Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Monday, 20 April 2009
Dogs out-smart chimps in Harvard exams
Here's a new addition to the "dogs are the new chimps" line I flagged in the side-bar. It specifically relates to the ability of dogs to accept a variety of cues from a human as to the location of food. A task chimps fail miserably. The key point here is that, despite being further away from us genetically, dogs have evolved a superior form of social intelligence to chimpanzees in certain areas. Picking up clues from humans being one of them. See chapter 8 in NOT A CHIMP for more details.
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