
We lost tremendous amount of short term memory thus chimps can do this, we can’t - vo2maxer
https://twitter.com/brianroemmele/status/1213860120058220546
======
dekhn
I'm getting tired of these "chain of tweets each ending in a pithy scientific
claim that sounds really impressive but is probably wrong for technical
reasons".

~~~
vo2maxer
I agree with your annoyance at these types of threads. The contrast in this
chain is the animated discussion between the originator and various scientists
including neuroscientists, primatologists, etc.

~~~
dekhn
Maybe I'm not seeing the responses properly but it looks like nobody on the
thread is an expert scientist. Within several tweets, the main claim of the OP
was more or less put into strong doubt.

~~~
vo2maxer
Some of those involved in the discussion:

Brad Wyble [1, 2]

[1]
[https://psych.la.psu.edu/directory/bpw10](https://psych.la.psu.edu/directory/bpw10)

[2] [http://wyblelab.com/](http://wyblelab.com/)

Sharon Rodobre OBE [3, 4]

[3] [https://lafeber.com/vet/redrobe/](https://lafeber.com/vet/redrobe/)

[4] [https://blooloop.com/features/twycross-zoo-sharon-redrobe-
on...](https://blooloop.com/features/twycross-zoo-sharon-redrobe-one-world/)

Claudio Tennie [5, 6, 7]

[5]
[https://sites.google.com/view/claudiotennie/cv](https://sites.google.com/view/claudiotennie/cv)

[6]
[https://sites.google.com/view/claudiotennie](https://sites.google.com/view/claudiotennie)

[7] [https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/mathematisch-
naturwisse...](https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/mathematisch-
naturwissenschaftliche-
fakultaet/fachbereiche/geowissenschaften/arbeitsgruppen/urgeschichte-
naturwissenschaftliche-archaeologie/forschungsbereich/aeltere-urgeschichte-
quartaeroekologie/mitarbeiter/akademische-mitarbeiterinnen-und-mitarbeiter/dr-
claudio-tennie/)

Tom Roth [8]

[8] [https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/1/tom-
roth](https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/1/tom-roth)

Patrick A. Jansen [9]

[9] [https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Patrickdr.ir.-PA-Patrick-
Janse...](https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Patrickdr.ir.-PA-Patrick-Jansen.htm)

~~~
dekhn
checked out all your links; really not seeing how an animal vet qualifies. The
people I agree with are the ones on this list who are disagreeing with the
original poster, and have the greatest qualifications in the area of interest
(wyble and tennie).

~~~
vo2maxer
I took your statement, “it looks like nobody on the thread is an expert
scientist,” literally. It could be that I’m confused by what you mean with
“expert scientist.” You qualified two from the list but questioned Sharon
Redobre’s (I misspelled her name in my comment) inclusion as merely being a
veterinarian. When I read her curriculum vitae [1], I can’t help but conclude
that she is both, an expert in her field, primates and exotic animals, and a
scientist based on the definitions I consulted [2, 3, 4].

I will not discuss the others you excluded; it would be tedious and belaboring
the point.

Finally, I agree with those who refuted the original poster despite his
answers to their counterpoint. Someone posted a claim that was argued with
civility over the chain of comments, not unlike what happens in HN. How such a
discussion is tiresome, I leave to individual preference. :-)

[1] [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sharon-redrobe-
obe-11139912](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sharon-redrobe-obe-11139912)

[2]
[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/scie...](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/scientist)

[3]
[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scientist](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scientist)

[4] [https://sciencecouncil.org/about-science/10-types-of-
scienti...](https://sciencecouncil.org/about-science/10-types-of-scientist/)

------
neeeeees
I noticed something really interesting around the 2:09 mark in the video - the
chimp taps a box, and goes on to the next one very quickly, but realizes that
the initial tap didn’t register properly and goes back to fix it.

I definitely commit a “mistap” error like that at least once a week on my
phone / iPad. I’m not sure I can spot and fix them that quickly!

------
timoth3y
I didn't see anything in the article that supported this conclusion.

We did not evolve from chimps, we share a common ancestor, but we evolved (and
continue to evolve) independently. We may have lost this ability or we may
have never had it. Chimps could have developed it after branching off.

------
gus_massa
There is some discusión about how much training did the monkeys had and how
much did the humans had. Which paper is has the best comparison?

Is there any evidence that this is present in the common ancestor an is not a
new development of the chimpanzees/bonobos?

~~~
jowdones
May I point out that it's racist to call them monkeys? The correct term is
"ape".

Just kidding, btw, but I recall having heard something along this.

~~~
gus_massa
It is not racist to call them monkeys, but it is wrong. They are apes.

[I can blame my native language that is Spanish, where the words apes and
monkeys are equivalent. Anyway, in the recent times it's more common to try to
use each word for the different kinds of animals like in English. It's a good
excuse, but the reality is that I was wrong.]

