August 09, 2004

Koko Calls For The Dentist.
posted by homunculus 20 years ago
  • Koko.
  • Koko
  • Koko
  • Change is good, R. Kokko.
  • Coco.
  • "They crowded around her, and Koko, who plays favorites, asked one woman wearing red to come closer. The woman handed her a business card, which Koko promptly ate."
  • If the partner, along with Koko, were to be able to "speak" in sign language, I wonder if they would pass the ability on to their child?
  • I don't think so - she was conciously taught sign language. Other people have taught chimps to communicate through these special symbol boards (also used with disabled people unable to sign). What I wonder is whether a gorilla or chimp raised around sign language from a very young age without concious teaching would pick it up. They say that human children are like sponges when it comes to spoken language (is that true for signs?)- they don't have to be taught (unlike reading), only exposed to it, and they learn to speak.
  • Koko. (NSFW?)
  • I'm feeling much better now, thanks.
  • Koko.
  • Not to bust on Koko, but I always wonder, when I see those kittens, if they have to get a new one every ten minutes or so. Like one with a head still attached.
  • Actually, Koko's Kitten, AllBall, was run over by a truck. Every time I read the book I cry when it gets to the part about how they break the news to Koko about AllBall and she signs "sad, sad, sad."
  • God, don't get me going on Allball. That was terrible. The poor monkey,
  • You're lucky Koko's nothing like the Librarian. Otherwise the M-word'll get you into heap big deep trouble.
  • ,
  • ...
  • My cat says "ou" when he wants to got outside (he can't quite get the "t", though I had one who could, years ago. That one would also say "out" when he wanted to come in. It seemed to mean "on the other side of that door.) It's very differnt from any other orders he gives me. Does that qualify as sort of a proto-language?
  • Unlike this dullard, Anderson, I suppose if an animal uses a particular sound or signal only on certain occasions, and if I respond to that in the same way time after time, then the animal is bound to conclude s/he's succeeeded in getting me to do what s/he wants. Animals are cunning trainers. I have been carefully trained by many animals.