Monkey See,Monkey Do.

kneemos · 11-01-2015 9:39am #1

Anybody know what the point is of teaching monkeys to copy human behaviour by basically teaching them tricks and putting it across as important research.

They're probably the lucky ones considering what's done to some of them for medical research,but it always struck me as totally pointless.What exactly do we find out other than monkeys are reasonably smart?

Son0vagun · 11-01-2015 9:44am

Future Cheap labour.

Senna · 11-01-2015 9:45am

If they're not showing human tasks, how will they ever become moderators?

MadsL · 11-01-2015 9:49am

"Laugh now but one day we'll be in charge!"

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rafDmwhBL._SY300_.jpg

corner of hells · 11-01-2015 9:50am

kneemos wrote: »

Anybody know what the point is of teaching monkeys to copy human behaviour by basically teaching them tricks and putting it across as important research.

They're probably the lucky ones considering what's done to some of them for medical research,but it always struck me as totally pointless.What exactly do we find out other than monkeys are reasonably smart?

"I thought love was only true in fairytales.........." , is the singing monkey's you are talking about ? "Then I saw her FACE. ,ohhhhhhh ahhhhhhhh, now Im a believer".

DEFTLEFTHAND · 11-01-2015 10:00am

I had a tamed macaque sitting on my lap when I went to an open park in Thailand. He felt my hair and rubbed my facial features and tugged my ear to the point that it hurt, he got a bit feisty when I tried to remove his hand from my ear and the handler picked him up.

Felt sorry for the little guy, his job was to put up with arsehole patrons who wanted to take pictures with him.

Menas · 11-01-2015 10:03am

I dont really get this human need to make animals more like us.

Dressing dogs up for eg. I mean what the fck is going thru your mind as you put a little coat and pair of boots on Fido before taking him to the park....in a pram?

Ghost Train · 11-01-2015 10:09am

We share the same evolutionary path and our dna is mostly similar, so by studying them we might learn about how our own behaviour and cognitive ability developed and works

kneemos · 11-01-2015 10:16am

Ghost Train wrote: »

We share the same evolutionary path and our dna is mostly similar, so by studying them we might learn about how our own behaviour and cognitive ability developed and works

Yeeeah.Really?

Cee-Jay-Cee · 11-01-2015 10:18am

OP have you not seen Planet of the Apes? Scientists want to know if that could really happen so they conduct all
these tests and experiments.

kneemos · 11-01-2015 10:21am

What about Dolphins.
They spend God knows how much time and money studying Dolphin sounds,for the life of me I can't see a point to it.
What purpise does it serve if we understand what Dolphins are saying anymore than say what Squirrel's are saying.

Ghost Train · 11-01-2015 10:23am

kneemos wrote: »

Yeeeah.Really?

nope

it's probably more just to see them do funny stuff

userod · 11-01-2015 10:24am

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Felt sorry for the little guy, his job was to put up with arsehole patrons who wanted to take pictures with him.

Weren't you just another arsehole patron?

Or was there something special about your time with him?

suicide_circus · 11-01-2015 10:27am

kneemos wrote: »

What about Dolphins.
They spend God knows how much time and money studying Dolphin sounds,for the life of me I can't see a point to it.
What purpise does it serve if we understand what Dolphins are saying anymore than say what Squirrel's are saying.

Yeah but you cant train dolphins to act as butlers, to wear little suits, smoke cigars or ride unicycles

Mr. Incognito · 11-01-2015 10:29am

They can get jobs in the public service covering the sick leave.

Menas · 11-01-2015 10:30am

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

They can get jobs in the public service covering the sick leave.

(Insert joke about them out performing those on sick leave)

suicide_circus · 11-01-2015 10:32am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA1YujjDE9s

ALiasEX · 11-01-2015 10:40am

seamus · 11-01-2015 11:01am

It was believed for a long time that there was a clear delineation between humans and other animals and that intelligence was that clear line.

However it's become obvious that there is very little between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom so the study of intelligence and the nature of intelligence helps us understand where we came from, how and why we have consciousness and ultimately can help us to understand the nature of what we call existence.

There is no longer any agreement that we possess anything which other animals don't. We cannot prove that monkeys do not have consciousness like we have, so investigating the nature of their intelligence can teach us how they think but also how we think.

kneemos · 11-01-2015 11:30am

seamus wrote: »

It was believed for a long time that there was a clear delineation between humans and other animals and that intelligence was that clear line.

However it's become obvious that there is very little between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom so the study of intelligence and the nature of intelligence helps us understand where we came from, how and why we have consciousness and ultimately can help us to understand the nature of what we call existence.

There is no longer any agreement that we possess anything which other animals don't. We cannot prove that monkeys do not have consciousness like we have, so investigating the nature of their intelligence can teach us how they think but also how we think.

Study them in their natural environment then . I'm not convinced teaching them tricks achieves anything.

mister gullible · 11-01-2015 11:35am

kneemos wrote: »

What purpise does it serve if we understand what Dolphins are saying.

