Young apes 'brighter than human children'

[UM-Bot]

Young apes are smarter than their human cousins, scientists have claimed. A team from the University of St Andrews discovered that chimpanzees acted more intelligently and were better at problem-solving than pre-school children.

Rather than mimicking adults, the scientists found that young chimps are better at working things out for themselves than children, who will simply copy the actions of their elders.

View: Full Article | Source: Scotsman

[Great Big Sea]

Maybe the reason why they seem more smart is because they know that they will get a treat at the end! Documentaries always said that they were smart animals.

[Janiel]

"Monkey see, Monkey do."

[Stellar]

"Monkey see, Monkey do."

363662[/snapback]

Actually, it seems it would be more fitting to say "Human see, human do."

[Janiel]

, great point there...

[SilverCougar]

Well yeah, what do you expect with they way we dumb down our kids...

[Mad Manfred]

That doesn't surprise me...human children are as dumb as dirt. They just lie there for two years, drooling, screaming and farting. They can't even walk. Slackers

[Q-La]

Chimps dont watch tv.

[Dezmond]

I could draw circles and stuff at around 1 year and a few months.

I bet no monkey can beat me to that?

[Stellar]

I could draw circles and stuff at around 1 year and a few months.

I bet no monkey can beat me to that?

364986[/snapback]

My dog did that at about 6 months... Put a bit of ink on her paws, and when she saw her tail...

[Talon]

Humans are apes, plus the average Human can be really stupid

[JennRose]

I think one explanation could be that humans have such a slow developmental period. We take sooo long to mature and be able to fend for ourselves. It's like a foal can walk minutes after birth, and a dog can have puppies at 2 years old (or even less). A young ape is probably more developmentally accelerated than a human.

[SilverCougar]

I think one explanation could be that humans have such a slow developmental period.  We take sooo long to mature and be able to fend for ourselves.  It's like a foal can walk minutes after birth, and a dog can have puppies at 2 years old (or even less).  A young ape is probably more developmentally accelerated than a human.

367970[/snapback]

The only reason we have a "slow developmental" period is because we dumbed down our kids. We keep them as children much longer then our ancestors did hundreds and thousands of years ago.

[SilentMist]

I think one explanation could be that humans have such a slow developmental period.  We take sooo long to mature and be able to fend for ourselves.  It's like a foal can walk minutes after birth, and a dog can have puppies at 2 years old (or even less).  A young ape is probably more developmentally accelerated than a human.

367970[/snapback]

I agree with this statement as the explanation. Different species have different types of developments at different ages. I don't see this as a"rub" against humans. Why do we have to be so arrogant anyway? Let's give our fellow creatures on this earth credit where credit is due.

I've also read that grown chimpazees have quite a "detailed" visual map in their heads. For example, in finding food (fruit or nuts), chimps know exactly where the tree is and when that tree will be producing fruit. They seem to have a "very" detailed memory and "map" of the jungle that humans don't develop.

Perhaps humans could develop this, but they don't. It just goes to show how "smart" these little guys are. Human guys don't know where they're going and they don't even have the sense to ask for directions!

Edited December 23, 2004 by SilentMist

[Uversa]

Thanks to Saruman for posting the topic

I think Silver Cougar has a very interesting point here.

Human beings are perfectly capable of doing what these marvelous little apes are doing, and probably a lot more, but we shape childrens minds so solidly at one angle from the second they are born

Edited December 23, 2004 by campbell