On 27 Jan 2004, at 2:17 am, Robert Seeberger wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm
The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.
He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do.
N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy, feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine.
N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world.
About 100 words are needed for half of all reading in English, so if N'kisi could read he would be able to cope with a wide range of material.
I've always thought that the 'scientific research' of last century which purported to show the vast gulf between humans and other animals belonged in the same dustbin as the 'scientific research' that showed the inferiority of some human 'races', the nonsense about IQ and a whole lot of other dodgy stuff. Its just rubbish science, and needs to be done again to find out what is really going on.
-- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
Those who study history are doomed to repeat it.
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