Thu
Sep 13 2007
07:00 am
Last words of Alex-the world's most intelligent bird
By: Carole Borges

I found this incredibly touching.

(link...)

"Even up through last week, Alex was working with Dr. Pepperberg on compound words and hard-to-pronounce words. As she put him into his cage for the night last Thursday, she recalled, Alex looked at her and said: “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.”

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WhitesCreek's picture

I liked it too

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Thu, 2007/09/13 - 8:11am.

But Alex was just a run of the mill pet shop parrot. I suspect most of them would be capable of similar "human" acomplishments.

This tells me that humans are simply at one place on the intellectual (and emotional)scale and birds are at another. This is probably true of most living entities. We aren't that different, really, and are probably not that special.

Carole Borges's picture

I agree the idea that humans think we are so superior

Submitted by Carole Borges on Thu, 2007/09/13 - 11:43am.

is only based on our skewed value system, meaning who can earn the most money, build the most buildings, cover the earth with the most concrete, speak coherently to other humans (well, sort of anyway)and have some sort of idea what we are doing ie reason (which is ultimately I think somehwat questionable. We also species-centric to the max. A better way of evaluating who is superior might be--whoever does the least harm and the most good to the planet is the most advanced.

Virgil Proudfoot's picture

It's politics, at the most fundmental level

Submitted by Virgil Proudfoot on Fri, 2007/09/14 - 5:02pm.

The idea that humans are superior to the "lower" animals is an inherently political idea. It defines a fundamental power relationship: humans have the power to buy, own, sell, kill, and eat non-human living creatures. In other words, we have the right to commit violence upon them, and not vice-versa. This right is codified into law.

When we decide to subject other humans--say, Muslims--to the same status, we redefine them as "animals" who can't be reasoned with and who understand only violence.

If we could ever get rid of the former mindset, then maybe the latter one would be harder to impose.

Carole Borges's picture

I totally agree with you...

Submitted by Carole Borges on Fri, 2007/09/14 - 9:07pm.

It's always seemed crazy to me that we humans think so highly of ourselves when our behavior as a species is simply atrocious so much of the time. And you make a good point about the way we use the word animal as some kind of derogatory slur.

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