Mrs. Darth Vader
06-12-2010, 06:34
Sagan begins chapter 18 with a reminder that all primates living today share common ancestors with us. Each branch from our hereditary tree branched off at different times in our evolution. Primates like chimps and apes are our closest relatives. Others like the monkey category are our more distant relatives. We study all primates because we share behavioral patterns with our most distant relatives as well as our closest relatives. Sagan then sights molecular evidence as to when various primates branched off from us. Gorillas branched off from us about 8 million years ago. Chimps branched off from us 6 million years ago. This is a short time ago in evolutionary time scales since our planet formed 4 billion years ago. And as you go out into space the time scales get even larger.
Sagan then tells the story of 100 million years ago when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth. We were timid little mammals the size of mice. We had to develop a keen sense of smell to maneuver in the dark. Suddenly sixty-five million years ago an impact of a small world into the earth. This changed the earth environment wiping out the dinosaurs. According to fossil evidence there were tiny monkey-like beings weighing a few ounces with teeth a millimeter long. Fifty million years ago there were primates living in subtropical Wyoming. Males were twice the size of females so bullying started in the beginning of the primate order. The earliest primates had longer snouts, eyes on side of head and claws. They looked closest to the lemur. The early primates had eyes large for their faces to adapt to night living. At first after the dinosaurs died out, the earth was a paradise for the mammals. Eventually evolution created predator animals that eat the little monkeys. Birds of prey evolved. You now had to watch the skies.
Sagan then goes back to describing modern primate behavior. Monkey males will quickly make up after a fight. Chimp males to females will make up but female chimps will hold grudges for the rest of their lives. This certainly explains a female I know in my life. We did an offense, in her mind, for which she still tries to make us pay for the same offense over and over. She is even still mad at her daughter for a sighted offense that the daughter did when the daughter was only three years old. I know this as fact because She admitted it to our face.
“Even among monkeys, a smoldering resentment against an individual is often broadened to encompass his or her relatives. Among the many new social forms invented by the primates are feuds and vendettas, sometimes extending over many generations”. Page 347 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan.
Here is the primate roots of the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s.
Sagan then shifts topics to the varying warning cries of the vervet monkeys. Each warning cry tells each monkey what predator to watch out for and which evasive maneuvers to use. From here Sagan talks about programs in our DNA which controls our behavior based on our relatives the primates. Some programs are hard wired and can not be changed or updated. Other programs are like soft ware and can be reprogrammed. Sagan then uses the example of the human natural fear of snakes. Over time Sagan said he noticed snakes that are not harmful to him and learned what these snakes look like so he is more relaxed when these snakes come around. Here is a reprogramming of fear of all snakes to fear only harmful snakes. All is changed to some.
Sagan then tells an account about a 1952 study of monkeys on a small island called Koshima. There was not enough food for the monkeys on this island so the Primatologists had to provide food for then. The Primatologists would dump wheat and sweet potatoes for the monkeys. These items were dumped on the shore far enough in not to get washed away by the water but still in the sand. This made the sweet potatoes and the wheat sandy. The Primatologists wanted to observe these monkeys and learn about them. Imo a one and a half year old female figured out that by rinsing her sweet potato in a near by brook she could eat the sweet potato with out eating the sand. Sagan then names the order in which the monkeys learned from Imo to rinse their sweet potatoes. The first monkey to learn from Imo to rinse their sweet potato was Imo’s playmate. Imo’s mother and another male peer came second to learn to wash their sweet potato. Then three of Imo’s Lineage (younger brother, older sister and niece) and four monkeys from other lineages. Two of these were a year younger than Imo and two a year older. All these monkey’s learned quickly were peers or young close relatives. The only exception was Imo’s mother who also learned quickly. The others learned slowly and still others not at all. After a long time all mothers would gather the sweet potatoes and then take them to the brook and wash them. The infants clinging to their mothers would learn to wash the sweet potatoes. The wheat was still sandy. Imo when she was four years old one day took a handful of sandy wheat and caste it into the water. The sand sank to the bottom while the wheat floated on top. She then grabbed the now clean wheat and ate it. Again it was Imo who figured out how to get the food separated from the sand. Imo was clearly a genius among macaques monkeys. For them Imo was their Nikola Tesla.
