Last night I was at the recording of a BBC radio show. The Infinite Monkey Cage is a mix of science and comedy, but they can really go into depth. The topic was the mind and covered various areas including cognition and language. One of the experts mentioned Alex the parrot. This bird was studied for thirty years and showed a high level of intelligence. Various animals such as chimps, gorillas and dolphins have been taught to use language, but apparently they never ask questions. Alex was given various tasks involving colours. One day he saw himself in a mirror and said "What colour?". I'm sure that must have got a big reactions from the researchers. Unfortunately Alex died at the fairly young age of 30. This sort of experiment can be controversial as the scientists may be giving unconscious hints to the subjects, but maybe other animals are smarter than we assume. We are animals too and maybe there is a smooth scale of intelligence rather than us being on a totally different level. I'm sure most pet owners see some intelligence in their pets, yet many of them will still eat animals of with brains of a similar complexity. Funny old world we live in.
Makes you think (which is a good thing).
I'm Steve, the geeky guitarist.
I'll buy guitar picks for Steem Dollars
