Are some Chimps smarter than some humans

The forum for general posting. Come join the madness. :)
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
themanintheseersuckersuit
Posts: 7634
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: South Carolina

Are some Chimps smarter than some humans

#1 Post by themanintheseersuckersuit » Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:27 pm

Nim Chimpsky was born in Norman OK and then he went to NYC for his own special kind of hell.
Suitguy is not bitter.

feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive

The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.

User avatar
silvercamaro
Dog's Best Friend
Posts: 9608
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:45 am

#2 Post by silvercamaro » Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:37 pm

Thank God, Roger Fouts managed to get Washoe out of Oklahoma and safely to Washington State with him. (Fouts had refused to sign over "ownership" for the first chimp to learn ASL.)

Lemmon was an SOB. He deserves to burn in hell for what he did to all the other chimps, which was far worse than anything mentioned in this story.

Not that I have a strong opinion about it or anything.

User avatar
themanintheseersuckersuit
Posts: 7634
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: South Carolina

#3 Post by themanintheseersuckersuit » Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:48 pm

silvercamaro wrote:Thank God, Roger Fouts managed to get Washoe out of Oklahoma and safely to Washington State with him. (Fouts had refused to sign over "ownership" for the first chimp to learn ASL.)

Lemmon was an SOB. He deserves to burn in hell for what he did to all the other chimps, which was far worse than anything mentioned in this story.

Not that I have a strong opinion about it or anything.
So I guess smart/less smart is not the pertinent question, its "are some more evil that than others", and sadly we've known the answer to that since before writing was invented.
Suitguy is not bitter.

feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive

The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.

User avatar
silvercamaro
Dog's Best Friend
Posts: 9608
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:45 am

#4 Post by silvercamaro » Sun Jun 08, 2008 5:22 pm

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:
So I guess smart/less smart is not the pertinent question, its "are some more evil that than others", and sadly we've known the answer to that since before writing was invented.
I can answer the question, however, having spent some time at the Primate Farm when it was still a good place to be. There is no question that some chimpanzees are smarter than some humans. Chimpanzees, like humans, demonstrate a range of intelligence and special skills. Furthermore, some chimpanzees are more human than the humanity demonstrated by some of the lesser hairless apes.

User avatar
mrkelley23
Posts: 6560
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:48 pm
Location: Somewhere between Bureaucracy and Despair

#5 Post by mrkelley23 » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:41 pm

If you haven't read it, the original "Jerry Was a Man" is still powerful, although dated:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Was_a_Man
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled. -- Richard Feynman

User avatar
Bob Juch
Posts: 27070
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
Contact:

#6 Post by Bob Juch » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:50 pm

mrkelley23 wrote:If you haven't read it, the original "Jerry Was a Man" is still powerful, although dated:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Was_a_Man
I read the original story as well as viewed the ABC show. We're going to have to deal with that issue sometime soon.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.

Post Reply