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TIL ecologists once thought Beaver dam-building was an amazing feat of
planning, indicative of the high intellect. This was tested when a
recording of running water was played in a field near a beaver pond.
Although on dry land, the beaver covered the tape player with branches
and mud.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_beaver
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|u/Commercial-East4069 - 19 hours
|
|Poor bastard just wants some peace and quiet


  |u/Buck_Thorn - 19 hours
  |
  |**STOP THAT DAM NOISE!!!**


    |u/PancakeParty98 - 18 hours
    |
    |Wait no, I mean MORE dam noise, less damn noise!


      |u/DookieShoez - 15 hours
      |
      |He’s not making any sense. He’s lost it.  Just look at the pretty
      |sunset bud! 🤪🔫😞


        |u/RockstarAgent - 15 hours
        |
        |Let it be the last sunset cause another noisy sunrise is
        |bullshit


    |u/GraveRobberX - 15 hours
    |
    |*Water Noises*  Beaver: “Absolutely the Fuck not!”


    |u/A-Game-Of-Fate - 16 hours
    |
    |“DAMN THAT INFERNAL NOISE!”  “…Dam it, you say?”


    |u/missionbeach - 16 hours
    |
    |Will somebody answer that damn phone!


    |u/PaPerm24 - 15 hours
    |
    |WHERES THE HAMMERING, STOP THE HAMMERING


    |u/BigLittleSlof - 15 hours
    |
    |... Say that again


    |u/bazmonkey - 14 hours
    |
    |They’re in their den eating dinner.  The baby beaver is like: “and
    |then I was playing with the field mouse living downstairs and there
    |was a rock and—“  Dad beaver: “—Does no one else hear that fucking
    |leak?!”    He storms off into the other room and reappears with his
    |tool belt, marching out the door mumbling to himself.


    |u/monsieur_noirs - 10 hours
    |
    |It’s causing a headache lodged in my brain!


    |u/Jisto_ - 14 hours
    |
    |That dam stop noise!


    |u/Original_Sedawk - 14 hours
    |
    |**THAT DAM STOPS NOISE!!!**


    |u/Thx4AllTheFish - 17 hours
    |
    |Keystone species. They create wetland habitat, which then supports
    |countless other species that all coevolved around those wetlands. In
    |the western part of the Americas, where Wildfires rage, they act as
    |natural firebreaks and safe havens for animals fleeing the flames.
    |Beaver complexes also act as filters following the fires, reducing
    |erosion and downstream flooding. Beaver complexes also raise the
    |water table and help store water in the ground like a sponge, which
    |then is naturally released slowly during drier periods. In the
    |rockies, snow packs are diminishing, and the melt out is faster than
    |ever due to climate change. All of that water is now running through
    |the system too fast, causing erosion and worsening droughts.
    |Reintroducing beavers, or humans building beaver dam analogs (BDAs),
    |in the high alpine watersheds could slow the meltout, store water in
    |the ground to be released later, and improve the ecosystem for
    |wildlife. Beavers are rad.


      |u/Hulkbuster_v2 - 16 hours
      |
      |Can we, for a minute, appreciate how fucking awesome this is? The
      |fact that a single species of animal can affect a whole ass
      |ecosystem is amazing.   Same with the wolves of Yellowstone. They
      |literally changed how the rivers in the park flow!   Fucking
      |incredible


        |u/idiotsecant - 15 hours
        |
        |I mean, I can think of another animal that affects it's
        |ecosystem even more. And i'm not sure we'd describe it as
        |awesome, other than maybe in the original definition of the word
        |as inspiring fear or dread.


          |u/flyinhighaskmeY - 12 hours
          |
          |That's because we are it.  Your experience of existence is
          |relative.  If we were an outside observer, we would classify
          |it the same way.  A beaver dam and a skyscraper are the same
          |thing.  Remember, humans made up the concept of
          |"intelligence".  We made up the concept of "intelligent life"
          |to define ourselves specifically as different/above the other
          |life here.  So we could justify exterminating it at will.
          |Zoom out.  Look at what humans have done.  Look at how our
          |population swelled as our access to resources increased.
          |Appreciate for a moment, how we can discuss this process, but
          |we cannot control it.  Because we aren't "intelligent".  We're
          |just another animal, living on earth.  And everything we do as
          |an animal, living on earth, is therefore "natural".  Which
          |means the house/condo/school/apartment you are sitting in is
          |entirely natural.  To understand why most people cannot see
          |this, you have to understand what the Humans are.  And you
          |have to accept reality, instead of chasing the lie.  Which is
          |hard.  I joke that we're liar monkeys.


        |u/hoheppaklol - 14 hours
        |
        |Wolves in Yellowstone have also rebounded the population of
        |beavers in Yellowstone since with fewer elk grazing near the
        |rivers, the beavers now have more willow to use during the
        |winter. All really cool stuff.


        |u/krullbob888 - 14 hours
        |
        |I just backpacked Dolly Sods in WV and hands down the best part
        |were the Beaver Dams. I got a bit off trail at this creek
        |crossing, and had to just follow the creek a bit to where I knew
        |the trail should be, and found the most magnificent beaver dam
        |I've ever seen, and two gigantic mansions of beaver homes.
        |Then on the 2nd night, my camp was right next to another
        |ridiculous dam, surrounded by the wetlands the post above
        |describes. It was lovely.


        |u/ruthie_imogene - 13 hours
        |
        |There is a huge beaverdam in Northern Ontario (def Canada, maybe
        |not Ont?) And you can see it from space. You really gotta give
        |them credit.        EDIT: in Alberta! Lac St Clair Beaverdam


        |u/wowaddict71 - 9 hours
        |
        |Wolves are also a keystone species ( I just learned this
        |recently)  "Wolves are what’s referred to as a “keystone
        |species”, which is any species that other plants and animals
        |within an ecosystem largely depend on. If a keystone species is
        |removed, the ecosystem would drastically change, and in some
        |cases, collapse."
        |https://www.californiawolfcenter.org/biodiversity


      |u/unWildBill - 16 hours
      |
      |Hey, nice beavers


        |u/cerberus00 - 14 hours
        |
        |Thank you, I just had them stuffed


        |u/Mczern - 15 hours
        |
        |It's a shame they started shaving them for their pelts.


      |u/ADHD-Fens - 16 hours
      |
      |I always knew beavers were the solution to my problems.


      |u/kndyone - 14 hours
      |
      |I think its funny that you bothered to define BDAs but you only
      |used it once which means you didnt need to define it.


        |u/Thx4AllTheFish - 13 hours
        |
        |Lol, I figured I would use it again 🤣


    |u/bluesmaker - 17 hours
    |
    |Is this from a book?


    |u/gwaydms - 11 hours
    |
    |We call them beaver meadows. Marshy areas caused by beaver activity.


    |u/UmbertoEcoTheDolphin - 19 hours
    |
    |He thought your legs was trees.


  |u/Liveitup1999 - 19 hours
  |
  |Maybe he's autistic and can't stand the noise.


    |u/Taipers_4_days - 18 hours
    |
    |I mean…they aren’t good with noises, love repetitive actions and
    |I’ve never seen one make eye contact.


      |u/Pogue_Mahone_ - 18 hours
      |
      |I even keep my hands in the exact position of the beaver in the
      |thumbnail... either beavers are autistic or I am a beaver


        |u/Das_Mime - 18 hours
        |
        |Special interest: hydrological engineering


        |u/Thismyrealnameisit - 18 hours
        |
        |Nice beaver!


          |u/Pogue_Mahone_ - 18 hours
          |
          |Thanks! I just had it stuffed!


        |u/masterofn0n3 - 18 hours
        |
        |Unless we consciously position our hands otherwise, this is also
        |mine and my son's natural hand state.


        |u/ElJamoquio - 17 hours
        |
        |por que no los dos


      |u/talencia - 18 hours
      |
      |👀


      |u/sitting-duck - 15 hours
      |
      |You've just not met the right
      |[beaver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sekLEG8xsOs)


      |u/Goodgoditsgrowing - 17 hours
      |
      |Alright if they do T. rex arms I’m fully convinced


    |u/LEGTZSE - 17 hours
    |
    |Or he isn’t autistic and can’t stand the noise


    |u/Justanothrcrazybroad - 15 hours
    |
    |Beavers with misophonia, huh?


    |u/Thx4AllTheFish - 17 hours
    |
    |OCD about running water.


  |u/Linkdoctor_who - 18 hours
  |
  |I have heard that theory


  |u/daabilge - 16 hours
  |
  |"There's a brook somewhere that won't stop babbling. Shut up!"


  |u/Shentar - 14 hours
  |
  | A whole species of dads.


|u/BarracudaDelicious49 - 19 hours
|
|Maybe the beaver was just annoyed by the tape player


  |u/DariusIV - 17 hours
  |
  |I mean it's not beyond possibility that beavers simply evolved to find
  |the sound of running water annoying, like humans do with crying
  |babies. They could understand it's not actually running water, but
  |cover it up to stop the sound.


    |u/Pormock - 16 hours
    |
    |Its like cats instinct making them chase moving toys   Beavers are
    |made to build dam where they hear water


      |u/greycubed - 6 hours
      |
      |And I am made to play League of Legends.


        |u/Additional-Ad-1644 - 5 hours
        |
        |We all have our roles.


          |u/Fantastic-Name- - 3 hours
          |
          |Feeding the enemy


        |u/Stew_Pedaso - 3 hours
        |
        |I don't know, do you tend to rage out and tell people to kys?


    |u/waiver - 15 hours
    |
    |But when I try to cover crying babies with branches and mud, people
    |complain.


      |u/Ducksaucenem - 14 hours
      |
      |Again, that wasn’t your baby and you’re not supposed to have
      |phones in prison!


        |u/Pl170ji71 - 13 hours
        |
        |If you cover one baby with another baby you get a twofer.


          |u/RiverJumper84 - 13 hours
          |
          |*Octomom has entered the chat.*


          |u/eEatAdmin - 10 hours
          |
          |That's called "Gaetz-Delight."


