So, in trying to role-play my stats well, I've always found myself struggling with the difference between wisdom and intelligence.

Now, I know that wisdom = your common sense, intuition, ability to learn from experience, and skills of perception. Meanwhile, intelligence = memory, logic, and reasoning. However...

When put into practice, I often have a hard time deciding what my character would do (specifically for low wisdom and average intelligence). For example, a low wisdom character might have little common sense, and so rushes headlong into battle against 4 minotaurs. However, that seems like an awfully stupid thing to do, and if the character has an average intelligence, then logically they wouldn't do it.

Maybe a character with low wis/decent int didn't bring PfE potions last time. So now this time, since they don't learn well from experience, they'll probably forget it. However, their good memory and reasoning tells them that wouldn't be smart.

So, since I've been having a hard time with this, a little help would be much appreciated.

Maybe Intelligence is to Wisdom what Practicality is to Theory.

That is precisely what it is.

I've done plenty of hi-INT, lo-WIS characters. The key there is that though those people are as sharp as nails, are good at figuring out complicated whatevers, they are just not practical. For instance, my gnomish inventor char has decent INT, but zero WIS. So, he makes inventions that are on their own of impeccable design and functionality, but have zero applicability (like a device that was designed to open locks without the tedious practice of using crowbards and lockpicks, but on its own is much more difficult to use).

Hi-INT, lo-WIS characters are eccentric and prone to taking their ideas too far, resulting maybe in utopism.

I'm still kind of shaky on Hi-WIS, lo-INT RP.

I've got a lot more experience with high-int, low-wis characters, so I may not be able to help as much with the opposite.

A high intelligence generally means that a character is pretty well versed in the 'what'. He can probably tell you loads about the nature of the Weave, the dogma of various gods, the structure and organization of the planes, and goblin physiology. Wisdom is generally geared more toward "why". A character with higher intelligence would generally be able to think of a number of complex courses of action, but would probably have difficulty picking which would be best for whoever he cares about benefiting. They generally can't see the flaws in their own plans and understand why they're flaws on their own, no matter how beautiful a plot may be.

Plans by low-wis, high-int characters are usually overly complex and prone to errors. A good example of someone with really high intelligence and very, very low wisdom is Dr. Felix Hoenikker from Cat's Cradle and just about any B-movie villain who's carefully drawn out plans were foiled at the last moment by bumbling heroes.

To summarize, Intelligence is what one knows, and Wisdom is one's ability to reason.

The way this applies to your particular situation, I think, is that a High Intelligence Low Wisdom character would behave as follows:

"I know that Protection from Evil potions would save my life in this situation, because I was told I should have used one, the last time this situation cropped up, and I almost died. But damn it all, I forgot to bring one again!"

It's a difficult thing, though, and no player has the right to tell you that you should die because you have 8 Wisdom, and have no business knowing that something would help your character be more mechanically effective. If you feel like taking your character's flaws to their logical extent at the cost of dying repeatedly, and the frustration that comes with it, more power to you. But, while I personally hold respect for the people who do this, there's no guarantee that others won't just call you a fool for sticking to your guns despite how easy it would be to just break character for 5 seconds and do the smart thing instead of what's In-Character.

So do as you like. If you feel better of yourself for forgetting ICly, when you remember just fine, OOCly, then do it.

As an afterthought, there's a lot of room for compromise, with the various Social Abilities. A low wisdom doesn't necessarily mean you fail in all aspects that Wisdom covers. In the way of Charisma, a High scored character could be hideously ugly, but extremely persuasive and well-loved by all who know them, or Extremely beautiful and hated by all for her vanity and cruelty; the same applies for Wisdom, and Intelligence too. A Low Wisdom Character, as an example, could have an absolutely god awful memory, (say, ranked a '6' for memory) but a reasonable amount of common sense (say, a '10'), and have it balance out to 8 Wisdom. That's my take on it anyhow, and as long as you play both aspects fairly, (but especially the 6) then you can probably justify a character who would make a point of always carrying a PfE potion in case the situation ever comes up, that way, even if he knows about the situation beforehand and forgets to go and buy one, he'll have one ready, since the last time.

