The ultimate poll: Are you worth more than an ape?

[Bootstoots]

Well I am an ape, so I'd say yes, I am worth as much as myself.

I'm an ape too! Where are all these creatures that say they aren't apes coming from?

 

[timtofly]

They are fleeing the "race" threads?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

If a non-human ape can complete my research project, I would consider them an equal.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Do you consider me equal? Because I won't be able to finish your research project.
In fact I am afraid to say - I am not able to replace the very vast majority of skills people have.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

You probably could if you took the proper courses and training. I would be excited at the prospect of other species being capable of scientific research.

 

[Souron]

Voted "Yes, for I can reason (more complexly)."

I like this poll.

 

[classical_hero]

Yes, because God sent his son to die for my sins. He never did this for any ape, since he came to earth as a human.

 

[Rashiminos]

So who is measuring the worth?

 

[El_Machinae]

I vote yes for purely selfish reasons, because I currently live in a universe that's completely devoted to me. For this reason, it's an uphill battle to actually not consider (implicitly) myself as 'worth more' than the vast majority of people.

 

[Gucumatz]

Its a madhouse?

But in reality I am not sure if I (or others) are worth more than apes. I think I and others are, but I believe everything has some sort of role/purpose. If humanity ends up killing itself off and apes are still around to influence the future somehow (whether evolution into another dominant life-form or as a species with some sort of purpose to the new dominant life form) it's possible that apes would have more "worth" than us in the longterm.

 

[Kyriakos]

It does seem unlikely that current apes will develop an actual language, though. Some of them are intelligent (eg the Orangutans i mentioned in my previous post), but without a language they are unlikely to evolve much past the level of a clearly sentient but 'stable' being which has no aspiration to develop other outwardly manifested abilities.

 

[Domen]

It does seem unlikely that current apes will develop an actual language, though.

Spoiler :

Link to video.


Link to video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_6ITSH8G8


Link to video.

Edit:

I put these videos into a spoiler.

 

[Kyriakos]

^Hm. I don't know about the Koko/Gorilla foundation, but the video (i saw the second one) does not really depict any evidence the gorilla there is communicating something in reply to supposedly the human's sign language (let alone words, of course).

 

[Domen]

Some more videos with Koko in the spoiler below:

Spoiler :

Link to video.


Link to video.


Link to video.


Link to video.

And here a longer documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf7ZpdvnoEE


Link to video.

============================================

Check this:

http://www.koko.org/world/

During the course of the study, Koko has advanced further with language than any other non-human. Koko has a working vocabulary of over 1000 signs. Koko understands approximately 2,000 words of spoken English. Koko initiates the majority of conversations with her human companions and typically constructs statements averaging three to six words. Koko has a tested IQ of between 70 and 95 on a human scale, where 100 is considered "normal."

In addition to intensive studies of vocabulary acquisition, the project has investigated spontaneous gorilla language use. This involves the study of innovative linguistic strategies, invention of new signs and compound words, simultaneous signing, self-directed signing, displacement, prevarication, reference to time and emotional states, gestural modulation, metaphorical word use, humor, definition, argument, insult, threat, fantasy play, storytelling and moral judgment. The depth and variety of gorilla language use has significantly exceeded initial expectations. Indeed, evidence has been found for the existence, in less developed form, of almost every aspect of human behavior.

Project Koko is the cornerstone of TGF/Koko.org's work. By demonstrating the intelligence of gorillas, TGF/Koko.org can more effectively lobby for the humane treatment of captive animals and increased conservation efforts for those that are free-living. Project Koko has proven the stereotyped image of gorillas as blood-thirsty, destructive monsters unequivocally false. Indeed, it has forced a re-examination of traditional thought regarding all animals.

The project has shown that an animal can possess qualities that were previously considered exclusively human, such as thought processes, imagination and feelings. This knowledge is crucial to all animal advocacy efforts, from the prevention of cruelty to animals to the conservation and preservation of endangered species.

The study of gorilla language acquisition sheds light on the vital connection between gorillas and their sibling species, homo sapiens. Project Koko has contributed to the study of the evolution and development of human communication and suggests a gestural origin of human language.

