An ape to show creationists

[Add Homonym]

This is an important bit of research, because it shows how much excess brain power is in a chimp. The average chimp is only good for picking their nose, and poking twigs down holes. I was listening to a Terence McKenna lecture, (a psychedelic drug advocate) , and he was ridiculing evolutionary explanations of human intelligence, presenting a straw man argument that scientists say the we evolved extra intelligence from learning how to predict the trajectory of rocks. My main guess why we have so much extra intelligence, is so that we can understand the world (at all), without much education. It is a phenomenal achievement that any conscious animal can even understand the rudiments of its environment. Yet, we have pea-brained lorikeets, that can understand how to fly, and throw themselves through trees, like rockets.

[Anfauglir]

How much, really, are we "better" than animals when it comes to intelligence?

All animals, primates especially, are able to communicate with each other, presumably at the level of difficulty required for the interactions they have.

Many - again, primates especially - are able to use tools, or utilise the environment, to meet their needs.

All are capable of creating or finding shelter that meets their needs, of finding and obtaining food and drink.

Where humans appear to be superior to the average ape is in two respects - of advanced tool construction and use, and in the ability to articulate and discuss concepts.  If the ape has everything it needs for happiness and comfort, what need does it have of an electronic gizmo? 

And given that we have only the most rudimentary ability to understand the communications of animals (as opposed to understanding of the gross responses those animals give to certain apparent communications), can we really be that confident that the two gorillas snuffling at each other are not, in fact, the ape equivalents of Socrates and Plato?

[Tero]

We use quite a bit of our "extra" brain power for language. For the individual, social unteractions are as important as technical problems and solutions.

[Nick]

Bet they can do better on a science test than kids in Texas.

[nogodsforme]

Damn, that chimp was doing that number test so fast! Sheesh. No way could I be anywhere near as accurate. I think it is the beginning of the end for human domination of the planet.   

Reminds me of last year's Planet of the Apes movie. When the animals figure out how to get us, we will be so toast. And I can't say we don't deserve it, for ruining the planet for everyone and everything.

I am no genius--I can only do two sides of a Rubik's Cube. Maybe the chimps will keep me and a few other semi-intelligent humans around to do college lectures on youtube for their entertainment....

A group of chimps sitting around a laptop watching me teach, pointing and laughing with their lips pulled back showing their gums. Then they throw their poo at the screen, kind of like my more conservative students.

[Graybeard]

There's a good article on Ayumu and his mother Ai here: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Thinking-Like-a-Chimpanzee.html# Don't miss the video on the first page.

[jaimehlers]

Impressive.  I'm not very good with such memory tests, I'd need a lot of practice.

[12 Monkeys]

NDT talks about the difference between us and chimps skip to about 8 mins if you want to hear the chimps intelligence along with us