Austin .... once again .. you sure said a pertinent mouthful. You have given me a better interpretation of Noumena than I had before.
As for the different species ... dolphins, apart from vision with eyes, can also see with sonar. They can vary the depth of this sonar like an adjustable Xray.
Dolphins can tell if we have a growth, a tumor, a cancer simply by looking at us. It has been mooted that they be trained for this purpose.
On a scale of brain to ability, that is take a Lion or an average predator, or herbivore, there brain cognitive functions are equal (theres that word again) to their ability to meet their survival requirements.
If this is considered a 1:1 ratio then Chimps have 3:1, that is, three times the processing functions and capacity they need to perform their daily survival chores.
If you think three is overmuch, humans have 7:1, so now you are wondering where do dolphins fall.
Dolphins fall in the range of 5.5:1 to 6:1. What do they do with this enormous capacity. After all, they don't fight wars, pollute their environment, build towering skyscrapers, nor do they make a nuisance of themselves in general.
No one knows. Studies are ongoing but no further enlightening. But its a very sobering thought. A natural selection that is yet to be fully understood, from our point of view of course. No doubt the dolphins know all about it.
What has this got to do with noumena. I believe that noumena, epistemology, consciousness all springs from sapience as in 'Sapiens' and that we homo sapiens have stolen this word that formerly applied to all mammals. Though this has never been proved.
cool bananas ... greg