A project to establish a new homeland for gorillas in the USA:

http://www.koko.org/preserve/

 

[Domen]

Yes, because God sent his son to die for my sins. He never did this for any ape, since he came to earth as a human.

Well, if we assume another point of view, then he came to earth as a sibling species of gorillas.

 

[sophie]

Yes, because God sent his son to die for my sins. He never did this for any ape, since he came to earth as a human.

Jesus was an ape

Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia. Apes are the largest primates and the orangutan, an ape, is the largest living arboreal animal. Hominoids are traditionally forest dwellers, although chimpanzees may range into savanna, and the extinct australopithecines were likely also savanna inhabitants, inferred from their morphology. Humans inhabit almost every terrestrial habitat.
Hominoidea contains two families of living (extant) species:
Hylobatidae consists of four genera and sixteen species of gibbon, including the lar gibbon and the siamang. They are commonly referred to as lesser apes.
Hominidae consists of orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and humans.[1][2] Alternatively, the hominidae family are collectively described as the great apes.[3][4][5][6] There are two extant species in the orangutan genus (Pongo), two species in the gorilla genus, and a single extant species Homo sapiens in the human genus (Homo). Chimpanzees and bonobos are closely related to each other and they represent the two species in the genus Pan.

The great apes are large, tailless primates, with the smallest living species being the bonobo at 30–40 kilograms in weight, and the largest being the gorillas, with males weighing 140–180 kilograms. In all great apes, the males are, on average, larger and stronger than the females, although the degree of sexual dimorphism varies greatly among species. Although most living species are predominantly quadrupedal, they are all able to use their hands for gathering food or nesting materials, and, in some cases, for tool use.[21]
Most species are omnivorous, but fruit is the preferred food among all but some human groups. Chimpanzees and orangutans primarily eat fruit. When gorillas run short of fruit at certain times of the year or in certain regions, they resort to eating shoots and leaves, often of bamboo, a type of grass. Gorillas have extreme adaptations for chewing and digesting such low-quality forage, but they still prefer fruit when it is available, often going miles out of their way to find especially preferred fruits. Humans, since the neolithic revolution, consume mostly cereals and other starchy foods, including increasingly highly processed foods, as well as many other domesticated plants (including fruits) and meat. Hominid teeth are similar to those of the Old World monkeys and gibbons, although they are especially large in gorillas. The dental formula is
2.1.2.3
2.1.2.3
Human teeth and jaws are markedly smaller for their size than those of other apes, which may be an adaptation to eating cooked food for more than a million years.[22][23]

Gestation in great apes lasts 8–9 months, and results in the birth of a single offspring, or, rarely, twins. The young are born helpless, and they must be cared for for long periods of time. Compared with most other mammals, great apes have a remarkably long adolescence, not being weaned for several years, and not becoming fully mature for eight to thirteen years in most species (longer in humans). As a result, females typically give birth only once every few years. There is no distinct breeding season.[21]
Gorillas and chimpanzees live in family groups of around five to ten individuals, although much larger groups are sometimes noted. Chimpanzees live in larger groups that break up into smaller groups when fruit becomes less available. When small groups of female chimpanzees go off in separate directions to forage for fruit, the dominant male(s) can no longer control them and the females often mate with other subordinate males, whether by choice or not. In contrast, groups of gorillas stay together regardless of the availability of fruit. When fruit is hard to find, they resort to eating leaves and shoots. Because gorilla groups stay together, the male is able to monopolize the females in his group. This fact is related to gorillas' greater sexual dimorphism than chimpanzees'. In both chimpanzees and gorillas, the groups include at least one dominant male, and females leave the group at maturity.

 

[Crezth]

This thread's poll is a mockery of polls everywhere.

 

[Domen]

which may be an adaptation to eating cooked food for more than a million years.

OMG, who would eat a dinner for more than a million years? I usually finish my meals in 15 minutes.

 

[Hojsimpson]

Hey, What if Tarzan go to Heaven, he may want to live there with his brothers!!!

(This is not a serious post)

 

[Tahuti]

(This is not a serious post)

You should reserve such disclaimers for posts that are serious.

(This is post is kinda serious)