PS:

As an additional afterthought, I'd say that a Character with Intelligence over Wisdom would know what he's taught, but wouldn't have a great amount of reasoning ability. So even a man who, as a child was always taught that you shouldn't run with scissors, despite having low wisdom, would know that it isn't smart to run with scissors.

A character with high Intelligence and low Wisdom can tell you precisely and elaborately what he is going to do in a given situation, but it ends up being the wrong or erroneous thing to do.

A character with low Intelligence but high Wisdom will instead do the right thing -- and that can be understood either morally or goal-wise -- but when asked how or why he did it, he can only shrug.

It's theory vs practicality, as has been said. The thing to keep in mind about Wisdom is that it's about doing things, it's about acting as you need to. Exaggeratedly, you could say that men of intelligence (but low wisdom) are men of words (but little action), while men of wisdom (but low intelligence) are men of action (but few words).

Still, in the end, it's worth keeping in mind that the sharp distinction between "intelligence" and "wisdom" in D&D is somewhat artificial. Don't fret too much if you're not entirely sure on how to roleplay it. No one is entirely sure on how to roleplay it; or if someone is, they shouldn't be.

A character with high Intelligence and low Wisdom can tell you precisely and elaborately what he is going to do in a given situation, but it ends up being the wrong or erroneous thing to do.

A character with low Intelligence but high Wisdom will instead do the right thing -- and that can be understood either morally or goal-wise -- but when asked how or why he did it, he can only shrug.

That's a simple way of putting it. But there are soooooo many ways it can be played.

It bothers me a lot when people try to stereotype attributes -- as if every person with low intelligence walks around saying "Joo help Tiny? Tiny needs no-hurt mojo." And as if everyone with a low wisdom is gullible or lacks insight.

A character I have has a low wisdom but high intelligence. I regularly have her offer "wise" advice on how to approach problems, but she never follows that advice herself. She'll instead follow a group decision in spite of knowing better, and she throws caution completely to the wind the moment things get exciting.

In a recent example, she advised her party to quit harassing an Ogre with questions, else it would likely attack and kill them. (Wise advice.) Eventually, the Ogre did in fact get annoyed and attacked. She just stood there, watching, (not so wise) saying "see? I told you so" while the party was being massacred, until the Ogre ran out of targets, whereupon he ran back to her and pounded her to near death, at which point she said, "Hey! What are you hitting me for? I told them we should leave!" Only then did she realize the reality of the crisis (and the carnage), and take action.

I could see someone play low-intelligence as autistic-savant, for example -- someone who could calculate astronomically large equations in a flash, but who couldn't follow directions on how to cross the street, or who couldn't learn how to tie their shoes.

I could see someone play low wisdom as extremely insecure, who may be able to effectively read the intentions of others, and clearly see the wisdom in things, but who is crippled from taking proper action due to all-consuming doubt and anxiety.

You don't have to lack all mental capacity in order to play low intelligence, nor do you have to lack any ounce of insight in order to play low wisdom... what your character WOULD lack, however, is the ability to apply those talents usefully to their own benefit.

High int low wis is more what people tend to play, the reverse can work to a point as well. Below stats of 8 it generally becomes hard to RP properly, not because it can’t be done, but because those stats are so outside the norm of what we as players see in real life we likely could not give it true duty and justice. That, and very low stats (6 and below) tend to have a very negative impact on the survivability/party interaction/etc of a character when played properly.

High int lower wis characters have already been described fairly well.

The low int high wis character would likely be the type to (as in the post above) have insight (Well that just don’t seem right / That don’t make no sense) and a lack of an ability to elaborate on as to why it doesn’t seem right or doesn’t make sense (lack of reasoning ability).

It occurred to me that children's shows (such as Mr. Rogers neighborhood) often portray low-Int/high-Wis characters. They want the character learning along with the children, so the children don't feel intimidated or "dumb". At the same time, they want the characters to exhibit wisdom, in order to present a role-model for the children to emulate.

RP wise, a low WIS is someone that is careless, forgetful, easily tricked and gullible, generally clueless.

Albert Einstein would be a very high INT, very low WIS. He used to wander around campus completely lost despite having walked the same journey thousands of times. Very low WIS can't take care of themselves well, and are usually very needy.

The classic bubble-headed blonde girl stereotype is also low WIS. Sometimes you see one of these girls do very well in school, showing a decent to High INT.