          |u/NNoeoNN - 8 hours
          |
          |... That's enough internet for me for tonight. The intrusive
          |thoughts spawned from this thread, and especially this
          |comment, does not belong in my brain.     I blame you,
          |especially, and therefore expect my compensation for the
          |mental anguish to be paid out in ultraviolet m&m's.     Bill
          |should arrive in about two to three blue moons.    (P.S. Will
          |also accept infrared ones at double the ultraviolet rate. I'm
          |nice that way.)


            |u/Pl170ji71 - 8 hours
            |
            |I complete all transactions in penis units. Extra gay. Spoke
            |to my finance director and he said you should receive a
            |truck load of penii next Thursday. They are fed before
            |shipping but they most often arrive quite hungry. I’d
            |suggest that you have food and nesting  grounds ready before
            |the package arrives. They get feisty.


              |u/NNoeoNN - 7 hours
              |
              |Wonderful! I have a few aquintances who trade in penii,
              |and while the exchange fees will be steep, I'm fairly sure
              |we'll all walk away quite satisfied. My people will
              |contact your people early next week to coordinate.


                |u/Pl170ji71 - 7 hours
                |
                |Cheers mate. Speak then.


        |u/TyrewMylock1047 - 9 hours
        |
        |Some prisons allow monitored social media usage for good
        |behavior, IIRC.


      |u/Fookyu_315 - 12 hours
      |
      |I've got a baby guy if you're serious about burying one. No
      |judgement.


      |u/ihvnnm - 11 hours
      |
      |As long as you stop hearing the crying, it's a win.


      |u/TyrewMylock1047 - 9 hours
      |
      |Once they reach the toddler age, they will do that by themselves.


    |u/southernwx - 13 hours
    |
    |“I know what game you are playing, human. And I understand that
    |doing this will cause you to think less of me. But it’s goddamn
    |annoying and life’s too short for me to tolerate that just to
    |improve your flawed perception of my intellect. You are a cruel,
    |simple animal and I hope you find similar treatment in your own
    |life. Good day, sir. “


      |u/nolan1971 - 16 hours
      |
      |https://www.elachee.org/2022/04/22/beaver-behaviors/  > According
      |to the Greater Yellowstone Resource Guide, “In the wild,
      |scientists have observed beavers making repairs and additions to
      |human-made dams. Beavers hate the sound of running water. It makes
      |them think there could be a leak in their dam. If they hear
      |running water, they will often work all day and night to find the
      |leak and repair it.”


        |u/RiverJumper84 - 13 hours
        |
        |Oh man, they would **HATE** water parks.


          |u/APacketOfWildeBees - 9 hours
          |
          |Six Flags used to be called Beaver Torture Co but that didn't
          |play well with focus groups.


      |u/sennbat - 16 hours
      |
      |... what? They literally do dam the whole river until it stops
      |flowing, that it is literally what they do


        |u/gwaydms - 11 hours
        |
        |Unless the pond gets too high. Then the beavers start making
        |openings for some of the water to flow out. So they do modify
        |the dam to meet their needs. But sometimes they take out too
        |much material, and wreck the dam. They're very dedicated, but
        |engineers they ain't.


      |u/thehomeyskater - 16 hours
      |
      |Wow that’s a good point


    |u/zimreapers - 14 hours
    |
    |Or they covered it up so they could hear the actual water running.


    |u/amateurbreditor - 8 hours
    |
    |I know its late but thats impossible. Theres no way it evolved like
    |that because a dam always has running water. If it didnt it would
    |spill over the top. So beavers absolutely are not building to stop
    |the sound. They probably instinctually hear the sound and
    |genetically it tells them to build a dam where I assume they have
    |kids in.


    |u/Small-Breakfast903 - 11 hours
    |
    |we thought pattern recognition was an amazing human skill, but when
    |we put the jumbled pieces of an image on a table in front of them,
    |they started compulsively assembling the fragments to try and
    |recreate the picture.


    |u/AirierWitch1066 - 11 hours
    |
    |I’m pretty sure this is exactly what the prevailing theory is


    |u/bobconan - 9 hours
    |
    |We need deaf beavers to test this out.


    |u/secretfolo154 - 3 hours
    |
    |This is actually one of the leading theories for this! You can do
    |this to a baby beaver that's never been in the wild and they'll
    |cover it with blankets until they cant hear it! (Worked in zoos and
    |heard about it there)


    |u/AgentCirceLuna - 13 hours
    |
    |https://voca.ro/175Zq4itjqdk  This is what beavers hear when they
    |hear running water.


  |u/OldeFortran77 - 19 hours
  |
  |Is it live, or is it Memorex?


    |u/BarracudaDelicious49 - 19 hours
    |
    |Hello fellow old person


      |u/OldeFortran77 - 19 hours
      |
      |... and we tied an onion to our belts, as was the style at the
      |time ...


        |u/TropicalGrackle - 15 hours
        |
        |Even this reference about being old is old, that’s how old you
        |are!


          |u/Drone30389 - 12 hours
          |
          |Memorex commercials: 50 years ago.  Abe Simpson ramble: 31
          |years ago.  Well damn.


            |u/kbrook_ - 9 hours
            |
            |Ah, shit. I keep forgetting that I'm closer to fifty than
            |forty. I am an Old.


          |u/creggieb - 15 hours
          |
          |Old enough to take the autogyro to Siam


          |u/BarnyardCoral - 14 hours
          |
          |I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was.
          |Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems
          |weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!


        |u/goj1ra - 15 hours
        |
        |> Fortran77  I miss punch cards


        |u/RetiredEelCatcher - 16 hours
        |
        |Back then nickels had a picture of a bee on them…


          |u/COV3RTSM - 16 hours
          |
          |Give me 5 bees for a quarter you’d say


    |u/Cutter9792 - 15 hours
    |
    |This reminded me that the DVD for Borat was made to look like a
    |bootleg DVD with 'Borat' Sharpied onto it, except the labeling said:
    |'Demorez. Is life? No. Demorez.'


    |u/Snakes_have_legs - 14 hours
    |
    |Is life? No, Demorez.


    |u/mrblacklabel71 - 16 hours
    |
    |Blame it on the rain


    |u/StevelandCleamer - 15 hours
    |
    |Is life? No. Demorez.


    |u/MonstrousVoices - 19 hours
    |
    |Do you have a newsletter or something?


      |u/greywolfau - 18 hours
      |
      |Perhaps a bi-weekly email blast?


        |u/WaltMitty - 18 hours
        |
        |A regular beaver blast would be great.


    |u/MoonlightOnSunflower - 18 hours
    |
    |Subscribing for more tales. One of my favorite pieces by the BBC was
    |talking about how some places are using beavers to combat flooding
    |in low lying areas by allowing them to build dams. I love beaver
    |stories.


    |u/cortmanbencortman - 19 hours
    |
    |more please


    |u/zipcodelove - 18 hours
    |
    |Subscribe


    |u/Sh00ter80 - 18 hours
    |
    |Is it possible they were now living in the dam and the lodge was
    |difficult to spot?


    |u/robulus153 - 18 hours
    |
    |Click the link below for me dam beaver stories. *click


  |u/eutectic_h8r - 16 hours
  |
  |The beaver knew their plans to overthrow humanity could be at risk if
  |we knew their true intelligence


    |u/Childoftheway - 15 hours
    |
    |Nature's hardest workers. Respect.


  |u/ExpectedEggs - 16 hours
  |
  |I think it was discovered that beavers simply hate the sound of
  |running water


  |u/a_printer_daemon - 15 hours
  |
  |Jeez, will this thing ever shut up?  -Beaver, as he cakes on mud with
  |his adorable little hands


  |u/New_Doug - 15 hours
  |
  |The ecologists meant to bring their "Babbling Brook" tape, but
  |accidentally brought "Best of Garth Brooks". When they realized, they
  |all agreed that by covering the tape player with mud, the beaver
  |demonstrated the highest intelligence.


    |u/TylerBlozak - 10 hours
    |
    |>Best of Garth Brooks   That’s a weird way to spell *Chris Gaines
    |Greatest Hits*


  |u/StoppableHulk - 14 hours
  |
  |All I see are jokes in the comments, but this is literally true.
  |That's what is happening. Beavers have evolved to find the sound of
  |running water irritating. And so they will dam up the sound of running
  |water.


    |u/AbleObject13 - 11 hours
    |
    |Happens because it creates an environment beneficial for themselves,
    |encourages the food they like, allows them to make an underwater den
    |and store food for winter.


      |u/StoppableHulk - 10 hours
      |
      |The specific trait has evolved with respect to those evironmental
      |forces, yes, but the trait itself compels the behavior thorugh the
      |irritation to the sound.


        |u/AbleObject13 - 10 hours
        |
        |Yeah, I didn't mean to imply it was a conscious decision by the
        |beavers if I did lol


  |u/DystopianAdvocate - 18 hours
  |
  |They were playing Nickelback


    |u/FlemPlays - 16 hours
    |
    |“Listen to this phonograph.”   Beaver: “No”


    |u/Mephisteemo - 16 hours
    |
    |Silver Side Up is a very good album and I will die on that hill.


  |u/SmokedBeef - 15 hours
  |
  |Or they’re autistic and have extreme noise sensitivity


  |u/dont_shoot_jr - 14 hours
  |
  |He prefers streaming


  |u/hossjr1997 - 13 hours
  |
  |Could he just hit the stop button???


  |u/SpcK - 12 hours
  |
  |Or it is actually true, beavers hear running water and think
  |"Absolutely not!"


  |u/HappyxHatti - 9 hours
  |
  |So they really do just see a stream of running water and think
  |"absolutely not!"


  |u/kndyone - 14 hours
  |
  |Yep a lot of people don't realize that emotions are a huge driver of
  |behavior, sure people will say yes but when pressed they wont connect
  |the dots. For instance humans are intelligent right? Yet we have
  |emotions to want to eat food that taste good. We are already too fat
  |so why are we constantly eating more and getting fatter? Maybe we
  |aren't so much more intelligent than beavers after all.  I actually
  |see people like this all the time. For instance at work you got those
  |personalities that hate things being disorganized to the point they
  |are trying to force other people in other cubicles to clean up spaces
  |that have nothing to do with them. All their intelligence and logic
  |they simply use to try to argue why someone else should clean up
  |something that they care about which has absolutely no effect on them.


