A recent article in Live Science explored the question: Are dogs and cats smarter than babies? While such a comparison is fundamentally flawed due to different developmental trajectories in humans and animals, it raises a deeper question about the nature of consciousness and perception.
From the perspective of the oneness of all existence, intelligence cannot be measured linearly or compared using a single model. Every species possesses its own unique form of awareness, perfectly suited to its role in nature.
Canine Intelligence: Language, Numbers, and Understanding
Psychology professor Stanley Coren, an expert in canine cognition, suggests that dogs think at a level comparable to a 2.5-year-old child.
🔹 On average, a dog understands about 165 words and signals.
🔹 It can distinguish quantities, for example, noticing if a treat is missing.
🔹 However, its understanding is based on concrete stimuli rather than abstract concepts.
But here we must ask a fundamental question:
Is intelligence just about vocabulary and numerical skills?
Or does it reveal itself in depth of perception, intuition, and the ability to feel the world?
Different Forms of Awareness
Humans tend to measure intelligence through their own lens—language, logic, and abstract thinking. However, consciousness is not limited to these criteria.
✅ Dogs and cats perceive subtle energies and can sense human emotions without words.
✅ They possess natural intuition, foreseeing events and reacting to environmental changes.
✅ Their world is deeply rooted in the present moment, whereas human minds often fluctuate between past and future.
If intelligence is the ability to interact with the world in the best way possible for a given being, then dogs and cats demonstrate their wisdom in a form that aligns with their nature.
Can Human and Animal Intelligence Be Compared?
Comparing human and animal intelligence is often based on the idea of superiority, where one is seen as “higher” than the other. But if we embrace the concept of wholeness and unity, we realize that different forms of awareness serve different purposes.
🐶 Dogs are masters of unconditional love and intuition.
🐱 Cats are guardians of subtle energy and silent observers of the world.
👶 Babies are beings who absorb experience, bridging intuition and reason.
Every being contributes to the universal flow of life, and each form of consciousness is valuable in its own way.
Conclusion: Intelligence as a Multidimensional Phenomenon
Instead of asking "Who is smarter?", perhaps we should ask:
🔹 How does each species perceive reality?
🔹 What unique ways of understanding the world do they have?
🔹 What can we learn from them, and what can they learn from us?
Intelligence is not a vertical ladder where some are "higher" and others "lower." It is an interconnected web of awareness, where each plays its role.
Perhaps true wisdom lies in appreciating this harmony? 💛✨