Prairie Dog Speak
Sep. 12th, 2011 02:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stTwenty years ago, when I studied to be a veterinarian, anthropomorphism was the sin of science. Whatever you do don't make the mistake of thinking animals were anything like humans! They didn't have thoughts or emotions or language or souls. They were just a bag of genetically coded responses. And you know what? Maybe that's all WE were, too. What is the word for thinking people are just reactionary animals?
In vain did I explain to my classmates and teachers that we couldn't claim that evolution formed our brains and our brains were responsible for every behavior and then, also, claim that our dog didn't have language skills. Because if you don't have that part of your brain that understands language, which would only evolve if you used it, then you don't respond to spoken commands to SIT by sitting. Dogs and cats and birds and horses all respond to verbal commands as well as a host of visual cues. So, either the brain isn't a product of evolution or animals have their own verbal skills and we, poor humans, haven't yet figured them out.
Which brings me to the lovely study done of the humble prairie dogs and how they communicate...with real distinct words...that we just didn't hear.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/132650631/new-language-discovered-prairiedogese
I am sure I have mentioned this story before, because this study has been going on for years, and I've been following it along. But I love to periodically visit it for updates and such, because I think this story goes to the heart of what is wrong with our species. If we could finally accept that we understand so very little about the world around us, perhaps we could accept that it is okay to imagine a better world. Maybe global climate change is happening. Maybe we could stop it. Maybe the dead are all around us. Or maybe God is clamouring for our attention and we just don't listen. Maybe other people aren't horrible just because they are different. Maybe we don't know everything and that's okay. Yes! The prairie dogs, and your dog, have language skills. No! We didn't always know that! And maybe it is okay to think about all the other things we don't REALLY know. You know what I mean?
In vain did I explain to my classmates and teachers that we couldn't claim that evolution formed our brains and our brains were responsible for every behavior and then, also, claim that our dog didn't have language skills. Because if you don't have that part of your brain that understands language, which would only evolve if you used it, then you don't respond to spoken commands to SIT by sitting. Dogs and cats and birds and horses all respond to verbal commands as well as a host of visual cues. So, either the brain isn't a product of evolution or animals have their own verbal skills and we, poor humans, haven't yet figured them out.
Which brings me to the lovely study done of the humble prairie dogs and how they communicate...with real distinct words...that we just didn't hear.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/132650631/new-language-discovered-prairiedogese
I am sure I have mentioned this story before, because this study has been going on for years, and I've been following it along. But I love to periodically visit it for updates and such, because I think this story goes to the heart of what is wrong with our species. If we could finally accept that we understand so very little about the world around us, perhaps we could accept that it is okay to imagine a better world. Maybe global climate change is happening. Maybe we could stop it. Maybe the dead are all around us. Or maybe God is clamouring for our attention and we just don't listen. Maybe other people aren't horrible just because they are different. Maybe we don't know everything and that's okay. Yes! The prairie dogs, and your dog, have language skills. No! We didn't always know that! And maybe it is okay to think about all the other things we don't REALLY know. You know what I mean?