Opinion poll: Can apes think like humans? (There was an ape named "Koko" that used sign language...)

Answer 1

Apes can think. That is really not in dispute. They can think like humans in some capacities. But they cannot think exactly like humans.

For instance, language really is uniquely human. We have an immense facility for language - thousands of words, gestures, subtle shades of meaning, grammatical structures - and more importantly we can pass this on to our children. We have taught apes (gorillas and chimps, that I know if) to communicate using sign language. But they have a very limited vocabulary, and use simple sentences. (Which is amazing, no doubt about it.) But significantly, if the signing ape tries to teach another ape, they pass on even fewer words, and that ape teaches fewer still, until the knowledge of signing has most likely disappeared within just a few generations.

Research with apes has shown some other surprising things. Like, Koko showed grief at the loss of her kitten...and she also lies! (She was caught eating a crayon, and when confronted, claimed it was "lipstick.") And Franz de Waal has reported the bonobos he's studied show emotions like jealousy (flinging dirt at his office window when someone else was in there) and empathy (one bonobo taking the hand of another slower less capable bonobo to help lead him down the hall).

Answer 2

McKenna's theory is usually pretty hard for people who've never taken a "heroic dose" 5 dried grams, to accept. Once you have THE experience, I think the stoned ape theory seems pretty possible. Conventional science still doesn't have an explanation for why the human brain doubled in size in about 2 million years, and then almost doubled again in the next million years. It's an extremely brief period of time for something to change so radically. I think if our ape ancestors continuously exposed themselves to the psychoactive mushrooms it would have had a profound effect on their mental capacity. It would have taken generations. But I think it's defiantly possible that it could have caused a shift. Especially when you think about how closely related animals and fungi are, and how many herd animals there must have been, when we first climbed out of the trees. What most people don't realize is that human beings are not the most advanced organism on this planet. Not by a long shot. Have you ever experienced the mushroom calling you a monkey? :)

Answer 3

I think they are not nearly as adept at thinking symbolically as we are but that doesn't mean they don't have a pretty good understanding of what goes on around them. They are very intelligent, they are just not good at speaking. Humans think by using symbolic words for the most part. That particular part of human thought is probably not shared to any significant degree by known apes.

Answer 4

No . . . but with hands like humans, they can express themselves better through sign language.

They can only express what they understand, which, when you pay attention to what they're communicating, is extremely limited compared to humans.

Theorists are always comparing greater apes to toddlers; toddlers will grow in knowledge and complexity way beyond the mental barriers of the apes, though.

Answer 5

Apes lack critical brain adaptations (ie more developed frontal lobes, etc...) that humans have evolved. That is not to say that they do not think... on the contrary they are clever and can solve complex problems readily. It is just that certain brain adaptations unique to humans allow for a different way of seeing and feeling things and experiencing the world around us.

That said, we are not as advanced as we would like to admit. It is important to understand that they feel grief, sadness, and other complex emotions in a very 'human' way. And when it comes down to it I think they are much more 'human' than we ourselves have become. (When there are people trying to figure out how they are going to SURVIVE while others are trying to figure out what kind of SUV to get proves to me that we real humans aren't nearly as human as we OUGHT to be).

Answer 6

Apes think like apes. Humans have still to be proven to think.

Answer 7

Sure.

But dogs are smarter than both.

Good book for you:

Great Apes by Will Self

here is link:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Apes-Will-Self/dp/0802135765/sr=8-1/qid=1165619922/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8257565-4424054?ie=UTF8&s=books

Answer 8

i would have to say that i am 50% on the apes side...they do use tools and like you said "Koko" was quite proficient.

Answer 9

Persoanlly, I think if we had the same brain structure, they'd be exactly like us. I mean, a dog knows how to fetch. So no. We evolved for a reason.

Answer 10

not really, their brain capacity is less than a human's, but nevertheless, they are still intelligent. if they were as smart as us, then earth would be called "planet of the Apes"