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A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#121

Post by jobigoud »

JoeDaDude wrote: post #113

I am reminded of the case of Alex the Parrot [1]. We all know parrots can mimic human speech very well, but the case made for Alex is that he was using actual language to convey meaning and not just parroting (pun intended) what he heard. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot) In my wild imagination, I imagine parrots being taught to communicate with humans, being let loose into the jungle, and the passing o…

There is also the case of these dogs that have grown up using sound boards to communicate with their humans (sound on): https://www.instagram.com/p/CMuXy3mBcVw/

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#122

Post by viciousvoxel »

bArray wrote: post #109
warent wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it just for a lack of interest on our side, or are we lacking something else? A combination of the two probably. I communicate with my pet cat by mimicking her different kinds of meows, hisses, and purrs. It makes it a lot easier because it's very obvious to me she understands that language, but of course it's not perfect It seems unlikely I'm the only person who does this. Probably a lot of people speak to thei…

The two noises I used with cats are: 1. "sssssshheeeeessh" If you want them to leave, like a hissing sound. 2. A squeaking (by pursing lips together) to calls them or tell them you are interested to play. Generally I don't believe cats really try so much to communicate - at least I don't get this impression. I would say that with dogs they understand a lot more. They understand the concept of pointing and use it to c…

Thank you for writing this -- it's 100% spot on from my experience. Dogs are extremely social animals and naturally have a strong need to communicate. Just a little time and effort put into understanding their signals as well as teaching them/guiding them towards ones that work better for you will go a long way.

When my dogs have lost a ball under something they will bow at the location and look at me; if that doesn't work they will come up and make a little grumble and wait for my attention, then go and bow in front of the location again. Similarly if they want to go outside, we set up a little bell by the back door that they can jingle. At first we would ring it every time we let them outside, or let them outside every time they accidentally knocked it. They learned the association pretty quickly. Now if they need to go out (or spotted some bunnies in the yard) they will ring it; if we don't respond immediately, they'll come up, make a little sound to get attention, and run back to ring the bell again. I also have the same experience re: permission into areas and one-time-pass signals. Also the singing -- it's fun to get a choir going!

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#123

Post by gverrilla »

warent wrote: post #120
gverrilla wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you just cover the holes, instead of trying to force dogs out of their nature?

well you could say this about any behavior. Why teach children to stop peeing their pants, isn't that just trying to force them out of their nature? There's nothing abusive about training a dog about proper behavior. Anyway, I think a dog's nature is more about obeying humans than digging holes. That's kind of the deal we made thousand of years ago

peeing their pants will make them smell and mprobably irritate the skin. digging holes is a completely normal behavior for a dog (unless it's excessive or coupled with abnormal behavior).

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#124

Post by ianai »

QuesnayJr wrote: post #100
warent wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it just for a lack of interest on our side, or are we lacking something else? A combination of the two probably. I communicate with my pet cat by mimicking her different kinds of meows, hisses, and purrs. It makes it a lot easier because it's very obvious to me she understands that language, but of course it's not perfect It seems unlikely I'm the only person who does this. Probably a lot of people speak to thei…

I've tried to do this with cats, but they never seem to recognize that I am making a cat sound. Did you start when she was a kitten? (Alternatively, I could just be uniquely bad at it.)

Cats hear and respond better to high pitched sounds.

I absolutely do mimic cat language and they very quickly pick up on it.

I’ve got sounds I make that call just about any cats. Like I’ve made the sounds to stranger cats while out walking and they immediately respond. It’s a clicking sound - pretty sure it’s a common sound.

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#125

Post by quercusa »

BeFlatXIII wrote: post #118
momirlan wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently horses have a body language.

They’re also incredibly adept at reading human body language and emotional state. Horses with the gift of clairvoyance read subtle shifts in weight of their rider and know to jump or turn left before the rider says so or uses the reins. I forget which book it’s in, but there’s an often-repeated tale of a horse who learned to do sums and could add numbers even without his owner in sight. It was eventually discovered t…

Clever Hans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#126

Post by vagrantJin »

warent wrote: post #120
gverrilla wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you just cover the holes, instead of trying to force dogs out of their nature?

well you could say this about any behavior. Why teach children to stop peeing their pants, isn't that just trying to force them out of their nature? There's nothing abusive about training a dog about proper behavior. Anyway, I think a dog's nature is more about obeying humans than digging holes. That's kind of the deal we made thousand of years ago

> Anyway, I think a dog's nature is more about obeying humans than digging holes

The international Canis organizations call such speech slavery and a canine revolutionary uprising is nigh.

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#128

Post by seg_lol »

gverrilla wrote: post #123
warent wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well you could say this about any behavior. Why teach children to stop peeing their pants, isn't that just trying to force them out of their nature? There's nothing abusive about training a dog about proper behavior. Anyway, I think a dog's nature is more about obeying humans than digging holes. That's kind of the deal we made thousand of years ago

peeing their pants will make them smell and mprobably irritate the skin. digging holes is a completely normal behavior for a dog (unless it's excessive or coupled with abnormal behavior).

I was at the beach a couple days ago and dug two excellent holes, one was artistic in nature an the other was a nice holder for a bottle of wine.

Nice way to pass the time while chatting with friends.

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#129

Post by jobigoud »

seg_lol wrote: post #127

Reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode where an earthling and an alien meet on a far off planet. The earthling isn't smart enough to learn the alien language, so she learns english. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_7,_Over_and_Out

There is also another Twilight Zone episode where common words gradually change meaning and the hero slowly lose his ability to communicate and has to fake understanding. Pretty scary one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordplay_(The_Twilight_Zone)

Re: A whale who tried to mimic human speech (2014)

#130

Post by jobigoud »

montenegrohugo wrote: post #2

It seems to me more and more like the biggest, only real difference between most animals and humans is their lack of sophisticated communication. Certainly they communicate; but they do not have access to our rich verbal symbols with which we can convey anything imaginable. Perhaps you could add the lack of a prehensile thumb and deft fingers to build tools with, but I think communication is even more fundamental for…

> only real difference between most animals and humans

But if I'm not mistaken this is not true of early humans, even "anatomically modern" humans. We don't really know when language evolved but it's probable that early humans did not "speak" for a long while.

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