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Are We Really in Anthropodenial?

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Submitted By kiplin999
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Are we really in anthropodenial? I love to watch chimpanzees at the zoo. In fact, no visit to the zoo is complete without a visit to the chimpanzee cage. Moreover, we always joke that visiting the chimpanzees is like visiting our relatives. All joking aside, we do tend to think of chimpanzees as having human characteristics. However, according to Frans De Waal, attributing human emotions to animals has long been seen as a scientific blunder. However, attributing human emotions to animals gives us insight into them and us (Waal, 1). I think that chimpanzees seem to understand things like humans do. I was particularly in awe that Georgia, a chimpanzee can play with people by spraying them with water. Also, I was amazed that Georgia could sense that she should refrain from spraying Waal with water based on Waal’s gestures. I understand that by giving nonhuman animals human characteristics is anthropomorphism; however, I believe that chimpanzees are very intelligent and that they are the closest animals to humans based on evolution. In short, I tend to agree with Waal claim that both humans and chimpanzees behavior can be explained in the same manner that we explain our own behavior—as the result of both a complex and a familiar inner life (Waal, 5). Therefore, it seems that anthropomorphism has a place in the scientific community. Moreover, I think it is worth the risk of overestimating chimpanzee’s mental life because how else are scientific discoveries going to be made. Based on The Monkey in the Mirror video I am convinced that non-human animals do posses human traits. When a chimp saw his reflection in the mirror, he jumped away from it. This behavior seemed to illustrate that chimps and infants might have the same reaction to seeing their reflections in the mirror for the first time. Both infants and chimps might assume that there are another chimps or

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Are We in Anthropodenial?

...WHEN GUESTS ARRIVE AT THE YERKES Regional Primate Research Center in Georgia, where I work, they usually pay a visit to the chimpanzees. And often, when she sees them approaching the compound, an adult female chimpanzee named Georgia will hurry to the spigot to collect a mouthful of water. She'll then casually mingle with the rest of the colony behind the mesh fence, and not even the sharpest observer will notice anything unusual. If necessary, Georgia will wait minutes, with her lips closed, until the visitors come near. Then there will be shrieks, laughs, jumps-and sometimes falls-when she suddenly sprays them. I have known quite a few apes that are good at surprising people, naive and otherwise. Heini Hediger, the great Swiss zoo biologist, recounts how he-being prepared to meet the challenge and paying attention to the ape's every move-got drenched by an experienced chimpanzee. I once found myself in a similar situation with Georgia; she had taken a drink from the spigot and was sneaking up to me. I looked her straight in the eye and pointed my finger at her, warning in Dutch, "I have seen you!" She immediately stepped back, let some of the water dribble from her mouth, and swallowed the rest. I certainly do not wish to claim that she understands Dutch, but she must have sensed that I knew what she was up to, and that I was not going to be an easy target. Now, no doubt even a casual reader will have noticed that in describing Georgia's actions, I've implied human qualities...

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