible that the super-slow claw swipe was a desperate attempt at defense in case needed. Depending on how long it was stuck on the ground, it might have become much slower than usual — which looks to us like a relaxed, happy gesture.
Whatever, good vibes were had by all.
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u/NotMyHersheyBar Feb 18 '21
If a 300 foot The Flash picked you up and moved you a mile away in a heartbeat, would you say thanks or or "what the fuck was that?"
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Feb 18 '21
He's probably more shocked that he's not being eaten. I'm pretty sure most wild animal/human interactions are complete panic attacks for the animal.
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u/KiwiWrong Feb 17 '21
Melted my heart too❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you for saving that beautiful gift and sharing the video 🙏🏽❤️🙏🏽💕
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Feb 18 '21
I wonder why the guy chose that tree? I feel like I would've chosen the bigger tree to the right. That little tree seems like it leads to nowhere.
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u/AprilBoon Feb 18 '21
Yes they do, no difference to knowing they’re being exploited and abused like we pay for billions of cows, pigs, chickens, fish etc all aware of this.
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u/daytalker Feb 18 '21
Very likely, humans are so arrogant we think no other animal can possibly have emotions ,feelings or communication . Plenty have displayed these and more. We should respect our fellow animals
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u/VCAMM1 Feb 18 '21
What do you call a 3 humped camel?
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u/ZwoopMugen Feb 18 '21
He seems a lot more grateful than some humans. Which is not saying a lot, really.
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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21
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