From: headbands@webtv.net (James Veverka) Date sent: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 09:39:44 -0400 (EDT) To: virus@lucifer.com Subject: Re: virus: Technology (was manifest science) Send reply to: virus@lucifer.com
> Joe, ....... the Chimp thing again. What about the chimps that have
> learned sign language and appear capable of synax with "I"? Doesn't the
> modification of their "bug tools" show some conceptual grasp of the
> situation and thus: intent? This is strictly wired behaviour? Is it
> just more psuedoscience or are they capable of more than we
> think?....jim
>
>
They are self-aware, but rudimentarily so. They can learn a limited
microlanguage, but never create one in the wild. They may strip
leaves off twigs so that they fit in termite holes, but they never
modify one object with another and they always create the
implement in the presence of the task (the termite nest) and
discard it immediately after use (they never retain a particularly
good stick from nest to nest; they assemble no permanent toolkit,
not even one with a single member).