He has mastered it. He clearly understands the concept of roads vs sidewalks. He can drive using one hand. And most importantly, he obviously has a great time doing that.
Haha, I basically barged into here ready to post a video of Greyson. Amazing stuff, I'm surprised more people haven't been successful (or interested in) teaching their dogs ride stuff.
Good point. Given our evolution has led to a species with the ability and tendency to destroy itself, our fitness gradient could certainly be considered inferior
bees will push balls around just for the hell of it - they trained the bees to push the balls and then took the rewards away and gave them unlimited pollen and sucrose and the bees kept going back to the balls. they just wanted to mess around
Someone, at some point, said lets see if the Orangutan can drive the golf cart, and presumably no one said "NO! That's an awful idea"...
Then not only did it learn, it got good at it and seems to enjoy it...
I just really don't understand how this came about. How did it learn to do this. The initial phases must have been just constant crashing into stuff. How on earth did it ever get past this without a teacher being able to communicate with it.
Probably same way I learned as a kid on my grandparents ranch. Start by letting them steer but correct as needed. Eventually they steer by themselves. Then introduce gas pedal.
Not sure but there is video of some guys driving with it. It's on at the zoo of Dubai Royal Palace. Orangutan's are supposed to be pretty smart - it could probably watch humans press the accelerator and turn the wheel and figure it. https://youtu.be/WSR_4qyz7CY?t=285
Are you sure the steering wheel is actually hooked up? There are times especially toward the end of the video where he turns it and I don't see the expected swerve (even a small one) from the cart.
I've seen frigate birds taking off at sunset, flying around a bit and then going back to their nests - pretty sure they were just enjoying the experience :-)
>>> Surprisingly, it doesn't take the fish a long time to learn how to drive the vehicle. They're confused at first. They don't know what's going on. But they're very quick to realize that there is a correlation between their movement and the movement of the machine that they're in.
My armchair biologist thought is to wonder if there's a common thread of balancing (on water currents, air currents, slippery surfaces, etc) that translates into fairly easily understanding how to direct vehicles.
Of course this fits right in with the thread's theme of animals driving, and I don't want to be a spoilsport, but this article has me not too convinced about the bold claim it makes.
As good as it sounds, I have my reservations about it showing "that a fish has the cognitive capability to navigate outside its natural environment".
Rather it seems to me the fish is just swimming in the direction of the treat, as it would do _inside_ its natural environment, and the car translates that directional push - I don't see a real "driving" coordination in the sense of a motoric abstraction based on a learning of cause and effect.
I doubt the fish are in any way "aware" of what's happening, or even that it's happening distinctly outside their environment. They're just swimming instinctively, adopting to what I imagine might a feel like a strong breaking current and a boop on the nose. Some might be more adept at this than others. After all they're captive animals that probably don't have much experience navigating challenging environments, not even aquatic ones.
I highly suspect "driving" via levers or buttons like the rats do would be beyond of what can be reasonably expected from a goldfish brain anyway.
As a kind of mental cross-check of the claim, I'd expect, say, a moth to be able to "drive" just the same way towards a light - and it would be pretty obvious there's no deeper cognition involved.
I'm reminded of the YouTube vids in which someone places a small toy finger skateboard underneath a turtle. The turtle quickly learned to propel itself with its legs and, having acquired a taste for speed, uses its newfound ability to harass the cats. Cowabunga!
The home one .. nice people but there's something so lost about dedicating your life and house to your pet rats. Everyone seems to living a fake life in that.
I don't think there's anything "lost" about having a hobby, or passion and love for your pets. I find it endearing and sweet.
I'm not sure if english is your first language or you intended it like that but saying that someone is living a "fake life" also sounds quite offensive and arrogant.
huh? I have pet rats and you should see my house! Looks like a little zoo. It's a great deal of fun training them and providing them with joy. Could be a dog or a cat or anything else, I just happened to absolutely love rats!
Really enjoyed this article. Longevity and health increasingly seems to be intrinsically tied to planning for better things, hoping for better things and enjoying the process.
Just now scientists are finding out driving is fun, when we're just about ready to ban it!
Mind you, I don't think the rats would enjoy it as much if they had to share the road with the kind of rats I share it with, and if the penalty for crashing (or being crashed into) was as high.
Pfffft, nobody is banning driving. Self driving cars are not going to be rolled out that widely for a while. Also, moving away from car centric infrastructure doesn't mean that cars are getting banned. That's such a weird US centric take I see way too often.
Here in the Netherlands, we arguably have some of the most bike and pedestrian friendly infrastructure in the world. Guess what, we also have a very well respected car infrastructure with high quality highways and connections.
Focussing on other modes of transport isn't banning cars, it is making cars optional for those who choose to do so. Or worded differently, it gives people a choice.