Low WIS characters might use the wrong weapons if they are warriors, not ask for buffs, would charge foolishly or open chests without looking for traps, or cast spells at silly times. Taking ridiculous risks might also show low WIS, or picking a fight with someone that most know enough to leave alone.

Just suggestions, and not sure all are dead-on but that's my $0.02.

I take my cue from the 2nd edition Priest's Handbook, which had a section on this very issue.

It put forth the scenario of a character faced with crossing a great chasm, and before him is a rope bridge. It does not appear entirely stable and the character is not sure of whether to cross here. The high INT character would examine the bridge carefully, estimate the probability of it's structure holding together, and make his decision based on this careful analysis.

The high WIS character seeing potential danger in the rope bridge would carefully weigh the need for crossing in the first place against the danger. If he is in no hurry he might travel along the chasm for awhile looking for a less dangerous crossing. If he needed to cross in a hurry, say, to deliver medicine to the dying, he might reason that the risk is worth it and brave the challenge regardless of the odds. After all, the dying person kicking it due to you being late to the scene or you lying dead on the chasm floor make little difference to him, nothing for it but to at least try your best.

A high INT character might be a walking encyclopedia, able to analyze nearly anything he comes across, plan complex strategies, and comprehend situations of great depth.

A high WIS character might be a philosopher or poet, seeing the subtle relationships between all things, having insight into people and personalities, understanding certain generalities of thought that don't lend themselves to more a more mathematical type of analysis such as politics, art, morality, psychology, and others.

A high INT character could devise a spectacular battle plan, but a high WIS character could understand the thoughts, fears, motives and other subtleties of the enemy general and tell you whether that plan is suited for dealing with him.

A low WIS character wouldn't forget to bring potions to a battle, but would pick his battles poorly.

The common thread here is poor judgement. That is the low WIS character in a nutshell. A lack of "common sense" and insight needed to make good judgements.

I have to disagree with your assessment, Asclepius Elym.

I figure a High INT character would be able to COPY an extraordinarily complex strategy from one who has done it before, however when it comes to planning and determining how to gain the necessary advantages to win in a battlefield, it would come down to Wisdom.

By and large I agree with your explanation of Wisdom, (though I don't quite get how poetry factors in to being a wise man,) but your take on Intelligence seems off to me.

because creativity can be a facet of wisdom.

Thanks bunches, these comments have all been very helpful. As expected, there's plenty of ways you can take your stats, but this gives me plenty of ideas and guidance. I'm now looking forward to playing a better, more foolish character.

I will not encourage anyone to make a 6 int / 16+ wis half-orc cleric or monk. Ever.

ExileStrife I will not encourage anyone to make a 6 int / 16+ wis half-orc cleric or monk. Ever.

<_< Who would do that? Cough.

Actually low int high wisdom is quite easy to play....because being wise does not always fit into intelligence. I have seen such a thing done -very- well on another server by a small goblin druid...it was outstanding I was knocked off my feet every time I say this guy but if you're gunna do it do it right and remember "Even small axe chop down big tree" :lol:

Kotenku I have to disagree with your assessment, Asclepius Elym.

I figure a High INT character would be able to COPY an extraordinarily complex strategy from one who has done it before, however when it comes to planning and determining how to gain the necessary advantages to win in a battlefield, it would come down to Wisdom.

By and large I agree with your explanation of Wisdom, (though I don't quite get how poetry factors in to being a wise man,) but your take on Intelligence seems off to me.

No no, you are not understanding what intelligence is. Intelligence is your ability to analyze, recall information and learn new skills. In reality to plan a battle and win you need BOTH intelligence and wisdom, for the very reasons I stated above.

The point I was trying to make with that example was that you can plan the maneuvers, outfitting and logistics of a military campaign with intelligence alone, and do extremely well at it (as such an endeavor is very much a matter of mathematics and engineering). But history is filled with examples of pampered, well schooled generals who could devise brilliant plans on paper after studying the strategies of others, but that fail to work under real world circumstances because they lacked, yep you guessed it, wisdom.

The OP mentioned forgetting to bring potions to a battle, I don't think a character of mid to high INT would do that. Either due to forgetfulness (a trait of low INT), or due to lack of forsight (as logistical planning is very much in the realm of INT). I would find it more likely that such a character might get smug about it, thinking his well thought out plans of having a potion (or other clever ace up his sleeve) for every situation might lead him to do something foolhardy like pick on a guy twice his size (Hey, I've thought it all through, I've got my _______, right? What could happen?).

