by Gangler » Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:21 pm
I thought it was taking a purely nurture stance. Parrot makes the sounds that get positively reinforced the same way some sociological schools of thought would paint us as being 100% programmed by our environment. One could also paint similarities between the notion of human intelligence as an evolutionary characteristic originally just meant to aid in survival but now given applications beyond that and the parrot's ability to speak being used in new ways within the domestic context. Either that or just a generic poke at the "Unintelligent masses" who just regurgitate the phrases and ideas that pop culture keeps throwing at them with the implication that just because they speak doesn't mean they think.
I really do find these types of discussions to be a little silly though. People will list off the ways fauna X is intelligent and resembles humans and this and that and come at me with the "How can you think their lives are any less sacred than a human's?"
I'm all like "Woah woah woah, when did I start talking about human life like that was sacred? Show me an orangutang that can hygienically make me an expresso and I'll start advocating their need for rights. You know, once we've got all the shit that's actually relevant to my country taken care of."
I sometimes wonder about those animal activists. There's something up with them.
I thought it was taking a purely nurture stance. Parrot makes the sounds that get positively reinforced the same way some sociological schools of thought would paint us as being 100% programmed by our environment. One could also paint similarities between the notion of human intelligence as an evolutionary characteristic originally just meant to aid in survival but now given applications beyond that and the parrot's ability to speak being used in new ways within the domestic context. Either that or just a generic poke at the "Unintelligent masses" who just regurgitate the phrases and ideas that pop culture keeps throwing at them with the implication that just because they speak doesn't mean they think.
I really do find these types of discussions to be a little silly though. People will list off the ways fauna X is intelligent and resembles humans and this and that and come at me with the "How can you think their lives are any less sacred than a human's?"
I'm all like "Woah woah woah, when did I start talking about human life like [i]that[/i] was sacred? Show me an orangutang that can hygienically make me an expresso and I'll start advocating their need for rights. You know, once we've got all the shit that's actually relevant to my country taken care of."
I sometimes wonder about those animal activists. There's something up with them.