[Vision2020] Response to Larry Kirkland's ignorant letter on animal "robots" in the Daily News

[Nicholas Gier]

To the Editor:


Long version below



Larry Kirkland (Letters, Feb. 12) needs to read his favorite holy book more
carefully, and then read up on the new literature on the emotional and
cognitive life of animals.



Just like all the ancients, Jewish and early Christian thinkers believed
that animals do indeed have souls. According to Ecclesiastes, animals are
created with the same divine breath (3:19) and therefore have the same
souls (Hebrew nephesh; Greek psychē [Rev. 8:9]).



Kirkland’s claim that animals are robots has long been discredited.
Dolphins have 40 percent more cortical area in their brains than we do, and
they have rich emotional and mental lives. Their means of communication is
highly sophisticated.



African elephants transmit complex signals over long distances by means of
seismic waves.  Recently, dozens of elephants walked miles to pay their
respects at the funeral of a famous South African wildlife
conservationist.  Many animals exhibit grief at the loss of beings across
species.



In addition to learning sign language and teaching it to their young,
chimps have been observed making tools and using herbal medicines.  In a
fairly simple computer memory game, a chimp, seemingly without much
concentration, can remember all nine numbers in a random sequence while the
sharpest human subjects remember only one or two.  Recent experiments with
chimps and organutangs proved that these intelligent animals can remember
past events.



At the University of Vienna scientists placed two dogs side by side and
commanded them to offer a paw.  Initially, one received a piece of sausage
for the correct response, and the other got a piece of bread. When the
reward was withdrawn from one dog, she not only stopped offering her paw,
but turned away from the scientist in disgust.



I’m certain that all animals would respond similarly to Kirkland’s ignorant
letter.


Nick Gier, Moscow


Hi Larry,



You need to read your favorite holy book more carefully, and then read up
on the new literature on the emotional and cognitive life of animals.  You
will find that your views are not at all supported.



Just like all the ancients, Jewish and early Christian thinkers believed
that animals do indeed have souls. According to Ecclesiastes, animals are
created with the same divine breath (3:19) and therefore have the same
souls (Hebrew nephesh; Greek psychē [Rev. 8:9]). The kosher rules in the
Old Testament indicate clearly that animal life was sacred and it could be
taken only by following very strict rules.  Native hunters who perform
rites before and after killing animals are following the same millennia-old
ethical treatment of animals.



You might want to use “the image of God” for your arguments, but you would
be wrong to do so. Ancient inscriptions in a language similar to Hebrew
indicate clearly that being created in the "image of God" did not have any
metaphysical meaning.  Rather, it meant that Adam and Eve were designated
by God to rule over creation, just as ancient middle eastern rulers did.
This is why the "image of God" is not used to indicate anything unique
about human nature.  In the Bible only Adam and Eve, Christ, and the
husband have it, and in the way of ruling over other humans and animals.



Your claim that animals are robots is Cartesian not biblical.  The French
philosopher Descartes held that animals are soul-less machines, but that
idea has been long discredited. I just returned from a vacation in Mexico
where I got the great opportunity to swim and play with a 450-pound
bottle-nosed dolphin.  As I attempted to ride her holding on to her dorsal
fin, I slipped off.  She immediately stopped dead in the water until I was
able to grab on again.



Dolphins have 40 percent more cortical area in their brains than we do, and
they have rich emotional and mental lives.  At the Dolphin Institute in
Hawaii, Louis Herman has taught his four dolphins to understand sign
language.  One day Herman asked two of them to make up a new trick on their
own.  The two dolphins dove and within seconds exploded out of the water,
circling on their tails, and spouting water like synchronized fountains.



Although the idea was rejected for many years, a persistent woman scientist
finally convinced her colleagues that African elephants do in fact transmit
complex signals over long distances by means of seismic waves.  Recently,
dozens of elephants walked miles to pay their respects at the funeral of a
famous South African wildlife specialist.  Many animals exhibit grief at
the loss of beings across species.



Dozens of unemployed Asian logging elephants now have second career as
painters.  Most of the paintings are abstract, but trainers have taught
them to depict natural scenes as well.  Most amazingly, some have actually
done self-portraits.  Selling for $350-$750 each these pachyderm painters
have raised $100,000 for elephant rehabilitation. Painting self-portraits
requires not only awareness, but self-awareness. Many experiments with apes
have now proved that this is not unique to humans.



The mental and emotional achievements of our primate cousins are well known
and so impressive that the Chimpanzee Collaboratory has formed to promote
chimp personhood.  As Harvard lecturer Steven Wise argues: "If a human
four-year-old has what it takes for legal personhood, then a chimpanzee
should be able to be a legal person [too]."



In addition to learning sign language (including making up new words) and
teaching it to their young, chimps have been observed making tools and
using herbal medicines.  In a fairly simple computer memory game, a chimp,
seemingly without much concentration, can remember all nine numbers in a
random sequence while the sharpest human subjects remember only one or
two.  Recent experiments with chimps and organutangs proved that these
intelligent animals can remember past events.



Brain size does not appear to matter. Irene Pepperberg's African Grey
parrot Alex had the proverbial bird brain--the size of a peeled walnut--but
over 31 years she carefully documented an amazingly rich mental and
emotional life.  Under strict laboratory conditions Alex, when asked to
combine seven colors, five shapes, and four materials, could identify 80
different objects.



Just like Washoe the Chimp, who called ducks "water birds," Alex made up
"yummy bread" for cake. Because one needs lips to say a "p," Alex
improvised for an apple calling it "banerry," a combination of banana and
cherry. While in the laboratory with other parrots, he was constantly
criticizing the others for their poor pronunciation, repeatedly saying
"speak more clearly!" Emotionally, Alex would respond to Pepperberg, not
repetitively or arbitrarily as a robot would, but specifically and
appropriately, such as "What's your problem?" and "I'm going to go away
now."  His last words to the love of his life were "You be good, I love
you."



A recent experiment with dogs did not require language for scientists to
conclude that they had a sense of fairness.  At the Clever Dog Lab at the
University of Vienna, scientists placed two dogs side by side and commanded
them to offer a paw.  Initially, one received a piece of sausage for the
correct response, and the other got a piece of bread. When the reward was
withdrawn from one dog, she not only stopped offering her paw, but turned
away from the scientist in disgust. As opposed chimps placed in the same
circumstances, the Austrian dogs did not perceive the vegetarian option as
a slight.  Primatologist Frans de Waal has also found that a capuchin
monkey refused to trade pebbles for pieces of cucumber when his companion
was given a grape instead for the same task.



The more we learn about insect intelligence, the more amazing it becomes.
Research about the swarming of bees, traditionally used as an example of
mindless behavior, has demonstrated that new hive sites are chosen by what
the researchers called "robust consensus."  This decision making was based
not only on information sharing but also independent verification.
(Studies of how ants, operating as E. O. Wilson's superorganism, choose new
nests by similar methods.) The same issue of the journal that published
article on bee decision making also contained an article about how party
line thinking in the British Parliament (transferred to many other
countries) was embarrassingly mindless. (See The Economist, Feb. 14, 2009,
pp. 89-90.)
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