  |u/Kidd_Funkadelic - 12 hours
  |
  |Turns out they just have mesophonia!


  |u/adrianipopescu - 9 hours
  |
  |literally my first thought, maybe beavers hate the sound of water


  |u/kangareddit - 3 hours
  |
  |Nice beaver!


|u/Eggplantosaur - 19 hours
|
|"Running water? No man we don't do that here"       - Beavers, probably 


  |u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam - 19 hours
  |
  |"Shut it down, boys!"


    |u/dan_dares - 18 hours
    |
    |>and Pepsi ate it.  And poor Pepsi went rocketing around your
    |house..


    |u/dobar_dan_ - 16 hours
    |
    |Pepsi really took it personally lol.  I love the names btw.


  |u/Phormitago - 18 hours
  |
  |Plumbers natural enemy


  |u/The_Fax_Machine - 12 hours
  |
  |“Do beavers even know what they’re doing or do they just see water
  |flowing down a river and think “absolutely not””


  |u/JellyPast1522 - 15 hours
  |
  |Note to self: Don't piss around beavers!


  |u/AdAffectionate3898 - 9 hours
  |
  |Is your water running? Well dam.


  |u/ADHD-Fens - 16 hours
  |
  |"WATER, PLEASE WALK"


|u/cranbeery - 19 hours
|
|Ability to distinguish real water flow from a recording isn't exactly a
|skill I'd expect them to have evolved in nature for any reason.


  |u/shouldco - 18 hours
  |
  |I think the point is more they don't so much "engineer" large dams.
  |They are able to construct large dams by repeadaly reacting to the
  |sound of water flow. Which itself is pretty cool.


    |u/StoicallyGay - 17 hours
    |
    |Makes me wonder if humans have any instincts like that that are
    |difficult to shake even if we understand the instinct itself.  I
    |think simulated horror is sort of close. Being aware we are not in
    |danger but still inciting a fear response.


      |u/Mavian23 - 16 hours
      |
      |The sound of a crying baby.


        |u/StoicallyGay - 16 hours
        |
        |I mean if we hear a crying baby sound coming from a computer we
        |won’t feel the need to cradle the computer.


          |u/tee2green - 16 hours
          |
          |The baby cry sound is innately designed to get us to want to
          |MAKE IT STOP.  I know of exactly zero people who think that
          |the baby cry sound is pleasant and want it to keep going.


            |u/Even_Cardiologist810 - 14 hours
            |
            |But my Will to make it stop makes me wanna insult the person
            |carrying their damn baby in the plane


          |u/Mavian23 - 16 hours
          |
          |No, but you might feel an instinctual need to do something,
          |even if there's nothing you can do.


            |u/HaloGuy381 - 16 hours
            |
            |It would probably drive us to anger in short order, the same
            |way people tend to become very annoyed by a screaming baby
            |in a store or restaurant when the parent isn’t even
            |reacting.   Notably, even domestic cats adapted to sound
            |like them. The “meow” is a noise they make -only- toward
            |humans, not each other or in the wild, because it hits the
            |same instinct that baby cries do. We can’t help but respond
            |and we can’t readily tune it out.


              |u/lunagirlmagic - 15 hours
              |
              |I always hear the "cats don't meow to each other" claim
              |but if you watch those videos where they put cameras on
              |the cat collars, the cats clearly meow to each other, and
              |not in a way that's different to humans


                |u/darlingstamp - 14 hours
                |
                |Domestic cats meow much more; feral cats don’t really
                |meow as adults very often. Some do, but it’s sort of a
                |retained trait from kittenhood.   If we’re thinking of
                |the same videos, I also think that kitty just is very
                |chatty, too lol.


                |u/NoPoet3982 - 13 hours
                |
                |Oh, c'mon. Humans meow to each other in a completely
                |different tone and pitch.


            |u/maddogracer161 - 15 hours
            |
            |My instinct is to turn off the sound, ASAP ...


            |u/timpkmn89 - 15 hours
            |
            |Cover it with branches and mud?


          |u/OutsideOwl5892 - 15 hours
          |
          |Some of the most popular children’s videos online are just
          |monkeys with music full of baby laughing sounds  Kids will go
          |nuts for that shit.  Porn is another example. The lady on the
          |video isn’t actually sucking your dick you know that right?
          |It’s just an image on a screen   Yet add some manual
          |stimulation and an orgasm follows. Even though there’s not
          |real sex. And people get addicted to this, like lots of
          |people.  So yeah we can be tricked by computers and sounds and
          |images. We just don’t think of it that way. We like to believe
          |we are in control


            |u/killerv22 - 5 hours
            |
            |>The lady on the video isn’t actually sucking your dick you
            |know that right?  Big if true


            |u/soundsliketone - 15 hours
            |
            |Kinda strange pivot to immediately go from talking about
            |kids watching videos to talking about porn lmao


              |u/OutsideOwl5892 - 14 hours
              |
              |They are just disparate examples  I can see how the
              |transition is sharp  But if you see some connection maybe
              |youre the strange one


                |u/soundsliketone - 14 hours
                |
                |I was clearly making a joke, but your defensiveness is
                |now giving me some pause as to why you actually made
                |that sharp transition...


                  |u/OutsideOwl5892 - 14 hours
                  |
                  |You making such a big deal about this is a little
                  |concerning chief  No but unfunny pedo jacketing jokes
                  |back and forth aside thanks for coming in and trying
                  |to derail actual discussion to be unfunny and lame.


          |u/ieatalphabets - 15 hours
          |
          |*pulls nipple out of USB port* Huh?  Right, of course not.


          |u/hotsoupcoldsoup - 15 hours
          |
          |I'd end up covering the computer with sticks and mud.


          |u/pape14 - 15 hours
          |
          |I would think about it more like: what if you were on a walk
          |and heard a crying baby off the path in the woods a bit. The
          |baby isn’t whining, it’s crying crying. Would you go
          |investigate?  You can’t put yourself in a scenario you know is
          |fake, that’s not a fair comparison. Beavers have no concept of
          |fake.  Edit: and before anyone says anything, yes this is also
          |how you get jumped or eaten by a witch. Leave the forest path
          |at your own peril. I think the point stands though.


            |u/mall_ninja42 - 14 hours
            |
            |Best case scenario: you find an abandoned baby, but it's
            |still in the middle of nowhere, meaning you have no capacity
            |to care for it.  Middle of the road scenario: it also
            |happens to be next to the dead body of its mother.  Worst
            |case: it was a wendigo and you fell for the oldest trick in
            |the book.  Sorry random baby in the woods, I don't want none
            |of that shit.


              |u/pape14 - 14 hours
              |
              |Sorry but your best case seems weird. What do you mean you
              |have no capacity to care for it lmao?! Do you not have
              |cell service? Have you hiked several days into the
              |wilderness? Pick the baby up and walk back to wherever you
              |came from. A baby with enough energy to be crying will
              |probably survive a few more hours, especially if it’s not
              |suffering heat stroke.


                |u/mall_ninja42 - 14 hours
                |
                |Yeah, that's what I meant. Hence "the middle of nowhere"
                |A baby crying when there's the expectation of people
                |around (with babies) doesn't get a reaction at all.


          |u/Hightower_March - 12 hours
          |
          |The sound of a crying baby (even just a recording) can induce
          |lactation in new mothers.


          |u/bobconan - 9 hours
          |
          |Nah, just shake the computer.


          |u/ForceOfAHorse - 36 minutes
          |
          |Oh boy, I surely hit that mute button and fast forward. Not
          |many things annoy me more than sound of a crying baby.  If
          |only it was socially acceptable to just *mute* a baby in real
          |life, that would be great.


        |u/BillyBean11111 - 14 hours
        |
        |yea that ingrained instinct to firmly hold a pillow over ones
        |face, years of evolution at work.


        |u/themedicd - 14 hours
        |
        |I normally sleep like I've gone to another dimension but I have
        |*zero* problem waking up for a crying baby.  Maybe I should try
        |that as an alarm sound...


        |u/jwwxtnlgb - 14 hours
        |
        |Thanks for reminding me of my last flight. I pictured throwing
        |that baby out of the window just to make it stop


        |u/secretworkaccount1 - 5 hours
        |
        |Keep that damn chicken quiet!


      |u/blackkettle - 16 hours
      |
      |Overeating is a pretty damn obvious one.


        |u/Buntschatten - 9 hours
        |
        |Yup. We see energy rich food, we want to eat. Even if we're on a
        |diet.


      |u/fireduck - 15 hours
      |
      |The smell of baking bread makes people calm down and try not to
      |fuck it up.  I think the instinct is "civilization is happening
      |here, don't break anything"


        |u/zanzebar - 15 hours
        |
        |The sound of a lions roar awakes a primal fear that even the
        |most urbanised human would go "I'm in danger".  Like bone
        |chilling, hair standing on the back of one's neck kind of fear


          |u/Rapithree - 46 minutes
          |
          |The sound of cracking ice is one of the most bone chilling
          |fear triggers I have experienced. I was walking on a riverbank
          |in winter when they turned on the hydropowerplant upstream and
          |all the ice started cracking at once, felt like the ground was
          |going to give out under me and I jumped higher up on the bank
          |and then nothing happened.


        |u/alpacaapicnic - 14 hours
        |
        |And the smell of baking cookies sells houses!


          |u/fireduck - 14 hours
          |
          |Yeah, but I feel like that one is too well known.  I smell
          |cookies at an open house and I know the agent is trying to
          |play me (possibly more than usual).  Just like if a sales
          |person says my name in every sentence or tries to get me to
          |say "yes" to something innocuous.  Yes yes, I know you have my
          |identified as the mark, keep it low key.


            |u/alpacaapicnic - 14 hours
            |
            |They also pump that smell onto Main Street at Disneyland


      |u/RottenMilquetoast - 15 hours
      |
      |Probably most of what we do. We certainly seem to repeat history
      |over long periods of time despite having new toys and options.
      |We might just be large language models, with the illusory
      |sensation of choice, vs the traditional programming of other
      |animals.


