December 08, 2004

The gorilla wake. Primates fascinate me.

Sometimes the great apes really amaze me with their intelligence and sentience. I'm thinking about Binta Jua and, of course, Koko The gorilla wake is just one more incidence of animal behavior that leaves me in awe of how little we actually know about what animals feel and what deeper reasons motivate their actions.

posted by bibliochick 20 years ago
  • my friend who lives with 24 dogs said this story made her cry. it is a pretty amazing report. as for me, i can only hope my friends will gently sniff my body after i am gone.
  • Ah, yes, well that aside . . . *looks sideways at SideDish* . . I'm glad this was posted. I came this close to posting twice in one day for this one. didn't do it! didn't do it! I wonder what Ted Nugent thinks of this story . . No, wait - no I don't.
  • Primates are certainly fascinating creatures, though perhaps largely because we happen to be closely related to them. What can we know about what a gorilla may be thinking or feeling when they touch the body of a dead relative, though? To say that we know little of what animals feel and their motivations is to imply that certain kinds of thoughts, feelings, and motivations certainly exist, and we have but to discover them. It seems like begging the question. Perhaps these things do exist, but since we don't know, we don't know, right?
  • Elephants have wakes and bury their dead, too.
  • knick, how do they hold the shovels? *ponders*
  • Kritters are Kool as for me, i can only hope my friends will gently sniff my body after i am gone Sniff it early, sniff it well, don't come back and sniff tomorrow. friend who lives with 24 dogs said this story made her cry Side: The story of a friend with 24 dogs nearly made me cry. Ouch, that's a pack, not a couple companions. To each their own, I guess.
  • Ah, Christ.
  • No, can't watch.
  • What Capt. said...