Animals and `animal culture`

Animals and ‘animal culture’
Maarten Reesink
Animal Studies
15 May 2013
In the sixth lecture
Ø Intelligence and instinct:
questions of power
Ø Nature vs. culture: the
great debate
Ø So: what is culture…?
Ø Animal culture?!
Ø The other way around:
humans in animal culture
“Food for thought” (BBC, 2003)
On the monkey rock in Artis: Japanese macaques
Nature vs. culture I
What makes humans so
uniquely ‘human’?
ü  Of course: culture!
ü  That is why we study them at
the Faculty of Human-ities
ü  in Dutch: geesteswetenschappen (brain vs. body)
What exactly is ‘culture’?
ü  Raymond Williams (one of
the founding fathers of
cultural studies): ‘a whole way of life’
Nature vs. culture II
Forms of culture:
ü  communication by
language
ü  understanding of a
‘self’
ü  intelligence (vs.
instinct)
ü  inborn (vs. aquired)
behaviour
ü  use of tools
ü  making of tools
ü  hunting of (other)
animals with tools
ü  keeping of (other)
animals
“The grass people”
“Microcosmos” (F, 1996): one of
the first successful wildlife
documentaries
‘Insect culture’:
Ø  The ‘language’ of bees
(Karl von Frisch)
Ø  The ‘greenfly breeding’ of
ants
Beautiful example of Burt’s
point: images influence (indeed: structure) our ideas
about animals
Animal intelligence I
Intelligence tests for animals:
ü  Basic assumption: what do
animals understand of all
things we understand?
ü  But: why would animals
understand reality in the same
way we do?
ü  And: why would they draw the
same (cognitive) conclusions
from their perceptions and
react in the same way we do?
ü  Besides: why would they want
to score well on these tests…?
ü  Basic question: is human
intelligence the ultimate form
of knowledge?
“Super smart animals” I
Part 1: ‘practical intelligence’
http://walrusvideo.com/supersmart-animals-part-1-of-2/
- chimpanzee 2’10
- jay 16’00
- gray parrot (Alex) 46’50
Animals and language
Human language:
ü  Language is an essential skill for
understandings one’s surroundings
and learning from other beings
ü  So how can we understand
something from animals?
ü  By communicating with them… thus:
by learning them our language!
ü  Vocal language: parrots (see: Irene
Pepperberg)
ü  Sign language: great apes
ü  But: our language restricts our
understanding of reality
ü  And: if we are so smart, why can’t
we learn animal language(s)?
Talking apes
“Project NIM” USA, 2008)
official trailer
complete version online
“Koko: A talking gorilla” (USA, 1979)
complete version online
Animal intelligence II
‘Animal cognition’:
ü  Our way of understanding (form of
knowledge, mainly based on
language)
ü  (arbitrary) examples: the smelling of
dogs, spatial orientation of migrating
birds, echolocation by bats
ü  So: what do animals ‘see’
(etc. etc.) and we don’t
ü  And: what do animals ‘know’ and
‘think’ that we (cannot!) think…?
ü  ‘Intelligent disobedience’ of guide
dogs (for the blind)
ü  Anticipation of approaching disasters
(f.e. tsunamis)
“Super smart animals” II
Part 2: ‘social intelligence’
http://walrusvideo.com/supersmart-animals-part-2-of-2/
- elephants 28’00
- ‘mirror test’ 46’15
- bonobo (Kanzi) 50’00
Frans de Waal
“The ape and the sushi master” (2001):
Ø  Popular-scientific introduction
in primatology
Ø  And animals and culture
Ø  And philosophy
Ø  And – science itself?
Follow Frans on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fransde-Waal-Public-Page/99206759699
Frans de Waal
“Moral behaviour in animals” (TED lecture, 2011):
Ø  As a primatologist: what
you see is what you
get…
Ø  But: what you (think you)
see is what you (want to)
get!
lecture online
Antropomorfism revisited
Erica Fudge:
“Anthropomorphism – an
often derogatory label
applied to ways of seeing
animals as if they were the
same as humans might
actually be unfairly naming
something that is not so
human-centric. Maybe
animals are more
like us than we want to
imagine and the label
‘anthropomorphism’ merely
allows us to recognize this
and devalue it
simultaneously.” (p.144)
Conclusions “Animal”
“Animal”: the book
Ø  There are differences and similarities
between humans and animals
Ø  Our knowledge and understanding of
‘the others’ is important but inherently
restricted
Ø  An important element in it (for us) is
(human) language
Animal: the word
Ø  Reflects en constructs our dealing
with ‘the(se) others’
Ø  In a way that (until today) generally
influences our knowledge of and
dealing with them negatively
Ø  For that reason: ‘human animals’ and
‘non-human animals’
‘Animal art’
Desmond Morris Zootime
(1956)
ü  ‘ape art’ (art vs. painting)
ü  ‘the act of painting’
What kind of knowledge does
this research reveal?
ü  Understanding of the origin
and meaning of art
ü  Understanding of similarities
and differences between
humans and animals?
ü  Understanding of cognition
and ways of think of
animals?
“Feral children”
National Geographic:
“Feral children” (USA, 2004)
complete version (in parts) online
TLC: “Feral child:
The story of feral children” (USA, 2002)
complete version (in parts) online
Further reading
Reaktion-series “Animal”:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/
ucp/books/series/RB-A.html
Ø  chapters of titles “Dog” and
“Cat” on Blackboard
Ø  also available, a.o. (by mail):
bear, fox, horse, cow, rat, bee,
snake, parrot, shark, penguin,
duck, tiger, whale, elephant
But:
Ø  doesn’t belong to the required
literature of the course
Ø  so: will not be asked about in
the exam