The Mind of the Dolphin: A Nonhuman Intelligence

by John C. Lilly

This remarkable work continues the progress report started six years ago with Man and Dolphin. In his earlier book. Dr. Lilly documented a dramatic the idea and basic first steps of epochal scientific experiments to find ways to communicate with another species. In his newest work, he details the discoveries about the dolphin's abilities, current ideas about his intellect, and the paradoxes of inter-species communication, developed since 1961. That the bottlenose dolphin (or Tursiops truncatus) has a brain larger than man's, that it has a sophisticated form of vocal communication,that it, to a certain extent, "understands" man has become generally known. What has been virtually unexplored is the astonishing intricacy and nonhuman nature of the dolphin's intelligence and yet the profound relevance of that intelligence to man's place in Nature. The dolphin, for example, is a systematic communicator - a trait long considered unique to human beings. The dolphin is a startling "moral" creature ( who acts along lines similar to our own Golden Rule) - again, something always thought of as a "human" characteristic. Dr. Lilly demonstrates that dolphins can clearly distinguish between dictated words and vocal instructions when responding to man with airborne "words." When dolphins are displeased with human behavior - which they frequently are - they will "train" willing men to act correctly. In short, The Mind of the Dolphin may upset man's implicit preconceptions about his own intellectual, ethical, and social superiority. Dr. Lilly's fascinating documented book stands at the frontier of a new field of scientific inquiry.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Animals, Science Nature

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

John Cunningham Lilly was an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher, writer and inventor.

He was a researcher of the nature of consciousness using mainly isolation tanks, dolphin communication, and psychedelic drugs, sometimes in combination.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 2 out of 5]

fascinating information, but hard to read, like slogging through mud

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and could definitely read it again.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

John C Lilly is the grandfather of Dolphin cognition research, everything about Dolphin intelligence was influenced by this man, which I am very grateful for.

Most of the book was pretty interesting, though reading “Man and Dolphin” first I think would’ve been more beneficial since this book is an add on. But I am not paying $2000 for a book! Sorry Amazon! (Lower your prices damn) The Mind of the Dolphin focuses mostly on the philosophy and theory of the experiments performed on the dolphins.
I did agree with some of Lilly’s points about seeing ourselves as a part of nature rather than above it, which was refreshing. The experiments with Peter and Margret were intriguing, even though Margret’s training was something to be desired. Going from “Good boy” to “Margret” which to me was a pretty big leap, when most people don’t do that to human babies. Especially when Peter never grasped the word “Boy” in the first place. Also her constantly scolding and saying “no, no Peter, no” I felt might have been confusing for him, since at this point in time most of her English is just noise to him. But I’m not a scientist so what do I know 🤷🏼‍♀️

The reason for the three stars was the fact that some of the chapters seemed to go on and on. The chapter on Double Phonation and Stereophonation was extremely long and confusing or maybe I’m just stupid, which is most likely. I was also hoping that the book would’ve focused more on the experiments rather than the theories.

In conclusion I tend to think of this book as a sci-fi novel that had a very anti-climatic ending. If you’re curious on the history of Dolphin intelligence research then give this a read. 🐬🐬

[Valerie]

Lilly's writing is at once tedious and sometimes horrifying. Descriptions of brain surgery on creatures that can't be anaesthetized (if they lose consciousness, they drown, since their breathing is entirely voluntary) are bound to be disturbing, even knowing the brain has no pain sensors.

Still, in many ways it's worth the slog. Lilly stopped doing surgery on dolphins (to install electrodes for measuring brain functions) fairly early on, and devoted himself to advocating for the dolphins. I found that taking the book five pages at a time helped.

[lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book! i enjoyed the prose, and lilly has some very refreshing perspectives on science. reading miss howe's notes was a great pleasure as well. i recommend this to anyone who wants to know a lot about a niche and strange topic such as interspecies communication and its benefits

[Andrea Samorini]

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FROM BOOK: Le regine dell'abisso. Come la vita delle balene ci svela il nostro posto nel mondo (Rebecca Giggs)