Quote:
All this stuff about apes... it doesnt mean anything
The behaviour of a chimp or a gorilla is to human behaviour what the speech of the parrot is to human language.
They copy certain behaviour because they are rewarded with food or attention. It does not mean anything to them other than an action which is rewarded with food or some other thing from their human masters
|
You, my friend, -really- need to read up on some of the research that's been done with Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Bonobos in regards to sign language. The conclusion of the last 30-odd years of research in this field, with multiple representatives of all three of the above-mentioned species, is that the only reason such "Great Apes" cannot speak at least rudimentary English (hardest language in the world to learn, BTW, with a vocabulary 5x greater than Chinese) is that their vocal cords aren't built for it. Kanzi, one of the most eloquent of such research subjects, had a vocabulary of over 1,000 words last time I checked, and can both construct and deconstruct simple sentences, as well as define words off the cuff.
Do you come into -all- your debates with only your completely unsupported opinions to buttress your arguments, or is it only something you do on TFP?