Ape Persuasive Speech
Congratulations: You are an ape. A "great ape," technically. Alongside us in this brainy family of animals are four other living species: chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos (formerly called "pygmy chimpanzees").
The biological gap between us and our great ape cousins is small. At last count, only 1.23 percent of our genes differ from those of chimpanzees. But mentally, the gap between us and them is a Grand Canyon.
On an average day in the life of the human species, we file thousands of patents, post tens of thousands of Internet videos, and think countless thoughts that have never been thought before. On a good day, chimpanzees are lucky to exploit rudimentary tried-and-true techniques, such as using stone tools to crack nuts.
Not only do we innovate more than the other great apes, we are vastly better at sharing ideas with one another. The majority of recent behavioral studies focus on information-transmission rather than invention. All of the great apes can learn new tricks by imitating a human or another …show more content…
Why not use the same technique with apes? Apes, not surprisingly, are strong, impulsive animals with little inclination to hold still inside a big, noisy cylinder. So the prospect of scanning apes to see what's on their minds seemed dim, until primatologist Lisa Parr and colleagues at the Yerkes National Primate Center at Emory University solved the problem in 2007.
Using a different kind of scanning -- positron emission tomography, or PET -- Parr's team showed chimps pictures after injecting them with a fast-decaying radioactive agent. When the chimps were anesthetized for a PET scan, the brain areas selectively activated by looking at the pictures remained "lit up." Parr is currently investigating the area of chimp brains responsible for recognizing faces. Functional brain imaging of apes is just beginning, but this new technique holds huge promise.
Where other talents
The biological gap between us and our great ape cousins is small. At last count, only 1.23 percent of our genes differ from those of chimpanzees. But mentally, the gap between us and them is a Grand Canyon.
On an average day in the life of the human species, we file thousands of patents, post tens of thousands of Internet videos, and think countless thoughts that have never been thought before. On a good day, chimpanzees are lucky to exploit rudimentary tried-and-true techniques, such as using stone tools to crack nuts.
Not only do we innovate more than the other great apes, we are vastly better at sharing ideas with one another. The majority of recent behavioral studies focus on information-transmission rather than invention. All of the great apes can learn new tricks by imitating a human or another …show more content…
Why not use the same technique with apes? Apes, not surprisingly, are strong, impulsive animals with little inclination to hold still inside a big, noisy cylinder. So the prospect of scanning apes to see what's on their minds seemed dim, until primatologist Lisa Parr and colleagues at the Yerkes National Primate Center at Emory University solved the problem in 2007.
Using a different kind of scanning -- positron emission tomography, or PET -- Parr's team showed chimps pictures after injecting them with a fast-decaying radioactive agent. When the chimps were anesthetized for a PET scan, the brain areas selectively activated by looking at the pictures remained "lit up." Parr is currently investigating the area of chimp brains responsible for recognizing faces. Functional brain imaging of apes is just beginning, but this new technique holds huge promise.
Where other talents