Can we ever know what it’s like to experience the world the way a chimpanzee does? A good starting point would be to assume that their subjective experience is much like our own. After all, our two species diverged a mere 7 million years ago – the blink of an eye in evolutionary terms. It’s certainly a better place to begin than the pre-Darwinian view that nonhuman animals (a phrase which itself would have been redundant at best prior to Darwin) are devoid of conscious experience altogether. And yet it likely fails to do justice to the unique sensory and cognitive world that chimpanzees inhabit.
In the early 20th century, a German biologist by the name of Jacob von Uexküll coined the term umwelt – “self-world” – to describe the subjective world in which each species exists. An animal’s umwelt is the combination of their unique sensory experience, their morphology, their natural environment, and the things that are biologically important to them. It is reality as they perceive it. A tick, he explains, lacks eyes and ears but finds its way through the world sensing light through its skin and the butyric acid secreted by potential mammalian hosts. Bats “see” the world around them using ultrasonic echoes and ultraviolet vision. We may exist alongside ticks and bats but we inhabit different umwelten because each of our species evolved its own set of tools to make sense of the world around them in ways that are biologically relevant. Because we are each different, the world is different to each of us.
As far as we know, chimpanzees don’t employ active echolocation like bats or sense the sweaty chemical signature of other mammals with a specialized sensory organ like ticks. Their sensory perception, unsurprisingly, appears to be tuned quite similarly to our own. And yet they possess a variety of unique physiological, cognitive, and social faculties that must undoubtedly lead to a subjective experience that is uniquely theirs.
Merkwelt – The Perceptual Sphere
Take working memory, for example. Researchers in Japan tested chimpanzees’ ability to recall the position of nine Arabic numerals after they were flashed on a screen and then masked with solid squares. To perform the test correctly, the chimpanzees would have to recall the position of each number and then touch the masked squares in ascending order. With exposure of only a fifth of a second, the chimps had an 80 percent accuracy rate. Adult humans only managed to reach 40 percent. With training, humans’ performance improved but only in tests with up to five numbers.
It is theorized that the chimps possess a greater capacity for eidetic imagery. Similar to what we call photographic memory, it is when an image persists in the mind’s eye after a brief exposure. For how long can chimps recall these images? Take a look at what happens when a chimpanzee is distracted in the middle of a session.
Why would chimpanzees possess such an ability? Perhaps it confers an advantage when living in large, dynamic social groups. Or maybe it aids in foraging or hunting. Perhaps it’s common to many other animals, including our own recent ancestors, and humans merely lost it in an evolutionary tradeoff.
But more importantly, how does it influence the way chimpanzees experience the world? Does their perceptual world somehow linger in a way ours does not? Might the near past feel less “past” to them in some way?
Wirkwelt – The Motor Sphere
Our physiology affects the way we experience the world in ways that go beyond sensory perception. For example, a chimpanzee’s world is far more vertically-oriented than our own. Long, slender fingers with tiny thumbs make it easier to grasp when climbing while powerful arm and leg muscles made up of proportionally greater amounts of “fast twitch” fibers make even the most harrowing acrobatic feats possible with a graceful nonchalance.
They are still just as bound by the laws of gravity, and, unlike birds, their opportunities to move vertically are limited to the available objects that they can use to climb, such as trees, vines, and the like. But watch them play or fight and you will realize that they are nowhere near as earth-bound as we are. What does it feel like for not just your perception of the world to be three-dimensional but also your unfettered ability to move through it?
Sozialwelt?
Some propose that the concept of umwelt should be broadened to include an animal’s social sphere and that assumptions about what chimpanzees perceive as right or wrong may hinder our ability to understand them:
[W]e wanted to explore morality in non-human primates. In our set-up, that implied presenting “good” and “bad” experimenters to chimpanzees and let them choose among them. Interestingly, we had no homogeneous general results, however young males consistently chose the bad experimenter. Revisiting the underlying social meaning of the actions we have presented, we realized that we had defined “bad experimenter” as someone entering in a room and hitting a third individual whereas “good experimenter” was someone interrupting the fight and consoling the victim. Mostly all humans would have agreed with these actions being bad and good, respectively. However, would not it be possible that young males could have perceived the bad experimenter as good because during adolescence juveniles show preference for potential allies in future fights (a strong individual that hits others)?