Also this might help, here is a list of every skill associated with INT:

Appraise (Recalling data on relative values, economics knowledge) Craft Armor (Engineering skill) Craft Trap (Engineering skill) Craft Weapon (Engineering skill) Disable Trap (Engineering skill) Lore (Recalling data on whatever) Search (Comparing what you see with known patterns of concealing things, analyzing) Spellcraft (Analyzing the actions of a spellcaster and recalling data on magical lore)

ExileStrife I will not encourage anyone to make a 6 int / 16+ wis half-orc cleric or monk. Ever.

Hodor? :(

Asclepius: I wrote up a nice long argument disproving your assertion, and then I looked up "Analyze" on Dictionary.com, and wrote this instead.

I still disagree with your assessment. A wise man knows the world by experiencing it, while an intelligent man knows the world by reading about it.

I also have trouble with the "recall information" portion of your thesis, as it states even in the NWN game itself for a description of the abilities, that a High Intelligence Low Wisdom Wizard, would be much akin to the Absent Minded Professor. Conversely, a High Wisdom Low Intelligence character would be the insightful but dumb man, much (or exactly) like Forrest Gump.

But, upon reflecting, I suppose I do see the point you make about the military generals.

Metro_Pack

ExileStrife I will not encourage anyone to make a 6 int / 16+ wis half-orc cleric or monk. Ever.

<_< Who would do that? Cough.

ololololololololololol

I also have trouble with the "recall information" portion of your thesis, as it states even in the NWN game itself for a description of the abilities, that a High Intelligence Low Wisdom Wizard, would be much akin to the Absent Minded Professor. Conversely, a High Wisdom Low Intelligence character would be the insightful but dumb man, much (or exactly) like Forrest Gump.

I'd like to stress my opinion, again, in the event it was missed. Having a low ability score doesn't necessarily mean an absence of ability. It can be equally effective (and more interesting, IMHO) to play a low score as having ability but being unable to apply it.

For instance, a person with a low strength could be played as someone with fibromyalgia. Muscle strength is there -- they could be built like Arnold Schwarzenegger -- but the pain/discomfort of utilizing their muscle means they simply can't/don't.

A person with low dexterity might be an accomplished crafter or musician (again, ability is there,) but is so insecure about their body and doubt themselves so much that they "flinch" or fail to follow through most other physical actions.

A person with a low constitution may actually be quite healthy, but are hypochondriacs to the extent that they can manifest severe psychosomatic symptoms in themselves for "perceived" health problems. (i.e., they literally make themselves sick).

One of my personal favorites is charisma. You can get pretty creative with this one, because there are so many personality disorders you can apply to balance out appearance, charm, etc. For instance, I am personally diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Someone with this condition is often percieved as very charismatic and charming 8), but at the flip of a switch they can become your worst nightmare and you want to avoid them at all costs. (Don't worry, folks... just don't become friends with me, and we'll get along just fine!)

A low ability score means you shouldn't be benefiting as much as your average jane when applying yourself. It really doesn't matter WHY you can't apply yourself effectively, it just matters that you don't. I believe what the DM's will be frowning upon is if you aren't penalizing yourself proportionally to your score. Especially if your ability scores seem suspiciously optimized to pwn the server.

That's my take, anyway.

JackOfSwords words

For the record, I don't agree with most of this. Low charisma does not mean "I actually have a high charisma, but something interferes which causes me to appear to have low charisma." Low charisma means you are socially inapt, lack personal fortitude, as well as the other things low charisma implies. If you (anyone) plans on playing a character and is wondering if one of their extrema stats is being portreyed accurately, we can usually help you pretty quickly.

Of all the minimized stats that worry me, intelligence takes the cake. 9 int is the cutoff for effective communication, lower than that, and I start to get judgemental about anyone's ability to exist in the Underdark. Dangerous places are not places for stupid people.

JackOfSwords

Anthee A character with high Intelligence and low Wisdom can tell you precisely and elaborately what he is going to do in a given situation, but it ends up being the wrong or erroneous thing to do.

