This video is not all that amazing. The monkey has simply learned to say one word through a process of operant conditioning. Why is it that monkeys cannot talk, though?
A web search revealed that the larynx of a monkey is much less developed than that of a human. This prevents them from forming the same sounds that humans form when speaking.
obviously monkeys are capable of intelligence. This monkey is much better at memorizing numbers than I am. Does this mean that they only thing holding monkeys back from world domination is their misshapen larynx? In several hundred years (assuming the world is NOT ending in 2012) monkeys could get the correct shaped larynx through evolution and will start communicating. Then they will start the slow path to control over humans.
Maybe some day a monkey will feed me a piece of licorice to do simple problems.
How is this linked to psychology, you ask. well, it has to do with language, which is part of this chapter. Also, it raises an interesting point. How much of human success relies on language? The only reason we are able to progress is the spreading, developing, and communicating of ideas. If our larynx was slightly misshapen, then we would probably be eating licorice and saying "mama," because so much of our knowledge is passed down through a long line of people.
Maybe humans aren't so badass after all. The only thing that places us ahead of monkeys, retrospectively, is our larynx(ii?).
No comments:
Post a Comment