Corvids and Parids seem to have similar intelligence, but less complicated vocalizations, and hence in somewhat different directions. Clark’s nutcracker - Wikipedia comes to mind.
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Yes, they are very clever wizards. And all the while some humans believe in a flat earth.
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But as Lee McIntyre, author of “How to Talk to a Science Denier,” says, that’s not an issue of intelligence (some of them are really brilliant), but a fundamental anxiety and logic problem. Right? Who knows–maybe the parrots wonder if we’re aliens!
Thanks.
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Anxiety about what? And isn’t logic part of intelligence?
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Good question. Here it is. I can find myself trying to blame other people, too, as he describes–it’s an easy trap to fall in to.
Anyway, it’s not a criticism; I’m just thinking this through. I am learning from you and everyone else. Thanks for the discussion.
Various psychological theories have been offered, involving factors such as inflated self-confidence, narcissism, or low self-esteem. A more popular consensus seems to be that conspiracy theories are a coping mechanism that some people use to deal with feelings of anxiety and loss of control in the face of large, upsetting events. The human brain does not like random events, because we cannot learn from and therefore cannot plan for them. When we feel helpless (due to lack of understanding, the scale of an event, its personal impact on us, or our social position), we may feel drawn to explanations that identify an enemy we can confront. This is not a rational process, and researchers who have studied conspiracy theories note that those who tend to “go with their gut” are the most likely to indulge in conspiracy-based thinking. This is why ignorance is highly correlated with belief in conspiracy theories. When we are less able to understand something on the basis of our analytical faculties, we may feel more threatened by it.
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