Do deer have the ability to think?

Answer 1

Yes they do,they make me look stupid every hunting season, but they do think, but their thinking is more of a survival thought process.

This is an interesting and difficult question - one that isn't possible to answer completely, since we can't ask the deer. The answer you get is going to depend on who you ask.

The modern materialist position (neuroscience) holds that deer think the same way as people - our brains are just more complicated. This theory fails in several important ways, however - casual observation indicates that deer and people think differently (there is no deer art or deer philosophy; deer don't ask questions about whether other animals think), and neuroscientists know far less about the brain than they let on. The simplest explanation in these cases is usually the best, and the materialist position only makes sense if you are committed to materialism a priori, and are willing to ignore evidence.

At any rate, I agree with the above poster - they think after a fashion, but there is a real, qualitative difference and it would be a stretch to say they think like people. It seems to be more of an automatic process - something happens to them and they react. They don't seem to be conscious and self-aware. >>M.T.<<