So if the ability of humans to sort of empathize with others and understand that other people have their own beliefs, thoughts, and motives is innate, what about animals? If theory of mind is innate, then it would follow that most humans are genetically endowed with the potential for it. And if it is just a specific phenotype of a certain gene, then couldnt some other animals have the same potential, or at least some form of it?
The only article I could find on the issue was by Cecilia Heyes, and she did not seem to think that primates (who are the most commonly studied animals for theory of mind) had any form of it. heres the link if anyone's interested. http://www.bbsonline.org/documents/a/00/00/05/46/index.html
I could be way off the mark, but I have had experiences personally with pets of mine where they seemed to be able to read my mood and act accordingly. Like my cats. They can usually just tell when Im in a bad mood and just seem to know to give me space. Or when Im in a good mood, they are more likely than normal to approach me looking to get petted. And admittedly, this goes back to the thread about pets, and i could just be projecting what seem to be motives onto my cats. But based on experience, I think some animals have at least some form of theory of mind. Maybe not as evolutionarily fine-tuned as humans, but I think there is some capacity there.
