Document type : Podcast of the show France Inter's Grand bien vous fasse (52 min)
Authors: Ali Rebeihi, Yolaine de La Bigne, Jessica Serra, Benoît Grison
Presentation : A few weeks ago, we broadcast a programme on our animal characteristics which focused on emotions.
This morning, we'll be shining the spotlight on their intelligence...
As you know, for a long time, animals were considered to be machines with no significant cognitive abilities, self-awareness, empathy, sense of justice or humour.
Expressions such as "bovine spirit", "donkey" and "bird brain" are still reserved for our more foolish human brothers.
"And yet it seems to me that the great raven who regularly observes me on my windowsill shows more intelligence than some extreme right-wing rampant polemicists who appear on a pseudo news channel..."
Viewers will indeed discover that corvids have cognitive skills equivalent to those of a 5 year old child, that penguins are super gifted, that octopuses are worthy of a Nobel Prize in memory skills, learning and adaptation to their environment....
with :
Yolaine de La Bigne: Journalist, specialised in animal intelligence. She created the website "L'animal et l'homme.com" and the Youtube channel "Les intelligences animales". She is the instigator of two annual events that bring together the top specialists in the field: L’Université d’été de l’animal which takes place at the end of August at the Château de la Bourbansais (Brittany), and the Journée mondiale des intelligences animales held on the first Saturday in February at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (Paris-La-Villette).
- The book Les intelligences Animales, published by 1Healthmedia, contains the latest lectures from these events.
- Jessica Serra : Doctor in ethology and specialist in animal cognition. She has spent 15 years working on the behaviour of mammals (primates, rodents, pets...). Book: "La Bête en nous", published by humenSciences (March 2021)
- Benoît Grison: Doctor of cognitive sciences, biologist and sociologist of sciences, is a teacher-researcher at the Science and Technology Department of the University of Orléans. Member of the scientific board of the journal Espèces. Book: "Les portes de la perception animale", published by Delachaux & Niestlé (March 2021)
