mine has to be cats too, they're fluffy, predatory and manipulative. my cat will literally pretend she needs to go to the toilet by messing around in her litter cos she knows i will always let her out to go. on the rare occasions i'm too tired to wake up and let her out, i find that she NEVER ACTUALLY NEEDED TO GO TO THE TOILET and was just manipulising me
I'm assuming non-humans here because that seems like the point.
I think for me it may be dolphins. They can recognize themselves in mirrors. Not many creatures can pass the Mirror Test. Dolphins teach their young very detailed ways of interacting with the world, which can be considered culture. In Laguana, Brazil, dolphins help fishermen by driving fish into nets. They get a cut of the fish, so this has been an ongoing form of cooperation. I can't think of any example of humans interacting with any other species in a mutually beneficial-sense based planned abstraction (i.e. cats catch mice for us, but they aren't aware we used them for that). The dolphins who helped the fishermen have their own "accents" that distinguish them from other dolphins.
Our worlds so vastly different, yet we still share a playful curiosity and an understanding of the rules of nature and even a sense of morality. When our AI programs finally figure out their language, that will an amazing moment.
I can't choose, I got two:
Bear: powerful, cuddly, diligent
Snake: cunning, vicious, resourceful
lol those are my favorite as well, and for the same reasons, wtf
one minor difference though:
Polar bear: powerful, cuddly, the perfect balance between the two
Reptiles in general: resourceful, vicious, cunning
I can't choose, I got two:
Bear: powerful, cuddly, diligent
Snake: cunning, vicious, resourceful
lol those are my favorite as well, and for the same reasons, wtf
one minor difference though:
Polar bear: powerful, cuddly, the perfect balance between the two
Reptiles in general: resourceful, vicious, cunning
Polar bear? Cuddly?