A character with low Intelligence but high Wisdom will instead do the right thing -- and that can be understood either morally or goal-wise -- but when asked how or why he did it, he can only shrug.

That's a simple way of putting it. But there are soooooo many ways it can be played.

It bothers me a lot when people try to stereotype attributes -- as if every person with low intelligence walks around saying "Joo help Tiny? Tiny needs no-hurt mojo." And as if everyone with a low wisdom is gullible or lacks insight.

Anthee Still, in the end, it's worth keeping in mind that the sharp distinction between "intelligence" and "wisdom" in D&D is somewhat artificial. Don't fret too much if you're not entirely sure on how to roleplay it. No one is entirely sure on how to roleplay it; or if someone is, they shouldn't be.

JackOfSwords A person with low dexterity [that] might be an accomplished crafter or musician (again, ability is there,) but is so insecure about their body and doubt themselves so much that they "flinch" or fail to follow through most other physical actions

JackOfSwords A person with a low constitution [that] may actually be quite healthy, but are hypochondriacs to the extent that they can manifest severe psychosomatic symptoms in themselves for "perceived" health problems. (i.e., they literally make themselves sick)

In a nutshell, it's the effective end result that determines what is "actually" the case, which should correspondingly be reflected in the ability scores. The causes are irrelevant in that regard, even if they are mental: the most you can say is that if the person didn't suffer from such-and-such, then the situation would be different, but such speculations don't change what is "actually" the case.

Ok my take on low wisdom high intelligence. Wisdom is all about perception of the world around you, that is why it governs skills like Listen and Spot. An high int low wis character, has no trouble with figuring out a problem, he just will have to figure it out based on the poor information he gathers from what surrounds him. That is why the absent minded mage is such a good stereotype, a low wisdom character is by nature, for one reason or another, missing out the details of things. Becoming easily distracted by one thing at an expense of others, because it takes them an extra effort to gather information from a single source, let alone several.

He could just catch that person in a lie if only he noticed that said person has a nervous twitch when telling a lie. Instead he will have a harder time figuring it out. He would run away if he noticed that the goblins rushing towards him are a bit too well equipped. Instead he will get the warning message when the battle starts to go baddly.

Edit:Regarding memory. Intelligence governs that part BUT, tell a low wisdom character something and if they are currently engaged on another conversation or ongoing task and they might never even recall hearing it. Their focus was elsewhere. And thats why they -seem- to have a poor memory dispite their brilliant intellect.

It bothers me a lot when people try to stereotype attributes -- as if every person with low intelligence walks around saying "Joo help Tiny? Tiny needs no-hurt mojo." And as if everyone with a low wisdom is gullible or lacks insight.

Slightly off-topic, but it bothers me a lot when someone comments on a post they haven't read through.

Slightly more off-topic, but it bothers me when people take words personally that weren't meant for them.

I read your post thoroughly, and the words you quoted above from me had nothing at all to do with your post. In fact, the only words in my post that dealt with yours were:

That's a simple way of putting it. But there are soooooo many ways it can be played.

And I can't see how that sentence was irrelevant to your post, nor how it could be perceived as negative commentary. The gist was, "yeah, that sums it up quick, but there's lots of room for creativity." The rest of my post had little (if anything) to do with your post, and was merely a commentary I had about people making stereotypes about ability scores.

But, if you feel stereotyping ability scores is a good thing, or if you simply like to take things persoanally, feel free to be indignant over my post. :roll:

My 0.02cents

A High Intell, High Wisdom charctors usually end up being low charisma charctors, Charisma in my opinion is the ability to stand on your own legs and not lean on anyone else for emotional support (So the worlds ugliest dwarf can have a high charisma and be able to speak his mind), etc...simply being able to *Know* what is wrong and being able to *make* the plan, doesn't mean you can say, "This is what we should do."

Wisdom: The ability to detect flaws, learn from mistakes, being able to find meaning in words (For example: Saying one thing while meaning the completely opposite might confound the brilliant wizard, while the humble monk might know exactly what the guy meant). The ability to just Shrug and say, "No" to a challenge because the guy might think it is wrong to fight. Oh yea, My favorite is clarity, you know what, and who you are. A low Wisdom guy might ask, "Is this really what I want?"

INtelligence: The ability to make brilliant insults (Personal favorite). The ability to make, learn, create, and apply things to items. Having a clear ideas, and being able to articulate them. And having an incessive urge to learn more.

