5,959 views

Watch
- Search Videos
  
  Advanced search »
- Submit a New Video
Discuss
About
- Try clicking on the various channels to see videos posted to that channel - if you're into music you can click the Music channel to get more music sifts - go on and explore! Use the "hotness" when you have opened the channel link to get videos that have gotten a lot of votes, or use "newness" to have a look at the new sifts.
  When browsing sifts you like, have a look at the Related Posts list to see other related videos, click the tags under the video title to see more sifts tagged with the same tags or have a look at other sifts from the same user in the More Posts By list. If the sifted video is in a play list, have a look at the play list to see other interesting videos the Sift users have linked together.
  Enter the Sift Lounge to chat with online sifters about anything and everything, or read interesting posts in the Sift Talk forum.
  The Top New Videos list is always full of interesting, current videos. It is always recommended that you have a look through the Top New Videos, but also have a look at these:
  - Upcoming Unsifted Videos - active video submissions that neither are published to the front page nor archived to the submitter's personal queue
- Have you seen a really funny, surprising, scary, interesting, cute or in any other way extra good quality video?
  Post and share it here - VideoSift is the best video aggregator on the Web, where we share, discuss, promote, and interact with the best videos out there on the web. Post it here, and share it with the large community of video-interested users. And - you are guaranteed to find more very good videos here already!
  Mind you, we only share videos you discover that someone else has made; if you "self link," by posting a video you have made, have posted or have interests in, you risk the ban hammer - read the posting guidelines before posting. The sift is NOT for promoting your own videos - it is for sharing videos others have made.
  Submit a Video Now »
Login

TED: Susan Savage-Rumbaugh - Animals which are a lot like us

submitted by drattus

1 decade 7 years 2 months 4 weeks ago

Savage-Rumbaugh asks whether uniquely human traits, and other animals' behaviors, are hardwired by species. Then she rolls a video that makes you think: maybe not. The bonobo apes she works with understand spoken English. One follows her instructions to take a cigarette lighter from her pocket and use it to start a fire. Bonobos are shown making tools, drawing symbols to communicate, and playing Pac-Man -- all tasks learned just by watching. Maybe it's not always biology that causes a species to act as it does, she suggests. Maybe it's cultural exposure to how things are done.

http://www.ted.com

7 Comments

it's exciting to see scientists looking at the role of culture within a species and how this is a learned thing. our children learn to do and speak by watching and listening. makes sense that other species do the same and rather humbling that our culture can be acquired by another species so easily.

It's almost like evolution is true!

did you notice the apes are smoking cigarettes in a couple scenes?

That's why they have those little smoking monkey toys, with the teensy ciggies that blow smoke-rings....and those monkeys that steal cameras from the tourists at temples? They find those things full of pictures, of tourists doing cute things.

ah the bonobos... the shameless apes...

Tags for this video have been changed from 'evolution, biology, species development' to 'evolution, biology, species development, bonobo, chimpanzee' - edited by jonny

8 more comments have been lost in the ether at this killed duplicate.

Discuss...

🗨️ Emojis & HTML

Enable JavaScript to submit a comment.

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.