Animal intelligence in the YW books

One thing thats always sparked my curiousity in the YW books is that when the children speak to animals in the speech, whether the animals are wizards or not they all seem to be very intelligent and self aware. Sentient is the word that comes to mind.

What are your thoughts on this? I wonder if it was done intentionally because we know so little scientifically about how aware/intelligent animals are or whether the speech provides such a depth of understanding between the species that you just don't notice the difference?

[Rice]

One of the premises of the YW books is that everything is self-aware, to one degree or another. However, once you get past the dog and cat level, intelligence is a completely different matter. The fact that everything, to us, _appears_ to be speaking English, raises their apparent intelligence quite a bit. But Duane also states, I believe, that most animals are quite focused on their own lives/survival and really don't have much to say.

In other words, while everything can talk, the majority of it are awfully dull conversationalists.

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit."

Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost.

[The_Iron_Giant]

It seems that through out every book where they meet an animal/creature, It seems to know them. Kinda Strange.

"Orpish Rut"
-IG

awarness and inteligence are two diff things. but for example i have a gecko and a hamster and most(not all) people would assume that the hamster would be smarter simply because it has a bigger brain and its a mammal. but since i have them both and can see them react to diff stimuli and i can say that my hamster is about as stupid as it gets. he never knows whats going on aroung him and is always trying the same thing to get out of his cage. my gecko however always watches me and he has discoved that if he climbs up his branch that he can get out if i take the screen top of when hes up there and he also knows when i feed him.

You're only young once but you can stay immature indefintly.

My givin name (from friends) is Psychotic Susan Hardhead. Psyco Susie for short

most(not all) people would assume that the hamster would be smarter simply because it has a bigger brain and its a mammal.

Heh, I took a class on brains (is it brainology?) that stated clearly that it doesn't matter how big your brain is; it's how much mylin is on your axon cells.

Anyhoo, I think that all animal life is pretty self-aware but partially their emotions are very simple ("Oh, boy! Dog-food again!") and partially they're associated with non-wizards and know that such people could not understand this and so it doesn't matter. In other words... let's say that some random non-wiz ows a goldfish. The goldfis is in fact at least semi-intelligent and you could (assuming you knew the Speech) have a conversation with it and see its view on its life. But than again, goldfish lead rather boring lives. All they really do is swim around aimlessly and eat, and their memory is five minutes. Also, why try to make it understood to Mr. and Mrs. non-wizard that you are intelligent? They feed you, so it doesn't matter.

As for knowing Nita/Kit/etc... I think that pretty much every species knows that wizards exist just as a fact, but that humans do not because it would cause trouble (with people trying to make wizards do things for them). With, say, dogs, it just means that sometimes they can have a conversation with another species. It doesn't mean a lot. Apparently, though humans can (to some extent) hear the Speech, they cannot hear/understand the particular strands of it, such as Cyene or Starsong.

I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh. I have been called a hundred names and will be called a
thousand more before the world goes dim and cold. I am hero.

[Caledonian]

In the Wizards cosmology, every object and force has its own awareness. That doesn't mean that everything is actually sentient. The self-awareness and intelligence of a rock is different from human awareness and intelligence as human experience is different from that of the Powers.

Logic is a poor servant, but an excellent master.
-- The Book of Forgotten Things
Forget science fiction: other people are the ultimate aliens.
-- The Vorlon Ambassador's Aide

[Rysade]

Hey, you're back! With you around, I'm not the oldest one around anymore! Hi, Cal, welcome back!

I always figured that self awareness sprouted from intelligence. After all, A system is anything that talks to itself.

[Birdhead]

Ah, but is he back? I think not. Shame...

My thoughts on this are really pretty close to everyone else's; I'd assumed that most/all things are aware to some extent, but it takes a little more complexity to actually have a conversation. Not that they wouldn't be aware of external organisms/others; just that they might not understand the concept of conversation. Such as, maybe, the asteroid in the AMNH in HW: it can communicate with Kit, even to the extent of telling its story, and maybe even listening to his- but I think actual conversation, Nita and Liused style, is considerably less likely.
T

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