      |u/binkerfluid - 15 hours
      |
      |Probably a lot of things about sexual selection


      |u/c3534l - 15 hours
      |
      |I mean, I don't want kids. And yet I'm constantly horny, want to
      |hang out with women, get them to stay around me, live in my home
      |and provide for them, protect them, and I think about decorating
      |our place with them, and think about long-term relationship stuff,
      |but then... then there's no baby I'm planning. Maybe just a cat to
      |take care of. I'm just driven to engage in a series of social
      |interactions required to raise a human child. And despite knowing
      |this is what this is... I still want to date women.


        |u/WantonKerfuffle - 52 minutes
        |
        |I feel a constant need to keep my GF warm.  The issue: I feel
        |cold way quicker than she does. So I just turn her into an
        |annoyed burrito.


      |u/sennbat - 15 hours
      |
      |Have someone run something that feels like legs along you are arm
      |but dont look. See how long you can stand a mosquito buzz.


      |u/ZestycloseStandard80 - 15 hours
      |
      |I’ve often thought and said that when I drive a car a feel more
      |like a bug reacting to stimuli than I do making conscious
      |decisions.


        |u/Buntschatten - 9 hours
        |
        |Sometimes I do become aware while driving. It feels dangerous as
        |fuck.


      |u/Yourwanker - 15 hours
      |
      |>Makes me wonder if humans have any instincts like that that are
      |difficult to shake even if we understand the instinct itself.
      |Yes, humans are also born with natural instincts. Flinching is a
      |natural instinct for most humans and it isn't taught. It protects
      |you from being injured by something.


      |u/Versaiteis - 15 hours
      |
      |Jump scares  Works both in real life and in digital media and the
      |anticipation only makes it worse


      |u/TheLuminary - 14 hours
      |
      |Lots of our instincts around food and eating could fall into that
      |category.


      |u/Globalboy70 - 14 hours
      |
      |Unexpected sight of snakes and spiders, for most humans will cause
      |pupil dialation. I'd say it's instinctual and requires conscious
      |thought to bring under control.  This isn't a fear response but a
      |better pay attention response, which will prime learning....Here's
      |the research... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/
      |pii/S0022096515002179?via%3Dihub


      |u/GivesCredit - 14 hours
      |
      |Food hoarding. Even without food scarcity, we’re driven to store
      |as much fat as possible and keep as much food stored in the house
      |as possible.


      |u/Berkyjay - 13 hours
      |
      |I shall point you to the reaction that large breasts have on
      |straight men.


        |u/pineappleshnapps - 2 hours
        |
        |I don’t think large breast’s on straight men usually get a great
        |reaction.


      |u/YourJr - 14 hours
      |
      |Colorful screen makes fast motions, I must watch


      |u/physedka - 15 hours
      |
      |There's a theory that the uncanny valley is an instinct resulting
      |from early humans coexisting with neanderthals and other branches
      |of human development. We're here because of the instinct to
      |intensely dislike not-quite-humans.


        |u/Buntschatten - 9 hours
        |
        |Why would it be beneficial to avoid Neanderthals? To me it makes
        |more sense to be an indicator of illnesses or other
        |deficiencies.


          |u/physedka - 8 hours
          |
          |Could be. I think that theory basically boils down to "we
          |killed off the competition". The uncanny valley is how we were
          |able to recognize the difference in other humanoid species
          |like neanderthals and instinctively dislike them (i.e. hunt
          |and kill them). I don't think it's a question that can be
          |answered, but it's interesting to think about.


      |u/WarAndGeese - 15 hours
      |
      |Buying expensive clothes to show off to friends. Also buying
      |expensive cars, and spending a lot of money on home renovations.
      |Basically all conspicuous consumption. If an alien species came to
      |see us they would think we were incredibly wasteful in that people
      |prefer to spend an extra ten years working to make things to show
      |off to friends and get social status, rather than not spend that
      |money and relax for the same period of time.  In that case it's
      |not the car or the clothes that are the instinct because them and
      |money didn't exist back when we developed these instincts, maybe
      |they made a lot more sense when we were just trying to wear
      |cleanly groomed animal hides and plant fibre tunics. Nevertheless
      |the instict that drives the action today is hard to shake for
      |people even if they are conscious of it.


      |u/shouldco - 14 hours
      |
      |Cute things. You can basicaly "cutify" any object.  Here's a cute
      |hammer https://images.app.goo.gl/FGY1ydBqfVAgpPdr9


      |u/Ver_Void - 14 hours
      |
      |It's basically what we're building AI to do. A ton of the time
      |when you teach a neural network to do something it's drawing
      |connections completely different to the ones you're trying to
      |show, but if the result is the same then it still succeeds


      |u/Striking_Adeptness17 - 14 hours
      |
      |Sex, porn hits that response


      |u/Corey307 - 12 hours
      |
      |A woman shrieking provokes a visceral response that’s for sure. 


      |u/wet_walnut - 10 hours
      |
      |That's actually a really common topic in modern
      |philosophy/biology/psychology- How much free will do people
      |actually have, and can we punish people if they do not have
      |agency?   I think the bulk of human decisions are unconscious. We
      |are rational, but we eat junk food because our lizard brains like
      |glucose. We know we have to take out the trash, but we doomscroll
      |reddit for dopamine. We can modify our behaviors. It's always
      |going to be a fight with the reward system of the brain.


      |u/Power_baby - 5 hours
      |
      |A bird flies over you and you get a glimpse of the shadow. Most
      |people instinctively look up because our ancestors were small apes
      |that would be eaten by birds of prey


      |u/Zipa7 - 2 hours
      |
      |> Makes me wonder if humans have any instincts like that that are
      |difficult to shake  Humans definitely do. It's why you notice
      |stuff like a spider so much as twitch a leg from across the room,
      |your brain is drawing your attention to it because of some
      |holdover in our instincts.


      |u/WantonKerfuffle - 54 minutes
      |
      |I recently realized that people have a very good memory of where a
      |certain object came from.  I found a random 5Gum wrapper and
      |instantly remembered it came from a friend who had imported 5Gum
      |from Alaska like a decade ago.  Prolly has something to do with
      |ressource gatharing.


    |u/Yourwanker - 15 hours
    |
    |>I think the point is more they don't so much "engineer" large dams.
    |They are able to construct large dams by repeadaly reacting to the
    |sound of water flow. Which itself is pretty cool.  I used to do
    |nuisance beaver removal and you are correct. I've seen beavers that
    |are really good at building dams and I've seen beavers that aren't
    |very good at building dams and everything in between. Young beavers
    |usually struggle with their first dams and the older beavers usually
    |have the technique down. But it's just instinctual for beavers to
    |want to stop moving water and the beavers that are better at that
    |have a higher survival rate and reproduction rate.


      |u/AlexithymicAlien - 15 hours
      |
      |Awe... baby beaver's first dam 🥹


        |u/PunnyBanana - 14 hours
        |
        |Growing up a friend of mine had a river in her backyard. Baby
        |beavers do indeed make little, useless, adorable practice dams.


      |u/NothingButTheTruthy - 14 hours
      |
      |> Water: flows  Beaver: Absolutely fucking not


    |u/Muunilinst1 - 15 hours
    |
    |I think measuring animal intelligence using methods we'd use to
    |measure human intelligence is always tenuous.


    |u/DSAlgorythms - 13 hours
    |
    |>repeadaly


      |u/WeTheSalty - 15 hours
      |
      |Mission accomplished.


    |u/cubgerish - 9 hours
    |
    |It also makes sense for them.   If you can't build your house in
    |many places, every opportunity is pretty important.   Especially
    |since your house occasionally just disappears for some reason you
    |don't quite understand.


    |u/Aggressive_Sky8492 - 5 hours
    |
    |It’s not just repetitive though, they build entrances and “rooms”
    |that are above the water but that you need to enter water to get to,
    |to keep predators out. So there is some “engineering” or design
    |going on, even if it’s just based on instinct


    |u/cylordcenturion - 4 hours
    |
    |Im pretty sure that's just what engineers do anyways


  |u/Viva_la_Ferenginar - 18 hours
  |
  |Honestly if you play a tape recorder to a neolithic man their reaction
  |might probably be similar. They have literally no frame of reference
  |to the concept of a sound recording.


    |u/NoExplanation734 - 18 hours
    |
    |Neolithic humans had the same intelligence as modern humans. They
    |would be smart enough to figure out that it wasn't actually running
    |water. Just because they wouldn't know what it was doesn't mean
    |they'd be fooled.


      |u/Thismyrealnameisit - 18 hours
      |
      |They were but simple cave men and the modern world would confuse
      |and frighten them.


        |u/Bshaw95 - 18 hours
        |
        |Frankly it would confuse and frighten folks from the 18th and
        |hell even 19th century.


          |u/Das_Mime - 18 hours
          |
          |Frankly I think it confuses and frightens most people today


            |u/Smoke-alarm - 18 hours
            |
            |gonna be honest we just live in intimidating times


              |u/Das_Mime - 17 hours
              |
              |It's important to make the times more scared of you than
              |your are of them. Stand up big and growl at the clock


                |u/Smoke-alarm - 16 hours
                |
                |i tried that but my doctor prescribed me lithium


                  |u/Das_Mime - 16 hours
                  |
                  |That is a common fear response among doctors, keep
                  |going you're going great


            |u/p8ntslinger - 14 hours
            |
            |precisely because we're the same as Neolithic humans.


            |u/HongChongDong - 15 hours
            |
            |*TECHNOLOGY*  "Ah my gawd"


            |u/Fabulous-Basis-6240 - 17 hours
            |
            |Frankly I think it confuses


            |u/Ziegelphilie - 17 hours
            |
            |I get scared just thinking about tomorrow


          |u/riverphoenixdays - 17 hours
          |
          |My guy makin a sweet ass reference to Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
          |yall


          |u/memento22mori - 16 hours
          |
          |Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
          |magic. Imagine if we were suddenly transported a 100 years
          |into the future, the sex robots alone would be terrifying. I
          |mean, I'd still give them a go but those first few minutes
          |would be a bit much.


