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Can Communications Be Learned From Chimps?

Pine UK writes "The Zoological Society of London are looking for volunteers who are willing to 'talk chimp' in everyday life. The ZSL will be studying the volunteers to see how talking chimp affects situations like workplace conflicts. According to BBC News, the volunteers are expected to show their emotions in a chimp like fashion. This can be done by baring their teeth and by using submissive body language such as lowering their heads and crouching. The ZSL will publish their findings later this year."

8 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. Chimp Journal reports by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That humans have finally been trained to communicate after years of work!

  2. Nothing new... by Alexis+Brooke · · Score: 5, Funny

    Animal behaviour experts at ZSL are asking volunteers to 'talk chimp' in everyday life...

    You can't be on the Internet for more than five minutes without seeing this.

    OMG! Lik can u beleev teh chimps r talkin now? ROFLOLOKOL!!1!1!

    The chimps is here, and they is us.

    --
    This is a special excite .sig
    This
  3. I have an idea by cTbone · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why don't they just put a camera in SCO's offices?

  4. Chimps by Mateito · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course... give an infinite number of chimps an infinite amount of time and they will produce all the knowledge in the known universe.

    Give a finite number of chimps a finite amount of time and they will produce slashdot comments.

    Give a single chimp a broken typewriter and a banana and he will post dupes as CowboyNeal.

  5. You can't copy language without the society by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Accordint to the structuralist theory of language and society, you cannot copy the former without copying the latter. This means that if this experiment is supposed to have any value, all the participants should also create a martriarchal polyamorous sexual commune. Which reminds me: do they still need volunteers?

  6. Re:Well, by pilgrim23 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From some literature I read some years ago, I remember that the hallmark of an alpha male in Chimp society was the ability to scream loud, gesticulate aggressively, then while standing in a position between its tribe and the perceived threat or object of displeasure, squat, defecate and then skillfully project the product thereof in the general direction of dislike. This is consistent primate behavior. Would not the US Congress or perhaps the UN be a better venue for this sort of study?

    --
    - Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
  7. Re:better way to do it by dunkstr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and this is why scientific communities have ethics boards.

  8. Re:Is Learnt a word? by Smidge204 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually, "American English" is closer to the pre-1776 english than what they speak in the UK, because of America's geological isolation from the rest of the world.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English

    This is why "the universal language is American English" - Britian spread English throughout the world during it's rampant empire building in the 15th and 16th centuries, and because of the distances involved British "english" evolved and the rest of the world was largely uneffected by the changes.

    <joke>So you limey Brits can take your extra vowels and shove it!</joke>
    =Smidge=