| PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE COMMENTING -- Link to Part 2: youtube.com A brief, interesting clip from National Geographic's "Ape Genius" documentary, comparing how a chimpanzee learns when compared with human children. An experiment conducted at St Andrews University revealed that while children tried to tackle a puzzle without trying to analyze it, chimps of the same age used logic and managed to solve it This test shows that the human child, even when given tasks that obviously have no meaning, follows the instructions given to them by the perceived authority figure, whereas the chimpanzees are more pragmatic, and exclude the extraneous steps. I feel that this is a good example of why it is important to raise children to believe as many true things and disregard as many false things as possible. Children are our shared future, and teaching them to think critically and rationally, so they can grow up to be mindful, effective adults that use reason to help build a better world is vitally important. Article from the Sunday Times: "Young chimps make chumps of children" www.timesonline.co.uk NOTE: This is a dramatic reenactment of an experiment for a TV documentary. The actual experiment criteria: ** The children used ranged from 41-59 months. ** The chimps used ranged from 2-6 yo Chimps mature at 13-14 for females, 15-16 for males. ** The box always contains a sticker. When the child gets the sticker, they trade that in for a food reward. ** The child is instructed to get the ... |