Think you mean 'what porpoise does it serve'...

Clermont1098 · 11-01-2015 11:40am

It's slow this morning.

Shenshen · 11-01-2015 11:41am

Why do we teach little children to talk? Why do we teach mute and deaf people sign language? Why do we teach people to speak and understand other languages?

I thought it was really obvious - to allow communication.

Tonyandthewhale · 11-01-2015 2:01pm

kneemos wrote: »

Study them in their natural environment then . I'm not convinced teaching them tricks achieves anything.

What 'tricks' do you think scientists are teaching monkeys? Scientists aren't the ones teaching monkeys to ride unicycles and smoke cigars.

kneemos · 11-01-2015 2:04pm

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

What 'tricks' do you think scientists are teaching monkeys? Scientists aren't the ones teaching monkeys to ride unicycles and smoke cigars.

Push buttons in sequence for a reward and similar such nonsense.

Shenshen · 11-01-2015 2:27pm

kneemos wrote: »

Push buttons in sequence for a reward and similar such nonsense.

You seem to be confusing Skinner's 1970s experiments with pigeons with modern-day attempts at communicating with other species.

The_Valeyard · 11-01-2015 2:45pm

I have seen Planet of the Apes. This does not end well for us humans.

kneemos · 11-01-2015 3:07pm

Shenshen wrote: »

You seem to be confusing Skinner's 1970s experiments with pigeons with modern-day attempts at communicating with other species.

They're not communicating with them,they have trained responses into them.

Shenshen · 11-01-2015 5:43pm

kneemos wrote: »

They're not communicating with them,they have trained responses into them.

Well, the scientists communicating with them believe that communication is happening, so by your definitions from the atheism-thread, that means those communications are real.

kneemos · 11-01-2015 5:47pm

Shenshen wrote: »

Well, the scientists communicating with them believe that communication is happening, so by your definitions from the atheism-thread, that means those communications are real.

Had to take a nap after proving the existence of God.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 11-01-2015 6:28pm

kneemos wrote: »

Study them in their natural environment then . I'm not convinced teaching them tricks achieves anything.

From todays Sunday Times.

Gibbons use loud sound in distinctive patterns to warn others of danger.

'waoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo' translates as 'move away from any low slung branches as there's likely to be a snake lurking there'.
'waoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-wa-wa' is a warning that a leopard has been spotted.

Also, researchers have identified 29 different sounds made by rats but have yet to identify their meaning.

Without studying them in controlled conditions and exposure to different stimuli there would be little knowledge of their systems of communications and their study in captive and wild environments is leading us to better understanding of the evolution of language skills in early human ancestors.

There is also work being done on the sounds of whales, dolphins, bats and sondbirds.

While i don't agree with the training of animals to do tricks, i can appreciate the knowledge gained from that in fostering a better understanding of animals in the wild.

Clermont1098 · 11-01-2015 6:31pm

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Also, researchers have identified 29 different sounds made by rats but have yet to identify their meaning.

Rats! There's always rats! Nidge.

ScumLord · 11-01-2015 6:35pm

kneemos wrote: »

Anybody know what the point is of teaching monkeys to copy human behaviour by basically teaching them tricks and putting it across as important research.

They're probably the lucky ones considering what's done to some of them for medical research,but it always struck me as totally pointless.What exactly do we find out other than monkeys are reasonably smart?

Ghost Train wrote: »

We share the same evolutionary path and our dna is mostly similar, so by studying them we might learn about how our own behaviour and cognitive ability developed and works

By monkeys I assume ye mean apes.

Being our closet DNA relative means we share a lot of behaviours and brain functions. Chimps have shown very human traits and tests revolve around things like do they feel the same sense of fairness, can they read maps and understand symbolism. Basically what functions do they or don't they have compared to us. This allows us to better understand how and when we picked up some of our more unique and advanced brain functions.

It can be a pretty disgusting line of research, at times it seems as bad as experimenting on people, but today's research is a bit more human and more focused on behaviour than cutting them up and transplanting their heads onto other bodies.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 11-01-2015 6:39pm

Clermont1098 wrote: »

Rats! There's always rats! Nidge.

All i want from this research in how to say...

'Fcuk off you dirty bloody rats before i have to beat you to death...' in Rat.

I HATE rats.

*shivers*

Capt'n Midnight · 12-01-2015 1:07am

The tale of the 5 monkeys in a cage with a banana and a ladder can be used to explain the typical Irish working attitude of "but that's the way we've always done things here"

Cienciano · 12-01-2015 1:33am

OP, what experiments in particular are you talking about? Got a link?

seamus · 12-01-2015 9:38am

kneemos wrote: »

They're not communicating with them,they have trained responses into them.

You could say the same about humans...

kneemos · 12-01-2015 9:46am

seamus wrote: »

You could say the same about humans...

Uh uh.

Monkey See,Monkey Do.

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