“Her invention spread slowly; macaques society, like traditional human societies, is very conservative. Perhaps the fact that she came from a high-ranking family in a species given to hereditary matriarchy aided acceptance. As is usually true, adult males were the slowest to catch on, obstinate to the last; a female invented the process, other females copied her, and then it was taken up by youngsters of both sexes. Eventually infants learned it at their mother’s knee. The reluctance of the adult males must tell something. They are fiercely competitive and hierarchy-ridden. They are not much given to friendships or even to alliances. Perhaps they felt impending humiliation-if they were to imitate Imo, they would be following her lead, becoming in some sense subservient to her, and thereby losing dominance status. They would rather eat sand”. Page 351 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan.
Dominant females can be just as stubborn. In human society both dominant oriented males and females act the same way. We all know the joke “Real men don’t ask for directions”. This is a male human example of those who would rather eat sand. I know this 83 year old woman who even when she was younger could never do something if the idea came from me even if it meant a large financial loss. So there are females who would rather eat sand.
Sagan then changes the subject to chimps in the laboratory setting learning how to speak in sign language. They were taught the language of the deaf. Chimps have a different anatomy than us. They do not have the same vocal cords we have so it is physically impossible for them to speak human languages. So scientists decided to test their intelligence by teaching them the language of the deaf since their hands are similar to ours. The scientists wanted to see chimp intelligence and their ability to communicate. In short these experiments were a success. Chimps could learn to communicate with us using sign language for the deaf. Chimps were proven to learn primitive grammar but correct grammar. They scored higher than scientists at first thought would happen. In this part of the chapter Sagan sights many experiments on chimps using the language of the deaf. He goes into great detail which I did not do since this is only a summery. If you wish to read the actual data you will want to read the book.
Sagan then describes other experiments proving that chimps can think and they prove that our common ancestors probably had these abilities as well. Surprisingly chimps were proven in the lab to have some beginnings of complicated thought. “ArB, BrC therefore ArC” page 357. This is the beginning of that old equation learned in high school. If A = B and B=C than A=C. That is pretty good for a chimp. Sagan then ends this chapter by showing the connection to us and their intelligence also.
“Savage-Rumbaugh and her co-workers toy with the possibility that chimps and bonobos exhibit impressive facilities to learn something of human languages because they have their own languages, vocal or gestural, that we have not yet deciphered. In announcing the location of prey, or predators, or a hostile patrol, rudimentary language would be strongly favored by natural selection. Long before humans and chimps went their separate ways, considerable aptitudes for thought, invention, and language were probably percolating in our primate ancestors”. Page 358 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan.
Sagan then tells the story of 100 million years ago when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth. We were timid little mammals the size of mice. We had to develop a keen sense of smell to maneuver in the dark. Suddenly sixty-five million years ago an impact of a small world into the earth. This changed the earth environment wiping out the dinosaurs. According to fossil evidence there were tiny monkey-like beings weighing a few ounces with teeth a millimeter long. Fifty million years ago there were primates living in subtropical Wyoming. Males were twice the size of females so bullying started in the beginning of the primate order. The earliest primates had longer snouts, eyes on side of head and claws. They looked closest to the lemur. The early primates had eyes large for their faces to adapt to night living. At first after the dinosaurs died out, the earth was a paradise for the mammals. Eventually evolution created predator animals that eat the little monkeys. Birds of prey evolved. You now had to watch the skies.
Sagan then goes back to describing modern primate behavior. Monkey males will quickly make up after a fight. Chimp males to females will make up but female chimps will hold grudges for the rest of their lives. This certainly explains a female I know in my life. We did an offense, in her mind, for which she still tries to make us pay for the same offense over and over. She is even still mad at her daughter for a sighted offense that the daughter did when the daughter was only three years old. I know this as fact because She admitted it to our face.
“Even among monkeys, a smoldering resentment against an individual is often broadened to encompass his or her relatives. Among the many new social forms invented by the primates are feuds and vendettas, sometimes extending over many generations”. Page 347 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan.
Here is the primate roots of the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s.
Sagan then shifts topics to the varying warning cries of the vervet monkeys. Each warning cry tells each monkey what predator to watch out for and which evasive maneuvers to use. From here Sagan talks about programs in our DNA which controls our behavior based on our relatives the primates. Some programs are hard wired and can not be changed or updated. Other programs are like soft ware and can be reprogrammed. Sagan then uses the example of the human natural fear of snakes. Over time Sagan said he noticed snakes that are not harmful to him and learned what these snakes look like so he is more relaxed when these snakes come around. Here is a reprogramming of fear of all snakes to fear only harmful snakes. All is changed to some.
