Study suggests chimpanzees are self aware

[Gunfingers]

I control therefore I am: chimps self-aware, says study

In other words they seem to, at the fundamental level, have the same cognitive functions we do, we're just better at them.

 

[Madhuri]

I'm sorry, is this actually news to most people?
Self-awareness in many animals should be pretty obvious to us by now.

However, the degree of intelligence and similarity to humans that has been and continues to be displayed in the various primate species is very interesting. Thanks for the link!

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I'm sorry, is this actually news to most people?
Self-awareness in many animals should be pretty obvious to us by now.

However, the degree of intelligence and similarity to humans that has been and continues to be displayed in the various primate species is very interesting. Thanks for the link!

To this we can add numerous other non-primates, like whales, dolphins, and dogs.

 

[Valjean]

In other news: Pope confirmed Catholic.

 

[Revoltingest]

The real issue:
Will chimps conduct a study to see if humans are self-aware?

 

[angellous_evangellous]

The real issue:
Will chimps conduct a study to see if humans are self-aware?

Method: throw poo.

 

[Willamena]

I'm sorry, is this actually news to most people?
Self-awareness in many animals should be pretty obvious to us by now.

That's how I feel. Another example of good money wasted on useless studies.

 

[Noaidi]

"All the results suggested that "chimpanzees and humans share fundamental cognitive processes underlying the sense of being an independent agent," the researchers concluded."

What could be the implications of this research to those that believe that only humans have free will?

 

[angellous_evangellous]

That's how I feel. Another example of good money wasted on useless studies.

It's not the study that's useless, it's the way that the interpretation of the results are marketed.

 

[Gunfingers]

What could be the implications of this research to those that believe that only humans have free will?

These people, to whom Noaidi is referring, are primarily why I shared this link. There are still a lot of people who believe that only humans are capable of any higher cognitive process because they believe we are a special creation.

 

[Noaidi]

These people, to whom Noaidi is referring, are primarily why I shared this link. There are still a lot of people who believe that only humans are capable of any higher cognitive process because they believe we are a special creation.

Yes, the study didn't set out to show that chimps are self-aware - that's been known for years. What was under investigation was the mechanism by which they achieve self-awareness.

 

[AfterGlow]

Sometimes there are problems with people hijacking research like this. I remember reading a while back about people who wanted to reclassify chimpanzees and bonobos as species of human. And read today about a movement to get dolphins recognised as "non-human people".
It's not that I disagree with treating animals with the respect they deserve, I just disagree with the anthropomorphization of other species. They should be treated as intelligent chimps and intelligent dolphins, not "nearly human".

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Pfft - yeah, but are they self-aware enough to invent comforting fictions about god and an afterlife? Until then, I'm not impressed.

 

[painted wolf]

Yes, the study didn't set out to show that chimps are self-aware - that's been known for years. What was under investigation was the mechanism by which they achieve self-awareness.

Actually this was a study of the degree of self-awareness.... as self awareness isn't a yes or no answer but a gradation.

If they had been studying the mechanism, they would have been talking about the features of the brain that activated, neuron function, neurochemistry and so on. Mechanisms are the biological processes behind the behavior.

Sorry to pick nits, but it is an important distinction.

wa:do

 

[painted wolf]

Sometimes there are problems with people hijacking research like this. I remember reading a while back about people who wanted to reclassify chimpanzees and bonobos as species of human. And read today about a movement to get dolphins recognised as "non-human people".
It's not that I disagree with treating animals with the respect they deserve, I just disagree with the anthropomorphization of other species. They should be treated as intelligent chimps and intelligent dolphins, not "nearly human".

This wasn't to anthropomorphize them (not that some people didn't do this), but to reccognize that there is an ethical problem with the way we interact with them.

If they are as self-aware to the degree that they are essentially as sentient as we are, then keeping them in small cages/pools for our amusement is problematic at the least. Not to mention hunting them for food and sport and experimentation.

How do we treat other species that have intelligence that is equivalent (or "near human") to our own?

wa:do

 

[fantome profane]

Sometimes there are problems with people hijacking research like this. I remember reading a while back about people who wanted to reclassify chimpanzees and bonobos as species of human. And read today about a movement to get dolphins recognised as "non-human people".
It's not that I disagree with treating animals with the respect they deserve, I just disagree with the anthropomorphization of other species. They should be treated as intelligent chimps and intelligent dolphins, not "nearly human".

I think humans should be reclassified as “two legged land dolphins”.

 

[AfterGlow]

This wasn't to anthropomorphize them (not that some people didn't do this), but to reccognize that there is an ethical problem with the way we interact with them.

I know the research wasn't, I just dislike it when some people use it to justify opinions I find silly.

If they are as self-aware to the degree that they are essentially as sentient as we are, then keeping them in small cages/pools for our amusement is problematic at the least. Not to mention hunting them for food and sport and experimentation.

Agreed.

How do we treat other species that have intelligence that is equivalent (or "near human") to our own?

As they would want to be treated, not as we would.

 

[AfterGlow]

I think humans should be reclassified as “two legged land dolphins”.

I'm sure there are some dolphins who would agree with you.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm sure there are some dolphins who would agree with you.

And others would be horribly offended.

 

[painted wolf]

And others would be horribly offended.

I would be, if I were a dolphin.

wa:do