For many years, there was no debate about the superiority of humans over the animal kingdom. But things have changed – fortunately, in fact – and we now learn more about the ability of many animals to understand that they are an individual entity in their own right. Let’s focus on self-aware animals.
Intelligence is not the property of humans. The challenge was to prove this in a scientifically sound manner. Since the 1970s, there has been a test based on the confrontation of the animal with its image in a mirror, with a situation and the application of a mark on its body to see if it reacts to it. This allows us to know better if animals are aware of themselves or not.
The chimpanzees are particularly intelligent social animals. Their eyes already tell us a lot about their intelligence. Still, testing has finally made us accept that they are especially self-aware. Their ability to understand what a mirror is, combined with the fact that they recognize the marks on their own bodies, proves that they are truly self-aware.
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