
The Self-Medicating Animal - dnetesn
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/magazine/the-self-medicating-animal.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0
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loa_in_
Probably the most significant excerpt from the article:

The broader implication here is that some animals may be practicing a kind of
science, observing cause and effect, experimenting and learning. The
University of Oxford evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar argues in his book
“The Trouble With Science” that not only is science not unique to the West or
to the developed world, but that it’s not exclusive to humans. “Science is a
genuine universal, characteristic of all advanced life-forms,” he writes. It’s
how living things figure out the world around them.

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ouid
What is an advanced life form?

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posterboy
I guess "intelligent" seemed to loaded to describe mere animals.

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anigbrowl
But if a person does this we call them a criminal and punish them.

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pmoriarty
There are plenty of things that animals do that earn disapproval, even horror
were they done by humans to other humans.

The praying mantis decapitating and devouring her mate, is one example.
Infanticide and cannibalism are quite common in the animal kingdom. Many sex
acts engaged at by animals and especially insects would be considered deviant
if not simply insane were humans to carry them out. The list goes on and on.

That said, I'm completely against the War on Drugs. But saying animals use
drugs is not a very convincing argument against it.

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samfisher83
Ants do something similar:

[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28077-ant-knows-
how-t...](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28077-ant-knows-how-to-self-
medicate-to-fight-off-fungal-infection/)

Survival instinct is pretty strong.

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joecool1029
Saw the headline and was expecting to see an article with a study about cats
eating grass. Not so, but nevertheless an interesting read.