Sagan then tells an account about a 1952 study of monkeys on a small island called Koshima. There was not enough food for the monkeys on this island so the Primatologists had to provide food for then. The Primatologists would dump wheat and sweet potatoes for the monkeys. These items were dumped on the shore far enough in not to get washed away by the water but still in the sand. This made the sweet potatoes and the wheat sandy. The Primatologists wanted to observe these monkeys and learn about them. Imo a one and a half year old female figured out that by rinsing her sweet potato in a near by brook she could eat the sweet potato with out eating the sand. Sagan then names the order in which the monkeys learned from Imo to rinse their sweet potatoes. The first monkey to learn from Imo to rinse their sweet potato was Imo’s playmate. Imo’s mother and another male peer came second to learn to wash their sweet potato. Then three of Imo’s Lineage (younger brother, older sister and niece) and four monkeys from other lineages. Two of these were a year younger than Imo and two a year older. All these monkey’s learned quickly were peers or young close relatives. The only exception was Imo’s mother who also learned quickly. The others learned slowly and still others not at all. After a long time all mothers would gather the sweet potatoes and then take them to the brook and wash them. The infants clinging to their mothers would learn to wash the sweet potatoes. The wheat was still sandy. Imo when she was four years old one day took a handful of sandy wheat and caste it into the water. The sand sank to the bottom while the wheat floated on top. She then grabbed the now clean wheat and ate it. Again it was Imo who figured out how to get the food separated from the sand. Imo was clearly a genius among macaques monkeys. For them Imo was their Nikola Tesla.
“Her invention spread slowly; macaques society, like traditional human societies, is very conservative. Perhaps the fact that she came from a high-ranking family in a species given to hereditary matriarchy aided acceptance. As is usually true, adult males were the slowest to catch on, obstinate to the last; a female invented the process, other females copied her, and then it was taken up by youngsters of both sexes. Eventually infants learned it at their mother’s knee. The reluctance of the adult males must tell something. They are fiercely competitive and hierarchy-ridden. They are not much given to friendships or even to alliances. Perhaps they felt impending humiliation-if they were to imitate Imo, they would be following her lead, becoming in some sense subservient to her, and thereby losing dominance status. They would rather eat sand”. Page 351 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan.
Dominant females can be just as stubborn. In human society both dominant oriented males and females act the same way. We all know the joke “Real men don’t ask for directions”. This is a male human example of those who would rather eat sand. I know this 83 year old woman who even when she was younger could never do something if the idea came from me even if it meant a large financial loss. So there are females who would rather eat sand.
Sagan then changes the subject to chimps in the laboratory setting learning how to speak in sign language. They were taught the language of the deaf. Chimps have a different anatomy than us. They do not have the same vocal cords we have so it is physically impossible for them to speak human languages. So scientists decided to test their intelligence by teaching them the language of the deaf since their hands are similar to ours. The scientists wanted to see chimp intelligence and their ability to communicate. In short these experiments were a success. Chimps could learn to communicate with us using sign language for the deaf. Chimps were proven to learn primitive grammar but correct grammar. They scored higher than scientists at first thought would happen. In this part of the chapter Sagan sights many experiments on chimps using the language of the deaf. He goes into great detail which I did not do since this is only a summery. If you wish to read the actual data you will want to read the book.
Sagan then describes other experiments proving that chimps can think and they prove that our common ancestors probably had these abilities as well. Surprisingly chimps were proven in the lab to have some beginnings of complicated thought. “ArB, BrC therefore ArC” page 357. This is the beginning of that old equation learned in high school. If A = B and B=C than A=C. That is pretty good for a chimp. Sagan then ends this chapter by showing the connection to us and their intelligence also.
“Savage-Rumbaugh and her co-workers toy with the possibility that chimps and bonobos exhibit impressive facilities to learn something of human languages because they have their own languages, vocal or gestural, that we have not yet deciphered. In announcing the location of prey, or predators, or a hostile patrol, rudimentary language would be strongly favored by natural selection. Long before humans and chimps went their separate ways, considerable aptitudes for thought, invention, and language were probably percolating in our primate ancestors”. Page 358 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan.