Why can’t we admit that animals are smarter than us?
Because that would mean admitting our inferiority as well.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• I don’t know, but I’ll bet my cat does.
John Ralston, Mountain View, California, US
• Horses often take us for a ride, and (let’s be clear about this) it’s the dog that takes us for a walk.
Harvey Mitchell, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
• I’m foxed.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• I put that question to my cats. He wagged his tail philosophically, while she just dozed off.
Heiner Zok, Schiffdorf, Germany
• I’m not telling anyone that the dog remembers when to go for a walk, and I need reminding.
Rhys Winterburn, Perth, Western Australia
• Because we are crushed down by our inflated egos.
Peter Stone, Sydney, Australia
• Because humans are animals too.
Edward P Wolfers, Austinmer, NSW, Australia
• We tend to befuddle ourselves with idiosyncratic complexity.
RM Fransson, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• If we were smart enough to admit that (some) animals were smarter than us, it is possible that those animals wouldn’t be smarter than us.
Stuart Williams, Lilongwe, Malawi
• Because we don’t have their capabilities.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
Tickling a funny circuit
Will artificial intelligence ever be able to laugh at itself?
Only if and when it incorporates a tickle feature.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• If it does, it will be a fake laugh!
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• Yes, if the programmer has a sense of humour.
Marilyn Hamilton, Perth, Western Australia
• Since all too many humans are incapable of laughing at themselves, should we expect it of AI machines?
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• We laugh at ourselves when the world doesn’t make sense. To a computer, everything computes.
Charles Pearson, Portland, Oregon, US
• More likely at us, for being foolish enough to unleash it.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
I must phone my grandchild
How different is it to be a grandparent today?
The distances are a lot wider.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• I used to phone my grandfather with my maths problems. Now I phone my grandchild with my computer problems.
Annick Hardie, Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Time again for Tom Sawyer
What is the first book you remember reading all by yourself?
The earliest I remember (because it was so moving) is Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. It’s a classic time travel novel for children.
Clive Baugh, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter). I was five or six and fascinated by its gruesome collection of cautionary tales.
Michael Emmison, Brisbane, South Australia
• Tom Sawyer, and I still have that book. Maybe I should read it again!
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
Any answers?
What works better for the benefit of the masses: a benevolent dictatorship or a democracy?
John Benseman, Auckland, New Zealand
What happened to those lost socks?
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
