had a dog and a cat in the house, both belonged to somebody else, I dont like cats the dog did like cats, and one day I told the dog to feed his cat, which he promptly started doing, picking up kibble with his front teeth and putting them down in front of the cat and maintained the practice.
I also have a horse and I regularly see various dogs that become friends and just hang out with/under the horse without any human involvment or supervision, and I watched over time as the horse "trained" a new dog/puppy not to jump at her face and
the horse plays host to a new flock of starlings every year that learn that her movements scare up bugs and also that they can land on her back and head and get the bugs that torment her.
this is just a bit of the stuff I see without going looking for it, and other reports and documented occurences are everywhere
so as someone pointed out "the search for intelligent life in the universe should stop looking up, and just look around"
I rather like your closing statement. What would we do if we made contact with an intelligent alien when we can't even have a conversation with a dolphin?
gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/science/humans-love-havin...
Thanks. It still requires an account though... Not the best UX.
had a dog and a cat in the house, both belonged to somebody else, I dont like cats the dog did like cats, and one day I told the dog to feed his cat, which he promptly started doing, picking up kibble with his front teeth and putting them down in front of the cat and maintained the practice. I also have a horse and I regularly see various dogs that become friends and just hang out with/under the horse without any human involvment or supervision, and I watched over time as the horse "trained" a new dog/puppy not to jump at her face and the horse plays host to a new flock of starlings every year that learn that her movements scare up bugs and also that they can land on her back and head and get the bugs that torment her. this is just a bit of the stuff I see without going looking for it, and other reports and documented occurences are everywhere so as someone pointed out "the search for intelligent life in the universe should stop looking up, and just look around"
That's fascinating.
I rather like your closing statement. What would we do if we made contact with an intelligent alien when we can't even have a conversation with a dolphin?
Reminded me of The Great Silence by Ted Chiang. https://electricliterature.com/the-great-silence-by-ted-chia...
> What would we do if we made contact with an intelligent alien when we can't even have a conversation with a dolphin?
Same conversation that we had with the dolphin: ..but how does it taste?
And if it threatens us, shoot first and ask questions later.
Simple, sadly.