http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3nr5uSJRuM&feature=channel_page

hahaha let a chimp beat him . . . hahahah

CRACK ME UP!!!
But, yeah, I wondered the same. If there was a human involved who had a truly vested interest, such as SURVIVAL or say, an Asscher cut 12 carat diamond, maybe the humans would have performed better???? But, THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!
On the other hand, it causes me to pause yet again. Are they SO SMART that they defer the work to us humans when in our environment, or are they not so smart as to have used their inherent skills to further create a more convenient world for themselves?

That was simply amazing!!!

Thanks, I thought so also.

I really dont think I could do as well as that chimp, he was hauling ass.

He barely looked at the screen and was right almost every time hahahahah.

I play a lot of video games and can make use of rational and abstract thought to min/max many things to increase performance, but this guy was smoking that game!


LOL I love it. I would love to see follow ups with different reward systems to control for that, and also if these chimps had ever played that game before, or if that person had a chance to play equal hours before the test.

Oh, I thougth you were talking about real cousins. I'm still waiting for the maternity tests. I don't really think I'm related to my family.

that was funny, chimps are our closet relatives, hungry animals can perform a varieity of complex tasks. Some chimps play video games and learn sign launguage as well. Howevr the big secret is when they use language they are highly repetitive and it indicates they dont quite get the concept. Chimp signing for a banana is something like. Me bannana you me give me you bananna give bananna you.

I know some people who speak like that. (not a joke)
They always have damage or developmental issues in the speech center of the brain.

Im not sure its a matter of not getting it, but maybe not having the hardware in place to deal with it.

This may be a silly question, but I wonder if there's some connection between the way in which a gifted human savant thinks and the chimp thinks?

I wonder if you used a human savant subject, giften in numbers, if they would be equal, maybe even exceed what the chimp does?

Just a curiosity.

Good clip, thanks Bushi.

Actually, possibly not. They've done memory test comparisons pitting chimpanzees against high level university students. The chimps most often win.

For all our superior brain power, chimps have a more-highly evolved memory center, at least when it comes to sequences. Why and how they evolved such an ability is anyone's guess, but evidently they have.

But savants do not have equivalent IQ's to college students. Most sevants are not likely to function well on their own.

A savant seems may have the kind of memory that would allow that person to listen to extremely complex piece of music only once, and sit down and play in its entirety on a piano with few errors.

In Rainman, Dustin Hoffman played a savant. When tooth picks fell, almost instantaniously he gave the exact number.

That is a savant and their brain functions differently. I was just wondering if there might be a connection between those functions and the functions in a chimps brain.

Right! Great point Di. It would be a give and take. Normals brains develop to be well rounded. Some do not develop this versatility but are able to devote more resource to a particular task.

Fascinating and makes sense, I wonder if there is any research out there on this . . . hmmm. Im gunna have to look into this one!

Bushi,
Let us know if you find anything. I won't have time to do much research till Sunday.