
The Person in the Ape - Petiver
https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/states-mind/person-ape
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RcouF1uZ4gsC
> He got the first few wrong. “Kanzi, you got to listen, bud!” said Jared
> Taglialatela, one of the research directors. “Sometimes we can tell when
> he’s not really paying attention.”

“Balloon!” the computer said. Kanzi pressed a red symbol that looked like an
umbrella missing its handle. Two triumphant tones followed. “Gorilla!” Kanzi
pressed on a yellow circle with a long, curling tail. Correct. “Cereal.” Right
again.

So he got a few wrong, but that was due to just not paying attention. Then he
got 2 in a row correct and that was due to intelligence? I think a lot of the
ape intelligence research is very biased by the fact that the researcher wants
a certain outcome. Animals can be very good at reading non-verbal clues. These
trials have to be double blind, or else the ape may be able to pick up the
slight frown or smile on the face of the tester as he is about to push a
certain button. In addition, humans are very good at seeing patterns where
there is none, and a pattern of randomness does not look like what our
intuition tells us.

The communication of these non-human primates may be more the handler
communicating than the primate itself.

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yters
How much of human like attributes are true similarities between apes and
humans, and how much is projection? It is hard to tell, as we have a great
tendency to project our internal experiences on somewhat similar external
forms. E.g. kids thinking of dolls as real people, à la Calvin and Hobbes.

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psyc
This tends to be the default objection in every discussion of the inner
experience of non-humans. If a person has a mind to second guess
interpretations of animal behavior as anthropomorphicizing, I can’t imagine
what would satisfy that doubt. But I also don’t see what privileges the “it’s
projection” stance over “they’re similar to us.”

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yters
It's a hazy line, but there are clear examples. E.g. robots at Disneyland are
projections, other human beings are similar.

It appears to be anthropomorphizing when, for example, an ape learns to
associate buttons with spoken words is considered to be "understanding" human
language.

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ape4
I have ape in my userid.

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Terr_
Hmm, and you can't really object with "I am not a number" either.

