| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 9/22/2009 12:40:21 PM | I listened to a lengthy interview this morning with a man who studies chimpanzees and was talking about the amount of empathetic behavior they display. It was fascinating. At one point he made an interesting observation: people who believe in social Darwinism tend to be conservative and many of them do not believe in Darwin's theory of evolution.
I don't have know what their thought processes are like, but chimps apparently commit murder, yell at each other when someone misbehaves, and exhibit a high degree of empathy and cooperation. They are obviously capable of rather sophisticated communication, both within their species and with humans. | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 9/23/2009 11:37:21 AM | | Funny...in New York City there are two species of parrot that "got away" from their original owners and now have colonies that live there year round. Guess they "survived" a lot more than 24 hours! They were NOT indigenous to the area. | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 10/21/2009 1:25:29 AM | | To me, a thought process would involve the ability to reason. Apes have shown basic reasoning skills. Unfortunately, to get an ape to solve a puzzle, you usually have to give them an incentive. (Like a treat or a hug or something.) This suggests that this isn’t a natural thought process; they’re just doing it for a reward or to please us. Perhaps humans confuse reasoning ability with instincts. I was watching a documentary about that domesticated chimpanzee that suddenly went “ape” and violently tore a woman’s face off. This behavior was completely unexpected by this typically docile chimp but an expert said he wasn’t surprised at all that this incident happened. He described on how violence is instinctive for apes. Chimps have been known to suddenly turn on a member of their group and tear it to shreds, with others joining in with gleeful abandon. Then, they showed an ape watching a movie it had seen before and it seemed to anticipate violent scenes beforehand and would begin grunting in excitement. Does this mean he was showing his disgust, as some of us humans might wish to believe? Probably not. It's possible it was simply reacting to his primal instincts and relishing the moment. Domesticating a wild beast doesn't imply that it's been civilized. That said, even if apes don't have the thought process we humans do, I'm convinced they have emotions. Most intelligent animals do. Dogs and cats display obvious contentment, displeasure and anger. Much of that probably involves instincts, but I suspect it's emotional as well. Chickens, fish and such, I'm not sure. If you chase a chicken, it'll run away. But that's simple fight or flight instincts. | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 10/21/2009 10:23:56 AM | After saying in my previous post that chickens probably don't have emotions, I began thinking of the farm I grew up on. My parents raised chickens. I recall how on days when things were A-OK in Chickenland (the sun was shining and they were contentedly pecking around the chicken yard) they would make a soft chirping sound. It was kind of similar to the purring of a cat. It was the only time you would hear them do that. Of course, chickens are easily riled, so you could pop them out of that disposition just by make some kind of commotion, but left on their own with nothing to threaten them, they sounded HAPPY. Happiness is an emotion. Does that mean all living things have emotions? I’m not sure. We'll probably never know for certain until we can do a Dr. Doolittle and actually ask them but I believe even simple creatures know contentment. Isn't contentment a form of happiness? If most creatures are capable of emotions like fear, isn't it rather cruel to kill them and eat them? A lot of us think it's OK because the bible tells us that we're superior to animals, but are we really? Are animals here on this planet to feed us or serve us? What about animals and insects that we don't utilize that only seem to annoy us? Do all our self-induced complications really make us more important than they are? Aren't we all just creatures wandering around on this great big blue ball simply trying to get through the day, feed our face and stay warm at night? Thoughts like this are so profound, they can drive you crazy. Luckily for humans, we've created religion to provide us with a perceived sense of consolation when faced with questions like this.
Sorry, I've gotten a little off the topic. | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 11/3/2009 4:51:31 AM | I am an ape living in San Francisco Zoo.
I was given an old Apple Mac a few years ago to play with and have taken to the internet like a duck takes to water.
I go incognito.
I love the plentyoffish site where I can communicate with fellow hominids on an equal basis.
My keeper thinks I am looking for a mate but I love the scientific and philosophical discussions on the forum section.
Incidently I am looking for a nice mate preferably without a prehensile tail with nice brown eyes and a receding forehead.
I dont have much to offer but I have a constant supply of bananas and have a caring inquisitive nature. I have my own teeth and can play Chopin on the Piano.
However bonobos with a PhD need not apply because they give me the willies. I think I have a phobia about that.
Would anyone like to discuss the double slit experiment? | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 11/9/2009 2:43:07 AM |
I thought we had come a little further than "God gave us dominion over the animals" and "They don't feel pain like we do so it's OK."
I would have hope so, but no luck. Spiritually, we haven't really advanced all that much since we left the caves. We only dress better and have nicer caves, but beyond that, not much has really changed.
Anyone who thinks animals have no emotions has never related to an animal. Never. Otherwise they wouldn't say something so utterly foolish.
different does not equate to inferior.
Consider the bottle nose Dolphin. Very smart animals. But mankind doesn't limit it's descrimination to just the animal kindom. We as a human race have an inbred need to fear or seek to control that which is different. That constant conflict will be our downfall. Them vs. us is societal cancer and we're all dying of it. The "I'm better, smarter, richer, faster, (whatever) than you" so what I say is more important. /rant | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 11/11/2009 3:37:34 AM | I think its more true that ALL animals have emotions and feeling and thought processes, otherwise how would they survive?
And I certainly hate that humans think they are different to ANY animal, just because we are smarter. At the end of the day, we are animals ourselves.
We class some species as "Pests", I think the human race also falls in this category, there is an overabundance of us, we destroy life, we overuse resources and most definitely, we conflict with all other life forms around us. | |
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| Apes... Do they have emotions and thought processes like our own?
Posted: 11/11/2009 5:19:01 AM | | I think the whole question of intelligence in all animals should be explored more from the perspective of 'how much can humankind understand them' rather than 'how intelligent/aware are they'. Anyone who has studied or lived with animals of any species - and has observed them beyond the mechanics of simple 'humanization' will see just how aware animals are, how keenly they communicate with one another (and attempt, often without success, to communicate with humans...the latter unable to understand them), and how much there is we still don't know about them. As with humans as well, there will be some members of a species who don't display the same level of intelligence as another of that same species...but what we as humans are sadly lacking, for the most part, is the ability to see that there is talent, ability, awareness and intelligence in every species of animal. It is a matter of our being able to (or perhaps, being willing to) cross that barrier of communication and see with their eyes, what they think, feel, sense, and know. | |
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