          |u/nedoweh - 18 hours
          |
          |The first gramophone was patented in 1887. A tape player is
          |just a more sophisticated record player, so it's very doubtful
          |they would be "frightened" in the 19th century. For sure they
          |would have been shocked, but frightened might be a stretch. (I
          |understand that 1887 is the end of the century, but the point
          |is the technology of the era was booming)


            |u/Bshaw95 - 17 hours
            |
            |I meant if you brought 18th and 19th century folks into the
            |present


          |u/Rock540 - 8 hours
          |
          |I think modern day humans would also be confused and
          |frightened if transformed back to the 18th or 19th centuries.


        |u/Televisions_Frank - 18 hours
        |
        |But they'd still become lawyers.


          |u/ExZowieAgent - 17 hours
          |
          |But only if they were frozen from falling into a glacial
          |crevice and then unfrozen by scientists in the year 1988.


          |u/TheSkiGeek - 18 hours
          |
          |At least someone got the joke.


            |u/Televisions_Frank - 18 hours
            |
            |Well, it was a '90s SNL reference.  We may just be old now.


              |u/TheSkiGeek - 17 hours
              |
              |I DONT KNOW WHAT YOURE TALKING ABOUT Y2K WAS MAYBE FIVE
              |YEARS AGO RIGHT???


              |u/Zelcron - 17 hours
              |
              |It's an older meme sir, but it checks out.


            |u/SchrodingersCatPics - 14 hours
            |
            |RIP Phil :(


        |u/Senninha27 - 15 hours
        |
        |In the documentary Encino Man, he learned an awful lot in about
        |90 minutes including how to wheeze the juice. They were very
        |intelligent.


        |u/perenniallandscapist - 18 hours
        |
        |People come out of prison after a decade and the world has
        |transformed around them so much they can hardly adapt, let alone
        |catch up. This modern world would freak our cave relatives out
        |so much.


        |u/CoconutBangerzBaller - 18 hours
        |
        |They would probably hear the honking horns of our cars and get
        |out of their BMWs to run off into the hills or whatever


        |u/RSmeep13 - 15 hours
        |
        |If you aren't confused and frightened by the modern world,
        |you've grown numb to its horrors.


        |u/oracleofnonsense - 15 hours
        |
        |Once the communication (and violence) issue was solved — I bet I
        |could teach a caveman to drive in under a week.


      |u/MonsterEnergyTPN - 18 hours
      |
      |But would a human who has never been exposed to technology be able
      |to tell you that a phone playing water sounds didn’t contain
      |water? Probably not. And if the sound was more ominous, like the
      |rattle of a snake or the growling of a wolf, they probably
      |wouldn’t stick around long enough to investigate any further. The
      |north sentinelese are the last remaining tribe of humans who have
      |never been exposed to the modern world and they kill or destroy
      |everything “foreign” that enters their territory.   We have very
      |few case studies of human who grew up in total isolation but the
      |evidence points towards a huge component of ourselves including
      |critical thinking skills being learned at a very early age and
      |that we have critical windows after which it is difficult or
      |impossible to pick up certain cognitive functions.


        |u/Defiant-Plantain1873 - 16 hours
        |
        |They have definitely been exposed to the modern world.  They
        |have had safe contact with explorers before, there are videos of
        |them handing them coconuts and shit from boats.  There is a
        |shipwreck near by the island that they have been seen harvesting
        |iron from for tools.  People have flown over them in planes and
        |helicopters.  They are aware that an outside world exists, they
        |just don’t seem to want to partake


        |u/AverageWarm6662 - 6 hours
        |
        |They haven’t been in total isolation… their current isolation is
        |actually in response to unfavourable contact with explorers
        |years and years ago who gave them diseases and kidnapped them


      |u/rich1051414 - 17 hours
      |
      |Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
      |They may think you are a god or a demon with magical items, but
      |they wouldn't think it was actual water.


        |u/wonderfullyignorant - 16 hours
        |
        |Any technology, regardless of how advance or simple it is, is
        |magic to those who don't understand it.


      |u/Plastic-Ad-5033 - 17 hours
      |
      |I could absolutely see them believing there was water inside it
      |somehow and damming it just to be sure.


        |u/sack-o-matic - 15 hours
        |
        |I'd imagine they would throw it on the ground to break it open
        |and see


        |u/sevseg_decoder - 17 hours
        |
        |Yeah if I had no exposure to any man made creations whatsoever
        |and found something like this I don’t think it’s hard to imagine
        |myself thinking that somehow it was some form of running water
        |rather than that something else had figured out how to make a
        |metal cube replicate the sound of running water.


          |u/Trick-Variety2496 - 16 hours
          |
          |Sounds like you're a dummy then


      |u/veggie151 - 16 hours
      |
      |>Neolithic humans had the same intelligence as modern humans.  A
      |truly terrifying fact


      |u/dobar_dan_ - 16 hours
      |
      |I guess you haven't seen one of those prank videos where people
      |are hearing sound effects of their movements.  Most took a while
      |to realise what's up and who's doing it.


      |u/awoeoc - 16 hours
      |
      |I'm pretty sure I could convince a flat earther that it was real
      |water.


      |u/Ctowncreek - 16 hours
      |
      |[Just because they are intelligent, doesn't mean they are
      |smart.](https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/smart-vs-intelligent/)
      |Early humans created myths and legends and created religion. They
      |have no frame of reference on what is making the sound, and would
      |probably conclude that this magic item has a river trapped inside
      |it.


      |u/Firm_Part_5419 - 16 hours
      |
      |dont confuse “intelligence” with “capability for intelligence”.
      |they had little language and complexity relative to us, and their
      |brains never developed to the extent that modern humans have.


        |u/NoExplanation734 - 14 hours
        |
        |Neolithic people built Stonehenge and Chichén Itzá. Yes, they
        |had magical beliefs but they were plenty smart, and they
        |absolutely had complex language. They were modern people in
        |every sense except for technological advancement.


        |u/Viva_la_Ferenginar - 14 hours
        |
        |Neolithic humans are pretty much us. They were stone age
        |agriculturalists. They had farming villages, market settlements,
        |and long-distance trade.


          |u/Firm_Part_5419 - 14 hours
          |
          |they didn’t have written language let alone concepts of
          |physics, mathematics and chemistry. We are way more exposed to
          |complex concepts from an early age and it influences how our
          |brains work in adulthood - specifically the degree of
          |complexity we are capable of comprehending. we are much more
          |capable of solving problems entirely in our head instead of
          |having to brute force our options in real life and see what
          |happens, like our ancestors did.


      |u/battlefield2001 - 16 hours
      |
      |This is not true. Neolithic humans had similar limits on
      |intelligence biologically, but would not be as intelligent as
      |modern humans.   The modern human intelligence is CREATED by
      |education. A human child without any form of education will be as
      |simple as any animal.


    |u/Pacdoo - 17 hours
    |
    |My friend has a speaker that loudly says “waiting for pairing” every
    |few minutes when it’s on but nothing is connected. Every single time
    |it goes off I think for a second that there is another person
    |somewhere in the room.


      |u/mrlbi18 - 16 hours
      |
      |Tell your friend that they can probably turn that setting off. My
      |BOSE speaker did the same thing for 2 years before I lost it and
      |spent 3 hours trying to find the manual for it.


        |u/Pacdoo - 14 hours
        |
        |Oh I’m well aware I’m just pointing it out to show that the
        |above wouldn’t just trick a Neolithic man when I get tricked by
        |this speaker thing all the time.


    |u/RotrickP - 16 hours
    |
    |There's a Marx brother's bit about them having a portable
    |phonograph/record player and playing it to fool someone into
    |thinking he's Maurice Chevalier. I think it was Harpo.  I always
    |wondered if it was an over the top joke or if there were people who
    |believed it could have been the singer since this was a relatively
    |new and developing technology.


    |u/whirlpool_galaxy - 14 hours
    |
    |They'd know the concept of mimicking animal noises, and potentially
    |know of birds that can mimic human voice. So they'd probably think
    |there's an animal trapped inside the recorder, not an actual flowing
    |river.  EDIT: Some cultures actually manufactured instruments to
    |mimic specific sounds, so in those cases they might have a pretty
    |good concept of what a recorder playing sound is. They'd just be
    |somewhat baffled by the whole recording part.


    |u/Danominator - 18 hours
    |
    |But they can tell it isn't actual water


      |u/Viva_la_Ferenginar - 17 hours
      |
      |Would they? They would interpret it as a magical pot with ever
      |flowing water inside that won't ever spill out. Remember that this
      |person has no frame of reference to the concept that sound can
      |actually be divorced from its source.


        |u/FiveAPointedStar - 16 hours
        |
        |I feel that at that point though a human would have the brains
        |to conclude the magic pot isn't useful and discard it rather
        |than continue to futilely extract said water.


        |u/Danominator - 17 hours
        |
        |They use more than one sense at a time. Just because they hear
        |water they can still know they don't see it. Hell a cat or a dog
        |would look around and know that it's not there because they
        |can't see or feel it. They might be confused but they would know
        |it's not right


          |u/Viva_la_Ferenginar - 17 hours
          |
          |A pot of water can be swished around and heard without seeing
          |the contents. That would be their frame of reference.  I mean
          |go to YouTube on your phone and play flowing water and put it
          |to your ear. Without knowing what a phone or speaker is, you
          |could easily might as well interpret it as a portal to a
          |flowing river. And that the river could gush out if you angle
          |it wrong.   My point is, it's not a good test to judge
          |intelligence either human or beaver.


    |u/poopoopooyttgv - 16 hours
    |
    |You don’t even need to go back that far. The first video ever made
    |spooked people. There was a recording of a train moving towards the
    |camera and the audience thought it was really gonna burst through
    |the screen


    |u/NotReallyJohnDoe - 17 hours
    |
    |Just like how we could never comprehend the three seashells.


  |u/JohnsonJohnilyJohn - 18 hours
  |
  |If the dams were a result of careful planning, they would have to
  |consider the shape of the riverbed and how water interacts with it,
  |and that analysis should tip them off that it's not an actual river.
  |The way it reacted suggests however that the plan amounts to "put wood
  |where sound"


    |u/ThePretzul - 14 hours
    |
    |Anybody who has ever regularly seen beaver dams in person knows that
    |“hear sound/see water, put wood” is exactly how they get made.
    |They will happily decimate a surprisingly large area of forest to
    |dam up even small streams. Some beaver dams are better than other in
    |terms of size required to stop the flow or the amount of leaks, but
    |in the end they’re all just big piles of dirt and wood thrown at the
    |water until it stops flowing.