While this interpretation is debatable, anyone that has spent time around male teenage chimpanzees and lived to tell about it should at least acknowledge its plausibility. What is right and what is wrong are no doubt influenced by both the needs and the structure of the social group, and thus the species. One of the hardest parts about being a caregiver to animals like chimpanzees is trying to avoid substituting our own morality for theirs.
The philosopher Thomas Nagel famously approached the problem of consciousness by asking “What is it like to be a bat?” Similar to von Uexküll, his thesis was that consciousness is the subjective experience of an animal which cannot be captured by descriptions of physiology and behavior. I can imagine what it would be like to hang upside-down with my eyes closed, but then I am only imagining what it would be like for me to do bat-like things. The actual subjective experience of a bat is inaccessible to me.
The point of all this is not that we shouldn’t try to understand what it is like to be a chimpanzee. On the contrary, it is our responsibility to try, for that is the only way we can attempt to meet their needs. But a little humility is warranted. As with the tests of working memory, it is all too easy to slip into comparisons about performance – to pity other animals’ deficiencies or marvel at their “superhuman” abilities. Instead, we should strive to view these examples as windows into other strange, rich, and wonderful worlds, equally suited but in ways all their own. “All animals, from the simplest to the most complex,” von Uexküll wrote, “are fitted into their unique worlds with equal completeness.” Only when we acknowledge this fact can we attempt to see the world through their eyes.
Cara Berman says
Thank you for this thoughtful post. You’ve given me much to ponder this evening! Perhaps we can value each species as a unique expression of the world.
Judy says
Wow J.B. Thank you. What a fertile valley of food for understanding and thought from our own unique human perspectives, broadened and enriched for all of us who are fortunate to have this window thru each of the CSNW blog posters’ eyes and hearts. Each day as part of the CSNW family warms me to the core.
Marya says
Thank you, JB, for this interesting and cogent reminder of how easy it is for us to project our assumptions onto other species, especially the chimps given our similarities. I appreciate the respect you have for their differentness as well as for their own “personhood” even when we try to anthropomorphize too much. Maybe we tend to do this because we filter our understanding of others’ experiences (even other humans) through our own personal perspectives as a baromoter, mostly because it’s familiar and comfortable. It’s good to be reminded that our assumptions are often projections and wishes that come from our strong desire to understand. Thanks for the lesson in humility! All that said, I just gotta say — when I first saw Jamie wearing a red boot I laughed out loud and couldn’t stop for a few minutes!! Same with those who wear socks. Now really…how much more charming could they be?
Linda C says
Thanks, JB
My intro to “umvelt” was, ahem, just 20 yrs back, when I learned the expression “es ist nicht umvelt freundlich” (a disparaging comment on the disposable cameras we had with us). I took umvelt to mean “environment”-they were telling me that a disposable camera wasn’t environmentally friendly (and they were, or course, right). I suppose looking at it this way allows us to parse out the smallest of influences in our surroundings and our receptors.
Where was the quote on the chimp morality study taken from?
I have always been amazed by those short-term memory tests that they go through.
We’ll never know what’s going through their minds. But we do know that there’s a lot of it.
Nancy Garreaud says
Regarding Merkwelt- in working with young children around age 5-6- they have a remarkable ability to recall the number and position of playing cards that are placed upside down and briefly revealed – much better than adults are able
Francoise says
Likely because humans, as they age and move through life, gaining new knowledge and determining what knowledge they need, dispose of things that are no longer useful. Probably why the university math I aced 40 years ago and haven’t used since, I can no longer remember. Skilled card players can remember cards played, a skill surely gained over the many years of play. It’s all very interesting, isn’t it.
tomaustin says
The human sector has always devalued the “skills” of other non-human beings….”well, I know they can do that, but can they do this….? followed by some activity they then demonstrate…..humans have always valued themselves as superior to any other creature….which is so startling, given the facts of the acts of war between humans that we perpetrate to “reduce the competition” and make claim to their possessions for ourselves….
