[Basic] Skill of the week: Animal Handling

[Flyndaran]

I proposed that type of stimulus connection and behavior as learning and training, but posters disagreed.
Thank you for making me realize that I contradicted myself. ;)

I should have written, "complex training" if only to agree with my previous position.


There is a one shot comic that shows an presidential animal being questioned. They asked how he has such loyal cat bodyguards to have taken bullets for him.

Next scene shows the laser dot hitting his back as a cat leaps into the way to "protect" the president.

Lots of animal training involves finding the behaviors they want to do and figuring out ways to modify them to fit your goals.

[Calion]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I proposed that type of stimulus connection and behavior as learning and training, but posters disagreed.
Thank you for making me realize that I contradicted myself. ;)

You're welcome :P

I wasn't even trying to be snarky; I just saw your claim and that reminded me of that article, and I just had to post it. It amused me that such an obvious-seeming statement could be wrong.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Calion

You're welcome :P

I wasn't even trying to be snarky; I just saw your claim and that reminded me of that article, and I just had to post it. It amused me that such an obvious-seeming statement could be wrong.

Even weirder is a Japanese researcher that found that slime molds could be "taught" to pre-react to extreme cold if it was exposed at regular timed intervals. They don't even have a nervous system let alone brain.

[Calion]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Even weirder is a Japanese researcher that found that slime molds could be "taught" to pre-react to extreme cold if it was exposed at regular timed intervals. They don't even have a nervous system let alone brain.

That's…that's…wow. How deep does 'intelligence' of some level go?

[Not]

The wrong way to think about this result is to credit slime molds with intelligence. The right way is to wonder why you value intelligence so highly in the first place. Sure you think your brain is the most important organ, but look who's telling you that.

[(E)]

From personal experience the animal handling skill is good for avoiding personal injury and knowing what you can't do with an animal.

Also related to the previous posts Oysters can be trained to hold their breath so to speak. Move them higher up the tidal area and they "learn" to keep closed for longer. which is useful for keeping them fresh for longer periods.

[Calion]

Originally Posted by Not

The wrong way to think about this result is to credit slime molds with intelligence. The right way is to wonder why you value intelligence so highly in the first place. Sure you think your brain is the most important organ, but look who's telling you that.

Cute. I'm not going to get into a huge discussion on this subject—we'd never reach the bottom. But it seems clear that intelligence confers an enormous survival advantage—though of course it is by leaps and bounds not the only or perhaps even the most effective survival strategy—and that learning ability is a core aspect of intelligence.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by (E)

From personal experience the animal handling skill is good for avoiding personal injury and knowing what you can't do with an animal.
....

Some cats fetch, but making one that doesn't do so is darn near impossible.

Chihuahuas yap at the slightest provocation. You can train them to want to stay quiet, but instincts will often overwhelm your, and even their, preferences.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Calion

Cute. I'm not going to get into a huge discussion on this subject—we'd never reach the bottom. But it seems clear that intelligence confers an enormous survival advantage—though of course it is by leaps and bounds not the only or perhaps even the most effective survival strategy—and that learning ability is a core aspect of intelligence.

But there is no monolithic thing as intelligence. Only problem type solving modules, if you will.
Understanding the (dis)advantages of an animal's specific types is what this skill is, in my opinion.

We kick butt at object manipulation and linguistic modules. But orangs beat us at 3 dimensional navigation, and squirrels at obstacle courses.

[Calion]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

But there is no monolithic thing as intelligence. Only problem type solving modules, if you will.

True of course. But learning ability has to be core to the definition, if not the only piece, and of course different species (and people) learn different things at different rates and capacities.

Understanding the (dis)advantages of an animal's specific types is what this skill is, in my opinion.

So how does this relate to my core question: Should I allow generalist Animal Handling in a GURPS Lite campaign that might transform into a GURPS campaign at some point?