I've received this video in emails and seen it shared by numerous friends on Facebook. It seems as though everyone has gone gaga over "The Smartest Dog In The World" - everyone, that is, except yours truly.
The dog in the video is not smart; he has been trained to obey. Smart dogs (and people) think for themselves.
Don't misunderstand. I am not saying training is bad, but training doesn't make a person smart. – and by smart I do not mean intelligent.
Intelligence is the raw ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. All sentient beings possess intelligence and in a wide range of degrees.
Being smart means one is able to apply acquired knowledge and skills for ends arrived at independently and perhaps in opposition to the wishes of others.
Training is essential for any life activity that requires rote learning and precise implementation of a series of complex actions in a specific sequence to effectively, efficiently, and safely accomplish a desired outcome. Driving a car, making coffee, brushing one's teeth, using a TV remote, writing a complete English sentence, sports - all require training.
Is a trained athlete smart? Most people would say that the question is meaningless. They would ask for further information about the athlete's actions in other areas of life. Intelligence aside, would you say Tiger Woods made smart decisions regarding his private life?
How about an airplane pilot? Surely one must be intelligent to learn how to fly a jetliner. Were the terrorists who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center smart or well-trained?
Despite their level of intelligence, people who blindly follow the commands of another have been trained via a quite subtle, culturally-based system of reward and punishment. Such training is insidious and almost always includes the belief that it's smart to obey and wrong or sinful to question the commands of a leader. It's quite Pavlovian.
Ding! Salivate.
Ding! Fly a plane into a building and yourself and kill thousands of innocent people.
Ding! Vote for candidates who believe the world is only 5,000 years old, evolution is from the Devil, climate change is a left-wing plot, and science is a pack of "lies straight from the pit of Hell."
The dog in the video is not smart; he has been trained to obey. The dog in the comic from The Flying McCoys may or may not be smart. It's impossible to tell from one picture taken out of context.
What is certain, however, is that smart dogs and smart people think for themselves.
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