  |u/Worth-A-Googol - 17 hours
  |
  |Honestly though, can it not be that they are intelligent and driven by
  |biological responses?   Like, humans get very annoyed at the sound of
  |a mosquito buzzing. If you were to play a recording of a buzzing
  |mosquito in my room I’d try to make it stop just as much as a real
  |mosquito. That doesn’t mean I can’t tell there’s a difference.   Maybe
  |beavers just get really annoyed and stressed by the sound of running
  |water


    |u/Flumphry - 16 hours
    |
    |You likely would recognize that it's not an actual mosquito and try
    |not to swat it like a bug but instead find a different solution.
    |That's the point being made in the post. Intelligent problem solving
    |vs biological "programming"


      |u/merc08 - 15 hours
      |
      |But what other options do beavers have?  Smothering it in mud and
      |branches is about all they're physically capable of.


        |u/Flumphry - 15 hours
        |
        |They eat wood. They can definitely destroy a device that plays
        |audio. The whole point is that they didn't figure that out.


          |u/merc08 - 14 hours
          |
          |Kinda depends on how the audio player was built.  If it was in
          |a metal case then they would be kinda screwed.  But also, did
          |covering it in mud *work* to stop the sound?


            |u/Flumphry - 14 hours
            |
            |I had a thought just now. The sound of water is not a
            |problem that needs to be solved. It's not moving water. It
            |doesn't need to be covered up. It could just be left alone.
            |We're arguing beside the point.


      |u/Adlach - 15 hours
      |
      |I mean, burying it *did* solve the problem.


  |u/LordofSandvich - 16 hours
  |
  |The hypothesis was that beavers were doing this out of higher thinking
  |rather than instinct. If true, the beaver would notice the lack of
  |water and wouldn’t dam it; this was proven false as the beaver would
  |continue to dam as long as it could hear the sound, no matter how
  |obvious the absence of water was  The beaver doesn’t have a real
  |logical reason for damming, nor does it try to have one.


    |u/sawyouoverthere - 15 hours
    |
    |Why assume there’s no water when water can be heard? Plumbers
    |wouldn’t exist.


  |u/AldiaWasRight - 16 hours
  |
  |There's something very funny about gauging an animal's intelligence by
  |human standards.


  |u/DonnieMoistX - 9 hours
  |
  |You’ve missed the point entirely to be honest with you


  |u/bisforbenis - 5 hours
  |
  |I think the point is distinguishing exactly what makes them want to
  |build dams, like is it actually intelligence and planning or just
  |responding to an urge to put sticks and mud on things that make
  |constant noise?  It turns out it’s the latter


  |u/Classic-Exchange-511 - 17 hours
  |
  |Yeah shit when you put it like that this is obviously a terrible test
  |of their intelligence


  |u/BoredBoredBoard - 18 hours
  |
  |There could be more to this. My son’s dog will not recognize you
  |through the telephone or any other audio device. The way we perceive
  |recorded sounds may not be in hifi for other animals and just sound
  |strange. Instead of running water, maybe it sounds like garbled
  |garbage.


    |u/cranbeery - 18 hours
    |
    |Is it true that different animals perceive or process sounds
    |differently? Sure!   But this experiment as summarized seems to
    |indicate to me that the beavers are processing "actual water" sounds
    |and "recorded water sounds" in either the same way, or as a
    |sufficiently similar stimuli anyway, provoking the same response.


  |u/at_least_be_human - 15 hours
  |
  |Intelligence is the ability to learn given new information. You're
  |poking at the idea that the beaver didn't have the instincts to
  |understand a tape player - which, yes, is true, but the underlying
  |point is that it didn't have the intelligence to figure out that a
  |tape player isn't water.


    |u/cranbeery - 15 hours
    |
    |I think you've misunderstood my point.


      |u/at_least_be_human - 15 hours
      |
      |How, exactly? I reread it and I think I addressed it pretty
      |directly.


|u/jleonardbc - 19 hours
|
|The fact that it can be misguided doesn't disprove the idea that it's an
|amazing feat of planning and intellect.


  |u/mattgran - 19 hours
  |
  |That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me


    |u/missionbeach - 16 hours
    |
    |I think you're best friends now.


  |u/PennStateFan221 - 19 hours
  |
  |yeah I mean humans do dumb shit all the time


  |u/CrossP - 16 hours
  |
  |They're on a similar intelligence plane as cats, rats, and elephants.
  |The study doesn't disprove it in any way. Just shows that they use
  |hearing when identifying leak locations which is unsurprising because
  |they're nocturnal and also their vision is kinda crappy. They're known
  |for especially good 3D mental mapping abilities.


    |u/DevelopmentSad2303 - 9 hours
    |
    |I feel like one of those animals is not like the other in your list


  |u/pnkxz - 16 hours
  |
  |"Humans aren't intelligent. See, we placed a speaker system here that
  |played an annoying sound, and they just covered it in dirt. Clearly,
  |their cities aren't amazing feats of planning and engineering, they're
  |just the instinctive reaction to environmental stimuli."


  |u/-Nicolai - 14 hours
  |
  |What’s more likely:   * Beavers choose to construct dams thanks to
  |higher abstract reasoning abilities, and coincidentally also dam
  |anything that makes the sound of running water  * Beavers dam anything
  |that makes the sound of running water


  |u/NortheastStar - 15 hours
  |
  |r/atbge


  |u/Ralath1n - 16 hours
  |
  |> it's an amazing feat of planning and intellect.  But, its not tho.
  |The beavers aren't doing any thinking for their dam construction. They
  |aren't engineering the dam to have big strong logs on the bottom, or
  |planning ahead to account for flow changes as the dam gets bigger.
  |They just constantly keep dumping stuff wherever they hear flowing
  |water and eventually that pile of junk grows to become a dam. There is
  |no planning or intellect here, its a very simple stimulus --> response
  |loop.


    |u/yodel_anyone - 15 hours
    |
    |Spoken like someone who's never watched a beaver build a dam. It's
    |similar to a bird building a nest, they don't just randomly pile
    |things up, they actually place sticks in specific places to weave
    |together.    Also take a look at a beaver hut. They can be quite
    |complex, and many last for decades. I'd like to see you try to do
    |that just by dumping sticks at random.


  |u/2ears_1_mouth - 15 hours
  |
  |"heh stupid Beaver"  \*Puts on headphones to listen to sounds
  |imitating other humans playing music live.


  |u/awkward_replies_2 - 17 hours
  |
  |Yeah next time I'll just say the neighbours son isn't intellectually
  |disabled, I'll just say he's "misguided".


|u/DJ33 - 14 hours
|
|Imagine being the ecologist who heard all the other ecologists talking
|about how smart beavers are--that they're creatures of "high intellect"
|and capable of planning and forethought--and saying "no, those little
|water-rats are dumb as fuck. I'll prove it."    And a couple weeks later
|you've got them building a dam in the middle of a field while you sit
|there going "see? Look at those fucking idiots. God, I hate them so
|much."


  |u/hornplayerKC - 13 hours
  |
  |Reminds me of [this Onion
  |video](https://youtu.be/qXD9HnrNrvk?si=cd9DMyHpXlkwSjcb) about the
  |world's foremost expert on anteaters.


  |u/Prudent_Thought_360 - 13 hours
  |
  |Lmao frl


|u/Mwanasasa - 19 hours
|
|beavers of all mammals have the smallest brain by weight.  Don't let
|engineers tell you otherwise


  |u/orbesomebodysfool - 18 hours
  |
  |Next time I see my Oregon State buddy, I’m dropping this.


    |u/Mwanasasa - 18 hours
    |
    |Yet they are the best mammal by my judgement.  I love the little
    |buggers.  I've had to manage their projects for years and they
    |endlessly surprise me.  I'd love to have a beer with them if I
    |could.


      |u/Fetlocks_Glistening - 18 hours
      |
      |We'll call that a beerver party


      |u/Finsfan909 - 11 hours
      |
      |“Manage their projects”?   Are you a beaver too? Or an otter
      |perchance?


      |u/vinhluanluu - 13 hours
      |
      |Odd way to talk about Oregon State Alumni.


    |u/deltr0nzero - 16 hours
    |
    |[Ouch](https://imgur.com/a/kMlWJkc)


    |u/mkdz - 16 hours
    |
    |Better yet, drop it on an MIT grad


    |u/ScrofessorLongHair - 16 hours
    |
    |Problem is that with their rival's mascot, ducks do a lot of raping.
    |They rape so much, ducks evolved corkscrew vaginas, which led
    |corkscrew duck dicks.  So when I see a duck mascot without any
    |pants, i get kinda nervous.


  |u/Bear_Caulk - 17 hours
  |
  |As far as I know all that you might be telling us with that fact is
  |that beavers have incredibly efficient brains.


  |u/crashtestpilot - 18 hours
  |
  |Sounds like something an architect would say.  This is a timberborners
  |reference.


    |u/Kyloben4848 - 14 hours
    |
    |I mean, "don't let engineers tell you otherwise" is an architect
    |quote even outside of the TCU (timberborners cinematic universe)


      |u/crashtestpilot - 13 hours
      |
      |I see you are a person of great taste and vision.


  |u/Pormock - 16 hours
  |
  |All their brain power are focused on building dam where they hear
  |water. Thats all they have


  |u/Mydogsblackasshole - 18 hours
  |
  |No it’s a shrew or manatee


    |u/BlinkyBillTNG - 17 hours
    |
    |No it's Kanye


      |u/tuigger - 8 hours
      |
      |No this is Patrick.


    |u/Mwanasasa - 18 hours
    |
    |Just quoting secret life of beavers I haven't dissected them I just
    |love waking up every morning to see what they did


  |u/voicefulspace - 15 hours
  |
  |brain to body weight being important is a myth. it was only "invented"
  |to make humans top of the chain, any other way of "checking"
  |intelligence like how many active neurons brains have would put humans
  |somewhere in the middle.


  |u/NaraFox257 - 15 hours
  |
  |That is factually incorrect. Beavers rank low, but certainly aren't
  |the bottom. Koalas, for example, rank lower. A type of shrew is at the
  |bottom.


  |u/ptjunkie - 3 hours
  |
  |So efficient!


