Why does it matter how they measure it? But anyway, - #80116937 added by kingpongthedon at Makes you think

Reply 0 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

Annual migrations would be a fine example of why this is ********. Don't forget nocturnal vs diurnal survival strategies. Breeding season is ruled by hundreds of important deadlines. Animals move fast as **** to get where there going to make sure they either don't die or get laid. Not having enough time is a very real concern for every animal on the planet. We're no different than they are.

#97 to #92 - shamrockd

Reply +1 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

In addition, much of animals' behavior, including what you've mentioned, are dictated by instinct. If a sense of time were insitnctual for us, we wouldn't need watches or clocks. It's true that animals are sensitive to CHANGE, as you've said, but that doesn't mean they adhere to our standards of time.

#94 to #92 - bokkos

Reply +2 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

The difference is a matter of scale; Humans worry about micro-increments of time, whereas the other species need to worry more about the macro: Night and day, fall to winter, breeding/birthing etc.

#93 to #92 - drldrl

Reply +1 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

They measure none of it with time though. Migration is caused by a change in seasons, same with most mating seasons. Nocturnal animals go out at night because it suits them better.

#98 to #93 - kingpongthedon

Reply 0 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

They do though, a bird call has to be a certain length and separated a certain by a certain time to be perceived as a possible mate. Chimps, wolves, dolphins, and even bees have been found to meet up in groups in certain spots at certain times for certain tasks with hours or even days without communication. That's not coincidence, it's careful planning on their part. They are absolutely measuring time in one way or another.

#110 to #98 - kerfufflemachtwo

Reply -1 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

Animals may measure time by way of night, day, and seasons. And by general comparisons of long and short.

But in the matter of precise measurements, they have none. They don't know what a second is. Or an hour. Or a week, month, or even year. That's all created by us and used by us.

#122 to #110 - kingpongthedon

Reply -1 123456789123345869

(01/09/2013) [-]

Why does it matter how they measure it? But anyway, my point was that they do measure more than just light or dark, cold or hot. Muscovite dogs have memorized subway schedules to within minutes and bees can be found to know the length of a day to within less than a minute. The brains of all animals measure time in a very sophisticated way. It's a necessary part of the survival of any animal.

Anyway, all of our time units are divisions of the day/night cycle. We measure time based on the same way animals do. It doesn't matter what we call these divisions, it's still the same concept. They are still dependent on the passage of time.

Here's a little experiment to demonstrate this:
Take a timer, and start it. Without looking at it, wait one minute. After you feel that a minute is up, check your timer. You'll see that your feeling of one minute is pretty close to 1 minute, we all keep time instinctively. Sure, you know what 1 minute is, but you could do this for any arbitrary unit of time.