Even given the dexterity of our Chimps, there is no plan to exploit those skills for any useful purpose as viewed through the eyes of the researchers…..to the vast majority of people who have had the pleasure of direct visual contact with Chimps, they were being shown as an amusement device in sideshows, parades, zoos and countless other venues…not for an acknowledgment of their special place on our planet, but because they were cute.
Providing a safe haven at CSN is a monumental effort. With the continued support of all the good people who participate in providing the needs of the Chimp Community in residence, the corner to be turned may not yet be in sight, but it is out there.
Kathleen says
Yes! What a thought provoking post. (I’ve missed your educational posts!) Thank you, J.B. I’ll say it again, I would so enjoy taking one of your classes at CWU. But back to your post, 🙂 I have seen videos of the chimpanzees in Japan, simply astounding. I can hardly focus on a single number! It is all very fascinating.
I have a similar point of view when it comes to dogs. If we refuse to understand the animals that share our home with us, how can we ever understand wild or wild captive animals?
We expect dogs to behave more like us and less like dogs. Sit, stay, don’t greet guests, don’t bark at things we can’t see, don’t stop to smell on walks, don’t play rough at the dog park, and so on. We rarely choose to understand and/or welcome natural behaviors. Instead, we work hard to train these behaviors away. I am not suggesting we tolerate ‘naughty behaviors’ but, with a better understanding of what your dog experiences, we form better relationships with our dogs and our dogs live a happier, more natural life. Example : How often do people say there is something wrong with their dog (or worse, they describe their dog as stupid) because the dog barks at night when there is nothing in sight. A dogs nose has more than 100 million (!!) sensory receptor sites while we have 6 million. So the dog who appears to be barking at nothing might be barking at something he smells 6-12 miles away. We are cluless to all the infromation they are taking in in a single whiff. We need to understand, accept, and embrace natural abilities and allow dogs to be dogs. We should allow all animals to be themsleves — non human animals and human animals alike.
CeeCee says
I agree kathleen !
Sometimes I listen to people listing all the things they don’t want in a dog,
” barking, pulling on the leash, reaction to other dogs, reaction to kids, reaction to cats “…etc plus, they want to be able to leave them all day, with no issues…
I want to suggest they get a stuffed animal instead, because they certainly don’t want a real dog, My god, what if it poops? 😉
CeeCee says
Thank you J.B.
I always enjoy your thoughtful post’s. I take offence when someone descibes an animal as “stupid” (usually as a justification to eat them) and I try to make the point that they are judging them by a human’s standard of intelligence. How in the world would they know what intellect is needed to be a Pig, or a Cow, or a Dog.
Maybe they are the stupid one judged by a Ducks standards. Just sayin.
Francoise says
The thing with animal intelligence is not more or less as us, it’s a different type of intelligence that we can’t fully understand because we can’t place ourselves in their brain. That’s what can be both fascinating and frustrating. Everything is filtered through our brain and assumptions so we will never truly and fully understand. We have to hope we’re getting part of it.
Thanks J.B. for this fascinating blog! i really want to return to school.
Linda C says
I mean, I’m impressed that they had to learn what our numbers look like and their proper sequence! And then do a rapid memory test with them! I’m still getting over the first part of that trial!
Keith Dawson says
Nice blog. Thanks.
I enjoying seeing what humans come up with for enrichment for primates. Finding things to stimulate their interst must require some idea of how the think.
Deanna says
Thank you very much for this educational and thought provoking post and thank you to all those equally thought provoking responses!
Nancy Duryea says
JB, thank you for the excellent, very interesting post.
Kathleen and CeeCee, I could not agree more with your thoughts on understanding and welcoming a dogs natural behaviors. My rescue pup loves to leap from the back of the couch, then to the recliner and finally running and leaping on the bed. It brings her such joy but it can’t match the joy it brings me to watch her.