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A comment on A Soviet scientist created tame foxes. Parent comment

Re:A Soviet scientist created tame foxes by radarsat1 on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @09:08AM (#12496444)
That's what I was thinking too. It seems to me that a certain intelligence might be a requirement for having good social skills, i.e. a good "theory of mind" of individuals around you. Therefore, it would make sense that social skills and intelligence must co-evolve. Total conjecture, of course.
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Re:A Soviet scientist created tame foxes by mrob on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @09:26AM (#12496605)
However, octopuses are widely considered the smartest invertebrates, and they are solitary creatures. Hunting also exerts selection pressure for higher intelligence. You still need to predict the actions of other species even if you rarely interact with your own.
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Re:A Soviet scientist created tame foxes by sperglord on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @10:51AM (#12497459)
The idea here though is that social success is more than just smiling constantly and having a trustworthy face. There's some cunning involved.
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