A few days ago I posted on the ridiculous research conducted by Betsy Herrelko, at the Edinburgh Zoo, giving chimpanzees a reinforced video camera to allow them to make a movie of themselves. I pointed out that everything of merit we have accumulated so far in comparative cognitive psychology screams at us that chimps lack the intelligence, social intelligence, and manual dexterity ever to actually understand the concepts involved in movie making, never mind the technology and methodology of doing so. In this amusing Spiked Online article Birmingham-based psychologist Stuart Derbyshire weighs in with his own devastating put-down of this piece of arrant nonsense.
As Derbyshire hints, one has to question the motives of the BBC here in broadcasting the "chimp movie" having, presumably, edited hours of video-rubbish and added the sound-track, effects and music. It betrays, I think, a ridiculously anthropomorphic element behind the Natural History Unit's recent film-making - as also shown in the final programme in Attenborough's latest series which was decidedly whimsical about our nearest relatives.
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