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 18 hours
  |
  |Really? TIL.


|u/PostsNDPStuff - 19 hours
|
|I feel like doing that too when some songs come on


  |u/nedoweh - 18 hours
  |
  |The new KSI song has me wanting to bury my phone


|u/BandDirector17 - 19 hours
|
|They stopped the noise because it made them have to pee.


  |u/RegulusMagnus - 6 hours
  |
  |Fun fact if the sound of running water makes you feel the need to pee,
  |it's probably because you've built up a pavlovian response after
  |peeing in the shower repeatedly.


    |u/BandDirector17 - 6 hours
    |
    |Well, I can’t argue with that!


|u/LiamTheHuman - 19 hours
|
|I thought humans showed impressive intellect because of all the
|elaborate things they would do for sex and human interaction. That was
|until I put a box with flashing lights in front of one and it sexually
|gratified itself and acted like it was socializing.


  |u/nedoweh - 18 hours
  |
  |(They're talking about computers, which I don't understand as a human
  |with my low intellect or whatever)


    |u/Fit-Engineer8778 - 13 hours
    |
    |I thought it was a Christmas box


    |u/flyinhighaskmeY - 12 hours
    |
    |>They're talking about computers, which I don't understand as a
    |human with my low intellect or whatever  but "they" are humans...
    |I'm lost.  Why would a human not be able to understand a human?
    |Everyone realizes it's entirely possible alien life is trying to
    |communicate with us right now, and we, as humans with low intellect,
    |can't see it, right?  We all understand that our ability to define
    |"intelligence" is inherently limited by what we've seen on our own
    |planet.  And that we have no way to know if we are intelligent or
    |not?


  |u/PM-me-in-100-years - 10 hours
  |
  |The beaver most have been pretty clever to design that box though.


|u/Federal-Biscotti - 16 hours
|
|Rescue beavers use plungers and all kinds of things to “get their fix”
|of dam building. It seems just ingrained in them, to the point of
|obsession.


  |u/0thethethe0 - 12 hours
  |
  |Yup, they either love it, or are just very well prepared for any
  |floods!   [Rescue beaver makes Christmas dam in
  |house](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ImdlZtOU80)     #


  |u/jackdaw_t_robot - 9 hours
  |
  |I dunno. I saw this documentary beavers were stealing ethanol from
  |local distillers to use as fuel for a fledging rocket program. They
  |can be quite industrialized, especially when there’s hundreds of ‘em.


|u/lolas_coffee - 16 hours
|
|"...and it fucking worked. Didn't it??"  -- beaver


|u/emar2021 - 15 hours
|
|Beaver:(Hears some water)   Beaver: “absolutely no”


|u/woodcookiee - 16 hours
|
|Not saying beavers are geniuses, but I think this is on the researchers.
|Beaver thinks: Thing makes noise and won’t go away, cover it up.


|u/Laura-ly - 14 hours
|
|Along the same lines, the world's largest beaver dam was discovered via
|satellite on google maps in Canada in 2007.   It was previously unknown.
|It's a half a mile long and creates a 17 acre lake.   [Deep in the
|Wilderness, the World’s Largest Beaver Dam Endures - Yale
|E360](https://e360.yale.edu/features/worlds-largest-beaver-dam)


  |u/SomeDumRedditor - 7 hours
  |
  |That was a great read, thanks for the link!


|u/ibelieveindogs - 18 hours
|
|I mean, I like music, but if I'm chilling and you start playing loud
|music, I'll cover it up with whatever on hand too!


|u/CrossP - 16 hours
|
|The rehab baby beaver in my facility opened a pull latch door on a baby
|gate to get into a room with an aquarium and chewed through electrical
|cords until she stopped the waterfall filter from running. Then dragged
|some blankets in there and had a nap.


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 15 hours
  |
  |Wow. Adorable.


|u/fantasyfootball1234 - 16 hours
|
|“I hate the sound of water… this is a topic I give a dam about”  -every
|beaver ever


|u/hedgehog_dragon - 11 hours
|
|They hear the noise and think Absolutely Not


|u/ExtraordinaryBeaver - 15 hours
|
|Because it's goddamn annoying and it has to stop.


|u/TrustMeImHumanWink - 12 hours
|
|TIL Aliens once thought human home-building was an amazing feat of
|planning, indicative of the high intellect. This was tested when a life
|like holographic projection of homes was played in a field near a
|homeless population. Although lifelike holograms, the humans packed up
|and attempted to move into the homes.


|u/Goatwhorre - 18 hours
|
|TIL beavers are autistic


  |u/Ti47_867 - 14 hours
  |
  |Also acoustic


|u/BoltActionGearbox - 16 hours
|
|So they really do just see a stream of running water and think
|"absolutely not!"


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 15 hours
  |
  |Is this a reference to something like a comedian perhaps? Im seeing a
  |few people comment something very similar :)


    |u/BoltActionGearbox - 15 hours
    |
    |I think this was the original that became the meme:
    |https://x.com/socomplikatied/status/1380660959807733762?lang=en


|u/----JZ---- - 15 hours
|
|Beavers don't even need the sound of water, they just love building
|stuff.  Check out this rescue beaver putting in work.
|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ImdlZtOU80


  |u/BlackBricklyBear - 15 hours
  |
  |That's a very cute video. It's amazing how genes can code for these
  |kinds of instincts in animals, isn't it?


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 8 hours
  |
  |Such a good boy. I’d start wondering if i should play water sounds for
  |him to feel the feels better.


|u/TyrewMylock1047 - 9 hours
|
|So beavers are just cute little dumbasses like we are.


|u/cbelt3 - 17 hours
|
|Evolution does interesting things! Canadian researchers learned that
|they can install water flow quieting channels to keep beavers from
|damming drainage systems.


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 17 hours
  |
  |Interesting! their Achilles heel? Laminar flow.


|u/GarysCrispLettuce - 18 hours
|
|Beavers see free flowing water and think "absolutely not."


  |u/dobar_dan_ - 16 hours
  |
  |Not on my watch!


|u/Andreas1120 - 18 hours
|
|They hate the sound or running water


|u/You_Yew_Ewe - 17 hours
|
|Not sure why anyone ever thought they were smart: they don't even know
|how to make caisons, and even if they did, they wouldn't know how to
|make a proper concrete mix for piers.      Their dams are weak.


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 17 hours
  |
  |Beaver’s Caisons would be a good name for a company that makes
  |caisons.


|u/AliensAteMyAMC - 16 hours
|
|Running water compels them to build.


|u/firstbreathOOC - 16 hours
|
|This… proves nothing


|u/Reload86 - 15 hours
|
|Yet for all the big brain power humans have, some of us can’t build a
|dam thing.


  |u/CheezeLoueez08 - 15 hours
  |
  |Well done sir/ma’am 👏


|u/Dom_Telong - 15 hours
|
|TLDR Beaver is an idiot because he doesn't know how to operate a radio
|apparently. Grandma is an idiot too I guess.


|u/Atomicmooseofcheese - 14 hours
|
|Beavers HATE this one weird trick


|u/vid_icarus - 14 hours
|
|If anything, this confirms their intelligence to me.


|u/ElectronicActuary784 - 13 hours
|
|I see 2 uses for this.  If you have property that has tree limbs spread
|everywhere.  Get a large open trash bin and put a speaker playing
|running water sounds not stop.  Your beaver workforce will pick up all
|tree branches from the ground and deposit them in trash haul off.  Or
|let’s say you need to build a wall, get a bunch of Bluetooth speakers a
|lay them out in the design of the wall you need. Your eager beaver
|workforce will build a wall for you.


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 6 hours
  |
  |An army of beavers…


|u/BillTowne - 12 hours
|
|I learned about this in a psych class in the 70s.  But I think that
|conclusion is faulty.    When I work with water, I can often hear a leak
|I can't see it.   But I still assume the leak is there.


|u/himmmmmmmmmmmmmm - 12 hours
|
|Oof, maybe we should have used TDK


|u/raytracer38 - 17 hours
|
|Beaver: *hears water running* Abso-fucking-lutely not!


|u/supremedalek925 - 19 hours
|
|Just because it’s performed out of purse instinct, I don’t see why the
|precision and skill involved in dam building wouldn’t be indicative of
|intellect.


  |u/concentrated-amazing - 18 hours
  |
  |>purse instinct  I know that was an autocorrect, but it still made me
  |chuckle. And then it got a little dark when I remembered beavers were
  |extensively hunted for their fur for European fashion trends. (Still
  |hunted, but to a much lesser degree.)


  |u/Karlore9292 - 14 hours
  |
  |The difference would be beavers figured out damming running water made
  |a pond which made them a nice environment. This would possibly have to
  |be taught to offspring etc. showing an extreme amount of intelligence.
  |Instead we’ve learned beavers just instinctively dam near running
  |water. Even beavers raised by humans will dam near water sounds. It
  |would be an unusually high degree of intelligence if beavers were
  |doing it that way tbh. 


|u/Bee-Aromatic - 16 hours
|
|So, beavers are just hardwired such that they hear running water and
|think “absolutely not.”


|u/Any-Inspection6859 - 16 hours
|
|A beaver determines the best place within the water to build a dam and
|has figured out that this best place is always the place where there is
|the most sound. Just because a human, the most intelligent creature on
|earth, invents a way to trick the beaver, doesn't make the beaver is any
|less intelligent.   A beaver solved the problem it wanted to solve.


|u/Ctowncreek - 16 hours
|
|Humans: Wow these animals must be really smart! This must take alot of
|planning!  Beavers: *"There's that FUCKING NOISE AGAIN!"*


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 17 hours
  |
  |“I have come here to chew beech bark and plug holes with sticks. And
  |I'm all out of beech bark”


|u/ADrunkEevee - 16 hours
|
|So they really DO see a river flowing and think 'absolutely not.'


|u/thelegendofcarrottop - 19 hours
|
|That dammed noise had been bothering him all day.


|u/BoredBoredBoard - 18 hours
|
|They need to build a tiny beaver village ala MythBusters so that we can
|see if any of it is true.


|u/CitizenKing1001 - 17 hours
|
|They haven't proved the beaver just wanted to stop the noise, not dam
|water.


|u/actuallyapossom - 17 hours
|
|What did the fish say when it swam into a log?  Dam.


|u/Wareve - 17 hours
|
|I wonder if beavers are annoyed at the sound of running water, or if it
|feels neutral but still compels this behavior.


|u/DreiKatzenVater - 17 hours
|
|The original crotchety old man: “it’s too loud! Stop that racket!”


|u/MoNastri - 16 hours
|
|Maybe it was just that beaver


|u/0x7E7-02 - 16 hours
|
|Imagine thousands of years of "natural instinct" all caused by annoying
|sounds.


|u/BlondesBlonde - 16 hours
|
|We the scientist dressed up as water to see if they could cover us.


|u/cubicle_adventurer - 15 hours
|
|Beavers were terraformers long before Homo Sapiens was.


|u/Colosseros - 15 hours
|
|Wait, I just wrote all of this out in a comment on that video of a guy
|clearing beaver dams, earlier today. 