With that out of the way, the title here on HN is misleading. It is not so much about driving but enrichment in general.
Still beats losing train connections, being pressed in a sardine can until everyone fits in, or stop in the middle of nowhere wondering when it will start moving again.
But you can combine best of both world experiences, being compressed in a bus, stuck in a middle of stop and go traffic.
I saw a news story about rats being trained in Tanzania to search for people under rubble. These animals have sharp hearing and an excellent sense of smell. I just don’t remember the exact breed of these rats. I really like these animals!
I believe there is also a very interesting project that uses trained rats to detect and mark landmines for clearing. The rats can apparently smell even very old explosives under the dirt, and unlike their handlers are too light to set them off :)
107 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 177 ms ] threadBut maybe the rats will be smarter.
He has mastered it. He clearly understands the concept of roads vs sidewalks. He can drive using one hand. And most importantly, he obviously has a great time doing that.
So chill!
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=dog+skating&iax=videos&ia=v...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVbtAYPSapw
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/rEwpaMJLgTI
https://youtube.com/shorts/kvFKIovjbWo?si=8pwlZfwtPZpHoQRu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHODo_jIPo4
In fact, given the dimensionality of all possible fitness gradients, our direction of evolution is likely near-orthogonal to theirs.
Can't wait to hear an ape argue that online.
Oh, wait.
https://www.youtu.be/IFACrIx5SZ0 orangutan the carpenter
https://www.youtu.be/PcvH1eOjOVs parrot drives his own car
https://youtu.be/IFACrIx5SZ0 orangutan the carpenter
https://youtu.be/PcvH1eOjOVs parrot drives his own car
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6639406
Someone, at some point, said lets see if the Orangutan can drive the golf cart, and presumably no one said "NO! That's an awful idea"...
Then not only did it learn, it got good at it and seems to enjoy it...
I just really don't understand how this came about. How did it learn to do this. The initial phases must have been just constant crashing into stuff. How on earth did it ever get past this without a teacher being able to communicate with it.
I have so many questions.
Why would you assume that?
It didn't learn by trial and error, it watched and copied another ape.
Golf carts aren't massively complicated.
“If one could run without getting tired, I don’t think one would often want to do anytrung else?”
As a runner, I agree. :)
https://www.tiktok.com/@emperorsofmischief
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/goldfish-driving-1.6309485
>>> Surprisingly, it doesn't take the fish a long time to learn how to drive the vehicle. They're confused at first. They don't know what's going on. But they're very quick to realize that there is a correlation between their movement and the movement of the machine that they're in.
As good as it sounds, I have my reservations about it showing "that a fish has the cognitive capability to navigate outside its natural environment".
Rather it seems to me the fish is just swimming in the direction of the treat, as it would do _inside_ its natural environment, and the car translates that directional push - I don't see a real "driving" coordination in the sense of a motoric abstraction based on a learning of cause and effect.
I doubt the fish are in any way "aware" of what's happening, or even that it's happening distinctly outside their environment. They're just swimming instinctively, adopting to what I imagine might a feel like a strong breaking current and a boop on the nose. Some might be more adept at this than others. After all they're captive animals that probably don't have much experience navigating challenging environments, not even aquatic ones.
I highly suspect "driving" via levers or buttons like the rats do would be beyond of what can be reasonably expected from a goldfish brain anyway.
As a kind of mental cross-check of the claim, I'd expect, say, a moth to be able to "drive" just the same way towards a light - and it would be pretty obvious there's no deeper cognition involved.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UIe8Y0k-QDw
Seriously though, I wonder if they drive to please the researchers (to any degree).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G8u7sk2Jo
A different one, in a home environment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHMc3-f3v8
I'm not sure if english is your first language or you intended it like that but saying that someone is living a "fake life" also sounds quite offensive and arrogant.
I used 'fake' because this is nothing like a natural human life, nor a natural rat life.
I don't get grinding at work to buy your pet rat a new car, no.
https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Motorcycle-Ralph-Book-ebook/dp/...
Mind you, I don't think the rats would enjoy it as much if they had to share the road with the kind of rats I share it with, and if the penalty for crashing (or being crashed into) was as high.
Here in the Netherlands, we arguably have some of the most bike and pedestrian friendly infrastructure in the world. Guess what, we also have a very well respected car infrastructure with high quality highways and connections.
Focussing on other modes of transport isn't banning cars, it is making cars optional for those who choose to do so. Or worded differently, it gives people a choice.
With that out of the way, the title here on HN is misleading. It is not so much about driving but enrichment in general.
But you can combine best of both world experiences, being compressed in a bus, stuck in a middle of stop and go traffic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Plane