Originally Posted by BIG JIM MERRILEES
Hi All I think it might be some time before chimps or parrote explain the theory of relativity. The point about not being able to express themselves and only being programmed for reward is not quite true. I saw a documentary where a chimp clearly understood pictures and signs and language. It communicated quite lucidly about many abstract things using signs and pictures. It did indeed make up new complex words using existing language and signs. It even had a sense of humour playing jokes with the trainer. Linguists were studying this chimp and agreed that it was not down to learned behaviour or copying for a reward. It knew happy and sad and tired and hungry and would interupt what was going on to express these feelings.


No, it didn't. I am sure that the documentary you watched made that point. They all do, but they are way short on substantive evidence. I teach courses in this stuff. I am very familiar with the research and I can tell you that there is not one single example of a non-human using sign language to 'create' new words with new meanings. There are occasional examples cited in the literature, but these turn out to be misinterpretations of data. If a chimp could do this once, it could do it a thousand times. One example over several years is evidence of nothing.

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