I get the feeling I just repeated what was said, but I think I just made it more complicated. :shock:

I agree with Thomas and Khael on the wisdom thing. Wisdom is your ability to percieve things, notice oddities around you (like my 8 wisdom character who was told that the special necklaces control your mind by someone wearing one), and to work out other people's motives.

It's all pretty much right there in the descriptions found in the manual and more details can be found in the NWNwiki:

Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons. Intelligence is important for wizards because it affects how many spells they can cast, how hard their spells are to resist, and how powerful their spells can be. It is also important for any character who wants to have a strong assortment of skills ...

Warning: In the original campaign and some user modules, an Intelligence lower than 9 means that your character is unable to speak properly.

Any creature that can think, learn, or remember has at least 1 point of Intelligence.

Having a score of 0 means that the character cannot think and is unconscious in a coma-like stupor, helpless.

A creature with no intelligence score is an automaton (i.e., a Construct), operating on simple instincts or programmed instructions. It is immune to all mind-influencing effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale effects) and automatically fails Intelligence checks.

--------------------------------

Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, common sense, perception, and intuition, whereas Intelligence represents the ability to analyze information. An "absent-minded professor" has low Wisdom and high Intelligence. A simpleton with low Intelligence might nevertheless have great insight (high Wisdom). Any creature that can perceive its environment in any fashion has at least 1 point of Wisdom ...

Having a score of 0 means that the character is withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares, helpless.

Anything with no Wisdom score is an object, not a creature. Having no Wisdom automatically means it will have no Charisma and vice versa.

If these descriptions were enough to figure out how to properly RP wisdom and intelligence, we'd all probably just read NWNWiki instead of bothering our heads with all this difficult stuff.

It's kind of like consulting a dictionary to see what 'intelligence' means, and then going to tell a psychologist specializing in the area that their research is pointless, that we already have a clear definition for intelligence.

I've seen alot of posts regarding High-Int Low-Wis characters, whats every one elses take on Low-Int high-Wis characters?

I've always pictured Low-Int High-Wis characters as being someone more streetwise, knowing which places to avoid if you don't want to get mugged or which gangs not to get on the wrong side of, whilst at the same time, if taken into a classroom and asked to sit a test, will likely fail.

They would be smart enough to think along the lines of "We can't beat these hard monsters with our normal weapons" and may realise that either the weapons will need to be stronger or the monsters hide will need to be affected in order to defeat them, though are less likely to actully conceive a plan to do so.

I'd like to put Andre the Giant's character in the Princess Bride forth as an low-int, high wisdom character in popular fiction.

Seems to be there when you need him, has a good worldview, his actions make sense in a strange kind of way...

-Cross

I read this book as a kid called Onion John. Onion John is an eccentric hermit who I'd say is a pretty good example of a low int high wis character. The main character, a twelve year old boy, discovers he can understand Onion John's crazy moonspeak just by listening to the flow of his speech, not making an effort to understand, but as if watching clouds floating in the sky. Onion John has many strange beliefs that defy logic but nonetheless turn out to be "right." Towards the end of the book I remember Onion John insists on doing a crazy dance to help catch fish or something, while the townspeople pull in the biggest haul of fish ever. The main character's father, in contrast, is a high int low wis guy. He is an ambitious man and as head of the Rotary Club he makes all these plans to build Onion John a new house after John accidentally burned the first one down. He never notices that John wasn't happy with the last one that was built for him. He is determined to integrate John into the ways of the modern world not realizing how little John seemed to need or want them.

A++++ would read again

One good example of low-int, high-wis creatures is animals, even if this way of understanding the difference is not useful for all purposes. They have little "intelligence" to speak of (the value is usually around 2-3 in sourcebooks), yet the "knowledge" of how to operate in their surroundings is hardcoded in them since birth, so to speak. It's what we call instinct.

Think of the seemingly very intelligent way that certain predators, for instance, behave when hunting: the pack hunting tactics of hyenas are a good example. I believe this reasoning is why ordinary animals are regularly given above average wisdom (usually around 12-14 in sourcebooks, sometimes more), despite their very low intelligence. Even if a creature (or a character) is as dumb as a brick, they might still be incredibly attuned to their environment.