Sunday, January 22, 2012

Who Needs Words?

Who Needs Words? Crows? You? Wild Gorillas? Alison
Krauss?




A wonderful piece
by Bill Blakemore and ABC News. Thanks to Jan Casey for sharing. Read the
entire article at the link below.


"But various
mammals, including not only dolphins and whales but African wild dogs and
Norwegian rats, many species of bird, and even spiders and insects are now
being discovered by scientists around the world to have complex vocalizations
and other sound-wave communication systems so complex that old notions that
human language is somehow fundamentally unique are being thrown in doubt.

It’s also opening
up a broad new field in which scientists are exploring that ancient question:
whether and how the mental experience of animals is different from ours:

Are animals’
thought-processes, self-reflections, feelings for others, sense of enjoyment,
and even possible moral systems and consciousness itself (whatever that is)
different only by degree and complexity from ours, or is there a more
fundamental divide?

These expanding
scientific studies can also be great fun. Animals tickle our fancy in many
ways, and often fascinate us.

Most recently, the
fact that countless millions of humans around the world click on thousands of
videos of animal behavior found on the World Wide Web is itself evidence of
some form of intense communication in them — often without “words” or any other
sounds from the animals."

by Bill Blakemore

Courtesy of ABC News and Bill Blakemore


7 comments:

  1. Today, I went to the beach front with my children.
    I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and
    said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She put the shell to her ear and screamed.
    There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
    She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off
    topic but I had to tell someone!

    Look into my page :: more helpful hints

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there! I realize this is somewhat off-topic but I had to
    ask. Does operating a well-established blog like yours take a lot of work?
    I'm completely new to operating a blog but I do write in my journal every day. I'd like to start a blog
    so I can share my own experience and views online.
    Please let me know if you have any ideas or tips for
    brand new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!



    my web-site: yellow lab and golden retriever mix

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello There. I found your blog the use of msn.

    This is a very well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to learn extra of
    your useful info. Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.


    My web blog: awesome golden retrievers puppy facts

    ReplyDelete