Take it from Gordo: If you can’t be high-ranking, be clever.
Don’t mind me…I’m just up here to enjoy the view. Clearly, you guys got all the fruit, which you obviously deserve, what with being so high-ranking and all. And even if there were fruit up here, which there’s obviously not, I certainly didn’t watch the volunteers put it up there on the roof.
Researchers have argued for decades over whether chimpanzees possess a theory of mind—in other words, do chimpanzees have the ability to know what other chimpanzees know or believe? Like most appraisals of nonhuman intelligence, theory of mind studies have relied heavily on contrived and unnatural experiments carried out in behavioral laboratories and other captive settings. As is so often the case, we force other animals to play on our terms and then dismiss them as unintelligent when they fail to meet our standards. But even in these conditions, with the deck stacked against them, chimpanzees have passed nearly every challenge thrown their way. They regularly demonstrate the ability to understand both the goals and intentions of others (a sticking point is the issue of whether chimpanzees know when another chimpanzee possesses a false belief, as opposed to plain old ignorance).
Of course, not all complex social behavior requires a full-fledged theory of mind, but as members of a social and highly competitive species, chimpanzees clearly benefit from being able to imagine other chimpanzees’ perspectives and adjust their behavior accordingly, especially when they lack the might to impose their will on others. I remember learning in school about “sneaky guy” mating techniques, in which the lower-ranking males invite females for a secret tryst without catching the attention of the dominant males who, if they were to witness the attempt, would likely punish a subordinate for such behavior. How do they do this? It depends on the community, but in some areas, the males simply tear up a leaf in a particular way while making love eyes at the object of their affection.
Gordo is a classic sneaky guy (though his romantic overtures are a bit more explicit!). Always on the lookout for the dominant chimps, he knows what he’s allowed to do in their presence—and what he can get away with when no one is looking.
Wow, Cy got a smörgåsbord!
Well, Gordito, sometimes it pays to be the aloof loner, hanging out by yourself in the greenhouse while the humans set out the party forage!
That was supposed to be George’s bday forage, right?
JB, I was thinking of you and Diana recently. On YouTube, there are a couple of channels dedicated to following apes in English zoos; one of them follows this blog, as well. A female gorilla who had been hand-raised by humans, and who is not fond of the male of her group, found herself getting more attention from him than she wanted. It seems that she’s particularly fond of one male caregiver, and she was making overtures to him by patting her bottom when he was within view. The silverback thought she was beckoning to him. Mixed signals :sweat_smile:
Frans DeWaal, PhD. wrote a book called “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Aniimals Are” which addresses the fact that many times the experiments we design for non human primates are based on human intelligence and behavior.
Gordo, instead of calling you sneaky, I’d call you a very observant and patient guy who got the goodies in the end. Bravo.
I have that book too, Gaynell and several others plus all the videos that I could find. Brilliant observations and always very interesting…… Frans is sadly missed.
yes, a great friend of chimpanzees. i had the pleasure of hearing him and Jane Goodall speak at a primatology conference and it was the first time I’ve ever been in a huge audience where no one even coughed or cleared their throat. The room was totally quiet for these two giants of the primate world.
Way to go Gordito. Smart guy.
Gordo did a double take like a cartoon character out of a Road Runner vs Wile E. Coyote! Nice job, Gordo! Enjoy your reward. (How did Rayne miss that?! She was in too much of a hurry trying to beat Cy to the goodies on the upper tower.)
“As is so often the case, we force other animals to play on our terms and then dismiss them as unintelligent when they fail to meet our standards.” When I was growing up and going through school, the same was said about many students who did not want to play according to the rules. 😉
Bravo, Gordo! Good for you.
Good for Gordo!! Patience and waiting pay off.