Inside The Animal Mind - A Groundbreaking Exploration Of Animal Intelligence

There was a time when humans looked at animals with supreme confidence, concluding that while the dog might be loyal, the dolphin playful and the crow suspiciously smug, none of them were really thinking in the way we did. Then scientists started paying attention, and things became rather awkward. Crows began making tools, octopuses started escaping from secure aquariums with the professionalism of seasoned bank robbers, elephants demonstrated remarkable memories, and suddenly humanity’s cherished position as the undisputed intellectual heavyweight of the planet looked just a little less secure.

Which brings us to Inside the Animal Mind, George Page’s fascinating exploration of animal intelligence, published by Doubleday in 1999. It is exactly the sort of book that delights in asking uncomfortable questions. What if animals are cleverer than we imagined? What if intelligence isn’t a uniquely human invention but a wonderfully varied collection of evolutionary solutions? And perhaps most unsettling of all, what if your cat really does understand perfectly well what you’re saying but has simply decided that acknowledging you would establish an unfortunate precedent?

George Page takes readers on a tour through the astonishing mental abilities of creatures great and small, examining research into communication, learning, memory, problem-solving and social behaviour. The result is a compelling portrait of a natural world populated not by instinct-driven automatons but by individuals capable of surprising ingenuity. Chimpanzees negotiate alliances, parrots grasp abstract concepts, dolphins recognise themselves in mirrors, and ravens exhibit the sort of strategic planning that would not look entirely out of place in certain board meetings.

The title itself is wonderfully ambitious. Inside the Animal Mind suggests that the author has somehow been issued with a visitor’s pass to the consciousness of every beast in the kingdom Animalia. In reality, he accomplishes something arguably more impressive by carefully assembling decades of scientific research into a readable and engaging account that reveals just how much is happening behind those watchful eyes. The subtitle, A Groundbreaking Exploration of Animal Intelligence, sounds wonderfully confident too, as though someone has finally decided that perhaps the squirrels deserved a hearing after all.

Published at a time when the science of animal cognition was beginning to transform our understanding of the natural world, this book captures an exciting moment when long-held assumptions were being overturned. Many of the discoveries it discusses have since become familiar, but there is a special pleasure in reading a work that conveys the excitement of ideas still finding their place in mainstream science. It reminds us that every generation confidently declares itself to know everything, only to discover that the crows have quietly been one step ahead all along.

This copy is in fine condition, looking remarkably alert for a volume devoted to the inner lives of creatures who would almost certainly have no interest whatsoever in preserving books. The pages are crisp, the binding is excellent, and it appears to have escaped both muddy hiking rucksacks and the investigative chewing habits of overly intelligent household pets.

As always, Crappy Old Books is delighted to offer books that quietly challenge the way we see the world. Inside the Animal Mind may not enable you to hold meaningful conversations with your goldfish, but it will leave you wondering whether the magpie in the garden has been evaluating your daily routine with far greater sophistication than you ever suspected. After reading it, you’ll probably continue talking to animals exactly as before. The only difference is that you’ll no longer be entirely certain they aren’t judging your choice of words.

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