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 8 hours
  |
  |I didn’t see your comment specifically but that post is the reason for
  |my post. It reminded me of this factoid i read on this wiki yesterday.
  |I got interested after spotting some beaver gnaw marks in a park near
  |me. Still never seen one IRL tho.


|u/Isaac96969696 - 15 hours
|
|Doesn’t mean it’s any less intelligent. Humans do the same thing in many
|cases.  For example many anxieties are responses to something non
|threatening. We just dont have control over it because our rationality
|cant override our primitive brain.   Thats my theory anyway, I cant back
|it up with anything other than my experiences


|u/Frosty-Date7054 - 15 hours
|
|They are incredibly intelligent, it's just that their intelligence is
|limited to beaver specific things.  I couldn't build a beaver dam. 


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 8 hours
  |
  |Not w that attitude.


|u/mothzilla - 15 hours
|
|Hur hur stupid dumdum beaver doesn't understand magnetic tape.


|u/TheOneBrew - 13 hours
|
|If it was on dry ground where did it get the mud?


  |u/DankDungeonDelver - 13 hours
  |
  |The nearby pond.


|u/TheFightingImp - 11 hours
|
|🎵Welcome back to Timberborners!🎵


|u/tvieno - 10 hours
|
|Beavers cant stand the sound of running water. It compels them to build!
|https://youtu.be/tSzIezumsps


|u/seattlereign001 - 10 hours
|
|He hates these cans!


|u/OgreJehosephatt - 5 hours
|
|I dunno. This feels similar to saying, "humans are very caring and
|intelligent because they have to take care of vulnerable babies for
|years", and then someone puts a recording of a crying baby that humans
|are compelled to silence, then doing a smug troll face.  The analogy
|might be a tad strained, but just because a creature is biologically
|wired to respond to certain sounds that improve the survival of the
|species, it doesn't mean how they go about it isn't clever.


|u/intrsurfer6 - 18 hours
|
|Was it a god dam?


|u/BrandoSandoFanTho - 16 hours
|
|Damn, beavers really DO just hear running water and say, "I think the
|fuck not"


|u/bazmonkey - 14 hours
|
|Evolution at its finest!  You don’t need high intellect to make a dam:
|you just need rodents programmed to dislike the sound of moving water.
|The algorithm here is simply “if you hear water, put anything you can
|find on top of it that makes it quieter”.  Easy to implement.  It’s
|still impressive how they drag trees through the forest to accomplish
|it, but the “code” here isn’t super-complicated.


  |u/dabigchina - 11 hours
  |
  |What if we're just rodents who don't like to starve and sleep outside.


    |u/bazmonkey - 10 hours
    |
    |A huge factor in our species favoring very large brains is that we
    |started walking upright and it made our arms available to hold
    |things.  So yeah I suppose we’re just… monkeys without trees and
    |nothing better to do with our front legs.


|u/concentrated-amazing - 18 hours
|
|Be honest, did you see the dam clearing video on r/interesting and then
|look it up? Because I got these two posts back-to-back in my feed and it
|is very satisfying!


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 17 hours
  |
  |Lol I actually was reading this just yesterday because I saw some
  |beaver evidence at a local park and got curious and then I saw the
  |post this morning that you’re talking about and yeah I figured I could
  |cash in on the karma :-)


    |u/concentrated-amazing - 17 hours
    |
    |Haha funny how life has those coincidences like that sometimes!  I
    |actually saw beavers mentioned, deep in the comments on a third post
    |from a third different sub.


|u/I_might_be_weasel - 18 hours
|
|https://youtube.com/shorts/tSzIezumsps?si=Ogc2zZxLX1f0sA09


|u/Spiritual-Hornet-658 - 17 hours
|
|Bil lepp


|u/Rosebunse - 17 hours
|
|The Narrator: It turns out they just like to build dams


  |u/Pormock - 16 hours
  |
  |I would compare that to cats. Moving a rodent looking toy near them
  |make them want to chase it no matter what.   Beavers are like that but
  |with water sounds and dam building


|u/Friendly_Signature - 17 hours
|
|What do humans have like this, environmental reactive firmware I guess…?


|u/CertifiedBiogirl - 16 hours
|
|I mean beavers have no concept of tape players or anything like that 


|u/PQbutterfat - 16 hours
|
|I wonder what aspect of natural selection caused them to have this
|behavior hardwired into them.


  |u/sawyouoverthere - 15 hours
  |
  |Being semi aquatic and prey


|u/IsaystoImIsays - 15 hours
|
|So they're autistic and genetically made to hate the sound of running
|water as a noise sensitivity.  Not sure how it helps survival, but the
|water, the change in ecosystems, the safe dens that can be made. Maybe
|an accidental win.


|u/Benbot2000 - 15 hours
|
|Suckers.


|u/Simayi78 - 15 hours
|
|"indicative of the high intellect" - wtf?


|u/bestby18102020 - 15 hours
|
|This fucking AI generated title is hurting my brain.


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 8 hours
  |
  |Oh stop. Im not AI. Im barely I. But it was adapted from a similar
  |post title 10 years ago.


|u/Hefty-Revenue5547 - 15 hours
|
|Honestly, they probably can hear water under water, and if it’s at a
|high enough sound wave their instincts kick in to block the water from
|their ponds.


|u/Erubadhron89 - 14 hours
|
|TIL Beavers are Autistic


  |u/Sh00ter80 - 8 hours
  |
  |Seeing a lot of similar jokes — is running water sound a thing for
  |people on the spectrum?


|u/veni_vedi_vinnie - 14 hours
|
|Does that explain this guy?
|https://youtu.be/-ImdlZtOU80?si=AE3C3OOIaN6O9rLS


|u/monkyduigs - 14 hours
|
|I've been saying it for years; beavers are absolute fools


|u/ItsOnlyaFewBucks - 14 hours
|
|Are you trying to tell me the only reason a beaver makes a dam is top
|stop the sound of running water?


  |u/marssaxman - 13 hours
  |
  |From this Forest Service document about [techniques for preventing
  |beavers from plugging culverts](https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/htmlp
  |ubs/htm05772830/page05.htm): > When beavers hear running water, they
  |add debris to block the flow. Any opening in a manmade or natural
  |structure that produces the sound, appearance, or feel of escaping
  |water will cause beavers to make repairs. Daily efforts to unclog
  |manmade structures (such as culverts) or to make openings in beaver
  |dams simply inspire beavers to make nightly repairs.


|u/SolRedinIT - 14 hours
|
|Always wanted to see beavers near where I lived.  Mini lumberjacks!


|u/AClifton0 - 12 hours
|
|Genius-They plan WAY in advance.... From experience they know,If you can
|hear water coming, it must be coming soon


|u/cassimiro04 - 16 hours
|
|Sound of running water, makes me have to pee.


|u/mrkruk - 19 hours
|
|Nice beaver!


  |u/OreoSpeedwaggon - 17 hours
  |
  |Thanks! I just had it stuffed.


  |u/halocyn - 19 hours
  |
  |Welcome to Canada


    |u/mrkruk - 18 hours
    |
    |Oh, Canada!


|u/ageownage - 18 hours
|
|So beavers just hear the sound of running water and say "Absolutely not!
|We ain't having any of that!"


|u/HuyFongFood - 18 hours
|
|“Gorram Beavers” - Jayne, probably.


|u/917caitlin - 17 hours
|
|Seriously though what a weird evolutionary outcome.  Beavers don’t even
|sound real.


|u/BernieTheDachshund - 15 hours
|
|The BBC did a good little video about it [(2) Busy Beavers Build Dam
|Ahead of Winter | Yellowstone | BBC Earth -
|YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAPqQFWEoKg)


|u/chatongie - 14 hours
|
|And give people fake information about how good or bad some stocks are,
|how the climate is not changing, or stage a fake coup, and they will
|start burning bridges with their social groups, sell their houses or
|take whatever measures they believe they need to take. Human
|intelligence is not that much different than beaver intelligence.
|Don't overestimate yourselves.


|u/Own_Conclusion7255 - 16 hours
|
|Animal doesn't know what human machines are, more at 11


|u/GlennSeaborg - 5 hours
|
|Go Beavs!! 🦫 🟠⚫️🟠⚫️


|u/PhoenixBlack79 - 2 hours
|
|Miss Beaver told him to dam it up and being a wise beaver that avoids
|conflict he chose happiness over being right.


|u/latemodelusedcar - 1 hour
|
|Still high intellect to me :(


|u/littlebighenk - 10 minutes
|
|Beavers dont always build dams. Here in the netherlands they building
|mostly on the side of lakes. The are more like beaver piles, where they
|live in


|u/Jimbo_The_Prince - 17 hours
|
|They're just water rats with a muddy wood fetish, that's all.


|u/generalmandrake - 8 hours
|
|So they’re like Trump. Dumb as hell but incredible instincts.