Underestimating So-Called Lower Animals

Occasionally, it is helpful to state the obvious: Just because a wild animal is cute does not mean it is safe to approach. There are hundreds of octopus species, and they do not mean harm for humans — but it happens by accident or if they feel threatened. And watch out for that smaller blue-ringed octopus with deadly venom.

Moving on, the octopus shows a great deal of intelligence and ingenuity. Sometimes that is to the dismay of researchers and keepers of aquariums.

Octopus, Unsplash / Diane Picchiottino

While designations of higher and lower life forms is based on fundamentally-flawed evolutionary concepts, humans are made in the image of God. We can make sophisticated music, detailed communication, science, mathematics, and more.

Even so, octopuses and other creatures show remarkable abilities that reveal the handiwork of the Master Engineer. Don't underestimate them. Oh, and those suckers? They get a huge amount of sensory information from them.

The idea that animals generally lack intelligence can be traced back to the pagan, humanistic philosophy of Aristotle, who put all living things on a scale “treating animals as simple minded.” Even Christians like Augustine were influenced by Aristotle’s man-centered (as opposed to Creator-centered) views.

Creationists have come up with a different view, based on the Bible, that leads us to expect astonishing examples of intelligence throughout the animal kingdom, not merely in “higher” forms, as proponents of evolution would expect.

To read the full article or listen to the audio version, head on over to "Smarter Than You Think." Also of interest is "Octopus Continues to Defy Evolution."