A thought experiment by philosopher and mathematician David Berlinski echoes something Michael Egnor noted recently: Not only are human beings unique but we are unique despite being animals in nature. Here’s the thought experiment:
Tag: chimpanzees
Researchers: Human neurons mature more slowly than those of chimpanzees and macaques
Interesting but not really a surprise because humans mature more slowly generally and live longer. No big news here that accounts for human uniqueness.
A site that compares humans and great apes
In considerable detail.
Apes and humans: How did science get so detached from reality?
We’re not “one” with chimpanzees. The wall has not “been breached.” So far as anyone can tell, it is not even breachable. Nobody thinks chimpanzees are the same as humans except a few researchers who mayhave spent too long in the bush.
Why can’t we make apes behave like people?
Many researchers think that apes are just like us and that
we’re not doing the right things to make them start behaving that way…
Researchers: Chimps eating shellfish help explain human evolution
If a minor note about chimpanzee behavior needs to be inflated into a claim about human evolution, that’s most likely because not much is known about human evolution and what is known does not fit the grand narrative. Talk about a fishing expedition!
Breaking: Common sense statements about human vs animal intelligence
In a respectable venue. That’s so rare now. Noticing actual differences is radical in an age when politically correct nonsense is a form of virtue.
Neuroscientist: “Ultra social ability” makes humans smarter than apes
Maybe greater social intelligence is the outcome of a much higher order of underlying intelligence in humans?
BBC: Chimpanzees show empathy and altruism just like humans
The BBC has also thought that chimpanzees were entering the Stone Age. And now: Eminent anthropologist Frans de Waal explains that politicians have a lot to learn from how chimpanzees show empathy. “How chimpanzees reveal the roots of human behaviour” at BBC Reality: Chimpanzees don’t seek humans out the way dogs do. In many ways, Read More…
News: Anthropologist does not see chimpanzees as fuzzy humans
It’s great to see concern for primate apes taking a rational turn that can actually be in their interests: In recent years, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation organizations, and animal rights groups have told the public to stop touching chimpanzees and other wild animals. National Geographic, PETA, and even Instagram draw explicit links between human touch and Read More…
Move over Mother Theresa! Wild chimps sometimes share food with others
From ScienceDaily: Sharing meat after hunting and exchanging other valued food items is considered key in the evolution of cooperation in human societies. One prominent idea is that humans share valuable foods to gain future favors, such that those we chose to share with are more likely to cooperate with us in the future. Despite Read More…
Michael Egnor: Apes can be generous. Are they just like humans then?
Reading the claims for ape generosity in The New York Times, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor offers a clarification: There is a fallacy about the human mind that regularly appears in research on animal behavior, and this fallacy is related to the pervasive misunderstanding about machine “intelligence.” It is a misunderstanding about the most basic characteristic of Read More…
Astonishing conclusion: Chimpanzees can’t speak because they don’t have the mental status
Can you believe a typical science site coming to a conclusion that is so evidence-based? We all know that parrots can talk. Some people may have even seen elephants, seals, or whales mimicking speech sounds. So why can’t our closest primate relatives speak like us? Our new research suggests they have the right vocal anatomy Read More…
Guess what? It’s NOT humans’ fault that chimps kill each other
Some articles in science journals leave one wondering, that’s for sure. At Nature: Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts Abstract: Observations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal Read More…